Daily GK and Current Affairs Quiz – 11th March 2021

Correct Answer: B. Niger

Explanation: Mahamadou Issoufou, the incumbent President of Niger has won the “2020 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership”, the world’s largest leadership prize, worth $5 million. He is the sixth winner of the Ibrahim Prize since it was introduced in 2006, by Sudanese billionaire Mo Ibrahim’s foundation to promote good governance in the world’s poorest continent.

The 69-year-old Issoufou is stepping down as president of Niger in April 2021, after serving two terms in office. He first took office in 2011 and was then re-elected in 2016.

Important Points:

• Niger Capital: Niamey.
• Niger Currency: West African CFA franc.

Correct Answer – E. Amitabh Bachchan

Explanation: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan will be honoured with an award by the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF). The veteran actor will be the first Indian cinema personality to be bestowed with the FIAF Award for his dedication and contribution to the preservation of the world’s film heritage.

Amitabh Bachchan was nominated for the award by the FIAF affiliate Film Heritage Foundation which is a not-for-profit organisation founded by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur a filmmaker & archivist. This foundation is dedicated to preserve, restore, document, exhibit and study the film heritage of India.

The FIAF is a worldwide organisation, comprising film archives and museums from across the world. Hollywood filmmakers and previous recipients of the FIAF Award — Martin Scorcese and Christopher Nolan — will present the award to Bachchan during a virtual showcase scheduled to take place on March 19.

Important Points:

FIAF Founded: 17 June 1938; Headquarters: Brussels, Belgium.

Correct Answer – A. Dustlik-II

Explanation: The India – Uzbekistan joint military exercise DUSTLIK II has commenced in Foreign Training Node Chaubatia, Ranikhet in Uttarakhand. This is the Second Edition of the annual bilateral joint exercise of both armies. It will continue till the 19th of this month. The first edition of the exercise was held in Uzbekistan in November 2019. 45 Soldiers each from Uzbekistan and the Indian Army are participating in the exercise.

Both contingents will be sharing their expertise and skills in the field of counter-terrorist operations in mountainous or rural or urban scenarios under UN mandate. The validation exercise will be a testbed for the soldiers of both armies as they would be undergoing the challenges of actual operations in such scenarios. The joint exercise will definitely provide impetus to the ever-growing military and diplomatic ties between the two nations and also reflects the strong resolve of both nations to counter-terrorism.

Important Points:

• Capital of Uzbekistan: Tashkent; Currency: Uzbekistani Som.
• President of Uzbekistan: Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Correct Answer – B. NISAR

Explanation: ISRO has completed the development of a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) capable of producing extremely high-resolution images for a joint earth observation satellite mission with the US space agency NASA. NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) is a joint collaboration for a dual-frequency L and S-band SAR for earth observation.

About NISAR:

NISAR will be the first satellite mission to use two different radar frequencies (L-band and S-band) to measure changes in our planet’s surface less than a centimetre across.The mission is targeted to launch in early 2022 from ISRO’s Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district, about 100 km north of Chennai.NASA is providing the mission’s L-band SAR, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder and payload data subsystem.ISRO is providing the spacecraft bus, the S-band radar, the launch vehicle and associated launch services for the mission, whose goal is to make global measurements of the causes and consequences of land surface changes using advanced radar imaging.

Important Points:

• ISRO Chairman: K.Sivan.
• ISRO Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka.
• ISRO established: 15 August 1969.
• Acting Administrator of NASA: Steve Jurczyk.
• Headquarters of NASA: Washington D.C., United States.
• NASA Founded: 1 October 1958.

Correct Answer – D. Axis Bank

Explanation: Axis Bank has launched a range of wearable contactless payment devices under the brand Wear ‘N’ Pay. These devices come in different forms of wearables like a band, key chain and watch loop and are available starting at Rs 750. The wearables are directly linked to the bank account of an Axis Bank customer and function like a regular debit card. It allows purchases at any merchant store which accepts contactless transactions.

How do they work?

Axis Bank’s new ‘Wear N Pay’ devices are available in a variety of accessories like the band, key chain, and watch loop. Users do not need to carry their smartphones and wallet for payments anymore. These wearable devices can be worn easily to carry out contactless transactions on the go.Customers can use these devices at any merchant that accepts contactless transactions. Users need to wave the device at a POS machine for transactions up to Rs 5,000. For transactions of more than Rs 5,000, a PIN is required.The program also provides a host of features for its customers, which include 10% cashback, offers across Dining partners as well as a fraud liability cover up to 100% of the purchase limit.

Important Points:

• Axis Bank Commenced operations: 1994.
• Axis Bank Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• Axis Bank Tagline: Dil Se Open.
• Axis Bank MD and CEO: Amitabh Chaudhry.

Correct Answer – B. GP Samanta

Explanation: The government has appointed G P Samanta as the new Chief Statistician of India for a period of two years.Samanta was till now an adviser in the RBI’s Department Of Statistics and Information Management.Samanta is India’s fourth CSI.Kshatrapati Shivaji, a 1986-batch Maharashtra cadre IAS officer, was given additional charge as MoSPI secretary in September last year after the tenure of Pravin Srivastava ended on August 31, 2020.

Correct Answer – A. Vivo

Explanation:  Chinese smartphone company Vivo is back as the title sponsor of the Indian Premium League cricket tournament, almost a year after the sponsorship deal with the BCCI was suspended amid the India-China border standoff.The company, which competes with players like Xiaomi and Samsung in the Indian market, also stated that it will expand its portfolio of premium devices, and focus on new technologies like 5G.This year’s edition of IPL will run from April 9 to May 30 across six venues — Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata.The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will host the final on May 30 as well as the play-offs.

Correct Answer – A. DBS Bank

Explanation:  DBS Bank India Ltd. (DBIL) partnered with TRRAIN (Trust for Retailers & Retail Associate of India) to support the youth from low income households, pandemic affected, and persons with disabilities through skill training and employment opportunities.It is a part of the initiative ‘DBS Stronger Together Fund’The partnership will lead to one-year-long, Pan-India program which is a combination of classroom and online training sessionsThe training will be conducted by TRRAIN centres across cities such as Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and among others.

Correct Answer – B. HDFC Bank

Explanation:  Magicbricks Realty Services limited (Magicbricks), a wholly owned subsidiary of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd of The Times Group, partnered with Razorpay and HDFC Bank to create a secure online solution “Pay Rent” feature for rent payments through credit cards.The online solution is created with a focus on the 10 million rental residential household market.The estimated market size of the payment of rent through credit card is around Rs.3000 crore.Magicbricks has activated the security features and has implemented the risk and fraud detection module of Razorpay on the backend to ensure an additional layer of security in order to protect against any misuse.

Correct Answer – C. IDBI Bank

Explanation:  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has removed IDBI Bank from its enhanced regulatory supervision, or the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework, after almost four years, on improved financial performance.The RBI had placed IDBI Bank under the framework in May 2017, after it had breached the thresholds for capital adequacy, asset quality (net NPAs were over 13% in March 2017), return on assets and leverage ratio.It was noted as per published results for the quarter ended December 31, the bank was not in breach of the PCA parameters on regulatory capital, net NPA and leverage ratio.The LIC-owned IDBI Bank had reported a standalone net profit of ₹378 crore for the December quarter.The lender had reported a net loss of ₹5,763 crore a year earlier.

Correct Answer: A. Mozambique

Explanation: Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal flagged off 3000 HP Cape Gauge Locomotive for export to Mozambique on 10 March 2021.These locomotives are developed indigenously by Banaras Locomotive Works, Varanasi.Indian Railways is exporting the first batch of 2 locomotives as part of the total order of 6 locomotives of 3000 HP cape gauge locomotive.

Correct Answer – D. Mahindra and Mahindra

Explanation: Mahindra and Mahindra has received clearance from the Reserve Bank of India to reduce its ownership in Korean automaker SsangYong Motor.The UV maker has got approval to reduce its stake of 75 percent in SsangYong Motor to 25 percent through capital reduction.Mahindra had paid Rs 2,100 crore, or $463 million, for the purchase of SsangYong a decade ago.

Correct Answer – E. Jammu and Kashmir

Explanation: Festival Mahashivratri locally known as ‘Herath’ in Kashmir is being celebrated across Jammu and Kashmir by Kashmiri Pandit Community with religious fervour by offering “Watak Nath Pooja”.The three-day festival is being celebrated from March 11 to 13, 2021.The festival assumes colossal importance among the Kashmiri Pandit Community who celebrate it to mark the wedding of Lord Shiva with Goddess Parvati.

Correct Answer: B. 5519

Explanation: The Department of Telecommunication has targeted to provide internet connectivity to 5,519 Gram Panchayats by November 2021.4,112 Gram Panchayats will be connected with broadband network limited and 1,407 will be connected with Satellite Media under the BharatNet project till November 2021.Till 1 March 2021, 2,432 Gram Panchayats have been connected with Bharat Broadband Network Limited.Out of 5,97,618 inhabited villages (as per Census 2011) in the country, a total number of 5,58,537 villages have 3G or 4G mobile wireless coverage.