11. Britain’s Prince Charles has launched a new Children’s protection fund for which Asian country?
[A] Sri Lanka
[B] India
[C] Bangladesh
[D] Nepal
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [India]
Notes:
The Prince of Britain, Charles has recently unveiled a new children’s protection fund for India. This fund is a part of the charity founded by him in 2007, the British Asian Trust. The trust was founded to fight poverty in South Asia.
Noted American singer Katy Perry was named as the ambassador of the new fund. The Protection fund will focus on reducing the exploitation of children by 50 per cent in India over 10 years. The Children’s Protection Fund will primarily cover child sexual abuse, child labour and trafficking. School safety nets are also proposed to be aet up through child-friendly village models.
12. Which state/UT has recently renamed its Public Health Engineering, Irrigation and Flood Control Department as the ‘Jal Shakti Department’?
[A] New Delhi
[B] Puducherry
[C] Jammu and Kashmir
[D] Chandigarh
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Jammu and Kashmir]
Notes:
The Administrative Council under the chairmanship of Lt Governor G C Murmu recently approved the renaming of the state’s Public Health Engineering, Irrigation and Flood Control Department as the ‘Jal Shakti Department’.
The council also approved the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission and the strategy to achieve 100 per cent coverage of piped water supply across the UT, by December 2021. It was also proposed to set up a Mission Directorate of Jal Jeevan Mission for implementation of the scheme. Seven districts of the UT would be covered for 100 per cent piped water supply by June 2020, in the initial phase.
13. The cybersecurity project codenamed Dejfa, that was recently making news, belongs to which country?
[A] Pakistan
[B] Iran
[C] Malaysia
[D] China
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Iran]
Notes:
Digital Fortress (Dejfa in Persian) is the name of a cybersecurity project of Iran. This has been frequently in news in recent times as Iran faces frequent DDoS attacks and cyber attacks. On 8th February also, the agency was able to avert a massive DDoS attack.
14. The term “Batterygate”, recently in news, is related to which of the following tech giants?
[A] Google
[B] Samsung
[C] Apple
[D] Microsoft
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Apple]
Notes:
Batterygate refers to implementation of performance controls on older models of Apple’s iPhone line in order to preserve system stability on degraded batteries.
15. Who is the author of “Gandhi’s Hinduism: The Struggle Against Jinnah’s Islam”?
[A] Natwar Singh
[B] M J Akbar
[C] Inder Malhotra
[D] Fatima Zakaria
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [M J Akbar]
Notes:
M.J. Akbar’s new book “Gandhi’s Hinduism – The Struggle Against Jinnah’s Islam” chronicles the endgame that led to the partition of the subcontinent in 1947 and the creation of Pakistan.
16. Which city is host to the 13th UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) (COP 13), 2020?
[A] Mumbai
[B] Madrid
[C] Gandhinagar
[D] Tokyo
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Gandhinagar]
Notes:
The 13th UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) (COP 13) is scheduled to be hosted by India in 2020, at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The COP-13 (Conference of Parties) is to be held from February 15-22, 2020.
It was recently announced that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the summit. The theme of this year’s summit is, ‘Migratory species connect the planet and we welcome them home’.
17. ‘Ajeya Warrior‘ is the joint military exercise conducted between India and which country?
[A] Japan
[B] United Kingdom
[C] Israel
[D] France
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [United Kingdom]
Notes:
The fifth edition of joint military exercise ‘Ajeya Warrior’ between India and the United Kingdom will be conducted at Salisbury Plains, United Kingdom. The exercise is scheduled from February 13 to 26, 2020.
120 soldiers each from Indian and United Kingdom Army would participate in the exercise. The joint military exercise has been conducted alternatively in United Kingdom and India. The training will be held with emphasis on counter-terror operations in urban and semi-urban areas.
18. Which Union Ministry has recently launched the web portal for ‘Star rating of Coal mines’?
[A] Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
[B] Ministry of Coal
[C] Ministry of Mines
[D] Ministry of Earth Sciences
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Ministry of Coal]
Notes:
Ministry of Coal (MoC) has recently launched a web portal for star rating of coal mines. Under the portal, all operational coal mines across the country will be enabled for self-rating. The mines will be subsequently validated by Coal Controller’s Organization (CCO), the subordinate office of Ministry of Coal.
The mechanism on the portal would award star rating to the mines with certain evaluation parameters under 7 modules.
19. Which city plays host to the first cultural festival called ‘Jerusalem-Mumbai Festival‘?
[A] Jerusalem
[B] Mumbai
[C] New Delhi
[D] Tel Aviv-Yafo
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Mumbai]
Notes:
The first cultural festival called ‘Jerusalem-Mumbai Festival’ is set to be hosted by India, in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The festival is celebrated to promote the ties between India and Israel.
This is the first such joint event for Jerusalem in an Asian city. The two-day festival commences on February 15 and comprises of several art and cultural events to showcase the tradition of both countries.
20. Which country has unveiled its first Artificial Intelligence (AI) Police officer Ella?
[A] Japan
[B] Singapore
[C] New Zealand
[D] Saudi Arabia
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [New Zealand]
Notes:
The New Zealand Police have recently unveiled their first Artificial Intelligence (AI) Police officer Ella. Ella stands for ‘Electronic Lifelike Assistant’, which will be configured at the digital kiosks, to resolve the queries of public and reduce queues in stations.
Ella will be made available in the headquarters building initially, and will be expanded to other parts of the country soon. The virtual assistant has been designed as a mix of 26 different people.