9th December 2025

• Statement 1 is correct: ISI was founded in 1931 by P. C. Mahalanobis and was initially registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (and later under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961).
• Statement 2 is correct: It was declared an Institution of National Importance by the Indian Statistical Institute Act, 1959.
• Statement 3 is correct: ISI played a key role in conceiving and developing the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), which underpins India’s official statistical system.
• Statement 4 is incorrect: ISI is not exclusive to Statistics; it also offers education and research in Mathematics, Quantitative Economics, Computer Science, Cryptology, Operations Research, Library and Information Science, etc.

Hence, three statements (1, 2, and 3) are correct.

The draft ISI Bill, 2025:

• Repeals the Indian Statistical Institute Act, 1959 (statement 1).
• Converts ISI from a registered society into a statutory body corporate with a new Board of Governors (statement 2).
• Draws on recommendations of multiple review committees including the Mashelkar Committee (2020) for governance and academic reforms (statement 3).
• Explicitly enables enhanced own-revenue generation via student fees, consultancy, and sponsored research (e.g., through provisions like Section 29) (statement 4).

So all four statements are correct.

Statement 1 is incorrect: India does not have a standalone, consolidated BNS chapter specifically defining “hate speech” as a distinct, self-contained offence.

• Statement 2 is correct: Section 196 BNS (successor to IPC 153A) and Section 299 BNS (successor to IPC 295A) are among the key provisions invoked in hate-speech-related cases, along with others like Section 353 BNS in certain contexts.
• Statement 3 is correct: In Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015), the Supreme Court struck down Section 66A of the IT Act, 2000, for being vague and unconstitutional.

Thus, only statements 2 and 3 are correct.

Statement 1 is correct: NATGRID was conceived after the 26/11 attacks and set up as an attached office of the MHA (from 1 December 2010).

• Statement 2 is correct: It was reported as becoming operational for designated central security and intelligence agencies around December 31, 2020.
• Statement 3 is incorrect: Access is restricted to specified central agencies and certain senior officers (e.g., SP-rank in some contexts), not all state DSPs by default.
• Statement 4 is correct: It is designed to integrate multiple databases — immigration/entry-exit, banking and financial transactions, telecom records, travel data, etc. — to generate intelligence using big-data analytics.

So statements 1, 2, and 4 are correct.

Statement 1 is correct: IEPFA was set up in 2016 under the Companies Act, 2013 to administer the Investor Education and Protection Fund and handle refunds of unclaimed dividends, deposits, debentures, etc.

• Statement 2 is incorrect: Amounts are transferred to the IEPF after remaining unclaimed for 7 years, not 5.
• Statement 3 is correct: Programmes such as Niveshak Didi, Niveshak Panchayat, and Niveshak Shivir are IEPFA initiatives for investor education and financial literacy.
• Statement 4 is incorrect: IEPFA functions under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, not the Ministry of Finance.

Thus, only statements 1 and 3 are correct