CDS Current Affairs Quiz: 7 October 2026

The correct answer is Hindustan Shipyard Limited, Visakhapatnam. The Fleet Support Ships are under construction at HSL in Visakhapatnam, and FSS-1, the first of the class, was launched there on 6 October 2026 with Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh as chief guest. The ministry's note records that the whole class is designed and built in the country by this yard, and that an Augmented Slipway, an upgrade of building facilities at the same yard, was inaugurated on the day of the launch. Option A, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders in Mumbai, is wrong because the release names no Mumbai yard in connection with this project. Option B, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers in Kolkata, is wrong for the same reason, as the ceremony reported took place in Visakhapatnam. Option D, Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi, is wrong as well: the release mentions only HSL, its slipway and its senior officials, so Kochi has no part in the Fleet Support Ship programme as described.

The correct answer is off Paradip. The exercise was inaugurated by the Raksha Rajya Mantri on 7 October 2026 and the sea phase was set to be conducted off Paradip, on the Odisha coast, the next day. Thirty-two delegates from thirty friendly foreign nations were to take part in or observe the drill, along with representatives of international organisations. Option A, off Kochi, is wrong: Kochi is a major naval station on the Arabian Sea side but is not the location named for this exercise. Option C, off Port Blair, is wrong: although the Andaman and Nicobar Islands sit inside the Indian Search and Rescue Region, the exercise was not held there. Option D, off Visakhapatnam, is wrong as well: it is a large eastern port and naval headquarters, yet the venue announced for SAREX-2026 was Paradip and not Visakhapatnam. Remember that the exercise brought together the Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Coastal Police, ports, civil agencies and the shipping community in what was described as a Whole-of-Government and Whole-of-Nation approach.

The correct answer is iDEX, TDF, Make and other developmental projects of the Ministry of Defence. The waiver of proof and testing charges for this set of projects is the central financial relief in the revised Standard Operating Procedure, and the stated reason is the promotion of self-reliance in defence. Option A is wrong because no waiver was announced for foreign collaboration work; the measure is aimed squarely at the indigenous industry. Option C is wrong because the relief is defined by the type of developmental project rather than by the kind of establishment, and the procedure is written for the Indian defence industry as a whole. Option D is wrong as well, since no export value threshold was set for the waiver, although the document does say that it supports defence exports among its wider aims. Remember alongside this that the procedure lists the ranges and laboratories available with the Defence Research and Development Organisation, the Government Quality Assurance agencies and the three Services.

The correct answer is over 82 per cent. The Ministry of Defence states that the Fleet Support Ships are indigenously designed and built by Hindustan Shipyard Limited, Visakhapatnam, with indigenous content above 82 per cent, which it reads as a mark of close cooperation between the Navy, the shipyard, defence industries and MSMEs. Options A and B, over 50 per cent and over 65 per cent, understate the figure given; they are the kind of share often quoted for older warship programmes, but they are not what this release reports. Option D, over 95 per cent, overstates it: no Indian warship project is credited with that level in this announcement, and inflating the number would wrongly suggest almost no imported equipment at all. The project is described as a flag bearer of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India, and as a boost for the Indian shipbuilding industry.

The correct answer is 4.6 million square kilometres. At its twenty-fourth meeting the National Maritime Search and Rescue Board looked at how prepared the country is to run rescue operations across this whole stretch of ocean, and discussed technology integration, real-time information sharing, management of distress alerts, vessel tracking and coordination between agencies. Options A, C and D give other figures that do not match the extent announced for the region. The number is worth memorising together with the rest of the meeting’s detail: it was chaired by Director General Paramesh Sivamani, who is Director General of the Indian Coast Guard and Chairman of the Board, it was held on the same day as the inauguration of the exercise, and it also saw the presentation of the National Maritime Search and Rescue Awards for the year. The Chairman stressed that lessons learnt in earlier missions and multi-agency exercises must translate into greater mission readiness.

The correct answer is a Conciliation Agreement Clause. The earlier procedure routed disagreements into arbitration, and the revised version replaces that with a simpler, industry-friendly conciliation clause so that problems faced by domestic manufacturers are settled faster, which the Ministry links to ease of doing business. Option B is wrong because no compulsory reference to a civil court was introduced. Option C is wrong because the announcement created no ombudsman for this purpose. Option D is wrong as well, since no new tribunal was set up under any other ministry to hear such matters. Fix the rest of the package in memory too: proof and testing charges stand waived for projects under iDEX, the Technology Development Fund, the Make route and other developmental schemes of the Ministry; the document lists the proof ranges, field firing ranges and laboratory facilities open to industry; and the method of calculating and paying charges, where they apply, has been written into the same procedure.

The correct answer is replenishment of fleet ships while they are at sea. On induction these ships will resupply warships on the move, which the Navy says will augment its Blue Water capability and significantly bolster operational logistics, strategic reach and mobility of the fleet. Option A is wrong because anti-submarine hunting is the task of specialised frigates, corvettes and aircraft, not of a support vessel. Option C is wrong because mine laying and mine clearing are done by minesweepers and mine countermeasure vessels, which the release does not discuss. Option D is wrong because operating fighter aircraft is the role of an aircraft carrier. The release does add a secondary role for the Fleet Support Ships: Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief operations and Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations, for quickly delivering relief material and evacuating people.

The correct answer is LEOSAR to GEOSAR to MEOSAR. India began with Low Earth Orbit Search and Rescue, moved on to Geostationary Search and Rescue, and is now progressing towards Medium Earth Orbit Search and Rescue. The Minister described the Indian Earth Orbit Local User Terminal, known as MEOLUT, reaching full operational capability as a significant advance in this field and congratulated ISRO along with the associated teams. Option A reverses the first two stages and so is wrong. Option C places Medium Earth Orbit capability first, which inverts the actual order of development. Option D puts the geostationary stage last, which is also incorrect. For the examination, pair this sequence with the other facts of the day: the exercise name SAREX-2026, the venue off Paradip, the thirty foreign nations involved, the Coast Guard motto Vayam Rakshamah meaning “We Protect”, and the aspiration of Viksit Bharat 2047 that the Minister linked to stronger rescue capability.

The correct answer is three days per quarter. The revised procedure keeps this slot free at proof ranges for proof firing of developmental projects sponsored by the Government, including those under iDEX, the Technology Development Fund and the Make route along with other ministry projects, and also for developmental projects that the indigenous defence industry has taken up on its own initiative. That last inclusion matters, because a firm developing a product before it holds any order can still get range access. Options A, C and D describe other patterns of reserved time and do not match what was approved. The broader intent of the document is to make access to proof ranges, field firing ranges and test facilities simpler, transparent and industry-friendly, while supporting indigenisation, innovation and defence exports and giving proof and test support to industry-led development work.

The correct answer is Smt Laila Swaminathan, President of the Navy Welfare and Wellness Association (NWWA). Naval custom has a lady launch a warship, and the release records that she performed the launch in the presence of the chief guest. Option B is wrong because Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh attended as chief guest; what he inaugurated was the Augmented Slipway, and the keel laying of FSS-5 also took place through him at the same event. Option C is wrong because Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, the Chief of the Naval Staff, is listed among the dignitaries present rather than as the person who launched the ship. Option D is wrong because the release names senior officials of the Indian Navy, the Ministry of Defence and HSL only as attendees, without assigning the launch to the shipyard's head.