UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — ICMR hands over Mobile Stroke Unit to Government of Assam, bringing Life-Saving Stroke Care closer to homes in rural, remote and difficult terrain

Q1. In the context of the ICMR Mobile Stroke Unit, the term 'thrombolysis' refers to which one of the following?

  • A. Administration of clot-busting drugs to dissolve the obstructing clot in acute ischemic stroke
  • B. Surgical evacuation of a blood collection from the brain in haemorrhagic stroke
  • C. Imaging of cerebral blood vessels with a CT scanner to locate the site of a bleed
  • D. Structured physiotherapy administered to reduce long-term post-stroke disability

Q2. The Mobile Stroke Unit was developed and validated by the Indian Council of Medical Research, which functions under which one of the following?

  • A. Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
  • B. Department of Health & Family Welfare, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
  • C. Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology
  • D. Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology

Q3. The Indian Council of Medical Research carries out its intramural research through approximately how many permanent national institutes/regional centres across India?

  • A. About 8
  • B. About 26
  • C. About 55
  • D. About 74

Q4. The ICMR formally handed over the Mobile Stroke Unit(s) to the Government of Assam in which month and year?

  • A. January 2026
  • B. August 2024
  • C. January 2025
  • D. March 2026

Q5. With the transfer and integration of the Mobile Stroke Unit into its Emergency Medical Services, Assam is best described as which one of the following?

  • A. The first Indian state to integrate a Mobile Stroke Unit with its state Emergency Medical Services
  • B. The only Indian state possessing any tertiary neurology facility
  • C. The first Indian state to make stroke a statutorily notifiable disease
  • D. The first Indian state to have entirely eliminated stroke mortality

Q6. During the ICMR Mobile Stroke Unit pilot in the Northeast, the single most dramatic improvement reported was an eight-fold reduction in which one of the following?

  • A. Disability among treated patients
  • B. Deaths among treated patients
  • C. The pre-hospital treatment time window
  • D. The number of monthly emergency calls

Q7. The pilot phase of the Northeast Mobile Stroke Unit, during which over 2,300 emergency calls were logged and 294 suspected stroke cases screened, spanned which of the following periods?

  • A. 2021 to August 2024
  • B. 2019 to 2021
  • C. 2014 to 2020
  • D. 2024 to 2026

Q8. In India, prevention, screening and control of stroke as a non-communicable disease is primarily undertaken through a national programme implemented by which one of the following?

  • A. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
  • B. Ministry of Science and Technology
  • C. Ministry of Ayush
  • D. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment