UPSC GK Questions 2026

The National Institute of Virology is at Pune in Maharashtra and works under the Indian Council of Medical Research; it began in 1952 as the Virus Research Centre and it isolated the virus strain used in developing the indigenous whole virion inactivated vaccine Covaxin.

A toxoid vaccine uses the toxin of a microbe rather than the microbe itself, treated so that it can no longer harm the body but still provokes antibodies; the tetanus and diphtheria vaccines are the two standard examples, and they work because in those diseases it is the toxin that…

The World Health Organization certified the South East Asia Region, India included, as free of wild poliovirus in March 2014, three years after the last case in the country, because certification requires three consecutive years without a case.

Mission Indradhanush was launched on 25 December 2014 to reach children who had received no vaccine or only some of the prescribed doses, and its name refers to the rainbow of vaccines then in the programme.

The Universal Immunization Programme was launched in 1985 and remains the backbone of child immunisation in India, covering tuberculosis, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, measles, rubella and hepatitis B, with further vaccines in selected states.

BCG stands for Bacillus Calmette Guerin, a live attenuated strain of a bovine tuberculosis bacterium, and it is given at or soon after birth under the Universal Immunization Programme to guard against severe forms of childhood tuberculosis.

In 1796 Jenner used material from cowpox, a mild disease of cattle, to protect a boy against smallpox, and the word vaccine itself comes from vacca, the Latin for cow.

Swine flu is an influenza infection of the type first recognised in pigs, and the name itself records the animal in which the virus circulates before it passes to people; once it is in a human population it spreads from person to person by droplets.

Malaria is caused by the protozoan Plasmodium and carried by the female Anopheles mosquito, and kala azar, also called visceral leishmaniasis, is caused by the protozoan Leishmania donovani and carried by the sandfly.

Typhoid is caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi, which spreads through food and water contaminated with human waste, and it is prevented both by sanitation and by the typhoid conjugate vaccine.

The Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award, instituted in 1992 by the Indian National Congress, is presented on 20 August, the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, which is observed as Sadbhavana Diwas, and it recognises outstanding contribution to communal harmony, peace and goodwill.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding was instituted by the Government of India in 1965 and administered by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, and its first recipient in that same year was U Thant of Burma, then Secretary General of the United Nations.

Kabir Puraskar was instituted in 1990 by the Ministry of Home Affairs to honour ordinary citizens who show physical or moral courage in saving the lives and property of members of another community, especially during communal disturbance.

The Gandhi Peace Prize carries one crore rupees in cash, together with a citation, a plaque and a piece of traditional handicraft or handloom, and the money may be paid in any convertible currency because the prize is open to citizens of every country.

The Sardar Patel National Unity Award is announced on 31 October, the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, which is observed as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas or National Unity Day.

The Gandhi Peace Prize is administered by the Ministry of Culture, which issues the notification and arranges the ceremony, although the selection rests with a jury chaired by the Prime Minister.

The Gandhi Peace Prize for 2014 was conferred on the Indian Space Research Organisation, and it is asked often because a space agency looks out of place among peace awards; the citation recognised the use of space technology for the welfare of ordinary people.

The first Gandhi Peace Prize, for 1995, went to Julius Nyerere, the first President of Tanzania, who was known for his belief in self reliance and non violent nation building.

The jury for the Gandhi Peace Prize is chaired by the Prime Minister, and its other members are the Chief Justice of India, the Leader of the single largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha and two eminent persons.

The Government of India instituted the International Gandhi Peace Prize in 1995, the year of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, as an annual award for social, economic and political transformation achieved through non violence and other Gandhian methods.