Current Affairs Quiz 3 July 2026

The reform applies to the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and other welfare schemes covering over 80 crore beneficiaries, with targeted savings of about Rs 2,161 crore and a phased rollout by the Kharif Marketing Season 2027-28. It links the public distribution system to the National Food Security Act, 2013 and to the Ethanol Blended Petrol programme, which can absorb the diverted broken rice.
Food is procured and distributed through the Food Corporation of India and state agencies. The shift reflects a move from calorie sufficiency toward nutritional quality.

RB-IOS 2026, effective July 1, 2026, replaced the 2021 scheme and, importantly, was expanded to cover rural co-operative banks, alongside banks, eligible NBFCs, non-bank prepaid payment instrument issuers and credit information companies. There is no upper limit on the value of the dispute itself.
A complaint can be escalated to the Ombudsman after 30 days if the regulated entity gives no or an unsatisfactory response, and within one year of the entity’s reply. The scheme strengthens consumer protection in financial services and supports financial inclusion.

India’s tiger population is about 3,682, roughly 75 per cent of the global wild population, and the country has 58 tiger reserves (Madhav National Park notified as the 58th in March 2025). The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is a statutory body under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and Project Tiger was launched in 1973.
Sariska (2008) was the world’s first scientific big-cat translocation into a landscape of local extinction. Reintroduction preconditions include suitable habitat, adequate prey, strong security and community support.
Monitoring uses the M-STrIPES system.

The project is executed by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) with Japanese firms including NEC Corporation, and was launched at the 16th India-Japan Annual Summit in New Delhi. It is linked to Japan’s review of its “Three Principles on Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology”.
India and Japan share a Special Strategic and Global Partnership (2014) and are Quad partners. The co-development supports the Atmanirbhar Bharat goal of indigenisation and strengthens the Indo-Pacific balance.
The Japanese Prime Minister is Sanae Takaichi.

The site is linked to a project on in-situ conservation of wild rice running since 2022, funded by the National Rainfed Area Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and executed by ICAR-NBPGR with the Assam State Biodiversity Board. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 has a three-tier structure: the National Biodiversity Authority, State Biodiversity Boards, and Biodiversity Management Committees.
Crop wild relatives are increasingly valued as sources of climate-adaptation traits. India has around 55 Biodiversity Heritage Sites in total.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) proposed the amendments, notified as a draft in mid-2026. India recorded about 4,87,707 road accidents and about 1,77,175 fatalities in 2024, and roughly half of road-crash deaths are considered preventable with timely Golden Hour care.
The reform links to PM-RAHAT, the cashless treatment scheme providing up to Rs 1.5 lakh per victim for seven days via the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund. The Golden Hour is defined in the amended Motor Vehicles Act as the first hour after a traumatic injury when prompt care most improves survival.

The Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme aims to blend ethanol with petrol to cut crude-oil imports and support farm incomes; India achieved significant blending ahead of schedule. Feedstocks include sugarcane, maize and surplus or broken rice.
Diverting broken rice to ethanol avoids wastage while improving the quality of grain reaching PDS beneficiaries. The linkage shows how welfare, agriculture and energy policy can be integrated, a theme UPSC values in inter-sectoral questions.

Project Tiger was launched in 1973, and the NTCA was created in 2006 to strengthen tiger conservation governance. The NTCA notifies critical tiger habitats and buffer zones, approves tiger conservation plans, and conducts the periodic All India Tiger Estimation.
India has 58 tiger reserves and about 3,682 tigers. The NTCA is chaired by the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
It works with State Forest Departments and the Wildlife Institute of India, which provides scientific support for tiger monitoring.

The NCB is the nodal drug-law-enforcement and coordination agency, established in 1986, functioning under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Its legal framework rests on the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 and the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in NDPS (PITNDPS) Act, 1988.
MANAS is integrated with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment helpline (14446) for counselling and de-addiction, reflecting the twin-track approach of supply-side enforcement and demand-side rehabilitation.

The 29th edition, held in Jaipur, carried the theme of AI-enabled, data-driven and secure digital governance for Viksit Bharat 2047, and presented the National e-Governance Awards 2026. DARPG anchors initiatives such as the Good Governance Index and the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS).
The conference reflects the wider push for citizen-centric digital public services, linking to Digital India and the growth of Digital Public Infrastructure.

The index is published by Henley & Partners. Passport strength is a proxy for a country’s diplomatic relationships and global mobility.
India stood at 80th in July 2026, a slip from 78th in May, with access to around 56 visa-free or visa-on-arrival destinations, modest compared with the leaders. Global mobility indices are distinct from development indices such as the SDG Index (where India ranked 94th in 2026).
Passport rankings are of general-awareness interest and occasionally appear in prelims.

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) contains restrictive bail provisions, notably Section 43D(5), which makes bail difficult where the court finds the accusation prima facie true. The Supreme Court has held in cases such as the “bail is the rule, jail is the exception” line of reasoning that liberty cannot be routinely denied, yet outcomes vary.
The right to a speedy trial has been read into Article 21 (for example in Hussainara Khatoon). The tension between national-security laws and personal liberty is a recurring constitutional theme.

India’s neighbourhood-first policy prioritises stable, cooperative ties with South Asian neighbours, while strategic autonomy keeps its options open among great powers. India engages the United States on technology and the Indo-Pacific, manages competition and the boundary question with China, and maintains ties with Russia and others as interests dictate.
India’s official position holds that Aksai Chin, Arunachal Pradesh and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir are integral parts of India. Its maritime vision is expressed through SAGAR and its successor framing, MAHASAGAR.

Under the Paris Agreement (2015), developed countries committed to mobilising climate finance to help developing countries mitigate and adapt, and a New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance was agreed at COP29. Multilateral development banks such as the World Bank are important channels for such finance.
India has argued that developed countries must meet their finance and technology-transfer obligations, consistent with equity and common but differentiated responsibilities. Reduced multilateral finance raises the cost of the energy transition for developing economies.

The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 introduced several road-safety and victim-protection provisions, including a definition of the Golden Hour and a scheme for cashless treatment during that period. The upgraded AIS-125 ambulance code and the PM-RAHAT scheme (up to Rs 1.5 lakh per victim for seven days via the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund) operationalise this focus on timely care.
India’s high road-fatality burden, about 1.77 lakh deaths in 2024, makes emergency medical response a major public-health priority.