UPSC Daily Current Affairs Quiz: 10 July 2025

Correct  Answer: C. NPR is the first step toward creating a National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Answer: b) Returning and auditing EVMs after polling Rationale: This tests understanding of supply chain terminology applied to elections.

The correct answer is (c) I and III only.

Explanation:

Statement I is correct:
India has indeed joined the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), a US-led initiative aimed at securing critical mineral supply chains. 

Statement II is incorrect:
While India has identified 30 critical minerals, it is not resource-rich in all of them. It is dependent on imports for several key critical minerals like nickel, cobalt, and lithium. 

Statement III is correct:
The 2023 amendment to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, granted the Central Government the authority to exclusively auction mining leases and composite licenses for certain critical minerals. 

Correct answer is (c) 3 and 4 only. 

Explanation:

• Volga - Caspian Sea: This pair is correct. The Volga River flows into the Caspian Sea. 
• Zambezi - Indian Ocean: This pair is also correct. The Zambezi River flows into the Indian Ocean. 

Why are other options incorrect?

• 1. Mekong - Andaman Sea: The Mekong River flows into the South China Sea. 
• 2. Thames - Irish Sea: The Thames River flows into the North Sea. 

The correct answer is (c) 1 and 3 only.

Explanation:

Statement 1 is correct: Scientific evidence indicates that the Earth's magnetic field does reverse periodically, roughly every few hundred thousand years. 

Statement 2 is incorrect: The early Earth's atmosphere is believed to have been very different from today's, with a much higher percentage of carbon dioxide and much less oxygen than present. The initial atmosphere was reducing, not oxidising. There was likely a significant amount of methane and water vapour, but not 54% oxygen. 

Statement 3 is correct: When life first appeared on Earth, it significantly altered the atmospheric composition. Photosynthetic organisms, like cyanobacteria, introduced oxygen into the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis, gradually transforming the reducing atmosphere into an oxidising one. This change had a profound impact on the evolution of other life forms.