1. A thorough checklist of the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve recorded how many species of flowering plants?
Answer: B. The checklist recorded 3,261 flowering species. The other figures belong to different facts: 1,868 metres is Agasthyarkoodam's elevation, the reserve's summit, and 3,500 sq km is its area. Notified in 2001, the reserve sits at the Western Ghats' southern tip, stretching over Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and UNESCO admitted it to the Man and the Biosphere network in 2016.
2. Which plant family had the most species in the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve?
Answer: C. Fabaceae, the legume family of beans, peas, lentils and chickpea, led with 349 taxa. Rubiaceae followed with 194, Poaceae with 193 and Orchidaceae with 168; the first is the coffee and quinine family, Poaceae the grasses including rice, wheat, maize, sugarcane and bamboo, and Orchidaceae the orchids.
3. Which reserve was the first biosphere reserve in India?
Answer: C. Nilgiri was notified in 1986 and is the earliest. Seshachalam Hills, Gulf of Mannar, Agasthyamala and Nilgiri make up the four in South India. Unlike a national park, a biosphere reserve protects biodiversity yet lets sustainable use continue, and Agasthyamala's Kani tribe and Arogyapacha plant formed India's first benefit-sharing arrangement under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
4. Under which theme was the 9th India International Water Week held?
Answer: D. The meeting took place in New Delhi under the theme "Climate Resilient Water Management". Constitutionally, States hold water under Entry 17 of List II, while the Union List's Entry 56 deals with inter-state rivers and Article 262 with disputes. Revision list: Namami Gange, Jal Jeevan Mission, PMKSY (Per Drop More Crop), Swachh Bharat Mission, Atal Bhujal Yojana, Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain and Mission Amrit Sarovar.
5. Which pair of veterinary NSAIDs did India ban in 2023 to protect vultures?
Answer: A. Aceclofenac and ketoprofen were barred in 2023. Diclofenac was already prohibited for animal use in 2006 and meloxicam is a safe substitute, so neither is the answer. Over 95 per cent of India's vultures vanished within thirty years; Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, on the Chota Nagpur Plateau, still holds roughly 400 to 450 birds in a 100-km radius, the State's only remaining wild stronghold.
6. Where are India's Vulture Conservation Breeding Centres located?
Answer: B. Pinjore lies in Haryana, Rajabhatkhawa in West Bengal and Rani in Assam. Red-headed, Slender-billed, Indian (long-billed) and White-rumped vultures are the four Critically Endangered Indian species. A Vulture Safe Zone is about a 100 km radius confirmed free of toxic NSAIDs, and the Action Plan for Vulture Conservation covered 2020-25.
7. What interest rate now applies to farm loans under Uttar Pradesh's Mukhyamantri Krishak Samriddhi Yojana?
Answer: D. The rate falls to 6 per cent from the earlier 11 per cent, for loans routed through the Uttar Pradesh Cooperative Gramya Vikas Bank. Lower interest eases farmers' burden and nudges them toward formal credit instead of informal moneylenders; the State introduced the Bharat Taxi service at the same time.
8. Who validates the Gram Panchayat's self-assessment in Swachh Seva Aankalan, an initiative of the Ministry of Jal Shakti?
Answer: E. The Gram Sabha does the validation, so checking rests with the village assembly and not an external inspector. Part of Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen 2.0, SSA is a yearly online self-rating in which Gram Panchayats grade ODF sustainability, cleanliness, solid and liquid waste handling and sanitation infrastructure.
9. Which entity is raising India's first blue bond?
Answer: A. Sagarmala Finance Corporation, India's first maritime lender, plans the issue on 28 September. A blue bond funds sustainable water and marine projects, making it the ocean counterpart of a green bond; a greenshoe option lets an issuer keep oversubscription beyond base size, and a "greenium" is the yield discount thematic bonds earn.
10. Which country issued the first sovereign blue bond anywhere in the world?
Answer: E. Seychelles led the way in 2018 with World Bank support. India's own first Sovereign Green Bonds arrived in January 2023 under its Sovereign Green Bond Framework, whereas SEBI has put out a scheme for green debt securities and suggested rules against greenwashing. The wider family covers green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds.
11. Which agency now gives the highest FY27 GDP growth forecast for India, and what is it?
Answer: A. The OECD's 7.1 per cent, raised from 6.3, is the highest; ADB, S&P and Moody's now say 7.0 and Fitch 6.9, with Moody's moving up from 6.0. Every figure exceeds the RBI's 6.7 per cent estimate. The upgrades reflect the 7.8 per cent growth seen in April-June, backed by investment, consumption and industry, and the four institutions foresee an RBI rate hike later in the year.
12. What does the RBI action known as 'Operation Twist' involve?
Answer: D. Selling short-dated and buying long-dated securities in one go reshapes the yield curve while leaving the balance sheet unchanged; the opposite pairing would be the reverse trap. The related news was a ₹25,000 crore OMO sale by the RBI, second slice of a ₹1 trillion programme scheduled as ₹50,000 crore (17 September), then ₹25,000 crore each on 21 and 28 September. Bids go through e-Kuber; repo is 5.25 per cent and SDF 5.00 per cent, with WACR the operating target.
13. Jayanti Prasad has taken additional charge as IBBI Chairperson. Which service is he from?
Answer: B. Jayanti Prasad is a 1986-batch IA&AS officer and IBBI Whole-Time Member who succeeded Ravi Mital in the additional charge starting 13 September 2026, valid up to 20 November 2026. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 makes IBBI the statutory regulator.
14. Whose debut feature film is 'Angh', winner of the Platform Prize at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival?
Answer: C. Theja Rio directed it. Set in the early 1960s in a distant Nagaland village close to the Indo-Burma frontier, this period drama was co-written by Rajkumar Kandamudi and co-produced by Nancy Nisa Beso. Among the Konyak, Nagaland's biggest tribe famed for facial tattoos, 'Angh' denotes the village's hereditary chief.
15. How many flowering plant species did the checklist record in Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve?
Answer: B. The checklist documented 3,261 flowering plant species.