1. India's Rafale jets are taking part for the first time in Exercise Pitch Black 2026. Which country's air force hosts this large multinational air combat exercise?
Answer: E. The RAAF holds this exercise every second year, first at Darwin in 1983, and it gets its name from the focus on night flying across big uninhabited areas. The 20 July to 7 August 2026 round runs from the Darwin, Tindal and Amberley air bases with roughly 19-20 countries. India deployed four Rafales, a pair of C-17 Globemaster III and over 120 airmen, marking the Rafale's first appearance.
2. CTF 154 is behind 'Operation Southern Readiness 26-2', a multinational maritime security training event. Which place is the Indian Navy's host location?
Answer: A. The 20-23 July 2026 event is at the Southern Naval Command, Kochi, run by the Navy-led Combined Task Force 154, which is the training arm of the Combined Maritime Forces, a grouping of over 40 nations. Participants get lectures, simulator exercises and live sea practice.
3. India's first and deepest twin geothermal wells, backing a 1 MW demonstration power plant, were commissioned at which place?
Answer: D. At over 14,000 feet in eastern Ladakh, the ONGC Energy Centre drilled the wells with Iceland's ÍSOR as consultant. The two 1,000 m wells hit 135°C at 400 m, with 200-240°C expected deeper, and heat comes from the Indus Suture Zone where the Indian and Eurasian plates collided; India's potential is about 10 GW, with Tattapani and Manikaran also candidates.
4. Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-1 reached orbit under 'Mission Aagaman'. India thus became which nation to have private orbital launch capability?
Answer: C. The rocket lifted off from Sriharikota's SDSC on 18 July 2026 at 12:05 pm IST and placed its payload in a 450 km LEO at 60° inclination, so only the USA and China were ahead. 'Aagaman' means 'Arrival' in Sanskrit, and the mission was called a grand success.
5. Which statement about the Vikram-1 rocket is incorrect?
Answer: B. Skyroot Aerospace of Hyderabad, set up by ex-ISRO engineers Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka, built it, not Agnikul. The roughly 20 m tall, 1.7 m wide vehicle honours Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, uses Kalam-100 and Kalam-250 engines, and follows Skyroot's suborbital Vikram-S of 18 November 2022.
6. Muthoot Finance and five more NBFCs were penalised by the RBI. Which legal provision empowers the RBI to fine NBFCs?
Answer: C. The RBI levies such fines through Section 58G(1)(b) with Section 58B(5) of its 1934 Act, and not under the Banking Regulation Act. Amounts ranged between ₹2.70 lakh and ₹6.20 lakh, the highest on Avail Financial for breaching exposure and directorship limits. The regulator stressed the penalties concern compliance lapses and do not affect whether customer transactions are valid.
7. Under the RBI's Scale-Based Regulation (SBR) framework, into which layers are NBFCs grouped?
Answer: B. NBFCs are placed by size, activity and risk, with tougher rules for higher layers. Related points: NBFCs cannot take demand deposits or issue cheques on themselves, an NPA is a loan overdue 90+ days under IRAC norms, and KYC risk categories must be reviewed at least every six months.
8. At the 72nd National Film Awards (2024), which film took the top prize for Best Feature Film?
Answer: A. Yami Gautam won Best Actress for the same film. Mammootty (Bramayugam) and Kartik Aaryan (Chandu Champion) shared Best Actor, which was Mammootty's fourth National Award in that category.
9. A study in which Assam national park found that invasive plants act as key nectar and larval host plants for butterflies, with 220 butterfly species recorded?
Answer: E. Researchers counted 220 butterfly species, along with 56 host plants for larvae and 41 plants for nectar. It shows invasive plants have a real ecological function, so controlling them has to be weighed against conserving biodiversity.
10. What did India win to record its best-ever showing at the 58th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) 2026?
Answer: D. India's four golds are its best IChO result ever, and PM Modi congratulated the team. At the 37th International Biology Olympiad in Vilnius, Lithuania, it got one gold from Bhavyaa Gunwal of Haryana plus three silvers from Soumil Maity (WB), Nishit Kalani (Rajasthan) and Anmol Kumar (Punjab).
11. Which Chinese player withdrew hurt in the semifinal, sending P.V. Sindhu into the Japan Open 2026 women's singles final in Tokyo?
Answer: A. Sindhu was ahead 21-19, 15-10 when Chen Yu Fei pulled out. In the quarterfinal she had progressed on a walkover from Japan's Nozomi Okuhara.
12. How many indicators does MoSPI's updated 'PAIMANA' infrastructure-monitoring dashboard now track?
Answer: E. PAIMANA stands for Project Assessment, Infrastructure Monitoring & Analytics for Nation-building. Its latest quarterly update brought in 44 new indicators, giving a broad framework for watching key infrastructure sectors.
13. The Ease of Doing Business Act, 2026 made which state India's first to adopt a complete risk-based, trust-based system for approving businesses?
Answer: D. Chhattisgarh's Assembly passed the law, which offers self-certification to low-risk units, deemed approvals and lighter compliance. Over 15 lakh MSMEs are expected to gain from it.
14. The White Rabbit Technology-based IST Distribution Network, opened in Bengaluru by Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, supports which vision?
Answer: B. The network provides a precise, home-built timing system under the One Nation, One Time idea. It lessens dependence on foreign GPS timing used by banks, telecom operators, defence units, power grids and stock exchanges.
15. With which company did Akasa Air sign an MoU to speed up Sustainable Aviation Fuel use in India under the ICAO CORSIA framework?
Answer: C. The agreement with BPCL supports long-term SAF supply, higher blending and decarbonising Indian aviation. In unrelated news, Gujarat took the 2026 Agriculture Leadership Award for horticulture at the 17th Conclave in Delhi.
16. Under 'Project Astra Farm', Indian Analog Astronaut Captain Aman Johri ran a microgravity research mission on which Maharashtra-grown crops?
Answer: B. He studied them under reduced gravity, furthering India's space agriculture research and sustainable food systems for future space missions.
17. Reliance Jio got IN-SPACe technical approval for a LEO satellite constellation of about how many satellites?
Answer: A. The roughly 1,600-satellite network would be India's first home-grown satellite internet system, offering satellite broadband, direct-to-device connectivity and enterprise communication services.
18. West Indies great Sir Garfield Sobers died aged 89. Across 93 Tests, with 8,032 runs, how many wickets did he take?
Answer: C. Considered one of cricket's greatest all-rounders, he took 235 wickets in those 93 Tests and was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, among many honours.
19. The Day of International Criminal Justice on 17 July marks the 1998 adoption of which statute that created the International Criminal Court?
Answer: E. The statute led to the creation of the ICC, which seeks to hold people to account for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and aggression.
20. What is the 2026 theme of Nelson Mandela International Day, held on 18 July?
Answer: D. The day honours the birthday of Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first democratically elected President, and this year's theme urges individuals to help build a better society.
21. What capacity is planned for India's first River Kinetic Energy Demonstration Project, covered by an MoU between Arunachal Pradesh and the Norwegian firm Tidal Sail AS?
Answer: E. The pilot is meant to draw clean power from flowing rivers with no dam required, and it strengthens green ties between India and Norway.
22. Telangana's MoU with Microsoft sets up a Green Skills Centre of Excellence in Hyderabad. Which state flagship initiative does it support?
Answer: A. The centre will train people in AI, sustainable manufacturing and green technologies for Telangana's Green Pharma City and its next-generation life sciences plans. Separately, India Post opened a Mascot Design Contest on MyGov, and the Cabinet cleared railway multitracking in Odisha and Jharkhand plus two Varanasi elevated corridors worth over ₹25,000 crore, along with NIPU-2026.