Daily GK and Current Affairs Quiz – 14th January 2021

Correct Answer: B. Angela Merkel

Explanation: For the 10th consecutive year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel takes the No. 1 spot, also marking her 15th total appearance on the list. Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, maintains her position at No. 2 on this year’s ranking. New to the top three is the U.S. Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris, who will serve as the first female Vice President of the United States and is the first Black and Indian American to hold the position.

Correct Answer – B. ₹2,129 Crore

Explanation: Japan decided to assist India by providing a loan of up to 30 billion yen (appx. INR 2,129 Crore) for its efforts to mitigate socio-economic impacts of COVID-19. The Exchange of Notes for the COVID-19 Crisis Response Support Loan for Social Protection were signed by SUZUKI Satoshi, Ambassador of Japan to India and Dr C. S. Mohapatra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs. This yen loan is the latest addition to Japan’s supports to India in its fight against COVID-19.

Correct Answer – A. Aryan Jain

Explanation: Aryan Jain, is among the winners of an app development challenge organised by NASA. He is amongst the winners of NASA’s Artemis Next-Gen STEM–Moon to Mars App Development Challenge. He is a student of SunCity School, Gurugram (Haryana), he had teamed up with six high school students from the US.

Correct Answer – C. 26th

Explanation:  West Bengal CM, Mamata Banerjee has inaugurated the 26th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF). The inaugural ceremony was also virtually attended by Bollywood superstar and West Bengal’s brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan from Mumbai. Legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s classic ‘Apur Sansar’ will be the inaugural film of the festival in which 131 movies from 45 countries will be screened till January 13. Films will be screened at Rabindra Sadan, Nandan, Sisir Mancha and Rabindra Okakura Bhavan in Salt Lake. Six films by Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini and movies on sitarist Ravi Shankar, singer Hemanta Mukherjee and flicks of comedian Bhanu Bandyopadhyay will be screened.

Correct Answer – B. Adesh Gupta

Explanation: A coffee table book named “Modi India Calling – 2021” has been released on the occasion of 16th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. The book contains various photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi captured during his “107 overseas and bilateral visits”. The book is the idea of BJP leader Vijay Jolly and it was released by Adesh Gupta, the Delhi BJP president. The book has been published by Maneesh Media and has 450 pages containing thousands of photographs of the PM Modi. Jolly has also said that he wishes to form a similar book on Rahul Gandhi and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

Correct Answer – B. Boeing 737-500

Explanation: A passenger plane of Indonesia’s Sriwijaya Air carrying 62 people on board crashed into waters off Jakarta. The Boeing 737-500 was on an estimated 90-minute flight from Jakarta to Pontianak, capital of West Kalimantan province on Indonesia’s Borneo island. The Sriwijaya Air disappeared from radars four minutes into its journey to Pontianak in West Kalimantan province. It is thought to have dropped more than 3,000m (10,000ft) in less than a minute.

Correct Answer – C. Tarun Chhabra

Explanation: US President-elect Joe Biden named Indian-American Sumona Guha as senior director for South Asia and Tarun Chhabra as senior director for Technology and National Security.  Guha was co-chair of the South Asia foreign policy working group on the Biden-Harris campaign and serves on the transition’s State Department Agency Review Team. During the Obama-Biden Administration, Chhabra served on the National Security Council staff as director for Strategic Planning and director for Human Rights and National Security Issues, and at the Pentagon as a speechwriter to the Secretary of Defence.

• Sumona Guha: Guha is a graduate of Johns Hopkins and Georgetown University. Named as senior director for Technology and National Security, Chhabra is a senior fellow at the Centre for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University.
• Tarun Chhabra: Born in Tennessee and raised in Louisiana, Chhabra is a first-generation American and a graduate of Stanford University, Oxford University, and Harvard Law School.

Correct Answer – A. Romila Thapar

Explanation: The book titled ‘Gazing Eastwards: Of Buddhist Monks and Revolutionaries in China, 1957’ was authored by Romila Thapar, an Indian historian. The book is published by Seagull Books London Ltd. She declined the Padma Bhushan award in 1992 and 2005. The book accounts for a few months that Romila Thapar spent in China in 1957 along with Sri Lankan art historian Anil de Silva, where she worked at two cave sites, namely Maijishan in north China and Dunhuang on the edge of the Gobi desert in Northwest China.  These cave sites were the locations of Buddhist monasteries and shrines from the first millennium CE.

Correct Answer – B. Manipur

Explanation:  The 4th edition of the Cherry Blossom Festival, Mao in Manipur was virtually inaugurated by Chief Minister N Biren Singh. However this year, the authority decided to scale down the festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Festival featured the picturesque landscape of Mao adorned with beautiful cherry trees laden with blooming flowers which have traditionally attracted visitors from across the world.

• Manipur has been celebrating the festival every year since 2017.
• The festival which featured the picturesque landscape of Mao town adorned with beautiful Cherry Blossom flowers was streamed live from 2 pm on various social media platforms.
• The Mao area of Senapati district in Manipur is known for Cherry Blossom, a plant which is popularly known as Sakura in Japan.

Correct Answer – D. 14th January

Explanation: In India, the Armed Forces Veterans Day is observed each year on 14 January since 2017 to acknowledge and honour the selfless devotion and sacrifice of our veterans in the service of the nation. The day was initially called Armistice Day. 2021 marks the 5th Armed Forces Veterans Day. The day is observed as a mark of respect and recognition of the services rendered by Field Marshal KM Cariappa OBE, the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces who retired on 14 January 1953.

Correct Answer – D. Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL)

Explanation: Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish Clean & Energy Efficient Interventions at NHAI Establishments. EESL will set up Solar Power Projects, energy efficient LED lighting and EV Charging stations at NHAI establishments. The MoU was signed in the presence of Rajeev Sharma, Chairman, EESL & RK Pandey, Member-Projects, NHAI.

Correct Answer – A. WTO

Explanation: India’s seventh Trade Policy Review (TPR) initiated at the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. India’s official delegation for the TPR is headed by the Commerce Secretary, Dr. Anup Wadhawan. During the TPR, a comprehensive report issued by the WTO Secretariat which acknowledged India’s strong economic growth at 7.4% during in the last five years i.e. 2015-20. The TPR is an important mechanism under the WTO’s monitoring function, and involves a comprehensive peer-review of the Member’s national trade policies. India’s 6th TPR took place in 2015.

Correct Answer – C. Journalist

Explanation:  Veteran journalist, writer and Padma Shri awardee Turlapati Kutumba Rao passed away recently. Mr. Rao had the distinction of being a personal secretary to Tanguturi Prakasam, the first Chief Minister of Andhra State. A native of Vijayawada, Mr. Rao had worked as editor and editorial writer of Telugu newspaper Andhra Jyothi for close to three-and-a-half decades. He won laurels for translating into Telugu the speeches of many national leaders and stalwarts. The Government of India had honoured him with Padma Shri in 2002 for his valuable contribution to journalism, literature and arts.

Correct Answer: C. Academician

Explanation: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s niece and eminent academician Chitra Ghosh has passed away. She made pioneering contributions to academics and community services and dedicated her life in serving the people, teaching & inspiring the youth. Professor Bose was the former head of the political science department at Lady Brabourne College in Kolkata.