Best PSC / PCS / STATE PCS online Current Affairs

Current Affairs JULY-2020

Showing 101 - 120 of 236 entries

101. Which tournament has decided to pay USD 12.5 million prize money to players despite its cancellation?

A
Australian Open

B
French Open

C
Wimbledon

D
U.S Open

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [Wimbledon]

Explaination : [The officials at Wimbledon club has announced that will pay out USD 12.5 million in prize money to over 600 players despite the tournament’s cancellation. The oldest tennis tournament in the world, London-based prestigious Wimbledon championship was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. After consultations with their insurance provider, all the 256 players who would have competed in the main event will be paid equally. ]

102. Shipping Ministry has approved Rs 107 Crore for improving fire-fighting facilities in which major port?

A
Chennai Port

B
Cochin Port

C
Kolkata Port

D
Mumbai Port

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [Kolkata Port]

Explaination : [Union Minister of State for Shipping Shri Mansukh Mandaviya has recently approved Rs. 107 Crore for improving fire-fighting facilities at Haldia Dock Complex, Kolkata Port. The existing fire fighting facility does not support handling of petroleum products as per the guidelines of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. This augmentation is a step towards compliance of global standards for fire safety and secure handling of petroleum products. ]

103. Which company has launched its new video conferencing app named ‘BlueJeans’?

A
Jio Platforms

B
Bharti Airtel

C
Amazon

D
Facebook

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Bharti Airtel]

Explaination : [India’s leading telecom service provider Bharti Airtel has recently launched its new video conferencing app named ‘BlueJeans’. This application is expected to compete its rival applications namely Zoom, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams and the recently launched JioMeet. BlueJeans has been launched in partnership with US-based telecom company Verizon. ]

104. Which Union Minister inaugurated the Conference on Aerospace and Defence Manufacturing Technologies?

A
Rajnath Singh

B
Shripad Naik

C
Jitendra Singh

D
Hardeep Singh Puri

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Shripad Naik]

Explaination : [Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik recently inaugurated the 5th edition of the Conference on Aerospace and Defence Manufacturing Technologies. The webinar was jointly organised by Tamil Nadu Technology Development & Promotion Centre (TNTDPC), Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The theme of the conference is Empowering India with ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Mission’. ]

105. Which regional organisation has launched the Commerce and Industry (CCI) Young Leaders Initiative?

A
BRICS

B
ASEAN

C
G-20

Show Answer

Correct Answer : A [BRICS]

Explaination : [The BRICS Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) has launched a BRICS CCI Young Leaders Initiative. The Initiative has been launched with an objective to support and empower young leaders and entrepreneurs. It also aims to provide industry exposure and job opportunities across member nations, to the youngsters. ]

106. Elyes Fakhfakh, who recently resigned, was the Prime Minister of which country?

A
Tunisia

B
Algeria

C
Turkey

D
Egypt

Show Answer

Correct Answer : A [Tunisia]

Explaination : [Elyes Fakhfakh, the Prime Minister of the North African country Tunisia, has recently submitted his resignation. Earlier, there was an allegation that the Prime Minister holds a stake in a waste processing company that won government contracts worth 15 million euro. Investigations are being carried out in this case. ]

107. What is the modified timeline for introducing private trains in India, as per the Chairman of the Railway Board?

A
March 2024

B
March 2025

C
March 2026

D
March 2027

Show Answer

Correct Answer : A [March 2024]

Explaination : [The Chairman of the Railway Board VK Yadav has recently announced that the Government has deferred the timeline for introducing private trains to March 2024. Earlier, the timeline was fixed at April 2023. It has deferred because the major infrastructure upgradation of the railway network is expected to be completed only in the year 2024. The Board also said that North Eastern state capitals will be connected via rail network by 2023. ]

108. Which country celebrates ‘Bastille Day’ ceremony also called as Fête nationale?

A
Russia

B
France

C
Germany

D
Italy

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [France]

Explaination : [France celebrates its national day Fête nationale also called as Bastille Day every year on July 14. It commemorates the storming of the Bastille fortress on July 14, 1789, which was a turning point in the French Revolution. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, the country celebrated a downsized ceremony, as the historic annual military parade was called off, for the first time since 1945. Only half of the soldiers gathered at the Place de la Concorde. ]

109. As per the Health Ministry, what percentage of the country’s GDP is to be spent for public health, by 2025?

A
1.5%

B
2.0%

C
2.5%

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [2.5%]

Explaination : [The Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan announced during the meeting with the 15th Finance Commission, that the Government is to gradually increase the public health expenditure to 2.5 per cent of the country’s GDP by 2025. This is the government’s target of the National Health Policy 2017. He also confirmed that the primary health expenditure will be made about two-third of the total public health expenditure in the country. ]

110. Which country has made the ‘Hong Kong Autonomy Act’ into law and ended its preferential treatment for Hong Kong?

A
China

B
United States

C
India

D
United Kingdom

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [United States]

Explaination : [The United States President Donald Trump has signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act into law. He also signed an executive order ending US preferential treatment for Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Autonomy Act was passed unanimously by the Congress. It gives provisions to the country, to hold accountable the individuals involved in suppressing Hong Kong’s freedom. After this act, Hong Kong will be treated the same as mainland China by the US. ]

111. Which country has signed bilateral agreements named ‘Air Bubbles’ with France and the US to operate international flights?

A
United Kingdom

B
Singapore

C
India

D
Sri Lanka

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [India]

Explaination : [India has signed bilateral agreements named ‘Air Bubbles’ with France and the US to operate international flights. Under the agreement, the airlines of each country will operate international flights between each other. American air carrier United Airlines will be operating 18 flights between India and the US and Air France will be operating 28 flights between Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Paris. ]

112. Which Indian state has set up a high-level committee to constitute new districts with Lok Sabha constituency as base?

A
Uttar Pradesh

B
Madhya Pradesh

C
Andhra Pradesh

D
Karnataka

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [Andhra Pradesh]

Explaination : [The state government of Andhra Pradesh has recently constituted a high-level committee constitute new districts with Lok Sabha constituency as base. As per the decision made during the Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, this high-level committee will be headed by the Chief Secretary. The committee will study the feasibility of forming new districts and reducing expenditure. ]

113. Jeremy Burge, who was seen in news, is associated with which special day celebrated on July 17?

A
World E-Mail Day

B
World Emoji Day

C
World Social Media Day

D
World Multimedia Day

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [World Emoji Day]

Explaination : [World Emoji Day is celebrated every year on July 17, across the world. It was founded by Jeremy Burge. He is called an emoji historian as he created an unofficial Wikipedia for emojis named Emojipedia. This day has been observed since 2014, to celebrate the usage of emojis, the ideograms used in online text conversations. ]

114. What is the name of the e-portal launched by International Centre of Automotive Technology (ICAT)?

A
ASPIRE

B
ESTEEM

C
ENDEAVOUR

D
VICTORY

Show Answer

Correct Answer : A [ASPIRE]

Explaination : [International Centre of Automotive Technology (ICAT) has launcehd the automotive technology e-portal ‘ASPIRE’. ‘ASPIRE’ stands for Automotive Solutions Portal for Industry, Research and Education. ICAT also announced that five portals being developed by different organizations namely, BHEL for power sector equipment, HMT for machine tools, CMFTI for manufacturing technology, ICAT and ARAI for the automotive sector. ]

115. Which cricketer has become the world’s top-ranked Test all-rounder by displacing Jason Holder?

A
Ben Stokes

B
Ravindra Jadeja

C
Mitchell Starc

D
Ravichandran Ashwin

Show Answer

Correct Answer : A [Ben Stokes]

Explaination : [England’s star cricketer Ben Stokes has displaced West Indies captain Jason Holder to become the world’s top-ranked Test all-rounder. Ben Stokes also attained his career-best third position among batsmen in the ICC Test Player Rankings. Recently, he delivered an outstanding performance in the Test match with the West Indies at Old Trafford. ]

116. Which state has approved ‘Digital Economy Mission’, to promote start-ups, e-commerce and other gig economy companies?

A
Andhra Pradesh

B
Telangana

C
Karnataka

D
Maharashtra

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [Karnataka]

Explaination : [The Karnataka Cabinet has recently cleared the formation of Karnataka Digital Economy Mission. The mission is incorporated as a new company with the state government holding 49 per cent and industries and other stakeholders holding 51 per cent. The company aims to promote over 7,000 start-ups, e-commerce and other gig (informal) economy companies in the State. Prior to this mission, these firms were operating under the Technology Mission of the state and were governed by various departments. ]

117. Which social media platform is set to partner with banks to expand rural banking services in India?

C
Twitter

D
Snapchat

Show Answer

Correct Answer : A [WhatsApp]

Explaination : [Social media Giant WhatsApp announced that it is set to partner with banks to expand banking services in India. India is the biggest market of WhatsApp with over 400 million users. The messaging platform has already collaborated with banks including ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank for automated business messaging. This partnership would help expand banking services for low-income people and in rural areas. ]

118. Women officers in which Indian armed force have been granted permanent commission?

A
Indian Air Force

B
Indian Navy

C
Indian Army

D
Indian Coast Guard

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [Indian Army]

Explaination : [The Ministry of Defence has recently issued formal sanction order for granting Permanent Commission (PC) to Women Officers in the Indian Army. As per the order, permanent commission has been granted to Service Commissioned (SSC) Women Officers in all ten streams of the Indian Army including Army Air Defence (AAD), Army Service Corps (ASC) among others. ]

119. Which financial institution of India has released ‘Financial Stability Report’?

A
Securities Exchange Board of India

B
Reserve Bank of India

C
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India

D
State Bank of India

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Reserve Bank of India]

Explaination : [Reserve Bank of India releases a bi annual report called the financial stability report (FSR). The latest edition was released recently. RBI has estimated that the gross non performing asset (GNPA) ratio of all banks may increase from 8.5% in March 2020 to 12.5% by March 2021. GNPA ratio of public sector banks will increase to 15.2% in March 2021. The main reason for this dip is the slowdown in the economy due to the Covid-19 induced lock-down. ]

120. Which global organisation has launched a new initiative named ‘COVID-19 Law Lab’?

A
World Health Organisation

B
World Trade Organisation

C
Food and Agricultural Organisation

D
UNICEF

Show Answer

Correct Answer : A [World Health Organisation]

Explaination : [The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently launched a new initiative named ‘COVID-19 Law Lab’, to ensure that laws are adhered to protect health and wellbeing of individuals and communities. It is a joint project of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), WHO, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University. ]