UPSC Quiz – 2026 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz 7th October 2026

Solution (c)
Explanation: Plague is a zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, a Gram-negative bacillus belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae. It is maintained naturally among small mammals and their flea vectors, and humans contract it through infected flea bites, direct contact with infected tissues/materials, or respiratory particles from a person with pneumonic plague. Plague has three major forms: bubonic (affects the lymphatic system, causing painful swollen lymph nodes called buboes), septicaemic (affects the bloodstream, causing sepsis and organ failure), and pneumonic (affects the lungs, causing severe pneumonia with bloody sputum). Statement 2 is incorrect: bubonic plague generally does NOT spread from human to human — human-to-human spread via respiratory particles occurs in pneumonic plague, not bubonic. Statement 3 is correct: pneumonic plague is the most virulent form and can become fatal very rapidly if untreated. The Black Death was the devastating 14th-century plague pandemic caused by Y. pestis, estimated by WHO to have caused more than 50 million deaths in Europe. Modern antibiotics have made plague treatable if treatment begins promptly. Natural plague foci occur on all continents except Oceania, with most reported human cases since the 1990s occurring in Africa, particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Madagascar.
Why this question? The bubonic vs. pneumonic human-to-human transmission distinction is the key trap, testing precise form-specific characteristics.
Why important for UPSC? Zoonotic diseases, re-emerging infections and public health preparedness are recurring S&T-health prelims themes.
PYQ Pattern Link: Similar to questions on disease transmission modes, causative organisms and their classification.

Solution (b)
Explanation: The Great Indian Bustard (GIB), also known as Godawan, is a large, ground-dwelling bird inhabiting arid and semi-arid grasslands and deserts, classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, with Rajasthan holding the largest remaining wild population of roughly 110–150 birds. On 4 October 2026, two captive-bred male GIBs were released into the wild at Desert National Park (DNP), Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, marking the beginning of the rewilding phase of India’s GIB conservation programme. The Bustard Recovery Programme/Project GIB involves MoEFCC, Rajasthan Forest Department and Wildlife Institute of India (WII), with conservation-breeding centres at Sam and Ramdevra, Jaisalmer. Since 2019, wild-laid eggs have been artificially incubated and chicks raised in captivity; facilities currently house 97 birds, with 11 earmarked for release. The programme has shifted from conservation breeding → rewilding/reintroduction, with around 200 sq km of fenced grassland enclosures created inside DNP and released birds monitored using telemetry/transmitters. The ‘jumpstart’ approach places viable captive-bred eggs in wild GIB nests, with wild females incubating and raising chicks — producing six chicks in Rajasthan and two in Gujarat. Major threats include collision with overhead power lines, habitat loss and fragmentation, mining and infrastructure development, and poaching and predation of eggs/chicks.
Why this question? The directional shift (breeding → rewilding) is the conceptual core, with the programme’s institutional structure and the jumpstart approach as supporting facts.
Why important for UPSC? Species recovery programmes, captive breeding and reintroduction are high-yield environment prelims themes.
PYQ Pattern Link: Similar to questions on conservation breeding programmes (Project Tiger, Project Cheetah) and their phased approaches.

Solution (b)
Explanation: The Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis) is a baleen whale and one of the three recognised right-whale species. It is found mainly across the Southern Hemisphere, generally between 20°S and 60°S, migrating between warmer, low-latitude breeding grounds and colder, high-latitude feeding grounds. It feeds by skim-feeding: swimming with its mouth partly open and filtering copepods, krill and other plankton through baleen plates. Distinctive features include a large, stocky body (usually black/dark grey), no dorsal fin, a large head with distinctive callosities (raised patches of skin providing a unique identification pattern), broad paddle-shaped flippers, and two blowholes. The name “right whale” originated from whalers who considered these slow-moving, buoyant whales easy to hunt. Option (a) incorrectly describes it as a toothed whale in the Northern Hemisphere. Option (c) incorrectly assigns a dorsal fin and Arctic distribution. Option (d) describes deep-diving toothed whales like sperm whales. Its conservation status is IUCN — Least Concern (global), though the southeastern Pacific population is considered Critically Endangered; it is listed in CITES Appendix I. Dozens of calves have recently been found dead along Argentina’s Patagonian coast, particularly around Península Valdés, with researchers suspecting bacterial infections potentially entering through wounds caused by kelp gull attacks, alongside environmental factors such as warmer waters and El Niño-related changes.
Why this question? The baleen/toothed, dorsal fin absence and IUCN status are the primary discriminators, with the callosities detail adding precision.
Why important for UPSC? Marine mammals, their conservation status and emerging mortality events are recurring environment prelims themes.
PYQ Pattern Link: Similar to questions on whale species, their feeding mechanisms and IUCN categorisation.

Solution (a)
Explanation: The India–UAE Joint Military Exercise “Mountain Guardian 2026” commenced on 5 October 2026 at the Foreign Training Node, Chaubatia, Uttarakhand, and is being conducted from 5–18 October 2026, with a focus on mountain warfare. It involves 92 personnel, equally divided between the two armies, with the Indian contingent drawn from a Bhairav Battalion and the UAE contingent from a Mountain Infantry Battalion. Major training activities include joint planning and tactical drills, firing practices, surveillance-grid establishment, drone operations, physical endurance training, rock climbing and obstacle training, integrated field exercises, and exchange of tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) for difficult mountainous terrain. The exercise enhances interoperability between the Indian and UAE armies, provides practical exposure to high-altitude and mountainous operational environments, and strengthens bilateral military-to-military cooperation. Notably, women officers and combatants from both armies are participating in specialist roles. Options (b), (c) and (d) are incorrect as India’s bilateral exercises with those countries include Al Nagah (Oman), while Saudi Arabia and Qatar do not have an exercise named Mountain Guardian.
Why this question? Tests exercise-name-to-partner mapping, a high-frequency UPSC defence format, with Gulf countries as close distractors.
Why important for UPSC? Bilateral military exercises with West Asian partners are recurring IR prelims content.
PYQ Pattern Link: Similar to one-liner questions distinguishing bilateral exercise names with closely related partner countries.

Solution (c)
Explanation: FSS-1 Surya is the first of five Fleet Support Ships being built for the Indian Navy by Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), Visakhapatnam, with a displacement of approximately 43,500 tonnes. The ships are designed for at-sea replenishment of naval vessels, providing fuel, water, ammunition, stores and other supplies, enabling warships to remain deployed for longer periods without returning to harbour. Features include enhanced cargo and fluid capacity, first-line maintenance workshops, a helicopter deck for Multi-Role Helicopters and self-defence systems. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched FSS-1 on 6 October 2026, also laying the keel of FSS-5 and inaugurating an upgraded Slipway-4 and a 300-tonne Goliath Crane capable of supporting vessels up to 45,000 DWT. FSS-1 entered the water just 18 months after steel cutting. The Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) was established on 4 October 1967, headquartered at Jaduguda, Jharkhand, under the administrative control of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) as a Central Public Sector Enterprise. It operates six underground mines in Jharkhand (Bagjata, Jaduguda, Bhatin, Narwapahar, Turamdih and Mohuldih), an open-pit mine at Banduhurang, and an underground mine and processing plant at Tummalapalle, Andhra Pradesh. UCIL has begun its Diamond Jubilee Year and plans to expand existing mines and develop new uranium projects in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh as India targets 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047. It is also examining uranium recovery from copper tailings of Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL), linking uranium recovery with resource efficiency and the circular economy.
Why this question? Combines defence indigenisation (FSS-1 specifications and shipyard infrastructure) with nuclear fuel security (UCIL’s operations and expansion plans) in a two-part format testing breadth.
Why important for UPSC? Defence shipbuilding, nuclear fuel cycle and public sector enterprises are recurring S&T-defence-economy prelims themes.
PYQ Pattern Link: Similar to questions on indigenous defence platforms, shipyard capabilities and India’s nuclear fuel supply chain.