1. Which committee has been constituted by the Union government to improve Haj policy in subsidy issue?
[A] SS Parkar committee
[B] Qaiser Shamim committee
[C] Kamal Faruqui committee
[D] Afzal Amanullah committee
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Afzal Amanullah committee]
Notes:
The Union government has recently formed a 6-member committee to study the ways to improve India’s Haj policy and look into the issue of subsidy to the pilgrimage. The committee has been constituted in the light of 2012 Supreme Court order on gradually reducing the subsidy and abolishing it by 2022. The convenor of committee is Afzal Amanullah, former Consul-Consul General of India in Jeddah. The committee will examine implications of various directions of the Supreme Court with regard to the existing Haj policy, and suitable amendments in it. It will also review the effectiveness of Haj Committee of India’s management of pilgrims’ accommodation and air travel. It will also figure out whether the pilgrims can travel to Saudi Arabia paying less in the absence of the subsidy. It will also assess the aspects of transparency, consumer satisfaction and disclosure requirements for private tour operators to protect interest of the pilgrims to make the policy of greater assistance to the pilgrims. The committee will submit its report in a month or two.
2. Which country to host the 4th Rollball World Cup-2017?
[A] India
[B] Kenya
[C] Bangladesh
[D] Nepal
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Bangladesh]
Notes:
The 4th Rollball World Cup will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from February 17 to 23, 2017. Approx 700 competitors from 45 countries are expected to participate in the tournament. It is the largest-ever event in any field where such a huge number of countries will be participating in any Asian Country. The International Rollball Federation (IRBF) is a body which is associated with International Rollball. This game was created by Raju Dabhade of Pune City, India and is also the Secretary of the IRBF. Rollball is a game played between two teams of 12 players. Out of 12, only 6 players are allowed to play on court at a time. This game is played on skates.
3. Which Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to set up India’s first school on Quality and Reliability (Q&R)?
[A] IIT Bombay
[B] IIT Indore
[C] IIT Kharagpur
[D] IIT Madras
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [IIT Kharagpur]
Notes:
India’s first inter-disciplinary school on Quality and Reliability (Q&R) will be set up by the IIT Kharagpur. The school will be truly interdisciplinary in which faculty members as well as students will be from various disciplines. The purpose for establishing the school is to improve the quality of life for the people of India as well as develop quality conscious global citizens. The school, in collaboration with other academic units in the Institute, will offer academic courses, research and mission-mode programmes in the area of Quality and Reliability (Q&R), which will bring social transformation. It shall also serve as a hub of Intellectual Property in Quality.
4. Which city has hosted the 7th edition of Indian Seed Congress (ISC)-2017?
[A] Chennai
[B] New Delhi
[C] Kochi
[D] Kolkata
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Kolkata]
Notes:
The 7th edition of Indian Seed Congress (ISC) has been organized by the National Seed Association of India (NSAI) in Kolkata, West Bengal on February 12-14, 2017. The theme of Seed Congress is “Seed of Joy” which is very much in line with vision of this government to bring happiness and prosperity in the lives of farmers by doubling their farm income by 2022. The ISC is an annual forum that provides a platform for the Seed Industry to interact closely with technology developers, sector development officials and policy makers. It also provides a chance to showcase new product ranges and services and network for better business development.
5. Who is the author of the book “Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl”?
[A] Pooja Gautam
[B] Ram Kamal Mukherjee
[C] Rakesh Anand Bakshi
[D] Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Ram Kamal Mukherjee]
Notes:
The book “Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl” has been penned by author-columnist Ram Kamal Mukherjee. It’s about actress achievement as a politician apart from her sojourn as an actor, danseuse and filmmaker. It will offer a new perspective on Bollywood’s first female superstar.
6. Which Indian personality to host Hindi version of international show “TED Talks”?
[A] Salman Kha
[B] Priyanka Chopra
[C] Shah Rukh Khan
[D] Amitabh Bachchan
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Shah Rukh Khan]
Notes:
Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan will host the Hindi version of popular international show “TED Talks”, which is the super-inspiring and super-influential talk series. Star India will air the Indian version “TED Talks India: Nayi Soch” in summer 2017 but a definite telecast date is yet to be announced. This is the first time TED is collaborating with a network and mega-star to produce a TV series featuring original TED Talks in a language other than English.
7. Who won the gold in the 50km event of the National Race Walking Championship-2017?
[A] KT Irfan
[B] Chandan Singh
[C] Sandeep Kumar
[D] Jitender Singh
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Sandeep Kumar]
Notes:
Sandeep Kumar from Haryana has won the gold medal in the 50km category of the National Race Walking Championship-2017 in New Delhi. He clocked 3 hours 55 minutes and 59.05 seconds to win the race and qualify for the 2017 IAAF World Championships, which is scheduled to be held in August 2017 in London, United Kingdom.
8. Who has taken charge as the Whole Time Member (WTM) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI)?
[A] Neha Sharma
[B] Suman Saxena
[C] Vasant Kumar
[D] Niranjan Tyagi
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Suman Saxena]
Notes:
Suman Saxena, the former Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), has taken charge as the Whole Time Member (WTM) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI). She would look after research and regulation wing apart from national insolvency programme, continuing professional programme as well as knowledge management and partnership. Currently, the board of IBBI — set up under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code — has five members including Chairman Dr. M S Sahoo. Others are Ajay Tyagi, Amardeep Singh Bhatia, G S Yadav and A Unnikrishnan.
9. Which state government has launched pilot project “Sex Ratio Monitoring Dashboard” for the state?
[A] Uttar Pradesh
[B] Haryana
[C] West Bengal
[D] Rajasthan
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Haryana]
Notes:
The Haryana government has launched an online system “Sex Ratio Monitoring Dashboard” for Panipat to monitor the sex-ratio in the district as part of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ programme. The dashboard had been developed in association with National Informatics Centre (NIC) as a pilot project. The online system will have the data of child sex-ratio collected from all villages by the Health and Women and Child Welfare Departments every month. It will also have the data on critical villages where more attention was required towards skewed child sex-ratio and steps needed to taken to set up the efforts accordingly.
10. What is the theme of 2017 National Science Day (NSD)?
[A] Fostering Scientific Temper
[B] Science for Nation Building
[C] Scientific Issues for Development of the Nation
[D] Science and Technology for Specially Abled Persons
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Science and Technology for Specially Abled Persons]
Notes:
The National Science Day (NSD) is celebrated every year in India on February 28 to mark the discovery of the Raman Effect by Indian physicist Sir Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman on February 28, 1928. For his discovery, C.V. Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930. The 2017 theme is “Science and Technology for Specially Abled Persons”.