Current Affairs Quiz

Daily Current Affairs Quiz – 28th & 29th February 2020

Dear Readers, Daily Current Affairs Questions Quiz for SBI, IBPS, RBI, RRB, SSC Exam 2020 of 28th & 29th February 2020. 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 2020 & other competitive exams can make use of these Current Affairs Quiz.

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1) The National Science Day is observed annually on which date?

A) February 27

B) February 25

C) February 24

D) February 26

E) February 28

2) Which company has cancelled its annual F8 developers conference over fears about the possible spread of the novel coronavirus?

A) Twitter

B) Youtube

C) Facebook

D) Microsoft

E) Google

3) Who has been appointed as the Chief Financial Officer of Axis Bank ?

A) Nalin Mehta

B) Rajesh Kapoor

C) Puneet Sharma

D) Narinder Singh

E) Anand Mishra

4) Who has been named as the Managing Director and CEO of IndusInd Bank?

A) Rani Rajput

B) Amita Mishra

C) Usha Mahajan

D) Naveen Chawla

E) Sumant Kathpalia

5) IndiGo has tied-up with which bank to launch a co-branded credit card called ‘Ka-ching’?

A) Bandhan Bank

B) HDFC Bank

C) Axis Bank

D) ICICI Bank

E) State Bank of India

6) Which novel has been awarded the Sahitya Akademi’s translation prize for 2019 in the category of translation into English?

A) Daatu

B) Gruhabhanga

C) Malegalalli Madumagalu

D) Kusumabale

E) Aavarana

7) The Union Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal has launched which portal for real time monitoring of price of tomato, onion and potato?

A) Market intelligence and analytics system

B) Market intelligence and data system

C) Market Forecast and Warning system

D) Market Forecast system

E) Market Intelligence and Early Warning System

8) The government will host the Summit ‘RAISE 2020’ on Artificial Intelligence in which city?

A) Pune

B) Gurugram

C) New Delhi

D) Chennai

E) Hyderabad

9) The two day conference of Enhancing Energy Cooperation in the BIMSTEC region will be held in which city?

A) New Delhi

B) Aizawl

C) Chennai

D) Dhaka

E) Bengaluru

10) ____________ has become India’s most desired brand for the fourth time according to TRA research.

A) Reliance

B) Oppo

C) Samsung

D) Infosys

E) Redmi

11) Who was the chief guest for launching the Offshore Patrol Vessel-6 “VAJRA” in Chennai?

A) Narendra Modi

B) Amit Shah

C) Venkiah Naidu

D) Narendra Singh Tomar

E) Mansukh Mandaviya

12) According to Government estimates, India’s annual defence exports will touch ___________ crore by 2024.

A) 30000

B) 35000

C) 28000

D) 20000

E) 25000

13) KPP Samy, who passed away recently, was affiliated with which political party?

A) AIADMK

B) Congress

C) DMK

D) BJP

E) CPM

14) Centenarian scholar, freedom fighter Sudhakar Chaturvedi is said to be the oldest Indian. He passed away at the age of _________.

A) 111

B) 123

C) 110

D) 130

E) 109

15) What is the theme of National Science Day ?

A) Science & Climate change

B) Science & Agriculture

C) Role of Science for sustainable development

D) Women in Science

E) Role of Science & Technology

16) Prime Minister Modi will launch ______________ Farmer Producer Organizations, FPOs all over the country from Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh.

A) 11,000

B) 18,000

C) 10,000

D) 12,000

E) 15,000

17) NITI Aayog has selected which state/ UT for the first pilot project among all States and UTs on Sustainable Development Goals?

A) Haryana

B) Kerala

C) Uttar Pradesh

D) Himachal Pradesh

E) Jammu & Kashmir

18) Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda has launched the Programme for Capacity Building of Scheduled Tribes Representatives in which state?

A) Kerala

B) Karnataka

C) Odisha

D) West Bengal

E) Haryana

19) The Central Government approved ____________ Crore under  ‘Operation Greens’ Scheme to stabilize the supply of ‘TOP’ crops i.e Tomato, Onion & Potato ?

A) Rs. 175 crore

B) Rs. 167 crore

C) Rs. 150 crore

D) Rs. 162 crore

E) Rs. 145 crore

20) According to the National Statistics office, India’s GDP grew at _______ percent in the third quarter ended December 31, 2019.

A) 4.8%

B) 4.7%

C) 5%

D) 4.9%

E) 5.1%

21) Shadakshari Settar, who passed away recently, was a famous ________.

A) Director

B) Historian

C) Singer

D) Writer

E) Mathematician

22) Which bank has rolled out the Aadhaar enabled payment system to help users make transactions at over 2.5 lac of its banking points across India ?

A) ESAF Small Finance Bank

B) State Bank of India

C) Axis Bank

D) Paytm Payments Bank

E) Airtel Payments Bank

23) Which among the following has set up a Global Innovation Centre in Hyderabad and plans to invest up to $100 million in the country ?

A) McKesson

B) Cardinal Health

C) Anthem

D) Providence

E) Aetna

24) Who has partnered with Poonawalla Finance to provide working capital finance to Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across India?

A) Fullerton

B) India Shelter

C) Zerodha

D) Muthoot

E) Capital Float

25) Which company has built the 5th offshore patrol vessel ICGS Varad which was commissioned into the India Coast Guard recently ?

A) GRSE

B) Kadet Defence

C) Larsen & Toubro

D) GS Defence

E) Eirene Systems

26) Which state government has decided to rename the Smart gram yojana after ex-minister R R Patil?

A) Tripura

B) Maharashtra

C) Kerala

D) Assam

E) Nagaland

27) Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has unveiled a budget of  ____________ crore for the year 2020-21 in the state assembly.

A) Rs. 1,35,000 Crore

B) Rs. 1, 40,600 Crore

C) Rs. 1,75,000 Crore

D) Rs. 1,42,343 Crore

E) Rs. 1,35,400 Crore

28) Who has launched the Ease (Enhanced Access and Service Excellence) 3.0 reform agenda aimed at providing smart, tech-enabled public sector banking for the country?

A) Venkiah Naidu

B) Anurag Thakur

C) Amit Shah

D) Nirmala Sitharaman

E) Narendra Modi

29) The Maharashtra Assembly has passed a law making Marathi language compulsory for all schools. The language shall be introduced from which academic year?

A) 2020-2022

B) 2022-2023

C) 2020-2021

D) 2023-2024

E) 2022-2023

30) The two-day unique Chilli Festival to promote the Nimari brand of chillies is being held in which state ?

A) Assam

B) Haryana

C) Punjab

D) Chhattisgarh

E) Madhya Pradesh

31) A Unique census of migratory birds is being undertaken in which state to decide the count of migratory birds visiting India?

A) Madhya Pradesh

B) Tamil Nadu

C) Kerala

D) Assam

E) Karnataka

32) Niti Aayog has partnered with which institution to help students to leverage the full potential of AIM’s Atal tinkering labs?

A) IMT

B) NASSCOM

C) CII

D) ASSOCHAM

E) FICCI

33) ONGC and HPCL have bought stakes in which organisation for a sum of Rs 371 crore ?

A) BP Plc

B) Lukoil

C) Chevron

D) Essar

E) Petronet

34) Name the editor whose name has been entered in the Limca Book of records for ‘films edited in most number of languages’.

A) Sundar Prasad

B) Ram Prasad

C) Shankar Prasad

D) Sreekar Prasad

E) Nilam Prasad

35) Which city has won the Travellers’ Choice Destination Awards 2020 announced by Tripadvisor ?

A) Dispur

B) Kochi

C) New Delhi

D) Hyderabad

E) Gurugram

36) A two-day International Conference on Alternate Medicines has recently been organized  in which city ?

A) Pune

B) Bengaluru

C) New Delhi

D) Hyderabad

E) Chennai

37) Who has inaugurated the 11th National Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Conference in New Delhi ?

A) Venkiah Naidu

B) Amit Shah

C) Narendra Modi

D) Narendra Singh Tomar

E) Smriti Irani

38) Which state has topped in terms of digitizing land records according to NCAER Land Records & Services India ?

A) Kerala

B) Assam

C) Madhya Pradesh

D) Karnataka

E) Punjab

39) Astronomers have discovered _________ new planets, including one Earth-sized habitable world by harnessing NASA’s Kepler Space telescope.

A) 18

B) 17

C) 19

D) 20

E) 21

40) Name the parasite discovered by Scientists that does not need oxygen to for its survival.

A) Schistosomiasis

B) Onchocerciasis

C) African trypanosomiasis

D) Leishmaniasis

E) Henneguya salminicola

41) Which university has consolidated its position on top at the Khelo India University Games in Odisha ?

A) Hyderabad University

B) Jain University

C) Delhi University

D) Savitribai Phule Pune University

E) Punjab University

42) Baidyanath Prasad Mahto, who passed away at the age of 72, belonged to which political party ?

A) CPM

B) BJP

C) Congress

D) JDU

E) AIADMK

Answers :

1) Answer: E

National Science Day is celebrated in India on 28 February each year to mark the discovery of the Raman effect by Indian physicist Sir C. V. Raman on 28 February 1928.

The theme of the year 2020 is “Women in Science.”

2) Answer: C

Facebook has cancelled its annual F8 developers conference, the biggest annual event for the US tech giant, over fears about the possible spread of the novel coronavirus.

The gathering in the Silicon Valley city of San Jose – which had been set for early May – typically draws thousands of software makers from around the world who collaborate with the tech giant on its platform.

US public health officials confirmed a coronavirus case in Northern California, the first of unknown origin out of about 60 cases, and have told Americans to be ready to cancel mass gatherings and work from home.

3) Answer: C

Axis Bank announced the appointment of Puneet Sharma as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Sharma will replace Jairam Sridharan, who has resigned as the Group Executive and Chief Financial Officer of the bank, with effect from March 5, 2020.

Prior to joining Axis Bank, he spent 12 years at Tata Capital as a senior management functionary

4) Answer: E

Private sector lender IndusInd Bank announced the appointment of Sumant Kathpalia as its new Managing Director and CEO.

Kathpalia will take over from Romesh Sobti who is set to retire later next month.

In November last year, the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee and the Board had considered and submitted the name of a potential candidate for the role of MD and CEO, to the Reserve Bank of India, seeking approval for the appointment.

Kathpalia has been with IndusInd Bank since 2008 and currently heads the consumer banking division at the private sector lender, and has been responsible for building the bank’s retail franchise.

5) Answer: B

IndiGo airlines has partnered with HDFC Bank to launch its first travel credit card.

Called ‘Ka-ching’, it is powered by Mastercard and comes in two variants – 6E Rewards and 6E Rewards XL – and also offers complimentary air tickets.

“Customers can avail complimentary air tickets worth between Rs.1,500 and Rs.3,000, depending on the variant,” HDFC Bank said in a statement, adding that the credit cards will allow customers to accrue accelerated 6E Rewards on IndiGo transactions.

6) Answer: D

Sahitya Akademi’s Translation Prize for 2019 in the category of translation into English has been awarded to Kannada novel Kusumabale by Devanur Mahadeva, rendered into English by Susan Daniel.

The akademi announced a total of 23 awards in various Indian languages.

Kusumabale, published in 1988, is a classic in Kannada literature. Written in a dialect typically spoken in Chamarajnagar district in Southern Karnataka, it combines prose and poetry, mythology and realism to weave a tapestry of Dalit life.

7) Answer: E

Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, launched the– Market Intelligence and Early Warning System (MIEWS) Web Portal.

The MIEWS Dashboard and Portal is a ‘first-of-its-kind’ platform for ‘real time monitoring’ of prices of tomato, onion and potato (TOP) and for simultaneously generating alerts for intervention under the terms of the Operation Greens(OG) scheme. The portal would disseminate all relevant information related to TOP crops such as Prices and Arrivals, Area, Yield and Production, Imports and Exports, Crop Calendars, Crop Agronomy, etc in an easy to use visual format.

8) Answer: C

The government will host RAISE 2020 – an event focussed on artificial intelligence  on April 11-12 in New Delhi.

RAISE (Responsible AI for Social Empowerment) 2020 will be organised by the government in partnership with industry and academia.

The summit will be a global meeting of minds to exchange ideas and charter a course to use AI for social empowerment, inclusion and transformation in key areas like healthcare, agriculture, education and smart mobility, among other sectors.

9) Answer: D

Two Days Conference on Enhancing Energy Cooperation in the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) region held in Bangladesh.

The bloc of seven countries organised the conference in collaboration with the South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy Integration (SARI/EI) of USAID.

The Report “prospect of regional energy cooperation and cross-border energy trade in the BIMSTEC region”

The report showed that the BIMSTEC region has 323,504 million tonnes(MT) of coal, 664 million tonnes of oil, 99 Trillion Cubic Feet(TCF) of gas, 11,346 MT of biomass, 328 Giga Watts(GW) of hydropower and 1,117 GW of renewable energy.

10) Answer: C

Samsung Mobile is the most desired brand, TRA Research (formerly known as Trust Advisory).

This is the fourth time Samsung Mobile has been named the most desired brand. Previously, the brand has topped the list in 2013, 2015 and 2018.

Samsung is followed by Apple iPhone, which is positioned second in the list.

The diversified brand of Samsung which falls under the consumer electronics category features at third rank. Sony TV, which is a general entertainment channel, has entered the list of the top 10 brands for the first time. It has gained the fourth position. Maruti Suzuki, which is an automobile major, is at the fifth position followed by Dell, the technology major at the sixth position.

11) Answer: E

Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State for Shipping(I/C) and  Chemicals & Fertilizers was the Chief Guest for the launching ceremony of 6th Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV-6) ’VAJRA’  at Chennai .

6th OPV is getting launched in the sea for the first time and also it will  strengthen the efforts Indian Coast Guard for  securing over 7500 km vast coastline, an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of over 20 lakh sq kms and more than one lakh merchant ships transiting per year through Indian waters for global trade .

OPV-6 is truly a state of the art platform which will enhance the capabilities of Indian Coast Guard in terms of Operation, Surveillance, Search & Rescue.

12) Answer: B

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh projected that the annual Indian defence exports will touch Rs 35,000 crore by 2024 from the current level of Rs 17,000 crore.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the new Light Combat Helicopter Production Hangar at Helicopter Division in Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Complex.

India emerging as among the three major economies of the world by 2030 and the defence industries will have an important role to play.

13) Answer: C

Former Tamil Nadu Minister and DMK MLA KPP Samy passed away.

The lawmaker, who represented the Thiruvottiyur state Assembly constituency.

Samy was the DMK government’s Fisheries Minister between 2006 to 2011 when late DMK leader M Karunanidhi was Chief Minister.

14) Answer:  B

Veteran freedom fighter, Vedic scholar and centenarian Pandit Sudhakar Chaturvedi, who is said to be the oldest Indian, passed away at the age of 123 years.

He has penned over 50 books in Sanskrit, Kannada, Hindi and English and has interpreted Vedas in 20 volumes.

15) Answer: D

National Science Day is celebrated in India on 28 February each year to mark the discovery of the Raman effect by Indian physicist Sir C. V. Raman on 28 February 1928.

The theme of the year 2020 is “Women in Science.”

16) Answer: C

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch 10 thousand Farmer Producer Organizations, FPOs all over the country from Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh.

These FPOs will help in collectivization of small, marginal and landless farmers to give them  strength to deal with issues like lack of access to technology, quality seed, fertilizers and pesticides including requisite finances.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also lay the foundation stone for the Bundelkhand Expressway at Chitrakoot. The Uttar Pradesh Government is constructing the  Expressway which will pass through the districts of Chitrakoot, Banda, Hamirpur and Jalaun.

It will link the Bundelkhand area to the national capital Delhi through Agra-Lucknow expressway and Yamuna expressway and play a vital role in the development of Bundelkhand region.

India has huge defence equipment requirements spanning from land systems, ships and submarines to fighter aircraft, helicopters, weapons and sensors.

17) Answer: E

NITI Aayog has selected Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir for the first pilot project among all States and UTs on Sustainable Development Goals. It would get a chance to work with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

This was informed by Principal Secretary Rohit Kansal in a meeting at Jammu .

He also reviewed the progress made under different Outreach Programmes conducted across J&K.

The programmes would work like that of district indicator framework wherein information would be sought from respective District Commissioners and ranking would be done by setting certain parameters.

18) Answer: C

The “Programme for Capacity Building of Scheduled Tribe Representatives in Local Self Governments” was launched by the Union Tribal Affairs Minister Shri Arjun Munda at Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Capacity Building initiative:The program included Technical sessions on topics such as Tribal Development Paradigms, Alienation of Tribal Land, Van DhanVikas Kendra and Innovation of Tribal Development.

The initiative is aimed to empower tribal PRI representatives by enhancing their decision-making capabilities at local government level. The capacity building programme will focus on constitutional and legal provisions that protect and promote the rights and welfare of the tribal population.

19) Answer: D

Centre has approved Rs 162 crore under ‘Operation Greens’ scheme that has an outlay of Rs 500 crore to stabilize the supply of ‘TOP’ crops i.e. tomato, onion and potato. This will ensure their availability throughout the year without price volatility.

The scheme that was announced in the budget 2018-19 aims at improving value realization for cultivators by targeted interventions to strengthen production clusters & Farmer Producer Organizations and linking them with the market.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Food Processing Minister stated that 5 projects have been sanctioned in the country and more were lined up for approval. She stated, The total outlay of the projects is Rs 426 crore and the grant we would give is Rs 162 crore.

20) Answer: B

The Indian economy grew 4.7 per cent in the third quarter ended December 31, 2019, the National Statistics Office .

Core sector grows by 2.2% in January as power generation picks up

The first quarter GDP growth for this fiscal has been revised upwards to 5.6 per cent, from the 5.1 per cent estimated earlier. The second quarter GDP growth for the current fiscal has also been revised upwards to 5.1 per cent from 4.5 per cent announced earlier.

About NSC:

21) Answer: B

Renowned historian 85-years old Prof Shadakshari Settar (S Settar) passed away.

He worked as a professor in Dharwad, served as director of National Museum Institute of the History of Art, Conservation and Museology.

22) Answer: E

Airtel Payments Bank stated  that it has launched the Aadhaar enabled payment system (AePS) which will help people to do transactions at over 2,50,000 of its banking points across India.

The system will enable customers, having Aadhaar- linked accounts of any bank, to do transactions at the designated points of the Airtel Payments Bank. It allows customers to carry out transactions by using their Aadhaar number or virtual ID to access their bank accounts.

The AePS is a bank-led model which allows online interoperable financial transactions at a point of sale (PoS) through business correspondent of any bank using the Aadhaar authentication. The AePS allows six types of transactions, including deposit and withdrawal.

23) Answer: D

Providence, a US-based healthcare systems provider, inaugurated its global innovation centre in India with plans to invest up to $100 million and induct more than 2,000 technologists.

This is, the $26 billion-company’s first development centre outside the US. It plans to start with 350 techies within a year and gradually ramp it to over 2,000 centres within 3-4 years.

Murali Krishna, Senior Vice-President and Country Manager, Providence India, who joins from Microsoft, will head the global innovation centre. The centre will focus on engineering, data intelligence, digital innovation, professional services, cyber security, application development and tech support.

24) Answer: E

Poonawalla Finance, part of the $9.8-billion Cyrus Poonawalla Group, has partnered with Capital Float to deliver working capital financing to Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across India.

Both companies will co-lend on Capital Float’s co-origination model to deliver last-mile credit to MSMEs.

Poonawala Finance, which started operations in April 2019, has already crossed AUM of Rs.1,500 crore, and is one of the most well-capitalised NBFCs in the country.

Poonawalla Finance and Capital Float have set a target to disburse more than Rs.500 crore over the next 12 months, with a monthly run rate of Rs.50 crore. Poonawalla Finance’s systems will be fully integrated with Capital Float’s co-origination platform through APIs to facilitate faster disbursals.

25) Answer: C

Larsen & Toubro built offshore patrol vessel ICGS Varad was commissioned into the Indian Coast Guard.

ICGS Varad set a record in Indian shipping industry by becoming the first major defence ship to clear all Sea Acceptance Trails in a single sea sortie, underlining the high quality of design and construction of these ships.

26) Answer: B

The Maharashtra government’s “smart gram yojana” will be named after former Deputy Chief Minister the late R R Patil.

Since November 2016, the ‘smart gram yojana’ (smart village) is being implemented in the state where awards are given to gram panchayats at taluka and district level for their performance on certain parameters.

The scheme seeks to transform rural Maharashtra through development initiatives. Villages performing well in a range of areas, including cleanliness, health, education, environment, use of infotech and renewable energy sources, rewarded by the state government.

27) Answer: D

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who also holds the finance portfolio, announced a Rs 1,42,343-crore budget in the state assembly.

The debt is set to increase to Rs 1.98 lakh crore in 2020-21 as against Rs 1.76 lakh crore in the previous fiscal.

The expenditure will increase to Rs 1,42,343 crore, a rise of 7.7 per cent.

Revenue receipts are expected to increase by 15.96 per cent in 2020-21 to Rs 89,964 crore.

28) Answer: D

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched the Ease (Enhanced Access and Service Excellence) 3.0 reform agenda.

EASE 3.0 agenda aims at providing smart, tech-enabled public sector banking for aspiring India. This launch of EASE 3.0 would change the customer’s experience at the Public Sector Banks (PSBs).

New features that customers of public sector banks may experience under EASE 3.0 reforms agenda include facilities like Palm Banking for “End-to-end digital delivery of financial service”.

“Banking on Go” via EASE banking outlets at frequently visited spots like malls, stations, complexes, and campuses.

Digitalising the experience at public sector bank branches is also on the cards under EASE 3.0.

The idea behind EASE 3.0 agenda

29) Answer: C

The Maharashtra government has made Marathi compulsory in schools affiliated with all boards with a fine of Rs 1 lakh for institutions that fail to comply with the directive.

The Maharashtra Assembly unanimously approved a bill making Marathi a compulsory subject in all schools of the state.

This law will be applicable to all boards like CBSE, CISCE, IB, IGCSE, NIOS

Marathi language shall be taught as a compulsory subject from classes 1-10 in all schools in the state in a phased manner starting the academic year 2020-21

The language shall be introduced at class 1 and 6 from the academic year 2020-21 and shall be extended to further classes progressively

30) Answer: E

In Madhya Pradesh, the two-day unique Chilli Festival begins at Kasrawad in Khargone district. The Chilli Festival is a big business opportunity for traders, investors and exporters. It will also help in fulfilling the Central Government’s goal of doubling the income of farmers. Chilli-based cuisine stalls will also be set up on the occasion.

Thousands of farmers from many districts of the state are participating in this festival being held in Kasrawad in Khargone district. State Agriculture Minister Sachin Yadav has stated that the festival aims to promote the Nimari brand of chillies.

31) Answer: B

A unique census of migratory birds is being undertaken in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu. The census is unique because it uses both physical sightings as well as indirect clues for deciding the count of migratory birds that visit India during adverse climatic conditions in other countries.

The two-day census is an attempt to prepare a detailed inventory of various migratory birds that visit Kanyakumari from countries as far distant as Siberia.

According to Forest Department sources, the bird count is expected to include exotic species like Flamingos from Spain, canaries and pintails from Central Asian countries and pelicans from as far away as Antarctica.

32) Answer: B

NITI Aayog, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) in collaboration with the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has launched an artificial intelligence (AI) based module rolled out for students in Indian schools.

The AI-Base Module has been introduced for students to leverage the full potential of AIM’s Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) and further empowers them to innovate and create valuable solutions benefiting societies at large. The module contains activities, videos, and experiments that enable students to work through and learn the various concepts of AI.

Technology innovation over the last decade was breathtakingly fast as industries became intertwined with emerging technologies like never before. It has been estimated that by 2030, the global market in AI is likely to be in the range of $15 trillion, out of which India’s share will be close to a trillion.

33) Answer: E

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and its subsidiary Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) have bought out lenders in Petronet MHB Ltd, the firm that owns a petroleum product pipeline in Mangalore, for about Rs 371 crore.

A consortium of eight public sector banks held 34.56 per cent stake in Petronet MHB Ltd, where ONGC and HPCL held 32.72 per cent apiece.

The two firms paid Rs 185.38 crore each for acquiring 17.28 per cent more share in Petronet MHB Ltd.

34) Answer: D

Veteran editor Sreekar Prasad has entered the Limca Book of Records for ‘films edited in most number of languages’.

He has edited films in 17 languages, namely Tamil, English, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Odia, Bengali, Assamese, Punjabi, Nepali, Marathi, Sinhalese, Karbi, Mishing, Bodo, and Pangchenpa.

35) Answer: B

Kochi has topped the 2020 Travellers’ Choice Destination awards as a ‘trending’ location announced by Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel site.

The awards include two new categories:  recognising traveller-loved destinations that are on the rise; and Emerging – looking ahead to what’s next – the destinations still ahead of the curve that smart travellers are already saving for their trips on Tripadvisor, a great indicator of up and coming hotspots.

It is a proud moment for Kerala Tourism that Kochi is named the world’s number one Trending Destination on Tripadvisor. It is to the credit of excellent tourism marketing and promotion strategy of government and enterprising tourism industry partners.

36) Answer: C

The two-day International Conference on Standardisation of Diagnosis and Terminologies in Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha Systems of Medicine concluded in New Delhi recently with adopting the “New Delhi Declaration on Collection and Classification of Traditional Medicine (TM) Diagnostic Data”.

The sixteen countries which came together for the cause of Traditional Medicine at this conference are Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Serbia, Curacao, Cuba, Myanmar, Equatorial Guinea, Qatar, Ghana, Bhutan, Uzbekistan, India, Switzerland, Iran, Jamaica and Japan.

ICoSDiTAUS-2020 is the biggest ever international event dedicated to standardisation of Diagnosis and Terminologies of Traditional Medicine in terms of the broad level of participation covering virtually all the continents.

37) Answer: D

The Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated the 11th National Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Conference -2020 in New Delhi.

The theme of the three day national conference is ‘Empowering Youth for Technology Led Farming’.

The KVK national conference will mainly highlight technology-led farming and youth entrepreneurship through agriculture which will be attended by all the KVKs across India.

eNAM portal has been created so that the farmer gets a better price for his produce. Already 585 Mandis have boarded the eNAM platform and another 415 Mandis will be added in due course. More than Rs.91,000 crore of eVyapar (e-trade) has been performed on the eNAM.

38) Answer: C

Madhya Pradesh, is the best performing state in terms of digitising land records, followed by Odisha, according to the NCAER Land Records and Services Index.

Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Tamil Nadu are the other states in the top five. The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) released India’s first land records and services index.

39) Answer: B

Astronomers have discovered 17 new planets, including a potentially habitable Earth-sized world, by combing through data gathered by NASA’s Kepler space telescope which was launched in 2009, and retired in October 2018.

According to the researchers, including Michelle Kunimoto from the University of British Columbia in Canada, the Kepler satellite, over its original four-year mission, looked for planets, especially those lying in the potentially habitable “Goldilocks Zone” of their stars, where liquid water could exist on a rocky planet’s surface.

The current findings, published in The Astronomical Journal, include one such rare planet named KIC-7340288 b.

40) Answer: E

Scientists have discovered an animal that does not need oxygen to produce energy needed for its survival, a finding that changes one of science’s assumptions about the animal world.

The tiny, less than 10-celled parasite Henneguya salminicola lives in salmon muscle. As it evolved, the animal, which is a relative of jellyfish and corals, gave up breathing and consuming oxygen — or became anaerobic — to produce energy.

41) Answer: D

Savitribai Phule Pune University consolidated their position at the top by claiming three gold medals at the Khelo India University Games in Odisha.

Mahesh Datta Asawale and Prajkta Ravindra Khalkar won gold in weightlifting competition, while Jyotiba Bajrang Atkale bagged a yellow metal in wrestling for the Pune varsity.

While Punjab University (Chandigarh) is in second position, Jain University (Bengaluru) is in third place with eight gold medals each.

42) Answer: D

Janata Dal(United)’s Lok Sabha Member Baidyanath Prasad Mahto from Valmiki Nagar Parliamentary Constituency passed away in the evening while undergoing treatment at AIIMS in Delhi.He was deputy leader of the Janata Dal(United) in the current Lok Sabha.

This post was last modified on March 4, 2020 11:22 am