UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — More students fancy snuff
Q1. Which one of the following statements correctly describes a provision of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 as it applies to smokeless tobacco products such as snuff?
- A. Section 6 restricts their sale to persons below eighteen years of age and within a radius of one hundred yards of any educational institution
- B. Section 4 outlaws every form of sale, storage and consumption of such products in all public places throughout the country
- C. Section 7 makes the manufacture of all powdered and chewed tobacco preparations permanently unlawful in every State
- D. Section 12 permits a police officer of any rank whatsoever to seize stocks and shut down the premises of any dealer
Q2. Consider the following statements regarding smokeless tobacco (SLT) and snuff:
1. Snuff is consumed by sniffing powdered tobacco nasally and, unlike khaini and gutka, is never taken in any oral form.
2. Mishri, gul and creamy snuff are smokeless tobacco preparations used in India, at times applied to the teeth and gums as dentifrices.
3. Smokeless tobacco is used by an estimated 300 million people worldwide, with the highest rates of use in South-Central Asia, South-East Asia and Melanesia.
4. Smokeless tobacco products are by definition free of nicotine, the health risk arising exclusively from the areca nut mixed into them.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- Snuff is consumed by sniffing powdered tobacco nasally and, unlike khaini and gutka, is never taken in any oral form.
- Mishri, gul and creamy snuff are smokeless tobacco preparations used in India, at times applied to the teeth and gums as dentifrices.
- Smokeless tobacco is used by an estimated 300 million people worldwide, with the highest rates of use in South-Central Asia, South-East Asia and Melanesia.
- Smokeless tobacco products are by definition free of nicotine, the health risk arising exclusively from the areca nut mixed into them.
- A. 1 and 4
- B. 2 and 3
- C. 3 and 4
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q3. The 2024 study estimating that one third of oral cancer cases worldwide in 2022 were attributable to smokeless tobacco and areca nut use was produced by which one of the following bodies?
- A. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Convention Secretariat
- B. The International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai
- C. The International Agency for Research on Cancer
- D. The Union for International Cancer Control, Geneva
Q4. Of the oral cancer cases worldwide in 2022 attributed to smokeless tobacco and areca nut use, the largest share — nearly nine in ten — occurred in which one of the following regions?
- A. South-Eastern Asia
- B. Western Africa
- C. South-Central Asia
- D. Melanesia and the Pacific islands
Q5. The bans imposed by States on gutka and pan masala containing tobacco or nicotine have been enforced chiefly under which one of the following central provisions?
- A. Section 7 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 on packaging and labelling
- B. Regulation 2.3.4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011
- C. Section 20 of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 on cognizance of offences
- D. Rule 4 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Rules, 2008
Q6. Consider the following pairs relating to the regulation of tobacco, including smokeless tobacco, in India:
1. Section 4, Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 — prohibition of advertisement of cigarettes and other tobacco products through any medium
2. Section 12, Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 — power of entry and search exercisable by an officer not below the rank of Sub-Inspector
3. Regulation 2.3.4, Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011 — bar on using tobacco and nicotine as ingredients in any food product
4. Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Amendment) Act, 2007 — statute by which the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India was constituted
Which of the above is/are NOT correctly matched?
- Section 4, Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 — prohibition of advertisement of cigarettes and other tobacco products through any medium
- Section 12, Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 — power of entry and search exercisable by an officer not below the rank of Sub-Inspector
- Regulation 2.3.4, Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011 — bar on using tobacco and nicotine as ingredients in any food product
- Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Amendment) Act, 2007 — statute by which the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India was constituted
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 4 only
- D. 2, 3 and 4
Q7. Consider the following as stated objectives or components of the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP):
1. Creating awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco consumption
2. Ensuring effective implementation of the provisions of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003
3. Helping people quit tobacco use through Tobacco Cessation Centres
4. Assuring a minimum support price to tobacco growers and guaranteeing procurement of the leaf crop
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- Creating awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco consumption
- Ensuring effective implementation of the provisions of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003
- Helping people quit tobacco use through Tobacco Cessation Centres
- Assuring a minimum support price to tobacco growers and guaranteeing procurement of the leaf crop
- A. 1 only
- B. 2 and 3
- C. 3 and 4
- D. 4 only
Q8. In the Tobacco-Free Educational Institutions (ToFEI) Implementation Manual, the 'yellow line' activity refers to which one of the following?
- A. A line marked one hundred yards around an educational institution, within which tobacco vendors are not to operate
- B. A line painted along an institution's boundary wall demarcating an area where staff members may smoke
- C. A yellow band printed on tobacco packs sold in districts already covered by the tobacco control programme
- D. A line marked one hundred metres from every tobacco cessation centre, within which food stalls are barred
Q9. With reference to the geography of the snuff industry in India as recorded in the survey of the trade, consider the following statements:
1. Madras was the country's largest snuff-producing centre.
2. The tobacco used as raw material was drawn mainly from Andhra Pradesh.
3. Gujarat, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh were other production centres, contributing only a small fraction of national output.
4. Kerala was the leading snuff-producing State, accounting for the bulk of the country's output.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- Madras was the country's largest snuff-producing centre.
- The tobacco used as raw material was drawn mainly from Andhra Pradesh.
- Gujarat, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh were other production centres, contributing only a small fraction of national output.
- Kerala was the leading snuff-producing State, accounting for the bulk of the country's output.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 4 only
- C. 2 and 4
- D. 1, 2 and 4
Q10. Consider the following statements about how the Indian snuff trade changed over time, as reported in the survey of the industry:
1. In the principal production centre the number of snuff manufacturers rose from about a dozen to over a hundred in roughly four decades.
2. Annual snuff production at that centre was reported at about 2,367 tonnes.
3. Snuff was earlier associated with ceremonial and elite consumption, carried in ornate snuff boxes, before it became a mass-market product.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- In the principal production centre the number of snuff manufacturers rose from about a dozen to over a hundred in roughly four decades.
- Annual snuff production at that centre was reported at about 2,367 tonnes.
- Snuff was earlier associated with ceremonial and elite consumption, carried in ornate snuff boxes, before it became a mass-market product.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q11. Consider the following, said to be among the decisions adopted at the Eleventh Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control:
1. A decision on tobacco control and the environment, addressing the environmental harms of tobacco
2. A decision on increasing sustainable resources for tobacco control
3. A decision on strengthening implementation of Article 19, relating to the liability of the tobacco industry
4. A decision fixing a binding global minimum excise rate of 75 per cent on all smokeless tobacco products
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- A decision on tobacco control and the environment, addressing the environmental harms of tobacco
- A decision on increasing sustainable resources for tobacco control
- A decision on strengthening implementation of Article 19, relating to the liability of the tobacco industry
- A decision fixing a binding global minimum excise rate of 75 per cent on all smokeless tobacco products
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 1, 2 and 3
- C. 2, 3 and 4
- D. 1 and 4 only
Q12. As reported by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the cumulative number of persons who had been assisted through India's toll-free National Tobacco Quitline up to April 2026 was of the order of:
- A. About 65 thousand
- B. About 6.5 lakh
- C. About 16.5 lakh
- D. About 65 lakh