Daily GK and Current Affairs Quiz – 19th February 2021

Correct Answer: B. ICICI Lombard

Explanation: The e-commerce company Flipkart has partnered with ICICI Lombard to offer its customers the ‘Group SafeGuard’ insurance, a group health insurance policy.The ‘Group SafeGuard’ comes with daily cash benefits starting from Rs 500, and ‘Hospicash’ benefit for Flipkart consumers.

About the Hospicash:

The product will allow consumers to avail a payout for each day of hospitalisation.The fixed daily amount will enable consumers to pay for incidental medical or emergency expenses.The insurance is affordably priced, paperless, and flexible; covering both accidental hospitalisations or planned surgeries/treatment.

Important Points:

• Flipkart headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka.
• Flipkart CEO: Kalyan Krishnamurthy.
• ICICI Lombard CEO: Bhargav Dasgupta.
• ICICI Lombard Headquarters: Mumbai.
• ICICI Lombard Founded: 2001.

Correct Answer – D. Saudi Arabia

Explanation: The 11th IEA-IEF-OPEC Symposium on Energy Outlooks was held virtually on February 17, 2021, under the patronage of the Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud. From India, the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel, Dharmendra Pradhan, participated in the symposium.The trilateral symposium discussed the long-term outlooks of key producer and consumer countries, apart from the comparative analysis of short, medium, and long-term energy outlooks that OPEC and the IEA published in 2020.

Correct Answer – D. Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Explanation: HCL Technologies has inked an agreement with the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK) to collaborate in the area of cybersecurity.As part of the pact, the IT company will work with C3iHub, a specialised cybersecurity research centre at IITK.This collaboration will bring together the country’s brightest minds, advanced research capabilities and global resources to develop advanced solutions in the area of cybersecurity.

About the collaboration:

• HCL and IITK will bring in real-world industry exposure to carry out joint initiatives and research.
• The teams will develop a security framework and solutions for cybersecurity challenges in current and future operational technologies as one of the first areas of interest.
• They will also work together to discover and manage cyber threats, vulnerabilities, and risks for critical infrastructure.

Correct Answer – B. Irwin Allan Sealy

Explanation:  Prizewinning writer Irwin Allan Sealy’s new novel ‘ASOCA: A Sutra’, an imagined memoir of Ashoka The Great. The novel will be presented as an imagined memoir of Ashoka The Great, the emperor who ruled most of the Indian Subcontinent and played a pivotal role in the spread of Buddhism from India to other parts of Asia in the 3rd century BC. It will be published by Penguin Random House India.Earlier, Penguin had published the thirtieth-anniversary edition of Sealy’s critically acclaimed debut novel The Trotter-Nama and this is the second book by the author to be published by PRH. This book will be released under Penguin’s Viking imprint in July 2021.

Correct Answer – B. Bihar and Jharkhand

Explanation: Noted jurist and a former Governor of Bihar and Jharkhand, Justice (Retd.) M. Rama Jois has passed away. The former Rajya Sabha MP, had also served as the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court. He was also a senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India.

Correct Answer – B. Bangladesh

Explanation: The Bangladesh Supreme Court on 19 February 2021 launched the Artificial Intelligence (AI) based translation software ‘Amar Vasha’ through a virtual event.The software will translate orders and judgements of the Supreme Court from English to Bangla.The Software has been developed with the ‘EkStep’ foundation of India.It is based on their ‘Anuvaad’ translation software used in India.

Bangladesh: 

• Capital – Dhaka.
• Currency – Bangladeshi Taka.
• President – Abdul Hamid.
• Prime Minister – Sheikh Hasina.
• National Sport – Kabaddi.

Correct Answer – B. Bengaluru

Explanation: Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers D. V. Sadananda Gowda inaugurated a Janaushadhi Kendra in Bengaluru on 18 February 2021.There are 7,500 Janaushadhi Kendras in the country and Karnataka alone has 850 such shops.The Janaushadhi shops provide BP tablets at a price of 250 to 300 rupees as against 2,500 to 3,000 rupees charged for the branded medicines.

Correct Answer – C. Rajasthan Royal

Explanation: Chris Morris became the costliest ever player at an IPL auction for Rajasthan Royal.Krishnappa Gowtham became the costliest Indian uncapped player for Chennai Super Kings at the IPL 2021 auction.Cheteshwar Pujara was also sold to Chennai Super Kings.A total of 292 players were enlisted for the auctions- 164 of them Indian and 125 overseas.

Correct Answer – B. Wildlife Crime Control Bureau

Explanation: The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) has received the Asia Environmental Enforcement Award-2020 awarded by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) has been awarded this year under the Innovation category.Earlier, the Bureau had received the award in 2018 under the same category.

Correct Answer – C. 4th

Explanation: The 4th edition of Prime Minister’s Interaction Programme ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ will be held in March 2021.Through this programme, PM Narendra Modi holds a brainstorming session with school students, teachers, and parents in connection with the upcoming examinations.The participants of this programme will be selected through an online competition which will be organized on the MyGov platform.

Correct Answer – C. Maharashtra

Explanation: In accordance with the Grant Thornton Bharat’s Britain Meets India report, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow from the United Kingdom (UK) to India has increased from $898 million in 2015- 16 to $1,422 million in 2019-20.The report is prepared in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and with the support of the UK’s Department of International Trade.It should be noted that Maharashtra is the top investment destination for UK companies, followed by Haryana, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Karnataka.

Correct Answer – C. Punjab

Explanation: Punjab Water Supply and Sanitation Department has set up First of its kind Solar-based Water Supply Projects at Jagrawan-Muradpur & Talwara villages of Jalandhar district. The pilot project has been set up under ‘Har Ghar Paani, Har Ghar Safai’ Mission.The project is expected to benefit around 141 households of Jagrawan & Muradpur and 102 households of Talwara village.The Solar-based projects have been commissioned at a cost of INR 67.71 Lakhs.The Solar based project will significantly reduce the electricity bill of the farmers, and the amount will be utilized for development works of the villages.

Correct Answer – D. Air Marshal Bharat Kumar

Explanation: As a part of the celebration of the 50th Anniversary year of India’s victory over Pakistan in 1971 war, Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria launched the book “The Epic Battle of Longewala” authored by Air Marshal (retd) Bharat Kumar at the event organised at the IAF Museum in Palam, New Delhi.The book aims to document the stories of valour and pass it to the next generation.This book will provide a better understanding about the battle of longewala to the present and future generation.The book features the candid details about the events that happened during the 1971 battle of Longewala.The book features the details of every mission, the crew, tank kills claimed and accounts for every tank and soft vehicle destroyed in the battle.The book also features the firsthand accounts of all the surviving fighter pilots who were involved in the battle.

Correct Answer: C. Politician

Explanation: Captain Satish Sharma, Veteran Congress leader and the former Member of Parliament, passed away at the age of 73 in Goa. He was born on 11th October 1947 in Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh.Captain Satish Sharma was a professional commercial pilot with Air India.He served as the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas from 1993 to 1996 under the premiership of Narasimha Rao.He was first elected to Rajya Sabha in 1986 and served as the member of Rajya sabha from 2004 to 2016.