India Current Affairs [Nation & States] MCQs

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The Uttar Pradesh government launched a month-long campaign ‘No Helmet, No Fuel’ to promote road safety. Petrol pumps will deny fuel to two-wheeler riders not wearing helmets. The drive is led by district magistrates in coordination with road safety committees. Police, transport, revenue, and district administration officials will ensure compliance under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (MVA).

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The CoWIN (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network) portal in India has been down since early August, preventing access to vaccination certificates. CoWIN is operated by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for registration, appointment scheduling, vaccination, and certification. The portal recorded over two billion COVID-19 vaccine doses across Union and State governments. The outage affects visa processing and other services requiring certificates, with third-party access via DigiLocker also not working.

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Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) in Assam became the first tribal council under Sixth Schedule to fully digitise land records. More than 15 lakh land documents including maps were digitised across 8,970 sq. km. BTR is administered by Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) formed in 2003 and covers Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Tamulpur, and Udalguri districts. Digitisation began in 2023 to improve transparency and simplify landholding patterns. Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping ensured accurate land boundaries. It supported Mission Bwismwuthi 2.0, granting land rights to 47,000 indigenous landless families. Citizens can now access land data via kiosks, apps, and portals.

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Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) launched the ‘Namo Yuva Run’ to mark PM Narendra Modi’s 75th birthday on September 17. The nationwide run will be held on September 21 across 75 cities in India. More than 1 million youths are expected to participate in the campaign. The event promotes fitness and a drug-free India as its twin messages.

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Maharashtra launched the Startup, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy 2025 to build a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem. The policy targets 1.3 lakh entrepreneurs and 50,000 startups in five years. A 300-acre Innovation City will be built as a hub for startups, corporates, investors, and academia. The city will promote research and innovation through collective efforts. CM Maha Fund with Rs. 500 crore corpus will support grassroots entrepreneurship with loans of Rs. 5–10 lakh.

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Union Home Minister recently launched the Fast Track Immigration-Trusted Traveller Programme (FTI-TTP) at 5 more airports It was launched at Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram, Trichy, Calicut, and Amritsar airports. It was first launched at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in 2024. It is meant for Indian nationals and foreign nationals holding Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards. The programme ensures faster, smoother, and secure immigration clearance. The Bureau of Immigration under Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is the nodal agency.

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The Election Commission of India (ECI) unveiled a new design for Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) ballot papers for better clarity and voter convenience. The new design will be first used in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. For the first time, ballot papers will carry coloured photographs of candidates. Larger serial numbers in bold, international Indian numerals with font size 30 will improve readability. Names of candidates and NOTA will appear in uniform font type and size.

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Union Minister for Education Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launched Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025, India’s largest school hackathon. It is organised by Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education, with Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, and AICTE. The initiative promotes innovation under themes Vocal for Local, Atmanirbhar Bharat, Swadeshi, and Samriddhi. It builds on School Innovation Marathon 2024, which created Student Innovator and Entrepreneurship Programmes.

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Union Minister of Roads, Transport and Highways, Mr Nitin Gadkari, inaugurated India’s first commercial electric truck battery swapping and charging station Panchi Gujran village, Sonipat, Haryana. 5 million tons of stubble are used annually for bio-bitumen in road construction in Maharashtra, Nagpur, and Jabalpur. Ethanol production from corn has expanded the corn market and enabled flexi-engines in agricultural machinery. EV trucks will reduce pollution and run at lower transport costs than railways. India aims to produce aviation and ship fuel, lowering logistics costs and fuel expenses.

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Recently, the President of India appreciated that the Siddi tribal community, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), has achieved a literacy rate of over 72%. The Siddi community is an Indo-African tribal group descended from the Bantu people of Africa. They first arrived in India in the 7th century with Arab merchants and later with the Portuguese and British in the 16th century as slaves and workers. They are mainly found in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana. The community was classified as a Scheduled Tribe (ST) on January 8, 2003. Their main occupations include agriculture, forest produce collection, and manual labor.