1. India's first Badri calf born through OPU-IVF at Pantnagar came from a surrogate of which breed?
Answer: C. Born on 11 September 2026, the calf was a joint product of two institutes, NDRI Karnal and Pantnagar's GBPUAT, with money from Haldi's state biotechnology council. Using a surrogate of another breed lets a rare native breed be multiplied without relying on its own small herd of females.
2. Badri cattle, known locally as Pahadi, are notable for which distinction?
Answer: B. The breed takes its name from Badrinath, serves both milk and draught needs, and is Uttarakhand's state animal. It lives in Garhwal and Kumaon districts on steep, cold slopes where exotic cattle struggle, and NBAGR at Karnal is the registering body.
3. The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana completed seven years on 12 September 2026. What fixed monthly pension does it promise at age 60?
Answer: D. This is an optional, contribution-based scheme begun in 2019 by the Agriculture Ministry, with LIC managing the pension fund. Farmers pay Rs 55 to Rs 200 monthly depending on joining age, and the Centre adds an equal amount.
4. What is the correct eligibility condition for joining PM-KMY?
Answer: C. Land records of the State or UT must carry the applicant's name as on 1 August 2019. A spouse gets 50 per cent as family pension after the pensioner dies, and contributions can be deducted straight from PM-KISAN payments.
5. What financial outlay accompanies the newly notified operational guidelines of the GOBARdhan scheme?
Answer: E. GOBARdhan, short for Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan, began in 2018 under the Jal Shakti Ministry, first inside Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen. The guidelines promise full purchase of compressed biogas and set a pricing mechanism, easing investor risk.
6. What was the value of India-ASEAN goods trade in FY2025-26, as stated at the ninth AIMMAF ministerial meeting on agriculture and forestry?
Answer: C. Held in New Delhi on 9 September 2026, the session renewed cooperation on climate-resilient farming, low-emission rice, water productivity, digital agriculture, soil health and agroforestry. Both regions' monsoon rice systems face similar climate stress.
7. ICAR co-organised Dryland Congress 2026, whose outcome was the Delhi Declaration on Drylands. Which institution was its partner?
Answer: A. With South-South cooperation for transforming dryland farming as its theme, the gathering celebrated five decades of working together by ICAR and ICRISAT. Rainfed areas are crucial to India since they hold much cultivated land and most pulse and coarse cereal output.
8. Gujarat launched a Mangrove GIS Portal. Under MISHTI, how much mangrove area has it brought back so far, against a 2023-27 goal of 29,250 hectares?
Answer: E. The portal, opened in Bhuj by Bhupender Yadav, supports habitat tracking, conservation planning and technology-driven restoration. Guneri's inland mangroves were showcased as a community-led effort, and MISHTI is an acronym for a shoreline habitat and income programme.
9. Which agency has partnered, through an MoU with the Department of Rural Development, on Pension Sakhi to extend rural pension coverage?
Answer: C. The effort works through women-run DAY-NRLM structures, including BC Sakhis and local resource persons, to approach self-help group members, Lakhpati Didis and others left out. Enrolment will be followed on digital dashboards and LoKoS, relying on a field cadre that already exists.
10. Under Uttar Pradesh's Mukhyamantri Krishak Samriddhi Yojana, small and marginal farmers can get concessional long-term loans up to what sum and at what interest rate?
Answer: E. The state's Sahkari Gram Vikas Bank, a cooperative lender for long tenures, will disburse them. This kind of credit pays for lasting farm assets such as wells, machinery and land improvement, whereas seasonal crop loans only buy a single season's inputs.
11. What was the unemployment rate for people aged 15 and above in August 2026, as per the NSO's 17th PLFS Monthly Bulletin?
Answer: C. The rate eased from 5.1 per cent the previous month. At the same time participation climbed to 55.6 per cent from 55.4, and the share of the population in work to 52.8 from 52.5. Falling joblessness with rising participation shows more people entering the workforce and finding jobs.
12. What MDR will be levied from 15 October 2026 under the new UPI framework when a person pays a merchant more than Rs 2,000?
Answer: A. The charge is limited to Rs 300 for payments over Rs 75,000. Essential sectors pay a flat Rs 5 on larger payments, capital markets pay 0.02 per cent, and person-to-person transfers, small P2M payments and tiny merchants stay free. A 5 per cent share of collections will promote UPI among small merchants.
13. The Union Cabinet raised the EPFO monthly wage ceiling from Rs 15,000, effective 17 September 2026. What is the new ceiling?
Answer: D. Over 51 lakh more employees should come under mandatory cover, costing about Rs 11,339 crore a year and Rs 56,696 crore across five years. EPF, the Employees' Pension Scheme and EDLI now reach workers whose pay had outgrown the earlier limit.
14. The India Electric Mobility Index 2025 from NITI Aayog was topped by which State or UT?
Answer: B. Delhi scored 84, followed by Maharashtra (78), Karnataka (73), Chandigarh (71) and Goa (65) among 36 States and UTs. NITI Aayog and WRI India weight transport electrification 50 per cent, charging readiness 30 per cent and research and innovation 20 per cent.
15. Which technology produced India's first Badri calf at Pantnagar?