DAPA, the Korean agency whose Vice Minister co-chaired the meeting, stands for which of the following?

The correct answer is 10th. The Joint Committee Meeting between India and the Republic of Korea on defence industries and logistics cooperation reached its tenth edition at the New Delhi round, where the two sides reviewed existing defence ties and discussed ways to widen cooperation in defence production and logistics. Option A, the 8th, and option B, the 9th, are earlier rounds of the same dialogue and not the one held here, so both are wrong. Option D, the 12th, would place the dialogue further ahead than it has actually travelled, and is therefore also incorrect. The tenth round was co-chaired by Additional Secretary (Defence Production) Dinesh Mahur for India and Vice Minister Kim Il Dong of the Defence Acquisition Program Administration for the Korean side, with the Korean Ambassador Seong Ho Lee and Joint Secretary (Naval Systems) Vijay Namdeorao Zade also present. Aspirants should link the edition number with the host city and the two co-chairs.

The correct answer is Larsen and Toubro and Bharat Earth Movers Limited. Indian industry at the New Delhi round was represented by L&T and BEML, who joined officials in the discussion on defence production and logistics. The Korean industry side was made up of Hanwha Aerospace, Hanwha Systems, Korean Air, Korea Aerospace Industries and DS Navcours. Option A names Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Bharat Dynamics Limited, both important defence public sector undertakings but not the firms that attended this meeting, so it is wrong. Option C names two shipyards and option D names an electronics maker and another shipyard; none of these were part of the delegation described, so both are incorrect. Aspirants should note that the presence of manufacturers alongside officials is what makes such a joint committee useful for converting policy into orders and joint projects.

The correct answer is 27. Operation Southern Readiness was conducted at Kochi while the Indian Navy held command of Combined Task Force-154 under the Combined Maritime Forces, and it brought together 276 personnel drawn from twenty-seven countries, along with 76 facilitators and subject-matter experts and four international organisations. Option B is wrong because eighteen is the number of warships planned for induction or commissioning in 2026, not the number of participating countries. Option C is wrong because no such figure appears in the address. Option D is wrong for the same reason. The Defence Minister treated the command of the task force as an important Indian contribution to cooperative security in the region, alongside the deployment of INS Sudarshini for Lokayan-26, which carried India's maritime heritage to the diaspora in the United States and across the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

The correct answer is Operation Urja Suraksha. The Raksha Mantri called it an outstanding achievement that Indian-flagged merchant vessels, LPG tankers in particular, were given safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz under this operation during the crisis in West Asia. He tied its importance to trade dependence: about 85 to 90 per cent of India's crude oil and about 50 per cent of its natural gas reach the country by sea, so sea-lane security bears directly on the economy, energy supplies and defence preparedness. Option A is wrong because Operation Southern Readiness was an exercise conducted at Kochi during India's command of Combined Task Force-154. Option C is wrong because no such operation was named in this address. Option D is wrong because Lokayan-26 was the deployment of INS Sudarshini for maritime diplomacy and outreach to the Indian diaspora, not a tanker-protection operation.

The correct answer is 18. Addressing the Naval Commanders' Conference, the Defence Minister described 2026 as a historic year for the Navy because the induction or commissioning of eighteen warships is planned, which would be the largest addition of ships in a single year in the force's history. He linked this to the maturing of India's domestic naval shipbuilding ecosystem, noting that recently commissioned warships carry over 75 per cent indigenous content and that Indian yards now meet global benchmarks. Options A, B and D are wrong because none of these numbers was given for the year's inductions; the figure stated was eighteen and it was presented as a record, so a lower count such as twelve or fifteen would not be a single-year high, and no figure as large as twenty-four was claimed. The minister also urged that India move beyond meeting its own needs and export warships to friendly foreign countries.