CDS Current Affairs Quiz: 27 September 2026

The correct answer is Rs 38,424 crore, a record figure for Indian defence exports in 2025-26, and a very steep rise from Rs 686 crore in 2013-14. Supplies went to more than 100 countries, which is why the Defence Minister described the country as moving from being an importer to a trusted global supplier. Option B, Rs 30,000 crore, is the export target that had been fixed and achieved in the previous year, so it is a genuine number but not the actual export value for 2025-26. Option D, Rs 50,000 crore, is the fresh target set for 2029 and therefore lies in the future. Option A, Rs 21,083 crore, is an invented amount. Remember the three numbers as a set, the achieved target, the record value and the next target.

The correct answer is Power in Partnership. This is the declared theme of the second edition of the multilateral air exercise, which the Indian Air Force is conducting from 26 September to 12 October 2026 at Air Force Station Jodhpur. The theme points at the gain that comes from air forces training together, sharing operational expertise and building the ability to work as one force in the air. Option A, Shakti Through the Skies, plays on the name of the exercise but was never announced as its theme. Option C, Partners in Flight, sounds close to the real theme and is exactly the kind of distractor a paper setter uses, yet it is not the wording the Air Force released. Option D, Strength in Unity, is a general slogan and belongs to no edition of this exercise. Candidates should learn the theme along with the venue and the dates, because questions on Indian exercises usually bundle the three together.

The correct answer is INS Sahyadri and INS Kulish. INS Sahyadri is a frontline stealth frigate and INS Kulish is a missile corvette, and the two sailed to Subic Bay in the Philippines for the Experts Working Group activity on maritime security, whose closing ceremony was held on 25 September 2026. Option A names INS Shivalik and INS Kadmatt, which belong to the same navy and have deployed for other overseas exercises, but neither was sent to Subic Bay this time. Option C names a destroyer and a frigate that were not part of this deployment either. Option D names two Talwar class frigates based on the western seaboard, again not the ships involved. For the examination the safe habit is to remember the ship along with its type, since a question often asks which stealth frigate or which corvette took part rather than simply naming the ships.

The correct answer is 2029. After the earlier goal of Rs 30,000 crore in annual defence exports was met in the previous year, the government fixed a higher goal of Rs 50,000 crore to be reached by 2029. The rest of the options are years that sound plausible but carry no such commitment. Option A, 2027, is the financial year in which the current defence allocation of Rs 7.85 lakh crore has been provided, so it is easy to confuse with the export deadline. Option C and option D, 2030 and 2035, are round years often attached to other national missions and are wrong here. The reason the target is considered reachable is the demand abroad for Indian missiles, radars, ammunition and platforms, which the Minister said reflects confidence in Indian technology, quality and delivery.

The correct answer is Jodhpur. The flying phase of Exercise Tarang Shakti 2026 opened at Air Force Station Jodhpur the day after the inaugural ceremony, and the visiting contingents are operating from there through the exercise window of 26 September to 12 October 2026. Option A, Gwalior, is a well known fighter base and the home of the Tactics and Combat Development Establishment, but it is not the base named for this exercise. Option B, Jamnagar, is a forward base in the western sector and again not the venue announced. Option D, Sulur, lies in the south and hosts different fleets altogether. The pattern to remember is that the base is what gets asked, not the region, so tie the name Jodhpur to Tarang Shakti the way earlier candidates tied Jodhpur and Jaisalmer to other western sector drills.

The correct answer is the Philippine Navy, with Japan as co-chair. The activity opened at Naval Operating Base Subic on 21 September 2026 with the Philippine Navy as host, and Japan shared the chair of this Experts Working Group session on maritime security. Option A puts the Indonesian Navy in the host role with Australia co-chairing, which is plausible because both are active in ADMM-Plus work, but neither role matches this activity. Option C suggests Vietnam as host and India as co-chair, and while India took part with two warships it was a participant, not the co-chair. Option D names Thailand and the Republic of Korea, neither of which held these roles. Aspirants should note the pairing of host and co-chair because ADMM-Plus working groups are always run by two countries together, and that pairing changes from cycle to cycle.

The correct answer is Rs 7.85 lakh crore, the defence allocation for 2026-27. The comparison the Minister drew is the part worth memorising: the same allocation stood at around Rs 2.53 lakh crore in 2013-14, which makes option A a real figure but from the wrong year, and therefore the most attractive distractor in the set. Options B and C, Rs 5.94 lakh crore and Rs 6.81 lakh crore, are invented amounts. One more figure belongs with this answer. About 75 per cent of the capital acquisition budget, which works out to Rs 1.39 lakh crore, has been earmarked for purchases from Indian defence industry, so that spending strengthens domestic manufacturing and the MSME supply chains attached to it rather than flowing abroad.

The correct answer is Japan. Seven friendly foreign countries have sent flying contingents to Tarang Shakti 2026, and the list is Australia, the United States of America, the United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Japan does not appear on that list, so it is the odd one out here. Option A, Australia, is on the list and has brought aircraft to Jodhpur. Option C, Sri Lanka, is also on the list and its presence marks the neighbourhood reach of the exercise. Option D, Bangladesh, is likewise among the seven. Aspirants should note that several other air forces are attending only as observers, which is a separate category from the seven that are flying, and examiners like to test exactly that distinction between a participant and an observer.

The correct answer is Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions. The Ministry of Defence placed the participation of INS Sahyadri and INS Kulish at Subic Bay within the Act East Policy and within this MAHASAGAR vision, which describes how India wants security and growth to advance together across the wider maritime neighbourhood. Option A, Maritime Highway for Security and Growth Across Regions, borrows the ending of the real expansion and is the kind of near miss that catches a candidate who has learnt only half the phrase. Option C invents an alliance, and India describes MAHASAGAR as a vision rather than an alliance. Option D turns it into a ports and shipping mission, which is a different subject altogether. Learn the expansion word for word, because acronym questions are graded on the exact words.

The correct answer is option A. The decision announced was that technologies for conventional missile systems developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation will be handed over to eligible Indian industries, so that qualifying private companies can manufacture them. The purpose is twofold: the armed forces get their missiles delivered on time, and DRDO is freed to concentrate on research and development while industry takes up the production load. Option B reverses the intent, because the move takes production outward to industry rather than concentrating it inside government establishments. Option C contradicts the whole thrust of the speech, which was self-reliance and the country's shift from importer to exporter. Option D is the opposite of the announcement, since private participation is being widened, not restricted; the ecosystem already includes startups and more than 16,000 MSMEs.