APSC MCQs / APSC Prelims Practice Questions based on Assam Tribune (Daily) – 04/11/2026

Answer: (a) Explanation: Statements (i) and (ii) are correct. Oil India questions both what the Forest Advisory Committee decided and the Environment Ministry’s later refusal to approve use of 0.069 hectares in Tinsukia. It also says its pads and other drilling equipment would sit outside the park, with wells reaching deposits 3,500 to 4,000 metres below. Statement (iii) is wrong because the 2 August 2024 order came from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, not the petroleum ministry. The Court has only asked the petroleum ministry to respond. Option (b) wrongly includes (iii) and drops (i), option (c) leaves out (ii), and option (d) includes (iii). Value addition: the Forest Advisory Committee’s meeting of 4 July 2024 is also under challenge.

Answer: (b) Explanation: Statements (i) and (ii) are correct. The Environment Ministry lists Dibru-Saikhowa as a Biosphere Reserve designated in 1997 with an area of 765 sq km. Its 340 sq km core was declared a national park in 1999. Statement (iii) is wrong because the reserve covers parts of two districts, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia. The drilling land in the news is in Tinsukia. Option (a) ignores the 1999 national park status, option (c) accepts the false district claim, and option (d) accepts all three. Value addition: Assam Forest Department records cited by PTI in 2024 show Brahmaputra erosion has cut the park to about 216.53 sq km.

Answer: (a) Explanation: The correct pairs are a-3, b-1, c-2 and d-4. The Supreme Court’s order barring mining inside national parks and sanctuaries and in a one-km belt around them is dated 26 April 2023. The Forest Advisory Committee met on 4 July 2024, and the Environment Ministry’s refusal order followed on 2 August 2024. Oil India says it got environmental clearance in May 2020. Option (b) swaps the committee meeting and the ministry order, which is the main trap. Options (c) and (d) pair the 2023 judgment or the 2020 clearance with the wrong events. Value addition: the Eco-Sensitive Zone notification for the park was issued in January 2020, a few months before the clearance.

Answer: (c) Explanation: Oil India says the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife recommended its proposal. It adds that the Supreme Court then allowed sub-surface extraction, subject to environmental and wildlife conditions. The Forest Advisory Committee in option (b) is the body whose decision Oil India is now challenging, so it is the trap. The National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Central Zoo Authority are not named in the plea. Value addition: the National Board for Wildlife is set up under section 5A of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The Prime Minister is its chairperson. Its Standing Committee comes under section 5B, and both sections were added by a 2002 amendment.

Answer: (a) Explanation: Statement (i) is correct because Section 30(1) says the State Government appoints the Commissioner of Food Safety for the State. Statement (ii) is correct because Section 30(2)(a) allows a ban for a period not exceeding one year. The period is specified in an order notified in the Official Gazette. Statement (iii) is wrong because the same clause lets the Commissioner prohibit in the whole State or any area or part of it. Option (c) misses statement (ii), and options (b) and (d) include the false statement (iii). Value addition: a Section 33 prohibition order is different, because a court passes it after a food business operator is convicted.

Answer: (a) Explanation: Section 30 deals with the Commissioner of Food Safety. Its clause (2)(a) allows a prohibition for up to one year, so a matches 2. Section 36 says there shall be a Designated Officer for each district, so b matches 3. Section 51 sets a penalty up to five lakh rupees for sub-standard food, so c matches 4. Section 53 sets a penalty up to ten lakh rupees for misleading advertisement, so d matches 1. Option (b) swaps Sections 30 and 36, option (c) swaps the two penalties, and option (d) mixes up all four pairs. Value addition: Section 52 fixes the penalty for misbranded food at up to three lakh rupees.

Answer: (d) Explanation: Option (d) is not correct because the maximum moisture for paneer is 60 per cent. The 70 per cent limit applies only to low fat paneer, which has at most 20 per cent milk fat on dry matter basis. Option (a) is correct because it repeats the regulatory definition of an analogue. Option (b) is correct because the regulations state that analogues are not considered milk products. Option (c) is correct because the label must carry “Contains”. Where a milk constituent is fully replaced, it must also carry “Contains no milk” with the constituent named. Value addition: dairy terms such as milk, cream, cheese and butter are reserved for products made from milk.

Answer: (b) Explanation: Nagaland received the special acknowledgement for North Eastern hilly States in the 2023-24 index. Its score was 44.25 out of 100. FSSAI chose to recognise the best performer among these States because they face manpower, transport and infrastructure limits. Meghalaya scored lower, at 33. Tripura scored 36. Assam scored 38.5, which is also below Nagaland, so the acknowledgement did not go to it. Overall, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir led the table. Value addition: the index rests on five parameters, and the first edition was released on 7 June 2019.

Answer: (a) Explanation: Statements (i) and (ii) are correct. The treaty was signed at New Delhi on 12 December 1996 by H. D. Deve Gowda and Sheikh Hasina. Article II applies the Annexure I formula to ten-day periods from 1 January to 31 May, the dry season. Statement (iii) is wrong because Article XII says the treaty stays in force for thirty years and is renewable on the basis of mutual consent. So options (b), (c) and (d), which include (iii), are out. Value addition: Article X provides for a review of the sharing every five years. If a review ends without agreement, Article XI requires India to release at least 90 per cent of Bangladesh’s formula share.

Answer: (a) Explanation: Both statements are true. The Assam Tribune editorial of 4 November 2026 says the two states want the framework revised for today’s climate and water shortage. The treaty’s Annexure II schedule is indeed based on 40 years of average flows at Farakka, from 1949 to 1988. This old data base is the very reason the states demand an update, so R explains A. Option (b) fails because R is the direct cause of A. Option (c) fails because R is true. Option (d) fails because A is true. Value addition: Article II also says that the two governments must consult at once if the flow at Farakka falls below 50,000 cusecs in any ten-day period.

Answer: (b) Explanation: The MoU is between India’s Ministry of Jal Shakti and Bangladesh’s Ministry of Water Resources. It lets each country withdraw up to 153 cusecs from the common stretch of the Kushiyara from 1 November to 31 May. Option (a), 35,000 cusecs, is the guaranteed figure for each country in alternate ten-day periods under the 1996 Ganga treaty. Option (c), 200 cusecs, is India’s cap on reasonable use below Farakka under Article III of that treaty. Option (d), 50,000 cusecs, is the Farakka flow below which the two governments must consult at once. Value addition: The Barak splits into the Surma and the Kushiyara at Amalshid. The Union Cabinet approved the MoU ex post facto on 28 September 2022.

Answer: (a) Explanation: The Joint Rivers Commission was constituted in 1972 as a bilateral body for common, border and transboundary rivers. Its 38th ministerial meeting was held in New Delhi on 25 August 2022. Option (b), 1975, is the year Farakka Barrage began diverting water, from 21 April. Option (c), 1977, is the year of the five-year Ganga sharing agreement (5 November 1977), which followed the 1976 UN General Assembly consensus. Option (d), 1996, is the year of the present Ganga Water Treaty. Do not mix up these dates. Value addition: India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers. The 1996 treaty sends any dispute that its Joint Committee cannot resolve to the Joint Rivers Commission.

Answer: (a) Explanation: Statements (i) and (ii) are correct. PRAGATI-50 is a clean-city initiative under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, and it aims to make 50 cities in 24 States into role models. Statement (iii) is wrong because it mixes up two different things. PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) is the platform the Prime Minister uses to review projects, launched in 2015. PRAGATI-50 is a Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry initiative for cleanliness. Option (b) and option (d) fail because they include (iii). Option (c) fails because it leaves out the correct statement (ii). Value addition: Union Minister Manohar Lal launched PRAGATI-50 in New Delhi on 29 September 2026 and will chair its review meetings every two months.

Answer: (b) Explanation: Guwahati moved from 402nd place in the earlier assessment to 44th in Swachh Survekshan 2024-25. The rank is within the 3 to 10 lakh population category, which had 95 cities, so it is not an all-India rank. Option (a) 4th is a figure with no basis in the results. Option (c) 95th is the number of cities in the category, not Guwahati’s position. Option (d) 356th is an older rank, which Guwahati held in Swachh Survekshan 2020. Value addition: Mira-Bhayandar topped the same category with 11,652 points, while Guwahati scored 8,563.

Answer: (d) Explanation: The Twelfth Schedule, added through the 74th Amendment Act, 1992 (in force from 1 June 1993), lists 18 functions of municipalities. Entry 6 reads “Public health, sanitation conservancy and solid waste management”. Option (a), the Seventh Schedule, divides subjects between the Union and the States and does not list municipal functions. Option (b), the Ninth Schedule, protects certain laws from judicial review. Option (c), the Eleventh Schedule, lists functions of panchayats and came with the 73rd Amendment. Value addition: Article 243W links the Twelfth Schedule to the powers of municipalities.

Answer: (d) Explanation: Statement (d) is not correct. The 2026 Rules restrict landfills to non-recyclable, non-energy-recoverable waste and inert material. They also provide higher landfill fees for local bodies that send unsegregated waste. Statement (a) is correct because the rules take effect on 1 April 2026. Statement (b) is correct because they make four-stream segregation at source mandatory. Statement (c) is correct because the bulk generator test includes 100 kg or more of waste a day. The other criteria are 40,000 litres of water a day or 20,000 square metres of floor area. Value addition: the rules were framed under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and replace the 2016 Rules.