1. Which DRDO laboratory is in charge of the Underwater Fiber Optic Sensing System (UFOSS) being rolled out under the "Deep Ocean Watch" project?
Answer: C. The Kochi-based Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) heads UFOSS, a permanent network of undersea acoustic and hydrographic sensors on the Indian Ocean floor linked to shore by armoured fibre-optic cable. An EoI went out on 20 June 2026 with a 48-month delivery target.
2. For how long is the UFOSS designed to remain operational?
Answer: E. The system is built to last 20 years, with cable-laying ploughs and ROVs burying it deep in the seabed. A Lead System Integrator may team up with as many as 5 engineering firms, and the project is India's counterpart to the US IUSS, successor to SOSUS, aimed at Chinese SSNs and Pakistan's Hangor-class AIP boats.
3. What does Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP) technology make possible?
Answer: B. AIP lets non-nuclear submarines stay underwater for two to three weeks without coming up for air, a big stealth gain. Examples are fuel cells (German Type 214), Stirling engines and France's MESMA, and India's Project 75(I) plans six AIP boats.
4. The 9th Session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts (IGE) on Consumer Protection Law and Policy, which India has been named to chair, is organised by which body?
Answer: D. UNCTAD runs the IGE, not the WTO. India chairs the 6-8 July 2026 session at the Palais des Nations in Geneva through Nidhi Khare, Secretary of the Department of Consumer Affairs, and the UN Principles for Consumer Product Safety (UNGA, December 2025) are formally launched there.
5. In which year did the UN General Assembly first adopt the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection (UNGCP)?
Answer: A. UNGA Resolution 39/248 of 16 April 1985 first adopted them. They gained sustainable-development principles in 1999 and a major digital and e-commerce update in December 2015, and remain non-binding soft law guiding national consumer laws.
6. ICMR-MINDS took the Gold Award at the National Awards for e-Governance 2026. What is it about?
Answer: D. ICMR-MINDS is an implementation research effort that folds mental health and substance-use screening and care into non-communicable disease management. An AI-based Clinical Decision Support System lets trained non-specialist frontline workers deliver care, and it won Gold in Category 2 (AI innovation for citizen-centric services).
7. Which body presents the National Awards for e-Governance?
Answer: A. DARPG, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances under the Personnel Ministry, has run the awards since 2003, not MeitY. Dr Jitendra Singh handed the ICMR-MINDS award at the 29th NCeG in Jaipur on 1-2 July 2026.
8. Which theme did the 29th National Conference on e-Governance (NCeG) 2026 in Jaipur carry?
Answer: C. The Jaipur conference was themed "Viksit Bharat 2047: AI-enabled, Data-driven & Secure Digital Governance" and ended by adopting the Jaipur Declaration 2026 to strengthen digital governance.
9. Under the RBI's new capital market lending norms that took effect on 1 July 2026, a bank's overall Capital Market Exposure may not exceed what share of its Tier-I capital?
Answer: E. The framework, notified 13 February 2026 under a new Chapter XIII A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, caps total CME at 40% of Tier-I capital and direct exposure at 20%. Loans to market intermediaries need full collateral, and funding brokers' proprietary trading is barred apart from market-making.
10. What Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio do the new RBI norms allow on loans against listed equity shares?
Answer: B. Loans against listed shares carry a 60% LTV, versus 75% for MF, ETF, REIT and InvIT units and 85% for debt mutual funds. Other figures include a 40% haircut on shares, ₹1 crore LAS limit per person, and a ₹25 lakh cap on IPO and secondary-market loans.
11. Bank finance for which broker activity has been prohibited under the new RBI capital market rules, except for market-making?
Answer: E. Lending for proprietary trading, where firms trade with their own money, is banned to curb speculation. Volumes dipped after the tighter rules: MCX fell about 40%, BSE 7-10%, and NSE's proprietary share slid from 52% to 51.3%.
12. INS Mahendragiri (F38), due for commissioning at Visakhapatnam on 11 July 2026, is the sixth vessel of which indigenous stealth frigate programme?
Answer: B. It is the sixth Project 17A stealth frigate built in India. Its commissioning at Visakhapatnam on 11 July 2026 adds to the country's domestic warship-building drive and maritime security.
13. The "Chita Andolan" (Pyre Protest) has restarted in Madhya Pradesh over delayed rehabilitation linked to which project?
Answer: D. Families displaced by the Ken–Betwa Link Project, India's first river-interlinking scheme under the National Perspective Plan, restarted the protest, citing slow rehabilitation, compensation and resettlement.
14. Japan's Hayabusa2 probe recently passed within 800 metres of which asteroid?
Answer: A. Hayabusa2's close flyby was of Torifune, a primitive near-Earth asteroid useful to planetary science and future impact-mitigation planning. The same spacecraft earlier collected samples from Ryugu.
15. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) cleared modernisation proposals worth roughly how much in its latest meeting?
Answer: C. The DAC approved proposals of about ₹52,000 crore, including advanced missile systems, anti-drone technology, naval unmanned systems and high-altitude pseudo satellites for all three services.
16. At Bamako, India launched its first Forum for the Promotion of Exports with which African nation?
Answer: A. The inaugural India–Mali Forum for the Promotion of Exports took place in Bamako, Mali's capital, and looked at openings in textiles, mining, energy, healthcare and education.
17. Sikkim mountaineer Tshering Choden recently climbed Mount Elbrus. It is the tallest peak on which continent?
Answer: C. Elbrus in Russia is the highest point of Europe. It is Tshering Choden's second Seven Summits success, following Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain.
18. SBI is taking over NHB's 10% holding in RDCL. In which market segment does RDCL work?
Answer: E. RDCL is the RMBS Development Company Limited, which works on residential mortgage-backed securities. SBI's purchase of National Housing Bank's 10% stake aims to deepen that market, add liquidity and aid housing finance.
19. Which side lifted the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026, extending its record to seven titles?
Answer: B. Australia beat England in the final for a record seventh title, and Beth Mooney was named both Player of the Final and Player of the Tournament.
20. At what age did Vaibhav Sooryavanshi debut to become India's youngest international cricketer?
Answer: D. He debuted aged 15 years and 99 days, overtaking Sachin Tendulkar's long-standing mark for India's youngest international debutant, following an outstanding IPL 2026.
21. Which folk art form was the late Teejan Bai, who died aged 70, famed for?
Answer: B. Teejan Bai, who died in Raipur on 5 July 2026, was the first woman to perform Pandavani, the Mahabharata-based Chhattisgarhi narrative form, in the Kapalik style in public. She held the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan.
22. Which scientific milestone does World Zoonoses Day on 6 July recall?
Answer: D. The day recalls Louis Pasteur giving the first successful rabies vaccine in 1885, and it promotes the One Health approach to diseases passing between animals and people. World Rural Development Day, first held in 2025, also falls on 6 July.
Answer: A. The World Bank supports the programme, which seeks to speed up pollution control under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
24. How many payloads will Skyroot's Vikram-1 rocket take up on Mission Aagaman, among them a space-debris robotic arm and a CubeSat?
Answer: C. Six payloads will fly from Sriharikota, including technology demonstrations, the debris-removal robotic arm, a CubeSat and commemorative items honouring C.V. Raman, Vikram Sarabhai and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
25. Which country recently gave PM Modi its highest civilian honour, "Bintang Adipurna"?
Answer: E. Indonesia conferred its top civilian award, Bintang Adipurna, on Modi for deepening India–Indonesia ties, and EAM S. Jaishankar called it a matter of pride for every Indian.
26. In which city is India holding the two-day BRICS Women Working Group Meeting during its BRICS Chairship?
Answer: C. The meeting is in Kochi and covers women's empowerment, their economic participation and gender-inclusive development.
27. Which Indian Naval sail training ship reached New York for SAIL4TH 250 and the Parade of Sail on the Hudson River?
Answer: E. INS Sudarshini reached New York for the US International Naval Review 250 and SAIL4TH 250, joining the Hudson Parade of Sail to show India's maritime heritage and naval diplomacy.
28. CCRAS has launched three research initiatives in New Delhi. For which system of medicine is it the apex research council?
Answer: B. The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences is Ayurveda's apex research body. Its three launches were a Research Methodology Textbook, CCRAS PRAYATNA 2026-27 and a Digital Ecosystem Dashboard.