1. Under which ministry was BIO-NIVESH, a platform that links biotechnology startups with investors, introduced?
Answer: E. Dr Jitendra Singh launched it at a New Delhi roundtable under the Ministry of Science and Technology. It works as a two-way channel: founders learn investor expectations while investors understand the lengthy scientific, regulatory and clinical path of biotech, a reason private funding is hard to attract.
2. On which card network or networks was the co-branded Scapia Axis Bank Credit Card introduced?
Answer: A. It is issued on Mastercard and RuPay, with no joining fee, no annual fee and no forex mark-up, aimed at digital-first travellers. The RuPay version matters because such cards can be tied to UPI, a big distribution edge for co-branded cards.
3. ICICI Bank bought a further 2 per cent of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. Roughly what was the deal worth?
Answer: D. The deal was worth about Rs 1,470 crore, done via the stock exchange, and took ICICI Bank to roughly 52.8 per cent. Regulatory needs linked to Prudential's planned takeover of Bharti Life Insurance drove it, since a promoter cannot control two rival life insurers.
4. UNEP's "Limiting Overshoot" report says how much carbon budget is left for a 50 per cent chance of holding warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius?
Answer: C. About 130 GtCO2 remains, which current emission rates would use up in around three years, so the report treats overshoot as certain rather than possible. A carbon budget is the total CO2 that can still be emitted for a chosen chance of staying under a temperature limit.
5. What does the UNEP report give as the present level of human-induced warming and its pace of rise?
Answer: A. Warming is about 1.4 degrees Celsius, climbing by 0.25 degrees each decade, so the gap to 1.5 degrees will close within a few years. Human-induced warming excludes natural swings like El Nino, whereas a single hot year can top 1.5 degrees without the long-term limit being broken.
6. What chance does the WMO give that the average temperature for 2026-2030 will go above 1.5 degrees Celsius?
Answer: C. The WMO, the UN agency for weather, climate and water with its seat in Geneva, puts the likelihood at 75 per cent. A five-year average passing the threshold says more than one hot year because averaging removes short natural swings and signals a structural breach of the Paris goal.
7. Which is the right order of the four stages in the climate overshoot pathway described by UNEP?
Answer: D. The stages run Exceedance, Plateau/Peak, Decline, Stabilization, as set out in the report "Limiting Overshoot: Navigating Exceedance of 1.5 degrees Celsius and Pathways Towards Return". Decline is the demanding phase since it needs net-negative emissions, with more CO2 removed than released.
8. The report cautions that each five years of continued high emissions might add about 0.1 degrees Celsius to peak warming. Roughly how much CO2 would then need removing to bring temperatures back down?
Answer: B. Around 220 GtCO2 would have to be removed, showing that delay makes the later clean-up bigger than the emissions saved. Engineered removal such as DACCS and BECCS needs lots of energy, water and land, and nature-based removal risks saturation and wildfire, so removal should add to cuts, not replace them.
9. Without proper adaptation, food production could fall by how much by 2050, as per the UNEP report?
Answer: B. Output could drop by up to 14 per cent. The report also notes mountain glaciers may lose over 25 per cent of mass by 2100 and about 40 cm of extra sea-level rise by 2300 for every century above 1.5 degrees, while humid heat cuts outdoor farm labour productivity.
10. For how long a period does the RAKSHA document, released by the Defence Minister, lay out India's defence diplomacy vision?
Answer: A. The document covers a 10-year horizon. Released at Kartavya Bhawan and prepared by the Defence Ministry with the External Affairs Ministry and the NSCS, it stands on four pillars: Strategic Partnerships, Capacity Building, Indigenous Exports and Maritime Security, and casts India as a Net Security Provider and First Responder in the Indian Ocean Region.
11. In an MoU signed with the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority, UNDP will carry out a Hazard, Risk and Vulnerability Assessment covering how many districts?
Answer: C. The assessment spans 30 districts, and a separate MoU with CivicDataLab covers the IDS-DRR platform; both target floods, coastal flooding and heatwaves. This supports Odisha's Zero Casualty approach, which replaced reactive relief with anticipatory evacuation.
12. ISRO sent up EOS-05 on GSLV-F17 on 4 September 2026. About how heavy is this satellite?
Answer: E. EOS-05, also called GISAT-1A, weighs about 2,367 kg, the heaviest payload a GSLV has carried so far. It is India's first Earth-imaging satellite in geosynchronous orbit at roughly 36,000 km, so it can watch one region continuously rather than revisiting every few days like LEO satellites.
13. A UN General Assembly resolution of 4 September 2026 named which date as the International Day for the Elimination of Child Marriage?
Answer: B. The day is 27 November and aims to curb child, early and forced marriage through stronger laws, awareness and joint action. It should not be confused with the International Day of the Girl Child on 11 October or the day against violence against women on 25 November.
14. The MoU between the Government e-Marketplace and the Textiles Committee seeks to create which kind of ecosystem?
Answer: D. The goal is a Waste-to-Value-to-Market ecosystem: the Textiles Committee will identify and certify producers and support standardisation, and GeM will handle onboarding, market access and buying of recycled and upcycled goods. Public procurement gives assured demand that helps circular products become viable.
15. BIO-NIVESH is a platform to connect which two groups?
Answer: B. It links biotechnology startups with investors.