Which Act governs the auction of India's offshore mineral blocks?

The correct answer is the Andaman Sea. The two blocks put up for auction, Sewell Rise-01 and West Sewell Ridge-01, both lie in the Andaman Sea, and both hold polymetallic nodules and crusts. Sewell Rise-01 covers an area of 632 square kilometres and West Sewell Ridge-01 covers 1,000 square kilometres, so the auction covers 1,632 square kilometres in all. Each block is being offered for a composite licence, which lets the holder explore first and then move towards production. The other options are wrong because no block in the Arabian Sea, the Laccadive Sea or the waters off Odisha was part of this notice inviting tender, which the ministry issued on 1 October 2026. Candidates should tie the block names to the Andaman Sea and recall that the metals involved are nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese.

The correct answer is 1,632 square kilometres. Sewell Rise-01 accounts for 632 square kilometres of that area and West Sewell Ridge-01 for the remaining 1,000 square kilometres, so the two blocks together make up the figure asked for. Option A gives only the smaller block and option B only the larger one, which is why both are wrong, while option D is simply not the sum of the two. The ministry had earlier redrawn block boundaries after hearing from likely bidders, enlarging the polymetallic nodule and crust blocks so that explorers have more operational room at sea. Both blocks are offered for a composite licence under the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002, as amended in 2023. Remember both individual areas, since a question may ask for either block alone.

The correct answer is SBI Capital Markets Limited, which acts as the transaction adviser and explained the policy framework, the auction process and the bidding requirements at the outreach programme. The other three options all took part in the same programme but in different roles, which is what makes them attractive distractors. The Geological Survey of India presented the geological character and mineral promise of the two blocks. MSTC is the auction platform provider and demonstrated how tender documents are bought and bids filed through its portal. The National Mineral Exploration and Development Trust explained its scheme for repaying part of the exploration cost to composite licence holders of offshore blocks. Candidates should memorise this division of work, because questions on auctions often test which agency performs which function rather than the auction itself.

The correct answer is the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya National Academy of Social Security, usually shortened to PDUNASS. Training was delivered along two tracks, through online modules and physically at this academy, for departmental officers and employers alike, while the Exemption Division at the head office ran dedicated hybrid programmes for field officials posted across the country. Option A, the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration at Mussoorie, trains civil servants and is not the venue here. Option C, the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics, handles indirect tax training and is unrelated to provident fund exemptions. Option D, the National Institute of Financial Management, works on public financial management. Alongside this training, EPFO held seminars with the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Bombay Stock Exchange to reach eligible establishments.

The correct answer is recognition by the Income Tax Department. That recognition is not waived at all; it is the very qualification a trust must already possess to be eligible, since the scheme is aimed at trusts recognised under the Income Tax Act, 1961 that nevertheless lack a formal exemption order. Options A, B and C name the three statutory requirements of the Code on Social Security, 2020 that the scheme does set aside, namely the minimum number of employees, the size of the corpus and the three-year compliance rule. A further benefit worth noting is the complete operational flexibility a trust enjoys after regularisation, as it may then comply either as an exempt or as an unexempt establishment. The stated purpose of availing the amnesty is to allow income tax benefits available to recognised trusts to continue without interruption.