UPSC GK Questions 2026

The correct answer is the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies, commonly abbreviated as CENJOWS. According to the Ministry of Defence, the Combined Operational Review and Evaluation Programme 2026 was organised by Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff and conducted by CENJOWS, concluding at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi. Candidates should keep the two roles distinct, because questions often test which body organised an event against which body conducted it.

The other options name institutions that the release does not connect with this programme. The National Defence College, the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and the Defence Research and Development Organisation are all well known in the defence sphere, which is precisely what makes them effective distractors here, but none of them is mentioned in the Ministry's statement on the CORE Programme. Fix the pairing in memory as HQ IDS organised, CENJOWS conducted, Manekshaw Centre hosted.

The correct answer is March 2023. The Ministry of Defence release states that the contract for construction of the NGMVs was concluded with Cochin Shipyard Limited in March 2023. The keel laying of the first ship then took place on 18 September 2026, so candidates should keep the two dates separate: the contract date marks the order, while the keel laying date marks the formal start of construction on the slipway.

Option C, September 2026, is the month of the keel laying ceremony rather than of the contract, and it is the most likely confusion in this question. Options B and D give years that the release does not associate with the NGMV contract at all. Examiners frequently test exactly this distinction between the year an order was placed and the year construction began, so note both dates together along with the yard, Cochin Shipyard Limited, and the ministry concerned, the Ministry of Defence.

The correct answer is Cochin Shipyard Limited, Kochi. The Ministry of Defence stated that the keel laying ceremony of the first ship of the Indian Navy's Next Generation Missile Vessel project was held at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi on 18 September 2026, with Vice Admiral Sanjay Sadhu, Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition, as the Chief Guest. The contract for construction of the NGMVs had been concluded with Cochin Shipyard Limited in March 2023, so the same yard that holds the contract also laid the keel.

The other options name shipyards that the release does not connect with this ceremony. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders in Mumbai, Garden Reach Shipbuilders in Kolkata and Hindustan Shipyard in Visakhapatnam are not mentioned anywhere in the Ministry's statement on this event, and attributing the NGMV keel laying to any of them would be incorrect. For the examination, the pairing to memorise is straightforward: NGMV project, first ship, Cochin Shipyard Limited, Kochi, 18 September 2026.