UPSC Quiz – 2026 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz 23rd October 2026

Solution (d)
Explanation: Diamondyne is an allotrope of carbon with an expanded, diamond-like three-dimensional network that combines sp-hybridised and sp³-hybridised carbon atoms, containing carbon-carbon triple bonds in diyne groups alongside single bonds. Its expanded framework creates voids, making it more porous than conventional diamond — a feature that may offer opportunities in materials engineering, chemical processing and energy-related technologies, though its electronic, mechanical and chemical properties remain under investigation and practical applications have not yet been established. Statement 2 is correct: diamondyne is the first experimentally synthesised carbon allotrope, other than diamond, reported to form covalent bonds throughout all three dimensions — distinguishing it from graphite (layered sp²), graphene (single layer of sp²-bonded carbon), fullerenes (closed-cage structures) and carbon nanotubes (tubular structures), none of which form a complete 3D covalent network. Statement 3 is correct: it was synthesised through a controlled cascade reaction at a liquid–liquid interface, where copper(II) fluoride helps generate reactive alkyne groups and catalyses their coupling, producing thin carbon films containing diamondyne crystallites, examined using electron microscopy. The study was published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition on 14 September 2026 by researchers from the University of Gothenburg, Chalmers University of Technology and Stockholm University.
Why this question? The 3D covalent network uniqueness and the sp/sp³ hybridisation combination are the core conceptual discriminators, with synthesis details adding precision.
Why important for UPSC? Advanced materials, carbon allotropes and materials chemistry are emerging S&T prelims themes.
PYQ Pattern Link: Similar to questions on carbon allotropes, their structural features and distinguishing properties.

Solution (a)
Explanation: CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) was adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in 2016 to address the growth of CO₂ emissions from international aviation. Airlines monitor and report covered emissions and meet applicable offsetting requirements using eligible emissions units, and can also reduce offsetting requirements through qualifying CORSIA-eligible fuels. Its baseline for 2021–2023 compared emissions with 2019 levels, while for 2024–2035 the baseline is 85% of 2019 emissions. Its phases are: 2021–2023 (voluntary participation, first phase), 2024–2026 (voluntary participation, first phase), and 2027–2035 (second phase, with participation determined by ICAO criteria and exemptions based on aviation-related and socioeconomic criteria — notably, the second phase is not an unconditional requirement for every state). Crucially, CORSIA applies to international aviation, not domestic flights. Option (b) misattributes it to the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement. Option (c) misattributes it to IATA and misstates it as a mandatory SAF blending scheme. Option (d) misdescribes it as an EU carbon tax. India is preparing to implement SAF blending targets for international flights — 1% in 2027, 2% in 2028 and 5% in 2030 — and in April 2026 amended the ATF Control Order to include SAF-blended aviation fuel within the regulatory framework. Note that India’s SAF percentages are indicative blending targets, not the same as CORSIA’s international emissions-offsetting obligations, and SAF must meet both technical fuel-quality standards and CORSIA sustainability criteria to qualify as CORSIA-eligible fuel.
Why this question? The ICAO (not UNFCCC/IATA) attribution and the international-only scope are the primary discriminators, with SAF blending vs. offsetting obligations as a conceptual trap.
Why important for UPSC? Aviation emissions, international climate frameworks and sustainable fuels are emerging environment-IR prelims themes.
PYQ Pattern Link: Similar to one-liner questions on international climate schemes, their governing bodies and scope of application.

Solution (d)
Explanation: The SUVIKALP Mine Repurposing Tool is an in-house, data-driven tool for mine repurposing developed by the Coal Controller Organisation (CCO) under the Ministry of Coal, Government of India, with the objective of identifying and prioritising suitable alternative uses for closed or abandoned mines through scientific, evidence-based decision-making. It received the SKOCH Gold Award 2026 in the category Digital Operational Efficiency – Data Driven Decision Making, recognising its role in promoting data-driven and sustainable reuse of post-mining land. Its key features include project evaluation (assessing and ranking proposals using technical, environmental, social and economic criteria), sustainable land use (converting post-mining areas into productive assets), implementation support (working alongside PRISM to translate selected projects into implementable plans), and community benefits (encouraging environmental restoration, alternative livelihoods, local development and economic diversification). PRISM (Post-Mining Repurposing Implementation Strategy Model) supports implementation after a suitable project is identified through SUVIKALP, providing project concepts and implementation approaches, case studies and sample Detailed Project Reports (DPRs), and tender documents and information on relevant implementing agencies. The Coal Controller Organisation (CCO) was established in 1916, is one of the oldest offices in India’s coal sector, functions under the Ministry of Coal, and collects and maintains monthly coal-production data, inspects collieries and performs functions relating to coal grades, mine permissions and coal-data reporting. All three statements are accurate.
Why this question? Tests the SUVIKALP-PRISM division of labour and the CCO’s institutional antiquity—two complementary facts in one stem.
Why important for UPSC? Sustainable mining, post-mining land use and coal-sector institutions are recurring environment-economy prelims themes.
PYQ Pattern Link: Similar to questions on mining-sector institutions, land reclamation and data-driven governance tools.

Solution (a)
Explanation: Centaurus X-3 is a high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) containing a pulsar and a massive companion star, located in the constellation Centaurus, approximately 24,000 light-years from Earth. The pulsar is a rapidly rotating, highly magnetised neutron star that emits periodic radiation, with a rotation period of approximately 4.84 seconds; the companion star is an O-type massive star with a mass more than 10 times that of the Sun. The system has an orbital period of approximately 2.087 days. On 21 October 2026, the Department of Science and Technology reported a study by scientists at the Raman Research Institute (RRI), an autonomous institution under DST, revealing evidence that Centaurus X-3 accretes matter through an accretion disk — an unusual mechanism for a high-mass X-ray binary system. Researchers analysed four secondary emission lines using observations from XMM-Newton, the European Space Agency’s X-ray space observatory; variations in these lines indicated that an accretion stream co-rotates with the pulsar, channelling matter from the accretion disk towards the neutron star’s magnetic poles — findings that suggest disk-fed accretion occurs in Centaurus X-3, challenging the usual expectation for HMXBs. Options (b), (c) and (d) misstate the system type, location or orbital characteristics.
Why this question? The HMXB classification, pulsar rotation period and accretion-disk finding are the primary discriminators, with other astronomical object types as distractors.
Why important for UPSC? X-ray binaries, neutron stars and Indian institutional contributions to astrophysics are recurring S&T prelims themes.
PYQ Pattern Link: Similar to one-liner questions identifying astronomical objects by their type, key parameters and observing institutions.

Solution (c)
Explanation: Agrivoltaics is the simultaneous use of the same land for agricultural activities and solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity generation, operating on the principle of “One land, two harvests” — food production alongside solar power generation — with solar panels installed above crops or integrated with agricultural activities, allowing cultivation to continue underneath or between panels. Its benefits include dual income from crops and electricity, reduced competition for land, reduced heat stress and water loss, and rural jobs and decentralised energy; its challenges include higher initial installation costs, crop-specific panel height and spacing requirements, potential shading-related yield losses in some crops, and grid connectivity, financing and farmer safeguards. At the 7th AgriVoltaics World Conference 2026 in New Delhi on 21 October 2026, the Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy highlighted that installing agrivoltaic systems on just 10% of India’s technically suitable agricultural land could potentially meet the country’s projected electricity demand up to 2050, and the government announced plans for an ambitious agrivoltaics programme under the next phase of PM-KUSUM. eMudhra Limited is an Indian digital trust and cybersecurity company headquartered in Bengaluru, established in 2008, providing Digital Signature Certificates (DSCs), electronic signatures (eSign), website-security certificates and digital identity solutions, issuing digital certificates that verify identities and establish trust in online transactions. In the security incident, eight intermediate CA certificates in eMudhra’s global Transport Layer Security (TLS) business were found compromised, caused by insufficient cryptographic randomness during private-key generation that made the keys recoverable — potentially allowing attackers to issue fraudulent certificates, impersonate legitimate websites and facilitate man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks. The affected intermediate certificates were revoked, and browser and operating-system trust programmes took steps to block or distrust the affected certificate chain. Crucially, CERT-In and MeitY stated that India’s regulated Digital Signature Certificate and eSign services were not affected, and eMudhra reported that the affected intermediates had not issued end-entity certificates; MeitY constituted a special team to investigate. Both statements are accurate.
Why this question? Combines renewable energy-agriculture integration (agrivoltaics benefits and PM-KUSUM linkage) with cybersecurity (CA compromise mechanism and the unaffected-regulated-services clarification) in a two-part format testing breadth.
Why important for UPSC? Agrivoltaics, PM-KUSUM and digital trust infrastructure are recurring prelims themes across environment, agriculture and cybersecurity.
PYQ Pattern Link: Similar to questions on dual-use land technologies and on certificate authority compromises and their implications for digital trust.