Daily GK and Current Affairs Quiz – 23rd March 2021

Correct Answer: A. Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea

Explanation: The 67th National Film Awards are currently being announced in New Delhi. The awards are for films from the year 2019. The event is organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals, which comes under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The ceremony was supposed to be held in May last year but was delayed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here is the complete list of all the winners:

Feature Film Awards

• Best Feature Film: Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea (Malayalam)
• Best Actor (shared): Manoj Bajpayee for Bhonsle (Hindi), and Dhanush for Asuran (Tamil)
• Best Actress: Kangana Ranaut for Panga (Hindi) and Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (Hindi)

Correct Answer – B. Arindam Bagchi

Explanation: Arindam Bagchi, an officer of the 1995 batch of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), has assumed charge as the new spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs(MEA). He is replacing Anurag Srivastava, an officer of the 1999 batch of IFS.Before this, Bagchi was serving as the joint secretary (north) at the MEA headquarters. He was an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer from the 1995 batch. In past, he has served as India’s ambassador to Croatia from November 2018 to June 2020. He was also India’s deputy high commissioner to Sri Lanka.

Important Points:

• Minister of External Affairs: Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

Correct Answer – C. 4th

Explanation: China has the strongest military force in the world while India stands at number four, according to a study released by defence website Military Direct. China has the strongest military in the world, scoring 82 out of 100 points in the index. The USA, despite their enormous military budgets, comes in 2nd place with 74 points, followed by Russia with 69, India at 61 and then France with 58. The U.K. just about makes the Top 10, coming in 9th place with a score of 43. The study said “ultimate military strength index” was calculated after taking into consideration various factors including budgets, number of inactive and active military personnel, total air, sea, land and nuclear resources, average salaries, and weight of equipment.

Correct Answer – C. Filmmaker

Explanation: Noted writer and filmmaker Sagar Sarhadi, known for films like “Kabhi Kabhie”, “Silsila”, and “Bazaar”, has passed away. He began his career as Urdu short stories writer and entered Bollywood through Yash Chopra’s 1976 “Kabhi Kabhie”, which had Amitabh Bachchan and Raakhee in the lead role. He turned director with “Bazaar” in 1982. He had written dialogues for various acclaimed films like “Silsila”, “Chandni”, “Deewana” “Kaho Na Pyaar Hai” etc.

Correct Answer – C. Shyamala Gopinath

Explanation: The Reserve Bank of India has announced the names of the members of the Standing External Advisory Committee (SEAC) for evaluating applications for Universal Banks as well as Small Finance Banks. The committee has five members, with former RBI deputy governor Shyamala Gopinath as the chairperson. The panel will have a tenure of three years.Other members include Revathy Iyer, director, central board, RBI; B Mahapatra, former executive director, National Payments Corporation of India; T N Manoharan, former chairman, Canara Bank; and Hemant G Contractor, former MD, State Bank of India, and former Chairman, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority. According to guidelines, applications for universal banks and SFBs will first be evaluated by the RBI to ensure prima facie eligibility of the applicants, after which the newly formed committee will evaluate the applications.

Important Points:

RBI 25th Governor: Shaktikant Das; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.

Correct Answer – B. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Explanation: The Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2020 is being conferred on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.The Gandhi Peace Prize is an annual award instituted by government of India since 1995, the 125th birth anniversary commemoration year of Mahatma Gandhi. The award is open to all people regardless of nationality, race, language, caste, creed or sex.The award carries an amount of Rs 1 crore, a citation, plaque and an exquisite traditional handicraft/handloom item.The jury for Gandhi Peace Prize is chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and comprises of two ex-officio members, namely the chief justice of India and leader of the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha.

Correct Answer – A. Rajiv Kumar

Explanation: Government has set up a high-level task force under NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar to lay a roadmap for enforcement of contracts.The task force for enforcement of contracts will give its recommendation for a policy framework for enforcement of contracts and the task force on conciliation mechanism will give its recommendation for an effective conciliation mechanism.The other members of the task for enforcement of contracts force will include secretaries of stakeholder ministries including department for promotion of industry and internal trade and department of economic affairs, revenue and commerce besides chief secretaries of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh besides NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant who will be the member secretary of the task force.

Correct Answer – E. Rs 10 lakh

Explanation: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), the insurance sector regulator has hiked the maximum cover under the standard health insurance plan – Arogya Sanjeevani Policy – from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh and also has expanded the sum insured bands under the policy to between ₹50,000 and ₹10 lakh in multiples of ₹50,000 as against the previous range of Rs 1 lakh – Rs 5 lakh.Insurers can offer the revised sum insured with effect from 1 May, 2021 or earlier.IRDAI made it compulsory for insurers to offer a sum insured of up to ₹10 lakhs, starting from ₹50,000 and in multiples of ₹50,000.It led the companies to file premium rates for the revised sum insured as per the guidelines on the filing minor modifications.Regulated that the unique identification number (UIN) allotted to a product will be retained after the modifications.Allowing higher sum insured options will render the product a viable option for metros and tier-1 cities commented by Sanjay Datta, chief-underwriting, claims and reinsurance, ICICI Lombard General Insurance.

Correct Answer – C. 23rd March

Explanation:    Every year on March 23, World Meteorological Day is celebrated. It was established in 1950.The Day is being observed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and also by the United Nations.March 23 has been chosen as the World Meteorological Organization was established on that day in 1950.The theme of 2020 World Meteorological Day is ‘Climate and Water’.

Correct Answer – A. Energy Efciency Services Ltd

Explanation: Convergence Energy Services Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), unveiled the GRAM UJALA programme.Under the programme, high-quality energy-efficient LED bulbs will be given for Rs 10 per piece in certain villages of five states in the first phase.The programme will be financed entirely through carbon credits and will be the first such programme in India.In phase-I of the programme, 15 million LED bulbs will be distributed.

Correct Answer – C. More than 23 lakh

Explanation: More than 23 lakh loans have been sanctioned to the beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Street Vendors, Atma Nirbhar Nidhi Scheme – PM SVANidhi.Over 18 lakh loans have been disbursed to the beneficiaries.The scheme was launched on 1 June 2020, with the objective to facilitate collateral-free working capital loans up to Rs 10,000, to about 50 lakh street vendors across the country.

Correct Answer – D. 21

Explanation: Delhi government has announced reforms in Excise Policy.The new excise policy was approved by the Cabinet on basis of the recommendations of the Group of Ministers and it will act as a major blow to the liquor mafia in the national capital.The legal age to drink liquor in the national capital has also been reduced to 21 from 25.

Correct Answer – A. India

Explanation:  In cricket, India Legends defeated Sri Lanka Legends by 14 runs in the final of the Road Safety World Series to clinch the title at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur, Chhattisgarh on 21 March 2021.Sachin Tendulkar, captain of the India Legends, finished the tournament as the third-highest run-getter in the tournament.He scored 234 runs.

Correct Answer – A. 23 March

Explanation: The nation paid tributes to freedom fighters – Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev – on their martyrdom day on 23 March 2021.On this day in 1931, British rulers had executed them in Lahore for their revolutionary activities against the empire.They were hanged a day before the scheduled date of execution.A number of programmes were organized across the country to mark the day.