1. In the WMO's 2025 water resources assessment, what fraction of monitored groundwater stations reported levels that were lower than normal or far lower than normal?
Answer: D. The share rose from 25 per cent in 2024. A different 36 per cent statistic describes the catchment area that was drier than usual, which put river discharge among its lowest in 35 years. The report has also grown from 3 to 15 hydrological variables.
2. How much mass did glaciers lose worldwide in 2025, per the report?
Answer: A. That ice loss corresponds to roughly 1.1 ±0.4 mm added to sea level, and every large glaciated region has now lost ice for four years in a row. Land water storage, measured from space by gravimetry such as GRACE, has kept falling since 2014-16, and northern India was below normal in 2025.
3. What proportions of Indian irrigation and of rural drinking supply are met from groundwater?
Answer: D. India uses more groundwater than the United States and China together. The Central Ground Water Board grades blocks as Safe, Semi-critical, Critical or Over-exploited, with Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi holding the most over-exploited blocks, and over-abstraction drove deficits in 2022-2025.
4. InD Events Dubai, with which APEDA has just signed an MoU, is the organiser of which trade fair?
Answer: C. For the second year in a row India will be the Official Partner Country at the 2027 edition. The tie-up targets smaller exporters, including FPOs, startups and enterprises led by women or SC/ST entrepreneurs. APEDA itself dates from 1986, though its Act is of 1985, and it sits under the Commerce Ministry.
5. Roughly how many rural properties will be registered at no cost under the 2026 Swamitva Adhikar Abhilekh scheme of Madhya Pradesh?
Answer: E. Every one of the 55 districts is covered through house visits and camps at village and panchayat level, and no stamp duty or registration fee is charged. A legal ownership document turns a lived-in rural house into collateral that a bank will lend against.
6. The FCRA Amendment Bill, 2026 proposes that a District Judge hear an appeal on the vesting of assets if it is filed within what time?
Answer: C. If an NGO loses its registration through cancellation, surrender or expiry, leftover foreign money and assets bought with it temporarily pass to a Designated Authority and then permanently if registration is not revived in time. The Bill also lowers the maximum jail term for certain compliance lapses from five years to one.
7. In which year's FCRA amendment were the 20 per cent limit on administrative spending and the designated SBI account introduced?
Answer: A. The 2020 amendments added the 20 per cent administrative cap and the account at SBI's New Delhi Main Branch. FCRA was first enacted in 1976 and replaced in 2010, while the 2022 change raised the limit on relatives' contributions from ₹1 lakh to ₹10 lakh.
8. Indian Overseas Bank has a RuPay credit card co-branded with novio. Which company operates novio?
Answer: D. Select and Platinum RuPay versions are offered, and the card can be tied to UPI for credit-based payments. Its FD-backed facility lets someone without a credit history get a card against a fixed deposit and begin building a profile, a typical financial-inclusion route.
9. SLINEX-26, the bilateral naval exercise at Visakhapatnam, is conducted between India and which country?
Answer: C. This is the 13th edition of an exercise that started in 2005, run under the Eastern Naval Command, covering coordinated manoeuvres, tactical communication and maritime interdiction. India's SAGAR policy of 2015 was extended in 2025 as MAHASAGAR.
10. In which strait does Mayun (Perim) Island, captured by the Houthis, lie?
Answer: E. Known as the Gate of Tears, this narrow passage separates Yemen from Djibouti and Eritrea and links two seas, with Perim Island dividing it into a pair of channels. Close to 12 per cent of global trade uses the route, and sailing around the Cape adds 10-14 days, a direct concern for India-Europe cargo and the proposed IMEC link.
11. How many countries have a land border with Ukraine?
Answer: D. Its neighbours on land are Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Belarus and Russia. Ukraine also has coasts on the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, and its fertile chernozem soil makes it a big exporter of wheat, maize and sunflower oil, of which India is a large buyer.
12. India offered Bhutan a concessional credit line for energy projects while the External Affairs Minister was there. How large was it?
Answer: A. Between 16 and 18 September 2026 the minister, S. Jaishankar, was in Bhutan reviewing ties in energy, connectivity, health, agriculture, education and clean mobility. Work on the two Punatsangchhu hydropower plants, of 1,020 MW and 1,200 MW, was also looked at.
13. India's submission in the Oscars 2027 Best International Feature Film race is which film?
Answer: D. Directed by Santosh Davakhar, this Marathi thriller about psychology and culture in a rural Maharashtra setting was selected out of 33 entries. Shwaas, Harishchandrachi Factory and Court were the earlier Marathi picks, making it the fourth.
14. The homegrown drone 'KAL', a one-way attack type trialled at Pokhran's field firing range, is reported to fly up to what distance?
Answer: B. IG Defence built KAL as part of its GRID STRIKE family. It can stay airborne for 7-8 hours, carries 50 kg and navigates autonomously using GNSS and INS. That week HAL also handed over Tejas twin-seat trainers and HTT-40 trainers to the IAF, plus Dhruv NG helicopters to Pawan Hans.
15. Where is the World Meteorological Organization headquartered?
Answer: D. WMO, a UN specialised agency, is headquartered at Geneva.