21. Which country has become the first to allow drones in civilian airspace?
[A] USA
[B] Israel
[C] Russia
[D] UAE
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Israel]
Notes:
Israel’s Ministry of Transport and Road Safety has announced the country’s first certification for unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAVs) to operate in civilian airspace.
With this, it has become the first country to allow drones in civilian airspace. For safety purposes, international aviation regulations prohibit uncertified aircraft from flying in civilian airspace.
22. What is ‘Proxima d’, which was seen in the news recently?
[A] New Vaccine
[B] New Exo-Planet
[C] New Star
[D] New Mineral
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [New Exo-Planet]
Notes:
A team of astronomers has discovered a new planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the star closest to the Sun.
The planet named ‘Proxima d’, is the third detected in the system. It is among the lightest of the exo-planets discovered so far. The astronomers used the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile to spot this exo-planet.
23. Xinjiang region, which was seen in the news, is located in which country?
[A] Bangladesh
[B] China
[C] South Korea
[D] Japan
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [China]
Notes:
The International Labour Organization has condemned China for racial and religious discrimination in the Xinjiang region.
The report said that as a ILO member state, the Chinese government is firmly committed to provide decent work for all China’s ethnic minority groups including Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
24. Which network of the Indian Railways launched first QR code-based payment?
[A] Western Network
[B] North Eastern Network
[C] Southern Network
[D] Northern Network
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Southern Network]
Notes:
Southern Railway has introduced Quick Response (QR) code-based payment of ticket fare in Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs).
This aims to encourage cashless transactions and digital payments. As per the Railway administration, journey and platform tickets can be purchased using QR code facility. Renewal of season tickets can also be completed digitally.
25. Which country has recorded the most deforestation ever in the Amazon rainforest in January 2022?
[A] Brazil
[B] Argentina
[C] Chile
[D] Bolivia
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Brazil]
Notes:
Brazil recorded the most deforestation ever in the Amazon rainforest for the month of January, according to new government data.
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon totalled 430 sq kilometres last month, five times higher than January 2021. This is according to preliminary satellite data from government space research agency.
26. The Northern Mariana Islands, which was seen in the news recently, is a territory of which country?
[A] USA
[B] Russia
[C] France
[D] China
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [USA]
Notes:
The Northern Mariana Islands, a United States territory, is located only 2500km southeast of Japan.
Japan has planned to dump more than 1 million tonnes of treated water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power station into the Pacific Ocean. The Northern Mariana Islands has proposed another viable solution to the plan to be considered.
27. India has advised its citizens in which country to ‘consider leaving temporarily’?
[A] Afghanistan
[B] Ukraine
[C] Syria
[D] Iran
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Ukraine]
Notes:
The Indian Embassy in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, issued advisory, saying Indian nationals particularly students whose stay is not essential, may consider leaving temporarily.
It also advised them to avoid all non-essential travel. This came at the backdrop of repeated warnings from US officials that Russia could launch an invasion of Ukraine. There are more than 20,000 Indians in Ukraine, including professionals, businessmen and some 18,000 students.
28. Crimson Rose, which was seen in the news recently, belongs to which species?
[A] Flower
[B] Butterfly
[C] Panda
[D] Snake
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Butterfly]
Notes:
Crimson Rose is a large butterfly with a mix of black, white and crimson colours on its wings and body. It belongs to the Swallowtails (Papilionidae) family and they are known to migrate along the coast, inland and cross the sea often.
Recently, thousands of Crimson Rose butterflies were seen flying from Dhanushkodi, at the southern-most tip of Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu) Island towards Sri Lanka, which is around 25 km from the tip of Dhanushkodi.
29. Which Indian city recently inaugurated ‘Water Taxi Services’?
[A] Chennai
[B] Mumbai
[C] Kolkata
[D] Ahmadabad
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Mumbai]
Notes:
The Mumbai water taxi services to provide connectivity between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai were inaugurated by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
The newly constructed Belapur jetty and water taxi services were inaugurated virtually. The Mumbai Port Trust, Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) and CIDCO coordinated in the implementation of the project.
30. What is the duration of the ‘New India Literacy Programme’ approved recently?
[A] 2022-25
[B] 2022-27
[C] 2022-30
[D] 2022-32
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [2022-27]
Notes:
The Union Government has approved the ‘New India Literacy Programme’ for financial years 2022-27 which will cover all aspects of Adult Education in the country.
The program has been announced in line with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. ‘Adult Education’ will now be called ‘Education For All’. As per 2011 Census, the number of non-literates in the country (15 years and above) was 25.76 crore (9.08 crore male and 16.68 crore female).