Current Affairs Quiz
1. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was honoured with a Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt.) degree by ______________
a) Jadavpur University
b) Aliah University
c) Calcutta University
d) Rabindra Bharati University
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Answer c) Calcutta University. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was honoured with a Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt.) degree by the Calcutta University. Banerjee, an alumnus of the university, was recognised for her social service. The CU has announced that it will bestow the honorary D.Litt on the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief, an alumnus, for her contribution to social service at its convocation on January 11.
2. The Union Cabinet cleared a proposal allowing _____ foreign direct investment (FDI) in single-brand retail via automatic route
a) 60%
b) 75%
c) 90%
d) 100%
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Answer d) 100%. The Union Cabinet cleared a proposal allowing 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in single-brand retail via automatic route. This makes it easier for foreign brands to fully own their Indian stores when earlier they needed to partner with local brands. This was aimed at liberalising and simplifying FDI policy to improve ease of doing business in the country.
3. Which company has unveiled a prototype of what it claims is the world’s smallest 1 TB USB flash drive at CES 2018?
a) SanDisk
b) Transcend
c) Toshiba
d) Sony
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Answer a) SanDisk. SanDisk has unveiled a prototype of what it claims is the world’s smallest 1 TB USB flash drive at CES 2018. The new storage solution, which comes with a Type-C port, would allow users to directly connect the drive to smartphones. SanDisk also unveiled the world’s smallest 256 GB USB flash drive with reported speeds of up to 130 MBps.
4. Which state government is planning to introduce a separate category for orphans appearing for various competitive exams?
a) Jharkhand
b) Maharashtra
c) Gujarat
d) Haryana
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Answer b) Maharashtra. The Maharashtra government is planning to introduce a separate category for orphans appearing for various competitive exams. CM Devendra Fadnavis cited a case of an orphan girl who cleared an exam but could not qualify in the general category.
5. Who has been appointed as the Chairman of the Geneva-based World Business Council for Sustainable Development?
a) Anand Mahindra
b) Sunny Verghese
c) Subrata Roy
d) Deepak Parekh
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Answer b) Sunny Verghese. Singapore-based Indian-origin businessman Sunny Verghese has been appointed as the Chairman of the Geneva-based World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Verghese, 57, Co-Founder and the CEO of Singapore’s agri-business group Olam International Limited, is the first World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Chair from the agri-sector.
6. Who became the first ever female lawyer to be directly recommended for the position of a Supreme Court judge by the Collegium?
a) Geetha Mishra
b) Brindha Devi
c) Indu Malhotra
d) Divya Bharathi
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Answer c) Indu Malhotra. Indu Malhotra became the first ever female lawyer to be directly recommended for the position of a Supreme Court judge by the Collegium, according to reports. The five-judge Collegium unanimously recommended Malhotra and Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph for the six Supreme Court judge vacancies. Only one female judge is presently serving at the apex court.
7. Ministry of Railways have launched Smart Freight Operation Optimisation & Real Time Information (SFOORTI) App for Freight Managers, who is the Union Minister of Railways?
a) Suresh Prabhu
b) Piyush Goyal
c) Nitin Gadkari
d) Sadananda Gowda
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Answer b) Piyush Goyal. In a major digital initiative to help plan the traffic flows and optimize freight operations, Ministry of Railways have launched Smart Freight Operation Optimisation & Real Time Information (SFOORTI) App for Freight Managers which provides features for monitoring and managing freight business using Geographic Information System (GIS) Views and Dashboard.
8. The 4th Annual Women Leadership Summit held at ______________
a) IIM-Bangalore
b) IIM-Ahmedabad
c) IIM- Kozhikode
d) IIM-Indore
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Answer a) IIM-Bangalore. The 4th Annual Women Leadership Summit held at IIM-Bangalore on January 13, 2018. Organised by the student-run Women in Management Club (WIM) of IIM-Bangalore, the theme for this year is ‘Redefining Power for a Newer Tomorrow’. Diversity issues prevalent to both men and women will be discussed during the summit.
9. US approves ₹800-crore anti-ballistic missile sale to __________
a) Russia
b) India
c) Japan
d) China
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Answer c) Japan. The White House has greenlighted the sale of four interceptor missiles that Tokyo wants to buy from Washington to “fundamentally” improve its defenses. The missiles can be deployed on land-based Aegis launchers. The US State Department announced had given preliminary approval for Japan to purchase four SM-3 Block 2A missiles manufactured by Raytheon Co and BAE Systems, related hardware equipment, and technological, engineering and logistics services provided by the US government and contractors.
10. __________ based researchers have discovered that liquid water can be cooled down to -42.55ºC, far below its normal freezing point of 0ºC
a) India
b) China
c) USA
d) Europe
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Answer d) Europe. Europe-based researchers have discovered that liquid water can be cooled down to -42.55ºC, far below its normal freezing point of 0ºC. The team cooled tiny droplets in vacuum and used lasers to measure the diameter change to calculate their temperature. Another team showed, water on supercooling can exist in two interchangeable liquid states with different densities, and called it ‘singularity’.
11. Which country to build world’s largest solar-thermal power plant?
a) Russia
b) Australia
c) China
d) Germany
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Answer b) Australia. A proposal to build the world’s largest thermal solar plant has been approved by the South Australian government. It paves the way for the construction of the AU$650 million (US$512mn) facility by a US-based company. The 150-megawatt facility will harness solar energy by using mirrors known as heliostats to focus sunlight onto one central tower.
