Railway Current Affairs Quiz: 8 October 2026

The correct answer is three. The Ministry of Communications stated that telecom licences have been granted to three Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite operators whose services rest on non-geosynchronous satellite orbits, and that all three are at broadly the same regulatory stage because the security assessment of each is still in progress. Option A, one, is wrong because the ministry spoke of more than a single licensee and said the framework treats every applicant alike; a single licensee would also make the question of discriminatory treatment between operators meaningless. Option B, two, is wrong for the same reason, as the ministry's count of licensed satellite operators is higher than that. Option D, six, is wrong because no such number appears in the government's statement; the ministry named a smaller set of licensees, each of which must demonstrate compliance with the security conditions of its licence before it may ask for spectrum to be assigned. Candidates should tie the number three to the GMPCS licences and to the fact that the security assessment is under way for every one of them.

The correct answer is 43 per cent. The assessment of the Ayush services sector puts the share of women in the sector's total workforce at 43 per cent, and notes that the share rises past half in several organised segments. Option C, 53 per cent, is the figure for hospitals alone, not for the whole sector, so it is a segment number rather than the overall one. Option D, 63 per cent, matches no reported segment either; the highest segment share reported is over 60 per cent, recorded in spas and wellness resorts. Option A, 33 per cent, understates the finding and appears nowhere in the assessment. Candidates should hold the overall number apart from the segment numbers: 53 per cent in hospitals, 57 per cent in day-care centres and 58 per cent in educational institutes, against 43 per cent for the sector taken as a whole.

The correct answer is Fiji. The Pre-COP31 meeting was convened in Nadi, Fiji, and it was there that Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav addressed the Plenary Discussion on Political Landing Zones and Outcomes and asked the Parties for greater flexibility, pragmatism and mutual respect. Option B, Turkiye, is a tempting choice because that is where the main conference will be held, COP31 being scheduled for Antalya in November, but the preparatory meeting was not held there. Options C and D, Brazil and Azerbaijan, have hosted earlier sessions of the UN climate talks and are placed here as plausible distractors, yet neither hosted this Pre-COP. Candidates should keep the two places distinct in memory: the Pre-COP at Nadi in Fiji, and COP31 itself at Antalya in Turkiye.

The correct answer is the National Small Industries Corporation. The National SC-ST Hub was launched on 18 October 2016 and is implemented through NSIC, which also runs the Single Point Registration Scheme that gives registered micro and small enterprises free tender sets and exemption from Earnest Money Deposit. Option A, the Small Industries Development Bank of India, is the development finance institution for the small enterprise sector and lends to it, but it is not the implementing agency named for this scheme. Option C, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, promotes khadi and village industries and runs separate employment programmes. Option D, the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation, works on credit for Scheduled Caste beneficiaries under a different ministry. For the examination, pair the scheme with the MSME Ministry as its parent and NSIC as its implementing arm.

The correct answer is Hindi and Marathi. The condolence message on the veteran actor's passing described his contribution to Hindi and Marathi cinema as immense, and it is this pairing that identifies his body of work. Option B, Hindi and Bengali, option C, Marathi and Tamil, and option D, Hindi and Telugu, each keep one correct industry or none, and are placed here because questions on film personalities commonly swap one language for another. Aspirants should remember that the actor was counted among the few who carried an unmistakable presence on screen, bringing versatility and creativity to every role and creating characters expected to be remembered for generations. He was admired away from the screen as well, for frank and forthright views that he never hesitated to express. The condolence from the Prime Minister was issued on 8 October 2026.

The correct answer is the 10th edition. The India Mobile Congress completed ten years with this edition, which the Prime Minister opened at Yashobhoomi in New Delhi on 8 October 2026, and he described the tenth anniversary of the platform as running in parallel with the hosting of a GSMA Board meeting in the country. Option A, the 8th edition, is wrong because that edition belongs to an earlier year of the series; the Prime Minister used this stage to trace a decade of change rather than eight years. Option B, the 9th edition, is wrong for the same reason, being the edition held before this one. Option D, the 12th edition, is wrong because the series has not yet reached twelve; the tenth is the one just held. A useful anchor for exams is that 5G was launched from this very platform in 2022, and the Prime Minister recalled that journey while opening the tenth edition.

The correct answer is Joint Squad for Health. The Union Health Minister launched the JOSH Teams at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, and the squads are to work at district and block level under the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, carrying information on prevention, testing and treatment into households. Option B, Youth Squad for Hygiene, is wrong; the squads are indeed youth-led, but hygiene is only one of the healthy behaviours volunteers promote and does not form part of the name. Option C, Joint Outreach for Social Health, is wrong because the expansion uses Squad rather than Outreach, even though community outreach is exactly what the teams do. Option D, Junior Officers for Social Health, is wrong; a Class-I officer leads each team at the block or ward level, so the name does not refer to junior officers. The word squad is the clue, since each unit joins volunteers and cadets in one group.

The correct answer is the Union Jal Shakti Minister, C. R. Paatil, who presided over the meeting in New Delhi. Option A is wrong because river rejuvenation under the Namami Gange Programme sits with the Ministry of Jal Shakti, not with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, even though the subject is environmental. Option C is wrong; the Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga, Rajeev Kumar Mital, attended the meeting and presented the progress of the programme, but the task force is chaired by the Minister. Option D is wrong, although urban local bodies are deeply involved in sewage work and city sanitation action plans. Candidates should also remember that the Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Raj Bhushan Chaudhary, was present, and that the Empowered Task Force is the top review body for the Ganga basin.

The correct answer is screening school children for probable disability conditions. PRASHAST is a school-based digital tool under the Department of School Education and Literacy that helps identify children with conditions covered by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, and it works through a checklist in two parts, with the teacher screening on observable indicators and a special educator validating the case and arranging a medical referral where required. Option B is wrong; midday meal records are maintained through a separate system under the school nutrition programme. Option C is wrong because the tool looks at children's needs rather than at teacher performance, although teachers are the ones who use it. Option D is wrong, as scholarship distribution runs through dedicated portals of other departments. The point to carry into an examination is the link between PRASHAST and the disability rights law.

The correct answer is Manila, the Philippines, where India was represented by the Minister of State for Power and New and Renewable Energy, Shripad Yesso Naik. Option A, Jakarta, is wrong for this meeting, although it is the seat of the ASEAN Secretariat and therefore a tempting choice in any question about the grouping. Option C, Kuala Lumpur, is wrong here; Malaysia appears in this news for a different reason, as one of the countries a proposed land corridor from Imphal to Singapore would pass through. Option D, Bangkok, is wrong for the same reason, Thailand being another country on that proposed route along with Myanmar. For examinations, link the edition number, twentieth, with the host city and with the two plans the Minister welcomed, the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation and the ASEAN India Plan of Action for the years from 2026 to 2030.

The correct answer is Arusha in Tanzania, where the Indian Parliamentary Delegation led by the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha took part in the General Debate and in several committee meetings. Option A, Istanbul, is wrong for this question but is worth remembering separately, because the previous assembly of the organisation was held there and it was at that assembly that a new Secretary General was elected. Option C, Geneva, is wrong here, although the Inter-Parliamentary Union has its headquarters in that Swiss city, which makes it the most tempting distractor in any question on the body. Option D, Nairobi, is wrong; Kenya is a neighbour of Tanzania in East Africa and is often confused with it in questions about venues. Candidates should pair the assembly number with the host city and with the theme of the General Debate.

The correct answer is demonstrate compliance with the security conditions of its licence. The Ministry of Communications explained that every satellite communication licensee is required under the terms and conditions of its licence to show that it meets the security conditions, the purpose being to ensure that the services provided satisfy security requirements and keep all users and their data safe. This security assessment is in progress for each of the licensed operators, and a company may proceed to the next step of seeking assignment of spectrum only when the process is completed in its case. Option A is wrong because a stock exchange listing is nowhere a condition for spectrum in this framework. Option C is wrong because the authorisation concerns providing services in India, not where the satellites are launched from; the licensees use non-geosynchronous orbit constellations. Option D is wrong because no subscriber threshold is prescribed before spectrum assignment; the gate is the security assessment, not commercial scale.

The correct answer is standalone clinics. They remain the biggest revenue-generating segment of the Ayush services sector, bringing in an estimated US$16.21 billion, which works out to 43.9 per cent of the sector's revenue. Option B, day-care centres, comes second with about US$10.13 billion; taken together the two segments account for more than 70 per cent of sector revenue, but day-care centres on their own stay well behind clinics. Option A, hospitals, is reported for its workforce composition, where women hold 53 per cent of posts, and for the role of foreign patients in its revenue, but it is not named the largest earner. Option D, spas and wellness resorts, is the segment with the highest share of women at over 60 per cent, which is a workforce statistic and not a revenue one. Note also that among the individual systems, Ayurveda is the largest at US$17.73 billion.

The correct answer is Antalya, Turkiye. The annual UN Climate Change Conference, COP31, is to be held in Antalya in November, and the Pre-COP held weeks earlier was the preparatory meeting leading up to it. Option A, Nadi in Fiji, is where that Pre-COP took place, so it is the venue of the preparatory session rather than of the conference itself. Option C, Belem in Brazil, and option D, New Delhi, are not the venue of this session. The Indian Minister underlined the link between the two places when he said the constructive elements of the discussions in Fiji should be carried into Antalya, and that the landing zone should be an outcome that is ambitious and balanced, advancing mitigation and adaptation while delivering the means of implementation developing countries need.

The correct answer is Rs 4,013.42 crore, procured in 2025-26 from 12,524 micro and small enterprises. The figure matters because it marks a rise of nearly 39 times over the Rs 99.37 crore recorded in 2015-16, which is option A and therefore the starting point rather than the latest number. Option B, Rs 356.10 crore, is the amount disbursed under the Special Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme since 2016 and up to March 2026, which supported 3,160 enterprises in 233 districts across 27 States and Union Territories, so it belongs to a single component and not to procurement. Option C is a near miss designed to catch a half-remembered figure. Candidates should also recall the policy behind the growth: 25 per cent of annual purchases of Central Ministries, Departments and CPSEs must come from MSEs, with 4 per cent earmarked for SC/ST-owned units.

The correct answer is Nana Patekar. The Prime Minister's Office issued a condolence message on 8 October 2026 on the passing of the veteran actor, whose work in Hindi and Marathi cinema was called immense. The tribute said few actors possessed the intensity, individuality and unmistakable presence that he had, that he brought remarkable versatility and creativity to every role, and that his passing leaves a deep void; condolences were extended to his family, friends and countless admirers. The other options name actors who have worked in Hindi or Marathi cinema and are placed here as plausible distractors for a candidate who recalls only that a veteran of these two industries had died. For revision, link the name with the date, 8 October 2026, and with the two industries, Hindi and Marathi.

The correct answer is Yashobhoomi, New Delhi. The tenth edition of the India Mobile Congress was inaugurated there by the Prime Minister, before an audience of telecom operators, industry leaders, academics and startups from India and abroad. Option A, Bharat Mandapam, is wrong here; it is a convention venue in the capital that has hosted other national events, but the mobile congress of this year was not held there. Option C, Pragati Maidan, is wrong for the same reason, although it is the older exhibition complex in Delhi and a tempting distractor. Option D, Vigyan Bhawan, is wrong because it is a conference facility used for smaller official meetings rather than a technology exhibition of this scale. For revision, pair the venue with the theme of the edition, Scale Without Boundaries, and with the city, New Delhi.

The correct answer is five MY Bharat volunteers and five NCC cadets led by a Class-I officer. The design is deliberate: MY Bharat gives the platform for youth participation, the National Cadet Corps supplies discipline and reach, and a designated Class-I officer at the block or ward level provides official backing for the team's work. Option A is wrong because the teams are not made only of MY Bharat volunteers, and a doctor is not named as the leader. Option C is wrong, since ASHA workers and the National Service Scheme are not the two streams named for these squads, although health workers and volunteers of many kinds support the wider campaign. Option D is wrong on both counts, as the split is equal between the two streams and a district magistrate is not designated as the team leader. Note too that the Ministry of Defence is a partner precisely because NCC cadets are involved.

The correct answer is 527 projects worth 43,266 crore rupees, the position as of August 2026, with 368 projects already completed. The other options change either the count of projects or the cost and are therefore wrong; they are typical distractors built by shifting the leading digit. For revision it helps to hold the sewerage sub-totals alongside the headline numbers: of 219 sanctioned sewerage projects, 147 are finished, and the sanctioned treatment capacity of 6,603 MLD has so far yielded 4,339 MLD, while the sanctioned sewer network of 5,245 km has produced 4,615 km on the ground. The Minister used this review to press agencies and State governments to clear pending detailed project reports and land issues so that ongoing projects finish on time.

The correct answer is more than 60,000 schools, with participation expected to grow further during the month. The other options are wrong because they alter the figure, and a candidate should keep this number apart from the second reach figure in the same news, namely the more than seventy-two lakh teachers already sensitised through the dedicated module over the preceding three months. The two numbers measure different things: one counts institutions that screened the film on a single day, the other counts individual teachers covered by a continuing exercise. It is also worth remembering that the module itself runs for thirty minutes, is offered in twelve Indian languages, and is aimed not only at teachers but at every adult a child encounters in school, from the head of the institution to drivers and clerical staff.

The correct answer is 558.8 GW. Of this total, the Minister said 308 GW comes from non-fossil sources, which works out to fifty-five per cent of installed capacity, a share that matters because it is the headline measure of the energy transition. The other options are wrong because each changes the figure, and they are the sort of near values a candidate may recall from an earlier quarter, since capacity rises every month. Two related facts deserve equal attention. First, India crossed the halfway mark for non-fossil capacity in June 2025, a full five years before the date set in its Nationally Determined Contribution for 2030. Second, under PM Surya Ghar about 5.01 million rooftop solar systems were in place as on 29 September 2026, serving 5.95 million households.

The correct answer is Nepal, which proposed the item on urgent parliamentary action to address climate-related disasters and strengthen resilience in the Himalayan region and other vulnerable regions. Option A, India, is wrong as the proposer but is exactly the trap in this question, since India was among the countries that supported the proposal and the Indian delegation took part in the vote on including it in the agenda. Option B, Bhutan, is wrong, although it is a Himalayan country and a plausible choice for a proposal of this kind. Option D, Bangladesh, is wrong as well, being a downstream country affected by Himalayan rivers rather than the proposer here. The key distinction to carry into the examination is between proposing a motion and supporting it, because questions are often framed on precisely that difference.

The correct answer is non-geosynchronous satellite orbit. The Ministry of Communications said the telecom licences for Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite services were granted for satellite communications based on non-geosynchronous satellite orbit. Satellites in such orbits do not remain above a fixed point on the earth, so a constellation of them is used, with one spacecraft handing a user over to the next as they pass overhead. Option A is wrong because the statement does not describe these licensed services as geostationary; a geostationary satellite appears fixed over one spot above the equator, which is the opposite of what non-geosynchronous means. Option C is wrong because a lunar transfer orbit is used to send spacecraft towards the Moon and has nothing to do with providing telecom services to users in India. Option D is wrong because a geosynchronous transfer orbit is only a temporary path used to raise a satellite towards a geosynchronous slot, not the operating orbit named for these licensed satellite communication services.

The correct answer is RIS. The Ayush Service Sector Report is a study by RIS and was brought out on Ayurveda Day 2026. It is the source of the sector's headline numbers: a size of US$36.92 billion in FY2024-25, a compound annual growth rate of 16.91 per cent since FY2022-23, about 1.76 million livelihoods supported, and a projection of US$216-318 billion by 2047. Option A, NITI Aayog, is the government's policy think tank and publishes many indices, but it is not credited with this study. Option C, the Indian Council of Medical Research, is the apex body for biomedical research and did not author it. Option D, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, runs national laboratories in industrial and scientific research and is likewise unconnected to this report. For the examination, pair the report's name with RIS and with Ayurveda Day 2026.

The correct answer is Article 9.1 and Article 6. India welcomed the inclusion of Article 9.1 on the provisional agenda, describing it as a vital formal opportunity to address the matching of finance to what countries actually need. It also pressed for the strategic use of Article 6 cooperative approaches, which can plug critical gaps in finance and other means of implementation and unlock market-driven resources for sustainable development. The remaining options pair provisions that were not the subject of the Indian intervention at this plenary. The Minister tied both to his wider argument, that higher ambition has to be matched by proportionally higher commitments through scaled-up climate finance, technology transfer and capacity-building, and that implementation must respect nationally determined pathways so each country can transition according to its own circumstances and development imperatives.