NITI Aayog Releases Ninth Trade Watch Quarterly Edition

The correct answer is the ninth edition. Ashok Kumar Lahiri, Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog, released it in New Delhi along with the chief executive officer and other senior officials of the institution, and the edition covers the first quarter of FY27, that is April to June 2026. Options A, B and D are wrong because they name editions that either came earlier in the series or have not yet appeared, and edition numbers are among the most frequently tested details in questions on government reports. Candidates should also carry the headline numbers from this issue: India's total merchandise and services trade of $506.9 billion in the quarter, growth of 15.5 per cent over a year earlier, and global goods trade of $13.7 trillion in the first half of calendar 2026 with growth of 12.5 per cent.

The correct answer is India's metals and ores trade. The edition treats this as a strategically important sector for manufacturing, infrastructure, the energy transition and advanced industries, and it examines both export competitiveness and rising import dependence. Metals exports stood at $34.8 billion in 2025, with iron and steel, articles of iron and steel and aluminium together accounting for about 78 per cent of the total. Imports of metals and ores rose from $32.2 billion in 2015 to $60.5 billion in 2025, driven by copper, lithium, cobalt and nickel. Options A, C and D name sectors that matter to India's trade but are not the declared theme of this issue. The report also flags reforms under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act of 1957 and the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

The correct answer is fourth. India's exports of digitally delivered services rose from $277 billion in 2024 to $317 billion in 2025, a gain of about 15 per cent in a single year, and that growth lifted the country from the fifth position to the fourth among global exporters of such services. Only the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland now rank ahead of India. Option D is the classic trap, because fifth is exactly where India stood before this improvement, and a candidate reading quickly can easily retain the old rank. Options A and B are wrong because the three countries named above remain above India, so neither second nor third position has been reached. Pair the old rank with the new one when you revise, since questions are often framed around the change itself.