Daily Current Affairs Quiz
Daily Quiz — January 31, 2026
Question 1 of 10
Sunetra Pawar was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra on January 31, 2026. What is the historic significance of this appointment?
Sunetra Pawar became Maharashtra's first-ever woman Deputy Chief Minister when she was sworn in at Lok Bhavan, Mumbai on January 31, 2026. Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath after her unanimous election as leader of the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) legislature party.
💡 Concept Note
The Deputy Chief Minister is not a separate constitutional post under Article 163/164 — it is a convention. The Governor administers the oath to all state ministers under the Third Schedule of the Constitution. Maharashtra has had 20 Deputy CMs across its history, but Sunetra Pawar is the first woman to hold the office.
Question 2 of 10
Kavach is India's indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system. What is its safety certification level?
Kavach is certified to SIL-4 (Safety Integrity Level 4) under the European EN 50129 standard — the highest possible safety rating for rail systems globally, with failure probability less than 10^-8 per hour. This is the same standard used for nuclear plant safety systems.
💡 Concept Note
Kavach was developed by Indian Railways with RDSO (Lucknow) and three Indian firms: Medha Servo Drives, HBL Power Systems, and Kernex Microsystems. It prevents Signal Passed At Danger (SPAD), over-speeding, and head-on/rear-end collisions using microprocessors, GPS, and radio communication.
Question 3 of 10
On January 30, 2026, Indian Railways set a record by commissioning 472.3 route kilometres of Kavach 4.0 in a single day. Which of the following correctly identifies the three railway zones involved?
The three sections commissioned were: Vadodara-Virar (344 km, Western Railway), Tughlakabad Junction Cabin-Palwal (35 km, Northern Railway), and Manpur-Sarmatanr (93.3 km, East Central Railway). The previous record was 324 RKm on the Kota-Mathura section.
💡 Concept Note
Total Kavach coverage after this commissioning exceeded 1,300 RKm out of Indian Railways' 68,000+ RKm network. The rollout target is 50,000 km by 2028-29 at an estimated investment of Rs 1,38,000 crore. Kavach deployment was accelerated after the Balasore train collision of June 2, 2023 (296 killed, 1,200+ injured) — India's deadliest rail disaster in decades.
Question 4 of 10
The 39th Surajkund International Crafts Mela 2026 was inaugurated on January 31, 2026 in Faridabad, Haryana. Which of the following correctly identifies its theme and partner nation?
The 39th Surajkund Mela had the theme 'Local to Global' and Egypt as the partner nation. The theme states were Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya. It was inaugurated by Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan and runs from January 31 to February 15, 2026.
💡 Concept Note
Surajkund Mela started in 1987 (1st edition). It is organised jointly by Haryana Tourism, Ministry of Tourism, and Ministry of Textiles. Named after a 10th-century reservoir near Delhi built by Tomar ruler Surajpal. The Mela Sathi App was launched at the 2026 inauguration.
Question 5 of 10
The Supreme Court ruled that the right to menstrual health is an integral component of which Fundamental Right?
In Dr. Jaya Thakur vs Government of India, the Supreme Court declared the right to menstrual health an integral component of the Right to Life and Dignity under Article 21. Directions included free sanitary pads in schools, gender-segregated toilets, MHM corners, and reproductive health education in curricula.
💡 Concept Note
Article 21 has been judicially expanded by the Supreme Court to include numerous rights: right to health (1996), right to education (pre-86th Amendment), right to privacy (K.S. Puttaswamy, 2017), right to live with dignity, and now menstrual health (2026). These expansions happen through judicial interpretation under Article 21's phrase 'life and personal liberty'.
Question 6 of 10
The National Shipbuilding and Heavy Industries Park (NSHIP) was established in Thoothukudi as a 50:50 joint venture. Which of the following correctly identifies the two JV partners?
NSHIP is a 50:50 SPV between V.O. Chidambaranar (VOC) Port Authority (representing the Union Government) and SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu). The investment is Rs 19,989 crore; it covers 2,000 acres with 2 km of waterfront access.
💡 Concept Note
VOC Port is named after Vanchi Okonnar Chidambaram Pillai, who founded India's first swadeshi shipping line in 1906. India currently builds less than 1% of global ship tonnage despite having 7,516 km of coastline. NSHIP is part of Maritime India Vision 2030, which targets India becoming a top-5 shipbuilding nation. SIPCOT is Tamil Nadu's state industrial area developer.
Question 7 of 10
Which of the following correctly describes the Ramsar Convention?
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971. India acceded in 1982. Official name: Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat. With Patna Bird Sanctuary (Etah, UP) and Chhari-Dhand (Kutch, Gujarat) added in January 2026, India's total reached 98 Ramsar sites — highest in Asia.
💡 Concept Note
India's Ramsar sites grew 276% since 2014 (from 26 to 98). World Wetlands Day is February 2, the anniversary of the Ramsar Convention signing. The two new sites include Patna Bird Sanctuary — a freshwater wintering ground hosting 60,000+ migratory birds from Central Asia — and Chhari-Dhand — a saline/seasonal desert wetland in the Rann of Kutch.
Question 8 of 10
PAIMANA is a portal launched by MoSPI. Which of the following correctly describes what PAIMANA stands for and what it monitors?
PAIMANA stands for Project Assessment, Infrastructure Monitoring and Analytics for Nation-building. It is a MoSPI portal that replaces OCMS-2006 and monitors 1,702 ongoing Central Sector Infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above, with a revised combined cost of Rs 39.25 lakh crore.
💡 Concept Note
MoSPI (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation) has two wings: Statistics (GDP, CPI, IIP, PLFS) and Programme Implementation (monitors central government projects). PAIMANA uses a 'one data, one entry' principle and integrates with DPIIT's portal via APIs, reducing manual data entry for ~60% of projects.
Question 9 of 10
Elena Rybakina won the Australian Open 2026 Women's Singles title. She represents which country?
Elena Rybakina represents Kazakhstan. She defeated World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the final. This was Rybakina's second Grand Slam title — her first was Wimbledon 2022.
💡 Concept Note
The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam of the tennis calendar (held in Melbourne, January). The four Grand Slams are: Australian Open, Roland Garros (Paris, May-June), Wimbledon (London, June-July), and US Open (New York, August-September). Completing all four is called a Career Grand Slam.
Question 10 of 10
The World Bank and India unveiled a new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for FY2026-31. What is the annual lending commitment under this CPF?
The World Bank-India CPF for FY2026-31 commits USD 8-10 billion annually — up from USD 6-7 billion under the previous CPF (FY2018-FY2025). The total over 5 years is approximately USD 50 billion. Focus areas include private-sector-led job creation and alignment with the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.
💡 Concept Note
The Country Partnership Framework (CPF) is the World Bank Group's primary instrument for country-level engagement. The World Bank Group consists of IBRD (loans to middle-income countries), IDA (concessional loans to low-income countries), IFC (private sector), MIGA (guarantees), and ICSID (arbitration). India borrows primarily from IBRD.