1. The Union Government is planning 'Reform Utsav', a three-month citizen-led governance reform campaign. From which date is it likely to begin?
Answer: D. Reform Utsav is expected to start on 2 October 2026. It moves from citizen suggestions through discussion to implementation, with a coordination committee reviewing progress every two weeks.
2. Mahouts of Jaldapara National Park honoured with Gaj Gaurav 2026 rescued six stranded captive elephants. How many wild one-horned rhinos did they also help shift to safety in the floods?
Answer: C. The seven honoured handlers saved six captive elephants and also helped relocate 13 wild one-horned rhinos during severe flooding. They received the awards at World Elephant Day events in Visakhapatnam.
3. Karnataka's Sandhya Kiran Scheme, a contributory cashless health programme under Ayushman Bharat-Arogya Karnataka, gives state pensioners under 70 what yearly health cover per family?
Answer: D. The scheme, cleared by the state Cabinet, offers Rs 5 lakh a year per family for secondary, tertiary and emergency care at empanelled hospitals, benefiting about 4.93 lakh people.
4. The CAG pointed to serious shortcomings in the Green India Mission. Under which framework is it one of eight missions?
Answer: A. GIM is a component of the NAPCC, conceived in 2010 and launched in 2014. The audit cited weak funding, poor coordination and monitoring, and missed targets.
5. Under FAST-DS, what must a Category A declarant, holding a foreign asset or income up to Rs 1 crore never previously taxed, pay?
Answer: E. Category A covers foreign assets or income of up to Rs 1 crore that were never offered to tax, and costs an effective 60%. Category B, for already-taxed items up to Rs 5 crore, needs only a Rs 1 lakh fee.
6. SEBI has proposed a colour-coded 'Credit Risk-o-Meter' for debt securities. Into how many visual risk levels would it convert credit ratings such as AAA or BBB-?
Answer: B. The meter would sort ratings into six levels running from lowest credit risk up to high-to-very-high risk of default, helping investors compare easily.
7. The MMDR Amendment Bill, 2026 is a response to which 2024 nine-judge Constitution Bench decision, which allowed states to tax mineral rights while saying royalty is not a tax?
Answer: A. After MADA v. SAIL, the Bill seeks a uniform framework led by the Centre. A new Section 9D bars state levies on mineral rights except on conditions the Centre sets, with no refunds of past collections.
8. India and Nepal signed MoUs for eight High Impact Community Development Projects worth NPR 803 million. How widely will they be carried out?
Answer: B. The eight Indian-funded projects, covering education, health, agriculture and digital transformation, will be spread over seven districts in four Nepali provinces.
9. JSW Neo Energy agreed with Bhutan's Druk Green Power Corporation on the 920 MW Punatsangchhu-III hydro project. How is the joint venture's shareholding divided?
Answer: E. The project on Bhutan's Punatsangchhu River will be built on a BOOT basis with DGPC holding 51% and JSW 49%. It is JSW Neo Energy's first power generation venture abroad.
10. Andhra Pradesh and CSIR-NGRI signed a Rs 140 crore pact, entirely funded by NMET, to explore which two critical minerals in the Vempalle area of the Kadapa Basin?
Answer: C. The exploration targets lithium and gallium; earlier studies found up to 1,000 ppm lithium and 250 ppm gallium. The National Mineral Exploration Trust pays the whole cost.
11. The Mahadayi, called the Mandovi in Goa, starts from a group of 30 springs inside which wildlife sanctuary in Belagavi district, Karnataka?
Answer: D. The west-flowing river rises from 30 springs in Bhimgad WLS near Khanapur and reaches the Arabian Sea at Panaji. It runs for about 117 km across Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa.
12. Which Chennai-based fabless startup designed VIHAAN, India's first indigenous broadband networking System-on-Chip, which worked on the first fabrication attempt?
Answer: A. VIHAAN uses the open RISC-V architecture with C-DAC's VEGA processor and targets FTTH, routers and CPE. It was backed by MeitY's Design Linked Incentive Scheme.
13. N. Chandrasekaran will leave his post as Executive Chairman of Tata Sons when his present term finishes on which date?
Answer: B. Chandrasekaran has led Tata Sons since February 2017 and was reappointed in 2022. Before that he was CEO and MD of TCS from 2009.
14. Major General Sunil Kumar Razdan (Retd.), who died at 70, was the Army's first wheelchair-borne General. Which gallantry award, India's second-highest in peacetime, did he hold?
Answer: C. He earned the Kirti Chakra for leading a hostage-rescue operation against terrorists in J&K in 1994 despite grave injuries. It ranks just below the Ashoka Chakra in peacetime.
15. Which find at Vaishya Tekri helped suggest a Mauryan-period date?
Answer: A. A cast Avanti coin and a punch-marked coin point to the 3rd century BCE.