1. After the Lok Sabha cleared the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 on 3 August, what is the new sanctioned strength of the Court, counting the CJI (earlier 34)?
Answer: B. The Bill lifts the number of judges other than the CJI from 33 to 37, so the total with the CJI goes from 34 to 38. Ordinary legislation suffices because Article 124(1) leaves the size of the Court to Parliament.
2. Pick the claim about ordinances that is NOT true.
Answer: D. Ordinances are issued by the President or a Governor on the advice of the Cabinet, and no court has to clear them beforehand. They expire six weeks after the legislature reassembles unless a law replaces them.
3. What does registration look like for businesses under the MSME Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026?
Answer: C. The Bill keeps registration voluntary and provides a free digital platform, giving the Udyam Registration Portal legal backing. Classification still rests on investment and turnover limits that can be changed by notification.
4. As part of decriminalisation in the MSME Amendment Bill, criminal fines give way to civil penalties that can be raised at what pace?
Answer: E. Civil penalties replace fines and may rise by 10% once every three years. The Development Commissioner acts as adjudicating officer, with appeals allowed within 30 days and decided within 60 days.
5. The PM-SSY floating solar scheme (outlay Rs 5,070 crore) is projected to draw about Rs 28,500 crore of investment. Roughly how much CO2 will it avoid each year?
Answer: A. Along with the investment of about Rs 28,500 crore, the scheme is expected to avoid around 10 million tonnes of CO2 every year. It should also generate roughly 16,000 to 17,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
6. Together, the restructured Khelo India Scheme for FY27-FY31 and the stronger support for National Sports Federations have what total outlay?
Answer: D. The Cabinet cleared Rs 36,441 crore for the programme, close to eight times the previous cycle. It is billed as the most ambitious sports effort since Independence.
7. Which pair of school-based programmes was newly launched in the revamped Khelo India Scheme?
Answer: E. KIFS and KIUV are the new school-level initiatives, meant to build physical education into the curriculum and spot talent early. The scheme also adds an Emerging Khelo India Athletes category.
8. The Indian Air Force's week-long counter-drone exercise ROTOR CLAP III ended on 2 August 2026. Where was it held?
Answer: C. The third edition of this helicopter-focused counter-UAS exercise took place at Pokhran in the desert sector. It was a purely Indian event testing tactics against low-flying drones.
9. Health Minister J.P. Nadda reviewed Project SARATHI for a country-wide rollout. What is the full form of SARATHI?
Answer: A. Project SARATHI places trained student volunteers in public hospitals to guide and assist patients with non-clinical needs. Its name stands for Students' Alliance for Responsible Action to Transform Healthcare Institutes.
10. India's UPI is connected through the Favara-UPI corridor, which went live on 30 July 2026, to the instant payment system of which nation?
Answer: B. Favara is the Maldives' instant payment system. Remittances sent in Maldivian Rufiyaa reach UPI-linked Indian accounts in rupees, with Bank of Maldives and Maldives Islamic Bank as the first partners.
11. UPI is now usable in nine countries. Which one of these is not on that list?
Answer: B. The nine countries are Cambodia, Singapore, UAE, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Bhutan, Qatar and Sri Lanka. Japan does not feature among them.
12. Besides FIIs, which international body does the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 exempt from tax on interest and capital gains from Government securities?
Answer: D. The Bill spares both FIIs and the BIS from tax on G-sec interest and capital gains arising on or after 1 April 2026. It replaces the ordinance of 5 June 2026.
13. The same Taxation Bill changes Section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. Who gets the power to notify electronic payment modes that banks may not charge for?
Answer: E. After the amendment removes the Income-tax Act references, the Central Government can notify the electronic payment modes on which banks and providers may not levy charges. This underpins the zero-MDR approach.
14. ICAR-IARI developed the gene-edited rice Pusa DST Rice 1. Which editing technique was used and which gene was targeted?
Answer: A. Pusa DST Rice 1 is an SDN-1 mutant of the DST gene made with CRISPR-Cas9, bred from the parent MTU1010 for tolerance to drought and salinity. The other variety, DRR Dhan 100, used Cas12a on Gn1a.
15. India won four of the five gold medals at the 22nd Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships in New Delhi. Who took the men's and women's singles titles?
Answer: C. Ankur Bhattacharjee won the men's singles and Yashaswini Ghorpade the women's singles. India's other golds came in women's doubles and mixed doubles.
16. Odisha wants the Puri Rath Yatra added to which UNESCO list?
Answer: E. The state has proposed the Shree Jagannath Temple Rath Yatra for UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list, pointing to its religious and cultural importance.
17. Justice M.S. Liberhan died aged 87 in Chandigarh. Which inquiry did the commission under him examine?
Answer: B. Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan led the commission probing events around the Babri Masjid demolition of 6 December 1992. It became one of the longest-running inquiry commissions in India.
18. Sarnath's inscription at the 48th World Heritage Committee session in Busan came with 25 new additions. What is the resulting global count of World Heritage Sites?
Answer: D. The 48th session added 25 properties, among them the Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath, India's 45th. The world total now stands at 1,273 sites across 173 countries.
19. To encourage AI-led innovation in traditional medicine, the Ministry of AYUSH entered an MoU with whom?
Answer: C. Under the pact with IndiaAI, AYUSH gains access to health research datasets, AI infrastructure and computing capacity. This supports research, digital health and capacity building in traditional medicine.
20. Varsha Ashok Aglawe is the first woman to head which organisation, which has existed for 176 years?
Answer: A. She took charge as the 54th Director General of the GSI, the first woman in its 176-year history. Her stated priorities include critical minerals, mineral security and offshore exploration.
21. General Vishwa Nath Sharma, who died at 91, held office from May 1988 to June 1990 as which numbered Chief of Army Staff of India?
Answer: E. General V.N. Sharma was the 14th COAS, serving between May 1988 and June 1990. He died in New Delhi at the age of 91.
22. World Wide Web Day falls on 1 August. In which year did Sir Tim Berners-Lee put the world's first website online?
Answer: D. Berners-Lee built the first web server and browser in 1990, and the first website went live a year later, in 1991.
23. Among Tamil Nadu's four MoUs on Global Capability Centres and R&D is one for an India campus in Chennai of which overseas university?
Answer: B. The four agreements deal with GCCs, R&D centres and the University of Western Australia's Indian campus in Chennai. Together they are expected to bring investment and about 2,920 jobs.