UPSC Civil Services GK Questions 2026

The correct answer is Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. These are the exact words the Preamble uses for liberty, and they appear in it just as written here.

Each of the other options changes one word of the real text, which is exactly how this question catches people. The Preamble speaks of fraternity "assuring the dignity of the individual" and the unity and integrity of the Nation, not "human dignity". It promises equality "of status and of opportunity", not of status and employment. And justice in the Preamble is "social, economic and political"; the word "administrative" does not appear. When an option looks almost right, compare it word for word with the text: justice (social, economic, political), liberty (thought, expression, belief, faith, worship), equality (status, opportunity) and fraternity (dignity of the individual, unity and integrity of the Nation).

The correct answer is Socialist. The 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976 added three words to the Preamble: "Socialist" and "Secular" to the description of India, and "Integrity" to the phrase "unity and integrity of the Nation". It is the only amendment ever made to the Preamble.

Democratic, Republic and Sovereign were all in the Preamble from the start: as adopted on 26 November 1949, it described India as a "sovereign democratic republic". That is why they are wrong here. Questions on this amendment come in several forms: which word was added, which word was not added, or how many words were added. Keep all three in mind together: Socialist, Secular and Integrity, added in 1976. A related fact worth linking is the Kesavananda Bharati case of 1973, which had held three years earlier that the Preamble is part of the Constitution and can be amended without changing its basic features.

The correct answer is Sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, republic. This is the order in which the Preamble describes India: "a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC". Socialist and secular were inserted between sovereign and democratic by the 42nd Amendment in 1976; before that the phrase read "sovereign democratic republic".

The first option swaps socialist and secular, which is the most common slip, since both words were added at the same time. The third option repeats "secular" and begins with the wrong word, and the fourth moves "sovereign" from the front to the end. A simple way to hold the order is to say the three S-words by sound: So, So, Se (Sovereign, Socialist, Secular), followed by the original last two words, Democratic Republic. The two words added in 1976 sit together in the middle.

The correct answer is The People of India. The Preamble opens with the words "We, the people of India", which name the people as the source from which the Constitution draws its authority. The Constitution was not handed down by a government, a court or a legislature; the people, through their Constituent Assembly, adopted, enacted and gave it to themselves on 26 November 1949.

The Supreme Court, the Indian Parliament and the Central Government are all created by the Constitution, so none of them can be its source of authority. Each of them exercises only the powers the Constitution gives it. This is the first of the four things the Preamble tells us, the others being the nature of the Indian State (sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, republic), its objectives (justice, liberty, equality and fraternity) and the date of adoption. A fill-in-the-blank question like this one tests whether you know the exact opening words, so learn the text as written.

The correct answer is Jamnagar. The WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre is in Jamnagar, Gujarat, and the PIB backgrounder describes it as a primary research and policy hub for traditional medicine. The Union Budget 2026-27 announced its upgrade to promote evidence-based research and global outreach.

The other cities are distractors, though each has some link with Ayush. Pune has well-known Ayurveda and naturopathy institutions, Jaipur hosts the National Institute of Ayurveda, and Varanasi is known for its Ayurveda faculty at Banaras Hindu University. The only WHO centre of this kind in the world is at Jamnagar. India's other global steps include hosting the Second WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine at Bharat Mandapam in December 2025, which adopted the Delhi Declaration, and the Ayush visa, M-3 for patients and M-4 for attendants.

The correct answer is ₹4,408 crore. According to the PIB backgrounder on the 11th Ayurveda Day, the Union Budget 2026-27 allocated ₹4,408 crore to the Ministry of Ayush to strengthen Ayush healthcare, promote evidence-based research and innovation, and build infrastructure and global outreach.

The other figures are distractors. The Budget also announced three specific steps worth remembering: the setting up of three new All India Institutes of Ayurveda to strengthen education, clinical services and research; the upgrading of Ayush pharmacies and drug-testing laboratories for quality and standardisation; and the upgrading of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre at Jamnagar in Gujarat. Separately, the National Ayush Mission released over ₹6,406.99 crore to States and UTs between FY 2014-15 and FY 2025-26.

The correct answer is Ayurveda for a Healthier Tomorrow. The PIB backgrounder released on 22 September 2026 says the Government is running a national strategy to revive traditional healthcare under this theme. It fits the focus of this year's messaging: bringing Ayurveda into mainstream public health through clinics, insurance, telemedicine and research, while keeping it evidence-based.

The other options are distractors written to look like typical themes. Themes of important days are a favourite exam question because they change every year, so note the year and edition together: 11th Ayurveda Day, 2026, "Ayurveda for a Healthier Tomorrow". The day is observed on 23 September, aligned with the autumnal equinox, and the nodal ministry is the Ministry of Ayush, which received ₹4,408 crore in the Union Budget 2026-27.

The correct answer is 23 September. The Government marks Ayurveda Day every year on 23 September, which is close to the autumnal equinox, when day and night are almost equal; the date was chosen to reflect the idea of natural balance at the heart of Ayurveda. The 11th Ayurveda Day falls on 23 September 2026. Earlier the day was observed on Dhanteras, whose date moves every year.

The other dates are well-known health days, which is why they confuse. 21 June is the International Day of Yoga, 7 April is World Health Day, the founding day of the World Health Organization, and 1 July is National Doctors' Day in India. Exams often place these days side by side, so learn them together, with the Ministry of Ayush as the nodal ministry for both Yoga Day and Ayurveda Day.

The correct answer is 31,000. The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser says I-STEM now lists more than 31,000 scientific instruments across nearly 4,000 institutions, and has over 65,000 registered users. Listing of publicly funded equipment that costs more than ₹20 lakh on the portal further strengthens shared access to research infrastructure.

The other numbers are distractors. For exams, keep the three scale figures together: 31,000-plus instruments, about 4,000 institutions and 65,000-plus users. Also keep the meeting figures separate from the portal figures: the first State Governments Nodal Officers Meeting on 21 September 2026 had officers from 23 States and 4 UTs. The purpose of the portal is to improve utilisation of existing equipment and reduce duplication of investment across the research system.

The correct answer is Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser. The PSA's Office conceived and supports I-STEM, and it was this office that convened the first State Governments Nodal Officers Meeting for the portal on 21 September 2026. The meeting was chaired by Dr (Mrs) Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary in the Office of the PSA.

The other options are plausible because they are all part of India's science administration. NITI Aayog is the government's policy think tank. The Department of Science & Technology funds research and runs many science programmes. CSIR is a network of national laboratories, and its own ANALYTICS portal for instruments is now being integrated with I-STEM through API links, which makes it a particularly tempting wrong answer. But the portal itself belongs to the Office of the PSA.

The correct answer is January 2020. I-STEM, the Indian Science Technology and Engineering facilities Map, was conceived and supported by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser and launched by the Prime Minister in January 2020. Since then it has grown into a national resource with more than 31,000 scientific instruments across nearly 4,000 institutions and over 65,000 registered users.

The other dates are distractors. The portal came back into the news on 21 September 2026, when the Office of the PSA held the first State Governments Nodal Officers Meeting, chaired by Scientific Secretary Dr Parvinder Maini, with officers from 23 States and 4 UTs. The aim is to bring State universities and laboratories onto I-STEM so that expensive publicly funded instruments are shared rather than bought again by every institution.

The correct answer is Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation. DDWS, which is part of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, organised the conference on 21 September 2026 as a follow-up to its Departmental Summit of 1 to 2 September 2026. Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to give rural households tap water connections, is run by this department through the National Jal Jeevan Mission.

The Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation is the other department of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, which makes it the most tempting wrong answer; it handles rivers, irrigation and the Namami Gange programme. The Department of Rural Development and the Department of Land Resources are under the Ministry of Rural Development. States were asked to draft JJM 2.0 HR policies in coordination with rural development and Panchayati Raj departments.

The correct answer is Village-level water quality testing and disinfection. Sujalam Shakti aims to create a trained workforce of village women for water quality surveillance, testing and basic disinfection, and to strengthen women's role in rural water governance. It is based on the NSQF Level-2 qualification "Fundamentals of Basic Water Quality Testing and Disinfection", which covers sampling, the use of Field Test Kits, chlorination, sanitary inspection, source protection and digital reporting.

The other options describe different activities that are not part of this initiative. The first phase aims to train about 1.35 to 1.70 lakh women through State Rural Livelihood Missions, Panchayati Raj Institutions and Rural Self Employment Training Institutes. States were advised to give priority to women already testing water under Jal Jeevan Mission and to Self-Help Group members, and to register Sujalam Shakti members on the Gram Panchayat dashboard.

The correct answer is 510 hours. At its virtual conference on 21 September 2026, the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation briefed States on the two pathways of the Nal Jal Mitra programme: a 510-hour Short-Term Training course for new entrants, and a 120-hour Recognition of Prior Learning pathway for people who already work on rural water systems, such as plumbers, electricians, pump attendants and operators.

That is why 120 hours is the trap: it is a real figure from the same programme, but for the RPL route, not for new entrants. The other two options are distractors. Nal Jal Mitra is an NSQF-aligned qualification developed with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and it trains multi-skilled village technicians to handle pumps, pipelines, treatment systems and electrical fittings. States were asked to prioritise local youth.

The correct answer is Material recovered from spent lithium-ion batteries. When used lithium-ion batteries are collected, dismantled and shredded, the result is a dark powder called black mass. It contains valuable metals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese, along with graphite, which can be extracted by further processing. One of the technical sessions at the seminar dealt with lithium-ion battery metal recovery and the export of black mass.

The other options are distractors taken from other industries. Coal dust and refinery residue have nothing to do with critical minerals recycling, and river silt is unrelated. The issue of black mass matters because if it is simply exported, the valuable metals are recovered abroad; processing it within the country keeps those critical minerals in the domestic supply chain, which is the goal of the circular economy approach.

The correct answer is Materials Recycling Association of India. The day-long National Seminar on "India's Critical Minerals Recycling Ecosystem and Circular Economy" was organised by the Ministry of Mines in collaboration with MRAI, an industry body of recyclers. It brought together policymakers, industry leaders, recyclers, researchers and academia.

FICCI and CII are broad industry chambers that often partner with ministries on events, which is why they are tempting, but neither organised this seminar. The Indian Bureau of Mines is a subordinate office of the Ministry of Mines that deals with mineral conservation and regulation of mining, so it is also a strong distractor. Remember the pair for this story: Ministry of Mines plus MRAI, with Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy, Minister of State Satish Chandra Dubey and Secretary Keshav Chandra speaking at the event.

The correct answer is Concept Paper on Critical Mineral Recycling Ecosystem. At the seminar in New Delhi, the Union Ministers launched this paper, which outlines a strategic framework for strengthening critical mineral recycling in India. It focuses on resource efficiency, recovery of minerals from secondary sources such as e-waste and End-of-Life products, and building a circular and self-reliant ecosystem.

The other options sound plausible but did not happen at this event. No trading exchange was launched. E-waste management rules are framed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, not by the Mines Ministry. Auctions of critical mineral blocks are a separate process run by the Ministry of Mines and were not part of this seminar. The seminar was inaugurated by G. Kishan Reddy and organised with the Materials Recycling Association of India.

The correct answer is Rathwa, Bhil and Bhilala. The Ministry of Culture's note on the auction describes a framed Pithora painting associated with these communities of central Gujarat, featuring horses, deities and motifs that represent the beliefs behind the art. Pithora paintings are traditionally made on the walls of homes as a ritual offering, and the horse is one of their most recognisable figures.

The other pairs are linked with different tribal art traditions, which is how exams test this topic. Warli painting, with its stick-like figures, comes from the Warli and neighbouring communities of the Maharashtra–Gujarat border. Gond art belongs to central India, especially Madhya Pradesh, and the Baiga live in the same region. The Santhal and Munda are communities of eastern India. Other Gujarat items in the auction include a Mata-ni-Pachedi textile, Lippan art and a Bhujodi shawl.

The correct answer is National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi. The Ministry of Culture organises the PM Mementos e-Auction through NGMA, and the auction gives citizens, collectors, institutions and art enthusiasts a chance to acquire mementos presented to the Prime Minister on various occasions. It is conducted online on the portal pmmementos.gov.in.

The other three are also institutions under the Ministry of Culture, which makes them strong distractors. The Lalit Kala Akademi is the national academy of fine arts. The National Museum in New Delhi holds India's major collection of antiquities. The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts works on research and documentation of the arts. Only NGMA runs this auction, whose 8th edition started on 17 September 2026.

The correct answer is Namami Gange Programme. The money raised by the PM Mementos e-Auction supports Namami Gange, the national mission dedicated to the conservation, rejuvenation and protection of the River Ganga and its ecosystem. Since the series began in January 2019, the earlier editions have raised more than ₹50 crore for the project.

The other options are real government funds, which is why they are plausible. Swachh Bharat Kosh collects contributions for sanitation under the Swachh Bharat Mission. The PM CARES Fund was set up for emergency and disaster relief. The National Defence Fund supports the welfare of the armed forces and their families. None of them receives the auction money. The 8th edition of the auction began on 17 September 2026 and offers 1,498 mementos online.