Current Affairs Quiz Questions and Answers 2020 || 19 Sept 2020 ||

Current Affairs Quiz Questions and Answers 2020

19 SEPT 2020

(Q.01) Who represented India at SCO-CFM (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation-Council of Foreign Ministers) meeting held at Moscow, Russia?
1) Venkaiah Naidu
2) Nirmala Sitharaman
3) Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
4) Narendra Modi

Ans. :-(3) Subrahmanyam Jaishankar

Union Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had a four-days visit to Russia from September 8-11, 22 to attend the SCO-CFM (Council of Foreign Ministers) Meeting in Moscow. During his way to Russia he made a stopover in Tehran, Iran on September 8, 2020 to meet his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif for discussing various aspects of bilateral relations and regional developments including the Chabahar port project. Both sides emphasised to further expand bilateral ties in “all aspects”. In addition to that, a luncheon meeting was also held between the Foreign Ministers of Russia, India and China (RIC), on the sidelines of SCO in Moscow which was organised by Russia which holds the current presidency of RIC. The Russia has handed over the presidency of RIC to India.

(Q.02) External Affairs Minister of India S Jaishankar represented India at ASEAN-India ministerial meeting held recently (Virtual). During the meet, ASEAN- India’s action plan for the year 2021 to _____ was adopted.
1) 2025
2) 2027
3) 2030
4) 2021

Ans. :-(2) 2025

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-India Ministerial Meeting was held virtually which was co-chaired by Union Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) along with Don Pramudwinai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand. It was attended by Foreign Ministers of the ten ASEAN Member States. During the meet ASEAN-India Plan of Action (2021-2025) was adopted.

(Q.03) Which ministry has conducted orientation and training programme on iRAD App?
1) Ministry of Corporate Affairs
2) Ministry of Home Affairs
3) Ministry of Heavy Industries
4) Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

Ans. :-(4) Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) conducted the 2-days Orientation and Training programme on Integrated Road Accident Database Project (iRAD) App for the selected districts of Karnataka and on 10th & 11th September 2020 for some districts of Uttar Pradesh (UP). This has been done to receive feedback and other suggestions for the customization of iRAD app as per the requirements of the states/UT. Notably, India accounts for about 5 lakh road accidents per annum in which about 1.5 lakh people die and another 3 lakh become crippled. The basic iRAD app, for capturing the spot accident data, has been developed by IIT (Indian Institutes of Technology) Madras (Tamil Nadu) and National Informatics Centre Services Inc (NICSI) of New Delhi. This app will enable the stakeholders such as the Police, Transport, Health, etc. to use their mobile phones to collect accident data on the spot.

(Q.04) Who has won US open 2020 (140th edition) in Women’s singles category?
1) Ashleigh Barty
2) Naomi Osaka
3) Bianca Vanessa Andreescu
4) Serena Williams

Ans. :-(2) Naomi Osaka

The 140th Edition of American Open or US Open took place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre, New York, United States from August 31, 2020 – September 13, 2020. It was the Second Grand Slam Event of the year, after Australian Open took place in January. Wimbledon was called off due to the pandemic. 2020 US Open Winners:

Category	Winner	Runners-up
Men’s Singles	Dominic Thiem (Austria)	Alexander Zverev (Germany)
Women’s Singles	Naomi Osaka (Japan)	Victoria Azarenka (Belarus)
Men’s Doubles	Mate Pavic (Croatia) & Bruno Soares (Brazil)	Wesley Koolhof (Netherlands) &  Nikola Mektic (Croatia)
Women’s Doubles	Laura Siegemund (Germany) & Vera Zvonareva (Russia)	Nicole Melichar (USA) & Yifan Xu (China)

(Q.05) Who has won the Tuscan Grand Prix 2020?
1) Sebastian Vettel
2) Charles Leclerc
3) Lewis Hamilton
4) Valtteri Bottas

Ans. :-(3) Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Won the Tuscan Grand Prix 2020, held at the Mugello Circuit, Italy. This Hamilton’s 90th Pole Position of his career, he is one win short of equalling Michael Schumacher’s All-Time Record.

(Q.06) Who authored the book titled ‘End of an Era, India Exits Tibet’?
1) Claude Arpi
2) William Dalrymple
3) Ramachandra Guha
4) Khushwant Singh

Ans. :-(1) Claude Arpi

The book titled ‘End of an Era, India Exits Tibet’ authored by Claude Arpi to be released soon. The book portrays India Tibet relation during 1947-1962. The core of the book is about India losing all its influence in Tibet, helping China press aggressive claims along the border with India. It is based on Nehru Memorial Library papers, de-classified Indian and Chinese documents and personal interviews. Note- This book is the 4th part of the series.

(Q.07) Former union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh who passed away recently belongs to which state?
1) Haryana
2) Punjab
3) Chhattisgarh
4) Bihar

Ans. :-(4) Bihar

Former Union Minister for Rural Development, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh passed away at the age of 74 at New Delhi due to post COVID complications. He was born on 6th June 1946 in Bihar. He became the Lok sabha member in 1996 and served as a Lok Sabha member for five terms representing Vaishali, Bihar. He served as the Union minister for Rural development from 2004 to 2009 in the cabinet led by Manmohan Singh.

(Q.08) How many states implemented tele-medicine services named ‘eSanjeevani’ (as on September 2020)?
1) 23
2) 27
3) 25
4) 18

Ans. :- (1) 23

The Central Government has shown its efforts in giving a digital push in the health sector by initiating two types of telemedicine services viz. Doctor-to-Doctor (eSanjeevani) and Patient-to-Doctor (eSanjeevani OPD) Tele-consultations in 2019. Since then the tele-consultation by ‘eSanjeevani’ has been implemented by 23 states (which covers 75% of the population) and other states are in the process of rolling it out. The Doctor-to-Doctor (eSanjeevani) is being implemented under the Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centre (AB-HWCs) programme. It is planned to implement tele-consultation in all the 1.5 lakh Health and Wellness Centres in a ‘Hub and Spoke’ model, by December 2022.

(Q.09) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated and launched 7 projects related to Urban Infrastructure in which state (September 2020)?
1) Telangana
2) Karnataka
3) Tamil Nadu
4) Bihar

Ans. :-(4) Bihar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated & Laid Foundation Stone for Seven Projects related to Urban Infrastructure in the state of Bihar through video conference. The total cost of the projects is Rs 541 Crores. Out of the 7 projects, 4 are related to water supply, two for Sewerage treatment and 1 for Riverfront Development. The projects will be implemented by Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (BUIDCO), under Urban Development and Housing Department of Bihar.

(Q.10) Which is 1st power distribution company in India to adopt e-office system?
1) JSW Energy Distribution Company
2) Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company
3) Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitran Company
4) None of the Above

Ans. :-(3) Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitran Company

Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitran Company (central discom) has become the first power distribution company in the country to adopt e-office system. It is effectively being run in corporate office, offices of regional chief general manager and circles. The company has been e-filing and doing correspondence through NIC e-office system from 27 July. The e-office system has been running for the last one-and-a-half months.

(Q.11) Which among the following countries were elected as the Members of the United Nations (UN) Commission on Status of Women in September 2020?
1) India
2) Afghanistan
3) China
4) Both 1) and 2)

Ans. :-(4) Both 1) and 2)

India & Afghanistan were elected as Members of the United Nations (UN) Commission on Status of Women, a body of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The Commission on the Status of Women is a UN organ promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. India (38 votes) and Afghanistan (39) won the ballot among the 54 members, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, T S Tirumurti announced the election of India to the Committee. India will be a member of the UN’s Commission on Status of Women for four years from 2021-2025.

(Q.12) The Central government has increased the scholarship amount under ‘Pragati’ and ‘Saksham’ scholarship schemes for students of which state/UT?
1) Haryana
2) Jammu & Kashmir
3) Gujarat
4) Puducherry

Ans. :-(2) Jammu & Kashmir

The Government of India announced an increase in Scholarship amount for the students of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) under the ‘Pragati’ and ‘Saksham’ Scholarship Schemes. The amount has been raised from Rs. 5, 000 Per Annum to Rs. 50, 000 Per Annum from the Current Academic Year (2020-21). The Ministry of Education (formerly known as Union Ministry of Human Resource Development) launched the schemes. It is being implemented and offered by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to provide financial assistance for advancement of girls and supporting especially abled students for Technical Education.

(Q.13) The horticulture department of which state/UT has launched “Backyard Horticulture” Programme under CAPEX scheme to promote organic fruit production?

1) Haryana
2) Jammu & Kashmir
3) Gujarat
4) Puducherry

Ans. :-(2) Jammu & Kashmir

The Horticulture Department of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) launched “Backyard Horticulture” Programme under CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) scheme at Panchyat Jaswan in Marh Block of Jammu district. The main aim of the programme is to promote organic fruit production for home consumption and for fulfilling individual requirements.

(Q.14) SBI general insurance company has signed corporate agency agreement with which bank?
1) IndusInd Bank
2) YES Bank
3) RBL Bank
4) Bandhan Bank

Ans. :-(2) YES Bank

SBI General Insurance Company Ltd and YES Bank signed a corporate agency agreement to distribute the products of SBI General Insurance to the customers of YES bank across India (28 states and 8 Union Territories) The signed agreement was exchanged between Rajan Pental, Global Head- Retail Banking of YES Bank and Amar Joshi, Chief Business Officer of SBI General Insurance.

(Q.15) According to RBI’s financial stability report July 2020, the Gross Non Performing Assets (GNPA) ratio of SCBs may increase to ______ by March 2021?
1) 11.5%
2) 12%
3) 12.5%
4) 13%

Ans. :-(3) 12.5%

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued circular advising banks to switch to automatic identification of non-performing assets (NPAs), using appropriate IT (information technology) systems, from manual identification for regulatory reporting and bank’s own management information system (MIS) requirements. However, over this period of time, the processes for NPA identification, income recognition, provisioning and generation of related returns in many banks are not yet fully automated. Concerning this, on September 14, 2020, RBI issued a notification mandating banks to complete the automation of bad-loan recognition and provisioning processes by June 30, 2021. In case of non-compliance, suitable supervisory action would be initiated against the concerned bank. According to the Financial Stability Report released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on July 2020, the Central Bank predicts that the Gross Non Performing Assets (GNPA) ratio of all scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) may increase from 8.5 per cent in March 2020 to 12.5 per cent by March 2021.