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Daily Current Affairs
15 & 16 August, 2025
1. The recently launched Mission Sudarshan Chakra is primarily aimed at:
A) Enhancing agricultural productivity
B) Multi-layered protection of India’s strategic, civilian, and religious sites
C) Promoting exports of defence equipment
D) Establishing new cyber parks
E) Expanding India’s space exploration program
Answer: B) Multi-layered protection of India’s strategic, civilian, and religious sites
Explanation: Mission Sudarshan Chakra, announced on 15th August 2025, aims to build an advanced multi-layered shield for vital installations. It blends cultural ethos with modern defence technology and is managed by the Ministry of Defence.
2. The National Deep Water Exploration Mission is associated with which of the following?
A) Defence technology
B) Space exploration
C) Offshore oil and gas discovery
D) River interlinking projects
E) Cyber defence initiatives
Answer: C) Offshore oil and gas discovery
Explanation: Launched on Independence Day 2025, the National Deep Water Exploration Mission focuses on discovering offshore oil and gas reserves, especially in the Andaman Sea and Andhra coast, to strengthen energy security.
3. Under the Next-Generation GST Reform (2025), the proposed structure will have how many main slabs (excluding special rates)?
A) One
B) Two
C) Three
D) Four
E) Five
Answer: B) Two
Explanation: The GST revamp proposes a simplified two-slab regime: 5% for essentials and 18% for standard goods/services, plus a special 40% rate for select items like tobacco and alcohol.
4. Which of the following entities requires RBI authorisation under the PSS Act, 2007?
A) Third-Party Payment Aggregator (TPA)
B) Payment Aggregator (PA)
C) Fintech API providers
D) Merchants using UPI
E) NBFCs
Answer: B) Payment Aggregator (PA)
Explanation: PAs handle customer funds directly and must obtain RBI authorisation under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. TPAs only provide tech platforms and don’t require such approval.
5. In insurance, Participating (Par) Products are also known as:
A) Market-linked policies
B) Non-profit policies
C) With-profit policies
D) Zero-risk policies
E) Guaranteed-return policies
Answer: C) With-profit policies
Explanation: Par products are “with-profit policies” where policyholders share in the insurer’s surplus through bonuses like reversionary, cash, or terminal bonuses.
6. Which of the following UPI features will be discontinued from October 1, 2025 due to fraud concerns?
A) QR-based payments
B) Peer-to-Peer transfers
C) Collect Request (P2P Collect)
D) AutoPay subscriptions
E) Merchant UPI transactions
Answer: C) Collect Request (P2P Collect)
Explanation: The NPCI decided to discontinue the P2P Collect feature that allowed users to request payments from others, as it was increasingly misused by fraudsters.
7. The Credit-to-Deposit Ratio in Indian banks indicates:
A) Percentage of deposits invested in government securities
B) Proportion of deposits lent out as credit
C) Share of deposits kept as reserves with RBI
D) Bank profitability ratio
E) Ratio of NPA to total advances
Answer: B) Proportion of deposits lent out as credit
Explanation: The CD ratio shows how much of a bank’s deposits are given as loans. Currently, it remains below 80%, meaning credit growth lags behind deposit growth.
8. The Reserve Bank of India has announced a shift from batch-based cheque clearing to which new system?
A) Weekly settlement
B) Continuous clearing
C) Blockchain-based clearing
D) Manual verification system
E) Monthly consolidation system
Answer: B) Continuous clearing
Explanation: RBI is moving to continuous cheque clearing where cheques will be processed throughout business hours, reducing settlement time to within the same day.
9. Which of the following is NOT a feature of SBI Life’s “Smart Shield Plus”?
A) Level cover option
B) Increasing cover by 5% annually
C) Coverage up to 100 years
D) Guaranteed maturity bonus
E) Future-proofing cover at life stages
Answer: D) Guaranteed maturity bonus
Explanation: Smart Shield Plus is a pure term plan (non-linked, non-participating) offering only risk cover. It has level cover, increasing cover, and future-proofing options, but no maturity bonus.
10. The newly launched ‘PSB Naari Shakti’ Savings Account by Punjab & Sind Bank primarily focuses on:
A) Senior citizens’ welfare
B) Farmers’ credit needs
C) Women’s financial and health empowerment
D) Corporate banking
E) Start-up funding
Answer: C) Women’s financial and health empowerment
Explanation: PSB Naari Shakti account offers women-centric financial services along with health benefits like cancer cover, accident insurance, and free health check-ups.
