UPSC Daily Current Affairs Quiz : 21 February 2026

Correct Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only

Explanation:

• Statement 1: Correct: The Court held that the U.S. Constitution clearly vests the power to impose taxes, including tariffs, in Congress. Chief Justice John Roberts observed that the “Framers did not vest any part of the taxing power in the Executive Branch.” Thus, tariff imposition is primarily a legislative power.
• Statement 2: Correct: The tariffs were imposed under an emergency powers law after declaring trade deficits and drug trafficking as national emergencies. These included sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs on several countries, including India.
• Statement 3: Incorrect: The ruling does not prevent the President from imposing tariffs under other statutory authorities. It only nullified those imposed under the specific emergency powers law. The administration indicated it may continue tariffs under alternative legal provisions (which may involve procedural limitations).
• Statement 4: Incorrect: The dissenting judges- Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Brett Kavanaugh - argued that the tariffs were lawful based on text, history, and precedent. Hence, they did not consider them unconstitutional.

Correct Answer: (a) 2 and 4 only

Explanation:

• Statement 1 – Correct: The Court requested deployment of judicial officers (District/Additional District Judge rank) to perform quasi-judicial duties of EROs/AEROs.
• Statement 2 – Incorrect: The Court did not hold that the Election Commission is subordinate to the State Government.
  Under Article 324, the ECI is an independent constitutional authority.
• Statement 3 – Correct: The Court allowed publication of cleared voters on February 28 and permitted inclusion of remaining names in a supplementary roll.
• Statement 4 – Incorrect: The Court clearly stated that the February 28 roll would not be treated as final; the process is ongoing.

Correct Answer: (d)

Explanation: Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology Madras developed an optics-based method to detect blood clotting time.

• When blood touches an implant surface, clotting begins.
• The surface reflectivity changes.
• This change in reflected light is detected to measure clotting time accurately.

Correct Answer: (a) 2 and 3 only

Explanation: The Committee was chaired by Justice Kurian Joseph and was appointed by the Government of Tamil Nadu  not by the Union Government.

• Statement 1 – Incorrect: The Committee was constituted by the Tamil Nadu government, not the Union Government.
• Statement 2 – Correct: The report argues that centralisation of power is increasing and is unhealthy for a federal democracy like India.
• Statement 3 – Correct: It calls for a “structural reset” of Indian federalism comparable to the 1991 economic reforms.
• Statement 4 – IncorrectThe report critiques increasing centralisation in areas such as health and education. It does not support greater central control.

Correct Answer: (a) 1 and 3 only

Explanation: The data is based on analysis from the Reserve Bank of India.

Statement 1 – Correct: Net FDI = Gross inflows – (Repatriation + Outward FDI). In December 2025, although gross inflows were strong, repatriation by foreign firms and outward investment by Indian firms exceeded inflows, making net FDI negative (-$1.6 billion).

Statement 2 – Incorrect : Gross inflows in December 2025 were 17.2% higher than December 2024. Hence, they were not lower.

Statement 3 – Correct

Major sources of inflows included:

• Singapore
• Netherlands
• Mauritius

These accounted for over 80% of total inflows.

Statement 4 – Incorrect

FDI and FPI are different:

• FDI: Long-term investment with management control (generally ≥10% ownership).
• FPI: Portfolio investment in financial assets without management control; more volatile and short-term.