Answer: (B)
The Atacama Desert is primarily located in northern Chile, but its arid landscape and high-altitude plateaus (the Puna de Atacama) extend into three neighboring countries.
Chile: The core of the desert, covering its northern provinces.
Peru: Extends along the southern coast (contiguous with the Chilean section).
Bolivia: Encompasses the high-altitude arid fringes and salt flats in the southwest.
Argentina: Includes the high plateau known as the Puna de Atacama in the northwest.
Brazil (dominated by rainforests/savannas) and Ecuador (tropical/equatorial climate) do not have any part of the Atacama.

Therefore , option B is the correct answer.

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Consider the following statements:
1. Saudi Arabia is one of the five founding members of OPEC
2. The primary goal of OPEC is to stabilize oil prices in the global market.
3. The OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) is a pricing benchmark that calculates the
weighted average of various petroleum blends exclusively from OPEC member
countries.

Answer: (C)
OPEC was established during the Baghdad Conference in September 1960. The five "Founding Members" who signed the original agreement are Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
According to the OPEC Statute, the organization's principal aim is the coordination and unification of the petroleum policies of its Member Countries. The goal is to determine the best means for safeguarding their interests, individually and collectively, while ensuring the stabilization of prices in international oil markets to eliminate harmful and unnecessary fluctuations. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
The OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) is a crucial tool used by the organization to monitor global oil market conditions. It is a weighted average of the prices of petroleum blends produced by the Member Countries. It acts as a benchmark to help OPEC evaluate whether they need to adjust production levels to maintain market stability. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Therefore, option C is the correct answer.

Consider the following statements:
1. The SCO is a military alliance with a mutual defence obligation among member
countries.
2. India was officially admitted as a full member of the SCO at the Astana Summit.

Answer: (B)
The SCO is not a military alliance. It is a regional intergovernmental organization.Unlike a mutual defense bloc (like NATO), the SCO has no "attack on one is an attack on all" clause. Its primary security focus is the "Three Evils": Terrorism, Separatism, and Extremism, handled through the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) mechanism. Hence statement 1 is incorrect.
India and Pakistan were officially elevated from observers to full members during the Astana Summit in Kazakhstan in June 2017.Hence statement 2 is correct.

Therefore, option B is the correct answer.

Consider the following statements regarding the United Nations Human Rights Council
(UNHRC) and its mechanisms
1. All Member States of the United Nations (UN) automatically become members of the UNHRC.
2. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique mechanism that reviews the all UN Member States once every five years.
3. Decisions and resolutions passed by the UNHRC are legally binding on the member states.

Answer: (C)
The National Statistical Office (NSO) was established in May 2019 through the merger of two premier statistical wings: the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). Functioning as the executive arm of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the NSO serves as the nodal agency for the planned development of India’s statistical system. It is responsible for the compilation and release of critical macroeconomic indicators, including the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), which measures short-term changes in the volume of industrial products, and the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks retail inflation across rural and urban sectors. Hence,Statement 1 is Correct
NSO has recently undergone a significant Base Year Revision to better reflect the evolving structure of the Indian economy. As of February 2026, the base year for GDP and IIP has been transitioned to 2022-23, while the CPI base year has been revised to 2024. This update incorporates the latest data from the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2023-24 and utilizes advanced methodologies like double deflation for the manufacturing sector to ensure greater accuracy and international comparability. Hence,Statement 2 is Correct.

Therefore, option C is the correct answer.

Consider the following statements regarding the United Nations Human Rights Council
(UNHRC) and its mechanisms
1. All Member States of the United Nations (UN) automatically become members of the
UNHRC.
2. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique mechanism that reviews the all UN
Member States once every five years.
3. Decisions and resolutions passed by the UNHRC are legally binding on the member
states.

Answer: (B)
UN membership does not grant automatic membership to the UNHRC. The UNHRC is a limited-seat body of only 47 members. A UN member state must be specifically elected by the General Assembly to sit on the Council. Hence,Statement 1 is Incorrect
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is indeed the Council's most inclusive mechanism. It reviews the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States approximately every 4.5 to 5 years. Hence,Statement 2 is Correct
UNHRC resolutions are not legally binding. Unlike the UN Security Council (which can pass binding resolutions under Chapter VII), the UNHRC’s outputs are recommendations that carry moral and political weight but lack legal enforcement power. Hence,Statement 3 is Incorrect

Therefore, option B is the correct answer.

Consider the following countries
1. Somalia
2. Ethiopia
3. Sudan
4. Uganda
5. Tanzania
6. Rwanda

Answer: (B)
Kenya is strategically located in East Africa. It is bordered by five countries:
● East: Somalia
● North: Ethiopia
● North-West: South Sudan
● West: Uganda
● South: Tanzania

Therefore, option B is the correct answer

Consider the following statements regarding the Anti-Defection Law (Tenth Schedule) in
India:
1. An elected member of a House shall be disqualified for being a member of the House
if they voluntarily give up the membership of their political party.
2. A member is protected from disqualification if they defect to another party along with
at least one-third of the members of their original legislative party.

Answer: (A)
Under the Tenth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, an elected member of a House (Parliament or State Legislature) is disqualified if they voluntarily give up the membership of the political party on whose ticket they were elected. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
"Voluntarily giving up membership" is not limited to a formal resignation. The Supreme Court has ruled that a member's conduct (e.g., publicly criticizing their own party or attending rallies of an opposition party) can be interpreted as voluntarily giving up
membership. A merger is only valid if at least two-thirds of the members of the legislative party agree to
it. The "one-third" split provision has been completely deleted from the Tenth Schedule to prevent frequent floor-crossing. Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.
Apart from voluntarily resigning, a member can also be disqualified if:
● They vote or abstain from voting in the House contrary to any direction (whip) issued
by their political party without prior permission.
● An independently elected member joins any political party.
● A nominated member joins any political party after the expiry of six months from
the date they take their seat.

Therefore, option A is the correct answer.