NDA Weekly Current Affairs Quiz: 14–20 September 2026

The correct answer is Cochin Shipyard Limited, Kochi. The Ministry of Defence stated that the keel laying ceremony of the first ship of the Indian Navy's Next Generation Missile Vessel project was held at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi on 18 September 2026, with Vice Admiral Sanjay Sadhu, Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition, as the Chief Guest. The contract for construction of the NGMVs had been concluded with Cochin Shipyard Limited in March 2023, so the same yard that holds the contract also laid the keel.

The other options name shipyards that the release does not connect with this ceremony. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders in Mumbai, Garden Reach Shipbuilders in Kolkata and Hindustan Shipyard in Visakhapatnam are not mentioned anywhere in the Ministry's statement on this event, and attributing the NGMV keel laying to any of them would be incorrect. For the examination, the pairing to memorise is straightforward: NGMV project, first ship, Cochin Shipyard Limited, Kochi, 18 September 2026.

The correct answer is the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies, commonly abbreviated as CENJOWS. According to the Ministry of Defence, the Combined Operational Review and Evaluation Programme 2026 was organised by Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff and conducted by CENJOWS, concluding at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi. Candidates should keep the two roles distinct, because questions often test which body organised an event against which body conducted it.

The other options name institutions that the release does not connect with this programme. The National Defence College, the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and the Defence Research and Development Organisation are all well known in the defence sphere, which is precisely what makes them effective distractors here, but none of them is mentioned in the Ministry's statement on the CORE Programme. Fix the pairing in memory as HQ IDS organised, CENJOWS conducted, Manekshaw Centre hosted.

The answer is two. At the Bengaluru ceremony the Air Force received five aircraft in total, and the split is what the question turns on: two Tejas twin-seat trainers at Final Operational Clearance standard, plus three HTT 40 basic trainers. Candidates who remember only the total of five will get this wrong.

The fourth number in the story belongs elsewhere. Four Dhruv helicopters of the Next Generation variant went to Pawan Hans Limited, a civil operator, not to the Air Force. That is also why two ministers attended, one holding Defence and the other Civil Aviation. A clean way to hold all of it is as three pairs: two Tejas trainers, three HTT 40 trainers, four Dhruv NG helicopters, with the first two going to the Air Force and the third to Pawan Hans.

The correct answer is Sri Lanka. SLINEX is the bilateral maritime exercise between the navies of India and Sri Lanka, and the Ministry of Defence has described SLINEX-26 as its 13th edition, held at Visakhapatnam from 17 to 21 September 2026. The name itself carries the answer: SL for Sri Lanka, IN for India and EX for exercise. The Sri Lankan side is represented by SLNS Sindurala, while India has fielded INS Kavaratti and INS Jyoti.

Singapore, Thailand and the Maldives do not take part in SLINEX. The release names only two navies, the Indian and the Sri Lankan, and presents the exercise as a way of strengthening the maritime partnership between India and Sri Lanka, so options A, C and D are wrong. When a question gives you the name of an exercise, decode it first, because many bilateral exercise names are built from the initials of the partner countries.

The correct answer is Hawk Mk132. The Ministry of Defence says the Suryakiran Aerobatic Team flies nine distinctive red-and-white Hawk Mk132 aircraft, licence-manufactured in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). These jets have also been modified in India with smoke pods that produce coloured smoke, which let the team paint the sky in saffron, white and green.

HAL Tejas, Kiran Mk II and Pilatus PC-7 are aircraft names that often appear as distractors in defence questions, but the release names none of them as the aircraft of SKAT, so options A, C and D are wrong. When you revise, link the team to its aircraft and the aircraft to its manufacturer: Suryakiran, Hawk Mk132, HAL. Also note the number of aircraft in the display, nine, because SKAT is known as the only nine-aircraft aerobatic team in Asia.

The correct answer is the Women's Cricket Team. The Prime Minister congratulated the Indian Women's Cricket Team on winning the Asia Cup and opened his message by calling the result a proud moment for Indian cricket. Option A is the trap here, because a men's tournament of the same name is played as well and candidates who register only the words Asia Cup and cricket often pick the wrong side; the release names the women's team specifically. Option C is wrong because it belongs to a different sport, and the Asia Cup in question here was a cricket competition. Option D is wrong for the same reason, since kabaddi does not figure in this release at all. A dependable habit in current affairs is to fix three things together for every sporting result: the sport, whether the men's or the women's team won it, and the exact date on which the message or the result was recorded.

The correct answer is the Pokhran Field Firing Range in Jaisalmer. The Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, opened the first edition of Dronathon there, and the same range hosted the live demonstration of the indigenous traffic management system Vayu UTtaM on the opening day. Senior officers of the Ministry of Defence and Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff, along with representatives of the Indian Army and the Border Security Force, attended the ceremony. Option B is wrong because no part of the event was held at an air force station near the capital. Option C is wrong because the Chandipur range in Odisha is associated with missile trials rather than this unmanned systems exercise. Option D is wrong for the same reason, as the Suryalanka range is used for air defence practice. Candidates should link Dronathon firmly with Pokhran in Rajasthan, because the venue is the most frequently asked detail in such questions.

The correct answer is Malaysia. Exercise Samudra Laksamana is conducted between the Indian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Navy, and its fourth edition was held at Lumut in Malaysia from 9 to 12 September 2026 with INS Mysore taking part as part of an operational deployment. The three distractors are all Southeast Asian maritime neighbours with which India holds its own naval engagements, which is exactly why they are placed here. Option A is wrong because India's bilateral naval activity with Indonesia is a separate arrangement and is not the one described in this release. Option C is wrong for the same reason, as is option D. The clue lies in the name itself: Laksamana is a Malay word for admiral, and pairing the name with Malaysia is the quickest way to remember the exercise. Note also that the release links this edition to the 12th India-Malaysia Sub Committee Meeting held on 1 July 2026.

The correct answer is 600 personnel. The release on the opening ceremony states plainly that the contingents addressed by the two commanders were made up of that number of troops from each army, so the Indian side and the American side are equally represented. This equal strength is a point paper setters like, because it is a single clean figure that can be checked in one line of the release. Option A is wrong; that number is not attached to this drill anywhere in the release. Option B is wrong for the same reason and is a common round-figure distractor. Option D is wrong as well, since nothing in the release supports a strength of that size for either contingent. An aspirant should remember the figure together with the edition number, the 22nd, and the two venues, Auli in Uttarakhand and the Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan.

The correct answer is March 2023. The Ministry of Defence release states that the contract for construction of the NGMVs was concluded with Cochin Shipyard Limited in March 2023. The keel laying of the first ship then took place on 18 September 2026, so candidates should keep the two dates separate: the contract date marks the order, while the keel laying date marks the formal start of construction on the slipway.

Option C, September 2026, is the month of the keel laying ceremony rather than of the contract, and it is the most likely confusion in this question. Options B and D give years that the release does not associate with the NGMV contract at all. Examiners frequently test exactly this distinction between the year an order was placed and the year construction began, so note both dates together along with the yard, Cochin Shipyard Limited, and the ministry concerned, the Ministry of Defence.

The correct answer is Defence, External Affairs and Home Affairs. The release states that the five-day programme brought together senior officers from the three Services along with officials from the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs, for deliberations on contemporary and emerging national security challenges.

The combination matters because the programme's stated purpose was to strengthen inter-departmental coordination and inter-agency jointness, and these are the three ministries whose remits meet on national security: military, diplomatic and internal. The other options each swap in a ministry the release does not mention, such as Finance, Commerce or Science and Technology. Note alongside this the phrase the deliberations reinforced, a Whole-of-Nation approach to national security, which is the kind of formulation examiners like to quote directly.

The answer is Pawan Hans Limited. The ceremony had two recipients, and separating them is the whole point of the question. Military trainers, the Tejas twin-seaters and the HTT 40s, went to the Indian Air Force. The four Dhruv helicopters of the Next Generation variant went instead to Pawan Hans Limited, which runs civil helicopter operations.

That division explains the guest list. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh attended for the defence side and Shri K Rammohan Naidu, the Minister of Civil Aviation, for the civil side. The other options name forces that do operate rotary-wing fleets, which makes them plausible, but none of them figures in this handover. Remember the recipient alongside the aircraft type and the question becomes straightforward.

The correct answer is INS Kavaratti. The Ministry of Defence lists two Indian ships in SLINEX-26: INS Kavaratti, an indigenous Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvette, and INS Jyoti, the Fleet Tanker. INS Kavaratti also hosted the opening ceremony and the reception for the visiting Sri Lankan crew at the start of the Harbour Phase.

INS Jyoti is taking part, but as the fleet tanker, a support ship rather than an anti-submarine warship, so option A is wrong. SLNS Sindurala is not an Indian Navy ship at all; it represents the Sri Lanka Navy in the exercise, which rules out option C. INS Vikrant is not among the ships the release names for SLINEX-26, so option D is also incorrect. A common trap in such questions is to mix up the ships of the two navies, so note the prefix each name carries: INS for India and SLNS for Sri Lanka.

The correct answer is 1996. According to the Ministry of Defence, SKAT was established in 1996 and holds the distinction of being the only nine-aircraft aerobatic team in Asia. Over its 30-year journey it has performed more than 800 displays in India and abroad, including international air shows in China, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, the UAE and Dubai.

1982 is earlier than the year the ministry gives, while 2002 and 2011 are later and would not fit a team that has now completed 30 years, so options A, C and D are wrong. A quick check helps with questions like this: the release speaks of a 30-year journey up to 2026, which points back to 1996. Pair the founding year with the team's two headline distinctions, Asia's only nine-aircraft aerobatic team and the Ambassadors of the Indian Air Force.

The correct answer is confidence, consistency and remarkable spirit. The Prime Minister named exactly these three, and he added that they were on full display not in one match but throughout the tournament, which is why the phrase is worth memorising as a set. Option A is wrong because discipline, fitness and patience are qualities commonly praised in sporting messages but were not the words used here. Option C is wrong on the same ground, since neither courage nor planning appears in this message. Option D is wrong because experience, aggression and skill are again plausible sounding but absent from the release. Questions of this kind test close reading rather than general knowledge, and the safest approach is to remember the exact triple. The Prime Minister then went on to express the hope that the win would inspire millions of youngsters across the country to play more and to shine.

The correct answer is an indigenous Unmanned Traffic Management system. Vayu UTtaM is described as an indigenously developed multi mode system, and during its real time demonstration at the Pokhran range it detected and tracked both military and civil unmanned aircraft. Its purpose is to allow coordinated management of drone flights in increasingly crowded airspace and to help identify and deal with unauthorised or rogue drones in good time. The release also notes that its uses may go well beyond the military, into airspace safety, protection of critical infrastructure, civil aviation and public safety. Option A is wrong because Vayu UTtaM does not fly or carry weapons; it manages the traffic of systems that do. Option C is wrong because no missile was part of this event. Option D is wrong because it is not a satellite and has nothing to do with weather forecasting, though the confusion between an airborne platform and a management system is a common one.

The correct answer is INS Mysore. The ship was deployed as part of the Indian Navy's operational deployment and took part in the fourth edition of the exercise at Lumut in Malaysia. During the operational phase at sea it exercised with two ships of the Royal Malaysian Navy, KD Lekir and KD Gagah Samudera, and the ships carried out coordinated manoeuvres meant to improve interoperability and operational coordination. Option A is wrong because the aircraft carrier was not named in this release. Option C is wrong because that ship did not feature in this engagement, though ships of its class are regularly deployed for such exercises. Option D is wrong on the same ground. Candidates should pair the ship with the exercise and with the venue, since examiners often frame the question the other way round and ask which exercise INS Mysore was deployed for.

The correct answer is the Auli Foreign Training Node in Uttarakhand, where the opening ceremony of this edition was conducted. Option B names the other leg of the same exercise and is the trap in this question: the drill is indeed being conducted simultaneously at the Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan, but the ceremony itself was held at Auli, not there. Option C is wrong because no station of that name figures in the release on this edition. Option D is wrong for the same reason. The safest way to remember the pair is by terrain: Auli sits in the hills and suits the mountainous and semi-mountainous training the exercise is built around, while the Rajasthan range suits the demonstration of contemporary weapon systems and the flying of drones and autonomous systems.

The answer is Bengaluru, in Karnataka, where the ceremony took place on 18 September 2026. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited operates from several locations across the country, which is exactly why a question of this kind works as a test: the candidate has to recall the specific venue rather than a general association.

Speaking there, Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh framed the handover as a milestone towards building aerospace capability within the country and towards the technological self-confidence that goes with it. He also pressed for closer work between public sector undertakings and private firms, and asked young scientists and engineers to pursue transformative technologies. Pair the city with the date and the two ministers, and the full set of testable details is covered.

The correct answer is 2005. The Ministry of Defence says SLINEX was conceptualised in 2005 and has since grown into an important forum through which the two navies work on maritime cooperation. SLINEX-26, held at Visakhapatnam from 17 to 21 September 2026, is the 13th edition of the series.

The other years do not match the release. 2001 is earlier than the year the ministry gives for the start of the series, while 2010 and 2014 are later and would make the series younger than it is. A question like this is usually framed around the start year and the latest edition together, so remember both numbers as a pair: conceptualised in 2005, 13th edition in 2026. Also keep the venue and dates of the current edition, Visakhapatnam from 17 to 21 September, since those are asked just as often.

The correct answer is Nashik. The Ministry of Defence describes the smoke pods as a significant indigenous modification to the Hawk Mk132, developed in India at the Indian Air Force's Base Repair Depot, Nashik. The pods produce coloured smoke, so the team can paint the sky in the colours of the national flag: saffron, white and green.

Bengaluru, Kanpur and Chandigarh are not named in the release in connection with this modification, so options B, C and D are wrong. Take care not to confuse two different facts about the aircraft: the Hawk Mk132 itself is licence-manufactured in India by HAL, while the coloured-smoke modification was carried out at the IAF's own Base Repair Depot in Nashik. Questions on indigenisation in defence often ask about exactly this kind of detail.

The correct answer is through a post on X. The Prime Minister put out his message on that platform on 14 September 2026, and the Prime Minister's Office issued the same text as a press release on the same day. Option B is wrong because no address to Parliament was involved, and the release describes a social media post rather than a speech. Option C is wrong because no felicitation ceremony is mentioned; the message went out on the day itself rather than at a later event. Option D is wrong because the congratulation was addressed to the team as a whole and was not described as a letter to any individual. This detail is worth noting because a good many congratulatory messages from the Prime Minister now reach the public first through such posts, and examiners sometimes ask about the medium rather than the content of the message.

The correct answer is the Vice Chief of the Air Staff, who released the IAF UAS Roadmap. The officer holding that post is Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, and he both opened the event and put out the roadmap, which is meant to give Indian industry a clearer view of the capability priorities of the Air Force. The roadmap is also intended to help industry, academia and research organisations line up their work with what the force will need from unmanned airborne systems in the years ahead. Option A is wrong because the Chief of Defence Staff did not inaugurate the event, although senior officers of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff were present. Option C is wrong because the Defence Minister was not named as releasing any document here. Option D is wrong because it was the Vice Chief and not the Chief of the Air Staff, and the document concerned unmanned systems rather than air power doctrine as a whole.

The correct answer is that the exercise had a harbour phase and an operational phase at sea. In the harbour phase the personnel of the two navies held professional exchanges and interactions, which let them share experience and build mutual understanding. The engagement then moved to sea, where INS Mysore exercised with the Royal Malaysian Navy ships KD Lekir and KD Gagah Samudera and the ships undertook coordinated manoeuvres. Option A is wrong precisely because the harbour phase came first and is described in some detail. Option C is wrong because Samudra Laksamana is a bilateral exercise between India and Malaysia, not a gathering of several navies. Option D is wrong because the venue was Lumut in Malaysia and not an Indian port. The two phase structure, harbour followed by sea, is common to many of India's bilateral naval exercises and is worth remembering as a pattern.

The correct answer is joint capability for employing Integrated Battle Groups in mountainous and semi-mountainous terrain, with emphasis on infantry-dominated operations. That is the aim the release sets out, and it explains why one leg of the drill is held in the hills at Auli. Option A is wrong because this is an army-to-army field exercise, not a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief drill. Option C is wrong because anti-piracy patrolling is naval work and has nothing to do with the two armies training here. Option D is wrong because no air-defence or missile-interception role is described for this edition. Along with the aim, remember the supporting objectives named in the release: stronger interoperability, an exchange of best operational practices, and sharper joint planning and execution by the two armies.