1. Global hard coral cover is down by roughly what proportion against the 1980-2009 reference period, as per the 7th Status of Coral Reefs of the World report?
Answer: D. The coral monitoring network reports hard coral cover roughly 9.5 per cent below the 1980-2009 baseline, with the sharpest losses after 2010. A drop of 8.9 per cent in 2023-24 was the largest one-year relative fall, and gaps between bleaching events have narrowed to four to six years.
2. In 2024, the fourth global mass bleaching event of 2023-24 exposed what portion of the world's reefs to heat stress never seen before?
Answer: A. Roughly 87 per cent of reefs met record-breaking heat stress in 2024. Within that group 42.6 per cent saw 8 or more degree-Celsius-weeks, the level linked to widespread bleaching and death, compared with 27.4 per cent in 2025.
3. Which organism do heat-stressed corals expel, causing them to bleach?
Answer: D. In abnormally warm water corals push out their zooxanthellae, which removes their colour and main food supply and leaves a white skeleton open to disease and starvation. If the stress continues the coral dies.
4. A valuation put the Pichavaram mangroves at roughly Rs 2,485.38 crore in Total Economic Value. Blue carbon assets make up about what part of that figure?
Answer: B. Blue carbon assets were put at Rs 1,612.40 crore, which is about 65 per cent of the Rs 2,485.38 crore total. Pricing carbon storage next to fisheries, coastal protection and tourism strengthens the economic argument for conserving mangroves.
5. The Strategic Action Plan for Mission Rangeen Machhli 2031 was released at Agatti, Lakshadweep. Which sector does this mission aim to develop?
Answer: E. The mission is a plan for ornamental fisheries, covering the breeding, rearing and trade of decorative aquarium fish. The Fisheries Department under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying implements it, with value-chain SOPs, quarantine, traceability and cluster-based approaches under PMMSY.
6. In July 2026, UPI handled how many transactions, with a combined value close to Rs 30 lakh crore?
Answer: D. UPI recorded 2,366 crore transactions worth nearly Rs 30 lakh crore in July 2026. It is a real-time, interoperable payment system that maps bank accounts to a simple virtual payment address and settles person-to-person and person-to-merchant payments at once.
7. What function does the PSP Bank perform within UPI's three-layer set-up?
Answer: A. The app a user sees, such as Google Pay or PhonePe, is the TPAP, and the PSP Bank is the sponsor that connects that app to UPI. The central switch that routes payments between banks is run by NPCI.
8. NPCI developed UPI, which began as a pilot in April 2016 involving how many banks?
Answer: D. The April 2016 pilot, under RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, included 21 banks. Participation has since grown to more than 730 banks, supporting a seamless cashless system and wider digital finance access.
9. What revised FY27 GDP growth forecast did SBI Research issue for India?
Answer: B. After India posted real GDP growth of 7.8 per cent in the first quarter of FY27, SBI Research lifted its full-year projection from 6.6 to 7.3 per cent. Domestic demand and government capital spending are seen as the drivers.
10. UPI 123Pay from PhonePe lets feature-phone users pay without internet. What kind of architecture makes this possible?
Answer: E. The service relies on SMS, which suits weak or 2G networks, so feature-phone owners can pay and check balances without data. It also offers an AI voice helpline in English and 12 Indian languages.
11. The V-Dem Democracy Report put India's Electoral Democracy Index at its lowest since 1975. The institute that publishes it is based at which university?
Answer: C. The Varieties of Democracy Institute, housed at Sweden's University of Gothenburg, brings out the yearly report and its five indices. It characterises India as experiencing slow autocratisation, meaning gradual weakening of institutions.
12. Depalpur in Madhya Pradesh became the first city under Swachh Shehar Jodi to reach Zero Legacy Waste. Which city mentored it?
Answer: A. Depalpur's civic body was paired with the Indore Municipal Corporation, a city that regularly tops Swachh Survekshan rankings. Under the scheme's Each One Teach One approach, mentor cities pass on their methods to partner cities.
13. Which group of rivers did the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty assign to India as the Eastern Rivers?
Answer: D. The World Bank-brokered treaty gave India the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, while the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab went mainly to Pakistan, with India allowed limited non-consumptive hydropower use there.
14. MoSPI signed an MoU with the Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology for an AI-based framework using HCES data. What is the framework meant to estimate?
Answer: B. Using Household Consumption Expenditure Survey data, the framework will produce MPCE estimates for the country and its States. MPCE feeds poverty measurement, consumer price index weights and planning, and the tool should cut dependence on infrequent survey rounds.
15. Which network released the 7th Status of Coral Reefs of the World report?
Answer: A. The notes state GCRMN published the 7th edition.