Best PSC / PCS / STATE PCS online Current Affairs

Current Affairs JULY-2020

Showing 121 - 140 of 236 entries

121. The Gwalior-Chambal belt of Madhya Pradesh is to be converted into arable land with support from which international institution?

A
World Bank

B
Asian Development Bank

C
Asian Infastructure Investment Bank

D
New Development Bank

Show Answer

Correct Answer : A [World Bank]

Explaination : [The Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar announced that the Union Government is to collaborate with the World Bank, to convert the Gwalior-Chambal belt of Madhya Pradesh into arable land. This has been decided in the virtual meeting with the World Bank representative. As per the statement, more than 3 lakh hectares of rugged land that remains not cultivable can be improved. As a result, the region’s agricultural development, environmental protection and employment opportunities can be improved. ]

122. Which country is to play host to the 2023 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup?

A
England

B
India

C
South Africa

D
Australia

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [India]

Explaination : [The 2023 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup is to be organised in India. ICC has recently launched a 50-over World Cup Super League. This Qualification league will determine the seven teams in the World Cup. As India is the host, it will automatically qualify to the game. The league will start with a series between England and Ireland, scheduled on July 30. ]

123. Olivia de Havilland, who recently passed away, was associated with which profession?

A
Politician

B
Actor

C
Sportsperson

D
Businessperson

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Actor]

Explaination : [Olivia de Havillan, who was considered the last surviving actress of the Golden Age of Hollywood, has passed away at the age of 104. She became popular in the movie “Gone with the Wind” in 1939. During her long acting career, she had won several prestigious awards including two Oscar awards in 1946 and 1949. She featured in as many as 49 movies from 1935 to 2009. ]

124. Which Union Ministry launched ‘Indian Report on Digital Education, 2020’?

A
Ministry of Science and Technology

B
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology

C
Ministry of Human Resource Development

D
Ministry of Finance

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [Ministry of Human Resource Development]

Explaination : [Union Ministry of Human Resource Development has recently launched the ‘Indian Report on Digital Education, 2020’. The report has details on innovative methods adopted by Education Departments of various States and Union Territories for providing inclusive education to children at home. Initiatives of HRD Ministry including DIKSHA platform and Swayam Prabha TV Channel are highlighted. ]

125. Where is the Headquarters of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) located?

A
Geneva

B
New York

C
Vienna

D
Paris

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [Vienna]

Explaination : [United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is a United Nations office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, headquartered at Vienna, Austria. According to the latest UNODC World Drug Report, about 26.9 crore people used drugs in 2018, which was 30% more than the 2009 count. The largest share of drug users comprised of adolescents and young adults. Overall opioid users in India is estimated to have increased five times, as compared to those in 2004. ]

126. Which is the parent organisation of “Global Forum on transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes”?

A
Financial Action Task Force

B
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

C
G-20

D
Common Wealth

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development]

Explaination : [Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is the parent organisation of Global Forum on transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes. According to the latest study by the Global Forum, India has been among the top-three jurisdictions to which Switzerland provided information about bank accounts and beneficiary ownership of entities, on request. The other two countries were France and Germany. The report recorded the requests during the period from July 2015 to June 2018. ]

127. What is the theme of the ‘International Day of Parliamentarism’ 2020?

A
Parliaments in a time of pandemic

B
Role of Parliaments

C
Democracy and Parliament

D
Parliaments Matter

Show Answer

Correct Answer : A [Parliaments in a time of pandemic]

Explaination : [June 30 is the day designated by the United Nations to celebrate the International Day of Parliamentarism. The United Nations General Assembly recognized the role of parliaments in developing the world, and designated the special day. On the same day in the year 1889, the global organization of parliaments called the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) was established. ]

128. Which global organisation released the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report?

A
UNICEF

B
UNESCO

D
World Bank

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [UNESCO]

Explaination : [The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has released the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report. As per the report, 40% of poorest countries failed to support learners at risk during COVID-19 crisis. It also revealed that fewer than 10% of countries have laws that help ensure inclusion in education. UNESCO urged all countries to focus on people who are left behind and improve inclusion. ]

129. Which global organisation has enhanced support to USD 400 million, for India’s programme to rejuvenate Ganga river?

A
International Monetary Fund

B
World Bank

C
Asian Development Bank

D
BRICS Bank

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [World Bank]

Explaination : [The World Bank has recently announced that it has enhanced its support for India’s flagship program to rejuvenate Ganga river. World Bank would provide a USD 400 million assistance to the program, which will help reduce pollution and strengthen river basin management. The Second National Ganga River Basin Project (SNGRBP) will support the government’s Namami Gange program. The loan has a maturity of 18.5 years including a grace period of 5 years. ]

130. Which organisation is set to launch its first ever news magazine program in Sanskrit named ‘Sanskrit Saptahiki’?

A
Door Darshan News

B
All India Radio

C
DD KISAN

D
DD Arunprabha

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [All India Radio]

Explaination : [India’s Public Service Broadcaster, All India Radio is set to broadcast its first ever News magazine program in Sanskrit. The program is named as ‘Sanskrit Saptahiki’ and it will be broadcasted on every Saturday. The program would comprise of news from the world of Sanskrit and prominent developments of the week. The 20-minute programme can also be heard on All India Radio FM News Channel. ]

131. Which Indian state/UT has launched a mobile van ‘Dhanvantri Rath’ providing essential healthcare services to the people?

A
Maharashtra

B
Gujarat

C
Odisha

D
West Bengal

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Gujarat]

Explaination : [Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has deployed 120 Mobile Medical Vans named ‘Dhanvantri Rath’ across the city. It is a mobile van that provides non-COVID essential healthcare services to every household of the corporation. Every van has an AYUSH Doctor, a paramedic and nursing staff and a local Medical Officer from the Corporation’s Urban Health Centre. It conducts regular out-patient consultations. ]

132. Which Indian state/UT is to launch a financial assistance scheme called ‘Balaram Yojana’?

A
Gujarat

B
Odisha

C
Madhya Pradesh

D
Uttar Pradesh

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Odisha]

Explaination : [The state government of Odisha is set to launch a new financial assistance scheme called ‘Balaram Yojana’. It is a sequel to the ‘KALIA’ scheme, which was launched with an aim to provide assistance to small and marginal farmers. Under the new scheme, the state will provide crop loans to 7 lakh landless sharecroppers in the state, through joint liability groups (JLGs) in the next two years. ]

133. Which country’s Railways has set up the world’s first solar power plant to directly power Overhead line?

A
China

B
India

C
United States

D
Singapore

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [India]

Explaination : [Indian Railways has set up a solar power plant, for the first time in the world, which directly provides power to the Railway Overhead Line, in collaboration with Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL). Such a solar power plant has been established at Bina Traction Sub Station, Madhya Pradesh. The 1.7 Mega-watt solar power plant can produce around 25 lakh units of energy in a year and save about Rs 1.37 crore per year. ]

134. What is the name of the new short-video platform launched by Facebook, within its Instagram app?

A
Go Video

B
Reels

C
Video lus

D
Livo

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Reels]

Explaination : [Social media Giant Facebook has recently launched the new short-video platform named ‘Reels’ within its Instagram app. This announcement has been released after a few days of ban imposed by the Centre on Chinese mobile applications including the popular short video app, TikTok. India is the fourth country to get the Reels feature after Brazil, France and Germany. ]

135. What is the theme of the virtual conference ‘India Global Week 2020’, being organised in the United Kingdom?

A
Be The Revival: India and a Better New World

B
Atmanirbhar Bharat

C
Spiritual Face of India

D
India winning Covid-19

Show Answer

Correct Answer : A [Be The Revival: India and a Better New World]

Explaination : [A three-day virtual conference named ‘India Global Week 2020’ is being organised in the United Kingdom. The theme of the conference is “Be The Revival: India and a Better New World”. The inaugural address of the first day of the conference was delivered by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The conference is addressed by about 250 international speakers and will have 5000 participants. ]

136. The Union Defence Minister of India has inaugurated six major bridges in which state/UT?

A
Sikkim

B
Jammu & Kashmir

C
Arunachal Pradesh

D
Uttar Pradesh

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Jammu & Kashmir]

Explaination : [The Union Defence Minister of India Rajnath Singh has inaugurated six major bridges in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, through video conferencing. The bridges are located near the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. These strategically important bridges were completed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in a record time. ]

137. The head of which international organisation has urged G-20 countries to freeze debt payment of poorest countries in 2021?

A
International Monetary Fund

B
World Economic Forum

C
World Bank

D
Asian Development Bank

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [World Bank]

Explaination : [The President of World Bank, David Malpass has recently attended a G20 debt conference. He urged G-20 countries to freeze debt payment of poorest countries in 2021. The World Bank head opined that this freezing of official bilateral debt payments by the world’s poorest countries will permanently reduce the debt load for the severely indebted countries. He also said that this procedure would be more helpful instead of delaying the debt payment. ]

138. Who has been named the Chairman of its e-commerce committee of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2020-21?

A
Kunal Bahl

B
Rohit Bansal

C
Bhavish Aggarwal

D
Vijay Shekar Sharma

Show Answer

Correct Answer : A [Kunal Bahl]

Explaination : [Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has recently announced that Kunal Bahl has assumed charge as the Chairman of its e-commerce committee for the year 2020-21. Kunal Bahl is the Co-founder & CEO of popular e-Commerce firm Snapdeal. The agenda of the committee is the upcoming e-commerce policy, consumer protection rules and promotion of exports through e-commerce. ]

139. Which state government has launched the ‘Operation Muskaan’, to trace missing children?

A
West Bengal

B
Maharashtra

C
Andhra Pradesh

D
Gujarat

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [Andhra Pradesh]

Explaination : [Andhra Pradesh state government officials along with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) launched ‘Operation Muskaan’ in the state. This week-long drive aims to trace the missing children, prevent child labour and bonded labour, and rescue children engaged in domestic works. Hundreds of children are being rescued in the drive and are united with parents or provided with shelters. ]

140. Jack Charlton, who recently passed away, was associated with which field?

A
Politics

B
Sports

C
Business

D
Literature

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Sports]

Explaination : [Jack Charlton, who was a part of the 1966 World cup winning English Football team, has recently passed away, at the age of 85. He played for the Leeds United football club for nearly 21 years before managing the Republic of Ireland. He was also a Manager of British football club Newcastle United F.C. ]