UPSC Daily Current Affairs Quiz : 20 March 2026

Answer: (c) 2 and 3 only

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is incorrect: The text explicitly states a contradiction. While U.S. President Trump claimed the "United States knew nothing about this particular attack," American media quoted Israeli officials as saying the "U.S. was informed in advance." The passage presents these as conflicting claims, with no definitive confirmation of prior U.S. knowledge. Therefore, the statement cannot be considered correct based on the provided information.
• Statement 2 is correct: The passage clearly mentions that Ras Laffan Industrial City is "one of the most critical energy hubs in the world which handles roughly 20% of the global LNG exports" and that it came under attack.
• Statement 3 is correct: The text details the diplomatic responses. Qatar declared Iran's military and security attachés persona non grata and ordered them to leave. The UAE's Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning the attacks and reserved the right to take necessary measures to protect its sovereignty.

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is correct: The text notes that the "sudden slump towards the final trading hours was due to soaring Brent crude futures price hitting a new high of $114 a barrel." 
• Statement 2 is correct: The U.S. Federal Reserve's actions are cited as a key factor, with the passage stating the Fed "signalling higher inflation could stymie further rate cuts in 2026." 
• Statement 3 is correct: The rupee depreciating "to a new low of ₹92.89 a dollar" is explicitly mentioned alongside crude prices as a cause for the slump. All three factors are directly cited in the text as contributing to the market downturn.

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is correct: The passage notes, "South Pars is part of an offshore gas reservoir in the Persian Gulf shared by Qatar and Iran. The Qatari side calls it the North Field."
• Statement 2 is correct: The text explicitly states that South Pars is "one of the largest known gas fields in the world."
• Statement 3 is correct: The passage outlines the sequence of events: "His remarks came after Iran launched missile attacks... following Israeli air strikes that caused fire at South Pars..." This establishes the Israeli strike on South Pars as the immediate precursor to Iran's retaliatory attacks on facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Israel.

Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is correct: The first passage explicitly states that "Israeli air strikes that caused fire at South Pars in Iran's southern Bushehr province, one of the largest known gas fields in the world."
• Statement 2 is correct: The first passage mentions that following the Israeli strike, "Iran launched missile attacks at energy facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel." Specific targets included Qatar's Ras Laffan, UAE's Habshan, Saudi Arabia's Samref refinery, and Israel's Haifa refinery.
• Statement 3 is incorrect: The passage presents contradictory claims. While U.S. President Trump stated that "the United States knew nothing about this particular attack," American media quoted Israeli officials as saying "the U.S. was informed in advance." Since the passage does not conclusively establish that the U.S. had no prior knowledge, this statement cannot be considered correct.

Answer: (a) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only

Explanation:

• Qatar (1): Iran attacked "a portion of Qatar’s LNG Gas facility" and the Ras Laffan Industrial City.
• UAE (2): The UAE's Habshan gas facility and the Bab oil field were hit.
• Saudi Arabia (3): The Samref refinery in Yanbu was targeted by a drone.
• Israel (5): An oil refinery in the northern port city of Haifa was hit.
• Kuwait (4) is incorrect: While the passage mentions that "drone attacks sparked fire" at two refineries in Kuwait (Mina Abdullah and Mina Al-Ahmadi), the context of these attacks is not explicitly attributed to Iranian missiles as part of the same retaliation. The passage states these attacks occurred, but it groups them with Israeli media reports and does not specify Iran as the perpetrator for the Kuwaiti incidents in the same sentence as the other confirmed attacks. Therefore, based on the text, Kuwait cannot be definitively included in the list of countries targeted by Iran in this specific retaliation.