Current Affairs Quiz: 20 October 2026

The Regional Connectivity Scheme, named UDAN for Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik, was launched on that day, and its promise of affordable yet commercially viable regional flying came out of the National Civil Aviation Policy adopted the same year.

The campaign was launched by this centre of WWF-India, working with the support of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and it runs from 20 October to 8 November 2026.

The correct answer is Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, where the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was held, with the Raksha Mantri speaking for India.

Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said the country's atomic ambitions have to be read against its longer development goals and its clean energy commitments, and named this figure as the nuclear power capacity India is targeting by 2047.

That is the number of regional routes put into service across the country in the ten years since the scheme began, and it sits alongside the other headline totals of the decade: more than 3.68 lakh flights and 1.72 crore passengers.

The campaign is nationwide, but the cities covered under the National Clean Air Programme, numbering 130, have been singled out for special attention, because that is where the burden on air quality is heaviest and where a cracker-free festival makes the greatest difference.

Speaking at the meeting, the Raksha Mantri reaffirmed India's support for adopting an Action Plan for the Multilateral Trade and Economic Cooperation Programme for exactly that span, and the plan went on to form part of the Joint Communique that the heads of delegation adopted.

The correct answer is 2070, the year Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh named for India's Net Zero emissions commitment while explaining why nuclear power matters to the country's energy plans.

The correct answer is Rs 28,840 crore, the total provision for the next phase of the scheme launched on 4 July 2026 and running from FY 2026-27 to FY 2035-36.

Citizens have been asked to celebrate a clean and green Diwali in line with this mission, whose approach is to change everyday habits rather than wait for large interventions, and the pledge items follow from it directly: no firecrackers, earthen diyas and energy-efficient lights, no single-use plastic, waste segregated at…

The Raksha Mantri welcomed the decisions taken at the SCO Summit at Bishkek to set up two permanent bodies of the organisation, and the Anti-Drug Centre is the one to be based at Dushanbe.

The correct answer is Dr. Homi Bhabha, whom Dr. Jitendra Singh recalled as the architect of India's nuclear programme, saying that his vision continues to guide a journey built around peaceful application and national development.

Opened in 2025, it gave air access to more than ten districts of Bihar, cut the journey to Kolkata to about two hours and to Patna to roughly one, and it carries the state's longest runway at close to 2.8 km, long enough for A320 and B737 aircraft.

The nationwide drive opened on 20 October 2026 and continues to 8 November 2026, a window chosen so that it covers the days before the festival, when firecrackers are bought, as well as the days after it, when air quality usually stays poor.

Underlining that connectivity underpins shared prosperity, the Raksha Mantri said India supports initiatives that link markets, make trade easier and open fresh avenues for development, and he named these two as able to contribute significantly to connecting Central Asia with wider markets.

The correct answer is the Bloomberg Economy Forum 2026, on the sidelines of which the Union Minister spoke in an exclusive conversation about the peaceful character of India's nuclear programme and the power needs of an economy turning towards artificial intelligence.