1. Five captive-bred Slender-billed Vultures and five White-rumped Vultures were set free using the "Soft Release" method in a world first. In which protected area did this happen?
Answer: C. Kaziranga's Biswanath Wildlife Division saw the first-ever release of captive-bred Slender-billed Vultures (Gyps tenuirostris). This Critically Endangered species, now treated as distinct from the Indian Vulture, has a bare narrow black head and slender beak.
2. Which veterinary drug was chiefly responsible for the White-rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis) losing over 99% of its numbers within about twenty years?
Answer: D. Vultures that fed on carcasses of cattle given diclofenac developed visceral gout and kidney failure. India outlawed the veterinary form in 2006, and meloxicam is the recommended vulture-safe replacement.
3. Which description best fits Agni-IV, which the Strategic Forces Command training-launched off Odisha?
Answer: E. Agni-IV is a DRDO-built, nuclear-capable missile reaching about 4,000 km with a payload up to 1,000 kg. It sits between mid-range missiles and ICBMs and backs India's Credible Minimum Deterrence and No First Use stance.
4. Which agency implements "E-Samudra", the single-window maritime portal that is Digital-First and Faceless?
Answer: A. The Ports, Shipping and Waterways Ministry is nodal, while DGMA carries out the portal. It brings services for seafarers, shipping firms and ports online, replacing paperwork with digital certificates and payments.
5. Which E-Samudra feature gives seafarers round-the-clock grievance redressal, linking them to emergency response and medical aid whether at sea or on shore?
Answer: B. e-NAVIK is the 24×7 grievance channel. The Digital Seafarers Employment Agreement (d-SEA) is a different feature: it provides verifiable digital contracts that protect pay and labour standards.
6. Where will the 8th Indian Navy-US Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal exercise of 2026, a series that began in 2005 under the SALVEX name, take place?
Answer: C. The bilateral drill at Kochi brings together specialist diving and EOD teams from both navies. It concentrates on underwater salvage, bomb disposal and neutralising ordnance to improve interoperability.
7. Kenya Wildlife Service is investigating the deaths of 15-16 African elephants, suspected to be cyanide poisoning from agrochemicals, in Amboseli National Park. Amboseli, the "Land of Giants", sits in front of which mountain?
Answer: D. Amboseli lies in Kajiado County on the Tanzanian border and is known for roaming elephant herds photographed with Kilimanjaro behind them. It became a national park in 1974 and a UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve in 1991.
8. Lok Sabha data shows India has 46.02 lakh registered nursing personnel. How many of them are listed on the Nurses Registration and Tracking System (NRTS)?
Answer: E. Just 14.24 lakh are on NRTS, which leaves 31.78 lakh, over two-thirds, outside it more than seven years on. The slow uptake causes long waits for NOCs, delayed overseas verification and duplication with State Nursing Councils' own systems.
9. A Business Standard opinion article on Self Help Groups says the movement's founding insight was what?
Answer: A. SHGs worked because they turned the usual order around by starting with small regular savings instead of loans, and by making poor rural women the core of the model. The piece warns that heavy subsidised credit or grants can weaken this savings-led approach.
10. A Business Standard editorial on reorienting PM-KISAN, extended for FY27-FY31, proposes using its JAM-DBT architecture to reform which subsidy and extending cover to which excluded group?
Answer: B. Because PM-KISAN relies on land records, tenant and landless cultivators are left out, and the editorial suggests state-level checks to find genuine cultivators. It also wants fertiliser aid sent straight to farmers over the same DBT rails, reducing leakage and overuse of urea.
11. How long is the Fighter Combat Leader course at TACDE, the IAF's elite "Top Gun" school, that Bhawana Kanth completed?
Answer: C. Squadron Leader Bhawana Kanth is the first woman to graduate from the 20-week FCL course at TACDE in Gwalior. The school trains chosen pilots to lead complex air combat and tactical missions.
12. In which city will Lohia Aerospace Systems (LASPL) and Israel's Massivit set up India's first commercial large-format additive manufacturing (3D-printing) facility, under their MoU?
Answer: D. The facility in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, backed by USD 8-10 million over one to two years, will serve aerospace and defence manufacturing through large-format 3D printing.
13. RBI's list of Upper-Layer NBFCs grew from 15 in January 2025 to 17 for FY27. Which four entities joined the list?
Answer: E. Four state-owned infrastructure lenders, REC, PFC, IRFC and HUDCO, were added, taking the FY27 NBFC-UL roster to 17 entities. Tata Sons also stays on it.
14. RBI pushed the start of its revised framework on loan recovery and recovery agents from 1 October 2026 to which new date?
Answer: A. The new recovery norms will apply from 1 January 2027. Recovery agents now covered get time to obtain IIBF certification, and some bank staff, regular instalment collectors and assisting law firms are exempt.
15. Which bank did SBI Life tie up with, as a corporate agent, to sell its protection, savings, retirement and child insurance plans?
Answer: B. SBI Life will offer insurance through J&K Bank's branches, supporting the aim of "Insurance for All by 2047". In other news, Standard Chartered got IFSCA approval for retail wealth management at its GIFT City branch.
16. Kroll's 11th Celebrity Brand Valuation 2025 report put which person at the top of India's celebrity brands, valued at USD 177.9 million?
Answer: C. Shah Rukh Khan led at $177.9M, with Ranveer Singh second at $162.9M and Virat Kohli third at $158.4M. The top 25 together were worth around $2 billion.
17. R Praggnanandhaa took his first Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz title with 23.5 points. Which leg of the 11th Grand Chess Tour was this?
Answer: D. He won the event in the USA, played 31 July-7 August 2026, by taking the rapid section and keeping his lead through blitz. It was the fourth stop of the 11th Grand Chess Tour.
18. In what year did the Government declare 7 August as National Handloom Day, recalling the 1905 Swadeshi Movement?
Answer: E. The day was announced in 2015 to mark the start of the 1905 Swadeshi Movement. The 12th observance, held in New Delhi in 2026, paid tribute to weavers' social and economic role.
19. Quit India Movement Day, or August Kranti Diwas, falls on 8 August. Who became famous for raising the national flag at Gowalia Tank Maidan during the 1942 movement?
Answer: A. The movement began on 8 August 1942 with Gandhi's "Do or Die" call. Aruna Asaf Ali is remembered for unfurling the tricolour at the Bombay maidan.
20. Nagasaki Day on 9 August 2026 was the 81st anniversary of the bombing. Which plutonium-based bomb did the B-29 "Bockscar" drop there?
Answer: B. Bockscar released the plutonium bomb "Fat Man" over Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. The earlier Hiroshima bomb, Little Boy, used uranium and was dropped on 6 August.
21. What was the theme for the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples on 9 August 2026?
Answer: C. The 2026 theme pays tribute to indigenous midwives and the knowledge they carry. The UN declared this day in 1994, with the first observance in 1995.