Best PSC / PCS / STATE PCS online Current Affairs

Current Affairs JULY-2020

Showing 221 - 236 of 236 entries

221. Which country’s research team has won the World Bank’s Development Marketplace award?

A
Bangladesh

B
Myanmar

C
India

D
Cambodia

Show Answer

Correct Answer : D [Cambodia]

Explaination : [As per the latest announcement from the World Bank Group and the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), a research team of Cambodia has won the 2020 ‘Development Marketplace: Innovations to Address Gender-Based Violence’ award. The award provides fund to the research team to implement a WhatsApp chatline that offers 24×7 support against gender-violence for female entertainment workers in Cambodia.]

222. Which two countries became the first in South East Asia, to eliminate measles and rubella diseases?

A
India and Sri Lanka

B
Sri Lanka and Maldives

C
India and Maldives

D
Bangladesh and Maldives

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Sri Lanka and Maldives]

Explaination : [As per the World Health Organisation’s new release, the Maldives and Sri Lanka have become the first two countries in the South East Asian Region, to eliminate both measles and rubella. The countries have completely eliminated the diseases ahead of the deadline of 2023. WHO declares a country to have eliminated measles and rubella, when there is no evidence of transmission of the disease for over three years.]

223. Hagia Sophia, the monument that was seen in news recently, is located in which country?

A
Italy

B
Turkey

C
Australia

D
France

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Turkey]

Explaination : [The President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently announced that the iconic architectural place of the country Hagia Sophia would be made a mosque, which gained criticism from across the world. After the top Turkish court revoked the museum status of the monument, the President made this announcement. The UNESCO World Heritage site in Istanbul was first constructed as a cathedral but was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. It has been a museum since 1935 and open to people of all faiths.]

224. Which organisation has estimated that India needs 6.2% additional spending of GDP to achieve 2030 SDGs?

A
Reserve Bank of India

B
NITI Aayog

C
Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation

D
National Development Council

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [NITI Aayog]

Explaination : [NITI Aayog has estimated that India needs 6.2% additional spending of GDP to achieve 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The country’s think tank said this in its second Voluntary National Review (VNR) at the UN high-level political forum (HLPF) on sustainable development, 2020. India needs to upgrade its statistical system, improve its monitoring mechanism and capacity building of all stakeholders. It also advised that the Budget should be aligned with SDGs.]

225. In which state/UT, National Center for Disease Control conducted a Sero-prevalence study?

A
Maharashtra

B
New Delhi

C
Tamil Nadu

D
Andhra Pradesh

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [New Delhi]

Explaination : [The National Centre for Disease Control and the Delhi government conducted Sero-prevalence study across 11 districts of Delhi. As per the results of the study, 23.48 per cent of the samples had past infections. It means that almost one in four persons living in Delhi has antibodies against the coronavirus. It also indicated that around 3.85 million people living in Delhi had exposure to the virus.]

226. Which Union Ministry is organising the ‘Vriksharopan Abhiyan’ programme?

A
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

B
Ministry of Coal

C
Ministry of Power

D
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Ministry of Coal]

Explaination : [The ‘Vriksharopan Abhiyan’ is being organised by the Ministry of Coal. The programme involves all coal and lignite PSUs of the country to promote largescale plantation near mines, offices and other suitable residential areas. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is set to launch the campaign along with Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi. The event will take place through video conference to inaugurate planting in as many as 130 locations across 10 coal and lignite rich states.]

227. Which state government has signed an MoU with ‘AMUL’, to boost self-help groups and milk cooperatives?

A
Tamil Nadu

B
Haryana

C
Andhra Pradesh

D
Uttar Pradesh

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [Andhra Pradesh]

Explaination : [The state government of Andhra Pradesh has signed an MoU with the milk cooperative major AMUL (Anand Milk Union Limited). The agreement aims to promote empowerment of women self-help groups and encourage milk cooperatives in government sector. It also provides exposure to world class infrastructure, technology and market access to the local groups.]

228. What is the name of the unified mentoring platform launched by the Union MSME Minister?

A
Restart India

B
Udyog India

C
Come Back MSME

D
Reskill India

Show Answer

Correct Answer : A [Restart India]

Explaination : [Union Minster for micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector Nitin Gadkari launched a mentoring platform named ‘RestartIndia’. The platform has been conceptualised by Muthoot Fincorp and INKtalks. Restart India is a single platform which provides information on various schemes being implemented by the government. It also helps the businesspersons to connect with experts from various sectors.]

229. Who has been named as ‘India’s Most Valuable Test Player of the 21st Century’ by Wisden?

A
Mahendra Singh Dhoni

B
Virat Kohli

C
Ravindra Jadeja

D
R Ashwin

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [Ravindra Jadeja]

Explaination : [Wisden has named Ravindra Jadeja as ‘India’s Most Valuable Test Player of the 21st Century’. He is also named as the second most Valuable Test player in the world. The list is topped by Sri Lanka’s legendary cricketer Muthiah Muralithatan. Wisden used CricViz, a detailed analysis tool in cricket to analyse performance of the players and award an ‘MVP rating’ to each player in world cricket. The 31-year old India’s spin-bowling all-rounder has scored an MVP rating of 97.3]

230. What is the rank of India, in the Global Real Estate Transparency Index?

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [34]

Explaination : [The property consultant JLL has released the Global Real Estate Transparency Index recently. India is ranked in the 34th position in the index. The country’s real estate market is currently placed in the ‘semi-transparent’ zone. India’s rank has improved one position, due to regulatory reforms, better market data and green initiatives. The United Kingdom (UK) tops the list of 99 countries, followed by the United States and Australia.]

231. Which organisation has prepared the White paper on ‘Focused Interventions for ‘Make in India’: Post COVID 19’?

A
Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC)

B
National Atlas Organisation

C
National Innovation Foundation

D
Institute of Advanced Study in Science & Technology

Show Answer

Correct Answer : A [Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC)]

Explaination : [Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), an autonomous organization under the Department of Science & Technology has prepared a white paper on “Focused Interventions for ‘Make in India’: Post COVID 19” and “Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients: Status, Issues, Technology Readiness and Challenges”. Union Minister Harsh Vardhan released the white papers prepared by TIFAC, during a virtual event. The paper highlights high priority sectors, technologies and strategies to accelerate growth in the time of COVID-19.]

232. Who has been appointed as India’s new High Commissioner to Bangladesh?

A
Vikram Doraiswami

B
Akhilesh Mishra

C
Indra Mani Pandey

D
Arun K. Chatterjee

Show Answer

Correct Answer : A [Vikram Doraiswami]

Explaination : [The Union Government has appointed Vikram Doraiswami as the new high commissioner to Bangladesh. Prior to this appointment, he was the Additional Secretary in charge of International Organisations and Summits at the Foreign Ministry. Another Foreign Service Officer Rudrendra Tandon was named as the new envoy to Afghanistan. He is currently the Indian envoy to ASEAN at Jakarta.]

233. Which international organisation has released a report titled ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World’?

A
International Monetary Fund

B
United Nations

C
World Economic Forum

D
Asian Development Bank

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [United Nations]

Explaination : [The United Nations has recently released a report titled ‘the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World’, prepared jointly by FAO, UNICEF, IFAD and WFP. As per the report, the number of undernourished people in India has fell down from 249.4 million in 2004-06 to 189.2 million in 2017-19. There was a rise in obesity level in India, as per the report. India and China are the only Asian countries that reported a reduction in number of undernourished people.]

234. Which state government has signed MoUs with industries for Rs 10,399-crore investments?

A
Andhra Pradesh

B
Telangana

C
Tamil Nadu

D
Gujarat

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [Tamil Nadu]

Explaination : [The state government of Tamil Nadu has signed MoUs with industrial groups for Rs 10,399-crore investments. These investments are expected to create as many as 13,500 jobs across the State in several sectors including solar cells, data centres, industrial parks and cashew nut process. Tamil Nadu was the top investment destination in the first quarter of 2020.]

235. Who has been appointed as the new Non-Executive Chairman of Bajaj Finance Ltd?

A
Roshni Nadar Malhotra

B
Sanjay Bajaj

C
Rajiv Bajaj

D
Shishir Bajaj

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Sanjay Bajaj]

Explaination : [The present Non-Executive Chairman of Bajaj Finance Ltd, Rahul Bajaj has decided to step down from his post, with effect from July 31. As per the Company, Rahul Bajaj will continue to serve as a Non-Executive Non-Independent Director. The Board of Directors has approved the appointment of present Vice Chairman Sanjiv Bajaj as the next Chairman, as a part of succession planning.]

236. What is the name of the award-winning Spanish novelist, who has recently passed away?

A
Juan Marsé

B
Zacharias Chaliabalias

C
Tim Smith

D
Tom Mitchell

Show Answer

Correct Answer : A [Juan Marsé]

Explaination : [Award-winning Spanish novelist Juan Marsé has recently passed away at the age of 87. He was considered one of the most-respected novelists of Spain. He had won several prestigious awards including the Spain’s’ top literary award, the 2008 Cervantes Prize and the Planeta Prize, among others. His most popular novel was Úlitmas tardes on Teresa (Last Afternoons with Teresa) that was published in 1965.]