20.07.2026

Statement I: El Niño can influence India's macroeconomic stability because its impact on the southwest monsoon extends beyond agriculture to inflation, fiscal management and overall economic growth.

Statement II: Episodes of El Niño are often associated with deficient monsoon rainfall over India, which can reduce agricultural output and contribute to food inflation, prompting policy interventions to stabilise prices.

Statement III: Since the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and other regional climatic factors also influence the Indian monsoon, the occurrence of El Niño alone is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for a drought in India.

Which of the following relationships among the above statements is/are correct?

1. Statement II provides empirical support for the proposition made in Statement I.
2. Statement III qualifies the generalisation implicit in Statement I by indicating that El Niño's economic effects are contingent on other climatic factors.
3. Statements I and III together imply that El Niño has no significant influence on India's economy.

Options:

1. It became possible after a multilateral exemption enabled a country, despite not being a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to participate in international civil nuclear commerce.
2. It is driven by the need to secure both natural uranium for Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) and enriched uranium for Light Water Reactors (LWRs).

III. One of its objectives is to reduce dependence on a limited number of external suppliers while supporting expansion of low-carbon electricity generation.

The above statements have been associated with which of the following?

1. Diversification of India's civil nuclear fuel supply chain
2. Strengthening of India's long-term energy security strategy
3. Expansion of India's uranium enrichment capability for exports
4. Support for achieving India's planned expansion of nuclear power capacity

Select the answer using the code given below:

1. Hungary is a landlocked country situated in the Carpathian Basin.
2. The Danube River forms the entire eastern boundary of Hungary with Romania.
3. Lake Balaton is the largest freshwater lake in Central Europe.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?