1. The 17th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, held from 17-28 August 2026, took place in which city?
A. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
B. Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
C. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
D. Samarkand, Uzbekistan
E. Nairobi, Kenya
View Answer
Explanation: UNCCD COP17 was themed “Restoring Land. Restoring Hope.” and deliberately coincided with the UN International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP 2026), which suited a host nation whose economy rests on pastoral grazing land. India was represented by Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Egypt will host COP18 at Sharm El-Sheikh in 2028.
2. The Drought Resilience Investment Facility (DRIF), launched at UNCCD COP17, aims to mobilise resources up to what amount?
A. USD 100 million
B. USD 250 million
C. USD 400 million
D. USD 750 million
E. USD 1 billion
View Answer
Explanation: DRIF was one of three drought-focused launches at COP17, alongside Phase-II of the International Drought Resilience Observatory (IDRO) and the AI-powered Drought Resilience Index (DRI). Together they shift the desertification convention’s work from monitoring land degradation towards financing preparedness, a distinction worth noting for agriculture and environment questions in NABARD Grade A.
3. India Post Payments Bank marked its 9th Foundation Day on 1 September 2026. As of 31 March 2026, what share of its customer base was rural?
A. 52 per cent
B. 61 per cent
C. 68 per cent
D. 77 per cent
E. 84 per cent
View Answer
Explanation: IPPB’s rural skew is the point of the payments-bank model built on the postal network, and 49 per cent of its 13.25 crore customers are women. On its Foundation Day it launched the DakPay Sound Box for merchants plus digital insurance and mutual fund platforms, moving from pure payments into distribution of third-party financial products, which payments banks are permitted to do.
4. What were India Post Payments Bank’s customer deposits as of 31 March 2026?
A. Rs 12,540 crore
B. Rs 18,760 crore
C. Rs 29,104 crore
D. Rs 36,220 crore
E. Rs 41,905 crore
View Answer
Explanation: Deposits of this size against a 13.25 crore customer base indicate very small average balances, which is characteristic of last-mile financial inclusion accounts rather than mainstream savings banking. Payments banks cannot lend, so these deposits are deployed in government securities and bank deposits, and the entity earns largely from fees and commissions.
5. LIC launched two insurance plans on 1 September 2026. “LIC Jeevan Raksha”, the pure-risk plan among them, carries which plan number?
A. Plan 770
B. Plan 814
C. Plan 854
D. Plan 894
E. Plan 912
View Answer
Explanation: Jeevan Raksha (Plan 894) offers a Basic Sum Assured of Rs 5-24 lakh with no savings element, while its companion LIC Bima Platinum (Plan 770) is a savings-plus-protection plan with a minimum Basic Sum Assured of Rs 3 lakh. Both are non-linked and non-participating, meaning returns are not tied to markets and policyholders do not share in LIC’s surplus.
6. Following the InsuranceDekho-RenewBuy merger, what is the combined entity’s premium book?
A. Over Rs 2,200 crore
B. Over Rs 4,400 crore
C. Over Rs 6,600 crore
D. Over Rs 8,800 crore
E. Over Rs 11,000 crore
View Answer
Explanation: The merged AI-enabled distribution platform runs under the InsuranceDekho brand with Ankit Agrawal as CEO, offering more than 750 products from 52 insurers across motor, health, life, travel and commercial lines. Consolidation among insurance web aggregators and broking platforms is a recurring theme as IRDAI pushes distribution reach deeper into tier-2 and tier-3 markets.
7. Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) upgraded India’s sovereign rating by one notch in early September 2026. The new rating is:
A. BBB
B. BBB+
C. A-
D. A
E. A+
View Answer
Explanation: JCR moved India from BBB+ to A- and raised the country ceiling to A, citing sustained growth near 7 per cent, GST reforms, Digital Public Infrastructure and healthier bank balance sheets. The country ceiling matters because it caps the rating most domestic borrowers can obtain, so a higher ceiling lowers external borrowing costs for Indian corporates and banks.
8. The new national accounts series in MoSPI’s National Accounts Statistics 2026 adopts which base year?
A. 2011-12
B. 2017-18
C. 2020-21
D. 2022-23
E. 2023-24
View Answer
Explanation: NAS 2026 carries 60 statistical statements covering GDP, national income, consumption, savings, capital formation, and public-sector and external transactions. The base-year revision is accompanied by new or updated indices including the Producer Price Index, the Index of Industrial Production and a Banking Services Price Index, the last of which helps measure output of financial services more accurately.
9. Under the 2022-23 base-year series clarified by MoSPI, India’s real GDP growth in Q1 FY27 was:
A. 6.5 per cent
B. 7.0 per cent
C. 7.4 per cent
D. 7.8 per cent
E. 8.2 per cent
View Answer
Explanation: MoSPI issued a clarification because a negative manufacturing deflator had raised doubts about the estimate. A deflator converts nominal values to real ones, so when input and output prices fall, the deflator can turn negative and real growth exceeds nominal growth in that segment. The episode is a useful reminder of the nominal-real-deflator relationship tested in RBI Grade B economics.
10. As per AISHE 2023-24 released by the Ministry of Education, the Gender Parity Index in higher education stood at:
A. 0.94
B. 1.00
C. 1.04
D. 1.08
E. 1.15
View Answer
Explanation: A GPI above 1.0 means women’s enrolment exceeds men’s relative to the eligible population, and it has now held above 1.0 for the seventh straight year. Over the decade covered by the 13th and 14th AISHE editions, total enrolment rose from 3.42 crore to 4.50 crore (31.5 per cent) while female enrolment rose faster, from 1.57 crore to 2.24 crore (42.2 per cent).
11. The “Creating Intergenerational Bonding” initiative, under an MoU between the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment and Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, will be piloted in how many schools?
A. 50 schools
B. 100 schools
C. 200 schools
D. 500 schools
E. 1,000 schools
View Answer
Explanation: The initiative uses co-learning games, school activities, a bilingual resource platform and teacher certification to strengthen ties across children, parents and grandparents. It complements AVYAY, the umbrella scheme for senior citizens’ welfare, and Elderline, the national toll-free helpline for the elderly, both run by the same department.
12. UNEP’s report “Limiting Overshoot” projects that if every country delivers its national climate plan and net-zero target, peak warming would be about:
A. 1.5 degrees Celsius
B. 1.8 degrees Celsius
C. 2.0 degrees Celsius
D. 2.4 degrees Celsius
E. 2.6 degrees Celsius
View Answer
Explanation: This is UNEP’s first detailed “overshoot, peak and decline” pathway, which accepts that breaching 1.5 degrees is now unavoidable within a few years and focuses on holding the peak low before returning below the limit by 2100 through net-negative emissions. Current policies point to roughly 2.6 degrees by 2100. UNEP, set up in 1972 after the Stockholm Conference, is headquartered in Nairobi.
13. IISc Bengaluru established the Foundation for Quantum Computing Innovation as a thematic hub under the National Quantum Mission. What is the mission’s total outlay?
A. Rs 3,760 crore
B. Rs 6,003.65 crore
C. Rs 8,000 crore
D. Rs 10,372 crore
E. Rs 12,195 crore
View Answer
Explanation: The National Quantum Mission runs from 2023-24 to 2030-31 and targets quantum computers in the 50-1,000 qubit range. FQCI will work across photonic quantum systems, superconducting circuits, semiconductor quantum devices, neutral atoms and trapped ions, the five leading hardware approaches, rather than betting on a single technology.
14. Suman Ray took charge as Executive Director of the Reserve Bank of India from 1 September 2026. Which of the following will she oversee?
A. Department of Supervision
B. Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation and the Premises Department
C. Monetary Policy Department
D. Foreign Exchange Department
E. Department of Government and Bank Accounts
View Answer
Explanation: Suman Ray was earlier Regional Director for Maharashtra and brings over 30 years of RBI experience across currency management, financial inclusion, payment systems, consumer protection and HR. DICGC is a wholly owned RBI subsidiary that insures bank deposits up to Rs 5 lakh per depositor per bank, a figure frequently asked in banking awareness sections.
ARD notes, the monthly current affairs PDF and a descriptive English sample — all free, on WhatsApp.
Get it on WhatsApp — one tap or just leave your number