🧠 𝐃𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐙 | 𝟎𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 | 𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 & 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲
📚 𝐓𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜: 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐂𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 (𝐈𝐁𝐂𝐀)
🎯 𝐔𝐏𝐒𝐂 | 𝐖𝐁𝐂𝐒 | 𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐂
🤔 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬?

Let's start our Mega Quiz

Q1. With reference to the PM E-DRIVE (PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle
Enhancement) scheme, consider the following statements:
1. The scheme was approved under the Ministry of Heavy Industries to accelerate the
adoption of electric vehicles across India.
2. It provides targeted financial subsidies for electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers,
ambulances, and public electric buses.
3. The scheme offers direct capital purchase subsidies for privately owned luxury electric
passenger motorcars

Q2. With reference to the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) initiated by India, consider the
following statements:
1. It is an international treaty-based organization headquartered in India dedicated to
conserving seven major big cat species.
2. The alliance facilitates ecological research, capacity building, technical assistance, and
financial resource mobilization.
3. Membership in the alliance is strictly restricted to sovereign countries that currently have
wild tiger populations.
Which of the statements given above are correct?

Q3. Consider the following statements regarding the Constitutional Pardoning Powers under
Articles 72 and 161:
1. The President has the exclusive power to grant pardon in all cases where the sentence is a
sentence of death.
2. The Governor has no constitutional power to pardon or commute sentences passed by a
military Court Martial.
3. The exercise of pardoning power by the President and Governor is subject to limited
judicial review on grounds of malafide

Q4. With reference to the structure of Ecological Pyramids in natural biomes, consider the
following statements:
1. In open ocean ecosystems, the pyramid of biomass is inverted because the standing
biomass of phytoplankton is smaller than that of zooplankton.
2. The rapid reproduction and high turnover rate of phytoplankton allow a smaller standing
mass to sustain a larger consumer biomass.
3. The pyramid of energy flow becomes inverted in temperate deciduous forests due to
seasonal leaf shedding during autumn.

Q5. Consider the following statements regarding the Subtropical High-Pressure Belts (Horse
Latitudes) in planetary climatology:
1. The Subtropical High-Pressure Belts are dynamically induced zones situated between
thirty and thirty-five degrees north and south latitudes.
2. The world's major hot subtropical continental deserts are located predominantly along
the western margins of landmasses in these latitudes.
3. The calm weather conditions in the Horse Latitudes are caused by intense solar surface
heating producing violent ascending convective updrafts.

💡 NOBEL PRIZE IN MEDICINE 2026 | LIGHT CONTROLS THE BRAIN

What happens when light meets neuroscience? 🔬✨

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recognises groundbreaking work on optogenetics and light-gated ion channels—a technology that allows scientists to control specific nerve cells using light.

🔹 Laureates: Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann & Georg Nagel
🔹 Key Concept: Optogenetics = Genetics + Light
🔹 Significance: Understanding neural circuits, memory, behaviour and neurological disorders

📚 Why it matters for UPSC | WBCS | OPSC:
A crucial development at the intersection of Science & Technology, Biotechnology and Neuroscience.👆