Current Affairs Quiz
1. The government has appointed ______________as Chairman and Manging Director (CMD) of Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL)
a) V Harish Kumar
b) S Selva Kumar
c) K Anand Kumar
d) C Mahesh Kumar
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Answer b) S Selva Kumar. The government has appointed senior IAS officer S Selvakumar as Chairman and Manging Director (CMD) of Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL). The state-owned SPMCIL produces bank notes, coins, postage stamps, non-judicial stamps and other official documents. Selvakumar replaces Anurag Agarwal who was appointed to the post on September 27, 2017.
2. The biennial search and rescue exercise by ships and aircraft from the Indian and ____________ Coast Guards, to be witnessed by observers from 27 maritime nation
a) USA
b) China
c) Japan
d) Russia
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Answer c) Japan. The biennial search and rescue exercise by ships and aircraft from the Indian and Japanese Coast Guards, to be witnessed by observers from 27 maritime nation. The exercise, the eighth such in the series of ‘National Maritime Search and Rescue Workshop and Exercise,’ will see ships and aircraft of Coast Guards from India and Japan, the Indian Navy and Air Force and National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) taking part.
3. Which state Government has decided to use the blockchain technology and is planning to bring out a White Paper on ‘Blockchain Use in Governance’ as a prelude to a separate policy?
a) Andhra Pradesh
b) Maharashtra
c) Haryana
d) Karnataka
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Answer d) Karnataka. The Karnataka Government has decided to use the blockchain technology and is planning to bring out a White Paper on ‘Blockchain Use in Governance’ as a prelude to a separate policy. As a first step, various government departments have been consulted to develop use case studies for a ‘Blockchain Hackathon’. The Blockchain Hackathon for Governance will be held from January 19 to 21 and will be a fast-paced event designed to create demonstrable prototypes of the use of Blockchain in government applications.
4. Which company has acquired Bengaluru-based payments startup iKaaz?
a) Grab
b) Lyft
c) Ola
d) Careem
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Answer a) Grab. Uber rival Grab has acquired Bengaluru-based payments startup iKaaz to help expand its digital payments platform GrabPay. As a part of the deal, the iKaaz team will join the Singapore-headquartered Grab’s research and development centre in Bengaluru. Founded in 2012 by Soma Sundaram, iKaaz offers a mobile payments platform for enterprises, business correspondents, and merchants.
5. Which state government has decided to form a new non-banking financial company (NBFC) to act as an in-house treasury manager for efficient management of surplus funds of state public enterprises and autonomous bodies?
a) Jharkhand
b) Haryana
c) Uttar Pradesh
d) Bihar
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Answer b) Haryana. The Haryana government has decided to form a new non-banking financial company (NBFC) Haryana State Financial Services Limited (HSFL) to act as an in-house treasury manager for efficient management of surplus funds of state public enterprises and autonomous bodies. The newly set up NBFC would enable quick and hassle-free lending and create financial discipline among the state government entities. It would also result in centralized mechanism for prudent management of funds under the overall control and supervision of the general administration department.
6. Samsung India has launched a new shopping app and service, called ___________, exclusively for the Indian market
a) Samsung Pay
b) Samsung Super
c) Samsung Mall
d) Samsung Market
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Answer c) Samsung Mall. Samsung India has launched a new shopping app and service, called Samsung Mall, exclusively for the Indian market. The app offers visual searching of products online and provides an interface to shop across different e-commerce sites, like Amazon and Flipkart. Samsung has also launched its new smartphone called Galaxy On7 Prime along with the app.
7. Which state to get largest accelerator for start-ups – “DevX”?
a) Gujarat
b) Madhya Pradesh
c) West Bengal
d) Rajasthan
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Answer a) Gujarat. As the country celebrates two years of Startup India mission, a new chapter in the start-up field is opening up in Ahmedabad creating co-working spaces for tech startups to incubate and get nurtured. To be named as DevX, the accelerator will have co-working space of about 15,000-18,000 square feet at single location with seating capacity for over 250 people. This will be Gujarat’s largest accelerator. It will focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IOT), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Financial technology areas. The first phase will get ready by May 2018 with about 10,000 sqft area and full commissioning will happen by December 2018.
8. The Adani Group would invest ₹750 crore to double the capacity of the company’s edible oil refinery in ____________
a) Telangana
b) Maharashtra
c) Himachal Pradesh
d) West Bengal
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Answer d) West Bengal. The Adani Group would invest ₹750 crore to double the capacity of the company’s edible oil refinery at Haldia in West Bengal. “We have created 4,500 direct-indirect jobs in Bengal,” Adani Wilmar MD Pranav Adani said. He further added that the company will also be exploring agri-logistics and warehousing.
9. World’s biggest flooded cave found in _____________
a) Morocco
b) Mexico
c) Spain
d) Germany
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Answer b) Mexico. A 347-km-long flooded cave in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula has been identified by a group of divers as the world’s longest underwater cave system. The Gran Acuifero Maya project found that two previously discovered cave systems measuring 263 km and 83 km in length were connected. The discovery could help shed new light on the ancient Maya civilisation, said the group.
10. Which country has constructed an experimental air purifying tower, touted to be the world’s biggest at a height of over 100 meters (328 feet)?
a) India
b) Russia
c) China
d) Japan
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Answer c) China. China has constructed an experimental air purifying tower, touted to be the world’s biggest at a height of over 100 meters (328 feet). The Xian smog tower is undergoing testing by researchers at the Institute of Earth Environment at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Cao Junji, the research head said that the tower has managed to produce more than 10 million cubic metres (353 million cubic feet) of clean air a day since its launch.
11. Which Indian city has been ranked as Asia’s fifth most expensive rental city for expatriates?
a) New Delhi
b) Bangalore
c) Hyderabad
d) Mumbai
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Answer d) Mumbai. Mumbai has been ranked as Asia’s fifth most expensive rental city for expatriates, leaving behind Singapore which stood at eighth rank on the list. Hong Kong has topped the list with an average price of $10,461 per month for an unfurnished, three-bedroom apartment in expatriate neighbourhoods, according to consultancy firm ECA International. Tokyo has been ranked second on the list.
12. World’s fifth largest diamond discovered in ___________
a) Lesotho
b) Botswana
c) Guinea
d) Gabon
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Answer a) Lesotho. A 910 carat gem diamond has been recovered in a Lesotho mine, the size of which makes it the fifth largest gem quality diamond ever found. This is according to a statement from Gem Diamonds, a British-based diamond company listed on the London Stock Exchange. Gem Diamonds has operations in both Botswana, where it owns Ghaghoo mine, and Lesotho, where it owns 70 percent of the Letšeng Diamond Mine.
13. Which company tops Thomson Reuters top 100 global tech leaders list?
a) Samsung
b) Microsoft
c) Apple
d) Google
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Answer b) Microsoft. Thomson Reuters has published its debut “Top 100 Global Technology Leaders” list with Microsoft in the no. 1 spot followed by chipmaker Intel Corp (INTC.O) and network gear maker Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O). The list, which aims to identify the industry’s top financially successful and organizationally sound organizations, features U.S. tech giants such as Apple Inc (AAPL.O) , Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) , International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) and Texas Instruments Inc (TXN.O), among its top 10.
14. Famous footballer Ronaldinho has retired from football, he belongs to _________
a) Spain
b) Russia
c) Germany
d) Brazil
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Answer d) Brazil. The Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldinho has retired from football. The 37-year-old, who also won the Champions League and Ballon d’Or in a glittering career, has not played for a professional team since leaving Fluminense in 2015.
15. W.B. Rao who passed away recently, he was a renowned ________ film cinematographer
a) Tamil
b) Telugu
c) Hindi
d) Bengali
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Answer c) Hindi. Renowned Hindi film cinematographer W.B. Rao passed away. Some of his famous films are blockbusters like ‘Hum’, ‘Khuda Gawah’, ‘Dhadkan’, ‘Rangeela’, ‘Judwaa’, ‘Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega’, ‘Afsana Pyar Ka’, ‘Barsaat Ki Raat’, ‘Insaaf’, and ‘Jurrat’.
16. Ava Mukherjee who passed away recently was a/an
a) Actress
b) Politician
c) Singer
d) Poet
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Answer a) Actress. Veteran actress Ava Mukherjee, who played the role of Shah Rukh Khan’s grandmother in the 2002 film ‘Devdas’, passed away at the age of 88 on Monday. She made her acting debut in films with the 1966 Bengali film ‘Ram Dhakka’. The actress is also known for her roles in ‘Detective Naani’, ‘Darna Zaroori Hai’ and ‘The Firm Land’.
