UPSC Current Affairs Quiz: 5 September 2026

The correct answer is ₹8.23 crore. The release records that the Authority sanctioned that amount in ABS proceeds to 27 State Biodiversity Boards and 5 Union Territory Biodiversity Councils, arising from access to biological resources of four vegetable crops. Option C is the classic trap in this item, because ₹200 crore is also in the release, but it is the cumulative figure: the Authority's total ABS disbursement since the framework began has now crossed ₹200 crore, and the ₹8.23 crore is only the latest instalment inside that total. Options B and D simply move the decimal point or reverse the digits, a favourite trick of paper setters with money figures. Keep the pair together while revising: ₹200 crore cumulative, ₹8.23 crore in this round. Remember also that the money came from three seed companies which had accessed bitter gourd, okra, chilli and onion resources for research and commercial use.

The correct answer is ₹37,500 crore. The Ministry of Coal states that the Union Cabinet approved the scheme on 13 May 2026 with that total financial outlay, and the same figure appears at the start of the clarification issued about press reports on the scheme. Options A, C and D are round or near figures of the kind used to build distractors in scheme questions, and none of them is supported by the release. Two related numbers should not be confused with the outlay. The first is the expected investment the scheme is meant to catalyse, which is about ₹2.5 lakh crore to ₹3 lakh crore across nearly 25 projects. The second is the expected employment of around 50,000 direct and indirect jobs. The outlay is what the Government commits, while the investment figure is what industry is expected to bring in. Keep the purpose in mind as well: converting domestic coal and lignite into syngas, methanol, ammonia and urea, so that dependence on imported feedstock falls.

The correct answer is the Vice President of India, C. P. Radhakrishnan. The release records that he launched the India Valve Registry at India Valves 2026, a national academic meeting on valvular and structural heart disease held in Chennai. Option C and option D are the kind of distractors a paper setter builds from the guest list: the event was attended by the Tamil Nadu Minister for Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, K. G. Arunraj, along with senior cardiologists from Chennai, New Delhi and Gurugram, but the launch itself was done by the Vice President. Option A is wrong because the President of India had no role in this event; on the same day the President was conferring the National Awards to Teachers in New Delhi, which is a separate item of news. When two similar national launches appear in the same week, tie each one to the dignitary and the city together. Here the unit to remember is Vice President, India Valve Registry, India Valves 2026, Chennai.

The correct answer is 82. The release records that 82 teachers and educators were selected for the National Teachers Awards this year, and that they came from three departments. The break-up is worth memorising because a paper setter can ask for any one part of it: 48 teachers from the Department of School Education and Literacy, 21 teachers and faculty members from higher educational institutions and polytechnics, and 13 skill trainers from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. Add those three numbers and you get the total of 82, which is a quick way to check yourself in the examination hall. Option A, option C and option D are not supported anywhere in the release; they are the kind of round or near-miss figures that distractors are usually built from. Note also that the awards were conferred by President Droupadi Murmu at a function in New Delhi on Teachers' Day, 5 September 2026, while the Prime Minister had met the same winners at his residence a day earlier.

The correct answer is ₹2.55 lakh crore. The backgrounder states that the scheme, approved on 5 May 2026 and implemented by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company, aims to facilitate an additional credit flow of up to that amount, and that the scheme runs till 31 March 2027 or till guarantees of the same value are issued, whichever comes earlier. Option C is the trap here, because ₹3.68 lakh crore is a real figure from the same release, but it belongs to the earlier phases: from ECLGS 1.0 to 4.0 the scheme issued 1.19 crore guarantees worth ₹3.68 lakh crore before closing on 31 March 2023. Options A and D are round figures with no support in the release. Keep the two numbers in separate lines while revising: ₹2.55 lakh crore is the target of the present phase, and ₹3.68 lakh crore is what the first four phases actually delivered. The progress figure for the present phase, as on 20 August 2026, was ₹2,50,024 crore of guarantees.

The correct answer is Dinamalar. The release records that the Vice President released a commemorative postage stamp in Chennai marking the 75th year of Dinamalar, and that the function itself was held to mark the paper's 75th year of publication along with the release of the stamp. Options A, C and D name other well-established newspapers of south India, and a candidate who remembers only that a Tamil newspaper was honoured may pick any of them, which is precisely how such distractors work. Two further details from the same release make the item safer to hold in memory. The newspaper was founded in 1951 with the resolve to serve as a touchstone of truth, and its founder was T. V. Ramasubbaiyer, whose contribution the Vice President recalled. The Vice President also praised the paper's 7-decade-long journey of upholding truth, patriotism and public service, and appreciated its Pattam publication meant for school students.

The correct answer is Madhya Pradesh. The table in the release ranks the recipients, and Madhya Pradesh stands at the top, ahead of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat. The text explains why: the State comes first because it grows three of the four crops involved, namely bitter gourd, chilli and onion. Option A is the strongest distractor, since Maharashtra is named in the same sentence as a leading recipient and holds more than 49 per cent of India's onion cultivation area, but on the combined figures for all four crops it stands second. Option C and option D name the next two States in the list, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, both of which receive substantial amounts but less than the top two. The reason behind the ranking is worth learning as well: the distribution follows the area under cultivation published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, because the resources were bought in the open market and could not be traced to a single farmer or community.

The correct answer is Talcher Fertilisers Limited and NTPC Limited. The Ministry said it had been informed that both companies had already submitted their applications through the online portal, and it used this fact to reject the claim that the scheme had received no takers. The other options list well-known public sector companies in coal, gas, lignite, refining and steel, all of which a candidate might reasonably associate with a coal gasification programme, and that is exactly why they appear as distractors. Note the wider context for the examination: the first-round deadline was 7 September 2026, and the Ministry pointed out that the number of applications could not be judged while the window was still open. The scheme also uses rolling rounds, so the next round opens the day after a round closes and stays open for two months, which means more applicants can come in later without being shut out.

The correct answer is transcatheter valve interventions. The release describes the registry as a collaborative multicentre initiative for the systematic, secure and de-identified collection of real-world data on transcatheter valve interventions across India, with the aim of strengthening India-specific clinical evidence and improving patient care. Options B, C and D name common surgical procedures that have nothing to do with this registry, and they are placed there to catch a candidate who remembers only the word registry. The medical context is worth a line in your notes: valvular and structural heart disease is the subject of India Valves 2026, and a valve registry records which patients underwent a valve intervention, what treatment they received and how their outcomes moved over time. The Vice President explained the purpose in a memorable phrase, saying such registries create our country's own data for our own countrymen, so that doctors can understand outcomes, identify gaps and improve care.

The correct answer is the Department of School Education and Literacy. Of the 82 awardees, 48 came from that department, which is well over half the total and easily the largest block. Option A is wrong because the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship contributed 13 skill trainers, the smallest of the three groups. Option B is wrong in the form it is written: the higher education share of 21 awardees came from higher educational institutions and polytechnics, and the release does not credit it to the Department of Higher Education by that name; even if it did, 21 is smaller than 48. Option D does not figure in the release at all. Remember the order of the three groups from largest to smallest as 48, 21 and 13, because questions in this pattern often ask for the smallest share rather than the largest one. The awards were conferred by President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi on Teachers' Day.

The correct answer is 100 per cent. The release separates the two levels of cover clearly: eligible MSMEs get a full guarantee, while eligible non-MSME borrowers get 90 per cent cover. The same 90 per cent applies to loans given to eligible scheduled passenger airlines. Option C is therefore the most tempting wrong answer, because 90 per cent is a genuine figure from the scheme but belongs to the other categories of borrower. Options A and B appear nowhere in the release. Two more points are worth carrying along with this item. First, no guarantee fee is payable by the Member Lending Institutions under the scheme. Second, the cover was 100 per cent in the original ECLGS launched in 2020 under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Package as well, so the full cover for small borrowers is a continuing feature of the scheme rather than something new. Additional credit for MSMEs is capped at 20 per cent of peak working capital outstanding, subject to ₹100 crore per borrower.

The correct answer is 1951. The Vice President noted in his address that Dinamalar was founded in that year with the resolve to serve as a touchstone of truth, and the same address places the paper in its 75th year of publication, which fits the founding year. Option A is the most tempting wrong answer, because candidates instinctively attach the year of Independence to the founding of old Indian newspapers. Options C and D are nearby years placed to test whether the exact figure has been learnt. A useful way to lock the item is to hold the pair together: founded in 1951 and being honoured in its 75th year with a commemorative postage stamp released by the Vice President in Chennai. Remember the founder's name as well, T. V. Ramasubbaiyer, since a question can be framed on the person rather than the year, and note that the Chennai Regional Director of the Department of Posts, Major Manoj, attended the function.

The correct answer is Section 32(2) of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. The release states that the boards and councils are required to spend the funds on the activities listed in that provision, and it lists them: documentation and updating of People's Biodiversity Registers, conservation of biological resources both in their natural habitat and outside it, restoration of degraded ecosystems, strengthening of Biodiversity Heritage Sites, capacity building of Biodiversity Management Committees, and improvement of community livelihoods. Options A, C and D name well-known environmental laws of India, and each is the kind of answer a candidate reaches for when the exact statute has slipped from memory, but the ABS framework sits entirely within the Biological Diversity Act. Link the whole chain in your notes: the Act of 2002 creates the National Biodiversity Authority, the State Biodiversity Boards and the Biodiversity Management Committees, and the same Act carries the access and benefit-sharing provisions that this disbursement follows.

The correct answer is 100 million tonnes. The release says the scheme will contribute significantly to the Government's broader objective of achieving 100 million tonnes of coal gasification capacity by 2030, which makes the pair of numbers, 100 million tonnes and the year 2030, one of the most likely items to be asked from this story. Options A, B and D are plausible-looking alternatives but find no support in the release. While revising, keep this national target separate from the three other figures attached to the scheme: the outlay of ₹37,500 crore approved by the Union Cabinet on 13 May 2026, the expected investment of about ₹2.5 lakh crore to ₹3 lakh crore across nearly 25 projects, and the expected employment of around 50,000 direct and indirect jobs. Also remember the output side of gasification, namely syngas, methanol, ammonia and urea, since a question can equally be framed on what coal is converted into rather than on the numbers.

The correct answer is Swasth Bharat. Referring to the national goal of building a Viksit Bharat by 2047, the Vice President said that a developed India must also be a healthy India, and the release carries the line as one of its highlighted quotations. Options A, B and D name other well-known national missions and slogans, each of which a candidate may link to a government speech, but the phrase used on this occasion pairs Viksit Bharat with Swasth Bharat. The rest of the address supports the same idea: healthcare is a human right and should be accessible to everyone, every advance in medical science carries a duty to make its benefits inclusive, and India demonstrated its medical and technological capability during the COVID-19 pandemic by developing vaccines for its own people and supplying them to around 100 countries. Remember the year 2047 with the phrase, because questions often test the pairing of the slogan with the target year.

The correct answer is Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. The releases of the day tie the occasion directly to him: President Droupadi Murmu paid floral tributes to Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a former President of India, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, and the Prime Minister said that Teachers' Day is also a day to pay homage to Dr S. Radhakrishnan. Option A names the first President of India, who is remembered on other occasions and not on Teachers' Day. Option B names another former President who came from an educational background, which makes him a plausible distractor, but the day is not observed for him. Option D names a former President widely associated with students and with Students' Day tributes, which again makes the option tempting, but the release of 5 September 2026 does not connect him with this day. The safe way to hold this item is to pair the date, the man and the event: 5 September, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and the National Awards to Teachers conferred by the President.

The correct answer is the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company, usually written as NCGTC. The backgrounder names it as the implementing agency and adds that borrowers must satisfy the eligibility conditions prescribed by NCGTC, including account status and other lending norms. Option A is the most attractive distractor, because the Reserve Bank of India does appear in the release, but only in the explanation of the benchmarks: EBLR and MCLR are the rates tied to the central bank, and MSME loans under the scheme are priced off EBLR while non-MSME loans are priced off MCLR. Options B and D name development finance institutions that run their own refinance and guarantee programmes for small industry and for agriculture, which is why they look plausible, but neither of them implements this scheme. Remember the chain of delivery: NCGTC gives the guarantee, Member Lending Institutions give the loan, and the borrower applies through the Jan Samarth Portal.

The correct answer is Pattam. The release states that the Vice President stressed the importance of nurturing the next generation and appreciated Dinamalar's efforts through its Pattam publication, which brings knowledge on general awareness, language skills and scientific innovations to school students. Options B, C and D are names that sound like children's or students' magazines, and one of them is a well-known children's title, which makes them natural distractors for a candidate who recalls only that a students' publication was praised. The wider content of the address is worth revising along with this: a newspaper earns and keeps the trust of readers only when it stands firm against pressure and upholds higher values such as patriotism and public service without fear, and Dinamalar's work over the past 75 years has built such a bond with its readers. The Vice President wished the paper continued growth and asked it to serve the nation and society for many more decades.