UPSC Daily Quiz 29 September 2026

Answer: a

Explanation:

Karnataka Forest, Ecology, and Environment Minister recently directed the State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to take action against industries in the Kadechur-Badiyal industrial area over reports of untreated industrial effluents being discharged into the Bhima River.

About Bhima River:

• It is a perennial river and the largest tributary of the Krishna
• Course:
  • It originates near Bhimashankar Temple in the Bhimashankar hills on the western side of the Western Ghats in the Pune District of Maharashtra.
  • It flows through Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana.
  • It merges into the Krishna River in Karnataka’s Raichur district.
• Total Length: It has a total length of 861 km, out of which 450 km flows through Maharashtra.
• The Bhima drainage area is defined by the Western Ghats (west), the Balaghat Range (north), and the Mahadeo Hills (south).
• It runs in a well-entrenched valley, and its banks are heavily populated.
• The river is prone to flooding due to heavy rainfall during the monsoon season.
• Major Tributaries:
  • Right Bank: Indrayani River, Mula River, Mutha River, and Pavana
  • Left Bank: Sina and Nira,
• The basin has been inhabited since prehistoric time Ancient kingdoms, including the Satavahanas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, and Yadavas, flourished along its banks.
• Spiritual Significance:
  • Pandharpur is an important pilgrimage centre located on the right bank of the Bhima River.
  • The river is also referred to as Chandrabhaga River, especially at Pandharpur, as it resembles the shape of the moon.
  • Bhimashankar Temple: It is one of the 12 holy Jyotirlinga shrines in India.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

News: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/minister-orders-action-over-industrial-effluent-discharge-into-bhima-river-in-yadgir-district/article71520363.ece

Answer: a

Explanation:

Pakistan is set to send its first astronaut into space under a cooperation programme with China, with one of two Pakistani candidates expected to join a short-duration mission aboard China’s Tiangong space station as a payload specialist.

About Tiangong Space Station:

• The Tiangong Space Station, translating to ‘Sky Palace’, is a Chinese-owned and operated permanently crewed space station in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
• It represents the third and final step of China’s Manned Space Program.
• The first module of the space station was launched in April 2021, following two precursor missions, Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2.
• The station consists of a core module known as Tianhe, which connects two science modules, Wentian and Mengtian, as well as a planned space telescope module, Xuntian.
  • Xuntian is a huge, Hubble-like space telescope, which will share the space station’s orbit and be able to dock with it for repairs, maintenance, and possibly upgrades.
• Tiangong orbits Earth at an altitude between 340 to 450 kilometers, approximately the same orbital height as the International Space Station (ISS).
• Tiangong is much smaller than the ISS, with only three modules compared with 16 modules on the ISS.
• Tiangong is also considerably lighter than the ISS, which weighs about 400 tons (450 metric tons); the Chinese station is about 20% as massive.
• But unlike the ISS, Tiangong is operated by a single natio
• The station typically hosts three astronauts at a time for six-month stays. It can support six astronauts at a time during crew handovers.
• China plans to expand Tiangong with additional modules in the coming years.
• The aims of the Tiangong Space Station are to:
  • Build a long-term, reliable space station in orbit.
  • Guarantee the long-term health and safety of stationed astronauts.
  • Provide conditions for scientific and technological experiments in space.
• The station serves as an in-orbit laboratory with 23 enclosed experiment racks, each covering a different proposed experiment in the fields of:
  • Space life sciences and biotechnology
  • Microgravity fluid physics and combustion
  • Material science in space
  • Fundamental physics in microgravity
• The space station also features platforms for exposed and unpressurised external experiments.

Hence option a is the correct answer.

News:https://www.outlookindia.com/international/pakistans-first-astronaut-what-will-the-china-backed-mission-do-in-space

Answer: b

Explanation:

Kerala scientists recently developed a Dengue Early Warning System (DEWS) using machine learning, six years of case data, and weather variables to forecast district-level dengue trends and help health authorities act before outbreaks intensify.

About Dengue:

• Dengue (break-bone fever) is a mosquito-borne viral infection caused by the dengue virus (DENV).
• While many dengue infections are asymptomatic or produce only mild illness, the virus can occasionally cause more severe cases and even death.
• The virus is most common in tropical and subtropical regions, including Central and South America, Africa, parts of Asia, and the Pacific Islands, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas.
• Dengue epidemics tend to have seasonal patterns, with transmission often peaking during and after rainy seasons.
• Transmission:
  • It is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes carrying one of four types of dengue virus (DENV).
  • It isn’t contagious from person to person except when passed from a pregnant person to their child.
  • An estimated 400 million dengue infections occur worldwide each year, with about 96 million resulting in illness.
  • A person can be infected with dengue multiple times in their life.
• Symptoms:
  • The most common symptoms are high fever, headache, body aches, nausea, and rash. Most will get better in 1–2 weeks.
  • A very small portion of people with dengue fever get a severe case. It’s called dengue hemorrhagic fever.
    • This severe form of dengue fever happens when the infection harms blood vessels and causes them to leak.
    • The number of clot-forming cells, called platelets, in the bloodstream
    • This can lead to shock, bleeding inside the body, organ failure, and death.
  • Individuals who are infected for the second time are at greater risk of severe dengue.
• Treatment:
  • There is no specific medicine to treat dengue. The focus is on treating pain
  • It is generally treated with supportive care such as pain relievers, bed rest, and fluids.

Hence option b is the correct answer.

News: https://www.ndtv.com/health/keralas-new-dengue-early-warning-system-uses-ai-to-predict-trends-12108439

Answer: c

Explanation:

Orang National Park and Tiger Reserve recently recorded the Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) for the first time, adding a new species to the protected area’s biodiversity record and another chapter to Assam’s rich birdlife.

About Indian Peafowl:

• Indian peafowl are a species in a group of birds called pheasants.
• The males are called peacocks, while the females are called peahens. Together, they are peafowl.
• Scientific Name: Pavo cristatus
• Habitat and Distribution:
  • They are resident breeders across the Indian subcontinent and inhabit the drier lowland areas of Sri Lanka.
  • They are found in moist and dry deciduous forests near water and in montane forests and can also adapt to live in cultivated regions and around human habitations.
  • It is the national bird of India and has a significant cultural and historical presence.
  • The famous peacock throne of the Mughal empire, Jaipur’s enthralling Peacock Gate, and a popular tourist destination, the Peacock temple in Tumkur, Karnataka—the bird has marked its presence across cultures, regions, and beliefs.
• Features:
  • Peafowl are among the largest of all birds that fly.
  • The head and body of adult peafowl range from 3 to 4 feet long, and their tail can be 5 feet long.
  • Males and females show strong physical differences.
    • Peacock is brightly colored, with a predominantly blue fan-like crest of spatula-tipped wire-like feathers, and is best known for the long train (tail) made up of elongated upper-tail covert feathers, which bear colorful eyespots.
    • These stiff feathers are raised into a fan and quivered in a display during courtship.
    • Despite the length and size of these covert feathers, peacocks are still capable of flight.
    • Peahens lack the train and have a greenish lower neck and duller brown plumage.
  • Diet: Omnivorous; feeds on seeds, grains, fruits, insects, reptiles, and other small animals.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Hence both statements are correct.

News: https://hubnetwork.in/a-new-bird-for-orang-indian-peafowl-officially-recorded-in-assams-tiger-reserve/

Answer: b

Explanation:

The United Nations General Assembly recently adopted its first declaration on sea level rise, with member states, including the US, agreeing on a common text.

About UN Declaration on Sea-Level Rise:

• It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly during a high-level plenary meeting on September 24, 2026.
• It is the UN’s first declaration on sea level rise.
• The declaration establishes a common international position on the legal and practical challenges posed by rising seas.
• Global mean sea level reached a record high in 2024, and its rate of rise has doubled, from1 millimeters per year in 1993-2002 to 4.7 millimeters per year in 2015-2024.
• Major Highlights of the Declaration:
  • It affirms that countries threatened by rising oceans do not automatically lose their statehood if their territory becomes submerged.
    • This means that the continued existence of a country under international law would not necessarily depend on its territory remaining above water.
    • It supported the continued existence of such states’s sovereignty, rights, responsibilities, and UN membership.
    • The issue is particularly relevant to small island developing States (SIDS), where rising seas can reduce habitable land and, in extreme cases, lead to the submergence of territory.
  • It calls for stability in maritime zones despite physical changes to coastlines.
    • It states that countries can maintain maritime zones established under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as sea levels rise, while retaining the right to update them.
    • The issue arises because maritime zones are generally measured from coastal baselines.
    • This is particularly important for island nations because maritime zones determine rights over ocean resources and activities.
  • The declaration also addresses the wider threat that rising seas pose to coastal populations, infrastructure, and livelihoods.
  • Around 770 million people worldwide live less than five metres above the high-tide line, according to a UN report on sea level rise and human rights.
  • Without significant efforts to reduce emissions and adapt to rising seas, the risks facing coastal cities and communities could increase tenfold by 2100.
  • The declaration calls for stronger anticipatory action, including multi-hazard early warning systems, and for climate-related risk assessments to be incorporated into planning and decision-making.
  • It also urges greater international cooperation to provide financial, technical and policy support to developing countries, particularly SIDS and least developed countries.
  • The declaration calls for increased funding to support local responses to sea level rise.
  • It identifies nature-based measures, including the protection and restoration of mangroves, kelp forests, and seagrass meadows, as ways to help coastal communities adapt.
  • The declaration also calls for sea level rise projections to be taken into account when planning, constructing, and maintaining critical coastal infrastructure.

Hence option b is the correct answer.

News: https://www.downtoearth.org.in/climate-change/un-adopts-first-declaration-on-sea-level-rise-backs-continued-statehood-of-island-nations

Answer: d

Explanation:  

A 60-member Indian Armed Forces contingent departed for Oskemen, Kazakhstan, to participate in the ninth edition of the Exercise KAZIND.

About Exercise KAZIND:

• It is a joint military exercise conducted between India–Kazakhstan.
• Participating Contingent: The Indian contingent is drawn mainly from a battalion of the GARHWAL RIFLES, along with troops from other arms and services, and personnel from the Indian Air Force.
• The exercise aims to enhance interoperability and strengthen the joint capability of both forces to undertake Joint Counter-Terrorism operations in a sub-conventional environment under a United Nations mandate.
• KAZIND-2026 will focus on:
  • Joint Counter-Terrorism operations in semi-urban and mountainous terrain, with an emphasis on joint planning and execution, air mobility and the integrated employment of Unmanned Aerial Systems and Counter-UAS capabilities.
• The participating contingents will train together in joint responses to terrorist actions, raids, search-and-destroy missions, cordon-and-search operations, the securing of helipads and landing sites, and Special Heliborne Operations, among other activities.
• It will further deepen military-to-military cooperation between India and Kazakhstan and reinforce the shared commitment of both nations towards regional peace, stability and collective security.

Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

News: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?PRID=2315856&reg=48&lang=1

Answer: a

Explanation:  

Recently, Eurasian whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) was sighted at Kadalundi-Vallikkunnu Community Reserve of Keralam.

About Eurasian whimbrel:

• It is a wading bird in the large family
• Habitat: It winters mainly along the coastline, coastal wetlands, mangroves, marshes, and larger rivers.
• Distribution:
  • They have an extensive range that spans across five continents: North America, South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.
  • They breed in the subarctic regions of Siberia and Alaska during the summer months before migrating south to wintering grounds in southern USA, Central America, South America, Africa, and South Asia, including Nepal.
• Features:
  • It is a fairly large greyish-brown bird with a long, decurved bill with a kink.
  • It has a distinct head pattern with dark eye-stripes and crown-sides.
  • It is mottled dark brown above, pale below, with much brown streaking on the throat and breast. 
  • It is generally solitary when nesting, the Whimbrel tends to become gregarious outside of the breeding season. 
  • Whimbrels are known for their high-pitched call consisting of a repetitive series of seven notes.
  • Diet: This species feeds by probing soft mud for small invertebrates and by picking small crabs and similar prey off the surface.
• Conservation Status: 
  • IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

News: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/six-years-on-ringed-eurasian-whimbrel-resighted-on-keralam-coast-marked-tibetan-sand-plover-also-recorded/article71507743.ece

Answer: c

Explanation:

Recently, the Ministry of Tourism on World Tourism Day 2026 launched the National Digital Tourism Stack and the National Mission for Alternative Destinations ­— ­­­­Dekho Apna Desh Campaign 2.0.

About National Digital Tourism Stack:

• It is an open digital public infrastructure initiative aimed at making tourism offerings more discoverable, accessible and trustworthy.
• Developed by: It is being developed in collaboration with Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and the support of International Centre for DPI Innovation and Advancement (ICDIA)
• Features:
  • It will enable tourism providers to make their offerings available across participating platforms, supported by capabilities such as verified identities and supplier credentials, search and discovery, payments, ratings and grievance redressal.
  • It is envisaged as a collaborative effort involving the Ministry, States, Union Territories and industry, the programme will be implemented in phases with a pilot planned for January 2027.

Hence both statements are correct.

News: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?PRID=2315637&reg=48&lang=1

Answer: b

Explanation:

The government is seeking to make insurance an integral part of aquaculture risk management through the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana (PM-MKSSY).

About Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana:

• It is a Central Sector Sub-scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana.
• It focuses on formalization of the fisheries sector and supporting fisheries micro and small enterprises.
• Funding: With an investment of over 6,000 crores
• Time Period: It is implemented for 4 years from FY 2023-24 to FY 2026-27 across all the States and UTs.
• Objectives:
  • Gradual Formalization of the unorganized fisheries sector
  • Facilitating access to institutional financing fisheries sector micro and small enterprises
  • Providing one-time incentive to beneficiaries for purchasing aquaculture insurance.
  • lncentivizing fisheries and aquaculture microenterprises through performance grants
  • Incentivising adoption and expansion of fish and fishery product safety and quality assurance systems
• Intended Beneficiaries:
  • Fishers, Fish (Aquaculture) Farmers, Fish workers, Fish Vendors or such other person directly engaged in fisheries value chain.
  • Micro and Small enterprises Cooperatives, Federations Self Help Groups (SHGs), Fish Farmers Producer Organizations (FFPOs) etc
  • FFPOs also include Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs).
  • Any other beneficiaries that may be included by the Department of Fisheries, Gol as targeted beneficiaries

Implementation strategy of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Kisan Samridhi Sah-Yojana 

• Component 1-A: Formalization of fisheries sector
  • A National Fisheries Digital Platform (NFDP) is created and all the stakeholders will be mobilized to register on it.
  • It serves multiple functions including disbursement of financial incentives. It is also undertake activities such as training and extension support, improving financial literacy.
• Component 1-B: Facilitating adoption of aquaculture insurance:
  • It facilitates creation of appropriate insurance product and to cover at least 1 lakh hectare of aquaculture farms during project period to provide the scale of operation.
  • SC, ST and Women beneficiaries are provided an additional incentive @ 10% of the incentive payable for General Categories. 
• Component 2: Supporting microenterprises to improve fisheries sector value chain efficiencies:
• Component 3: Adoption and expansion of fish and fishery product safety and quality assurance systems:
• Component 4: Project management, monitoring and reporting
  • The Project Management Units (PMUs) were set up to manage, implement, monitor and evaluate project activities.

Hence only statements 1 and 3 are correct.

News: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?PRID=2315847&reg=48&lang=1

Answer: c

Explanation:  

Recently, the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has issued a Red Alert across all coastal districts in Keralam, warning residents and authorities of dangerous sea conditions caused by potential Swell waves. 

About Swell waves:

• Swell waves are long-wavelength ocean waves formed on the surface of the seas and travel away from their places of origin.
• These are composed of a series of surface gravity waves.
• Swell waves are also called Kallakkadal waves in India, which is a colloquial term used by Keralam fishermen.
• These waves organise themselves into groups of similar heights and periods, and then travel long distances without much change. 
• Formation:
  • They are usually created by windstorms or other weather systems.
    • Windstorms and other powerful air current systems transfer energy from the air to water, making swell waves more powerful than locally generated waves. 
    • During such storms, huge energy transfer takes place from the air into the water, leading to the formation of very high waves. Such waves can travel thousands of kilometres from the storm centre until they strike shore.
  • They occur not due to the local winds, but rather due to distant storms like hurricanes, or even long periods of fierce gale winds.
• Features:
  • Swells have a narrower range of frequencies and directions than locally generated wind waves.
    • It is because swell waves have dispersed from their generation area, have dissipated and therefore lost an amount of randomness, taking on a more defined shape and direction.
  • These waves can propagate in directions that differ from the direction of the wind, in contrast to a wind sea.
  • Their wavelengths may rarely exceed more than 150 m. Swell wavelength, also, varies from event to event. Occasionally, swells which are longer than 700 m occur as a result of the most severe storms.
  • It occurs without precursors or any kind of local wind activity and as a result.
• Early warning systems in India: Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) launched the Swell Surge Forecast System in 2020 which gives forewaring seven days in advance.

Hence both statements are correct.

News: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/swell-waves-reach-west-coast-red-alert-continues-along-keralam-coast/article71513280.ece