1. Which sports outreach programme has been launched by the Union Government to promote football among school children?
[A] Mission-XI-Million
[B] Mission-XIV-Million
[C] Mission-XII-Million
[D] Mission-XV-Million
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Mission-XI-Million]
Notes:
The Union Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports, Vijay Goel has recently launched the “Mission-Eleven-Million” sports outreach programme to promote football among school children. The main purpose of the Mission XI is to instill the passion for football in 11 million children from every part of the country. The first-of-its- kind programme will encourage children to play the football, gain healthy habits and learn important life lessons in teamwork and sportsman spirit. As part of the programme, Government will motivate and incentivize school principals and sports teachers to promote football games in school on a regular basis. The programme will also provide schools with necessary knowledge and equipment to encourage football as a sport played on a regular basis.
2. Benasree Sengupta, who passed away recently, was the noted singer from which state?
[A] Odisha
[B] Assam
[C] West Bengal
[D] Manipur
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [West Bengal]
Notes:
Banasree Sengupta (71), the renowned Bengali singer, has recently passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal. She was known for her mellifluous voice. Some of her hit songs are Aaj Bikeler Dake Tomar Chhithi Pelam, Amar Angey Jaley Rangmoshal, Chhi chhi Eki Kando Korechi, Dur Akashay Tomar Sur, etc. She also lent her voice to Bengali, Hindi, Assamese and Odia films.
3. Which state is set to become the first Indian state to have a public registry of sex offenders?
[A] Punjab
[B] Haryana
[C] Tamil Nadu
[D] Kerala
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Kerala]
Notes:
Kerala is set to become the first Indian state to have a public registry of sex offenders. This has been stated by the Kerala Governor Justice (retd) P Sathasivam in the budget session. The public registry will contain all identification details of sex offenders and would be kept in the public domain. Apart from this, the governor listed a slew of other measures to tackle crime against women in the state. These include setting up a separate department to exclusively look at women’s issues, setting up a relief fund for victims of sex crimes, increasing the representation of women in police force by up to 15% and ensuring each panchayat has a lady police officer.
4. The Government of India (GoI) has recently signed pact with which country on rail safety?
[A] Japan
[B] Germany
[C] Italy
[D] France
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Japan]
Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has recently signed an agreement with Japan on enhancing railway safety in the Indian Railways with focus on railway track and rolling stock safety. The areas of cooperation include rail inspection, rail wielding and providing automatic railway track safety inspection, maintenance of rolling stock and any other
relevant railway safety matters jointly determined by both sides with the aim to prevent major rail accidents.
5. What is the theme of 2017 World Hearing Day (WHD)?
[A] Ear care can avoid hearing loss
[B] Make listening safe
[C] Childhood hearing loss: act now, here is how!
[D] Action for hearing loss: make a sound investment
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Action for hearing loss: make a sound investment]
Notes:
The World Hearing Day (WHD) is observed every year on March 3 to raise awareness and promote ear and hearing care across the world. The 2017 theme “Action for hearing loss: make a sound investment” draws attention to the economic impact of hearing loss and the cost effectiveness of interventions to address it.
6. Which state government has launched web-based platform “Pratibimba” to project government achievements?
[A] Kerala
[B] Tamil Nadu
[C] Maharashtra
[D] Karnataka
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Karnataka]
Notes:
The Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah has recently launched a comprehensive web-based platform “’Pratibimba” to showcase the government’s performance and achievements to the citizens. The platform is developed as the Chief Minister’s dash board that will serve as a tool to improve efficiency in governance and allow citizens to track government’s progress. It is a reflection of the growth story and development of the state and the dash board will reflect the works of all the departments across flagship schemes, key programmes and projects undertaken in the state. The dash board is available both in English and Kannada.
7. Who has been appointed the new Deputy Governor in Reserve Bank of India (RBI)?
[A] Manoj Pingua
[B] Dilip S Shanghvi
[C] Chandrakar Bharti
[D] BP Kanungo
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [BP Kanungo]
Notes:
B.P. Kanungo has been appointed the new Deputy Governor in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of 3 years and will succeed R. Gandhi. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved his appointment to the post with effect from the date of taking over the charge i.e. on or after April 3, 2017 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
8. Who is the author of the book “‘The Travelling Belly: Eating Through India’s By-Lanes”?
[A] Mandaar Sukhtankar
[B] Saransh Goila
[C] Anoothi Vishal
[D] Kalyan Karmakar
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Kalyan Karmakar]
Notes:
The book “The Travelling Belly: Eating Through India’s By-Lanes” has been authored by food blogger Kalyan Karmakar. The author highlights the typical snacks of different regions, often gives an insight into the preferred taste palette of the locals and the popular cuisines in the particular area.
9. Ronald Drever, the co-founder of Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO), has recently passed away. He hailed from which country?
[A] United Kingdom
[B] United States
[C] Germany
[D] France
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [United Kingdom]
Notes:
Prof. Ronald Drever (85), a pioneer in the field of gravitational waves, has recently passed away in Scotland, United Kingdom (UK). He was one of the co-founders of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors that detected the gravitational waves emited by the merger of a binary black hole pair.
10. Which city has topped the list in the Mercer’s 2017 Quality of Living index?
[A] Geneva
[B] Munich
[C] Frankfurt
[D] Vienna
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Vienna]
Notes:
Vienna has topped the list in the Mercer’s 19th Quality of Living survey 2017. Zurich is in second place, followed by Munich, Auckland, Vancouver, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Geneva. The highest ranking cities in Asia and Latin America are Singapore (25) and Montevideo (79). Among Indian cities, Mumbai is ranked the highest at 141, followed by Kolkata (149) and Pune (151), while Bangalore was rated the lowest (177) by the report. The survey included a city infrastructure ranking that assesses each city’s supply of electricity, drinking water, telephone and mail services, and public transportation as well as traffic congestion and the range of international flights available from local airports. The survey highlights that Indian cities that have been part of the survey haven’t made much progress on the quality of living scale since last year.