1. Who opened the 2nd National Conference of Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) Heads in New Delhi in September 2025?
Answer: A. Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, inaugurated the second ANTF Heads conference in the capital in September 2025.
2. In which state was India's first bamboo-based bioethanol plant inaugurated?
Answer: D. PM Narendra Modi opened the country's first bamboo-fed ethanol facility at Golaghat in Assam, supporting the clean and renewable energy drive.
3. Which institution organised Purple Fest 2025, which centred on empowering persons with disabilities?
Answer: B. ISLRTC held the festival together with Amity University, Noida, with a focus on including and empowering Divyangjan.
4. What was launched at the ANTF Conference to ensure seized narcotics are destroyed safely?
Answer: E. A digital platform called the Online Drug Disposal Campaign debuted at the conference to make the destruction of confiscated drugs transparent and safe.
5. RBI data show which country as the leading destination for India's outward FDI in 2024–25?
Answer: C. Singapore drew about 22.6% of India's outward foreign direct investment, placing it first among destinations.
6. What FDI ceiling in insurance does the Insurance Amendment Bill propose?
Answer: A. The Bill would lift the permitted foreign investment in insurance from the current 74% to 100%, in order to raise competition and penetration.
7. UPI-based cardless cash withdrawal is set to be extended to how many business correspondents (BCs) in India?
Answer: D. NPCI intends to take UPI cash withdrawal to more than 2 million BCs, improving access in rural and semi-urban areas.
8. Which of these is a reform SEBI has brought in to deepen India's capital markets?
Answer: B. One SEBI step gives newly listed companies extra time to reach public shareholding norms, which eases compliance and encourages participation.
9. Which firm introduced new pesticides in India for Downy Mildew in grapes and Late Blight in potatoes?
Answer: E. The global agri-science company Corteva Agriscience brought out the products, built on Zorvec Entecta technology, to tackle diseases in grape and potato.
10. Corteva's new pesticide offers protection against wash-off within how long after being sprayed?
Answer: C. The product acts fast and gives crops rainfast protection just 20 minutes after application.
11. Which express train from Sairang was launched weekly along with the line?
Answer: E. The Sairang-Delhi Rajdhani Express runs weekly; the Guwahati train is daily and the Kolkata train thrice a week.
12. IFC-IOR, supported by INS Aravali, was established in which year?
Answer: E. IFC-IOR was established in 2018; IMAC dates to 2014.
13. Which three parties claim Scarborough Shoal, according to the notes?
Answer: B. China, Taiwan and the Philippines all claim the shoal, which China has controlled de facto since 2012.
14. The New York Declaration proposes a phased plan of how many months for a demilitarised Palestine?
Answer: E. The declaration describes a 15-month phased plan, per the notes.
15. The 15 September date was chosen to coincide with which body's Universal Declaration on Democracy, adopted in 1997?
Answer: E. The date matches the Inter-Parliamentary Union's declaration of September 1997.