1. The National Campaign on Entrepreneurship-II, launched by the Ministry of Rural Development, is being implemented under which programme?
A. Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin
B. Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission
C. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana
D. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
E. Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme
View Answer
Explanation: DAY-NRLM is the Ministry of Rural Development’s flagship mission for mobilising rural poor women into self-help groups and federating them into village and cluster-level institutions. The Entrepreneurship-II campaign uses that existing SHG architecture as a delivery channel, which is why a livelihoods mission rather than a skilling or credit-subsidy scheme hosts it. The campaign runs for three months, from 21 August to 21 November 2026.
2. How many SHG women does the National Campaign on Entrepreneurship-II aim to train?
A. 1 lakh
B. 2 lakh
C. 5 lakh
D. 10 lakh
E. 25 lakh
View Answer
Explanation: Alongside training 5 lakh SHG women, the campaign targets the formalisation of 50,000 enterprises. Formalisation matters because an unregistered micro-enterprise cannot easily access institutional credit, government procurement or supplier contracts. The larger objective the campaign feeds into is the creation of 6 crore Lakhpati Didis, meaning SHG households with annual incomes above one lakh rupees.
3. The Himachal Pradesh Forest Department signed a five-year MoU with ISB-BIPP to unlock a forest and pastoral economy estimated at what value?
A. Rs 12,600 crore
B. Rs 18,400 crore
C. Rs 22,600 crore
D. Rs 27,200 crore
E. Rs 34,800 crore
View Answer
Explanation: The partnership treats forests as a productive economic asset rather than only a conservation obligation. The resources identified include amla, pine needles, wild mangoes, sal seeds and rhododendron flowers, most of which are minor forest produce collected by hill communities. Pine needles in particular are a double dividend, since removing them reduces forest-fire fuel load while supplying biomass for briquettes and handicraft.
4. The Aaranyak project to reclaim elephant habitat by removing invasive alien plants is located in which reserve forest?
A. Khalingduar Reserve Forest, Udalguri district
B. Ripu Reserve Forest, Kokrajhar district
C. Garampani Reserve Forest, Karbi Anglong
D. Innerline Reserve Forest, Cachar district
E. Doigrung Reserve Forest, Golaghat district
View Answer
Explanation: Khalingduar lies under the Dhansiri Forest Division in the Bodoland Territorial Region, along the Assam-Bhutan border, an active elephant corridor. The three invasive species targeted are Lantana camara, Chromolaena odorata and Mikania micrantha, which crowd out native grasses and herbs by competing for light, moisture and nutrients. Degraded fodder availability inside the forest is one driver that pushes elephants into surrounding croplands.
5. Biochar, which the Assam project produces from cleared invasive biomass, is created through which process?
A. Anaerobic digestion
B. Pyrolysis
C. Composting
D. Gasification with excess oxygen
E. Open-field incineration
View Answer
Explanation: Pyrolysis heats organic matter with little or no oxygen, so the carbon is locked into a stable porous solid instead of escaping as carbon dioxide the way it does in ordinary burning. That stability is what lets biochar count as carbon sequestration rather than waste disposal, since it can persist in soil for very long periods. In the field its porous structure influences soil water retention, nutrient retention, soil aggregation and microbial habitat.
6. According to PLFS 2025, the rural Female Labour Force Participation Rate rose from 33 per cent to what level?
A. 38.4 per cent
B. 41.2 per cent
C. 45.9 per cent
D. 49.5 per cent
E. 52.6 per cent
View Answer
Explanation: The post-pandemic recovery in female participation has been far stronger in rural India than urban, where the rate moved only from 23.3 to 27.7 per cent. Part of the rural rise reflects women entering own-account and unpaid family work in agriculture, which the survey counts as employment. States such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Haryana combined a low starting base with fast improvement.
7. The overall FLFPR for women aged 15 and above rose from 30 per cent in 2019-20 to what figure in 2025?
A. 34 per cent
B. 36 per cent
C. 38 per cent
D. 40 per cent
E. 44 per cent
View Answer
Explanation: FLFPR measures the share of working-age women who are either employed or actively seeking work, so a woman engaged only in unpaid domestic duties falls outside the labour force altogether. The analysis also uses Average Annual Percentage Point change to compare States, but that metric captures only the pace of movement and not the level a State began from. A fast-improving State can therefore still sit at a low absolute rate.
8. For how long did IRDAI bar four insurers from opening new places of business after they breached Expense of Management limits for 2024-25?
A. Three months
B. Six months
C. Nine months
D. Twelve months
E. Eighteen months
View Answer
Explanation: Expense of Management covers an insurer’s operating and distribution costs together, including salaries, office expenses, marketing and agent or broker commissions, and IRDAI caps it as a percentage of premium. The logic of the cap is simple: money absorbed by running the business is money unavailable for settling claims or lowering premiums. The four insurers restrained were Edelweiss Life, Pramerica Life, ACKO General and Niva Bupa Health.
9. SEBI’s study found that retail equity derivatives traders suffered a combined net loss of how much in FY26?
A. Rs 51,689 crore
B. Rs 74,812 crore
C. Rs 91,685 crore
D. Rs 1,05,240 crore
E. Rs 1,18,930 crore
View Answer
Explanation: The same study recorded the first decline in retail derivatives participation in a decade, with unique investors falling to 8.75 million. Nearly nine of every ten traders ended in loss, and options alone accounted for roughly 92 per cent of the total. The concentration in options reflects their low upfront premium, which attracts small traders while exposing them to rapid time decay.
10. The pension scheme proposed for construction workers under EPFO 3.0 would draw on surplus funds collected through which cess?
A. Building and Other Construction Workers cess
B. Swachh Bharat cess
C. Agriculture Infrastructure and Development cess
D. Krishi Kalyan cess
E. Clean Energy cess
View Answer
Explanation: The BoCW cess is levied on construction project cost and pooled in State welfare boards, where large balances have historically remained unspent. Channelling that surplus into a pension would convert an idle welfare corpus into a contributory retirement benefit for a workforce that is overwhelmingly informal and migratory. The proposal forms part of the broader EPFO 3.0 reform agenda aimed at widening social-security coverage.
11. Razorpay launched a multi-currency EEFC settlement facility for exporters in partnership with which bank?
A. IDFC First Bank
B. RBL Bank
C. Federal Bank
D. Yes Bank
E. IndusInd Bank
View Answer
Explanation: An Exchange Earners’ Foreign Currency account lets a resident exporter hold export receipts in foreign currency instead of converting them immediately into rupees. That flexibility helps an exporter time conversions and settle import or freight bills in the same currency, avoiding a double conversion spread. The facility supports USD, EUR, GBP, AED and SGD.
12. In the NielsenIQ and World Data Lab report, affluent consumers are defined as people spending more than how much per day?
A. 30 dollars
B. 50 dollars
C. 70 dollars
D. 90 dollars
E. 120 dollars
View Answer
Explanation: The report classifies core consumers as those spending between 13 and 90 dollars a day, with affluence beginning above that band. India is projected to reach 10.8 crore affluent consumers by 2036, marginally ahead of China’s 10.3 crore, on an increase of 8.2 crore from 2.6 crore in 2026. India’s addition is the largest among the countries covered, even though the United States is expected to hold a much larger affluent base of 23.1 crore.
13. India and the Asian Development Bank signed a loan agreement of what value for the Chennai Climate-Resilient Water Security and Sewerage Project?
A. 150 million dollars
B. 180 million dollars
C. 230 million dollars
D. 300 million dollars
E. 425 million dollars
View Answer
Explanation: The project funds a comprehensive ring-main water supply system for Chennai along with wastewater upgrades, aligned with AMRUT 2.0 and the Urban Challenge Fund. The ADB was established on 19 December 1966 and is headquartered in Manila, with Masato Kanda as President and 69 members, of which 49 are regional. Unlike the New Development Bank, where founders hold equal voting rights, ADB uses weighted voting tied to capital subscription.
14. The DGFT relaxation allowing exporters to invoice overseas transactions in Indian rupees specifically excludes which countries from the benefit?
A. Nepal and Bhutan
B. Bangladesh and Myanmar
C. Sri Lanka and Maldives
D. Russia and Iran
E. Afghanistan and Pakistan
View Answer
Explanation: Under the relaxed rules, eligible rupee payments can count towards Foreign Trade Policy benefits and the discharge of export obligations, which earlier generally required realisation in convertible foreign exchange. Trade with Nepal and Bhutan is already routinely settled in rupees, so extending FTP incentives there would reward transactions that bring in no additional foreign exchange. The change supports the wider push to internationalise the rupee in trade settlement.
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