UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Falling edifice

Q1. The PM-UDAY scheme, launched in October 2019, seeks to confer or recognise ownership, mortgage and transfer rights on the residents of how many unauthorised colonies in Delhi?

  • A. 895 unauthorised colonies
  • B. 1,511 unauthorised colonies
  • C. 1,731 unauthorised colonies
  • D. 2,489 unauthorised colonies

Q2. In the context of the 2026 hostel collapse, the locality of Satya Niketan is best described as which one of the following?

  • A. A resettlement colony developed by the Delhi Development Authority for households displaced by slum clearance in the walled city
  • B. A planned institutional area notified for university-run residential facilities and staff quarters of central universities
  • C. A rural revenue village within the urbanisable limits of Delhi, governed by a gram sabha and exempt from municipal bye-laws
  • D. A land-scarce, densely built residential colony adjoining a university campus that has informally grown into a paying-guest and hostel hub

Q3. Which of the following are correctly identified as features of the Disaster Management (Amendment) Act, 2025?

  1. It inserts an enabling provision, Section 41A, empowering State Governments to constitute Urban Disaster Management Authorities.
  2. Such Urban Disaster Management Authorities may be constituted in State capitals and all cities having a Municipal Corporation, excluding the NCT of Delhi and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
  3. It confers statutory status on the National Crisis Management Committee and the High Level Committee.
  4. It transfers the function of preparing the national plan for disaster management from the National Disaster Management Authority to the National Crisis Management Committee.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 2 and 4
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q4. As per the All India Survey on Higher Education for 2023-24, which one of the following groups recorded the highest Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education?

  • A. Scheduled Tribe students enrolled in higher education
  • B. Scheduled Caste students enrolled in higher education
  • C. Female students enrolled in higher education
  • D. All students taken together in higher education

Q5. The indicator used in the All India Survey on Higher Education to measure participation in higher education is calculated as which one of the following?

  • A. Total enrolment in higher education, regardless of the age of the students, as a percentage of the population in the 18-23 years age group
  • B. Enrolment of students aged 18-23 years as a percentage of all persons who passed the higher secondary examination in that academic year
  • C. Proportion of students admitted to a programme who complete it within the stipulated duration prescribed for that programme
  • D. Share of the eligible age-group population that applied for admission to higher educational institutions during the reference year

Q6. The National Capital Civil Services Authority, established by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2023, is best described as which one of the following?

  • A. A standing committee of the unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi that oversees the appointment and removal of the Municipal Commissioner
  • B. A board under the Ministry of Home Affairs that conducts recruitment to the Union Territory civil services cadre serving Delhi and other Union Territories
  • C. A tribunal that adjudicates service disputes between the Government of NCT of Delhi and officers posted in its departments and local bodies
  • D. A body that makes recommendations to the Lieutenant Governor on transfers and postings of officials serving in Delhi and on disciplinary matters

Q7. Which of the following statements about the civic and administrative structure of the National Capital Territory of Delhi are correct?

  1. The National Capital Civil Services Authority comprises the Chief Minister of Delhi, the Chief Secretary of Delhi and the Principal Home Secretary of Delhi.
  2. The three municipal corporations into which the erstwhile corporation had been trifurcated were consolidated into a single Municipal Corporation of Delhi in 2022.
  3. The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2023 was enacted to give effect to the intent and purpose behind the provisions of Article 239AA of the Constitution.
  4. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi is constituted under the Delhi Development Act, 1957.
  • A. 1 and 4
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 2, 3 and 4
  • D. 3 only

Q8. Which one of the following is the principal national technical instrument covering the provisions for planning, design, construction and operation and maintenance of buildings in India, which States and local bodies are expected to draw upon while framing their building regulations?

  • A. The Model Building Bye-Laws issued by the Town and Country Planning Organisation under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
  • B. The National Building Code of India, 2016, brought out by the Bureau of Indian Standards
  • C. The National Disaster Management Guidelines on structural safety issued by the National Disaster Management Authority
  • D. The Unified Building Bye-Laws for Delhi, notified after unification and simplification of earlier amendments

Q9. The fund from which ex-gratia was announced for the next of kin of those killed in the Dayalpur building collapse in North East Delhi is best described as which one of the following?

  • A. A relief fund from which the Prime Minister approves discretionary ex-gratia payments to those affected by major accidents and calamities
  • B. A fund placed at the disposal of each State Government, from which relief is provided for notified disasters as per approved items and norms
  • C. A central fund from which additional assistance is extended in disasters of a severe nature after an Inter-Ministerial Central Team assessment
  • D. A statutory corpus under the Ministry of Home Affairs that finances mitigation projects and capacity-building undertaken by the NDMA