UPSC Current Affairs Quiz: 7 November 2026

The Ministry of Science and Technology announced that India and the European Union had successfully completed negotiations for India's association with Horizon Europe, which the release describes as the EU's flagship research and innovation programme.

India is the sixth-largest producer of chemicals in the world, and separately the fourth-largest in Asia, which is why option B is a tempting but wrong choice: fourth is India's Asian rank, not its global one.

Under the Quality Coordination Cell exercise of the oil marketing companies and the Centre for High Technology, 893 E20 samples were drawn from depots and retail outlets in 27 States and Union Territories and tested for ethanol content, and every one of them fell inside the prescribed band of 19…

The Defence Minister met Air Warriors at Air Force Station, Bagdogra in West Bengal on the eve of Diwali, where he asked the forces to keep the highest level of operational readiness.

The Ministry of Steel conducted SCDPM 6 across that month-long window along with the Central Public Sector Enterprises under it, with the campaign directed at streamlining governance through the effective disposal of pending matters and at promoting cleanliness and efficiency in official functioning.

According to the announcement, an exploration of the possible association was launched after the India-EU Summit held on that date, which the Ministry of Science and Technology calls historic.

The Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojana Rasayan scheme, approved in July 2026, carries that total outlay, of which Rs 3,000 crore is earmarked for common infrastructure and basic utilities and Rs 30 crore for administrative expenditure.

This is the Bureau of Indian Standards specification for ethanol-blended motor gasoline, and E20 petrol supplied by the three public sector oil marketing companies across the country is required to conform to it.

The Defence Minister explained that on completing the two-year engagement period, all Agniveers will get an opportunity to be enrolled as regular soldiers, provided they are willing and provided they meet the laid-down selection criteria.

The ministry reviewed that many physical files during the campaign and recorded the achievement slightly above the number planned, which is why it is reported as 101 per cent of the set target.

The clusters listed under Pillar II of Horizon Europe in the announcement are health; digital technologies, industry and space; climate, energy and mobility; and food and the bioeconomy.

India has three operational PCPIRs: Dahej in Gujarat, Visakhapatnam-Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh and Paradeep in Odisha. Haldia is not among them, so option D is the exception.

All 56 samples tested in Karnataka, taken from different locations and from all three oil marketing companies, conformed to the prescribed specification, with ethanol content ranging between 19 and 20 per cent and averaging that figure.

Speaking to Air Warriors at Bagdogra, the Defence Minister called upon the forces to maintain the highest level of operational readiness with special focus on exactly these three strengths, because the security landscape has become increasingly complex and warfare now extends beyond conventional engagements along the borders into asymmetric warfare…

The ministry reported that approximately this much office space was released during the campaign by clearing scrap, electronic waste and files that were no longer required.

The 14th edition of India Chem was organised in Mumbai from 22 to 24 October 2026 as a three-day event aimed at drawing investment and promoting sustainable growth in chemicals and petrochemicals.

The ministry listed four cumulative outcomes of the blending programme since ethanol supply year 2014-15: foreign exchange savings above that amount, substitution of about 316 lakh metric tonnes of crude oil, avoidance of about 952 lakh metric tonnes of carbon dioxide, and transfers of more than Rs 1.66 lakh crore…

The correct answer is Air Chief Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, who was present in his capacity as Chief of the Air Staff when the Defence Minister interacted with Indian Air Force personnel at Air Force Station, Bagdogra on the eve of Diwali.

The campaign set out to institutionalise Swachhta and to address pending matters across these several categories, which is why its reporting covers both paperwork and public grievances.