Government schemes & initiatives

Answer: (b) Only two

Only statements 2 and 3 are correct. Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) is a centrally sponsored safe motherhood scheme under the National Health Mission that promotes institutional delivery among poor pregnant women to cut maternal and newborn deaths. Free care for sick infants comes from a different scheme, JSSK.

• ✗ 1. The Health Ministry describes JSY as a safe motherhood intervention under the National Health Mission and as a centrally sponsored scheme, not a scheme of the State Health Departments.
• ✓ 2. Reducing maternal and neonatal mortality is the stated objective of JSY, which targets poor pregnant women.
• ✓ 3. JSY pursues that objective by promoting institutional delivery, with cash assistance linked to delivery and post-delivery care, and ASHA workers as the link to pregnant women.
• ✗ 4. Treatment of sick newborns and infants up to one year in public health institutions, free of charge, is the job of Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK, 2011), not JSY.

Remember · JSY (2005): centrally sponsored, under NHM, cash aid to poor women for institutional delivery. Sick infants up to one year are covered by JSSK, a separate scheme.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Only three

Statements 2, 3 and 4 are correct; statement 1 is wrong. Anaemia Mukt Bharat supplies prophylactic iron and folic acid, not calcium, and adds deworming, a behaviour-change campaign that includes delayed cord clamping, and action on non-nutritional causes such as malaria, haemoglobinopathies and fluorosis.

• ✗ 1. The first of the six interventions is prophylactic Iron Folic Acid supplementation (for example, 60 mg iron plus 500 mcg folic acid tablets for pregnant women). Calcium supplementation is not part of it.
• ✓ 2. The year-round Behaviour Change Communication campaign includes promoting the practice of delayed cord clamping.
• ✓ 3. Periodic deworming runs through National Deworming Day, with mass deworming of children and adolescents aged 1 to 19 years twice a year, on 10 February and 10 August.
• ✓ 4. The strategy includes awareness, screening and treatment of non-nutritional causes of anaemia in endemic pockets, with special focus on malaria, haemoglobinopathies and fluorosis.

Remember · Anaemia Mukt Bharat's six interventions: iron-folic acid, deworming, behaviour-change (incl. delayed cord clamping), testing and treatment, fortified foods, non-nutritional causes. No calcium.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) All three

All three statements are correct. Green hydrogen is hydrogen made by splitting water with renewable electricity, and it is chemically the same fuel as any other hydrogen: it can burn in an engine, be mixed into natural gas, or feed a fuel cell.

• ✓ 1. Hydrogen internal combustion engines are in use: India's pilot projects under the National Green Hydrogen Mission include 22 hydrogen internal-combustion vehicles.
• ✓ 2. Hydrogen is already being blended into gas networks in India, for example up to 8% by volume in a piped natural gas network in Surat, for use as fuel.
• ✓ 3. Hydrogen fuel cells power vehicles; the same pilot projects include 15 fuel-cell vehicles, and hydrogen fuel-cell buses already run in Leh and Greater Noida.

Remember · Green hydrogen (made by electrolysis with renewable power) works as engine fuel, as a blend in natural gas, and in fuel cells for vehicles.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II is the correct explanation for Statement-I

Both statements are true, and they are connected. National Handloom Day is observed on 7 August because that date marks the anniversary of the Swadeshi Movement of 1905, which urged Indians to boycott foreign goods and use Indian-made ones.

• ✓ Statement-I 7 August is observed as National Handloom Day. It was first celebrated in 2015, when the Prime Minister inaugurated it in Chennai.
• ✓ Statement-II The Swadeshi Movement of 1905 was launched on 7 August, the very day now kept as National Handloom Day. The Ministry of Textiles chose the date to mark that anniversary, so Statement-II explains Statement-I; the movement urged people to boycott foreign goods and back Indian-made ones.

Remember · National Handloom Day is 7 August, first observed in 2015. The date honours the Swadeshi Movement of 1905, launched on 7 August.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Statement-I is incorrect but Statement-II is correct

Statement-I is wrong: India's share of world merchandise (goods) exports in 2022 was 1.8%, not 3.2%. Statement-II is correct: both Indian and foreign firms have been approved for incentives under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.

• ✗ Statement-I The WTO's World Trade Statistical Review 2023 ranks India 18th among merchandise exporters in 2022, with exports of about US$ 453 billion, a 1.8% share of world exports. The figure of 3.2% does not match.
• ✓ Statement-II The PLI scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing drew foreign players such as Foxconn, Samsung, Pegatron and Wistron, and domestic firms such as Lava, Micromax, Optiemus and Padget Electronics.

Remember · India's share of world goods exports in 2022 was 1.8% (18th largest exporter, WTO). PLI incentives have gone to both domestic and global manufacturers.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Only two

Only pairs 1 and 3 are correct. The Arjuna Award rewards good performance over the previous four years, not lifetime achievement, and the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar goes to corporate entities, sports bodies and NGOs, not to retired sportspersons.

• ✓ 1. The Khel Ratna, the highest sports honour, rewards a sportsperson whose performance has been spectacular and among the very best across the four years before the award.
• ✗ 2. The Arjuna Award rewards good performance across the previous four years, along with leadership, sportsmanship and discipline. Lifetime achievement is honoured by the Dhyan Chand Award.
• ✓ 3. The Dronacharya Award honours coaches whose consistent and meritorious work has helped their trainees perform well at international events.
• ✗ 4. The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar is given to corporate entities, sports control boards and NGOs (including sports bodies) that have played a visible role in promoting sports. Honouring sportspersons for what they do after retirement belongs to the Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement.

Remember · Khel Ratna and Arjuna: performance over the previous four years. Dronacharya: coaches. Dhyan Chand Award: lifetime achievement. Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar: corporates, sports bodies and NGOs.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error