UPSC GK Questions 2026

This network figure was cited by the Vice President at Thoothukudi as a measure of how far the bank has travelled from its beginning in 1921 as Nadar Bank Limited.

The correct answer is the Vice President of India, C. P. Radhakrishnan, who graced the 105th Foundation Day celebrations of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank at Thoothukudi and called upon the bank to aspire to rank among India’s leading private sector banks.

The Vice President recalled at the 105th Foundation Day celebrations that the institution now known as Tamilnad Mercantile Bank came into being in 1921 under that name, and praised its growth from a modest beginning into a major banking institution.

The Department of Telecommunications, which runs the 4G Saturation Project, sits in this ministry, and the announcement on rural connectivity was issued in its name.

That was the design target of the 4G Saturation Project, which aims to bring reliable mobile communication to remote and underserved habitations that had no fourth generation signal at all.

The Department of Telecommunications reported that the number of villages without 4G connectivity has come down to this figure in 2026.

Sea Vigil is treated as a build-up to it, and the two exercises read together address the entire spectrum of maritime security challenges, from the defence of the coast to operations far out on the high seas.

The exercise was conceived in that year to validate the measures that had been instituted to strengthen maritime security in the aftermath of the attacks on Mumbai, which came by sea.

Sea Vigil-26 is the fifth edition of the pan-India coastal defence exercise and is being held from 11 to 19 November 2026 with the Indian Navy acting as the lead coordinating agency.

Along with the unanimously adopted Joint Ministerial Statement, this plan was accepted at Colombo and gives the grouping a structured roadmap for cooperation in disease surveillance, pandemic preparedness, digital health, traditional medicine, the One Health approach and the development of a health workforce.

At Colombo the Union Health Minister announced India’s commitment to hosting the BIMSTEC Centre of Excellence in Traditional Medicine at this institute, and the Joint Ministerial Statement welcomed the initiative.

The first meeting of the health ministers of the BIMSTEC countries took place in Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, on 11 November 2026, and Sri Lanka’s Minister of Health and Mass Media, Nalinda Jayatissa, chaired the proceedings.

The correct answer is P. C. Mody, who paid his respects in his capacity as Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha.

In the tribute offered on his birth anniversary, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was recalled as a spirited soldier of the freedom struggle, a great educationist and the first Education Minister of independent India, and as a recipient of the Bharat Ratna.

It hangs in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan, the building earlier known as Parliament House, and it is before this portrait that tributes were offered on 11 November 2026.

The student had aimed at postgraduate study in that very field at a globally reputed institution, and the scholarship enabled him to take the degree at University College London in the United Kingdom.

That was the tuition component of the comprehensive assistance given under the scheme, which also covered airfare, visa fees, insurance and other admissible academic expenses.

It is this ministry that runs the National Overseas Scholarship and that placed on record how the scheme carried a Scheduled Caste student from Maharashtra to a postgraduate programme at University College London in 2025-26.

Considering the gravity of the incident at the Bijwasan Fee Plaza, the authority issued a show cause notice proposing that the agency and also its owners and directors be barred from participating in future NHAI tenders for a year.

Along with debarring M/s Riddhi Siddhi Associates from any ongoing or future tender of the authority for one month, NHAI imposed a penalty of that amount on the firm for the misbehaviour of its personnel with road users.