31. India signed a MoU with which country on ‘Cities combating plastic entering the marine environment’?
[A] Finland
[B] Germany
[C] Switzerland
[D] France
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Germany]
Notes:
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India and GIZ GmbH India on behalf of the German Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety signed an agreement on Technical Cooperation titled ‘Cities Combating Plastic Entering the Marine Environment’.
The project’s outcomes are completely in line with the objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban focusing on sustainable solid waste management and the target to phase out single use plastic by 2022”.
32. Which authority recently ruled that Flavoured milk is ‘beverage containing milk’ and will attract 12 per cent GST?
[A] Finance Ministry
[B] Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR)
[C] Finance Commission
[D] Central Board of Indirect Taxes
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR)]
Notes:
The Gujarat Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) has ruled that Flavoured milk is ‘beverage containing milk’ and will attract 12 per cent GST.
Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, which markets dairy product under Amul brand, had approached the AAR on the taxability under the GST of flavoured milk.
33. Charles Geschke, who recently passed away, was the founder of which computer software company?
[A] Linked In
[B] Adobe
[C] Drop box
[D] Pinterest
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Adobe]
Notes:
Charles Geschke, who founded Adobe along with colleague John Warnock from Xerox, in the year 1982, recently passed away.
He also helped develop Portable Document Format (PDF) document. Though he retired in 2000, he remained on the Adobe board until 2020. At present, the CEO of Adobe is Shantanu Narayen. The famous softwares of the company are PDF, Acrobat, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and Photoshop.”
34. Amid Covid surge, the Centre has allowed to use ____ % of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) during 2021-22?
[A] 25 %
[B] 50 %
[C] 75 %
[D] 100 %
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [50 %]
Notes:
The Centre has allowed states to use 50% of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for the financial year 2021-22 to fight the Covid-19 surge.
As per a communication by the Home Ministry to states and UTs, the special onetime measure will have to be in lines with approved items and norms in the financial year 2021-22. The fund can be used to buy ventilators, air purifiers, oxygen generation, storage, etc.
35. With reference to Defence, what is “INAS 323”, that was recently commissioned?
[A] Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
[B] Air Squadron
[C] Submarine
[D] Missile Launcher
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Air Squadron]
Notes:
Indian Navy’s first unit of the indigenously-built Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Mk III, Indian Naval Air Squadron 323 (INAS 323), was commissioned at INS Hansa, Goa.
The Mk III version of the ALH will be used for Search and Rescue, Special Operations and Coastal Surveillance. The squadron will operate three ALH Mk III helicopters, a multi-role chopper with the Shakti engine manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
36. As per ICMR, which vaccine is found to be effective in neutralizing double mutant strain of SARS-CoV-2?
[A] Sputnik V
[B] Covishield
[C] Covaxin
[D] Oxford Astra Zeneca
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Covaxin]
Notes:
Recently the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said that Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin is found to effectively neutralise the double mutant strain, B.1.617, of SARS-CoV-2. This vaccine is manufactured by Hyderabad based – Bharat Biotech
Also, ICMR has stated that at its National Institute of Virology, scientists have successfully isolated and cultured the double mutant strain which has E484Q and L452R mutations.
37. Who is Mr. Díaz-Canel, who has been in the news recently?
[A] President of Cuba
[B] Head of European Union
[C] President of IMF
[D] Chief of World Bank
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [President of Cuba]
Notes:
The communist Party of Cuba, has chosen Mr. Díaz-Canel as the party’s new leader. He has been the President of Cuba since the year 2018.
In both the positions as Communist Party leader and as President, he has replaced Raul Castro, which has brought a political dynasty to an end, which was in power since the 1959 revolution.
38. Sankha Ghosh, who died recently is associated with which field?
[A] Cricket
[B] Poetry
[C] Dance
[D] Business
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Poetry]
Notes:
Sankha Ghosh, who is a noted Bengali Poet, died recently in Kolkata at the age of 90 years. He was tested COVID positive.
He is a recipient of Padma Bhushan, Jnanpith, Sahitya Akademi awards, and Rabindra Puraskar awards for his literature works. Ghosh was known for raising voice for various social and political issues.
39. ‘COVIRAP’ technology has been developed by which institute?
[A] AIIMS
[B] MIT
[C] IIT Kharagpur
[D] NIT Trichy
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [IIT Kharagpur]
Notes:
The Indian Institute of Technology – Kharagpur has commercialized its healthcare product COVIRAP.
This is a diagnostic technology to zero on Covid infections. Using this technology, the COVID test results can be obtained within 45 minutes of sampling and the results can be seen using a smartphone application.
40. With reference to a recent NASA project, what does “M” in MOXIE stand for?
[A] Maintained
[B] Minimum
[C] Maximum
[D] Mars
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Mars]
Notes:
NASA’s Perseverance mission has extracted oxygen on the Mars planet, using its MOXIE (i.e) Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment.
MOXIE has produced 5 grams of oxygen from carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere, which is enough for an astronaut to breathe for 10 minutes. On Mars, carbon dioxide makes up 96% of the gas in its atmosphere while Oxygen is only 0.13%. MOXIE intakes CO2 and produces O2 from it
