Daily GK and Current Affairs Quiz – 22nd January 2021

Correct Answer: C. Gujarat

Explanation: Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani has announced the ‘Horticulture Development Mission’ (Bagayat Vikas Mission). The aim of this mission is to double the income of farmers involved in medicinal and horticulture farming. Under this mission, the wasteland of the government will be given on 30-year lease for farming horticulture and medicinal crops.

Correct Answer – D. Jammu and Kashmir

Explanation: The Jammu and Kashmir government has recently got the GI tag for Gucchi mushroom. The Gucchi mushrooms are highly expensive and are full of health benefits. They are locally called ‘Thuntoo’ and 500 gm of the mushrooms cost Rs 18,000. The GI tag application for Gucchi mushroom was filed at the Geographical Indication Registry. Recently, GI Tag was also provided to Saffron of Jammu and Kashmir.

Correct Answer – C. Dragon fruit

Explanation: The Gujarat government has decided to rename dragon fruit as ‘Kamalam’. The state government has applied for a patent to change the nomenclature of dragon fruit, which is largely grown in Kutch, Navsari, and different parts of Saurashtra. It looks like a lotus, hence the name ‘Kamalam’. The fruit is known for its nutritional value and also helps in increasing the haemoglobin.

Correct Answer – B. ICICI Bank

Explanation: ICICI Bank will launch a new mobile application ‘InstaFX’. The app enables the authorized money changers, who are partners of the Bank, to complete the KYC verification and validation of customers digitally and on a real-time basis. ICICI Bank is the first bank in the country to offer such a facility to money changers.

Correct Answer – B. PhonePe

Explanation: PhonePe emerged as the top unified payments interface (UPI) application in December 2020 with 902.03 million transactions accounting for ₹1.82 trillion. It surpassed Google Pay, according to to the latest data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Google Pay, on the other hand, saw 11% fall in transaction volume in December, against November 2020.

Correct Answer – D. Ashok Kumar Sonthalia

Explanation: Larsen & Toubro Infotech’s CFO Ashok Kumar Sonthalia has resigned from the company. Larsen & Toubro Infotech has reported a 37.85 percent jump in net profit to Rs 519.3 crore for the December quarter. It had posted a 12 percent increase in revenue to Rs 3,152.8 crore for the December quarter, as against Rs 2,811 crore in 2019.

Correct Answer – C. Jaya Jaitley

Explanation: The union government early last year, set a panel under the chairmanship of Jaya Jaitley to evaluate the marriageable age of girls. The Committee has sent its recommendations to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Women and Child Development Ministry. The committee was tasked with examining the correlation of age of marriage and motherhood with health, medical well-being and nutritional status of mother and neonate/infant/child, during pregnancy, birth and thereafter, key parameters like Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), Total Fertility Rate (TFR), Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB), Child Sex Ratio (CSR) etc.

Correct Answer – B. Azim Premji

Explanation: The chairman of Wipro Limited Azim Premji has been chosen for ‘Press Club Person of the Year’ award given by the Press Club of Bangalore. The founder chairman of Narayana Health Dr Devi Prasad Shetty and actor-Director Sudeep Sanjeev have been selected for the ‘Press Club Special Award.’ Besides them 25 senior journalists have been selected for the ‘Press Club Annual Awards’. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa will facilitate the awardees at a function scheduled for the third week of February.

Correct Answer – D. Uttarakhand

Explanation:  In a move to encourage employment opportunities, Uttarakhand Government has announced that the number of working days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) will be increased from 100 to 150. Government will increase the number of working days from 100 to 150 under MGNREGA and the entire cost will be borne by the state government. This decision was taken during a meeting of the State Employment Guarantee Council. NREGA was first proposed in 1991 by former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao. Passed in Parliament in 2008, it aims to provide 100 days of wage employment to enhance livelihood security in rural areas. (ANI).

Correct Answer – B. 4th

Explanation: India ranked at 4th place in the Global Firepower Index 2021 out of 138 countries that based on their potential military strength. Each country is evaluated on a multitude of factors related to a prolonged offensive or defensive military campaign. USA topped the Index with 904 attack helicopters and eleven aircraft carriers and sixty-eight submarines and 40,000 armoured fighting vehicles. USA was followed by Russia with 189 fighter aircrafts and 538 attack helicopters.

China ranked at third place with 1,200 combat aircrafts and 327 attack helicopters and seventy-nine submarines. India was ranked fourth in the Global Firepower Index with 542 combat aircraft, 17 submarines, 4,730 tanks and 37 attack helicopters. Japan was ranked fifth in the Global Firepower Index with 2 helicopter carriers, 27 destroyers.

Correct Answer – A. RBL Bank

Explanation: The board of directors of RBL Bank has approved the re-appointment of Vishwavir Ahuja as the Managing Director and CEO of the bank for three years. The re-appointment is with effect from June 30, 2021, to June 29, 2024, and the same is being recommended to the Reserve Bank of India and shall be subject to their approval, the bank said in a regulatory filing. He has been MD & CEO of RBL Bank since June 30, 2010. Prior to joining RBL Bank, he was the MD & CEO of Bank of America, India, from 2001 to 2009. As per the regulatory filing, under Ahuja’s leadership, the deposits of the bank have grown almost 40 times, while advances have grown more than 45 times since 2011.

Correct Answer – B. Gorewada International Zoo

Explanation: The Maharashtra government has renamed Gorewada International Zoo in Nagpur as ‘Balasaheb Thackeray Gorewada International Zoological Park. The zoological park will come up on nearly 2,000 hectares forest land. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will inaugurate the Indian safari at the zoo on January 26. Three special 40-seat capacity vehicles and an online ticket booking facility will be made available to the people as soon after the Indian safari is inaugurated.

Correct Answer – A. Politics

Explanation:  Former Union minister and noted industrialist Kamal Morarka has passed away. He served as the Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office under Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar from 1990 to 1991. The 74-year-old leader, a businessman who was also a former BCCI vice president. He was incumbent president of Samajwadi Janata Party (Chandra Shekhar). He was elected to Rajya Sabha in 1988.

Correct Answer – C. Oncologist

Explanation: Dr V Shanta, renowned Indian oncologist and doyen of cancer care, has passed away at the age of 93. Dr V Shanta was also the chairperson of Adyar Cancer Institute. Dr V Shanta was known for her work on cancer care and for building the Cancer Institute with her mentor. The institute is known for providing state-of-the-art health care to all patients, irrespective of their economic condition. Dr V Shanta’s work won several awards, including the Magsaysay Award, Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Vibhushan. Dr Shanta was active till her hospitalisation. During the pandemic, she expressed concern about the new challenges to healthcare that was brought by the lockdown.