Daily GK & Current Affairs Quiz – 8th July 2020

Correct Answer: B. Rs 38,900 crores

Explanation: Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has given its consent for the capital acquisition of various platforms and equipment required by the Indian Armed Forces, Army, Navy and the Air Force, worth Rs 38,900 crore. This decision was taken during the DAC meet held on July 2, 2020 under the chairmanship of Raksha Mantri (Defence Minister) Rajnath Singh. Notably, these approvals include acquisitions of Rs 31,130 crore from Indian industry signifying Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s clarion call for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ focused on indigenous design and development. DAC also approved the proposal for procurement of 33 fighter jets including 21 MIG-29 and 12 Su-30 MKI aircraft along with upgradation of existing 59 MIG-29 aircraft.

Correct Answer: D. IIT Kanpur

Explanation: IIT Kanpur has developed a classroom-to-home teaching setup ‘Mobile Masterjee’. It will be very helpful to students in rural India. This setup can record the lectures or instructions by the teachers while using their available smartphones.

About ‘Mobile Masterjee’:

• The setup can capture the videos of the classroom lecture in many positions.
• The product is lightweight and has adjustments to fit sheets and book on it for delivering instructions to the kids.
• A set graduated scale aligns the sheet at the desired angle, followed by the rotational quick adjustment of the mobile holder.
• The “Mobile Masterjee” can hold, position, and focus the whole recording setup while making the online class a comfortable home environment.

Correct Answer: B. TOI-849b

Explanation: The researchers spotted a Jupiter-like planet, 39 times more massive than the Earth, orbiting around a distant star with temperature lower than the Sun, the planet is located around 730 light years away from Earth. The astronomers named the planet TOI-849b. This is the first ever planetary core to be found by the astronomers. The study/findings were published in Journal Nature.

Correct Answer: D. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology

Explanation: The ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge’ for Indian tech entrepreneurs and startups was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, with an objective to support and build Aatmanirbhar App Ecosystem.Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (Meity) in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) launched the challenge & will regulate the challenge.

Correct Answer: B. China

Explanation: In accordance with the 3rd edition of “The Global E-waste Monitor 2020 report-Quantities, flows, and the circular economy potential” report, the world dumped a record 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste in 2019, an increase of 21% in 5 years. With this e-waste becomes the world’s fastest-growing domestic waste stream.

Correct Answer: C. West Bengal

Explanation: Following the ban of 59 Chinese mobile applications by the Central Government on 29th June 2020, the West Bengal State’s Information Technology Department has developed a mobile application that will serve as a better alternative for the much popular Chinese document scanning application- Cam Scanner. The Chief Minister launched the ‘Self Scan’ mobile application that will be available free of cost at various application download platforms.

Correct Answer: C. RC Bhargava

Explanation: RC Bhargava, the Chairman of Maruti Suzuki authored the book “Getting Competitive: A Practitioner’s Guide for India” from his experience of around 60 years as a policymaker and a leading industrialist. The book published by HarperCollins India, provides practical suggestions to make India a competitive industrialised country.

Correct Answer: C. 7th July

Explanation: World Chocolate Day or International Chocolate Day is observed on 7th July every year. The day celebrates the existence of chocolate in our lives. It is marked by eating chocolates and sharing with dear ones. The first International Chocolate Day was celebrated in 2009. The day is celebrated on July 7th because it was on this date in 1550 that chocolate was first brought to Europe.

Correct Answer: B. Elyments

Explanation: Vice President of India, M. Venkiah Naidu has launched India’s first social media super application, “Elyments”. Under Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, more than 1,000 IT professionals came together to create the homegrown application.

• Elyments is a first Made-in-India social media super-app, developed by Bengaluru-based software company, Sumeru Software Solutions Pvt Ltd, in close competition with similar platforms like Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram.
• India has more than 500 million social media users, but most of these social media platforms are owned by companies outside India, which creates doubt regarding the privacy of data and data ownership.
• Elyments is available in eight languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and English.
• The app allows users to stay in touch through a vibrant feed, free audio/video calls, and private/group chats.
• While the app now combines the features of most social media apps, soon the team plans to launch audio/video conference calls, secure payments, regional voice commands and curated commerce platforms to promote Indian brands.

Correct Answer: A. Odisha

Explanation: Odisha government has launched ‘Balaram Yojana’ to provide crop loans to landless farmers. Under the new scheme, the landless cultivators will get loans through joint liability groups (JLGs).

• Under ‘Balaram’ scheme, the government has set a target to provide farm loans to 7 lakh landless farmers in the next two years.
• While the Institute on Management of Agricultural Extension (IMAGE) will coordinate to implement the scheme at the state level, the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) will coordinate at the district level.
• It has set aside Rs 1,040 crore for the purpose. In rural and small towns, around 7,000 branches of several banks and Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies will coordinate the implementation.
• The interest rate and subsidy on the loan amount will be decided as per the guidelines of the State farm loan rules.
• The scheme comes in collaboration with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.

Correct Answer: D. Israel

Explanation: Israel Defence Ministry has announced the successful launch of a new “Ofek 16” spy satellite into orbit by using a locally-developed Shavit rocket from a launch pad at Palmachim airbase in central Israel. This was the first launch of an Israeli spy satellite into space since the Ofek-11 which entered orbit in September 2016.

• Ofek 16 is an electro-optical reconnaissance satellite with advanced capabilities including breakthrough ‘blue and white’ technology and its payload was developed by defence firm Elbit Systems.
• The satellite was tested by engineers from the Ministry of Defense and State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries [ISRAI.UL] before starting full operations.
• IDF’s (Israel Defense Force) 9900 Intelligence Unit will be responsible for the Ofek 16 satellite once it gets operational.
• ‘OFEC 16’ started sending data and started orbiting around the Earth. It will also monitor Iran and developments in its nuclear and missile programs.

Correct Answer: C. 31st

Explanation: India has ranked at 31st place with an inform risk of 5.4 in the “INFORM Report 2020: Shared evidence for managing crises and disasters” released by research centre INFORM. The report ranked the countries based on “INFORM Risk Index” which has been topped by Somalia with an inform risk of 8.9. The report has analyzed 191 countries.

Correct Answer: D. Quinton de Kock

Explanation: At the Cricket South Africa annual awards 2020, Quinton de Kock was named as the men’s cricketer of the year, while Laura Wolvaardt was named as the women’s cricketer of the year. The 2020 Cricket South Africa annual awards were held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The complete list of awards is as followed:

• Men’s Cricketer of the Year: Quinton de Kock
• Women’s Cricketer of the Year: Laura Wolvaardt
• Test Cricketer of the Year: Quinton de Kock
• Women’s ODI Cricketer of the year: Laura Wolvaardt
• Men’s ODI and T20 Player of the Year: Lungi Ngidi
• Women’s T20 Player of the Year: Shabnim Ismail
• Fans’ Favourite Player of the Year: David Miller
• International Men’s Newcomer of the Year: Anrich Nortje
• Women’s Newcomer of the Near: Nonkululeko Mlaba

Correct Answer: D. Cricket

Explanation: Well-known club cricketer and former Delhi U-23 support staff Sanjay Dobal died after failing to recover from COVID-19 infection.  Dobal was 53 years old and is survived by his wife and two sons – elder Siddhant, who plays first-class cricket for Rajasthan and younger Ekansh, who made his debut for Delhi U-23 side.