India Current Affairs [Nation & States] MCQs

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Recently, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment reported that 18 Garima Grehs are functional across 15 States/UTs. 3 new Garima Grehs have been approved for FY 2025–26. Garima Greh is a shelter home initiative for transgender persons, supported by the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment (DoSJE). It provides food, shelter, medical care, counselling, yoga, meditation, and recreational facilities. It focuses on capacity building, skill development, and livelihood training for mainstreaming transgender persons.

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Less than 40% of India’s Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) have received a Unique Disability ID (UDID) Card. More than 11 lakh applications are pending, with 60% delayed for more than six months. The UDID sub-scheme under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) creates a national database and enables access to schemes. UDID cards allow PwDs to get benefits like Assistance to Persons with Disabilities (ADIP) scheme, scholarships, and job reservations. Coverage is above 50% only in Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Odisha, and Karnataka, while West Bengal has just 6%.

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The Apatani women of Ziro Valley, Arunachal Pradesh, are the last generation to wear traditional facial tattoos and wooden nose plugs. This practice was banned in the 1970s but is still maintained by elderly women. The Apatani (Tanw, Apa Tani, or Apa) are an indigenous tribal group known for cultural identity, ecological knowledge, and traditional practices. They primarily live in Ziro Valley, Lower Subansiri district, Arunachal Pradesh, in the eastern Himalayan ranges. Facial tattoos and nose plugs were initially a protection strategy against raids and abductions by neighbouring tribes. Over time, they became symbols of identity, honour, dignity, and tribal beauty standards.

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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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CP Radhakrishnan, National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee, was elected as the 15th Vice President of India on 10th September 2025. He defeated Justice B Sudershan Reddy, the candidate of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc. The Vice President’s office was vacant since July 21 after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned due to health reasons. Born on 20th October 1957 in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu, Radhakrishnan was serving as the Governor of Maharashtra since July 2024. He earlier served as Governor of Jharkhand, with additional charge of Telangana and Puducherry.

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The All India Debt and Investment Survey (AIDIS) and Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) of Agricultural Households will be held from July 2026 to June 2027. All India Debt and Investment Survey (AIDIS) is one of India’s most important surveys on household finance. AIDIS started as All India Rural Credit Survey in 1951-52, expanded in 1961-62, and last conducted in 2019 at the request of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). AIDIS gives data on household indebtedness, asset ownership, and credit markets for rural and urban areas. The National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) conducts it.

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Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Gyan Bharatam portal at the International Conference on Gyan Bharatam in New Delhi. The portal is part of the Gyan Bharatam Mission announced in the Budget session 2025. The mission aims to digitise, catalogue, and preserve India’s one crore manuscripts and make them globally accessible. It addresses intellectual piracy by providing authentic sources of traditional knowledge.

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Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced a Rs 1,000 monthly allowance for unemployed graduates aged 20–25 years. The scheme is part of the Chief Minister’s Self-Help Allowance Scheme under the state’s 7 Nischay programme. Earlier, it covered only intermediate pass candidates, now extended to graduates for up to two years. The objective of initiative is to help youth pursue skill training and prepare for competitive exams.

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Andhra Pradesh expanded its WhatsApp Governance platform ‘Mana Mitra’ to offer 738 citizen services across 36 departments. Mana Mitra is India’s first WhatsApp-based governance platform, launched in January 2025 to deliver public services digitally. Citizens access services by messaging 9552300009, using a menu-driven chatbot for education, revenue, RTC, endowments, tourism, taxes, and more. Certificates like income, caste, and hall tickets are delivered digitally with QR code verification for authenticity. The platform integrates a real-time governance dashboard to track requests and service delivery.

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Kerala launched the Spice Route Initiative under Muziris Projects Limited to promote heritage and spice-based tourism. 10 unique Spice Route tourism circuits will be created within a year, linking ancient ports, heritage sites, and intangible cultural heritage. The initiative focuses on reviving intangible heritage and offering diverse experiences for travellers. The initiative also promotes educational tourism and strengthens historical trade relations with other countries.