Daily GK and Current Affairs Quiz – 8th & 9th November 2020

Correct Answer: B. €545 mn

Explanation: German development bank KfW has approved a loan of €545 mn to the Union finance ministry to fund Mumbai’s Metro Line 4 and Line 4A. It is KfW’s single largest credit line to an infrastructure project in India. The credit package from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)-KfW consists of a development loan of €345 mn and a promotional loan of €200 mn.

Correct Answer: D. Angel Broking

Explanation: Angel Broking has become the first in the industry to offer Unified Payment Interface AutoPay for mutual funds. It has received approval from the National Payments Corporation of India for the new service. This new implementation will simplify the process while cutting down the e-mandate authentication time to less than a minute. It will eliminate the e-mandate registration cost as well.

Correct Answer: C. IFFCO eBazar

Explanation: State Bank of India has facilitated the integration of Yono Krishi with IFFCO eBazar under its Mandi section. The bank’s Yono Krishi platform has been catering to all the farmers’ agricultural needs, from sowing to harvesting. With this integration, the farmer customers of the bank can avail free home delivery of all farming related products in over 27,000 locations from IFFCO eBazar portal.

Correct Answer: A. Vidisha Maitra

Explanation: Indian diplomat Vidisha Maitra has been elected to the UN’s Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ). Maitra won with 126 UN members supporting her candidature for the only post for the Asia-Pacific group while 64 voted for the opposing candidate who was from Iraq. India has been a member of the committee since its inception in 1946.

Correct Answer: C. Maldives

Explanation: Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla will be on a two-day visit to Maldives from 9 Nov 2020. The visit will be the first high-level in personal interaction between the two sides since disruption caused by COVID19 pandemic. During the visit, the Foreign Secretary will review the entire gamut of bilateral ties and will also review the progress of ongoing bilateral projects.

Correct Answer: C. Indonesia

Explanation: The India-Indonesia fifth joint working group on coal was held. The meeting of the working group was held through video conference. During the meeting, the countries discussed on Indian Coal Policy reforms, commercial mining of coal in India and coking coal exploration. India is currently looking for opportunities to import more coal from Indonesia. This is because the coal prices in world market is declining at rapid rate. The plan is to replace coal imports destinies with Indonesia and not increase coal imports. India is to increase its coal imports from Indonesia because, the Indonesian coal prices have fallen greatly in September 2020 due to the pandemic. The prices have been declining since March 2020. Indonesia is the third largest coal producer in the world. The Indonesian coal accounted to 40% of world coal exports.

Correct Answer: C. Bangladesh

Explanation: The Government of Bangladesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Serum Institute of India for priority delivery of 3 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. This COVISHIELD Vaccines was developed by AstraZeneca and University of Oxford. According to the agreement, initially 1.5 crore people will be vaccinated as each person requires two vaccine doses. Currently there are three COVID-19 vaccines under trial in India. They are the Russian Vaccine called Sputnik V, Oxford University Vaccine called COVISHIED and the COVAXIN jointly developed by Indian Council of Medical Research and Bharat Biotech.

Correct Answer: A. S Jai Shankar

Explanation: The first India-Nordic-Baltic Conclave was held virtually. India was represented by External Affairs Minister S Jai Shankar. The Conclave was jointly hosted by Ministry of External Affairs and Confederation of Indian Industry. The Conclave focused on clean technologies and renewable energies, Artificial Intelligence, supply chain logistics and block chain led transformation. The Nordic Baltic Eight includes Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Iceland, Norway, Lithuania and Sweden. The Baltic States are Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. These three countries are located in the Baltic sea and are fast growing economies.

Correct Answer: D. USA

Explanation: The United States has officially withdrawn from the Paris climate accord on 04 November 2020. With this, the US has now become the only country to formally pull out of the deal since it was adopted in 2015. The landmark Paris climate agreement was signed in 2015 to protect the planet from the worsening impacts of the climate crisis. As per the rules of the agreement, a country cannot officially leave before one full year of notifying the UN of its intent to withdraw. The United States notified the United Nations of its withdrawal on November 4, 2019.

Correct Answer: B. India

Explanation: The 40th Meeting of the SAARCFINANCE Governors’ Group was held virtually, under the Chairmanship of Shri Shaktikanta Das, Governor, RBI.  The meeting was attended by the Governors from SAARC central banks. During the meeting, Mr Das also inaugurated the SAARCFINANCE Sync, a closed user group secure communication network. The group took stock of the macroeconomic situation in the SAARC region; discussed the current SAARCFINANCE initiatives; and the way ahead.  The Governors reaffirmed their commitment to continued co-operation and sharing of central bank experiences. SAARCFINANCE is a network of central bank governors and finance secretaries of the SAARC region. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the current chair of SAARCFINANCE.

Correct Answer: C. 8th of November

Explanation: International Day of Radiology is observed globally on 8th November every year. The day is celebrated to promote the awareness of the value that radiology contributes to safe patient care, and improving public understanding of the vital role radiologists and radiographers play in the healthcare continuum. In 2020, the International Day of Radiology will therefore be dedicated to all imaging professionals and their essential role in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic making an indispensable contribution to the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 patients. The motto of International Day of Radiology 2020: ‘Radiologists and radiographers supporting patients during COVID-19’.

Correct Answer: C. Tanzania

Explanation: The President of Tanzania, John Pombe Magufuli has been sworn for a second five-year term. He took the oath of office on 05 November 2020. Magufuli won 84% of the total votes in elections held on October 28. He was elected as the fifth President of Tanzania and is in office since 2015. CHADEMA party candidate Tundu Lissu took the second position.

• Tanzania Capital: Dodoma
• Tanzania Currency: Tanzanian shilling.

Correct Answer: D. Chacha Chaudhary

Explanation: The iconic Indian superhero, Chacha Chaudhary, whose brain works faster than a computer has now come forward to join hands with the NamamiGangeProgramme. Diamond Toons will conceptualize and publish this new ‘Talking Comics’ with Chacha Chaudhary spreading awareness on the cultural and spiritual significance of River Ganga and deploy best available knowledge across the masses for Ganga rejuvenation. The teaser was released during Ganga Utsav 2020.

Correct Answer: C. Bollywood

Explanation: Bollywood filmmaker Sudarshan Rattan passed away due to COVID-19. He was known for his 1986 film Manav Hatya, starring Madhuri Dixit and Shekhar Suman. Apart from this, the late filmmaker had also written, directed and produced the 1996 action drama film Hahakaar, starring Sudhir Pandey, Shafi Inamdar, Neelima Azeem and Johny Lever among others.