The Hindu Daily Quiz 19 August 2026: Test Your Current Affairs Knowledge
Preparing for UPSC, SSC, Banking or State PSC? The Hindu Daily Quiz 19 August 2026 converts today's key stories — Article 142 and student protest FIRs, Odisha flood relief, facial recognition and privacy, Punjab sacrilege law, NTA reforms, Census 2027, BRICS opposition to EU CBAM, PM CARES Fund audit, PMJDY-linked employment guarantee debate, execution methods and H1N1 surveillance — into ten exam-standard MCQs across English, Hindi and Tamil.
What You Will Learn from The Hindu Quiz 19 August 2026
The Hindu Daily Quiz for 19 August 2026 covers ten important current affairs topics from today's newspaper that are directly relevant for UPSC Prelims, SSC and Banking examinations. Today's questions test your understanding of the Supreme Court's willingness to invoke Article 142 to quash FIRs against NEET-UG student protesters while scrutinising facial recognition surveillance, Odisha's ₹1,000-crore flood relief package for districts like Balasore and Jajpur, Punjab's new sacrilege law on the Guru Granth Sahib and the balance between Article 19(1)(a) free speech and Article 25 religious freedom, the NTA's four-tier paper-checking reforms after examination controversies, the Census 2027 questionnaire's expanded caste and religion fields, BRICS opposition to the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the CBDR-RC principle, the PM CARES Fund's rising corpus amid falling utilisation and transparency concerns, the sharp decline in MGNREGA-linked employment during the transition to VB-G RAM G, the Supreme Court's rejection of alternatives to hanging under the death penalty framework, and the rise in H1N1 influenza cases and public-health surveillance across several States.
People Also Ask About Today's Current Affairs
Q1. Under which Article can the Supreme Court quash FIRs against NEET-UG student protesters?
The Supreme Court can invoke Article 142 of the Constitution, which empowers it to pass any order necessary for "complete justice" in any matter before it. Using this power, the Court indicated it is prepared to quash FIRs against student protesters, subject to scrutiny of criminal antecedents, distinguishing peaceful dissent from serious criminal conduct.
Q2. What did Odisha announce for districts hit by the recent floods?
The Odisha government announced a ₹1,000-crore relief package for flood-hit districts including Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Kendrapara. Nearly 9.40 lakh people were affected, over 3.70 lakh evacuated, and relief includes cooked food through free kitchens, agricultural support and direct benefit transfers, with more assistance after damage assessment.
Q3. Why is Delhi Police's use of Facial Recognition System (FRS) during NEET protests being questioned?
The Supreme Court is examining whether Delhi Police's use of Facial Recognition System (FRS) during NEET-UG protest demonstrations meets the constitutional test of proportionality under the right to privacy recognised in K.S. Puttaswamy (2017). Petitioners argue biometric data was processed without adequate safeguards, while police say FRS was targeted at 2,873 identified persons with serious criminal antecedents.
Q4. What does Punjab's new sacrilege law criminalise?
The Jagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026 criminalises sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib, extending beyond physical desecration to words, signs, representations and other conduct deemed insulting or deliberately hurtful to religious sentiments. It has revived the constitutional debate between Article 25 religious freedom and Article 19(1)(a) freedom of speech under a secular framework.
Q5. What key reforms has the NTA introduced to strengthen examination integrity?
The National Testing Agency has removed around 600 experts from its examination team, introduced a four-tier question-paper checking system, and is shifting nearly 20 offices to CISF-protected premises. It is also adopting air-gapped systems and stronger confidentiality protocols, alongside an Education Ministry-mandated audit of examination processes and corrective action reports.
Q6. How is Census 2027 expanding the scope of caste and religion data collection?
The Census 2027 questionnaire seeks the religion and place of birth of each respondent's father and mother, including whether they were born in India or abroad. It offers six listed religions with an option to record others, and allows respondents to enter caste in an open field, along with choices such as "Does not want to declare caste" or "No Caste".
Q7. Why has BRICS opposed the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)?
BRICS environment ministers criticised the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) as a unilateral, discriminatory and protectionist measure that places carbon-related costs on carbon-intensive imports such as steel, aluminium and cement. They argued it undermines the Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC) principle and could hurt developing economies, including India.
Q8. What did the recent PM CARES Fund audit reveal about its corpus and utilisation?
Audits for 2023-24 and 2024-25 show that the PM CARES Fund corpus grew about 25.8%, from ₹6,722 crore in 2022-23 to ₹8,453 crore in 2024-25, largely through interest income. However, utilisation collapsed to about ₹87.5 lakh in 2024-25 compared with ₹437.9 crore in the previous two years combined, raising renewed transparency and disbursement concerns.
Q9. Why has employment generation under MGNREGA and VB-G RAM G declined sharply in April-July 2026?
Employment generation during April-July 2026 fell sharply across major rural States, with some recording drops of more than 70% compared to previous years. The Hindu editorial attributes this to uncertainty and delays during the transition from MGNREGA to the new VB-G RAM G framework, disruptions in wage payments and unclear Centre-State cost-sharing arrangements during peak rural distress months.
Q10. Why did the Supreme Court reject the plea seeking alternatives to hanging?
The Supreme Court rejected a petition seeking alternatives to death by hanging, holding that the petitioner had not shown even a single botched execution in India. It noted that methods such as lethal injection in the United States have also witnessed botched executions and, given Section 354(5) CrPC and the equivalent BNSS provision, no method demonstrably superior to hanging was established.
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