Current Affairs MCQs – August 27, 2026

India is the second-largest producer of sugar in the world after Brazil, while also being the world’s largest consumer of sugar.
The share of sugarcane diverted towards ethanol has increased between 2022–23 and 2025–26, reflecting a growing shift of the sugar sector towards ethanol production.

Statement 1 is correct

India is the world’s largest sugar consumer and the second-largest sugar producer after Brazil, accounting for nearly 19% of global sugar production.

Statement 2 is incorrect

The share of sugar diverted for ethanol declined from 12% in 2022–23 to 9% in 2025–26. Thus, the data indicates a decline rather than an increase in sugar diversion towards ethanol.

The State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) is the primary fund available with State Governments for providing immediate relief to victims of notified disasters.
The inclusion of heatwaves and lightning in the notified disaster list enables States to use disaster response funds for relief and assistance in cases of such events.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is the nodal ministry for drought, agricultural pest attacks, hailstorms, and frost and cold waves, while the Ministry of Home Affairs handles the remaining notified disasters.

Union Ministry of Home Affairs added heatwaves and lightning to the Notified Disaster list, expanding it from 12 to 14 categories.

A Notified Disaster is a natural or man-made calamity officially recognized by the Central Government as eligible for relief from the State and National Disaster Response Fund (SDRF/NDRF).
Process: Finance Commission recommends calamities for national inclusion, and the Ministry of Home Affairs officially notifies them under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
Criteria: Geographic scale, historic mortality, recurrent nature, socio-economic shock, and the need for uniform ex-gratia compensation.
Notified List: Cyclones, droughts, hailstorms, cloudbursts, frost and cold waves, heatwaves, lightning, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, landslides, avalanches, fire, and agricultural pest attacks. No man-made calamity is currently notified.
Administration: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare oversees droughts, agricultural pest attacks, hailstorms, and frost and cold waves, while Ministry of Home Affairs administers all other notified disasters.

Uranium-235 is a naturally occurring fissile isotope capable of sustaining a nuclear chain reaction.
Uranium-238 is the most abundant naturally occurring isotope of uranium and can contribute to the production of fissile material through conversion to plutonium-239 in a nuclear reactor.
Russia is the world’s largest producer of uranium, while Australia possesses the largest share of identified uranium resources.
In India, uranium mining and processing are primarily undertaken by the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL).

Uranium-235 (U-235) is a naturally occurring fissile isotope capable of sustaining a nuclear chain reaction.

Uranium-238 (U-238) is the most abundant naturally occurring isotope of uranium. It is fertile and can be converted into fissile plutonium-239 through neutron capture and subsequent radioactive decay in a nuclear reactor.

Kazakhstan, not Russia, is the world’s largest producer of uranium. Australia possesses the largest identified uranium resource base.

In India, uranium mining and processing activities are primarily undertaken by the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), a public sector undertaking under the Department of Atomic Energy.

Declines in lithium carbonate prices can lower the cost of battery energy storage cells and systems.

Lithium carbonate (Li₂CO₃) is an inorganic compound and an important commercial form of lithium.
It is a white, crystalline salt obtained from lithium-bearing minerals and brines and serves as a key raw material for the production of lithium-based products.
Lithium is a non-ferrous, soft, silvery-white alkali metal. It is also called ‘white gold’ due to its high demand for rechargeable batteries.

A transboundary river originating in Tibet, entering Nepal through Rasuwagadhi and forming part of the Gandaki river system, with significance for hydropower and Nepal–China trade.
A Himalayan river originating in Nepal and flowing eastward into Tibet before joining the Brahmaputra river system.
A tributary of the Kali Gandaki originating in northern India and serving as a major navigation route between India and Nepal.
A river originating in Bhutan that enters Nepal through Sikkim and eventually forms the Gandak in India.

Catastrophic flash flood and mudslide swept through the Nepal-Tibet border region.
Cause: An ice-rock avalanche choked the Lhende Khola (a tributary of the Bhote Koshi), triggering a dam-breach surge into the downstream Bhote Koshi and Trishuli basins.

Also called Kyirong Tsangpo in Tibet, is a transboundary river forming the upper catchment of the Gandaki (Gandak) river system.
Originate from the glaciers of Gyirong County in the Tibet Autonomous Region, it flows southward, crossing the international boundary at Rasuwagadhi into Nepal.
It becomes the Trishuli River near Dhunche after receiving the Trisuli Khola, and later merges with the Kali Gandaki to form the Narayani River, which eventually enters India as the Gandak.
Significance: Primary overland trade gateway between Nepal and China (via the Gyirong-Rasuwagadhi port) and a hub for Nepal’s run-of-the-river hydropower projects.