Home » Daily Current Affairs Quiz – 21st July 2021

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Dear Readers, Daily Current Affairs Questions Quiz for SBI, IBPS, RBI, RRB, SSC Exam 2021 of 21st July 2021. Daily GK quiz online for bank & competitive exam. Here we have given the Daily Current Affairs Quiz based on the previous days Daily Current Affairs updates. Candidates preparing for IBPS, SBI, RBI, RRB, SSC Exam 2021 & other competitive exams can make use of these Current Affairs Quiz.

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1) The duration of‘Stand Up India Scheme’ has been extended by the government to 2025. The scheme was launched in which among the following year?

(a) 2017

(b) 2013

(d) 2020

(e) 2016

2) Which among the following IIT has launched an affordable rapid antigen test kit to detect Covid-19 called COVIHOME, developed entirely by its Centre for Biomedical Engineering?

(a)IIT Madras

(b) IIT Delhi

(d) IIT Kanpur

(e) IIT Hyderabad

3) The Ministry of Jal Shakti has notified the jurisdiction of which among the following rivers Management Board to provide the required authority and power to the two Boards?

(a)Penna and Krishna

(b) Tungabhadra and Krishna

(d) Godavari and Krishna

(e) Tungabhadra and Penna

4) The Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana has launched a new scheme called ‘FASTER’ for instant transmit of bail and other orders to the jail authorities, district courts and the High Courts. What does S mean in FASTER?

(a) Secure

(b) Safe

(d) Steady

(e) Select

5) “Day Zero” roadmap has been launched with no specific expert, inter-ministerial committee, research study for evaluating and preparing the roadmap. Day Zero” roadmap is carried out in _____________Region.

(a) Energy scarce regions

(b)Oxygen scarce regions

(c)Water scarce regions

(d)Vaccine scarce regions

(e)None of these

6) Tertiary value addition centers have been set up in tribal areas of Jagdalpur and Raigad under TRIFOOD. TRIFED does not have its own E-commerce portal in ________.

(a)Amazon

(b)Snapdeal

(c)Flipkart

(d) Gem

(e)ebay

7) Which among the following Organisation leaders have pledged to expand sharing and manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines to fight the global pandemic?

(a) OPEC

(b) SCO

(d) G7

(e) G20

8) Prime Minister-designateof which countrySaad Hariri, has recently stepped down?

(a) Lebanon

(b) Syria

(d) South Sudan

(e)Republic of Congo

9) Which among the following company has planned to set the country’s first ‘Green Hydrogen’ plant at its Mathura refinery?

(a) ONGC

(b) HPCL

(d) IOC

(e) BPCL

10) Which among the following state becomes the first state in the country to issue educational documents using blockchain technology?

(a) Telangana

(b) Maharashtra

(d) Andhra Pradesh

(e) Gujarat

11) TheSupreme Court has lifted a ban on disc jockeys imposed by which among the following High Court?

(a) Chhattisgarh High Court

(b)Bombay High Court

(c)Calcutta High Court

(d)Allahabad High Court

(e)Madras High Court

12) The PM Modihas inaugurated a newly-built five-star hotel, the redeveloped Gandhinagar railway station worth ________ Crore.

(a)Rs 1,100 Crore

(b)Rs 1,200 Crore

(c)Rs 1,300 Crore

(d)Rs 1,400 Crore

(e)Rs 1,500 Crore

13) Which among the following Organisation hasdowngraded India’s economic growth forecast for the current financial year to 10 % from 11 %,predicted earlier this year?

(a) World Bank

(b) Nomura

(d) S&P

(e) ADB

14) Which of the following has partnered with Basmati Export Development Foundation to organize an awareness creation programme for the basmati rice growers?

(a) FICCI

(b) APEDA

(d) NABARD

(e) FSSAI

15) The term Bad Bank has been in recent news. What does Bad Bank mean?

(a)To open NRI Account

(b)To provide interest free Loans

(c)To clear stressed Assets

(d)To investigate Fraudulent

(e)To attract FDI

16) The Share of financial transactions has undertaken through home and mobile channels increased from 29% in FY2018-19 to _____ in FY2020-21.

(a) 76%

(b) 72%

(d) 77%

(e) 75%

17) Which among the following country has emerged as the 2^nd largest foreign exchange reserves holder in the world after China?

(a) US

(b) India

(d) Switzerland

(e) Japan

18) The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying has offered AIHDF to set up new units of dairy processing,& related value addition infrastructure and Animal Feed Plant. What is the fund allotted for AHIDF?

(a)Rs. 11,000 Crore

(b) Rs. 10,000 crore

(c)Rs. 15,000 crore

(d)Rs. 13,000 crore

(e)Rs. 17,000 crore

19) KikoRamírez has been appointed as the head coach of which among the following Footclub?

(a)Bengaluru FC

(b) Hyderabad FC

(c)ATK MohunBagan FC

(d)Chennaiyin FC

(e) Odisha FC

20) The Kerala government has recently amended which among the following Prohibition rules?

(a)Smuggling Prohibition rules

(b)Liquor Prohibition rules

(d)Dowry Prohibition rules

(e)Smoking Prohibition rules

21) Muhammad Yunus has recently received the Olympic Laurel at the Tokyo 2020 Opening Ceremony. He hails from which among the following country?

(a) Bangladesh

(b) Nepal

(d) Malaysia

(e) Afghanistan

22) Under whose Presidency,the BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’ Meeting has held recently?

(a) Brazil

(b) Russia

(d) India

(e) China

23) Ordnance Factory of Tiruchirappallihas handed over the locally assembled 12.7mm stabilised remote control gun system to whom among the following?

(a) Indian Navy

(b) Indian Army

(d) Both A & B

(e) Both A & C

24) A virtual trilateral tabletop exercise has been participated by India, Sri Lanka along with which country?

(a) US

(b) Maldives

(d) Russia

(e) Japan

25) The State Government of Karnataka has decided to set up Sainik School in which among the following district of Karnataka?

(a) Bengaluru

(b)Tumakuru

(c)Shivamogga

(d)Udupi

(e)Bagalkot

26) The Government has taken several policy initiatives to promote indigenisation and self-reliance in Defence sector. ‘2nd Positive Indigenisation list’ consists of __________ items.

(a)110 items

(b)102 items

(d)108 items

(e)101 items

27) What is the total allocation (approx.)for Capital Acquisition has been allocated under ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’?

(a)Rs 1,11,463 Crore

(b)Rs 1,11,464 Crore

(d) Rs 1,11,466 Crore

(e) Rs 1,11,467 Crore

28) Zircon hypersonic cruise missile has been successfully tested by which among the following country’s Defense ministry?

(a) Japan

(b) China

(d) Saudi Arabia

(e) Malaysia

29) Which among the following has launched a new campaign called ‘KALA VISHWA’, from its Mumbai Centre?

(a) IGNOU

(b) CCRT

(d) BIS

(e) ICCR

30) What is the maximum firing range of S-500, air defence missile systems, has been recently test fired by Russia?

(a) 800 Km

(b)600 Km

(d)500 Km

(e)1000 Km

31) ViswanathanAnand has been won the Sparkassen Trophyby defeatingVladimir Kramnik in which among the following country?

(a) Italy

(b)Germany

(d) Argentina

(e) Russia

32) At the ICC’s 78th Annual General Meeting, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Switzerland have been joined as the newest member countries of ICC.ICC now comprises of ____ Members.

(a)108 Members

(b)103 Members

(d)106 Members

(e)101 Members

33) Gira Sarabhai co-founder of National Institute of Design has passed away recently.NID is located at ________

(a) Ahmedabad

(b) Kolkata

(d) Indore

(e) Bangalore

Answers :

1) Answer: E

The Government of India has extended the duration of ‘Stand Up India Scheme’ up to year the 2025, MoS for Social Justice and Empowerment SushriPratimaBhoumik.

This scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 5, 2016. The objective of the ‘Stand Up India Scheme’ is to facilitate loans from Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) of value between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore to at least one SC or ST borrower and one woman borrower per bank branch for setting up green field enterprise in manufacturing, service or trading sector.

Finance Minister in the Budget Speech for Financial Year 2021-22, the margin money requirement for loans under the ‘Stand Up India Scheme’ has been reduced from 25 per cent to up to 15 per cent.

Activities allied to agriculture have been included in the scheme and apart from this, no other change is contemplated

2) Answer: B

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D) launched an affordable rapid antigen test kit to detect Covid-19 ,COVIHOMEat priced Rs.50, which was developed entirely by its Centre for Biomedical Engineering (CBME) led by professor Harpal Singh.

The kit was launched by minister of state for education Sanjay Dhotre, who stated the premier institute’s efforts have helped the country in becoming more“self-sufficient” in its fight against the deadly virus.

IIT-Delhi first disrupted the RT-PCR market with a Rs.399 probe-free RT PCR kit, launched in July 2020.

Over 8 million high-quality PPE kits were supplied so far, using the technology developed at IIT-Delhi. Now, the institute is launching a rapid diagnostic kit, costing Rs.50, for Covid-19.

3) Answer: D

The Ministry of Jal Shakti through Gazette Notification dated 15.07.2021 has notified the jurisdiction of Godavari River Management Board and Krishna River Management Board, which provide the required authority and power to the two Boards in terms of administration, regulation, operation and maintenance of listed projects in Godavari and Krishna rivers in the two States.

This step is expected to ensure judicious utilization of water resources in the two states. The Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act 2014 (APRA) contains provisions for the effective management of river waters in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

The Constitution of the Godavari and Krishna River Management Boards and the constitution of an Apex Council for the supervision of the functioning of these Boards, is laid down in this Act.

The Central Government in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 85 of the APRA, 2014, constituted the two River Management Boards effective from 2nd June, 2014 for the administration, regulation, maintenance and operation of such projects on Godavari and Krishna rivers, as may be notified by the Central Government.

This decision of the Union Government for notifying the jurisdiction of two Boards would go a long way in enabling the River Boards to discharge their responsibilities to the fullest as mandated in the APRA, 2014 and bring about efficiency in management of water resources in the two States.

4) Answer: A

Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana launched a new scheme called ‘FASTER’ or ‘Fast and Secure Transmission of Electronic Records’.

Under the scheme, the Supreme Court will instantly transmit bail and other orders to the jail authorities, district courts and the High Courts. This will be done in a secure way electronically.

As per the present practice, hard copy of the bail order received by hand is mandated.The Supreme Court announced a plan to set up a system for swift and secure electronic transmission of its rulings to jail authorities so that prisoners who have been granted relief are not left waiting for a certified order copy in order to be released.

A bench headed by him had taken suomotu cognizance of the delay in the release of 13 prisoners from Agra Central Jail despite the court granting them bail on July 8. The bench, also comprising Justices L NageswaraRao and A S Bopanna, mentioned it is contemplating a system — ‘FASTER’ — to address the issue.

5) Answer: C

No specific expert / inter-ministerial committee / research study / policy / plan / strategy for studying, evaluating and preparing a “Day Zero” roadmap/policy for water scarce regions of the country has been conducted.

The Central Water Commission has also carried out the study “Reassessment of Water Availability in India using Space Inputs” in 2019.

However, the Dynamic Ground Water Resources of the country are being periodically assessed jointly by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and State Governments.

Water being a State subject, steps for augmentation, conservation and efficient management of water resources are primarily undertaken by the respective State Governments.

In order to supplement the efforts of the State Governments, Central Government provides technical and financial assistance to them through various schemes and programmes.

Central Government has formulated National Water Policy (NWP), 2012 which inter-alia recommends conservation, promotion and protection of water. It also advocates conservation of river, river bodies and infrastructure to be undertaken in a scientifically planned manner through community participation.

6) Answer: E

Tertiary value addition centres being set up in tribal areas of Jagdalpur and Raigad under TRIFOOD.

Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED), under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, has its own E-commerce portal www.tribesindia.com to market tribal products.

It is also present on all major e-commerce portals like Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart, Paytm, and Gem.

TRIFOOD Scheme is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Food Processing Industry, Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED. Under this scheme, tertiary value addition centres are being set up by TRIFED at Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh and Raigad in Maharashtra at a cost of approximately Rs.11 crore.

7) Answer: C

Leaders of the Asia-Pacific trade group APEC, including US President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin have pledged to work to expand sharing and manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines to fight the global pandemic.

The leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation stated that they would encourage the voluntary transfer of vaccine production technologies on mutually agreed terms as the region prepared for future health shocks.

After a virtual meeting chaired by New Zealand, the leaders noted in a joint statement, the pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on our region’s people and economies.

They mentioned they will only overcome this health emergency by accelerating equitable access to safe, effective, quality-assured, and affordable COVID-19 vaccines.

The APEC leaders met virtually to discuss collective actions to navigate the COVID-19

pandemic and its economic impacts.

8) Answer: A

Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stepped down over what he called “key differences” with the president, deepening a political crisis that has left the Lebanese without a government for nine months even as they endure an unprecedented economic meltdown.

With no clear candidate to replace Hariri, Lebanon is likely to slide deeper into chaos and uncertainty.

Prospects for forming a government to undertake desperately needed reforms and talks for a recovery package with the International Monetary Fund are now even more remote

9) Answer: D

India’s largest oil firm IOC will build the nation’s first ‘green hydrogen’ plant at its Mathura refinery, as it aims to prepare for a future catering to the growing demand for both oil and cleaner forms of energy.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) chairman ShrikantMadhavVaidya stated it has drawn a strategic growth path that aims to maintain focus on its core refining and fuel marketing businesses while making bigger inroads into petrochemicals, hydrogen and electric mobility over the next 10 years.

The company will not set captive power plants at all its future refinery and petrochemical expansion projects and instead use the 250 MW of electricity it produces from renewable sources like solar power.

10) Answer: B

Maharashtra will be the first state in the country to issue educational documents using blockchain technology.

Maharashtra’s Skill Development Minister Nawab Malik stated, one million diploma certificates will be issued using this technology. Forgery of documents is a serious concern for various educational and other institutions.

Many steps are being taken to avoid forgery along with verification of documents. Maharashtra State Board of Skill Development has decided to issue block chain based certificates to students.

Around 10 lakh digital certificates will be issued to diploma holders of eight educational years.

Mr. Malik stated that Singapore, Malta and Bahrain are the only countries using this technology. Maharashtra will be the 1st Indian state and world’s largest user of Blockchain for educational certificates.

11) Answer: D

The Supreme Court lifted a blanket ban imposed on disc jockeys by the Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh two years in the past.

A Bench, led by Justice VineetSareen, mentioned disc jockeys might carry out at capabilities supplied they observe the foundations and procure essential licences.

The High Court had handed a common order in August 2019 directing authorities to refuse permission to DJs underneath The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules of 2000 as they create noise at “unpleasant and obnoxious levels”.

The High Court had famously argued that even minimal ranges of sound at which DJs function violate the foundations

12) Answer: A

:Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated projects worth over Rs 1,100 crore in Gujarat. These projects include three new attractions in a state-of-the-art science city, a five-star hotel atop a railway station and several railway projects.

The PM first inaugurated a newly-built five-star hotel atop the redeveloped Gandhinagar railway station and later inaugurated three new attractions at the Science City in Ahmedabad through video-conferencing.

During the virtual event, PM Modi would also flag off Gandhinagar-Varanasi weekly superfast train and Gandhinagar-Varetha train. Gandhinagar railway station has been developed after 35 years.

Due to the Prime Minister’s vision, the Indian Railways have received international fame. Few such examples are VandeBharata Express and ‘Oxygen Express’ trains.

13) Answer: E

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has downgraded India’s economic growth forecast for the current financial year to 10 per cent, from 11 percent predicted earlier this year, mainly on account of the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

India’s GDP growth recovered to 1.6 per cent in the last quarter of fiscal year ended March 2021, narrowing contraction in the whole fiscal year from 8 per cent estimated in April to a revised 7.3 per cent, the multilateral funding agency stated in the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) Supplement.

Then a second wave of the pandemic induced many state governments to impose strict containment measures. New COVID-19 cases daily peaked at more than 4,00,000 in early May, then fell to a little over 40,000 in early July

14) Answer: B

APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority) with Basmati Export Development Foundation (BEDF) organizes an awareness creation programme for the basmati rice growers.

For boosting exports, both APEDA and BEDF has taken an innovative step to sensitize farmers involved in the cultivation of Basmati rice.

As part of the nationwide celebration of 75 years of India’s independence or ‘AzadiKaAmrutMahotsav’, BEDF launched an awareness drive for farmers for judicious use of chemicals in basmati paddy cultivation.

Through the awareness creation programme, farmers were informed that the Basmati rice cultivation is an Indian tradition and it is a collective responsibility to maintain this tradition as there is huge demand for Basmati rice in the global market.

The farmers have been requested to get themselves registered on basmati.net through State Agriculture Department.

Basmati.net is developed by APEDA and is aimed to provide a common platform to all stakeholders in the supply chain to enter details of activities undertaken by them as part of the Basmati value chain.

India exported 4.63 million tons of Basmati rice valued at Rs 29,849 crore ($ US 4019 million) in 2020-21.

15) Answer: C

The Government has launched a Bad Bank with all the regulatory approvals in place. The high level of provisioning by public sector banks of their stressed assets calls for measures to clean up the bank books.

An Asset Reconstruction Company Limited and Asset Management Company would be set up to consolidate and take over the existing stressed debt and then manage and dispose of the assets to Alternate Investment Funds and other potential investors for eventual value realization.

Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) has apprised with regard to incorporation of the National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL) that NARCL has been registered with the Registrar of Companies on 7.7.2021.

The Reserve Bank of India, being the regulator of Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs), has already prescribed a regulatory framework for the functioning of ARCs and there are well-laid norms for transfer of stressed assets by banks and non-banking finance companies to ARCs. Identification of non-performing assets by an ARC is an on-going process

16) Answer: A

Nearly 72% of financial transactions of PSBs done through digital channels. Share of financial transactions undertaken through home and mobile channels increased from 29% in FY2018-19 to 76% in FY2020-21

The Government has taken a number of steps to facilitate digital banking, doorstep banking services and digital lending platforms.

Initiation of digital lending has been made contactless through PSBloansin59minutes.com, using triangulation of credit bureau, income-tax and goods and services tax (GST) data, to provide online in principle approval for MSME loans.

Online bill discounting for MSMEs has been enabled on a competitive basis through Public Sector Banks (PSBs) onboarding onto the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) platform and the proportion of online discounted bills has grown rapidly.

Government’s ‘JeevanPramaan’ initiative for pensioners has enabled senior citizen pensioners the facility to update their annual life certificate online.

17) Answer: E

India emerges as 5th largest forex reserves holder in the world with $608.99 billion as on June 25, 2021

India has emerged as the fifth largest foreign exchange reserves holder in the world after China, Japan, Switzerland and Russia.India’s foreign exchange reserves position is comfortable in terms of import cover of more than 18 months and provides cushion against unforeseen external shocks.

Government and RBI are closely monitoring the emerging external position calibrating policies or regulations to support robust macroeconomic growth.

RBI takes regular steps for diversification of forex reserves by scaling up operations in forex swap and repo markets, acquisition of gold and exploring new markets/products, while adhering to safety and liquidity standards.

Variation in India’s forex reserves is primarily the outcome of RBI’s intervention in the foreign exchange market to smoothen exchange rate volatility, valuation changes due to movement of US dollar against other international currencies in the reserve basket, movement in gold prices, interest earnings from deployment of foreign currency assets and inflow of aid receipts.

18) Answer: C

Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) offers financial support to entrepreneurs, private companies, MSME and Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs)

The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD), Government of India,with a view to provide dedicated focus towards promoting & facilitating investments in the Indian Dairy sector, has setup Dairy Investment Accelerator under its Investment Facilitation Cell.

This Investment Accelerator is a cross functional team constituted to serve as the interface with investors.Dairy Investment Accelerator is also generating awareness among investors about Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development fund (AHIDF).

AHIDF is one of the flagship schemes by DAHD, Government of India whereby Rs. 15,000 crore fund has been setup for offering financial support

Eligible entities can avail the benefits of the scheme to set up new units or expand existing units in areas of dairy processing & related value addition infrastructure, meat processing & related value addition infrastructure and Animal Feed Plant.

The benefits available are:
3% interest subvention on loans
2-year moratorium with 6-year repayment period
INR 750 Cr credit guarantee

19) Answer: E

Odisha FC announced that it has appointed KikoRamírez as the head coach ahead of the upcoming eighth season of the Indian Super League.

The 51-year-old Spaniard, who will replace Stuart Baxter, has signed for the Bhubaneswar-based franchise for a year, with an option to extend after the season.

After his retirement from professional football as a player, Ramírez started his coaching career with Spanish club Gimnastic as its assistant coach in 2002 and then as its youth coach.

He was the second coach at the club in the first division in Spain as well

20) Answer: D

In view of increasing cases of dowry harassment in the state, the Kerala government has amended its dowry Prohibition rules.

According to the new amended norms, dowry prohibition officers will be appointed in all 14 districts in the state.

State Health Minister Veena George stated the post of dowry prohibition officers had existed on a regional basis in 3 districts- Thiruvananthapuram, Emakula and Kozhikode and it has now been expanded to all districts.

“The appointment of the dowry prohibition officers is part of the government’s efforts to crack down on dowry in view of increasing cases nowadays”.

21) Answer: A

Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus will follow in the footsteps of legendary Kenyan Olympic champion Kip Keino when he receives the Olympic Laurel at the Tokyo 2020 Opening Ceremony here.

Professor Yunus has been awarded the prize for “his extensive work in sport for development, including founding the Yunus Sports Hub, a global social business network”.

22) Answer: D

Union Minister for Labour & Employment ShriBhupenderYadav chaired the BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’ Meeting under India’s Presidency.

Ministers of the member countries viz. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa participated in the meeting.

India organized the BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers’ Meeting to exchange views on the impact of Covid-19 on global labour market, enhance information sharing, discuss and agree upon specific areas of cooperation between BRICS Member countries.

Discussion on four priority areas of cooperation took place namely, Promoting Social Security Agreements amongst BRICS Nations; Formalization of Labour Markets; Participation of Women in the Labour Force; and Gig and Platform Workers: Role in the Labour Market.

23) Answer: E

Ordnance Factory of Tiruchirappalli (OFT) handed over the locally assembled 12.7mm stabilised remote control gun (SRCG) system to the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard for enhanced surveillance and warfare.

The first batch consisted of 25 weapons & it was assembled in the Trichy factory through the transfer of technology (ToT) initiative with the support of an Israel-based defence company.

The SRCG system is fitted with a 12.7mm M2 NATO standard heavy machine gun, designed to suit marine warfare.

The system is manufactured and supplied to the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard through the transfer of technology from Elbit Systems, Israel in various phases.

24) Answer: B

Top defence officials from India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives participated in a virtual trilateral tabletop exercise where they discussed best practices and procedures for countering common transnational maritime crime like curbing narcotics and assistance in maritime search and rescue.

The two-day exercise, TTX-2021, from July 14 to July 15 aimed at enhancing mutual understanding and exchange of best practices procedures for countering common transnational crime was coordinated by the Maritime Warfare Centre, Mumbai, the Indian High Commission.

The exercise focused on maritime crimes like curbing narcotics and assistance in maritime search and rescue in the region.

25) Answer: C

A reference was received from the State Government of Karnataka to the central government for setting up of a Sainik School in Shivamogga district of Karnataka.

In response to the reference reply, the Central government informed that there is no plan under consideration to open more Sainik Schools other than the ones operational in the State of Karnataka, under the ambit of the existing scheme of things.

Government is proposing to bring a new scheme for setting up Sainik Schools in the country in partnership with NGOs/Private Schools/State etc.

The endeavour is to provide schooling opportunities in ‘CBSE Plus’ type of educational environment by involving desirous Government/Private Schools/NGOs to partner in establishing/aligning their system with Sainik Schools ethos, value system and national pride.

It envisages enrolling existing/upcoming schools to be run to the line of Sainik Schools curriculum.

26) Answer: D

The Government has taken several policy initiatives and brought in reforms to promote indigenisation and self-reliance in defence manufacturing, under AatmaNirbhar Bharat Mission in the defence sector

Ministry of Defence has notified a ‘First Positive Indigenisation list’ of 101 items on 21st August, 2020 and ‘2nd Positive Indigenisation list’ of 108 items on 31st May, 2021 for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timelines indicated against them. This is a big step to promote indigenisation in defence sector.

This offers a great opportunity to the Indian defence industry to manufacture these items using their own design and development capabilities to meet the requirements of the Indian Armed Forces.

SRIJAN portal to promote indigenisation was launched on 14 August, 2020. As on date, 10,929 items, which were earlier imported, have been displayed on the portal for indigenisation.

27) Answer: A

In line with Government of India’s initiative of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, it has been decided to earmark an amount of Rs 71,438.36 crore for domestic capital procurement out of the total allocation of Rs 1,11,463.21 crore for Capital Acquisition.

Capital procurement of defence equipment are undertaken from various domestic as well as foreign vendors, based on threat perception, operational challenges and technological changes and to keep the Armed Forces in a state of readiness.

During last three financial years i.e. 2018-19 to 2020-21, 102 contracts have been signed with Indian vendors for capital procurement of defence equipment such as aircrafts, missiles, tanks, bullet proof jackets, guns, navy vessels, radars, networks etc.

In order to provide impetus to self-reliance in defence manufacturing as part of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative, two Positive Indigenization Lists have been promulgated. The lists intend to implement the ban in a staggered manner up to December 2025.

28) Answer: C

The Russian defense ministry successfully tests fired the Zircon hypersonic cruise missile.

The missile had been fired from the Admiral Gorshkov, a warship in the White Sea. It successfully hit a target more than 350 kilometers (about 217 miles) away.

Zircon meaning invincible. It could hit targets at sea and on land with a range of 1,000 kilometres and a speed of Mach 9.

It plans to equip both warships and submarines with the Zircon.

29) Answer: E

On July 18, 2021, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) launched a new campaign called ‘KALA VISHWA’, from its Mumbai Centre.

It will help to present traditional folk arts of India to foreign students and also be of help to the neglected artists.

Kala Vishwas is a special campaign under the Horizon Series that will be held for a duration of six months.

30) Answer: B

On July 20, 2021, Russia successfully test-fired its new S-500 air defence missile systems, from a southern training range, Kapustin Yar& hit a high-speed ballistic target as planned.

The S-500, also known as Prometey or 55R6M “Triumfator-M”. It is a Russian surface-to-air missile/anti-ballistic missile system which is the most advanced anti-missile system in the world and is capable of countering attacks from space.

The S-500 missile system is under development by the Almaz-Antey Air Defence Concern.

It has a maximum firing range of 600 kilometres.

31) Answer: B

On July 18, 2021, India’s GM ViswanathanAnand defeated Vladimir Kramnik of Russia to win the Sparkassen Trophy in his fourth and final round held in Dortmund, Germany.

It is a brand new format of four-game chess match.Playing white in a Tarrasch variation, Anand, a former world champion, settled for a draw in 40 moves, to win the match 2.5-1.5.

The event was played as part of the “No-Castling” Chess devised by the Russian GM.

32) Answer: D

On July 18,2021, The International Cricket Council (ICC) welcomed its newest member countries Mongolia, Tajikistan and Switzerland at the ICC’s 78th Annual General Meeting held.

With this, ICC now comprises a total 106 Members including 94 Associates. Mongolia & Tajikistan and Switzerland as the 22nd and 23rd & 35th members of the Asia region respectively.

33) Answer: A

On July 15, 2021, Gira Sarabhai, co-founder of the renowned National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad passed away. She was 98.

Gira Sarabhai was born in 1923.Gira Sarabhai was an Indian architect, designer, and a design pedagogue.

She was the representative of the Sarabhai Foundation, a public charitable trust. She was the pioneer of design education in India.