Current Affairs Quiz Questions and Answers 2020 || 01 Sept 2020 ||

Current Affairs Quiz Questions and Answers 2020

01 SEPT 2020

(Q.01) Association of Indian Football Coaches (AIFC) signed MoU with which country’s coaches’ association recently?
1) Argentina
2) Portugal
3) Germany
4) Australia

Ans. :-(4) Australia

Association of Indian Football Coaches (AIFC) and Football Coaches Australia (FCA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support the development of football in both India and Australia.

About FCA:
President– Phil Moss
Chief Executive– Glenn Warry
About AIFC:
General Secretary– Mr. Kushal Das
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra

(Q.02) Find the company which has signed MoU with Israel based REE automotive to develop electric commercial vehicle.
1) Ashok Leyland
2) Hindustan Motors
3) ICML
4) Mahindra & Mahindra

Ans. :-(4) Mahindra & Mahindra

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), a Mumbai based company (a part of Mahindra Group) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with REE Automotive, a Tel-Aviv, Israel based startup firm to explore development and manufacturing of electric commercial vehicles for the global market.

About REE:
Co-founder & CEO– Daniel Barel 
Headquarters– Tel Aviv, Israel
About Mahindra & Mahindra:
Chairman of Mahindra Group– Anand Mahindra
Managing Director & CEO– Dr Pawan Goenka
Head Office– Mumbai, Maharashtra

(Q.03) Who heads the 5-member committee constituted by central government to review charter of duties of 57 DRDO labs?
1) S Somanath
2) Samir Vankatpati Kamat
3) Valipe Ramagopal Rao
4) Sandeep Singh

Ans. :-(3) Valipe Ramagopal Rao

G Satheesh Reddy, Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development (DDR&D), and Chairman of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has constituted the five-member committee under the chairmanship of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi director Valipe Ramagopal Rao to review charter of duties of 57 DRDO labs on the basis of current and futuristic defence and battlefield needs.

(Q.04) Who has bagged 2020 International Booker Prize for the book ‘The Discomfort of Evening’ (youngest author to receive the award)?
1) Han Kang
2) Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
3) David Grossman
4) Jokha al-Harthi

Ans. :-(2) Marieke Lucas Rijneveld

Dutch Author Marieke Lucas Rijneveld won the 2020 International Booker Prize for the Literary fiction book ‘The Discomfort of Evening’. Rijneveld became the youngest author to win the prize at the age of 29. The Book was first published in Dutch in 2018 and eventually translated into English by Michele Hutchison. The International Booker prize is separate from the main Booker Prize.

(Q.05) Who represented India in 5th BRICS Industry ministers meeting held recently?
1) Som Prakash
2) Anurag Thakur
3) Arjun Ram Meghwal
4) Babul Supriyo

Ans. :-(1) Som Prakash

Som Prakash, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry represented India and addressed the 5th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Industry Ministers Meeting held through Virtual Conference. In the meeting they discussed the ways to enhance cooperation in areas like 5G, Artificial Intelligence(AI) & industrial Internet, among BRICS countries. The meeting adopted a Joint Declaration to commence the implementation of the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR).

(Q.06) The Competition Commission of India has approved the acquisition of 64.90% of share capital of J B Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Limited by which company?
1) Tau Investment Holdings
2) JPMorgan Chase
3) SunTrust
4) ING Group

Ans. :-(1) Tau Investment Holdings

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the acquisition of up to 64.90% of share capital of J B Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Limited by Tau Investment Holdings Pte. Ltd. (Tau Investment). CCI gave a nod to the acquisition of compulsorily convertible preference shares and few equity shares of Nxtra Data Limited (Airtel’s data centre business), by Carlyle Group’s Comfort Investments II. Also, Under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002, CCI has approved the acquisition by Lightstone Fund S.A., for and on behalf of Lightstone Global Fund (LGT) of certain equity stakes in the following: 91Streets Media Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (91Streets), Ascent Health and Wellness Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (Ascent). API Holdings Pvt. Ltd. (API), Aahaan Commercials Pvt. Ltd. (Aahaan) and Lokprakash Vidhya Pvt. Ltd. (Lokprakash).

(Q.07) The IIT Alumni Council along with Russoft and ‘which’ university going to build the world’s largest and fastest hybrid quantum computer in India?
1) University of Hong Kong
2) Nanyang Technological University
3) Imperial College London
4) Moscow State University

Ans. :-(4) Moscow State University

Indian Institute of Technology’s (IIT) Alumni Council has signed an agreement with Russia’s Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) and Russoft, an association of software developing companies, to access and transfer key technologies from Russia to build the world’s largest and fastest hybrid quantum computer in India. The agreement with Russia is the first step to aggregate global key technologies from front runners.

(Q.08) Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) plans to set up ______ centres of excellence this year.
1) 17
2) 21
3) 13
4) 19

Ans. :- (2) 21

State-owned Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) expects to have the largest ecosystem of incubating new technologies in the country by setting up 21 centres of excellence as per STPI Director General Omkar Rai.

(Q.09) The Indian Railways set to meet its energy consumption of over 33 billion units by which year?
1) 2025
2) 2023
3) 2040
4) 2030

Ans. :-(4) 2030

Indian Railways organized a discussion over a wide range of topics with the stakeholders, chaired by Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Railways, to become 100% self-sustainable for all its energy needs and to contribute to the National Solar Mission of India. Indian Railways is set to meet its energy consumption which will be over 33 billion units by 2030. The discussion is aimed to achieve the ambitious plan of Indian Railways to achieve 100% Electrification of Railways by 2023. The current annual energy requirements of Indian Railways are around 21 billion units. Indian Railways has developed a mega plan to install solar power plants of capacity 20 Gigawatt(GW) by utilizing vacant lands by 2030.

(Q.10) The Business with an annual turnover of up to _______ are exempted from GST (August 2020).
1) Rs 10 lakh
2) Rs 25 lakh
3) Rs 50 lakh
4) Rs 40 lakh

Ans. :-(4) Rs 40 lakh

Businesses with an annual turnover of up to Rs 40 lakh are GST exempt. Initially, this limit was Rs 20 lakh. Also, those with a turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore can opt for the Composition Scheme and pay only 1% tax.

(Q.11) Find the organization which launched India Component of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)-Transport Initiative for Asia (TIA).
1) National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog
2) Finance Commission (FC)
3) National Development Council (NDC)
4) Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

Ans. :-(1) National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog

National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog launched the India Component of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)-Transport Initiative for Asia (TIA). The NDC-TIA India team will focus on establishing a multi-stakeholder dialogue for decarbonizing transport and providing technical support on Green House Gas emission reduction measures in India. India’s Think-Tank NITI Aayog will be the implementing agency in India. NDC-TIA is part of International Transport Forum (ITF)’s work on Decarbonising Transport in India that also includes Decarbonising Transport in Emerging Economies – India component. It is supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).

(Q.12) Government of Assam approved the ‘Assam Skill Development University Bill’ to set up World Class Skill University at Mangaldoi, Darrang District. The University will be financed by which bank?
1) Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
2) World Bank (WB)
3) New Development Bank (NDB)
4) Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Ans. :-(4) Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Government of Assam approved the ‘Assam Skill Development University Bill’, which provides for setting up of World Class Skill University at Mangaldoi, Darrang District at a cost of 900 crore rupees. The University will be the first of its kind in the North-East Region and will be financed by Asian Development Bank (ADB). Assam Industry and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary made the announcement about the setting up of the university, after a cabinet meeting. The State Government of Assam has tied up with Singapore based ITE Education Service, for setting up of the Skill Development University.

(Q.13) Name the Kerala’s 1st marine ambulance which was inaugurated by Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan recently.
1) Khukri
2) Sindhughosh
3) Nireeksha
4) Pratheeksha

Ans. :-(4) Pratheeksha

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the State’s First fully equipped Marine Ambulance ‘Pratheeksha’. It was acquired by the Fisheries Department at Kochi for rescue operations at sea. ‘Pratheeksha’ – built by Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) is the first of the three marine ambulances ordered by the state.

(Q.14) Which state/UT has launched ‘Iraada’ campaign to include eligible left-out beneficiaries under social welfare schemes?
1) Jammu & Kashmir
2) Odisha
3) Puducherry
4) Karnataka

Ans. :-(1) Jammu & Kashmir

In Jammu & Kashmir, Dr Sagar D. Doifode, Doda District Deputy Commissioner(DCC) launched ‘Iraada’ campaign to include eligible left-out beneficiaries, who have not yet been enrolled to receive the financial assistance benefits under various social welfare schemes, which includes old age pension, widow and handicap scheme. In other words, the campaign is for 100% coverage under social welfare schemes.

(Q.15) Which bank lead the consortium of 6 banks which signed deal with Uttar Pradesh Expressway Industrial Development Authority to fund Bundelkhand Expressway project?
1) Canara Bank
2) State Bank of India
3) Bank of Baroda
4) Punjab National Bank

Ans. :-(3) Bank of Baroda

The Uttar Pradesh Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) signed a deal with the consortium of 6 banks led by Bank of Baroda (BoB) for funding construction of Bundelkhand Expressway project. The consortium of banks includes Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Bank, Bank of India and UCO Bank. Bank of Baroda accepted the leadership of this consortium. UPEIDA, which is responsible for the construction of the Bundelkhand Expressway project, has taken a loan of Rs.5900 crores from 6 banks.