Current Affairs Quiz
1. Cabinet approved procurement of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail Units for use in the General Elections, 2019, who is the Present Chief Election Commissioner of India?
a) Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi
b) Achal Kumar Jyoti
c) Om Prakash Rawat
d) Shashi Kant Sharma
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Answer a) Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for procurement of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) Units for use in the General Elections, 2019. The decision of the Government would enable the Election Commission of India to deploy VVPAT Units in all pooling booths in the General Elections, 2019, which will act as an additional layer of transparency for the satisfaction of voters, allaying any apprehension in the minds of the voters as to the fidelity and integrity of the EVMs.
2. Which public sector unit become the country’s most valuable public sector unit (PSU), in terms of market valuation?
a) Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd
b) State Bank of India
c) Gas Authority of India Limited
d) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
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Answer b) State Bank of India. State Bank of India (SBI) has surpassed ONGC to become the country’s most valuable public sector unit (PSU), in terms of market valuation. At the end of trade, the market cap of SBI stood at Rs2,35,307.51 crore. This is about Rs2,961.79 crore more than that of PSU energy major ONGC’s Rs2,32,345.72 crore. ONGC once used to be the country’s most-valued company in terms of market valuation.
3. Who has been honoured with Gururaja Bhat Award 2017?
a) Ramachandra Guha
b) Irfan Habib
c) A V Narasimha Murthy
d) Romila Thapar
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Answer c) A V Narasimha Murthy. Eminent historian Professor A V Narasimha Murthy was presented with Dr. Paduru Gururaja Bhat Award 2017. The award was presented to Murthy by D V Sadananda Gowda, Union Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation. Murthy was chosen for the prestigious award in consideration of his contribution to Indian Archaeology, Ancient History and Numismatics.
4. Which state government doubled the quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in educational institutes from 5% to 10%?
a) Uttar Pradesh
b) West Bengal
c) Bihar
d) Punjab
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Answer d) Punjab. Captain Amarinder Singh-led Punjab government doubled the quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in educational institutes from 5% to 10%. “The move aims to uplift [OBCs], which suffered extreme suppression…in the past 10 years of the SAD-BJP misrule,” a government spokesman said. However, this will not impact the quota for the Scheduled Castes, and the Scheduled Tribes.
5. Who has been appointed as the Chairman of Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) for a period of three years?
a) S.K. Sharma
b) Devendra Kumar Sharma
c) V.K. Kalra
d) Ajitabh Sharma
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Answer b) Devendra Kumar Sharma. Devendra Kumar Sharma was appointed as the Chairman of Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) for a period of three years. His appointment was approved by the Appointment Committee Of Cabinet. BBMB manages the release of water in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan as it controls Bhakra, Pong and other dams.
6. India ranked _____ in the 2017 A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index
a) 8th
b) 10th
c) 17th
d) 21st
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Answer a) 8th. India has climbed one spot to the eighth rank in the 2017 A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index as investors turned bullish on the Asia-Pacific. The index, released shows that investor confidence in India has been growing steadily over the last two years, making it one of the top two emerging market performers on the FDI Index, along with China. In this year’s survey, 31% of the respondents said they were more optimistic about India’s economic outlook over the next three years compared to a year ago.
7. Mongolia launched its first satellite called ___________
a) Mongol Jet-1
b) Mongol Rocket-1
c) Mongol Space-1
d) Mongol Sat-1
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Answer d) Mongol Sat-1. Mongolia launched its first satellite called Mongol Sat-1. The 1,227-MHz satellite will help the landlocked country expand its telecoms and broadband services, according to a video posted on the official website of Mongolia’s parliament. The satellite would also be used to help with space research, map making and preparation for natural disasters, said a parliament speaker.
8. Which state government has decided to set up ‘book banks’ in schools to provide old books to needy students free of charge and also to prevent wastage of paper?
a) Jharkhand
b) Punjab
c) Meghalaya
d) Rajasthan
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Answer b) Punjab. The Punjab government has decided to set up ‘book banks’ in schools to provide old books to needy students free of charge and also to prevent wastage of paper. Punjab Education Minister Aruna Chaudhary said, “The students would be asked to submit their old books… ‘Book bank’ is purely a voluntary initiative and is not binding on any student.”
9. The Reserve Bank has opened a new ombudsman office in ____________________as part of its efforts to expand banking grievances complaint cells across the country recently
a) Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh
b) Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh
c) Rajasthan and Haryana
d) Karnataka and West Bengal
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Answer a) Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh. The Reserve Bank has opened a new ombudsman office in Jammu as part of its efforts to expand banking grievances complaint cells across the country. Earlier, the banking services related complaints from entire Jammu & Kashmir used to fall under the jurisdiction of New Delhi-I banking ombudsman office. There are two banking ombudsman offices in New Delhi. There has been a significant increase in banking network during the recent past and the New Delhi office covers a large jurisdiction.
10. The New Zealand government announced plans to tighten access to skilled work visas to help Kiwis get into jobs ahead of migrants, who is the Prime Minister of New Zealand?
a) John Key
b) Steven Joyce
c) Bill English
d) Simon Bridges
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Answer c) Bill English. The New Zealand government announced plans to tighten access to skilled work visas to help Kiwis get into jobs ahead of migrants. The new measures aim to solve the problems of housing shortages, road congestion and overcrowding in New Zealand due to record-high levels of migration. This comes a day after Australia abolished its skilled visa programme.
11. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed a memorandum of understanding with _____________ to help develop low-cost lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles
a) Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL)
b) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)
c) National Aluminium Company (NALCO)
d) Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL)
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Answer d) Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL). The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) which is finalising a memorandum of understanding with BHEL to help develop low-cost lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles, also envisages a buyback commitment for such batteries. The move is expected to take care of concerns on managing the waste generated at the end of battery life. According to the MoU, BHEL will set up a production plant, while ISRO will provide support for scale-up, joint effort in cost optimisation, research and development for alternate chemistry and buyback commitment.
12. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is set to get its first ‘driverless’ trains on tracks between ___________ and ___________in June this year
a) Mehrauli and Kalkaji
b) Noida and Kalkaji
c) Faridabad and Gurugram
d) Noida and Dwarka
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Answer b) Noida and Kalkaji. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is set to get its first ‘driverless’ trains on tracks between Noida and Kalkaji in June this year. These trains will run only on two metro lines — Pink (Mukundpur-Shiv Vihar) and Magenta (Botanical Garden-Janakpuri West) — and cannot be integrated with the other existing lines. Trials on these lines started last year.
13. Which country has extended the state of emergency in the country by three more months?
a) Iran
b) Sudan
c) Turkey
d) Libya
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Answer c) Turkey. The Turkish government has extended the state of emergency in the country by three more months starting April 19 2017, in the third such extension since a failed coup attempt by a group within the military in July 2016. This is aimed at combating terror threats from Fethullah Terrorist Organisation accused of staging the coup attempt, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said.
14. Which Airlines will become the world’s first airline to track its flights with the help of satellites by 2018?
a) Indian Airlines
b) Malaysia Airlines
c) Saudi Arabian Airlines
d) Singapore Airlines
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Answer b) Malaysia Airlines. Malaysia Airlines will become the world’s first airline to track its flights with the help of satellites by 2018. This will enable the airline to track its flights minute-by-minute, anywhere in the world including over the polar regions and the most remote oceans. No new avionics or modifications are needed for aircraft to be tracked by the satellites.
15. Which State government has decided to provide accidental insurance cover to all residents of the State in the age group of 18 to 70 years under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana’ (PMSBY)?
a) Maharashtra
b) Madya Pradesh
c) Manipur
d) Haryana
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Answer d) Haryana. Haryana Government has decided to provide accidental insurance cover to all residents of the State in the age group of 18 to 70 years under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana’ (PMSBY). The premium would be reimbursed by the state government. A decision to this effect was taken at the Cabinet meeting held under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister Manohar Lal in Chandigarh. The sum insured would be two lakh rupees each in case of accidental death, and, in case of total and irrecoverable loss.
16. India won a total of ____ medals, at the recently-concluded US Open Karate Championship in Las Vegas
a) 7
b) 8
c) 11
d) 15
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Answer c) 11. India won a total of 11 medals, including three gold, two silver, and six bronze, at the recently-concluded US Open Karate Championship in Las Vegas. Sensei Yashpal Singh Kalsi, Abhishek Sengupta, Rantej Singh, Harcharan Singh Chowhan and Shaifali Agarwal were part of the five-member Indian team. The prestigious annual Karate event saw the participation of 2,374 players from 42 countries.
17. Allan Holdsworth who passed away recently was a/an
a) Actor
b) Politician
c) Journalist
d) Musician
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Answer d) Musician. Progressive rock and jazz fusion guitar pioneer Allan Holdsworth passed away in California, U.S. He was 70. Holdsworth was known as a guitarist’s guitarist for his progressive rock and jazz fusion work with bands including Soft Machine, Gong, and U.K. He was known for his advanced knowledge of music, through which he incorporated a vast display of complex chord progressions and intricate solos.
