The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) works under which Union Ministry?

The correct answer is B, the Bureau of Indian Standards. The Bureau is India’s National Standards Body and it grants the ISI mark to manufactured goods that conform to the relevant Indian Standard. The initials ISI survive from the Indian Standards Institution of 1947, whose work the Bureau took over when it came into being on 1 April 1987, which is why the mark and the body have different names. Option A is wrong because the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India deals with food, where the mark is a fourteen-digit licence number and the vegetarian or non-vegetarian symbol, not an ISI mark. Option C is wrong because the Directorate of Marketing and Inspection administers Agmark for agricultural produce. Option D is wrong because the Bureau of Energy Efficiency gives the star rating that shows how much electricity an appliance uses.

The correct answer is B, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. The Bureau works under the Department of Consumer Affairs in that Ministry, and the Union Minister in charge is the President of the Bureau, because standards and certification exist to protect the consumer. Option A is wrong because the Ministry of Commerce and Industry handles trade, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade and intellectual property, not standardisation. Option C is wrong because the Ministry of Science and Technology runs research councils such as the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. Option D is wrong because the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises promotes small industry; it may help a unit obtain certification, but it neither sets standards nor awards the ISI mark.

The correct answer is C, agricultural and allied produce. Agmark is a grade mark given under the Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act, 1937 to produce such as edible oils, ghee, butter, honey, spices, pulses, wheat flour, besan and eggs, and it is administered by the Directorate of Marketing and Inspection under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. The name is a contraction of agricultural marketing. Option A is wrong because electrical appliances carry the ISI mark and the BEE star rating. Option B is wrong because gold and silver carry the hallmark of the Bureau of Indian Standards, which certifies purity and not grade. Option D is wrong because handloom cloth carries the Handloom Mark launched in 2006, while pure silk carries the Silk Mark of the Silk Mark Organisation of India.

The correct answer is C, 916. Fineness is the carat value divided by 24 and multiplied by one thousand, so 22 divided by 24 gives 0.916 and the article is marked 22K916, meaning 91.6 per cent gold. This is the usual grade for Indian jewellery because pure gold is too soft to hold a setting. Option A is wrong because 750 is the mark for 18 carat gold, which is 75 per cent gold. Option B is wrong because 833 corresponds to 20 carat gold, at 83.3 per cent. Option D is wrong because 999 is the mark for 24 carat, that is pure gold, which is sold as coins and bars rather than jewellery. Learn the ladder 999, 958, 916, 833, 750 and 585 against 24, 23, 22, 20, 18 and 14 carat, because papers ask it in either direction.

The correct answer is B, an earthen pitcher. The Eco Mark scheme was notified in 1991 for consumer products that cause the least harm to the environment over their life, and the earthen pitcher was chosen as the symbol because it is made from a renewable material, is produced without generating waste, uses little energy and is wholly biodegradable when broken. The criteria for each product category are framed with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and the mark itself is awarded by the Bureau of Indian Standards along with the ISI mark. Options A, C and D are wrong because no such symbol was adopted for the scheme; a leaf, a river and a peacock feather are generic images of nature used in various logos, and candidates pick them by guesswork. The pitcher is the single fact to remember here.