Ten MCQs on current International and national events - 188

PRERNA FOR IAS

(ASSOCIATE OF SAMKALP)

A-Category MCQs -188

Q1. Article 21 and Women’s Safety

With reference to women’s safety in public spaces, consider the following statements:

1. The right to life and dignity under Article 21 can have implications for the safety of individuals in public spaces.
2. Restricting women’s movement is necessarily the most constitutionally appropriate method of ensuring their safety.
3. Preventive policing and safer urban infrastructure can complement criminal-law enforcement.
4. Technology such as CCTV can assist policing but cannot completely substitute institutional capacity.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1, 3 and 4 only
(c) 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Correct Answer: (b) 1, 3 and 4 only

Explanation: The supplied Hindu summary connects women’s safety with the constitutional right to life and dignity under Article 21. It emphasises that the answer is to make public spaces safer rather than restrict women’s mobility. Preventive policing, lighting, functional CCTV, transport security, investigation and institutional accountability must work together. Statement 2 is therefore incorrect. Elimination clue: security measures that reduce the freedom of the person being protected can contradict the broader objective of liberty and dignity. Technology is useful, but effective governance ultimately requires trained personnel and accountable institutions.

Q2. UPI, MDR and Financial Inclusion

Consider the following statements regarding the policy debate over charges on UPI transactions:

1. Digital-payment infrastructure involves processing, cybersecurity and other operational costs.
2. The rapid adoption of UPI has partly benefited from low transaction costs for users and small merchants.
3. Any payment levy should have a clear legal foundation and transparent incidence.
4. Financial sustainability and financial inclusion are necessarily mutually exclusive objectives.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
(b) 1 and 4 only
(c) 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

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

Explanation: The supplied material notes that banks and payment-service providers incur infrastructure, cybersecurity and processing expenses even when users face little or no direct transaction cost. It also raises the question of the legal basis and incidence of specified merchant charges. Statement 4 is incorrect. Hidden trap: sustainability and inclusion need not be opposites. The policy question is how costs should be distributed among government, banks, merchants and consumers without weakening adoption. Regulation must therefore combine legal authority, transparency, system sustainability and continued accessibility for smaller users and merchants.