UPPSC PYQ 1 (2020) — Geography
Which of the following ocean currents is associated with Indian Ocean?
- Florida current
- Canary current
- Agulhas current
- Kurile current
Answer: C. Agulhas current
Get the weekly digest
Top current affairs + exam tips, every Monday morning.
📝 AI-generated analysis for exam preparation. This is original educational content curated for competitive exam aspirants.
As India prepares to observe the 27th Kargil Vijay Diwas on July 26, 2026, the Defence Ministry's messaging has spotlighted over a decade of accelerated defence indigenisation as the war's enduring institutional legacy. Official communication notes that five Positive Indigenisation Lists (PILs) covering 5,012 Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU) items have been notified, and that over 15,700 items have been indigenised across the armed forces and DPSUs in the past five years, with nearly 88% (154 of 175) of ammunition variants now domestically produced.
The Kargil War of 1999 exposed critical vulnerabilities — poor inter-service jointness, inadequate high-altitude surveillance, and near-total dependence on imported ordnance and equipment — that directly shaped two decades of subsequent defence reform, from the creation of the Chief of Defence Staff position to the modern indigenisation-list mechanism.
For aspirants preparing for UPSC, UPPSC, MPSC, and other state PSC exams, this topic is directly relevant for GS Paper 3 (Security challenges, linkages of organised crime with terrorism, various security forces, and defence indigenisation under Science and Technology) and frequently appears as a factual/current-affairs question around Kargil Vijay Diwas and Aatmanirbhar Bharat in defence.
The Kargil War (May-July 1999) began when Pakistani forces occupied strategic heights on the Indian side of the Line of Control in the Kargil district of Ladakh. India's Operation Vijay recaptured these positions, and July 26 has since been observed as Kargil Vijay Diwas, marking the war's conclusion. This year is the 27th anniversary.
In its aftermath, multiple official inquiries — most notably the Kargil Review Committee — identified deep structural problems: inadequate intelligence coordination, insufficient artillery and high-altitude gear, and a defence procurement system heavily reliant on imports, leaving India vulnerable to supply disruptions during a crisis. These findings drove reforms including the creation of the Integrated Defence Staff, and later, in 2019, the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
The "Positive Indigenisation List" mechanism, introduced by the Ministry of Defence, formalises this shift: it is a list of defence items, sub-systems, and components that the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and the armed forces commit to procuring only from domestic sources beyond a notified timeline, effectively banning future imports of those items. Five such lists have been notified progressively (the most recent covering DPSU-specific sub-systems and assemblies), building on the earlier Positive Indigenisation Lists issued for the armed forces directly.
Kargil Vijay Diwas 2026
Indigenisation Numbers
What a Positive Indigenisation List Does
Legacy of Kargil-Driven Reform
Implementing Agency
Syllabus relevance: UPSC GS Paper 3 — Security Challenges, Defence Indigenisation, Internal Security; state PSC prelims under Security/Defence current affairs; mains under GS Paper 3, defence self-reliance and Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
Political and Constitutional Dimensions Defence, per Entry 1 of the Union List (List I), Seventh Schedule, is an exclusive Union subject, giving the central government full policy and legislative authority over indigenisation targets, procurement rules (Defence Acquisition Procedure, DAP 2020), and the Positive Indigenisation List mechanism, without requiring state-level concurrence.
Economic and Financial Dimensions Import substitution in defence has a direct fiscal dimension — reduced foreign-exchange outflow on defence imports — and a domestic multiplier effect through DPSU and private-sector manufacturing, ancillary component industries, and skilled-employment generation. The indigenisation push also aligns with the government's broader Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat manufacturing strategy.
Social Dimensions Beyond economic multipliers, indigenisation drives create specialised engineering and manufacturing jobs, and Kargil Vijay Diwas commemorations themselves serve a social function — reinforcing civilian awareness of military sacrifice and fostering national cohesion around shared historical memory.
Governance and Administrative Dimensions The Positive Indigenisation List is a governance innovation that converts a policy aspiration ("reduce imports") into an enforceable procurement instrument with hard timelines, monitored by the Department of Defence Production — a model increasingly used across sectors (electronics, telecom) to drive import substitution through demand-side mandates rather than supply-side subsidies alone.
International Perspective Reduced import dependence strengthens India's strategic autonomy during conflict or supply-chain disruption scenarios — a lesson reinforced not just by Kargil but by more recent global disruptions (the Russia-Ukraine war's impact on global defence supply chains). It also positions India's DPSUs and private defence manufacturers to pursue export opportunities as they scale domestic production capacity.
Test yourself · no signup needed
Try 3 real UPPSC PYQs, see the answer instantly, then unlock the full set free.
Which of the following ocean currents is associated with Indian Ocean?
Answer: C. Agulhas current
Without green house effect, the average temperature of earth surface would be
Answer: B. –18°C
1. In Ease of Doing Business Report 2020, India's rank is 63. 2. India ranking for Ease of Doing Business in the year 2019 was 77.
With reference to the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Report, which of the following statement(s) is/are correct?
Answer: B. 2 only
Free sample · Question 1 of 3
Geography · 2020Which of the following ocean currents is associated with Indian Ocean?
This week's CA quiz · 20 questions
Cross-topic questions from recent current affairs
Kargil Vijay Diwas 2026: Nation Marks 27th Anniversary of Operation Vijay at Dras
27 JulDoT Mandates Telecom Data Localisation, Bars Infra Providers from Sharing Data Abroad
26 JulGovernment Bars Communication Infrastructure Providers From Sharing Telecom Data Outside India
24 JulINS Malvan Commissioned: Navy's 2nd Mahe-Class Anti-Submarine Warfare Ship Joins Fleet
23 Jul