The new CAFE norms tighten the fleet fuel-consumption benchmark to which level by 2031-32?

The correct answer is the Ministry of Power. The new CAFE norms for passenger vehicles were notified by the Ministry of Power, which handles energy efficiency in the country and works through the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, the body that will administer the credit buyout window under the framework. The norms come into force on 1 April 2027 and run till 31 March 2032. Option A, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, frames vehicle safety and registration rules but did not issue this notification. Option B, the Ministry of Heavy Industries, deals with the automobile industry and electric mobility schemes, yet the fuel-economy norms are not notified by it. Option D, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, looks after fuel supply and blending programmes such as ethanol in petrol, and although the new framework recognises ethanol-blended petrol through the Carbon Neutrality Factor, the notification itself came from the Ministry of Power. Aspirants should link CAFE norms with the Ministry of Power and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency.

The correct answer is twelve. The earlier framework recognised four fuel-conservation technologies; the new norms widen that list to twelve, giving manufacturers far more room to earn credit for fuel-saving hardware. Solar reflective paint, advanced glazing and high-efficiency air-conditioning are among the technologies now recognised. Each eligible technology brings a concession of 1 g CO2/km, and the concession a maker can claim in total is capped at 9.0 g CO2/km, so the benefit is real but bounded. Options A, B and D name counts that the framework does not use; only the jump from four to twelve is notified. Candidates should note the pair of numbers together, the old count of four and the new count of twelve, along with the per-technology concession and its ceiling, since questions are often framed on the increase rather than the absolute figure.

The correct answer is MIDC and WLTP. Reporting under the new CAFE framework will be done on both the Modified Indian Driving Cycle and the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure. Using the two together lets India keep its own established cycle while moving step by step towards the testing practice followed globally, which is why the notification calls it a dual approach. Option B pairs the Indian cycle with an older cycle that the framework does not mention. Option C leaves out the Indian cycle altogether, and option D names procedures that are not part of this notification. For the examination hall, remember both full forms, Modified Indian Driving Cycle for MIDC and Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure for WLTP, and remember that the new norms use them side by side rather than replacing one with the other.

The correct answer is 500 square metres. While approving the amendment that widens web portal based registration and monitoring of dust control measures to construction and demolition projects lying beyond municipal limits, in controlled areas, development and industrial development areas, industrial zones and highway corridor zones, the Commission specifically kept the existing plot area threshold of 500 square metres and the other existing requirements unchanged. Options A and B name smaller thresholds that would have brought in far more sites, and option D names a larger one that would have excluded many projects; none of these was adopted. The point to remember is that the geographical coverage was widened but the size trigger itself was left as it was.

The correct answer is Stage-I. The Commission shifted the actions dealing with diesel generator sets and with the entry of buses of BS-IV standard and below coming from the National Capital Region and the adjoining states out of Stage-II and into Stage-I. Because GRAP stages are triggered in ascending order as air quality worsens, moving a measure to Stage-I means it begins to apply at an earlier and less severe stage of pollution, tightening the response. Option B is where these actions previously sat, so it is the old position and not the new one. Options C and D, Stage-III and Stage-IV, cover the severe and severe-plus categories and are not where these two actions were placed. Hence option A is right.