1. Which state/UT hosted the India’s first Lavender Festival?
[A] Sikkim
[B] Nagaland
[C] Jammu and Kashmir
[D] Arunachal Pradesh
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Jammu and Kashmir]
Notes:
Union Minister Jitendra Singh inaugurated the Lavender Festival, the first-of-its kind in India, in Bhaderwah, Jammu and Kashmir.
Bhaderwah in Doda district is the birthplace of the purple revolution and it is known for lavender cultivation in terms of land and climate. CSIR-Aroma Mission, under the Ministry of Science & Technology, aims to develop aroma-related science and technology to reach farmers, industry, and society.
2. Which country has recently voted to join the European Union’s Defence policy?
[A] Switzerland
[B] Denmark
[C] Malta
[D] Vatican City
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Denmark]
Notes:
Denmark is set to join the European Union’s defence policy after it held a referendum for the decision. Denmark is the only EU member that is not part of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).
The Denmark government has succeeded in abolishing an exemption secured in a 1993 referendum on the Maastricht Treaty. Sweden and Finland also placed historic bids to join NATO, which will be taken up at the upcoming summit.
3. India signed a ‘Vision statement for defence cooperation’ with which country?
[A] Australia
[B] Israel
[C] Italy
[D] France
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Israel]
Notes:
India and Israel adopted a ‘Vision statement’ for strengthening defence cooperation in future. The statement marked 30 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Israeli counterpart held bilateral talks in New Delhi. The two leaders discussed defence cooperation and the global and regional defence scenario. Israel recently signed the instrument of ratification of the International Solar Alliance.
4. Which institution developed India’s first ‘Farmland price index’?
[A] IIT Madras
[B] IIM Ahmadabad
[C] IIM Bengaluru
[D] IISc Bengaluru
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [IIM Ahmadabad]
Notes:
IIM-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has partnered with an e-marketplace for agricultural land, SFarms India, to develop a farm land price index based on the sales and purchases done on the platform.
The ‘IIM-Ahmedabad SFarmsIndia Land Price Index (ISALPI)’ records and presents the data on prices of agricultural land in the country. It can be used by local governments to compensate people who lose land for highway expansion
5. Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) partnered with which technology company for digitisation of its lending business?
[A] Microsoft
[B] Wipro
[C] Infosys
[D] Accenture
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Accenture]
Notes:
Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) partnered with Accenture to digitally transform its lending business.
The collaboration includes a cloud-native lending platform with digital workflows for application, loan processing, credit underwriting and decision- making, disbursement and loan servicing. A machine learning-based decision engine is also used for risk mitigation.
6. Ministry of Tourism launched the ‘National strategy for sustainable tourism’ along with which organisation?
[A] FAO
[B] UNEP
[C] World Bank
[D] World Economic Forum
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [UNEP]
Notes:
Ministry of Tourism, in association with the United Environment Program (UNEP) and Responsible Tourism Society of India (RTSOI) organised the ‘National summit on developing sustainable and responsible tourist destinations’ in New Delhi.
On this occasion, the Ministry of Tourism launched the national strategy for sustainable tourism and the responsible traveller campaign.
7. ‘Ex SAMPRITI-X’ is a joint military training exercise between India and which country?
[A] Sri Lanka
[B] Japan
[C] Bangladesh
[D] France
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Bangladesh]
Notes:
‘Ex SAMPRITI-X’, a joint military training exercise between India and Bangladesh commenced in Bangladesh, as part of bilateral defence cooperation.
The military training exercise is aimed at strengthening the features of interoperability and cooperation between both armies. The Indian contingent is represented by a battalion of the Dogra regiment.
8. Which Union Ministry launched amendments to the Information Technology Rules, 2021?
[A] Ministry of Home Affairs
[B] Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
[C] Ministry of Science and Technology
[D] Ministry of External Affairs
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology]
Notes:
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has published a fresh draft of amendments to the Information Technology Rules, 2021.
The draft proposes to create government-appointed appeal committees that will be empowered to review and reverse content moderation decisions taken by social media companies like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
9. What is the rank of India in the ‘2022 Environmental Performance Index (EPI)’?
[A] 120
[B] 140
[C] 160
[D] 180
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [180]
Notes:
India’s rank is 180 in the 2022 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) and has scored the lowest among 180 countries.
The report ranks the countries on 40 performance indicators across 11 issue categories on climate change performance, environmental health, and ecosystem vitality. India’s performance on these parameters in terms of policy action is considered to be poor.
10. Who is the founder of the ‘Blue Origin’ aero-space company?
[A] Elon Musk
[B] Jeff Bezos
[C] Warren Buffet
[D] Jack Ma
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Jeff Bezos]
Notes:
‘Blue Origin’ is an American aero-space company founded by Jeff Bezos, the founder and executive chairman of Amazon in the year 2000.
Blue Origin has successfully completed its fifth human spaceflight that sent six people to suborbital space. The crew was called as ‘New Shepard NS-21’.