1. GANGA, India’s first cloned cattle produced in 2025 at ICAR-NDRI, belongs to which indigenous breed?
A. Sahiwal
B. Gir
C. Tharparkar
D. Red Sindhi
E. Kankrej
View Answer
Explanation: GANGA is a Gir female calf produced using Ovum Pick-Up for oocyte collection and Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer for embryo reconstruction. Cloning is being pursued mainly to multiply elite indigenous animals whose genetics would otherwise be lost, since conventional breeding takes several generations to spread superior traits.
2. In 2009, ICAR-NDRI, Karnal achieved which of the following world firsts in animal biotechnology?
A. World’s first cloned goat using embryonic cells
B. World’s first buffalo calf cloned using the Hand-guided Cloning Technique
C. World’s first sex-sorted semen production unit
D. World’s first transgenic dairy cow
E. World’s first camel produced through embryo transfer
View Answer
Explanation: The hand-guided method dispenses with expensive micromanipulators, making cloning cheaper and more field-adaptable. NDRI Karnal has since extended the work to cattle and to cloned Badri embryos, with elite high-producing Badri cows being explored for conservation of Himalayan bovine diversity.
3. The Rashtriya Gokul Mission, meant for development and conservation of indigenous bovine breeds, was launched in which year?
A. December 2012
B. February 2014
C. December 2014
D. April 2016
E. March 2021
View Answer
Explanation: RGM was realigned for 2021-22 to 2025-26 with Rs 2,400 crore, enhanced by Rs 1,000 crore in March 2025 to take the total to Rs 3,400 crore for the 15th Finance Commission cycle. Its interventions include the Nationwide Artificial Insemination Programme, sex-sorted semen and IVF technology. Note that NPBBDD was the February 2014 scheme.
4. Badri cattle, whose elite high-producing animals are being explored for cloning, are indigenous to and recognised as the state animal of which State?
A. Himachal Pradesh
B. Uttarakhand
C. Sikkim
D. Arunachal Pradesh
E. Jammu and Kashmir
View Answer
Explanation: Badri is important for Himalayan bovine diversity and mountain agriculture, where hardy low-input animals matter more than high yield. India has over 50 officially recognised indigenous cattle breeds, valued for climate adaptability, disease resistance and A2 beta-casein milk.
5. ICAR-IVRI, Izatnagar recently produced indigenous calves through OPU-IVF-ET for the first time at the institute. Which breed were these calves?
A. Gir
B. Murrah
C. Sahiwal
D. Tharparkar
E. Ongole
View Answer
Explanation: The programme began in 2022-23 to standardise OPU-IVF-ET protocols under both farm and field conditions, with Sahiwal cattle, Tharparkar cattle and Murrah buffalo as the target breeds. The chain runs elite female to ovum pick-up to in vitro fertilisation to embryo transfer in a synchronised recipient.
6. Moth bean, the drought-hardy pulse in the news, has which botanical name?
A. Vigna radiata
B. Vigna mungo
C. Vigna unguiculata
D. Vigna aconitifolia
E. Cajanus cajan
View Answer
Explanation: Also called mat bean, Turkish gram or dew bean, it is a short-day annual legume of the family Fabaceae. Vigna radiata is moong, Vigna mungo is urad and Vigna unguiculata is cowpea, so the genus is shared but the species differ. Rhizobium symbiosis in its root nodules fixes atmospheric nitrogen.
7. The moth bean varieties CAZRI Moth-4, 5, 6 and 7 demonstrated resilience in Kharif 2026 by surviving a dry spell of what duration?
A. 15 days
B. 20 days
C. 25 days
D. 30 days
E. 35 days
View Answer
Explanation: The dry spell ran from 3 August to 7 September 2026 in an El Nino year, against normal dry spells of only 20 to 30 days in the region. The crop survives through developmental plasticity, flowering at about 30 days and adjusting its maturity to available moisture. The varieties come from ICAR-CAZRI, Jodhpur.
8. Moth bean is cultivated most extensively in which region of India?
A. Thar Desert region of western Rajasthan
B. Vidarbha region of Maharashtra
C. Telangana plateau
D. Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh
E. Terai belt of Bihar
View Answer
Explanation: It is also grown in parts of Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab, on nearly 10 lakh hectares with a yield of about 350 kg per hectare. It thrives on poor sandy soils, rainfall of 150 to 250 mm and temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius. Its dry fodder, called Pala, is valued for desert livestock.
9. Schizopygopsis waddellii, recorded in India for the first time, was found in which water body?
A. Tso Moriri in Ladakh
B. Yamdok Lake in Tibet
C. Pangkang Teng Tso Lake in Tawang district
D. Loktak Lake in Manipur
E. Gurudongmar Lake in Sikkim
View Answer
Explanation: The lake lies at 12,800 feet in Arunachal Pradesh. The cold-adapted snowtrout of the family Cyprinidae was confirmed by ICAR-CIFRI-Coldwater with the State Fisheries Department using an integrative taxonomic approach combining morphology with mitochondrial DNA analysis. Yamdok Lake in Tibet is its type locality, not the Indian record.
10. The Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 2026, notified to come into force from 1 October 2026, replaces a law enacted in which year?
A. 1872
B. 1881
C. 1891
D. 1934
E. 1949
View Answer
Explanation: The new Act received Presidential assent on 13 August 2026 and replaces a 135-year-old statute. It governs admissibility, certification and legal validity of bank records as prima facie evidence without producing original physical registers, creating a technology-neutral regime for digital, virtual and cloud-based financial data.
11. Which of the following is a feature of the Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 2026?
A. It applies only to public sector banks and excludes private banks
B. It empowers the Central Government to extend the Act to NBFCs and fintechs by notification
C. It makes production of original physical ledgers compulsory in all civil suits
D. It removes Post Office Savings Banks from its coverage
E. It requires certification exclusively through manual signatures
View Answer
Explanation: The Act retains coverage of commercial banks and Post Office Savings Banks while allowing scope expansion by notification. It also accepts manual, digital or electronic signatures for certification, and defines a statutory “special cause” so bank officials are not routinely summoned where the bank is not a party to the case.
12. In SEBI’s consultation paper on the Closing Auction Session framework, which of the following was proposed regarding order cancellation?
A. All orders entered during CAS may be freely cancelled
B. No order may be cancelled or modified once CAS begins
C. Orders within plus or minus 1 per cent of the reference price can be cancelled, while those beyond 1 per cent and up to 3 per cent cannot be cancelled but can be modified to improve price
D. Only institutional investors may cancel orders during CAS
E. Cancellation is permitted only in the last one minute of CAS
View Answer
Explanation: The restriction is meant to prevent orders being placed merely to influence the indicative equilibrium price and then withdrawn. SEBI’s seven proposals, open for comments until 3 October 2026, also cover expiry-day settlement price, market timings and discontinuing the Indicative Index Value during CAS.
13. According to the Government of India, the 11 full members of BRICS together account for approximately what share of global GDP?
A. 26 per cent
B. 32 per cent
C. 40 per cent
D. 49.5 per cent
E. 55 per cent
View Answer
Explanation: The bloc accounts for about 49.5 per cent of world population, 40 per cent of global GDP and 26 per cent of global trade. The New Delhi Declaration at the 18th Summit sought greater representation of emerging economies in the UN, IMF and World Bank, and discussed local currency settlement and CBDC cooperation. This was India’s fourth chairship after 2012, 2016 and 2021.
14. The Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail project, which completed its 41st tunnel breakthrough, is being developed by which organisation?
A. National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited
B. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited
C. IRCON International
D. Konkan Railway Corporation Limited
E. RITES Limited
View Answer
Explanation: The 125-km line achieved the breakthrough on 11 September 2026 with the completion of Escape Tunnel-1. Tunnelling dominates the project because of the difficult Himalayan terrain, and the line is expected to improve connectivity in Uttarakhand’s hill districts, including for pilgrimage and disaster-time movement.
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