Daily GK and Current Affairs Quiz – 3rd & 4th January 2021

Correct Answer: B. Nagaland

Explanation: In Madhya Pradesh, 96th Tansen Music Festival began in Gwalior with strict COVID-19 guidelines in place. In the inaugural ceremony renowned santoor player, Pandit Satish Vyas was conferred upon the prestigious Tansen Samman. Bhopal-based institution Abhinav Kala Parishad was honored with Raja Mansingh Tomar award. The festival pays tribute to Tansen, one of 9 gems in Akbar’s court.

Correct Answer – B. Vinod Kumar Yada

Explanation: The chairman & CEO of Railway Board, Vinod Kumar Yadav has been conferred with the prestigious “Eminent Engineer Award for the Year 2020’. This award is given by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) for his outstanding contribution towards modernization and reforms over Indian Railways. Every year Institution of Engineering and Technology, Delhi Local Network celebrates Engineers’ Day on the 15th of September to commemorate the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesvaraya. On this occasion, besides technical activities, the Institution also presents the Eminent Engineer’s Award to distinguished Engineering personalities for their outstanding services in the field of Engineering and technology.

Correct Answer – D. Remission

Explanation: Government has decided to extend the benefit of the scheme for Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) to all export goods with effect from 1 January 2021, to boost export. The scheme will refund to exporters the embedded central, state, and local taxes that were so far not being given rebate or refunded. The refund will be credited in the exporter’s ledger account with customs.

Correct Answer – B. Rs 3,200 cr

Explanation:  Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has bagged orders worth Rs 3,200 cr for hydro projects in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The order for electro-mechanical works for 12 x 80-megawatt Polavaram hydropower project in Andhra Pradesh envisages the manufacture and supply of India’s highest unit rating Kaplan hydro turbines. BHEL sets account for 45% of India’s total installed hydropower capacity.

Correct Answer – C. France

Explanation: France was accepted as 23rd member state of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). In the 20th IORA Council of Ministers virtual meeting, held in the UAE, France’s application was approved through consensus. Together with France, this inter-governmental ministerial forum, at present has 23 member states. It’s other nine dialogue partners are: China, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Japan, Turkey, Republic of Korea, UK and the USA.

Correct Answer – C. Cristiano Ronaldo

Explanation: Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo has won the ‘Player of the Century’ award at the Globe Soccer Awards. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola won the Coach of the Century award. Spanish giants Real Madrid won the Club of the Century award during the event.

Correct Answer – B. ISRO

Explanation: The Central Government has approved the extension of the term of ISRO Chairman K Sivan, for a period of one year. He was due to retire on January 14, 2021. Sivan will now continue as ISRO Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space up to January 14, 2022. He joined ISRO in 1982, has been the chairman of the space agency since January 2018. ISRO chief has imminent knowledge in Aerospace engineering, Space Transportation Systems Engineering, Launch vehicles, mission simulation software design and many other operations related to Space programs. He is also the main architect of 6D trajectory simulation software, SITARA which is the foundation of both the real-time and non-real-time trajectory simulations of all vehicles developed in the space agency.

Correct Answer – D. Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation

Explanation: Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, Pune has recently signed an MoU with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India to co-create India’s first Social Impact Bond (SIB). This is the first time that a government body will act as the ‘outcome funder’ in a bond, whereas traditionally most government-funded public projects require large and early investments by the government with a substantial gestation period of outcomes and involve various kinds of risks.

A Social Impact Bond also called pay-for-success bond or pay-for-success financing or simply social bond is basically a contract with public sector authority, where it pays for better social outcomes. This bond is a form of outcome-based contracting and aims at improving social outcomes for a specific group of citizens. The PCMC administration will bear the costs of a public welfare project associated with the bond if the pre-defined project targets are fulfilled.

Correct Answer – C. Madrid

Explanation: The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has become an Associate Member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). The headquarters of IOSCO is at Madrid, Spain.  The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) was established by the Ministry of Finance in April 2020 as a unified authority to regulate all financial services in International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) in the country. The body has its headquarter in Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

Correct Answer – B. USD 10 million

Explanation: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India have signed a $10 million project readiness financing (PRF). This agreement aims to help finance piloting activities, and design and capacity building for an ensuing project that aims to expand horticulture production and farm household income in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh.

Correct Answer – C. Soma Mondal

Explanation: Soma Mondal has taken over as the new Chairman of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) with effect from January 01, 2021. She is the first-ever women-head of the body. She replaces Anil Kumar Chaudhary, who superannuated on 31 December 2020. She joined SAIL in 2017 as the director (commercial). A 1984-graduate in electrical engineering from the National Institute of Technology-Rourkela, Mondal started her career as a graduate engineer trainee at NALCO NSE and rose to become a director (commercial) at NALCO.

Correct Answer – C. 10,000

Explanation: The RBI will conduct simultaneous purchase and sale of government securities under open market operations (OMOs) for ₹10,000 crores each on January 7, 2021. The decision was taken after a review of current liquidity and financial conditions. Eligible participants should submit their bids in electronic format on RBI’s core banking solution (E-Kuber) system on January 7, 2021.

Correct Answer – C. Suneet Sharma

Explanation:  The appointments committee of the Cabinet has approved Suneet Sharma appointment as Chairman & CEO of Railway Board, Ministry of Railways and ex-officio Principal Secretary to Government of India. He took over in his new role with effect from January 01, 2021. The extended one-year tenure of Sharma’s predecessor, Vinod Kumar Yadav, who also became the restructured Board’s first CEO, ended on December 31, 2020. Prior to this, Suneet Sharma worked as General Manager, Eastern Railway.

Suneet Sharma joined the Indian Railways in 1979 as a Special Class Apprentice while he was studying engineering at IIT Kanpur. A graduate in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering he has more than 40 years of experience serving in the Indian Railways in various capacities. He has done stints in Operational working, maintenance in Sheds, Depots and Workshops.

Correct Answer: A. Musician

Explanation: Legendary Odia musician, Shantanu Mohapatra passed away. He was the first Odia music composer to work with legends like Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey and Md Rafi and also the first to work in Hindi, Bengali, Assamese and Telugu film industries. Mohapatra has composed music for hundreds of Odia film songs and Jatra (opera) shows in a career that spanned over three decades. Mohapatra, who retired as the Director of Odisha Mining Corporation, received several awards including the Odisha Film Critic Award for his contribution to Odia music.