1. The 'Guwahati Declaration', adopted by BRICS nations on 7 July 2026, concerns which subject?
Answer: E. It was adopted at the end of the two-day BRICS Heads of Anti-Drug Agencies Meeting (6-7 July 2026) in Guwahati, hosted by the Home Ministry. It stresses real-time intelligence sharing, digital technologies, AI and joint law enforcement; India's BRICS 2026 theme is 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability'.
2. Which economist first came up with the term 'BRIC' in 2001?
Answer: D. Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill coined it. The first formal summit was in Yekaterinburg in 2009, South Africa joined in 2010, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE and Saudi Arabia entered on 1 January 2024, Indonesia in January 2025 as the first Southeast Asian member, and India chairs in 2026.
3. Which city came first in the EIU Global Liveability Index 2026?
Answer: B. Copenhagen in Denmark led, with Vienna, Melbourne, Sydney and Zurich after it. The EIU scores 173 cities on 30 indicators in five groups: Stability, Healthcare, Culture & Environment, Education and Infrastructure, and Damascus was last at 173.
4. Which Indian city ranks highest in the EIU Global Liveability Index 2026?
Answer: A. New Delhi took 120th place, ahead of Mumbai at 121, Chennai at 123 and Bengaluru at 127. The EIU, set up in 1946 and based in London as part of The Economist Group, has issued this index since 1988 and also runs the Democracy Index and a Cost of Living Survey.
5. How many States or UTs earned the top 'Utkarsh' grade in the Ministry of Education's Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 for 2025-26?
Answer: C. No State or UT crossed the Utkarsh threshold of 90%. PGI-S uses 70 indicators out of 1000 marks and PGI-D covers 784 districts out of 600; grades run Utkarsh (above 90%), Uttam (61-90%), Prachesta (31-60%) and Akanshi (under 40%), with grades used in place of ranks to spur improvement.
6. The IMF's July 2026 World Economic Outlook Update, 'Global Economy in Crosscurrents of War and Technology', forecasts India's FY27 GDP growth at what level?
Answer: C. The IMF trimmed FY27 growth from April's 6.5% to 6.4% and lifted FY28 to 6.7%, after 7.7% growth in FY26. It sees world growth at 3.0% in 2026 and 3.4% in 2027, with headline inflation of 4.7% in 2026; the WEO appears in April and October with updates between.
7. What was the main reason the Asian Development Bank cut its FY27 India growth forecast to 6.6% from 6.9%?
Answer: B. In its India Economic Outlook 2026, ADB said costlier energy erodes household purchasing power. FY28 growth stays at 7.3%, and the FY27 inflation forecast rose to 5.2% from 4.5%; ADB was founded in 1966, is based in Manila and has Masato Kanda as President.
8. Which DRDO laboratory was the principal developer of the Pinaka Long-Range Guided Rocket, test-fired recently at ITR Chandipur?
Answer: E. ARDE Pune built the Pinaka LRGR with HEMRL, DRDL and RCI of Hyderabad. The Chandipur trial in Odisha confirmed a user-specified minimum range of 60 km, fired from a Pinaka MBRL launcher that can handle several rocket variants.
9. The Indian Navy's Drishti-10 Starliner UAV that went down near Porbandar is made by Adani Defence as the Indian version of which Israeli drone?
Answer: A. It is Adani Defence's Hyderabad-built version of Elbit Systems' Hermes-900 MALE UAV, with 36 hours' endurance, about 450 kg payload and a cost near ₹140 crore. The 8 July 2026 crash was the second Hermes-900 loss in 18 months, and the type is flown by INAS 343 'Frontier Formidables'.
10. Where is Adani Defence building South Asia's biggest private missile ecosystem with a ₹2,500 crore investment?
Answer: D. CM Mohan Yadav and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia laid the foundation stone. It is India's first private complex that brings composite propellants, TNT manufacturing and missile system integration together at one site.
11. What does the term 'The Hummus Trail', seen in the news recently, refer to?
Answer: B. About 80,000 Israelis visit India each year, and their long 6-12 month trips are called 'Tiul Gadol'. The topic drew attention after the Hind Rajab Foundation sought action against an Israeli tourist in Himachal Pradesh; Israel set aside 4 million NIS in 2026 for India-Israel tourism cooperation.
12. Kamarajar Port is now India's second major port with an 18-metre draft able to take Cape-size ships. Which port got there first?
Answer: D. Capital Dredging Phase VI gave Kamarajar, formerly Ennore Port and about 24 km north of Chennai, the 18 m depth after Visakhapatnam. It is India's first corporatised Major Port under the Landlord model, declared the 12th Major Port in March 1999 and operational from 1 February 2001.
13. Gujarat's first Data Centre Policy (2026-29), announced by CM Bhupendra Patel, aims for ₹6 lakh crore of investment and how much data centre capacity?
Answer: A. The policy puts its weight on hyperscale data centres, cloud computing and AI infrastructure, alongside the ₹6 lakh crore investment target.
14. India hosted the 13th ASEAN-India AITIGA Joint Committee Meeting in New Delhi. What was the value of India-ASEAN trade in 2025-26?
Answer: E. That was about 11% of India's global trade, but the deficit grew from US$7.5 bn at the start to roughly US$44 bn in 2023. AITIGA, the goods pillar of AIFTA, was signed 13 August 2009 and took effect 1 January 2010; the 6-10 July 2026 meeting at Vanijya Bhawan was co-chaired by Nitin Kumar Yadav and Mastura Ahmad Mustafa.
15. On his 6-8 July 2026 Indonesia visit, PM Modi became the first Indian PM to address the Indonesian Parliament. Which bilateral vision did he unveil?
Answer: C. He spoke to the DPR (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat), announced the Ganga-Mahakam Vision, toured Prambanan Temple, whose restoration the ASI led, and received 'Bintang Adipurna', Indonesia's top civilian honour. The trip yielded 20 outcomes, 14 MoUs and 6 announcements.
16. In which city has the International Centre for Civilizational Studies 'Manas and Mahabharata' been set up?
Answer: D. The Centre for Studies of International Relations (CSIR), New Delhi and the Manas National Academy founded it. The first Hindi translation of the Kyrgyz epic 'Manas' by Hem Chandra Pande and Ramakant Dwivedi came out, and a three-way agreement was signed with 7 Kyrgyz universities.
17. CSIR-IICT Hyderabad created India's first home-grown process for which green refrigerant that can replace HFCs in cooling systems?
Answer: A. The process for Hydrofluoroolefin-1234yf supports Atmanirbhar Bharat. Separately, CSIR-CIMFR Dhanbad built the Smart Algal Liquid Tree (SALT), a mobile microalgae photobioreactor that absorbs CO₂, installed at CIMFR and at NCL, Singrauli (MP).
18. ISRO ran the IMAT-05 parachute test for Gaganyaan on 7 July 2026. At what location was it carried out?
Answer: B. An IAF IL-76 dropped the payload from 2.5 km up to check the Main Parachute System for the uncrewed Gaganyaan G1 mission. The Crew Module has 10 parachutes of 4 kinds: Apex Cover Separation, Drogue, Pilot and Main.
19. After the government permitted 100% FDI in insurance, which firm became the first foreign insurer to wholly own its Indian life insurance arm?
Answer: C. Britain's Aviva Plc is buying Dabur Invest Corp's remaining 26% of Aviva Life Insurance India, lifting its holding from 74% to 100%. The 100% FDI decision came in May 2026 and the deal ends a joint venture with Dabur that dates back to 2001.
20. Seventeen-year-old Aswath S became India's 98th Chess Grandmaster at the Pune International GM Round Robin. Which state is he from?
Answer: E. The player from Kanyakumari got his last GM norm by finishing second on 7/9 in Pune. His earlier norms came at the Grenke Open A in Germany (April 2025) and the First Saturday GM in Budapest (December 2025).
21. Who won the 2026 F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, giving Ferrari its 250th Grand Prix victory?
Answer: B. Leclerc of Monaco won for Ferrari, his first victory of 2026 and ninth overall, with George Russell of Mercedes second and Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari third. Kimi Antonelli leads the Drivers' standings on 179 points and Mercedes the Constructors' on 333.
22. Which state is set to stage the 8th Khelo India Youth Games in November 2026?
Answer: C. Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya made the announcement, with about 8,000 athletes expected. Bihar hosted the 7th edition in 2025 and Maharashtra were overall champions; MYAS began Khelo India in 2018.
23. Leander Paes was named Player Ambassador of the Asian Tennis Federation. What does his bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics still stand as?
Answer: D. Paes remains the only Indian to win an Olympic tennis medal. A former doubles World No. 1, he has 18 Grand Slam titles and 8 Asian Games medals (5 gold), and received the Arjuna Award (1990), Khel Ratna (1996-97), Padma Shri (2001) and Padma Bhushan (2014), and entered the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2024.