Human body, health & diseases

Answer: (a) immunization of children and pregnant women

Mission Indradhanush is the Health Ministry's catch-up vaccination drive, launched in December 2014 under the Universal Immunization Programme. It targets districts and pockets where many children are unvaccinated or partly vaccinated, and also vaccinates pregnant women, with the aim of raising full immunisation coverage of children to 90%.

• ✓ (a) In its first three phases the mission reached more than 2.1 crore children and also vaccinated 55.9 lakh pregnant women against tetanus (MoHFW).
• ✗ (b) Urban development of 100 cities is the Smart Cities Mission (2015) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• ✗ (c) Indradhanush ('rainbow') refers to the several vaccine-preventable diseases the drive targets; it has no link to astronomy or exoplanet searches.

Remember · Mission Indradhanush (December 2014, MoHFW): intensified vaccination of unvaccinated/partly vaccinated children and pregnant women in low-coverage areas; goal of 90% full immunisation.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1, 2 and 4

Regulation 2.2.2 of the 2011 FSSAI rules listed what every pre-packaged food label must carry: the name of the food, a list of ingredients (with additives), nutritional information, the veg/non-veg symbol, food-additive declarations, the maker's name and address, net quantity, batch number, dates and so on. A general statement of medical advice on possible allergic reactions was not among these mandatory items.

• ✓ 1. Except for single-ingredient foods, ingredients had to be listed on the label under a heading such as 'Ingredients', in descending order of weight or volume, with additives declared.
• ✓ 2. Nutritional information per 100 g, 100 ml or per serving (energy in kcal, protein, carbohydrate with sugar, fat) was required, with exemptions for items such as raw agricultural commodities.
• ✗ 3. The 2011 regulations had no general requirement to print medical recommendations about allergic reactions; allergy-related wording appeared only in special cases such as hypoallergenic infant formula.
• ✓ 4. Every package had to carry the green (vegetarian) or brown (non-vegetarian) symbol in the prescribed square-and-circle form.
• • Since then The 2011 rules have since been replaced by the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020, which now require a separate 'Contains...' declaration of common food allergens (FSSAI compendium).

Remember · FSSAI labelling (2011): name, ingredients with additives, nutrition facts, veg/non-veg symbol, maker, net quantity, batch, dates. Mandatory allergen declaration arrived only with the 2020 Labelling and Display Regulations.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

Viruses can infect every kind of cell-based life: bacteriophages infect bacteria, mycoviruses infect fungi and plant viruses such as the Tobacco Mosaic Virus infect plants. All three statements are correct.

• ✓ 1. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria; NCERT describes the Hershey-Chase experiment that used them.
• ✓ 2. Mycoviruses are viruses that infect fungi; the first was reported in 1962 from the cultivated mushroom Agaricus bisporus.
• ✓ 3. NCERT names microscopic plant viruses, and shows the rod-shaped Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) as an example.

Remember · Viruses multiply only inside a living host cell and can infect bacteria (bacteriophages), fungi (mycoviruses), plants (e.g. TMV) and animals.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Curiosity, Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Biology, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error