1. Recently, the government of India has relaxed the norms for withdrawal of General Provident Fund (GPF). As per the new norms, the employees can withdraw the funds for select purposes after completing how many years in service?
[A] 5 years
[B] 8 years
[C] 10 years
[D] 12 years
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [ 10 years ]
Notes:
The government has recently relaxed the norms for withdrawal of General Provident Fund (GPF) to enable the central government employees receive payments within 15 days. Employees can also withdraw the fund for select purposes after completing 10 years of service, as against 15 years of service earlier. This reform will help around 50 Lakh central government employees.
2. India’s first-ever railways disaster management centre will come up in which city?
[A] Kolkata
[B] Bengaluru
[C] Lucknow
[D] Pune
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Bengaluru]
Notes:
India’s first-ever railways disaster management centre is expected to come up near Bengaluru, Karnataka by 2018 and will be used to replicate train accidents to improve rescue operation efforts. It will also have a virtual reality centre for analyzing railway accidents. The focus is on imparting state-of-the-art training on rescue, medical relief and rolling stock restoration techniques in a classroom and also using various simulated teaching aids. Though, it is the practical reproduction of accidents on site and the ensuing rescue operations that are being touted as the big ticket venture.
3. The National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) which started as a Central Sector Scheme since Rabi season 1999-2000, has been recently modified. The modified NAIS will be launched in how many districts as a Pilot scheme?
[A] 50 Districts
[B] 100 Districts
[C] 150 Districts
[D] 200 Districts
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [50 Districts]
Notes:
National Agricultural Insurance Scheme was launched by the Government of India in the year 1999-2000. The coverage was for cereals, pulses, oilseeds, horticultural and commercial crops farmers and loanees as well as non-loanees farmers. The modified NAIS will be launched in 50 districts.
4. Which of the following is not among the African countries in which Indian government has recently decided to open 18 new missions?
[A] Burkina Faso
[B] Cape Verde
[C] Chad
[D] South Africa
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [ South Africa ]
Notes:
The new missions will be opened in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Swaziland and Togo. Currently, India has 29 resident missions in Africa.
5. Which of the following has been included in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 2016?
[A] Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve
[B] Nokrek Biosphere Reserve
[C] Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve
[D] Simlipal Biosphere Reserve
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [ Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve ]
Notes:
Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve became part of World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 2016. ABR includes the Indian Ecoregions of South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests, South Western Ghats montane rain forests and Shola. It is the habitat for 2,000 varieties of medicinal plants, of which at least 50 are rare and endangered species. Rare animals include the tiger, Asian Elephant, and Nilgiri tahr.
6. Advanced Ultra Supercritical (AUSC) technology, sometimes seen in news, is associated with:
[A] Coal-fired power plants
[B] Solar power generation
[C] Hydro-electric power generation
[D] Power Generation from Agricultural Waste
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [ Coal-fired power plants]
Notes:
The Advanced Ultra Supercritical technology is an indigenous technology for coal-fired power plants, which requires less fuel, delivers greater efficiency and is a tad cleaner. The Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) is designing phases of the 800 MW advanced ultra supercritical (AUSC) boiler for coal power plant will be ready by 2019-2020.
7. Recently, the drugmaker Cipla has received regulatory approval in India to sell its version of “Truvada”, which when given to healthy people reduces the risk of getting affected by _?
[A] Typhoid
[B] HIV/AIDS
[C] Hepatitis B
[D] Tuberculosis
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [HIV/AIDS]
Notes:
The drug called Truvada has been approved for the treatment of HIV in infected patients. It works by lowering the amount of virus circulating in people’s blood. Also the recent clinical trials show that it can also protect uninfected high-risk people from acquiring the virus, if they take the drug daily before and after exposure. Truvada contains the active substances emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate. Drugmaker Cipla has received regulatory approval in India to sell its version of Truvada.
8. What is VPM1002, which was recently making news?
[A] Name of the meteorite which hit the college campus in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu
[B] A new vaccine for tuberculosis
[C] A newly invented explosive device used by Russia in war against ISIS in Syria
[D] First genetically-engineered version of mustard crop in India
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [A new vaccine for tuberculosis]
Notes:
VPM1002 is a new vaccine for tuberculosis
9. Identify the pilgrimage site with the help of given information:
- This pilgrimage site is located on the banks of River Pampa.
- A visit to the Vavar mosque by devotees is an integral part of this pilgrimage.
- Travancore Devaswom Board manages this shrine.
- “Mandala Pooja” and “Makara Vilakku” are two important rituals associated with this pilgrimage site.
Select the correct answer from options given below:
[A] Ranakpur Temple
[B] Sabarimala Temple
[C] Padmanabhaswamy Temple
[D] Meenakshi Temple
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Sabarimala Temple]
Notes:
The correct answer is Sabarimala Temple. It is a Hindu pilgrimage centre located at the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala. The shrine at Sabarimala is an ancient Ayyappan temple. It is located on the banks of the holy River Pampa. On the way to Sabarimala shrine is located Vavar mosque which is an integral part of this pilgrimage. The temple is open for worship only during the days of Mandalapooja, Makara Sankranti and Maha Vishuva Sankranti and the first five days of each Malayalam month. The temple was recently in news for legal case due to its custom of restricting women above the age of 10 and below the age of 50 from offering worship at temple.
10. In June 2017, the three Indian oil giants namely Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) have signed a Joint Venture (JV) agreement to create the world’s largest refinery-cum-petrochemicals complex at which of the following places?
[A] Tatipaka in Andhra Pradesh
[B] Jamnagar in Gujarat
[C] Ratnagiri in Maharashtra
[D] Bina in Madhya Pradesh
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Ratnagiri in Maharashtra]
Notes:
The three oil giants of the Indian downstream sector namely Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) have signed an agreement to set up the world’s largest refinery-cum-petrochemicals complex at Babulwadi, Taluka Rajpur in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. The project is a Greenfield project that aims to develop the world’s largest refinery cum petrochemical complex at the cost of Rs 3 lakh crore. The complex is designed to produce Euro-IV and above grade transportation fuels. This project is expected to be completed by 2022.
