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Current Affairs JAN-2021

Showing 281 - 300 of 300 entries

281. What is the minimum market value of a start-up firm, which is termed as a ‘Unicorn’ company?

A
USD 1 million

B
USD 10 million

C
USD 1 billion

D
USD 10 billion

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [USD 1 billion]

Explaination : [A unicorn is a term, which is used to indicate a private start-up company, who market value is at over USD 1 billion. Recently, India’s Ambassador to the U.S. Taranjit Singh Sandhu said that according to a recent report, Indian start-ups raised USD 9.3 billion until mid-December, during this year. India is the third-largest start-up ecosystem in the world with 21 unicorns valued at USD 73.2 billion.]

282. Who leads the Indian delegation during the India-France Annual strategic dialogue, scheduled in New Delhi?

A
S Jai Shankar

B
Narendra Modi

C
Ajit Doval

D
Amit Shah

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [Ajit Doval]

Explaination : [India and France is set to hold their annual strategic dialogue in Delhi, as per the recent statement of the Ministry of external affairs. National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval will lead the Indian delegation while Emmanuel Bonne, the diplomatic advisor to President Emmanuel Macron will lead the French side. Discussions on wide-ranging bilateral and global issues are expected.]

283. Which Indian organisation is to raise Rs 1 lakh crore through asset monetisation?

B
NHAI

C
Power Grid

D
NHPC

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [NHAI]

Explaination : [The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is set to raise Rs 1 lakh crore through asset monetisation. As per the Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, NHAI would monetise highways under the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) mode in the next five years, for the process.]

284. ‘NISHTHA’ and ‘DIKSHA’ are the initiatives of which Union Ministry?

A
Ministry of MSME

B
Ministry of Education

C
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

D
Ministry of Commerce and Industry

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Ministry of Education]

Explaination : [Union Education Ministry issues guidelines for identification, admission and supportive education of migrant children. The guidelines include Continued Education for Out of School Children (OoSC) and Children with Special Needs (CWSN), Enrolment Drives and Awareness Generation, Support while schools are closed and Teacher Capacity Building via NISHTHA training modules and DIKSHA portal.]

285. Which country’s space agency is to test fire the Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket ever built?

A
Japan

B
China

C
United States

D
Germany

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [United States]

Explaination : [The U.S space agency NASA is set to ignite the most powerful rocket it’s ever built on January 17, 2021. This is also the first test-fire of the Space Launch System (SLS), the rocket ship to be used for non-commercial human space flight. It is the core system of NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to land a man-woman duo on the moon. The SLS can carry over 27 tons to the moon.]

286. Who was the Chairperson of a Committee set up by the Centre to review the guidelines on television rating agencies?

A
Amitabh Kant

B
Shashi S Vempati

C
Prakash Javadekar

D
Salim Varma

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Shashi S Vempati]

Explaination : [The Central Government had set up a committee to review the guidelines on television rating agencies under the chairmanship of Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi S Vempati. The committee has recently submitted its report to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. The Ministry will evaluate the recommendations made by the committee in the report]

287. What is the name of the software jointly launched by National Informatics Centre (NIC) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)?

A
CollabCAD

B
AutoCAD

C
Solidworks

D
CADable

Show Answer

Correct Answer : A [CollabCAD]

Explaination : [The National Informatics Centre and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) jointly launched a software named CollabCAD. The software would allow students to create and modify 3D digital designs with a free flow of creativity and imagination. The NIC, CBSE, and Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) will also jointly release a comprehensive e-book on CollabCAD 3D modeling.]

288. Ice-Stupa, Swasthya Portal and Prayas Dashboard, which were making news recently, are the initiatives of which Union Ministry?

A
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

B
Ministry of Education

C
Ministry of Tribal Affairs

D
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [Ministry of Tribal Affairs]

Explaination : [The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has been conferred with the “SKOCH Challenger Award” for e-Governance. The award has been provided for its IT-led initiatives including the digitalisation of Scholarship release process, Prayas-PMO Dashboard, Ice-Stupa initiative to solve water problem in Ladakh region and Swasthya portal for health and nutrition status of the tribal population.]

289. Which country has imposed sanctions against Iran, China and UAE for doing business with “Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines”?

C
Australia

D
Qatar

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [USA]

Explaination : [The United States of America (USA) has recently imposed sanctions on companies belonging to Iran, China and United Arab Emirates. These sanctions are imposed for doing business with Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and on three other Iranian entities dealing with conventional arms proliferation.]

290. Alexei Navalny, who has been remanded to custody, is the leader of opposition of which country?

A
Sweden

B
Russia

C
Thailand

D
Bhutan

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Russia]

Explaination : [Alexei Navalny, the leader of opposition of Russia has been remanded to a 30-day custody by the Russian government. He was arrested at the Moscow Airport. Alexei Navalny had earlier spent 5 months at Germany recovering from alleged nerve poisoning and had just returned to Russia where he was arrested.]

291. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposed a four-tier regulatory framework for which type of financial institutions?

A
Payment Banks

B
NBFCs

C
Small Finance Banks

D
Foreign Banks

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [NBFCs]

Explaination : [Reserve Bank of India recently released a discussion paper on revised regulatory framework for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs). As per the paper, the regulatory and supervisory framework of NBFCs shall be based on a four-layered structure namely Base Layer, Middle Layer, Upper Layer and a possible Top Layer. RBI also recommended more power for the NBFC Boards on capital and risk management.]

292. Shagun’ is a flagship scheme of which Indian state/UT?

A
Gujarat

B
Maharashtra

C
Punjab

D
Madhya Pradesh

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [Punjab]

Explaination : [Punjab is implementing a scheme named ‘Shagun’ under which financial assistance is provided for the marriage of daughter who belongs to the low-income family. It aims to prevent child marriages. Recently, the Punjab government hiked the grant for the marriage of daughters of construction workers from Rs 31,000 to Rs 51,000.]

293. Which country has passed the “Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Bill” recently?

A
India

B
Pakistan

C
Afghanistan

D
United States of America

Show Answer

Correct Answer : D [United States of America]

Explaination : [The US Congress has recently passed the “Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Bill”. The bill makes it mandatory for U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to award 50% of scholarships to Pakistani Women under a Pakistan-based higher education scholarship programme. The scholarships are to be awarded from 2020 to 2022.]

294. Britain has recently ended taxation on which product?

A
Mobile Phones

B
Sanitary Products

C
Laptops

D
Paracetamol tablets

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Sanitary Products]

Explaination : [Britain became the latest nation that has eliminated taxation on women’s sanitary products. These taxes were called “tampon tax” has been completely abolished in the country. This decision was earlier announced in the country’s annual budget by its Treasury chief, but has been implemented only now, when Britain has left the European Union.]

295. ‘Freight Business Development Portal’, which was making news, was launched by which Union Ministry?

A
Ministry of Commerce and Industry

B
Ministry of Railways

C
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

D
Ministry of MSME

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Ministry of Railways]

Explaination : [Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal has recently launched the Freight Business Development Portal. The portal aims to reduce the costs for logistics providers, provide online tracking facility for suppliers and to simplify the process of goods transportation. The portal, which aims to improve ease of doing business, can be accessed via the Indian Railways website.]

296. Which organisation is to provide USD 105 million loan to improve water transport in West Bengal?

B
AIIB

C
World Bank

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [World Bank]

Explaination : [The Government of India, West Bengal state government and the World Bank signed a USD 105 million project to improve the inland water transport infrastructure in Kolkata, West Bengal, according to the Ministry of Finance. Called as the ‘West Bengal Inland Water Transport, Logistics and Spatial Development Project’, it will improve passenger and freight movement across the Hooghly river and improve accessibility in Kolkata Metropolitan region.]

297. India recently signed an MoU with which country regarding the partnership in “Specified Skilled Worker”?

A
Singapore

C
Japan

D
Saudi Arabia

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [Japan]

Explaination : [The Indian Government has approved the memorandum of cooperation on a framework for partnership related to “Specified Skilled Worker” between India and Japan. As per the agreement, the skilled Indian workers, who have qualified the skill test and Japanese language test, will be granted a new status of residence of ‘Specified Skilled Worker’ by the Government of Japan. They will work in fourteen specified sectors in Japan.]

298. How many wildlife species are under recovery programme for critically endangered species in India?

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [22]

Explaination : [The Standing Committee of National Board of Wildlife (SC-NBWL) has recently approved the advisory for management of Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) in the country. The Committee also approved the inclusion of Caracal, a wild cat found in some parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat, in the list of critically endangered species. At present, there are 22 wildlife species under recovery programme for critically endangered species.]

299. What is the rank of India in the ‘Digital Evolution Scorecard’, prepared jointly by Mastercard?

A
Second

B
Fourth

C
Sixth

D
Eighth

Show Answer

Correct Answer : B [Fourth]

Explaination : [The ‘Digital Evolution Scorecard’ is developed by Fletcher School, Tufts University in partnership with Mastercard. In the recently released third edition of the index, India is ranked fourth among the ‘Break Out Economies’, which means the countries that are digitalising very fast. China leads the index with high demand and innovation.]

300. ‘Inji’, a Sumatran female, which died in the Oregon Zoon, U.S, was an animal of which species?

A
Elephant

B
Hippopotamus

C
Orangutan

D
Giraffe

Show Answer

Correct Answer : C [Orangutan]

Explaination : [The world’s oldest known orangutan, named Inji recently died in the Oregon Zoo, U.S. It is a 61-year-old female Sumatran Orangutan. There are three species of orangutans namely Bornean orangutans, Tapanuli orangutans and Sumatran orangutans, all of which are listed as critically endangered, according to the IUCN Red List. At present, there are only 15,000 Sumatran orangutans, while only 800 Tapanuli orangutans are left.]