11. Daniel Arap Moi, who passed away recently, as the longest-serving president of which country?
[A] Nigeria
[B] Kenya
[C] Zimbabwe
[D] South Africa
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Kenya]
Notes:
Kenya’s longest-serving president, Daniel Arap Moi, who ruled the country for 24 years, passed away recently. He assumed charge as the President of the country in 1978, when the founding President Jomo Kenyatta died.
He was seen as a uniting figure by many Kenyans. During his reign, he passed a constitutional amendment that made Kenya a one-party state. Then he surrendered to the demands of a multi-party state in 1991. Corruption, economic crisis and political protests were reported in the East African country.
12. Which Indian actor was recently presented with the ‘Kishore Kumar Samman’ Award for 2018, by the Madhya Pradesh government?
[A] Waheeda Rehman
[B] Asha Parekh
[C] Vyjayanthimala
[D] Hema Malini
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Waheeda Rehman]
Notes:
Veteran Indian actor Waheeda Rehman was recently conferred with the prestigious Kishore Kumar Samman Award for the year 2018. The award was instituted by the Madhya Pradesh government.
Famous director Priyadarshan was conferred with the Kishore Kumar Samman for the year 2019, on the death anniversary of the legendary actor Kishore Kumar, October 13, 2019. As Waheeda Rehman could not receive the award during the ceremony, she was presented the award now, by the Madhya Pradesh culture minister Dr Vijaylaxmi Sadho.
13. Pranab Kumar Gogoi, who recently passed away, was a famous personality in which field?
[A] Sports
[B] Literature
[C] Arts
[D] Politics
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Politics]
Notes:
The MLA of Sivasagar constituency in the state of Assam, Pranab Kumar Gogoi recently passed away. He had also served as the Speaker of the Assam state assembly.
The noted legislator was born in 1936 and was an advocate by profession. He was a veteran member of the Congress Party and was first elected to the state assembly in 2001. He was known for introducing the definition of the term “Assamese”, during the previous term of Congress government in the state.
14. Which Indian Oil and Gas company signed an MoU with Russian energy firm, Rosneft for importing Crude Oil from Russia?
[A] Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
[B] Indian Oil Corporation
[C] Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited
[D] Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Indian Oil Corporation]
Notes:
Indian Oil and Gas company, the Indian Oil Corporation recently signed an MoU with Russian energy firm, Rosneft for importing Crude Oil from Russia.
The crude oil purchase agreement was signed during a meeting between Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan and the Chairman and CEO of Rosneft, Igor Sechin. Under the agreement, Russia would export 2 million tonnes of crude oil to India this year. Rosneft bought Essar Oil in 2017, which is now Nayara Energy and holds 49 per cent stake in the firm.
15. As per a recent report on medical data leaks, which state is at the top of Indian states that are affected by leaks in medical details?
[A] Madhya Pradesh
[B] Mizoram
[C] Maharashtra
[D] West Bengal
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Maharashtra]
Notes:
A German cybersecurity firm called Greenbone Sustainable Resilience recently published a report on medical data leaks. It revealed that the medical details of more than 120 million Indian patients have been leaked and made available on the Internet.
The state of Maharashtra is placed at the top of the list of states that are affected by the data leak, followed by Karnataka and West Bengal. It also classifies countries in three categories of good, bad and ugly, based on the action taken by the governments after its first report was released. India is placed second in the ugly category.
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. Rakhi Halder, who was seen in news recently, is associated with which sports?
[A] Hockey
[B] Cricket
[C] Weight-lifting
[D] Wrestling
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Weight-lifting]
Notes:
Rakhi Halder, the Indian weight-lifter from West Bengal was seen in news recently as she bagged gold medal in 64kg category at the 35th edition of the Senior Women’s National Weightlifting Championships, being held at Kolkata.
Rakhi Halder, who is an Indian Railways employee, had clinched gold in the Commonwealth Championship in June 2019 and the bronze medal at the Qatar International Cup. Earlier, former World champion Mirabai Chanu from Manipur set a new national record in the 49-kg category and won gold medal.
18. 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.
19. Which famous writer was recently selected for the Mystic Kalinga Literary Award (Indian and Global Languages)?
[A] Manoj Das
[B] Pratibha Ray
[C] Surendra Mohanty
[D] Ramakanta Rath
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Manoj Das]
Notes:
The prestigious Mystic Kalinga Literary Award (Indian and Global Languages) is to be presented to the noted Odia and English writer Manoj Das. The award would be presented during the Mystic Kalinga Festival (MKF) which commences in Bhubaneswar on February 8.
The Mystic Kalinga Literary Award is conferred to a person who has made significant contribution to the literature and culture of Odia. The bilingual writer recently received the country’s third-highest civilian award- Padma Bhushan, for his contribution in the field of literature and education. He had also been conferred with the Saraswati Samman award.
20. The fifth India-Russia Military Industrial Conference was recently organised in which city?
[A] Moscow
[B] New Delhi
[C] Lucknow
[D] St. Petersburg
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Lucknow]
Notes:
The fifth edition of the India-Russia Military Industrial Conference was recently organised in the northern Indian city, Lucknow. The Conference was organised on the sidelines of the biennial Defence exhibition DefExpo 2020.
As many as 14 MoUs related to production of different defence equipment, radar systems, ASW Rocket launchers and 3D modeling were signed between the companies from India and Russia. Among several Indian companies, the prominent ones which signed the agreements were BHEL, Bharat Dynamics Limited and Vista control.