DAILY GK QUIZ: 16-19 MAY 2021

 DAILY GK QUIZ: 16-19 MAY 2021

[Q] Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of ___________ topped the Fortune’s 2021 ‘World’s 50 Greatest Leaders’ list, while ____________ was the only Indian leader in the Top 10.

(a) New Zealand, Balram Bhargava

(b) Australia, Harsh Vardhan

(c) New Zealand, Narendra Modi

(d) Australia, Soumya Swaminathan

(e) New Zealand, Adar Poonawalla

[ANS] e

 

[Q] China became the 2nd country after the USA to land a rover on Mars, using its Tianwen 1 spacecraft. Name the Chinese Mars rover.

(a) Zhurong

(b) Yutu

(c) Perseverance

(d) Pragyan

(e) Curiosity

[ANS] a

 

[Q] Which aerospace company announced to launch its 1st space Tourism flight in July 2021?

(a) Boeing

(b) SpaceX

(c) Blue Origin

(d) Virgin Galactic

(e) Lockheed Martin

[ANS] c

 

[Q] RBI has cancelled the license of which Co-operative Bank based in West Bengal over inadequate capital, regulatory non-compliance?

(a) Mantha Urban Co-op Bank

(b) United Co-operative Bank

(c) Mapusa Urban Co-op Bank

(d) Apna Sahakari Co-Op Bank

(e) Mehsana Urban Co-Op Bank

[ANS] b

 

[Q] Who has been appointed as the Head Coach of Indian Women’s Cricket team?

(a) Murali Kartik

(b) Ajit Agarkar

(c) Amol Muzumdar

(d) Sanjay Bangar

(e) Ramesh Powar

[ANS] e

 

[Q] The International Day of Families is observed every year on _________.

(a) 15 May

(b) 14 May

(c) 13 May

(d) 12 May

(e) 11 May

[ANS] a

 

[Q] What is the theme of International Day of Families 2021?

(a) Families and Climate Action: Focus on SDG 13

(b) Families and inclusive societies

(c) Families Matter for the Achievement of Development Goals

(d) Families, education and well-being

(e) Families and New Technologies

[ANS] e

 

[Q] Which football team has won the 2020-21 Premier League championship?

(a) Manchester City

(b) Chelsea

(c) Liverpool

(d) Barcelona

(e) Real Madrid

[ANS] a

 

[Q] Who has been appointed as the new Chief at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)?

(a) John Holmes

(b) Mark Lowcock

(c) Stephen O’Brien

(d) Martin Griffiths

(e) Homen Borgohain

[ANS] d

 

[Q] Which country was the largest recipient of remittances in 2020 among low-income and middle-income countries, as per the “Migration and Development Brief “report released by the World Bank?

(a) China

(b) South Korea

(c) India

(d) Mexico

(e) Syria

[ANS] c

 

[Q] How much amount has been received in remittances in 2020 by India, according to World Bank?

(a) $65 billion

(b) $102 billion

(c) $125 billion

(d) $132 billion

(e) $83 billion

[ANS] e

 

[Q] Which state topped the ‘State of Indian Healthcare – Indian Cities through the lens of healthcare 2021’ report that was released by Housing.com?

(a) Pune

(b) Ahmedabad

(c) Bengaluru

(d) Hyderabad

(e) Kolkata

[ANS] a

 

[Q] Who was crowned as 2020’s Miss Universe?

(a) Andrea Meza

(b) Adline Castelino

(c) Manushi Chhillar

(d) Julia Gama

(e) Zozibini Tunzi

[ANS] a

 

[Q] When is the International Day of Living Together in Peace annually observed by the United Nations?

(a) 18th May

(b) 15th May

(c) 16th May

(d) 14th May

(e) 17th May

[ANS] c

 

[Q] World AIDS Vaccine Day, (also known as HIV Vaccine Awareness Day), is observed annually on __________.

(a) May 16

(b) May 17

(c) May 18

(d) May 19

(e) May 20

[ANS] c

 

[Q] When was International Museum Day is celebrated?

(a) 18 May

(b) 19 May

(c) 15 May

(d) 16 May

(e) 17 May

[ANS] a

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DAILY GK: 23, 24 MAY 2021

 DAILY GK: 23, 24 MAY 2021

1. BRICS ASTRONOMY WORKING GROUP (BAWG)

•     India virtually hosted the 7th meeting of BRICS Astronomy Working Group (BAWG) meeting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa in online mode at Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune (Maharashtra).

•     The participants recommended the networking of existing Telescopes in BRICS countries and creating a regional Data Network.

 

2. FDI IN INSURANCE SECTOR INCREASED TO 74%

•     The Ministry of Finance notified the Indian Insurance Companies (Foreign Investment) Amendment Rules, 2021 which increases the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit in the Insurance sector to 74% from the existing 49%.

•     Indian Insurance Companies (Foreign Investment) Amendment Rules, 2021 has amended the Indian Insurance Companies (Foreign Investment) Rules, 2015.

•     Insurance penetration in India stands at 3.7% of the GDP compared to the Global average of 6.31%.

 

3. IMF PROPOSES PLAN TO VACCINATE EVERYONE BY 2022

•     The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has put forth an USD 50 Billion proposal to end the COVID-19 Pandemic, it has set a target of vaccinating at least 40% of the world’s population by end of 2021 & remaining 60% by first half of 2022.

•     The proposal was drafted by IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath and Staff Economist Ruchir Agarwal.

•     It states that vaccinating the entire global population would inject the equivalent of USD 9 trillion into the global economy by 2025 due to fast resumption of economic activity.

•     The proposal was elaborated by the IMF during the Global Health Summit 2021 hosted by Italy (G20 2021 Presidency).

 

4. RBI TRANSFER OF RS 99,122 CRORE AS SURPLUS TO GOVT

•     RBI approved the transfer of Rs 99,122 crore as surplus to the Central government for the accounting period of 9 months from July 2020 to March 2021 under the 589th virtual meeting of the Central Board of Directors of the RBI.

•     The current surplus fund transfer is 50 percent higher than Rs 57,128 crore, the transfer approved in the accounting year 2019-2020.

•     The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Shaktikanta Das, RBI governor.

 

5. LIC HIKED ITS STAKE IN UNION BANK TO OVER 5%

•     The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) acquired around a 2 percent stake in the state-run Union Bank of India(UBI) and hiked its stake hold in UBI to 5.06 percent.

•     Earlier, the LIC held a 09 percent stake in UBI, representing 19,79,23,251 equity shares of the bank, now it was increased to 5.06 percent (34,57,64,764 shares).

 

6. ‘INS RAJPUT’ DECOMMISSIONED

•     Indian Navy’s 1st destroyer INS Rajput was decommissioned at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh after 41 years of service (commissioned on May 4, 1980).

•     It was the 1st Indian Navy ship to be associated with an Indian Army Regiment – ‘Rajput regiment’, and the 1st ship to be fitted with anti-ship supersonic cruise missile ‘Brahmos’ in 2005.

 

7. FIRST DRONACHARYA AWARDEE COACH PASSED AWAY

•     India’s first Dronacharya awardee coach in boxing, Om Prakash Bhardwaj(O P Bhardwaj) passed away after battling prolonged illness and age-related ailments in New Delhi.

•     In 1985, O P Bhardwaj was awarded the Dronacharya Award, India’s highest award in the field of coaching of sports and athletics.

•     He was the founder of the Boxing Coaching Department at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala and served as chief coach from 1975 to 1988.

 

8. ANTI TERRORISM DAY 2021

•     Anti Terrorism Day is annually observed across India on 21st May to wean away youth from Terrorism and to highlight the suffering of the common Public and its effect on the National Interest.

•     The day also marks the Death Anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

•     21st May 2021 marks the 30th death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi.

 

9. FIRST STATE TO REIMBURSE GST ON COVID-RELATED DONATIONS

•     Haryana became the first state in the Country to reimburse Goods and Services Tax (GST) paid on Covid-related donations made to the state and state-run organisations. 

•     This will be applicable till June 30.

•     To encourage efforts by corporations, NGOs and individuals in facilitating donations of Oxygen Concentrators, Covid-19 Vaccines, Remdesivir Injections, etc.

•     The 15 items eligible for reimbursement include Oxygen Concentrator, Oxygen filling systems, Oxygen storage tanks, Oxygen Generators, Vaccine, Remdesivir, Ventilators, etc.

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DAILY GK: 22 MAY 2021

 DAILY GK: 22 MAY 2021

1.ELDERLINE – HELPLINE FOR SENIOR CITIZENS

•        The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has started state-wise call centres under the Elderline project to address the difficulties faced by the elders due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

•        The elderly can reach the call centres through the toll-free number – 14567.

•        The project Elderline was started with the support of TATA trust and the NSE foundation.

 

2.CSE REPORT 2021

•        According to ‘State of Working India 2021: One Year of COVID-19’ released by Azim Premji University’s Centre for Sustainable Employment (CSE) in Bengaluru, Karnataka, the monthly earnings of workers fell on an average by 17% due to COVID-19, self-employed and informal salaried workers faced the highest loss of earnings.

•        Around 100 million jobs were lost nationwide during the April-May 2020 Lockdown.

•        Around 230 million fell below the national minimum wage threshold of INR 375 per day during the pandemic.

•        Poverty increased by 15% in rural & 20% in urban areas during the pandemic.

•        Due to employment and income losses, the labour share of GDP fell by 5% from 32.5% in Q2 2019-20 to 27% in Q2 2020-21.

 

3.WORLD’S FIRST COUNTRY TO BAN SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS

•        China issued a total ban on synthetic cannabinoids,thus becoming the world’s first country to ban all synthetic cannabinoid substances.

•        The ban is likely to come into effect on July 1,2021.

•        Cannabinoids are compounds found in cannabis.

•        The most notable cannabinoid is the phytocannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol, the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis.

•        Synthetic Cannabinoids are human made chemicals.

•        They are designer drugs.

•        A designer drug is a functional and structural analog of a controlled substance that is designed to mimic the pharmacological effects of the original drug.

 

4.THE TEMPLETON PRIZE 2021

•        The prestigious Templeton Prize for the year 2021 was given to conservationist Jane Goodall.

•        She was renowned for her expertise on chimpanzees and her globe-spanning advocacy of environmental causes.

•        Jane Goodall is an English primatologist,anthropologist and the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees.

 

5.FORBES’ WORLD’S 10 HIGHEST-PAID ATHLETES 2021

•        Forbes’ annual ranking of the World highest-paid athletes for 2021 was released. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Fighter Conor McGregor from Ireland topped the list with a total earning of 180 million USD(around 1313 crores).

Top 3 Highest paid athletes:

Rank                                      Name                                     Sport                                      Total earning (USD)

1                                              Conor McGregor                  MMA                                     180 million

2                                              Lionel Messi                         Football                                 130 million

3                                              Cristiano Ronaldo               Football                                 120 million

 

6. CYCLONE TAUKTAE MAKES LANDFALL IN GUJARAT

•        Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) stated that the ‘extremely severe cyclonic storm’ – ‘Tauktae’ made landfall in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat.

•        The cyclone originated from the Arabian Sea.

•        The name ‘Tauktae’ for the cyclone has been given by Myanmar, It means ‘gecko’, a highly vocal lizard in Burmese dialect.

 

7.FIFA U-17 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

•        On the 71st Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Congress, the FIFA Council approved key dates for the international match calendars.

•        In which it also announced the dates of the 2022 U-17 Women’s world Cup in India to be held from October 11 to 30 in 2022.

•        This will be the 2nd FIFA tournament hosted by India, after the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017(which broke the record for being the most attended youth World Cup in FIFA’s history).

 

8. INTERNATIONAL TEA DAY 2021 – MAY 21

•        The United Nations (UN)’s International Tea Day is annually observed across the globe on 21st May to celebrate the cultural heritage, health benefits and economic importance of tea.

•        The observance of the international tea day is led by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)of the UN.

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DAILY GK: 21 MAY 2021

DAILY GK: 21  MAY 2021

 1. RENEWABLE ENERGY COUNTRY ATTRACTIVENESS INDEX

•       India with a score of 66.2 has been ranked 3rd out of 40 countries in the 57th Renewable Energy Country                 Attractiveness Index (RECAI) – May 2021 – released by Ernst & Young Global Ltd (EY).

•        The United States (US) topped the index, while China took the 2nd Rank.

•     India has improved its rank from 4th (in 56th RECAI) to 3rd due to its exceptional performance in the Solar     PhotoVoltaic (PV) sector. 

•        It’s Installed Solar PV capacity has increased to 39 GigaWatts (GW) in 2020.

 

2. IDMC REPORT

•   According to ‘2021 Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID): Internal displacement in a changing climate’   released by Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), globally the number of people living in Internal   displacement reached 55 Million at the end of  2020.

•        Around 5 million new displacements were recorded in 2020, which is the highest in 10 years.

•    The highest number of internally displaced people in 2020 was in China (5 Million), followed by Philippines & Bangladesh.

 

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DAILY GK: 19,20 MAY 2021

 DAILY GK: 19,20 MAY 2021

1.      WORLD’S 1ST PRIVATE DIGITAL COURT

•        ‘Jupitice Justice Technologies’, an Chandigarh-based startup has developed World’s 1st Private Digital Court (powered by Blockchain& Artificial Intelligence) to resolve disputes under the Private Justice System through Alternative Dispute Resolution  Mechanisms  (ADR).

•        The platform is designed for private justice system arbitration, conciliation, mediation & negotiation.

•        Acts which deal with ADR in India – The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 , Conciliation Act was enacted in 1996.

 

2.      INDIAN NAVY HOSTS GMS-21 VIRTUALLY

•        Indian Navy hosted ‘GOA MARITIME SYMPOSIUM (GMS)-21’ virtually for 2 days, from 11th & 12th May 2021, it was for the 1st time GMS-21 held virtually.

•        The theme for GMS-21 was focused on “Maritime Security and Emerging Non-Traditional Threats: A Case for Proactive Role for IOR Navies”.

•        13 Indian Ocean Littoral countries (India, Bangladesh, Comoros, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand) participated in the GMS-21.

 

3.      INDIA’S WPI INFLATION JUMPS TO 11-YEAR HIGH

•        As per the data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry on May 17, 2021, India’s annual rate of inflation (YoY), based on monthly WPI (Wholesale Price Index) accelerated to 10.49 percent in April 2021, (the highest since April 2010) from 7.39 percent in March 2021 due to a hike in prices of food items, manufactured goods, fuel, and power.

•        Note – April 2021’s WPI inflation is the first double digits WPI in almost a decade.

 

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DAILY GK: 18 MAY 2021

 DAILY GK: 18 MAY 2021

1. INDIA’S 1ST AGRICULTURE EXPORT FACILITATION CENTER

•        Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries & Agriculture (MCCIA) in partnership with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has launched India’s 1st Agriculture Export Facilitation Center (AEFC) in Pune, Maharashtra.

•        India’s Target in Agriculture Exports – The export of agriculture is targeted at USD 60 Billion by 2022.

 

2. HOUSING.COM REPORT ON HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE

•        According to ‘State of Indian Healthcare – Indian Cities through the lens of healthcare 2021’ report released by Housing.com, an real estate portal – Pune, Maharashtra is the healthiest city among the top 8 urban cities of India with regard to parameters like number of hospital beds, ease of living, water quality, and local body performance.

•        The top 3 cities are –  Pune, Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Bengaluru (Karnataka).

 

3. ‘INTERNATIONAL INVINCIBLE GOLD MEDAL 2021’

•        Union Education Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank was awarded International Invincible Gold Medal 2021 by Maharshi Organisation.

•        He has been recognised for his extraordinary commitment and outstanding service to humanity through his writings, social and illustrious public life.

 

4. MISS UNIVERSE 2020

•        Mexican Model Andrea Meza was crowned as the Miss Universe of 2020 at the televised event held in Florida, US.

•        She became the 3rd Mexican woman to be crowned as Miss Universe.

•        She is a software engineer.

•        Miss Universe 2020 was the 69th Miss Universe pageant.

 

5. 2021 ITALIAN OPEN

•        Spain’s Rafael Nadal defeated Serbia’s Novak Djokovic to win the Men’s Singles Title of 2021 Italian Open (78th Edition), also known as Rome Masters.

•        This is Nadal’s 10th Italian Open Title.

•        In the Women’s Category, IgaSwiatek (Poland) defeated Karolina Pliskova (Czhechoslovakia) to win the Women’s Singles Title of Italian Open 2021.

•        The Italian Open 2021 (also known as Rome Masters or Internazionali BNL d’Italia) took place at the ForoItalico venue in Rome, Italy from May 8-16, 2021.

 

6. WORLD HYPERTENSION DAY 2021

•        World Hypertension day is celebrated annually on May 17 to raise awareness about the symptoms of hypertension to prevent and control it.

•        It was first initiated by the World Hypertension League (WHL) an affiliated section of the International Society of Hypertension(ISH), on May 14, 2005.

•        The theme for 2021: ‘Measure Your Blood Pressure Accurately, Control It, Live Longer’

 

7. NATIONAL DENGUE DAY 2021

•        Every year, May 16 is observed by the Union Health Ministry as ‘National Dengue Day’ across the country to create awareness about measures on dengue prevention and to control the spread of the vector-borne disease and to reaffirm nationwide efforts to tackle the scourge by using both education and medical intervention.

 

8. INTERNATIONAL DAY OF LIGHT 2021

•        The International Day of Light (IDL) is annually observed across the globe on 16th May to celebrate the role of lights in science, culture and art, education and sustainable development, medicine, communications, and energy.

•        The day also marks the anniversary of the first successful operations of the laser in 1960 by Physicist and Engineer Theodore Maiman.

 

9. ‘MY VILLAGE – CORONA FREE VILLAGE’ CAMPAIGN

•        Gujarat CM, Vijay Rupani Launched 15 day long ‘Maru Gam – Corona Mukt Gam’ or ‘My Village – Corona Free Village’ campaign on May 1, 2021 to check the spread of Covid-19 in rural areas of Gujarat.

•        This Campaign will direct to provide adequate stock of medicines in the rural areas & will create awareness among people for Covid-19 appropriate behaviour.

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