Daily GK and Current Affairs Quiz – 24th December 2020

Correct Answer: C. 2026

Explanation: Sweden-based networking and communication company Ericsson released a report “The Ericsson Mobility Report 2020” which estimated India’s 5G connection to surpass 350 million, accounting 27% of all mobile subscriptions by 2026. The report also notified India’s first 5G connection to be rolled out by 2021. More than 15% of the world’s population (1 billion people) will live in areas under 5G coverage. 60% of the global population (3.5 billion) will use 5G connections with 5G subscriptions by 2026.

Correct Answer – C. 5th

Explanation: The 5th edition of the annual Global Technology Summit (GTS) was organised virtually by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India in collaboration with Carnegie India (CI). GTS is one of the four flagship annual conferences organised by MEA. The other three conferences are the Raisina Dialogue, the Geo-economic dialogue, and the Indian Ocean Conference.

The theme of the 2020 GTS was “The Geopolitics of Technology”. The speakers from included the External Affairs Minister, Dr S. Jaishankar, and Dr K. VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.

Correct Answer – B. Punjab

Explanation: Punjab Government has distributed smartphones to Class 12 students of government schools. The initiative to distribute mobile phones to students of Class 12 was introduced to facilitate seamless e-learning. Under the program, smartphones were to be given to 1,75,443 Class 12 students.

Correct Answer – B. 2022

Explanation: OneWeb plans to start high-speed internet services in India by mid-2022. The company launched 36 satellites from Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia on 18 December 2020, taking its total in-orbit constellation to 110 satellites. OneWeb plans to have a total of 648 low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites as part of its plan to deliver high-speed and low-latency broadband services globally.

Correct Answer – C. 4.47%

Explanation: Warburg Pincus has sold a 4.47% stake in AU Small Finance Bank for ₹1,247.69 crore through open market transactions. The bulk deal data available with the BSE showed Redwood Investment Ltd, an entity owned by Warburg Pincus, disposed off 13.7 million shares in the bank. The shares were sold at an average price of ₹910.55, valuing the transactions at ₹1,248 crores.

Correct Answer – C. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu

Explanation: Sukhbir Singh Sandhu has been given six months extension as the chairman of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Sandhu is a 1988-batch IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the extension in central deputation tenure of Sandhu, chairman, NHAI, MoRTH, for a period of six months beyond January 21, 2021, i.e. up to July 21, 2021.

Correct Answer – B. West Bengal

Explanation: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) opened India’s eighth hydrocarbon producing basin when it started oil flow from a well in the Bengal basin. Oil production commenced from the well Asokenagar-1 in 24 Pargana district. ONGC has discovered and put to production seven out of the eight hydrocarbon producing basins of India, covering 83 per cent of established oil and gas reserves.

ONGC is India’s largest oil and gas producer contributing 72 per cent of the country’s hydrocarbon production. The Bengal basin is spread across nearly 1.22 lakh square kilometres, with nearly two-third of it falling under the waters of the Bay of Bengal.

Correct Answer – C. PayPal

Explanation: American online payment gateway giant PayPal has been imposed a Rs 96 lakh penalty by the FIU for alleged contravention of the anti-money laundering law and accused of “concealing” suspect financial transactions and abetting “disintegration” of India’s financial system.

The company has also been charged with “defeating and frustrating” the tenets of public interest and the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which aims to keep the country’s financial system safe from economic crimes, terrorist financing and black money transactions.

Correct Answer – A. Hyderabad

Explanation:  Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the advanced Hypersonic Wind Tunnel (HWT) test facility during his visit to Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO’s) Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex in Hyderabad. The state-of-the-art HWT Test facility is pressure vacuum driven enclosed free jet facility having nozzle exit diameter of 1 meter and will simulate Mach No 5 to 12 (Mach represents the multiplication factor to the speed of sound).

After USA and Russia, India is the third country to have such a large facility in terms of size and operating capability. It is an indigenous development and an outcome of synergistic partnership with Indian industries.

Correct Answer – D. Lewis Hamilton

Explanation: Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton capped another successful year by claiming the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year prize. The 35-year-old driver, who last month equalled Michael Schumacher’s record of seven F1 titles, overcame Jordan Henderson and Hollie Doyle to win the British broadcaster’s prestigious prize in a public vote. England midfielder Henderson led Liverpool to its first Premier League title in 30 years.

Correct Answer – B. Boxing

Explanation: Indian women boxers Simranjeet Kaur (60kg) won a gold medals with contrasting final wins in the Cologne World Cup in Germany. Simranjeet defeated German Maya Klienhans 4-1 to finish on top. India finished the competition at the second spot overall after claiming three gold, two silver and four bronze medals.

Correct Answer – C. Amit Panghal

Explanation: World Championships silver-medal winning boxer Amit Panghal clinched the gold medal without having to fight his final bout at the Cologne World Cup in Germany. Panghal was given a walkover by Germany’s Argishti Terteryan in the final of the 52kg category. Veteran boxer Satish Kumar won the silver medal in 91+ kg category.

Correct Answer – A. PayU

Explanation:  Online payments solutions provider PayU has collaborated with Google Pay to introduce tokenised payments flow for merchants in India. Following this collaboration, Google Pay users will now get an option to pay a PayU merchant with their debit cards, credit cards, or Google Pay UPI. With the digital token linked to the phone and card information tokenized, Google Pay users can make repeat payments seamlessly and securely.

Correct Answer – B. 24th December

Explanation: Every Year 24th December is observed as National Consumer Day with a selected theme in India.  On this day the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 was enacted. The Act aims to provide consumers with effective safeguards against different types of exploitation, such as defective goods, deficiency in services and unfair trade practices.

This year’s theme is ‘Sustainable Consumer,’ it will focus on the global crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. The theme will talk about the consumer movement and how they can make lifestyle changes to play their part, and what governments and businesses must do to form sustainability the easy choice for consumers.

Note: World Consumer Rights Day is observed on March 15, annually