27th August 2025

Explanation — Lakshadweep is India’s smallest UT (area ~32 sq km). All indigenous inhabitants are classified as Scheduled Tribes; there are no Scheduled Castes in the UT, as per official state profile. 

Explanation — The Eight Degree Channel separates Minicoy Island (India) and the northern atolls of the Maldives; the Nine Degree Channel separates Minicoy from the main Lakshadweep archipelago. 

Explanation — ASI, founded in 1861 by Alexander (James) Cunningham, is an attached office of the Ministry of Culture, tasked with conservation of monuments and archaeological research; it evolved from the scholarly tradition initiated by the Asiatic Society (1784), with ASI regarded as institutional successor in function and mandate. 

Explanation — The Sutlej (Satadree) is the longest eastern tributary of the Indus, originating near Lake Rakshastal in southwestern Tibet north of the Himalayas, entering India via Shipki La; thus statement 2 is incorrect. It meets the Beas in Punjab, and the Sutlej–Beas stretch forms about 105 km of the India–Pakistan border before the Sutlej joins the Chenab to form the Panjnad. 

Explanation — CERT-In is the national nodal agency for cyber incident response, providing early warnings, advisories, and incident handling on a 24×7 basis under the Ministry of Electronics and IT, not under the National Security Council Secretariat. It is designated as the national agency for cybersecurity functions under Section 70B of the IT Act and operates as an office within MeitY.