1. Which Assam district is home to the Nameri Tiger Reserve, where tiger numbers rose fourfold from 3 in 2022 to 12 by the end of 2025?
Answer: C. Nameri lies in Sonitpur district of north-central Assam, and the Wildlife Institute of India confirmed the count. Tigers have also come back to Sonai-Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary, Nameri's satellite core, after vanishing locally in the early 2000s.
2. Nameri's northern boundary is shared with which tiger reserve in Arunachal Pradesh?
Answer: E. Pakke Tiger Reserve, covering 1,276.95 sq km, adjoins Nameri on the north. Nameri's main river is the Jia Bhoreli (Kameng), a Brahmaputra tributary, and the reserve is a stronghold of the endangered white-winged wood duck.
3. Assam's earliest tiger reserve was which of these?
Answer: B. Manas was the first tiger reserve in Assam, being among the nine original Project Tiger reserves of 1973. Nameri followed in 2000, and Assam now has four: Kaziranga, Manas, Nameri and Orang, the last being India's smallest by core area.
4. At which national park did PM Indira Gandhi start Project Tiger on 1 April 1973?
Answer: D. The project began at Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand with nine reserves. The NTCA, set up in 2005 under the amended Wild Life Protection Act 1972, now oversees it; the Bengal Tiger is IUCN Endangered, CITES Appendix I and WPA Schedule I.
5. Where was the white-rumped vulture tagged 'Z25', electrocuted recently near Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, bred in captivity?
Answer: A. Z25 came from the Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre at Pinjore, Haryana, Asia's first vulture breeding facility (2001, BNHS with the Haryana Forest Department). It was freed at Tadoba-Andhari on 30 December 2025, moved to Mudumalai on 7 April 2026, and died on 28 June 2026 on the Sigur plateau.
6. Under which IUCN Red List category does the White-Rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis) fall?
Answer: D. The species has been listed Critically Endangered since 2000 after losing 99.7% of its numbers between 1993 and 2002, chiefly through diclofenac poisoning. Diclofenac was banned for veterinary use on 11 March 2006, and meloxicam is the safe substitute.
7. Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi travelled to India from 1 to 3 July 2026 for which numbered India–Japan Annual Summit?
Answer: A. It was the 16th India–Japan Annual Summit, held in New Delhi on Takaichi's first Official State Visit as Japan's first woman PM. A business delegation of about 120 announced roughly 2 trillion yen (about $13 billion) of investment, and Japan hosts the 17th summit in 2027.
8. Three joint statements were adopted at the 16th India–Japan Summit. Which topic below was NOT covered by any of them?
Answer: A. The statements dealt with Economic Security, Artificial Intelligence and Energy Resilience, and none dealt with space exploration. The two sides also chose to mark 2027, 75 years of diplomatic ties, as the "Year of Shared Horizons".
9. Aligned with Japan's FOIP at the summit, the MAHASAGAR doctrine expands to which phrase?
Answer: E. MAHASAGAR stands for Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security And Growth Across Regions. Modi announced it in Mauritius in March 2025 as the broader successor to SAGAR (2015), extending the Indian Ocean vision to the Indo-Pacific and Africa.
10. Which pillar of India's Indo-Pacific Oceans' Initiative (IPOI) does Japan lead as partner?
Answer: B. Japan leads the Connectivity pillar (Trade Connectivity & Maritime Transport) of IPOI, which Modi announced at the East Asia Summit in Bangkok in November 2019 with seven pillars. Shinzo Abe first set out Japan's FOIP in his August 2007 speech to India's Parliament.
11. The EPF Scheme, 2026, effective 29 June 2026, has been framed under which legislation?
Answer: E. It was framed under the Code on Social Security, 2020, and takes the place of the EPF Scheme, 1952. The basics stay as they were: 12% contribution, ₹15,000 wage ceiling and 8.25% interest for FY 2025-26, while EPS 1995 and EDLI carry on.
12. The EPF Scheme, 2026 merges the previous 13 categories of partial withdrawal into how many?
Answer: B. Thirteen categories became three: Essential Needs (illness, education, marriage), Housing Needs and Special Circumstances. The scheme also adds a 25% minimum balance rule, a Principal Employer idea for contract workers, and up to 3 months of emergency deferment.
13. What share of the total fund balance must a member keep as a minimum retirement corpus under the EPF Scheme, 2026?
Answer: D. Members must keep at least 25% of the combined employee and employer balance, so with ₹1 lakh only ₹75,000 can be taken out. Exempted PF trusts also cannot declare interest more than 200 bps over the EPF rate.
14. Which set names the three transition initiatives that came with the EPF Scheme, 2026?
Answer: A. The trio is the Employees' Enrolment Campaign 2026 (helping employers fix past registration lapses), VISHWAS 2026 (settling legacy disputes with EPFO) and AMNESTY 2026 (letting employers clear old compliance gaps without penal action).
15. Assam's third Biodiversity Heritage Site, the Borjuli wetland, is of global importance for protecting which species?
Answer: C. Borjuli, a 0.41-hectare wetland in Sonitpur, shelters Oryza rufipogon, wild ancestor of cultivated rice, which resists disease and pests and tolerates floods and salinity. It is India's 55th BHS and the first meant for conserving wild rice.
16. Which section of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 allows the notification of Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS)?
Answer: A. State governments notify BHSs under Section 37, in consultation with local Biodiversity Management Committees and guided by the National Biodiversity Authority (set up 2003, based in Chennai). Assam's two earlier BHSs are Majuli and Hajong Tortoise Lake.
17. Which disease outbreak was simulated in 'Pashujanya Yudh Abhyas (PYA)', the third national mock drill under the National One Health Mission?
Answer: C. The five-day drill from 29 June to 3 July 2026 at Khari village, Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, simulated Influenza A (H1N1) in animals that could spill over to people and wildlife. DAHD organised it with ICAR, NCDC, ICMR and the PSA office under the National Joint Outbreak Response Team.
18. Which institution serves as the anchor of the National One Health Mission (NOHM)?
Answer: E. The National Institute of One Health in Nagpur anchors NOHM, whose foundation stone Modi laid in December 2022. The mission was cleared by PM-STIAC in July 2022, is coordinated by the Principal Scientific Adviser's office, and spans over 13 ministries.
19. In what year was the Digital India Programme, which completed 11 years on 1 July 2026, launched?
Answer: B. PM Modi started Digital India on 1 July 2015 to create a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy; today it stresses areas such as AI and semiconductor manufacturing.
20. What is the name of Seychelles' highest honour, which PM Modi was given during his 27–29 June 2026 visit?
Answer: D. Modi received "Guardian of the Blue Horizon", the top Seychelles honour. The visit also saw India and Seychelles sign 9 MoUs spanning defence, healthcare, maritime cooperation and digital payments.
21. Which two international banks has NPCI teamed up with for real-time forex settlement of cross-border UPI payments?
Answer: B. NPCI joined HSBC India and JP Morgan Payments to settle foreign exchange instantly on cross-border UPI transactions, which makes them faster and more transparent. Bank of Baroda separately tied up with Japan's Mizuho Bank on M&A financing.
22. After receiving 8 more GI tags, how many GI products does Himachal Pradesh now have in total?
Answer: D. The eight new tags, among them Kinnauri Apple, Seabuckthorn and Chamba Metal Art, bring Himachal's GI product count to 17 and support traditional products and rural livelihoods.
23. Who succeeds Keki Mistry as part-time Chairman of HDFC Bank for a three-year term?
Answer: A. Rajiv Kumar was named HDFC Bank's part-time Chairman for three years in place of Keki Mistry, and he is also appointed an Additional Independent Director.
24. For ₹281.7 crore, Kotak Mahindra Bank is set to take over the India retail and wealth business of which foreign bank?
Answer: C. Kotak will buy Deutsche Bank's India retail and wealth arm, covering loans, deposits and assets under management, to strengthen its affluent banking segment. CCI separately approved DWS Group's stake purchase in Nippon Life India AIF and the Aditya Birla-led RCB deal.
25. Animal Taxonomy Summit (ATS) 4.0, started by MoEFCC in Kolkata, coincided with which Foundation Day of the Zoological Survey of India?
Answer: E. The summit marked ZSI's 111th Foundation Day, and it came with the release of fresh biodiversity records and yearly discovery reports.
26. The rollout of GST in which year is remembered on GST Day, 1 July?
Answer: C. GST Day recalls the launch of the Goods and Services Tax on 1 July 2017. Registered taxpayers have grown from 66.5 lakh to 1.65 crore by 2026, and 2 July is separately World Sports Journalists Day, honouring the 1924 founding of the International Sports Press Association.
27. Ex-ISRO scientist Mylswamy Annadurai now chairs the Curriculum Design Committee of which state?
Answer: E. Annadurai, called the "Moon Man of India", heads Tamil Nadu's committee modernising the curriculum for 1.3 crore students with stress on AI, science and critical thinking. Biswanath Sinha also succeeded Dr. A. Jayathilak as Kerala's Chief Secretary.
28. Where is the first greenfield integrated refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in India, which PM Modi dedicated to the nation?
Answer: B. The complex is at Balotra in Rajasthan. On the same occasion Modi opened Jodhpur Airport's new terminal building and launched projects worth ₹1.06 lakh crore in energy, transport and infrastructure.
29. Which edition of the National Water Awards has the Jal Shakti Ministry opened on the Rashtriya Puraskar portal?
Answer: D. The 7th National Water Awards were opened for entries, honouring individuals, institutions and states for the best practices in water conservation and management.
30. India's first export-import shipping container, made at Dadri, was produced for which global shipping line?
Answer: A. Sarbananda Sonowal unveiled the container, built for A.P. Moller–Maersk, as a boost to India's manufacturing and shipping capabilities. Jitendra Singh also opened the third batch of the DAKSH leadership programme for public officials.