Daily GK and Current Affairs Quiz – 1st October 2020

Correct Answer: C. Gujarat

Explanation: Gujarat Government has signed an MoU with Denmark in the water sector. Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board has signed the MoU with ‘Danish Water Forum’ through an online interactive platform. It has has been signed for a five-year period in order to set up the Indo-Danish Water Technology Alliance in Gujarat and contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal.

Correct Answer – D. Uttar Pradesh

Explanation: Uttar Pradesh government will establish L2 level COVID hospitals in each and every district of the state for better treatment of COVID patients. These L2 level COVID hospitals are currently in six districts of the state which includes Bareilly, Sant Kabir Nagar, Shamli, Amethi Mirzapur and Bhadohi. Dastak campaign will also be launched from 1-15 Oct 2020 which will complete immunization schedule of children.

Correct Answer – C. 120 million

Explanation: WHO and it’s leading partners have agreed to a plan to roll out 120 million rapid-diagnostic tests for Coronavirus. The programme aims to help lower and middle-income countries make up ground in a testing gap with richer countries. The rapid tests look for antigens or proteins found on the surface of the virus. They are generally considered less accurate but much faster than PCR tests.

Correct Answer – C. Bangladesh

Explanation:  India and Bangladesh have agreed to set up a ‘High Level Monitoring Committee’. It will be headed by the Secretary, Economic Relations Division of Bangladesh and High Commissioner of India in Bangladesh. It will regularly review the progress of implementation of projects being run with Line of Credit (Loc) provided by India.

Correct Answer – C. Shekhar Kapur

Explanation: Noted Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has been named as the President of Film and Television Institute of India, FTII Society and Chairman of Governing Council of FTII. The critically acclaimed director and actor is known for films like Elizabeth (1998), Bandit Queen (1994) and The Four Feathers (2002). His tenure will be till March 3, 2023.

Correct Answer – A. P.D. Vaghela

Explanation: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed P.D. Vaghela as the chairman of the Telecom Regulatory of India (TRAI). He will succeed RS Sharma, who was at the helm of the sector regulator for five years. He is currently in the department of pharmaceuticals (DoP) under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, where he was appointed as the secretary for a year till 30 September.

Correct Answer – C. S S Deswal

Explanation: ITBP Director General, S S Deswal has been given the additional charge of counter-terrorism force National Security Guard (NSG) as its incumbent chief A K Singh is going to retire on September 30. This is the second time that Deswal, a 1984-batch Indian Police Service officer, has been directed to lead the NSG in an additional capacity.

Correct Answer – A. IIT Madras

Explanation: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has successfully developed ‘MOUSHIK’, an indigenously-made microprocessor for the Internet of things (IoT) devices. ‘MOUSHIK’ is a processor cum a system-on-chip that can cater to the rapidly-growing IoT devices, an integral part of smart cities of a digital India. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology funded the MOUSHIK project of IIT Madras.

“MOUSHIK” microprocessor was conceptualised, designed and developed at the Pratap Subrahmanyam Centre for Digital Intelligence and Secure Hardware Architecture (PS-CDISHA) of the RISE Group, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Madras. The field applications of ‘MOUSHIK’ include smart cards including credit cards, ID cards, debit cards, travel cards for metros and driving licenses, electronic voting machines (EVMs) and office management systems including attendance, surveillance cameras and safe locks. It also includes personalised health management systems.

Correct Answer – C. USD 300 million

Explanation:  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a 300 million dollar loan to finance inclusive water supply and sanitation infrastructure and services in secondary towns of Rajasthan. The project is expected to build citywide access for improved water supply services for about 5.7 lakh people. It will also enhance the sanitation services for about 7.2 lakh people in at least 14 secondary towns. Through the project, water supply systems in at least eight project towns are expected to improve by 2027 with about one lakh households including all urban poor households benefiting from five new or rehabilitated water treatment plants and 1,350 km of distribution networks.

Correct Answer – B. Assam

Explanation: Assam’s first and only woman chief minister, Syeda Anwara Taimur passed away. A four-time Congress MLA beginning with her first election in 1972, Taimur held portfolios like education before becoming chief minister for a brief period from December 6, 1980, to June 30, 1981. She was nominated for a Rajya Sabha term in 1988. She joined the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in 2011.

Correct Answer – C. Sri Lanka

Explanation: Sri Lanka has banned cattle slaughter after the Cabinet cleared Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s recent proposal. However, it decided to import beef for the benefit of those who consume it. Sri Lanka is a Buddhist majority country, those following the religion constitute 70% of the country’s population. Most of them do not eat beef, as they consider cows sacred, while minority Muslims, who make up about 10%, Christians and a section of Hindus consume beef. Government critics have voiced concern that the call for banning cattle slaughter could be a move to target the island’s Muslims who not only eat beef, but also control a considerable part of the meat trade, including its halal certification that hard-line groups have sought to ban in the past.

Correct Answer – B. Usha Mangeshkar

Explanation: The Maharashtra government has announced the Gan Samragni Lata Mangeshkar award for the year 2020-21 to veteran female playback singer Usha Mangeshkar. The award is given by the cultural department of the state government. The award includes a cash prize of five lakh rupees, a certificate and a memento. The veteran singer has sung songs in Marathi, Hindi and several other Indian language films. Her songs from the film ‘Subah ka Tara’, ‘Jay Santoshi Maa’, ‘Azad’, ‘Chitrlekha’, ‘Khatta Meetha’, ‘Kala Pathar’, ‘Naseeb’, ‘Khubsurat’, ‘Disco Dancer’, ‘Inkar’ ruled the chartbuster.

Correct Answer – C. Sonu Sood

Explanation:  Bollywood actor, Sonu Sood has been conferred the prestigious SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on 28 September 2020 during a virtual ceremony. He has received the award for selflessly extending a helping hand and sending lakhs of migrants, stranded students across geographies abroad, back to their homes. Besides that, he has also been providing free education and medical facilities to young children and has been creating free employment opportunities to the needy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Correct Answer: B. Kuwait

Explanation: Kuwait’s ruling Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah has passed away in a hospital in the United States. He became Kuwait’s Emir in January 2006 after the death of Sheikh Jaber al-Sabah. He was dubbed the “dean of Arab diplomacy” for his efforts to restore relations with states that backed Iraq during the 1990-1991 Gulf War, when Kuwait was invaded by Iraqi forces.