11. Which Indian woman tennis player won both the women’s singles and doubles title in the ITF Thailand Championship?
[A] Sania Mirza
[B] Ankita Raina
[C] Nirupama Sanjeev
[D] Sunitha Rao
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Ankita Raina]
Notes:
India’s leading woman Tennis player Ankita Raina won the women’s singles title in the $25,000 ITF Thailand Championship. This is her first ITF singles title of the season and 10th of her sport career.
The 27-year-old third-seeded Ankita Raina beat Chloe Paquet of France 6-3, 7-5 in the summit clash, to clinch the title. Ankita had also won the doubles title of the tournament, along with Bibiane Schoofs of the Netherlands. Earlier this year, she had also reached the semi-finals at another $25000 event in Canberra.
12. Which Indian Public sector enterprise has recently raised $750 million Japanese yen loan, to reduce air pollution from its power projects?
[A] Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
[B] NTPC Limited
[C] Power Grid Corporation of India
[D] NHPC Limited
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [NTPC Limited]
Notes:
Indian Maharatna Public sector enterprise NTPC Ltd has recently raised $750 million syndicated Japanese yen loan, which will help to reduce air pollution from its power projects across India.
This is the highest single-foreign currency loan raised by the enterprise and also the largest syndicated Japanese yen loan raised by an Asian firm. The yen-denominated bond issued in the Japanese capital by non-Japanese companies is called Samurai bond. The loan will fund the installation of Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) system, which will help reduce SOx emissions. New hydro projects and projects using advanced technologies are also set to be established with the fund.
13. Which Asian country recently introduced a sustainable development fee for tourists?
[A] Thailand
[B] Bhutan
[C] Cambodia
[D] Sri Lanka
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Bhutan]
Notes:
Bhutan imposes a Sustainable Development Fee on international tourists, except those from India, Bangladesh, and the Maldives. The current rate is USD 100 per person per night, effective from September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2027, as a 50% discount from the earlier USD 200. Indian tourists pay INR 1,200 per person per night. The fee funds conservation and infrastructure.
14. National Horticultural Fair, the country’s biggest horticultural fair, is set to be conducted in which city?
[A] Kanpur
[B] Bengaluru
[C] Shillong
[D] Guwahati
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Bengaluru]
Notes:
The four-day National Horticultural Fair, which is the country’s biggest horticultural fair is set to be organised at the Hessarghatta campus of the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bengaluru.
Indian Institute of Horticultural Research organises the national-level fair, which is scheduled to be held from February 5 to 8, 2020. The theme of this year’s fair is ‘Making farming an enterprise’. More than 50,000 farmers from various States of the country are expected to take part in the exhibition. Several crop varieties, horticultural technologies and practices are to be showcased in the fair.
15. What is the name of the dispute resolution scheme for direct taxes, recently announced in the Union Budget?
[A] Sabka Vishwas
[B] Vivad se Vishwas
[C] Kar Vishwas
[D] CBDT Vishwas
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Vivad se Vishwas]
Notes:
The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a dispute resolution scheme for direct taxes in the recent Union Budget 2020-21.
Under the proposed scheme, the taxpayers whose tax demands are locked in any dispute in any of the forums can pay their due taxes by March 31, 2020. By paying it before the deadline, the taxpayer can get complete waiver of interest and penalty. With an additional 10 per cent, he can pay up to June 30. The Finance Minister recently introduced the ‘Vivad se Vishwas’ bill in the parliament. Last year, a scheme for dispute resolution for indirect taxes called ‘Sabka Vishwas’ was launched.
16. What is the repo rate, after the sixth bi-monthly monetary policy committee meeting of the Reserve Bank of India, in February 2020?
[A] 5.5%
[B] 5.4%
[C] 5.15%
[D] 4.90%
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [5.15%]
Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently conducted its sixth bi-monthly Monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting and released the statement. The repo rate was left unchanged at 5.15%, as a unanimous decision taken by the MPC members.
The central bank also announced that it had no plans to monetise the government’s fiscal deficit, which means to print fresh currency notes to balance the deficit. A Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO) for digital payment system is also to be set up by April 2020. RBI also decided to extend the Cheque Truncation System (CTS) to all regions across India.
17. Kirk Douglas, who has recently passed away, is associated with which field?
[A] Politics
[B] Sports
[C] Cinema
[D] Business
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Cinema]
Notes:
Veteran Hollywood actor Kirk Douglas has recently passed away at the age of 103. The legendary actor was born in Amsterdam and his original name was Issur Danielovitch Demsky.
He made his Hollywood debut in 1946 with the film “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers” and Kirk Douglas became a leading box-office icon of Hollywood during 1950-60. One of his most popular movies was ‘Spartacus’, which made a universal box-office record. He was the recipient of the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award given to a US civilian.
18. What is the projected growth rate of India, during the next financial year 2020-21, as per the recent Monetary policy of RBI?
[A] 5%
[B] 5.5%
[C] 6%
[D] 6.5%
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [6%]
Notes:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently projected the economic growth of the country to grow by 6 per cent during the next financial year. This is the lower end of the growth projection as announced by the government in the economic survey, which estimated a rate of 6-6.5 per cent. RBI also stated that the Indian economy continues to be weak.
The first half of the year would grow in the range of 5.5-6.0 per cent and the third quarter at 6.2 per cent, as per the RBI. But this projection is higher than the GDP growth projection of 5%, made in the monetary policy statement of December 2019.
19. The indigenous air to ground missile ‘Khagantak’, which was unveiled during the ongoing DefExpo 2020, is built by which firm/organisation?
[A] Defence Research and Development Organisation
[B] Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd
[C] JSR Dynamics
[D] Bharat Electronics Limited
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [JSR Dynamics]
Notes:
A private Indian firm has recently unveiled the indigenous air to ground missile ‘Khagantak’, during the ongoing DefExpo 2020. The firm has manufactured the air to ground missile with a strike range of 180 km.
The Managing Director of JSR Dynamics Air Marshal SB Deo announced the missile and said that when released from a height of 12 km, the missile is an air-launch weapon. It can be used as a guide weapon, which also has artificial intelligence (AI) to recognise the targets. Such indigenous missiles are expected to be a boost to the ‘Make in India’ initiative and reduce our dependence on foreign defence manufacturers.
20. Kaamya Karthikeyan of Mumbai recently became the youngest girl in the world to summit Mt Aconcagua. Mt Aconcagua is the highest peak of South America, located in which country?
[A] Brazil
[B] Argentina
[C] Peru
[D] Chile
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Argentina]
Notes:
Kaamya Karthikeyan a student from Mumbai, recently became the youngest girl in the world to scale Mt Aconcagua. Mt Aconcagua is the highest peak in South America, located in Argentina. It is the highest peak outside Asia with the height of 6962 metres.
The student of Navy children school has already scaled the some of the highest peaks in Africa, Europe, and Australia in the past.