41. ‘Veer Bal Diwas’ observed to mark the martyrdom of the sons of which Sikh Guru?
[A] Guru Gobind Singh
[B] Guru Arjan
[C] Guru Hargobind
[D] Guru Tegh Bahadur
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Guru Gobind Singh]
Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid respects to Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, the sons of Tenth Sikh Guru Guru Gobind Singh’s sons who laid down their lives while defending their faith.
December 26 is observed as Veer Bal Diwas in Idia. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee as well as Akal Takht, the highest temporal body of the Sikhs, opposed the government’s initiative.
42. Which institution initiated a study of fees and expenses of Mutual Funds?
[A] RBI
[B] SEBI
[C] NITI Aayog
[D] PM-EAC
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [SEBI]
Notes:
Capital markets regulator SEBI said that it has initiated a detailed study of fees and expenses charged by mutual funds.
The study would seek to encourage new participants, encourage adoption of technology, discourage cross subsidisation across schemes, close arbitrage opportunities, and curbing malpractices if any in the practice.
43. Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Power Project, which was see in the news, was handed over by India to which country?
[A] Nepal
[B] Bangladesh
[C] Bhutan
[D] Maldives
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Bhutan]
Notes:
India-assisted 720 Megawatts Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Power Project has been recently handed to Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC) in Bhutan.
With this project, India and Bhutan have successfully completed four mega hydroelectric power projects. The commissioning of the project has increased Bhutan’s Electrical Power Generation Capacity by 44 per cent.
44. Which Union Ministry released a policy draft for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics — Extended Reality (AVGC-XR)?
[A] Information and Broadcasting Ministry
[B] Science and Technology Ministry
[C] Electronics and IT Ministry
[D] Finance Ministry
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Information and Broadcasting Ministry]
Notes:
Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry released a policy draft for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics — Extended Reality (AVGC-XR).
It has an aim to boost India’s domestic capacities and develop opportunities in AVGC-XR sector. The policy at state and national levels talks about the framing of a new curriculum at school and college levels, under ‘Create in India’ campaign and creating more job opportunities. The taskforce on AVGC-XR was formed under the aegis of I&B Ministry secretary Apurva Chandra.
45. Bar-headed goose, one the world’s highest flying birds, visited which Indian state recently?
[A] Goa
[B] Tamil Nadu
[C] Kerala
[D] Odisha
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Tamil Nadu]
Notes:
The bar-headed goose, considered one the world’s highest flying birds, recently visited the Muttukadu backwaters in Tamil Nadu.
As many as seven bar-headed geese made a temporary stop at Muttukadu. Bar-headed geese, native to Central Asia, are capable of flying through the passes of the highest mountains with speedy winds freezing temperatures.
46. Which institution has been named as ‘G20 Science working group’s secretariat’?
[A] IIT Madras
[B] IIT Bombay
[C] IIT Delhi
[D] IISc Bengaluru
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [IISc Bengaluru]
Notes:
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has been named as the secretariat for Science 20 (S20), one of the G20’s groupings.
The G20 is being presided over by India and the theme of the S20 in 2023 is ‘Disruptive Science for Innovative and Sustainable Development’. Discussions will take place throughout the year in various regions of India.
47. What is the name of the digital project funded by Google to map the language diversity of India?
[A] Project Bharat
[B] Project Vaani
[C] Project Echo
[D] Project Inimai
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Project Vaani]
Notes:
The Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc), ARTPARK (AI and Robotics Technology Park) and Google have partnered together for ‘Project Vaani’ Initiative.
The digital project aims to map the language diversity of India by collecting speech sets of about a million people across 773 districts. The project aims to record over 150,000 hours of speech, part of which will be transcribed in local scripts. The goal is to boost development of automatic speech recognition, speech to speech translation and natural language understanding.
48. The Competition Commission issued demand notices to which company for its failure to pay penalties within the stipulated time?
[A] Meta
[B] Xiaomi
[C] Google
[D] Amazon
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Google]
Notes:
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) issued demand notices to Google for its failure to pay the penalties within the stipulated time.
CCI earlier imposed penalties on the internet major for anti-competitive practices. Google has filed appeals before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) against the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) two orders in October.
49. Which neighbouring country of India has recently inaugurated its first ever metro rail line?
[A] Bhutan
[B] Bangladesh
[C] Nepal
[D] Pakistan
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Bangladesh]
Notes:
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the country’s first ever metro rail line in its capital city Dhaka.
Dhaka is regarded as one of the world’s most densely populated cities. The Metro project has been mostly funded by Japan and the train network has been in development for nearly 10 years.
50. ‘Rythu Bandhu’ is the flagship scheme of which state/UT?
[A] Kerala
[B] Telangana
[C] West Bengal
[D] Assam
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Telangana]
Notes:
Telangana government has launched the 10th phase of Rythu Bandhu, the investment support scheme for farmers.
Under this phase, 7,676 crores will be deposited in the bank accounts of over 70 lakh farmers towards investment support for the Rabi crop season. The investment support is disbursed at a rate of 5000 rupees per acre.