from the content md’s desk...from the md’s desk... content anshuman nayak b.e. (nist, berhampur)...

FROM THEMD’S DESK...�

Content

Anshuman NayakB.E. (NIST,Berhampur)

MBA (HR) (UBS,Chandigarh)

Dear Aspirants,This is the informationage and knowledge hasno limit. Gone are thedays when people usedto depend solely onlibraries and books togain knowledge. Themeans of procuringknowledge andaccessing informationhas undergone a seachange with the adventof computers, internetand smart phones. Theinternet is the biggestlibrary ever created in human history andseemingly presents itself as an unlimited and evergrowing store of knowledge and information.So when my team approached me with the ideaof a current affairs magazine of �� thefirst question I asked myself was why? Whatdifference can we make?There are the news papers, a plethora of similarnational level magazines and of course theinternet which serve the purpose already.The reason I gave my nod was simple.

(1) With so much of information around,there is the problem of overload; I believethere is still a gap to be bridged when itcomes to providing precise, succinct andrelevant information.

(2) It need not be a mere current affairsmagazine but rather it can be a holisticsupport system for competitive Exampreparation with question banks, tips andtricks , concepts and practice exercises,general awareness, traditional GK andmore such similar features.

Hence, the result is this magazine whose editorialteam is a blend of youth, energy, knowledgeand experience. As explained earlier, I promisemy readers two things:

(1) This is not going to be just anothermagazine. This will be a magazine witha difference.

(2) With each new issue, the magazine willget better and better with new andinnovative features,.

So, watch out, enjoy and benefit!!

1.Union Budget 2020-21 Key points

Page-02

1.BANKING & FINANCE

Page- 04

2.STATE AFFAIRS

Page-05

3.NATIONAL NEWS

Page-07

4.GLOBAL NEWS

Page-09

5.PEOPLE IN NEWS

Page- 10

6.SPORTSPage-14

7.AWARDSPage-16

8.Know more about MANIPUR

Page-20

9.GK/CURRENT AFFAIRS QUIZ

Page-21

10.FUN TIME LESSON

Page-32

March 2020Current Affairs Magazine

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� The tax of only 10% will be charged to Rs 5 lakh-7.5lakh income as against prevailing 20% rate.

� From Rs 7.5 lakh-10 lakh income, a tax rate of 15%against 20% prevailing rate.

� For income Rs, 10-12.5 lakh, a rate of 20% will becharged as against 30% earlier.

� For income between Rs 12.5 lakh-15 lakh will be taxedat 25 per cent as against 30%.

� For those at Rs 15 lakh plus income, the tax willbe 30%.

� Reducing the corporate tax rates for new companies inthe manufacturing sector to 15%. Similarly, for existingcompanies, rates lowered at 22%

� FY-21 fiscal deficit target pegged at 3.5% of GDP –FY20 fiscal deficit at 3.8% of GDP vs earlier targetof 3.3%.

� Tax on Co-op societies to be reduced to 22% plussurcharge, as against current 30%.

� The government has proposed a 100% taxconcession to sovereign wealth funds on investmentin infrastructure projects.

� Concessional tax rate of 15% extended to powergeneration companies.

� Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT) shifted to individualsinstead of companies.

� Housing made more affordable, tax holiday toaffordable housing developers.

� Additional Rs 1.5 lakh tax benefit onaffordable housing loans.

� Govt to launch system for instant allotment of PAN onthe basis of Aadhaar.

� Customs duty raised on footwear and furniture.� Nominal health cess on import of medical equipment

to be introduced.� Aadhaar-based verification of taxpayers is being

introduced.� Zero-budget farming may not be a good move for

fertiliser companies.� Health cess on import of medical equipment imposed

in Budget.� The government has removed 70

exemptions, deductions with a view to further simplifythe tax regime.

� The budget has provided an outlay of ¹ 8,000crores for quantum computing over five years to breakinto this technology.

� FM Sitharaman halves customs duty on import ofnewsprint, lightweight coated paper to 5%.

� The government has extended concessionalwithholding rate of 5% on interest payment to non-residents up to June 30, 2022.

� The government will launch ‘Vivaad Se Vishwas’Scheme to reduce tax litigation.

� GST as ”the most historic reform”. GST hasintegrated the country economically, a 10% reductionin overall taxes.

� India FDI elevated to 284 Billion USD from 190

Billion USD.� The central Govt Debt got reduced in March 2019

to 48.7% of GDP from 52.2% in March 2014.� Propose to undertake 16 Action Points including

agricultural-related points, water stress-related points.� First Action Point includes 3 Model Agricultural-

related Laws and water stress-related issue.� Comprehensive measures for 100 water-stressed

districts, PM Kusum schemes removed farmersdependence, Solar Power generation units will be setup for farmers to make a living out of the barren land.

� Kisan Rail through PPP model so that perishablegoods can be transported quickly. Krishi Udaan willbe launched by MoCA on international and nationalroutes.

� 16th Action Point Under Deen Dayal AntodayaYojana 58 Lakh SHGs has been mobilised, Furtherexpanding.

� 2 broad categories: For sector comprising ofagriculture, allied sector, 2.83 lakh crores have beenmade for 2020-21, 1.6 lakh crores for agriculture Forrural and Panchayati Raj- 1.23 lakh crores.

� 112 Aspirational Districts to be coveredfor AYUSHMAN Treatment.

�Wellness water and sanitation & HealthcareMission Indradhanush expanded to cover.

� 12 diseases, Fit India Movement, Jal Jeevan Mission,Swachh Bharat Mission.

� 69,000 crores to the health sector.� TB haarega, Desh Jeetega” Campaign, Strengthen

the campaign to end Tuberculosis by 2025. JanAushadi Kendra Scheme offering 2000 medicines, 300surgical by 2024.

� The new education policy will be announced soon,IND-SAT exam proposed in Asian and African countryfor foreign university 3.60 lakh crores for Jal Jeevanmission. New Edu policy soon. Swachh BharatMission allocation Rs 12,300 crore.

� Augmenting local water resources, promote waterharvesting in 2020-21, 11,500 crores will be provided.

� By 2030, India will have the largest working-agepopulation in the world.

� The new education policy will be announcedsoon, IND-SAT exam proposed in Asian and Africancountry for foreign university New Edu policy soon.

� About 150 higher education institutes will startApprenticeship embedded degree diploma courses byMarch 2021. Steps would be taken to enable sourcingto provide higher quality education. Urban LocalBodies to provide internship opportunities for youngengineers. For deprived students, degree level full-fledged online education programme to be started.

� National Police University and National ForeignUniversity will be set up. Medical colleges to be setup at district level to produce more doctors.

� High-Speed Train Mumbai-Ahemadabad would beactively pursued.


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� 27000 Km Train Track Electrification.� Solar-powered capacity to be set up alongside rail

tracks.� To build a seamless national cold supply chain for

perishables, Indian Railways will set up KisanRail through PPP model so that perishable goods canbe transported quickly. Krishi Udaan will be launchedby MoCA on international and national routes.

� Rs 27,300 crore for the development and promotionof industry and commerce.

� PM Govt allows tech companies to set up Data Centreparks to provide internet to citizens. It allocates Rs6,000 crore for BhartatNet.

� 5600 crores Allocated to nutrition-related programmesfor FY 2020-21. Nutrition of Children, pregnantwomen, Poshan Abhiyan was launched.

�More than 6 lakh Anganwadi workers equipped withsmartphones to update the nutritional status of 10 crorehouseholds Task Force appointed to mothers.

� For SC and OBC Classes, 85,000 crores allocatedfor FY 2020-21 For ST Classes, 53,700 croresallocated for FY 2020-21 For Senior Citizens &Divyangs, 9,500 crores for 2020-21.

� Indian Institute of Heritage and Culture to be set up. 5archaeological sites would be developed as iconicsites with the onsite museum: Rakhi Garhi Haryana,Hastinapur UP, Shivsagar Assam, Dolavira Assam,Adichalanur in TN.

� 3150 crores allocated to the Ministry of Culture. TribalMuseum to be set up in Ranchi Jharkhand. Themaritime museum would be set up.

� Institute to have a deemed University Status.� Establish Indian Institute of Heritage & Conservation

under Culture Ministry.� Prepaid Smart Meters by 2023.� 16200 Km Gas Grid expanded.� Fibre net to link Villages.� Data Centre Park across India.� FibreLink gram Panchayats.� 1 lakh gram panchayats to be connected with optical

fibre technology.� Our commitments for Paris agreements will start from

1st Jan 2021 Encourage states to ensure cleaner air- 4,400 Crores allocation for the ministry of environment.

� 1 Port to be on Stock Exchange.� Delhi-Mumbai Express-Way.� Self Help Groups will be allowed to set up village

agriculture storage facilities. Govt will involve ruralyouth in coastal areas to boost fish production.

� National Recruitment Agency has to be set up.� Common eligibility test to be set up for non-gazetted

posts. A centre will be put up in each district, especiallyaspirational districts.

� FM announces 2 National Science Schemes GeneticDatabase for drug innovation & Quantum Computingfor advancing our computational n analyticalcapabilities to join an exclusive global league – Rs8000 Cr over 5 years.

� Proposed to sell the balance holding of thegovernment of India’s IDBI to private retail andinstitutional investors through the stock exchange.

� The government raised the insurance cover to Rs 5lakh per depositor, which is currently Rs 1 lakh. Thiscomes after the PMC bank crisis.

� Krishi UDAAN scheme will be launched by theAviation Ministry.

� NBFCS and cooperatives are active inagriculture. NABARD refinance scheme will beexpanded. There will be Rs 15 lakh crore agriculturecredit availability.

� New Education policy will be announced soon.� Urban local bodies to provide internship to young

engineers for a year so that they come to know howthe government functions.

� Degree level online education courses will beintroduced which can be provided by colleges in thetop 100 list by National Educational Institute List.

� Indian Gold February futures reclaimed the Rs 41,000-mark and could even retest the previous record highof 41,293 per 10 gram.

� A new scheme NIRVIC will be launched with the aimof increasing India’s export credit. It will look intosetting up hubs in smaller rural areas and districts.The scheme will be launched this year itself.

� India will host G20 Presidency in the year 2022 andthe Finance Ministry is set to allocate Rs 100 crorefor the preparations.

� The Ministry of Finance is set to allocate Rs28,600 crore for programs meant especially forwomen. ”Beti Bachao Beti padhao” is a highlysuccessful scheme, girls registration in school hassurpassed that of boys.

� Taskforce to be set up to recommend marriageable agefor women

� The government has plans to raise money throughLIC IPO. The government will thus sell part of itsholding in the LIC.

� The government wishes to institute a charter for thetaxpayers charter in the statute and ensure taxpayersare free against tax harassment.

� 100 more airports will be developed to provide supportto the PM Udaan scheme BY 2024.

� The Finance Ministry will allocate Rs 22,000 crore topower renewable energy sector in this financial year.The govt proposes to expand the national gas grid toreach 27,000 km from the current reach of 6,000 km.

� Nominal growth of GDP estimated for 2020-21 on thebasis of trends at 10%. Revised estimates of theexpenditure for FY 2020-21, 26.99 lakh crores. Receiptsestimated at 19.32 lakh crores.

� Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will be completed by 2023.� Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway to be launched soon.� Government to set up project preparation facilities for

the infrastructure sector, national logistic policy soon.� Rs 40,000 cr per annum will be revenue foregone from

new income tax rates for individuals.� The net market borrowings would be Rs 4.99 lakh cr

in fiscal 20 and Rs 5.36 lakh cr in next fiscal. � Rs 3.50 lakh crore infused as capital in public sector

banks in past years.� The government has proposed Rs 30,757 crore for

Jammu and Kashmir, and Rs 5,958 crore for Ladakhfor fiscal 2020-21.


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Union Cabinet Approves Amendments toBanking Regulation Act to regulate co-operative banks� The Union Cabinet has approved amendments

to the Banking Regulation Act to empowerIndia’s Central Bank (Reserve Bank of India)to have better control over urban co-operativebanks and multi-state cooperative banks.

� These amendments will apply to the urban co-operative banks and multi-state cooperativebanks.

� In present, cooperative banks are governed bydual control of cooperative societies as well asthe Reserve Bank of India. While the role ofcooperative society includes incorporation,registration, management, recovery, audit,supersession of board of directors andliquidation, the central bank’s role is responsiblefor regulatory functions.

RBI’s 6th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy 2019-20 released:� RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 5.15% The

Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary PolicyCommittee has released its 6th Bi-monthlyMonetary Policy 2019-20.

� The repo rate under the liquidity adjustmentfacility (LAF) left unchanged to 5.15%.

� The reverse repo rate under the LAF standssame i.e. 4.90%.

� The marginal standing facility (MSF) rate andthe Bank Rate also remains same i.e. 5.40%.

� RBI has increased the real GDP growth forfiscal year 2020-21 from 5% to 6%.

Fitch forecasts India’s GDP growth at 5.6% forFinancial Year 2021� Fitch Ratings has estimated India’s GDP growth

of 5.6% in the next FY21 in its India EconomicOutlook.

� This forecast is lower than the projection madeby the government’s Economic Survey. For thecurrent fiscal 2019-20 (FY 20), GDP is projectedat 4.6%.

� Fitch has also estimated that in the fiscal year2022, government debt will remain 70% of totalGDP.

Minimum net worth for pension fund managershas been raised to Rs 50 cr by PFRDA� The minimum net worth criterion for pension

fund managers has been raised from Rs 25crore to Rs 50 crore by the Pension FundRegulatory and Development Authority(PFRDA).

� This will bring pension funds on par with mutualfunds which have to meet a minimum net worthrequirement of Rs 50 crores as per Securitiesand Exchange Board of India (SEBI) rules.

IndusInd Bank tops list of ‘Highest increasein brand value’� According to ‘The Banker’s Top 500 Banking

Brands 2020’ report, IndusInd Bank has toppedthe list of ‘Highest increase in brand value’among global banks.

� The brand value of Induslnd Bank has increasedby 122% over the past 12 months, making it thehighest placed for growth in brand value, acrossthe globe.

� As a part of the report, the list “Top 50 By TotalBrand Value by Country” has been topped byChina, followed by United States (US) at 2ndposition while Canada and the United Kingdom(UK) ranked at 3rd and 4th spots. Japan hasmoved up to the fifth spot. India ranked 8th inthis list in comparison to 10th place in 2019.

EIU lowers global growth forecast for 2020� The Economist Intelligence Unit has revised

downwards its global growth forecast for 2020to 2.2% from 2.3%. This impact because ofNovel coronavirus outbreak in China and alsothe virus starts spreading globally. The virusoriginated in Wuhan, a city of around 11.3 millionpeople in central Hubei province, China, and hasspread to most provinces in mainland China andoverseas.

Moody’s cuts India’s 2020 GDP growthforecast to 5.4%� Moody’s Investors Service has cut India’s 2020

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growthforecast to 5.4% from 6.6% and the nextfinancial year (2020-21) growth rate estimateto 5.8% from 6.7%.

India becomes 5th largest economy� As per the “World Population Review” report,

India overtakes United Kingdom and Franceto become the 5th-largest world economy in2019. India’s economy is the fifth-largest inthe world with a gross domestic product


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(GDP) of $2.94 trillion.Microsoft & SBI join hands to train differently-abled� Microsoft announced a partnership with State

Bank of India to train differently-abled peopleto find jobs in the banking, financial servicesand insurance (BFSI) sector.

NPCI launches UPI awareness campaign “UPIChalega”� National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

has launched an industry campaign named “UPIChalega” to promote UPI as Easy, Safe, andInstant mode of payment. The “UPI Chalega”campaign is aimed to guide users towards the

right usage of Unified Payments Interface(UPI) and help create a habitual change, use ofUPI in their daily life. NPCI has launched thecampaign in association with the paymentecosystem players.

“EASE 3.0” launched for tech-enabled bankingfor aspiring India� “Enhanced Access and Service Excellence

(EASE) 3.0” has been launched by FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman along with theEASE 2.0 Annual Report at Indian Banks’Association function.

� This has been launched for smart, tech-enabledbanking for aspiring India.

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Janasevaka scheme launched by KarnatakaGovernment� To ensure the home delivery of the government

services, Karnataka Government has launcheda scheme “Janasevaka”. The scheme is initiallylaunched in a few municipal corporation wardsto ensure home delivery of various services.

Madhya Pradesh to employ “Drones” formapping of the villages� Madhya Pradesh government has entered into

an agreement with the Survey of India to employdrones for mapping of villages. The Survey ofIndia is the India’s national mapping agency.Drones will be used for the mapping of 55thousand villages of the state on a scale of 1:500.

Uttarakhand flags off first Heli Services underUDAN� Under the Regional Connectivity Scheme “Ude

Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN)” of Governmentof India, Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) hasoperationalized the first ever helicopter servicesin the state of Uttarakhand. Under the UDAN2 bidding process, Heritage Aviation has beengiven the responsibility of operating theSahastradhara-Gauchar-Chinyalisaur route.

Hyderabad Metro Rail becomes 2nd largestmetro network in India� Hyderabad Metro Rail, the world’s largest public-

private partnership project, is now the 2nd-largestoperational metro network in the countrycovering 69.2 km. With the launch of another11-km stretch, Hyderabad Metro Rail hasbecome the second-largest metro rail networkin the country after Delhi.

India’s 1st glass floor suspension bridge to bebuilt in Rishikesh� The Uttarakhand Government has approved the

design of a glass floor suspension bridge, thefirst of its kind in the country to have a floormade of toughened transparent glass.

� This bridge will be built across the River Gangain Rishikesh. The bridge is as an alternative tothe iconic Lakshman Jhula, almost 94 years old,which was closed in 2019 due to safety reasons.The bridge design has been prepared by thePublic Works Department (PWD).

Tripura organises its 1st-ever “HornbillFestival”� The 1st-ever Hornbill festival of Tripura was

celebrated in Agartala. The aim to conserve thestriking forest bird “Hornbill” and to boost thelivelihood of the people through tourism. ChiefMinister (CM) Biplab Kumar Dev inauguratedthe festival at Baramura hill (in western Tripura).

Largest air quality monitoring network of Indiato be installed in Mumbai


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� The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation(BMC) has approved the setting up of an airquality monitoring network of 90 stations inMumbai, Maharashtra.

Haryana launches ‘Reading Mission’ initiative� The state government of Haryana has launched

an initiative called ‘Reading Mission- Haryana’.The initiative was launched to encourage readinghabit among the young students of the state.

� The scheme is on the lines of the ‘ReadingMission 2022’, launched by the centralgovernment. Under the state’s initiative, monthlybook review sessions and mass book readingare to be organised by students in educationalinstitutions.

Arvind Kejriwal takes oath as CM of Delhi� Arvind Kejriwal takes oath as Chief Minister of

Delhi for the third consecutive time in RamlilaMaidan. Mr. Kejriwal had earlier taken the oathof Chief Minister in 2013 and 2015.

5-day working week for Maharashtra govtemployees� The Maharashtra government has announced

5-day working week for state governmentemployees. The decision was taken at the stateCabinet meeting chaired by Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray. The new system will beapplicable from February 29 onwards.

‘Pyaar ka Paudha’ campaign launched by Bihargovt

� ‘Pyaar ka Paudha’ (a plant of love) campaignhas been launched by the Bihar government’sDepartment of Environment and Forest in Patna.This campaign is a small effort will be a big steptowards making the Bihar land green.

Pinarayi Vijayan launches “Yodhavu” mobileapp to combat drug menace

� Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched“Yodhav” (Warrior) mobile app (application) atKochi, Kerala. Through this app, the public caninform police about drug abuse and itsdistribution. The application was introduced bythe Kochi city police and the informer’s identitycould be kept secret.

NABARD sancti ons Rs 400.64 Cr to boostinfrastructure in J&K� National Bank for Agriculture and Rural

Development (NABARD) has sanctioned400.64 crore rupees to the Union Territory ofJammu and Kashmir. This sanction is for givinga boost to the infrastructure in the rural areas ofJ&K.

Govt. of Andhra Pradesh launched ‘JaganannaVasthi Deevena’ scheme for students� Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan

Mohan Reddy has launched a scheme named‘Jagananna Vasthi Deevena’. This scheme isfor students pursuing various post-Intermediatecourses to meet hostel and mess expenses.

MP becomes 1st state to launch unified vehicleregistration card� Madhya Pradesh has become the 1st state in

the country to introduce the unified registrationcard and the 2nd state to launch the unifieddriving license after Uttar Pradesh.

Kerala High Court bans all forms of strikes inschools, colleges· The Kerala High Court recently passed an order

and banned all types of political movements inthe college and school premises. Banning variousforms agitations like gherao and sit-in in thecampuses, the High Court also said no one canbe persuaded to participate in such protests.

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Niti Aayog & Nasscom roll out AI modules inschools� The National Association of Software and

Services Companies (Nasscom), in collaborationwith Niti Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM),launched an artificial intelligence (AI) basedmodule for students of Indian schools.

� The AI-Base Module will be implemented across5,000 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL), empowering2.5 million students.

India ranked 77th on Sustainability Index� According to the report commissioned by the

World Health Organization (WHO), UNChildren’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Lancetmedical journal and backed by United Nations,India has been ranked at 77th position in theSustainability Index 2020 and 131st on theFlourishing Index 2020.

ISRO to launch Geo Imaging Satellite “GISAT-1”� The Indian Space Research Organisation will

launch the Geo Imaging Satellite “GISAT-1”.GISAT-1 will be launched by GeosynchronousSatellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F10) from theSecond Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan SpaceCentre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. The launchof GISAT-1 has been tentatively scheduled at17:43 Hrs IST on March 05, 2020.

India-UK joint Air Force Exercise IndraDhanush Exercise 2020 began� The 5th edition of the Exercise Indra Dhanush

2020 commenced on 24th February. It is a jointair force exercise between Indian Air Force (IAF)and British Royal Air Forces (RAF) hascommenced at Air Force Station Hindan in UttarPradesh (UP).

India ranked 2nd in producer of Crude Steel� As per World Steel Association data, India

became the second-largest steel producer ofcrude steel after China 2019, by replacing Japan.

� India’s crude steel production in 2019 was at111.2 MT, an increase of 1.7 per cent from 109.3MT in 2018. China remains number one with996.3 million tonnes in 2019.

� The United States and Russia rank fourth andfifth respectively.

SC notify all states to established Gram Nyayalayas� The Supreme Court has directed the states to

establish Gram Nyayalayas within four weeks’.Gram Nyayalayas are mobile village courtsestablished under Gram Nyayalayas Act,2008.

Indian Army develops world’s first bulletproofhelmet� World’s first bulletproof helmet has been

developed by the Indian Army. The bulletproofhelmet can stop an AK-47 bullet round fired froma distance of 10 meters. The Ballistic helmet isdeveloped by An Indian Army Major AnoopMishra.

India ranks 40th in Global Intellectual PropertyIndex 2020� India has been ranked 40th out of 53 countries

on a global intellectual property index 2020. TheUS, UK, Sweden, France and Germanyremained the top five economies on theintellectual property index in 2019 retaining theirspots from the last year.

India ranks 40th in Global Intellectual PropertyIndex 2020� India has been ranked 40th out of 53 countries

on a global intellectual property index 2020. TheUS, UK, Sweden, France and Germanyremained the top five economies on theintellectual property index in 2019 retaining theirspots from the last year.

DRDO developing new strike range Pranashballistic missile� Defence Research and Development

Organisation (DRDO) has started developing a200-km strike range tactical ballistic missile‘Pranash’.

� The missile is an advanced version of the 150-km strike range Prahar missile which was beingdeveloped for tactical missions.

� The surface-to-surface ballistic missile will beof use for the Air Force and Army. It is a solid-propellant surface to a surface missile which cantravel at the speed of Mach 2.

ISRO to launch 10 Earth Observation Satellitesin 2020-21� The Indian Space Research Organisation has


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revealed in its annual report for 2019-20 that itwill launch 10 Earth Observation Satellites in2020-21.

� The 10 earth observation (EO) satellites willinclude categories such as the first Geo ImagingSatellite, GISAT-1 along with threecommunication satellites and two navigationsatellites.

Radhakishan Damani becomes India’s 2ndrichest person� Avenue Supermarts, which is doing business as

D-Mart, founder Radhakishan Damani has nowbecome the 2nd richest Indian after RelianceIndustries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani, witha net worth of $17.8 billion.

Delhi’s IGI Airport has become the first single-use plastic-free airport of India� “Indira Gandhi International Airport” of Delhi has

been declared by the Delhi International AirportLtd as India’s first single-use plastic-free airport.

� The airport is also certified as single-use plastic-free airport by the CII-ITC Centre of Excellencefor Sustainable Development.

Hindi becomes 3rd most spoken language inthe World� Hindi has become the 3rd most spoken language

of the world in 2019 with 615 million speakerswhile English stood at the top of the list with1,132 million speakers as per the 22nd edition ofthe world language database Ethnologue.Chinese Mandarin stood at the second positionwith 1,117 million speakers.

Gold reserves found by GSI in Sonbhadra

district of Uttar Pradesh� The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has found

gold reserves in Sonbhadra district of UttarPradesh.

� These reserves are estimated to be around 3000tonnes which is almost five times of India’spresent gold reserves. The newly found reservesare valued at Rs 12 lakh crore.

Indian Railway has launched AI basedASKDISHA chatbot� The Indian Railways has launched the Hindi

Version of Artificial Intelligence-based chatbotcalled “ASKDISHA”.

� The hindi version has been launched to furtherenhance the customer services rendered and tofurther strengthen the services of the chatbot.

� The Indian Railways is also planning to launchthe chatbot in more languages in the near future.

India & US sign defence deals worth $3 billion� India and the United States finalized defence

deals worth 3 billion dollars. India has agreed topurchase USD 3 billion worth advancedAmerican military equipment including Apacheand MH-60 Romeo helicopters, which are thefinest in the world.

India ranked 3rd in Hurun Global Rich List2020� Hurun Report has released the Hurun Global

Rich List 2020. The Hurun Global Rich List 2020is a ranking of the US-Dollar billionaires in theworld. The 9th edition of the Hurun Global Richlist ranked 2,816 billionaires from 71 countriesand from 2,182 companies.

Rank Country Number of Billionaires

1 China 799

2 USA 626

3 India 137

4 Germany 122

5 UK 119

6 Russia 91

7 Switzerland 88

8 Brazil 69

9 Thailand 57

10 France 51


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Global health Emergency declared overCoronavirus by WHO�World Health Organization has declared an

international emergency over the novelcoronavirus from China. The organization hasdeclared an emergency as the disease has spreadto 18 other countries apart from China where itoriginated.

Maldives rejoins Commonwealth as 54thmember�Maldives has returned to Commonwealth after

its exit in 2016 and hence, has become the 54thmember of the global body. The inclusion ofMaldives into Commonwealth become effectivefrom one minute past midnight on 1 February justafter the exit of United Kingdom from theEuropean union.

Iraqi president appoints Mohammad TawfiqAllawi as prime minister�Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi was appointed as

Iraq’s new Prime Minister by President BarhimSalih. He will replace Adil Abdul-Mahdi whoresigned in November 2019 due to anti-government protests.

ADB approves the funding of $2 million tocombat Novel Coronavirus� The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has

approved the funding of USD 2 million to combatthe spread of novel coronavirus (nCoV).

� The funds will support the efforts to stop theoutspread of novel coronavirus (nCoV) bysupplementing ongoing regional technicalassistance and strengthening response capacityin China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, andMyanmar.

UK’s start-up launches 1st big batch ofsatellites� The UK-based OneWeb company has sent 34

satellites into orbit on a single Soyuz rocket, fromBaikonur port, Kazakhstan. The aims are to havethe full network in operation by the end of 2021.

Donald Trump to inaugurate world’s largestcricket stadium in Ahmedabad� The World’s Biggest Cricket Stadium, the Motera

Stadium in Ahmedabad renamed as the SardarVallabhbhai Stadium will be inaugurated by USPresident Donald Trump during his visit to India.The stadium has a capacity of 1.10 lakh people.

The Presidential elections of Afghanistan wonby Ashraf Ghani� The independent Election Commission of

Afghanistan has announced Ashraf Ghani as thewinner of the Presidential elections ofAfghanistan. He has won the Presidentialelections of Afghanistan for the 2nd time.

� He defeated his closest opponent AbdullahAbdullah after winning the 9,23,592 votes or50.64% of the total votes.

Pakistan to remain on the FATF Grey List� The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has

decided to keep Pakistan on the FATF Grey Listtill June 2020. The decision was taken during thegroup’s meeting and plenary in Paris.

� The anti-money laundering watchdog decided tokeep Pakistan on its Grey List for failure to curbtransfer of funds to terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and others.

Leo Varadkar resigns as Prime Minister ofIreland� Leo Varadkar resigns as Prime Minister of Ireland

but chosed to staying on as interim leader whilethe country’s three main parties battle outdeadlocked coalition talks after an inconclusiveelection.

� He will continue to play the role until his successorhas been appointed.

South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar swornin as vice president� South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar has been

sworn in as first vice president. He is formallyrejoining the government in the latest effort tobring peace to a nation ravaged by war.

� The rebel leader returns as first vice president in


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a transition government which will serve for 36months. President Salva Kiir hailed the officialending of the war.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamadresigns�Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad

has announced his resignation over political issues.He will act as an interim PM. It is not clear whowill be the next prime minister. He has submitted

his resignation to the king. He has also resignedfrom Bersatu, the political party of which he waschairman.

Adline Castelino wins Miss Diva Universe2020� Adline Castelino has been crowned as the winner

of LIVA Miss Diva Universe 2020 competition.Aavriti Choudhary of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradeshcrowned as LIVA Miss Diva Supranational 2020.

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Veteran social a ctivist and feminist writer VidyaBal passes away� Social activist, feminist writer and journalist Vidya

Bal passed away. She was known for her heroicoppressive practices involving women.

GoI appoints M Ajit Kumar as chairman ofCBIC� The government of India has appointed M Ajit

Kumar as chairman of the Central Board ofIndirect Taxes and Customs. The AppointmentsCommittee of the Cabinet has approved theappointment.

Ajay Bisaria becomes India’s next Ambassadorto Canada� Ajay Bisaria has been appointed as the next High

Commissioner of India to Canada. He is presentlyserved as High Commissioner of India toPakistan. He will replace Vikas Swarup.

BCCI constitutes 3-members in CricketAdvisory Committee� The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)

has announced the appointment of Madan Lal,Rudra Pratap Singh and Sulakshana Naik asCricket Advisory Committee(CAC).

Gopal Baglay becomes India’s nextAmbassador to Sri Lanka� Gopal Baglay has been appointed as the next

High Commissioner of India to the DemocraticSocialist Republic of Sri Lanka. He will replace

Taranjit Sandhu.Deepa Malik becomes president of ParalympicCommittee of India� Para-athlete and India’s lone woman Paralympic

medallist Deepa Malik has been elected aspresident of Paralympic Committee of India. Shewas elected unopposed as president in the PCIpolls held in Bengaluru.

Pramod Agrawal takes over as Coal IndiaChairman� Pramod Agrawal assumed charge as the new

chairman and managing director of Coal IndiaLtd. He was the successor of Anil Kumar Jhawho retired on 31st January 2020.

Jeff Weiner to step down as the ChiefExecutive Officer of LinkedIn Corporation� LinkedIn Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jeff

Weiner is stepping down in the role. Jeff Weinerwill become executive chairman after 11 yearsas CEO of the Microsoft-owned business. RyanRoslansky, senior vice president of product, willbecome CEO as of June 1.

Hollywood actor Kirk Douglas passes away� The Academy Award winning Hollywood Actor,

producer and director Kirk Douglas passed away.The actor came to limelight in 1940’s and playedvarious roles in nearly 100 movies in his 60-yearcareer.

C N R Nair has been appointed by Supreme


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Court to make inventory of ornaments atSabarimala temple� Retired Kerala High Court judge C N

Ramachandaran Nair has been appointed by theSupreme Court of India for the formulation ofthe inventory and valuation report of ornamentsat Sabarimala temple.

Pinelopi Koujianou has resigned from theWorld Bank as the chief economist� Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg has announced her

resignation as the Chief Economist of the WorldBank. Aart Kraay will be the interim WB chiefeconomist until the appointment of a newpermanent chief economist.

Kaamya Karthikeyan becomes youngest girl toclimb Mt Aconcagua� Kaamya Karthikeyan has become the youngest

girl in the world to summit Mt Aconcagua. MtAconcagua is the highest peak in South Americaand outside of Asia.

� Kaamya Karthikeyan is a class VII student andsummited Argentinian mountain which is 6962meters tall.

Padma Shri awardee Giriraj Kishore passesaway� Hindi novelist and Padma Shri awardee Giriraj

Kishore passed away. He was best known forhis novel “Pehla Girmitiya” that was based onMahatma Gandhi”s stay in South Africa.

Veteran Journalist Nandu R Kulkarni passesaway� Veteran journalist Nandu R Kulkarni passed

away recently. He was serving as the Mumbaibureau chief of “The Statesman” since 1992.

Rishi Sunak appointed as UK’s new FinanceMinister� Rishi Sunak has been appointed as the Finance

Minister of the United Kingdom.� He will replace Pakistani Chancellor Sajid Javid.Robin Singh appointed as UAE’s director ofcricket� Former Indian Cricket all-rounder Robin Singh

was appointed as director of cricket of the UnitedArab Emirates.

� He was appointed by Emirates Cricket Boardafter the dismissal of head coach Douglas RobertBrown.

Atul Kumar Gupta is the new ICAI President

� Atul Kumar Gupta will be the new President ofthe Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI)for the year 2020-21.

� Nihar Niranjan Jambusaria has been elected asthe Vice President of the ICAI for 2020-21. Theywere elected at a meeting of the central councilin New Delhi.

Padma Shri awardee Wendell Rodricks passesaway� Famous Indian fashion designer Wendell Rodricks

passed away. He was awarded Padma Shri in2014 and also Chevalier de L’ordre des Arts etLettres by the French Ministry of Culture in 2015.

� He wrote books namely: The Greenroom,Poskem: Goans in the shadows, Moda Goa-History & Style.

ISRO G Narayanan to head space PSU NSIL� Veteran space scientist G Narayanan has been

named the chairman of Indian Space ResearchOrganisation’s newly formed commercial entityNew Space India Ltd (NSIL).

� He was earlier working as deputy director(systems reliability and quality assurance) at theLiquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), aThiruvananthapuram-based unit of Isro thatdesigns, develops liquid propulsion stages forlaunch vehicles.

Rajiv Bansal becomes new CMD of Air India� Senior IAS officer Rajiv Bansal was named the

Chairman and Managing Director of nationalcarrier Air India.

� He succeeds Ashwani Lohani.� Bansal, a 1988 batch officer of the Nagaland

cadre, held the post of Additional Secretary,Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Nobel Prize awardee Rajendra Kumar Pachauripassed away� Former Chairman and Director General of The

Energy Resources Institute (TERI) RajindraKumar Pachauri passed away.

� Pachauri received the Nobel Peace Prize onbehalf of the IPCC, with the former United States(US) Vice President, Al Gore, for the year 2007.He also received Padma Vibhushan in 2008 &Padma Bhushan in 2001 from the Governmentof India.

Vinay Dube becomes GoAir new CEO� GoAir has appointed Vinay Dube, the former


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chief executive officer (CEO) of Jet Airways,as its new CEO.

Australia appoints Barry O’Farrell as new highcommissioner to India� Barry O’Farrell has been appointed by Australia

as the next high commissioner to India. He willsucceed Harinder Sidhu as the highcommissioner to India.

Harry Greg the former Manchester Unitedgoalkeeper passes away� Harry Gregg, the former Manchester United

goalkeeper passed away. He represented the club247 times, including a victory in the FA (FootballAssociation Challenge Cup) match againstSheffield.

� He was also awarded an Order of the BritishEmpire (OBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours.

Mickey Wright the legendary golfer passesaway� Mickey Wright, the Legendary women’s golfer

who won 82 titles of Ladies Professional GolfAssociation (LPGA) Tour during a professionalcareer lasting from 1954 to 1969, passed away.

Sanjay Kothari appointed as new CentralVigilance Commissioner� Sanjay Kothari has been appointed by a high-

powered committee headed by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi as the new Central VigilanceCommissioner.

� He was currently serving as the Secretary tothe President. In other appointments, Bimal Julkahas been appointed as the Chief InformationCommissioner in the Central InformationCommission.

V L Dutt former FICCI president passed away� V L Dutt, the former Federation of Indian

Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI)president has passed away. He headed thefederation in 1991-92 and also served as thechairman of the India Vietnam Joint BusinessCouncil of FICCI.

Computer scientist Larry Tesler passed away� Larry Tesler, the computer scientist who

introduced the cut, copy and paste commandspassed away. The concepts he introduced wereinstrumental in the development of text editorsand early computer operating systems.

Bhaskar Khulbe & Amarjeet Sinha have beenappointed as Advisers to PM� Retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS)

officers Amarjeet Sinha and Bhaskar Khulbehave been appointed as the Advisers to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi by the AppointmentsCommittee of the Cabinet.

� The appointment of the retired administrativeofficers as the Advisers to Prime Minister willbe on contractual basis.

Sunil Gurbaxani appointed as new MD andCEO of Dhanlaxmi Bank� The appointment of Sunil Gurbaxani as managing

director and CEO of Dhanlaxmi Bank has beenapproved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

� The appointment has been made for a period ofthree years. Gurbaxani is presently working withAxis Bank.

Rajlaxmi Singh Deo has been elected aspresident of Rowing Federation of India� Rajlaxmi Singh Deo has been re-elected as the

president of the Rowing Federation of India(RFI).

� The presidential elections of the RowingFederation of India were conducted under theobservation of Indian Olympic Association(IOA)’s K Govindraj. He will remain at the postfor four years till 2024.

USIBC appoints Vijay Advani as new Chairmanof Global Board� Vijay Advani has been appointed by the US -

India Business Council (USIBC) as newchairman of its Global Board of Directors.

� The council also announced two new membersof the Global Board of Directors LockheedMartin International Senior Vice President TimCahill and GE South Asia President & CEOMahesh Palashikar.

Former Indian footballer Ashok Chatterjeepasses away� Former Indian footballer Ashok Chatterjee passed

away. He made his international debut when hecame on as a second-half substitute for PKBanerjee against Japan in the Merdeka Cup in1965. He made 30 appearances for the seniornational team.

Abhay Kumar Singh becomes new CMD ofNHPC


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� Hydropower giant National Hydroelectric PowerCorporation (NHPC) announced the appointmentof Abhay Kumar Singh as the company’sChairman & Managing Director. He will replaceRatish Kumar.

Famous NASA Mathematician KatherineJohnson passes away� Famous NASA (National Aeronautics and Space

Administration) mathematician KatherineJohnson passed away at the age of 101. Johnson’scalculations helped put the first man on the Moonin 1969, but she was little known until the Oscar-nominated 2016 movie that told the stories ofthree black women who worked at NASA.

Egypt former President Mohammed HosniMubarak passes away� Egypt’s former President Mohammed Hosni

Mubarak passed away. He ruled the country for30 years. After almost three decades in power,Mubarak was forced to resign on February 11,2011, following 18 days of protests around thecountry.

Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga to step down� Mastercard Chief Executive Officer Ajay Banga

will step down at the start of the next year andwill be replaced by Chief Product Officer MichaelMiebach.

Rajesh Kumar becomes new MD & CEO ofCIBIL� TransUnion Cibil, the largest credit information

bureau appointed Rajesh Kumar of HDFC Bank

as its new managing director and chief executive.He will succeed Satish Pillai

Jawed Ashraf becomes India’s nextAmbassador to France� Jawed Ashraf has been appointed as the next

Ambassador of India to France. He is presentlyHigh Commissioner of India to the Republic ofSingapore.

� He will succeed Vinay Mohan Kwatra. VinayMohan Kwatra will become the next Ambassadorof India to Nepal, he will succeed Manjeev SinghPuri.

Abhishek Singh becomes India’s nextAmbassador to Venezuela� Abhishek Singh has been appointed as the next

Ambassador of India to the Bolivarian Republicof Venezuela.

� He is currently serving as Deputy Chief ofMission, Embassy of India in Kabul, Afghanistan.

� He will succeed Rajiv Kumar Napal, who passedaway recently. He is a 2003-batch Indian ForeignService (IFS) officer.

World’s oldest man Chitetsu Watanabe passesaway� The world’s oldest man, Chitetsu Watanabe of

Japan, has passed away at 112. He was born onMarch 5th, 1907. He received his Guinness WorldRecord certification on February 12, 2020. Withthe death of Chitetsu Watanabe, Britain’s oldestman, Bob Weighton, who is 111, has now becomethe oldest person in the world.

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Novak Djokovic Wins the men’s singles titleof Australian Open 2020� Serbian tennis star, Novak Djokovic has won the

men’s singles title of Australian Open 2020.� He defeated Austrian tennis star Dominic Thiem

in five sets to successfully defend his AustralianOpen men’s singles title in Melbourne, Australia.

� This was his 8th title win in the Australia Open.Weightlifter Sambo Lapung wins gold withnational record of 188kg�Weightlifter Sambo Lapung has won the gold

medal in the men’s 89kg event of the NationalWeightlifting Championships held in Kolkata.

� He has made a new national record of 188kg inclean and jerk event in men’s 89kg.

� In the women’s event, Rakhi Halder has won thegold medal in the 64kg event.

Bangladesh wins ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup2020� Bangladesh has won the ICC U-19 Cricket World

Cup 2020 held in South Africa. Bangladesh Under-19 cricket team defeated India Under-19 teamby 3 wickets to win the final of the ICC U-19Cricket World Cup 2020 held at JB Marks Oval,Potchefstroom, South Africa.

Ladakh Scouts wins Khelo India Ice HockeyChampionship� The Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre (LSRC)

Red won the first Men’s section Khelo India IceHockey tournament 2020. They defeated IndoTibetan Border Police (ITBP) team 3-2 in a nail-biting thriller final match. 13 teams participatedin the Khelo India Ice Hockey Championship.

Armand Duplantis breaks Pole Vault WorldRecord� Sweden’s Pole Vaulter, Armand Duplantis has

break the Pole Vault World Record set by RenaudLavillenie of France in 2014.

� Armand Duplantis break the world record with ajump of 20 feet 2.9 inches or 6.17 metres atCopernicus Cup in Torun, Poland. RenaudLavillenie set the previous world record of 6.16metres in February 2014 in Donetsk, Ukraine.

Aditya Mehta & Vidya Pillai wins National

Snooker Championship� Aditya Mehta & Vidya Pillai has won the National

Snooker Championship held in pune,Maharashtra. Aditya Mehta defeated the worldchampion Pankaj Advani to win the men’s title ofthe National Snooker Championship. Whilerepresenting the Petroleum Sports PromotionBoard (PSPB), he defeated Pankaj Advani witha score line of 6-2.

Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa Clinched77th Senior National squash championships� Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa won the 77th

Senior National squash championships in Man’sand woman’s category respectively in Chennai.

� The top-ranked Indian players justified their billingto bag the men’s and women’s titles for a record13th and 18th time respectively.

Delhi host Asian Wrestling Championship 2020� Asian Wrestling Championship 2020 starts in New

Delhi. It will be held at the KD Jadhav Hall ofIndira Gandhi Stadium. The event will have a totalof 30 weight classes, 10 each in Freestyle Men,Women, and Greco Roman.

‘United by Emotion’ chosen as Tokyo 2020Olympics motto� The Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee has

revealed the official Games motto: “United byEmotion”. The motto emphasises the power ofsport to bring together people from diversebackgrounds of every kind and allow them toconnect and celebrate in a way that reachesbeyond their differences.

Koneru Humpy wins Cairns Cup chesstournament� India’s Koneru Humpy wins Cairns Cup chess

tournament held at St.Louis, US (United States).She won the title after finishing 6 points off 9rounds. Reigning world champion Ju Wenjunfinished with 5.5 points secured 2nd place whileRussia’s Alexandra Kosteniuk came 3rd whofinished with 5 points followed by UkranianMariya Muzychek with 5 points and India’sHarika Dronavalli secured 5th with 4.5 points.

India to host FIFA U-17 Women’s FootballWorld Cup 2020


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� Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has unveiledthe 5 host cities for the FIFA Under-17 Women’sFootball World Cup 2020 which includesAhmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Kolkataand Navi Mumbai.

India to host the Junior Men’s Hockey WorldCup 2021� The Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup 2021 will

be held in India as per the announcement madeby International Hockey Federation (FIH) atLausanne in Switzerland.

� This is the second time that India will be hostingthe prestigious tournament which was held in2016.

Pragyan Ojha announced retirement from allforms of cricket� Indian left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has

announced his retirement from international andfirst-class cricket. He represented India in 24Tests between 2009 and 2013 in which he took113 wickets. In 18 ODIs he played, grabbed 21wickets. He also played six T20 Internationals.

Ross Taylor becomes world’s first cricketer toplay 100 matches in all 3 formats� Ross Taylor has reached the landmark feat during

the first international cricket match of India andNew Zealand bilateral test series started at BasinReserve in Wellington.

� He has become the first player in the cricketingworld to play 100 matches in all the three formatsof the game i.e. One Day International matches,T20 International matches and Test matches.

D Gukesh wins 34th Cannes Open in FranceIndian Grandmaster� D Gukesh defeated Harutyun Bargseghyan of

France to win the 34th Cannes Open in France.

Siva Mahadevan of India secured the 10th placewith six points.

AIBA World Cup 2020 to be held in Russia� Russia will host the International Boxing

Association (AIBA) Team World Cup 2020. Thetournament will be coinciding with the 75thanniversary of the victory in World War II underthe motto “Boxing for peace”.

� This format is expected to make boxing moreattractive to spectators and sponsors.

India will host Commonwealth Shooting andArchery Championships 2022� India will host the Commonwealth Shooting and

Archery Championships in January 2022. TheCommonwealth Games Federation (CGF)announced this decision after the Executive Boardmeeting in London. The two events will be heldin Chandigarh in January 2022, while theBirmingham Commonwealth Games is scheduledfrom 27th of July to 7th of August, 2022.

11-year-old Jiya Rai creates world record inopen water swimming� Jiya Rai, the 11-year-old girl created a world

record by becoming the youngest and the fastestspecially-abled girl to swim 14 kilometres in openwater in 3 hours 27 minutes and 30 seconds.

� This record creates under the supervision of theSwimming Association of Maharashtra.

Maria Sharapova announces retirement fromtennis� Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova

has announced her retirement from tennis. TheRussian won her first Grand Slam at Wimbledonin 2004 aged 17 and completed the career slam,all four major titles, by winning the French Openin 2012.

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2020 EE British Academy Film Awards: Findcomplete list of winners here

� The 2020 EE British Academy Film Awards(BAFTA) were distributed during the award

S.No. Category Winner

1 BEST FILM 1917

2 OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM 1917

3OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISHWRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

Mark Jenkin (Writer/Director), Kate Byers, LinnWaite (Producers) (Movie: Bait)

4 FILMNOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Parasite

5 DOCUMENTARY For Sama

6 ANIMATED FILM Klaus

7 DIRECTOR Sam Mendes (1917)

8 ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Han Jin Won, Bong Joon Ho (Parasite)

9 ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Jojo Rabbit

10 LEADING ACTRESS Renee Zellweger(Judy)

11 LEADING ACTOR Joaquin Phoenix(Joker)

12 SUPPORTING ACTRESS Laura Dern (Marriage Story)

13 SUPPORTING ACTOR Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood)

14 ORIGINAL SCORE Joker

15 CASTING Joker

16 CINEMATOGRAPHY 1917

17 EDITING LE MANS ’66

18 PRODUCTION DESIGN 1917

19 COSTUME DESIGN Jacqueline Durran (Little Women)

20 MAKE UP & HAIRVivian Baker, Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan(Bombshell)

21 SOUND 1917

22 SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS 1917

23 BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION Grandad Was A Romantic

24 BRITISHSHORT FILMLearning To Skateboard In A Warzone (IF

YOU’RE A GIRL)

25 EE RISING STAR AWARD Micheal Ward

ceremony held at the Royal Albert Hall inLondon.

Here is the complete list of winners of 2020 EEBritish Academy Film Awards:

Vinod Shukla wins 1st Mathrubhumi Book ofthe Year award� Noted Hindi poet-novelist and Sahitya Akademi

honouree Vinod Kumar Shukla has won theinaugural Mathrubhumi Book of the Year awardfor his translated book “Blue Is Like Blue”.

Waheeda Rehman to be honoured with KishoreKumar Samman� The Veteran actor Waheeda Rehman will be

honoured the Madhya Pradesh government’sNational Kishore Kumar Samman.


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Oscars Award 2020 winners: Full List ofWinners1. Best Picture- Parasite, Kwak Sin Ae and

Bong Joon Ho, Producers2. Actor in a Leading Role- Joaquin Phoenix,

Joker3. Actress in a Leading Role- Renee Zellweger,

Judy4. Best sound mixing- 19175. Best sound editing- Ford v Ferrari6. Best supporting actress- Laura Dern for

Marriage Story7. Documentary short feature- Learning to

Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)8. Documentary feature- American Factory9. Best costume design- Jacqueline Durran,

Little Women10. Best production design- Once Upon a

Time…in Hollywood11. Live-action short film- The Neighbors’

Window12. Best adapted screenplay- Taika Waititi, Jojo

Rabbit13. Best original screenplay- Bong Joon-ho,

Parasite14. Animated short film- Hair Love

15. Animated feature film- Toy Story 416. Best supporting actor- Brad Pitt, Once Upon

a Time…in Hollywood17. Best Music (Original Score)- Joker, Hildur

Guonadottir18. Best Short Film (Animated)- Hair Love19. Best Directing Film- Parasite, Bong Joon Ho20. Best Cinematography- 1917, Roger Deakins21. Best Writing (Original Screenplay)- Parasite22. Best Music (Original Song)- ”(I’m Gonna)

Love Me Again” from Rocketman23. Visual Effects- 191724. Makeup and Hairstyling- BombshellPullela Gopichand honoured with lifetimeachievement award by IOC� The Chief National coach for the Indian

Badminton team Pullela Gopichand honour withCoaches lifetime achievement award byInternational Olympic Committee’s (IOC).

� He is the 1st Indian coach to be Honoured withthis Lifetime award by the Olympics Committee.

13th edition of ESPNcricinfo Awards 2019announced� ESPNcricinfo (sports news website) announced

the 13th edition of the Annual ESPNcricinfoAwards 2019.

Sl.

No.Category Winner

1. Captain of the year Eoin Morgan (England)

2. Test batting performance of the year Kusal Perera (Sri Lanka)

3. Test bowling performance of the year Kemar Roach (West Indies)

4. ODI batting performance of the year Ben Stokes (England)

5. ODI bowling performance of the year Matt Henry (New Zealand)

6. T20I batting performance of the year Gleen Maxwell (Australia)

7. T20I bowling performance of the year Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)

8. Debutant of the year Jofra Archer (England)

9.Women’s batting performance of the

yearMeg Lanning (Australia)

10.Women’s bowling performance of the

yearEllyse Perry (Australia)

11.Associate batting performance of the

yearGeorge Munsey (Scotland)

12.Associate bowling performance of the

yearBilal Khan (Oman)


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FIH honours Manpreet Singh with FIH Men’sPlayer of the Year 2019 award� The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has

awarded Indian men’s hockey team captain &midfielder Manpreet Singh with “Player of theYear for 2019” award.

� India’s another midfielder Vivek Sagar Prasadhas also won the “FIH Male Rising Star of theYear” award.

India’s pioneering feminist Gita Sen wins Dan

S.

No.Award Name Winner

1 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: Lewis Hamilton and Lionel Messi

2 Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Simone Biles

3 Laureus World Team of the Year South Africa Men’s Rugby Team

4 Laureus Best Sporting MomentCarried on the shoulders of a nation’ – Sachin

Tendulkar

5 Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Egan Bernal

6 Laureus World Comeback of the Year Sophia Flörsch

7Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a

DisabilityOksana Masters

8 Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year: Chloe Kim

9 Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award: Dirk Nowitzki

10Laureus Academy Exceptional Achievement

AwardSpanish Basketball Federation

11 Laureus Sport for Good Award South Bronx United

David Prize2020� Indian feminist scholar, activist Gita Sen has won

the prestigious Dan David Prize 2020 under“present” category. She has worked hard in thefields of women’s rights, reproductive and sexualhealth and poverty eradication.

20th Laureus Awards 2020 announced in Berlin� The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual

award ceremony honouring individuals and teamsfrom the world of sports along with sportingachievements throughout the year.

65th Amazon Filmfare Awards 2020: CheckComplete List of Winners1. Best Film- ‘Gully Boy’2. Best Director Zoya Akhtar for ‘Gully Boy’3. Best Film (Critics)- ‘Article 15’ (Anubhav Sinha)

and ‘Sonchiriya’ (Abhishek Chaubey)4. Best Actor In A Leading Role (Male)- Ranveer

Singh for ‘Gully Boy’5. Best Actor (Critics)- Ayushmann Khurrana for

‘Article 15’6. Best Actor In A Leading Role (Female)- Alia

Bhatt for ‘Gully Boy’7. Best Actress (Critics): Bhumi Pednekar and

Taapsee Pannu for ‘Saand Ki Aankh’8. Best Actor In A Supporting Role (Female)-

Amruta Subhash for ‘Gully Boy’9. Best Actor In A Supporting Role (Male)-

Siddhant Chaturvedi for ‘Gully Boy’10. Best Music Album- ‘Gully Boy’: Zoya Akhtar-

Ankur Tewari and ‘Kabir Singh’: Mithoon,Amaal Mallik, Vishal Mishra, Sachet–Paramparaand Akhil Sachdeva

11. Best Lyrics- Divine and Ankur Tewari for “ApnaTime Aayega” (Gully Boy)

12. Best Playback Singer (Male)- Arijit Singh for“Kalank Nahi Ishq Hai Kajal Piya” (Kalank)

13. Best Playback Singer (Female)- Shilpa Rao forKe Ghungroo Toot Gaye (War)

14. Best Debut Director- Aditya Dhar for ‘Uri: TheSurgical Strike’

15. Best Debut Actor- Abhimanyu Dassani for‘Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota’

16. Best Debut Actress- Ananya Pandey for‘Student Of The Year 2’ and ‘Pati Patni AurWoh’

17. Best Original Story- ‘Article 15’ (Anubhav Sinhaand Gaurav Solanki)

18. Best Screenplay- ‘Gully Boy’ (Reema Kagti and


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Zoya Akhtar)19. Best Dialogue- ‘Gully Boy’ (Vijay Maurya)20. Lifetime Achievement Award- Ramesh Sippy

S. No. Award Name Winner

1Sportsperson of the Year

(Female)PV Sindhu (Badminton)

2 Sportsperson of the Year (Male) Saurabh Chaudhary (Pistol shooter)

3Emerging Sportsperson of the

YearDeepak Punia (Freestyle wrestler)

4 Coach of the Year Pullela Gopichand (Badminton)

5 Team of the Year Manu Bhaker-Saurabh Chaudhary (10m air pistol)

6 Lifetime Achievement award Balbir Singh Sr (Hockey)

7 Comeback of the Year Koneru Humpy (Chess player)

8Differently-abled Athlete of the

YearManasi Joshi (Badminton)

9 Moment of the Year PV Sindhu’s World Championships final win

10 The Courage award Dutee Chand (Athlete)

21. Excellence In Cinema- Govinda22. RD Burman Award For Upcoming Music

Talent- Sashwat Sachdev for URIESPN India Awards 2019

Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards 2020 announced

S. No. Award Award Winner

1 Best Film Super 30

2 Best Actor Hrithik Roshan (Super 30)

3 Most Promising Actor Kiccha Sudeep

4Best Actor in Television Series Best Actor

in Television SeriesDheeraj Dhoopar

5 Best Actress in Television Divyanka Tripathi

6 Most Favourite Television Actor Harshad Chopda

7 Most Favourite Jodi in Television SeriesSriti Jha and Shabbir Ahluwalia

(Kumkum Bhagya)

8 Best Television Series Kumkum Bhagya

9 Best Playback Singer Male Armaan Malik

10 Best Reality Show Bigg Boss 13

Dr. Niti Kumar to be honoured with SERBWomen Excellence Award-2020� Dr Niti Kumar, a Senior Scientist from Division

of Molecular Parasitology and Immunology,CSIR-CDRI, Lucknow will be honoured withthe SERB Women Excellence Award-2020.

� Her research team is testing the protein qualitycontrol machinery in human malaria parasitefor exploration of alternative drug targets formalaria intervention.

Jadav Payeng honoured with SwamiVivekananda Karmayogi Award 2020� Forest Man of India Jadav Payeng will be

awarded Swami Vivekananda KarmayogiAward 2020 in New Delhi.

� He was awarded the 6th Karmayogi Award forhis consistent efforts in creating a real man-made forest through massive reforestation.

The award is composed of a trophy, a recitation anda reward of Rs 1 lakh


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��Formation- 21st Jan,1972�� Neighboring States- Assam only��Capital- Shilong�� Governor- Tathagata Roy�� CM-Conrad Sangma�� State symbolsState animal Clouded leopard (Neofelis

nebulosa)State bird Hill myna (Gracula religiosa)State flower L a d y ’ s S l i p p e r

Orchid (Paphiopedilum insigne)State tree Gamhar (Gmelina arborea)� Meghalaya was born out of Assam� Rivers-Ganol, Daring, Sanda, Bandra, Bugai,

Dareng, Simsang, Nitai and the Bhupai. Khri,Umtrew, Digaru, Umiam or Barapani, Kynshi(Jadukata), Umngi, Mawpa, Umiam Khwan,Umngot, Umkhen, Myntdu and Myntang.

� Important Hills- Garo,Khasi,Jaintia� The highest point in the Garo Hills is Nokrek

Peak with an altitude of 1515 m.� The town of Sohra (Cherrapunji) in the Khasi

Hills south of capital Shillong holds the worldrecord for most rain in a calendar month, whilethe village of Mawsynram, near Sohra(Cherrapunji), holds the record for the most rainin a year.

� But, Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra hasreplaced Cherrapunji in Meghalaya as the wettestplace on Earth, as of August 2019(IMD).

� ”Me’mang Koksi”- Insect-Eating PitcherPlant

� The HOOLOCK GIBBON is found in alldistricts of Meghalaya.

� The great Indian hornbill is the largest bird inMeghalaya.

� Protected regions- Nokrek Biosphere Reserve,

Balphakram National Park, Nongkhyllem WildlifeSanctuary, The Siju Sanctuary, and BaghmaraSanctuary.

� Tribal Groups-Other groups includethe Hajongs, the Biates, the Koches andrelated Rajbongshis, the Boros, Dimasa, Kuki,Lakhar, Tiwa (Lalung), Karbi, Rabha and Nepali.

� About 75% of the population practicesChristianity

� English is the official language of the state.� Traditional shifting agriculture known locally

as Jhum cultivation.� Rat-hole mining is primarily practiced only

in Meghalaya. � Meghalaya follow a matrilineal system where

the youngest daughter inherits all the propertyand she is the caretaker of aged parents.

� The Armed Forces Special Powers Act(AFSPA) that was passed in 1958 was inoperation in Meghalaya.

� The practice of creating Living rootbridges can be found in Meghalaya

� The famous Double-Decker root bridge isfound in the village of Nongriat.

� Waterfalls- Elephant Falls, Shadthum Falls,Weinia falls, Bishop Falls, Nohkalikai Falls,Langshiang Falls and Sweet Falls.

� The hot springs at Jakremnear Mawsynram are believed to have curativeand medicinal properties.

� Nongkhnum Island-second biggest river islandin Asia.

� Meghalaya is also known for its “sacredgroves”(forests that are usually dedicated tolocal folk deities or tree spirits)

� The Mawlynnong village- also referred as‘God’s own garden’ is the cleanest village in Asia

� Lakes-Umiam Lake, Thadlaskein Lake � Caves- Krem Liat Prah is the longest cave, and

Synrang Pamiang is the deepest cave.� Meghalaya-”Scotland of the East”� In July 2018, the International Commission on

Stratigraphy divided the Holocene epoch intothree, with the late Holocene being calledthe Meghalayan age.


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1. ‘SAMPRITI’ is a joint military training exercisebetween India and which country?(a) Japan (b) Sri Lanka(c) China (d) Bangladesh

2. India recently observed ‘Martyrs’ Day’ on 30thJanuary, to pay homage to which Indian leader?(a) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel(b) Netaji Subash Chandra Bose(c) Mahatma Gandhi(d) B.R. Ambedkar

3. Which Indian journalist has been chosen as therecipient of 2019-20 PEN Gauri Lankesh Award?(a) Ravish Kumar (b) Yusuf Jameel(c) N Ram (d) Prannoy Roy

4. As per the recent Economic Outlook Survey releasedby FICCI, what is the estimated median GDP growthforecast for 2019-20?(a) 5.0% (b) 5.1% (c) 5.2% (d) 5.3%

5. Who has been appointed as the new Chairman of theCentral Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs,recently?(a) Pranab Kumar Das (b) Ajay Bhushan Pandey(c) M. Ajit Kumar (d) Atanu Chakraborty

6. Ajmal Sultanpuri, who passed away recently, was arenowned poet in which language?(a) Hindi (b) Urdu(c) Marathi (d) Gujarati

7. The Department of Telecom, India has recently takenover process to issue and manage the allocation ofIMEI. What does IMEI stand for?(a) Indian Mobile Equipment Identity(b) International Mobile Equipment Identity(c) Indian Multimedia Equipment Identifier(d) International Multimedia Equipment Identifier

8. Khadi wrist watches have been recently launched bythe Khadi and Village Industries Commission, inassociation with which company?(a) Fossil (b) Titan (c) Timex (d) Casio

9. Who has been appointed as the next ambassador ofIndia to Nepal?(a) Taranjit Singh Sandhu (b) Vijay Gokhale(c) Vinay Mohan Kwatra(d) Ajit Kumar

10. Which Indian think tank has been ranked amongthe top 30 think tanks globally, as per a recent report?(a) Observer Research Foundation (ORF)(b) NITI Aayog(c) Centre for Civil Society (CCS)(d) The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)

11. What is the GDP growth rate of India, in 2018-19, asper the recent statement from the National StatisticalOffice (NSO), on January 31,2020?(a) 6.8% (b) 6.4% (c) 6.2% (d) 6.1%

12. Which global tech firm has launched a short-videomaking application called ‘Tangi’, which focusseson creativity?(a) Microsoft (b) Facebook(c) Google (d) Adobe

13. According to the recent Economic Survey 2019-20,which state has the cheapest Vegetarian Thali (foodplate)?(a) Kerala (b) Jharkhand(c) Bihar (d) Tripura

14. As per the recent Economic Survey 2019-20, what isthe rank of India globally in number of new firmscreated?(a) 3 (b) 4 (c) 5 (d) 6

15. Which Indian-American has been appointed as thenew Chairman of the tech company- InternationalBusiness Machines Corporation (IBM)?(a) Arvind Krishna (b) Abidali Neemuchwala(c) Sundar Pichai (d) Shantanu Narayen

16. When is the Anti-leprosy day for the year 2020,observed across the world?(a) January 26 (b) January 27(c) January 28 (d) January 29

17. The European Union has how many countries in itsbloc, after the exit of the United Kingdom?(a) 26 (b) 27 (c) 28 (d) 29

18. The India International Leather Fair (IILF), 2020 isbeing held in which city?(a) Bhopal (b) Cuttack(c) Chennai (d) Kochi

19. Abidali Neemuchwala, who resigned recently, wasthe Chief Executive Officer of which popular IndianIT firm?(a) Infosys (b) TCS(c) Wipro (d) HCL

20. The 250th flight operation under the RCS – UDANscheme was recently commenced betweenBhubaneswar and which Indian city?(a) Lucknow (b) Varanasi(c) Patna (d) Prayagraj

21. According to the recent Union Budget 2020-21,what is the disinvestment target of the IndianGovernment for 2020-21?(a) Rs. 1.0 Lakh Crores(b) Rs. 1.1 Lakh Crores(c) Rs. 1.2 Lakh Crores(d) Rs. 1.3 Lakh Crores

22. As per the recent Union budget, what is theestimated fiscal deficit target for 2020-21, expressedin per cent of GDP?(a) 3.3% (b) 3.4% (c) 3.5% (d) 3.6%

23. What is the maximum insurance provided for bankdeposits, as per the latest Union budget 20-21?(a) Rs. 1 Lakh (b) Rs. 2 Lakh(c) Rs. 2.5 Lakh (d) Rs. 5 Lakh


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24. What is the name of the new scheme proposed inthe budget, which is to be implemented by theAviation Ministry, for transporting agriculturalproducts?(a) Udan 5.0 scheme(b) Kisan Udan Scheme(c) Krishi Udan Scheme(d) PM Kisan Udan Scheme

25. Who clinched the men’s singles title in the recentlyheld Australian Open tournament, 2020?(a) Roger Federer (b) Rafael Nadal(c) Novak Djokovic (d) Dominic Thiem

26. Pramod Agrawal was recently appointed as the newChairman and Managing Director of which PublicSector Enterprise?(a) Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL)(b) Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL)(c) Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL)(d) Coal India Limited (CIL)

27. The third private train of the IRCTC is set to runbetween Varanasi and which Indian city?(a) Indore (b) Bhopal(c) Nagpur (d) Jaipur

28. Which Indian diplomat was recently appointed asIndia’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka?(a) Ajay Bisaria(b) Gopal Baglay(c) Vinay Mohan Kwatra(d) Taranjit Singh Sandhu

29. Which country has national emergency to tacklethe attack of locust swarms?(a) India (b) Pakistan(c) Iran (d) Afghanistan

30. In which Indian city, the Indian navy conducted itscoastal security exercise, ‘Matla Abhiyaan’?(a) Cochin (b) Kolkata(c) Mumbai (d) Vishakhapatnam

31. “Sophisticated Analytical & Technical HelpInstitutes (SATHI)” is an initiative of whichMinistry?

(a) Ministry of Electronics and InformationTechnology

(b) Ministry of Science and Technology(c) Ministry of Skill Development and

Entrepreneurship(d) Ministry of Human Resource Development

32. Which state bagged the award for ‘Best performancein Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana’, recentlypresented by the Union Minister of Women & ChildDevelopment?(a) Madhya Pradesh (b) Andhra Pradesh ( c )Karnataka (d) Gujarat

33. Which Indian state has recently declared the diseasecaused by the novel coronavirus as a “statecalamity”?(a) Tamil Nadu (b) Kerala(c) Karnataka (d) Telangana

34. The Hubbali to Dharwad Bus Rapid Transit System(BRTS) project was recently inaugurated in which state?(a) Karnataka (b) Maharashtra(c) Madhya Pradesh (d) Telangana

35. Which banker of India has been named as the CentralBanker of the Year (Asia-Pacific 2020), by the Bankermagazine?(a) Raghuram Rajan (b) Shaktikanta Das(c) Urjit Patel (d) Viral Acharya

36. The famous arts festival called ‘Kala Ghoda ArtsFestival’ is celebrated annually in which Indian city?(a) New Delhi (b) Mumbai(c) Kolkata (d) Bengaluru

37. The third Defence Attaches conference, 2020 wasrecently held in which city?(a) Ahmedabad (b) New Delhi(c) Kanpur (d) Lucknow

38. The Scientists at Indian Veterinary Research Institutehave recently developed a low-cost vaccine forwhich disease?(a) Bird Flu (b) Swine Fever(c) Foot and Mouth Disease (d) Monkey pox

39. “Babenco: Tell Me When I Die”, which won the‘Golden Conch Award for Best Documentary Film’at the Mumbai International Film Festival 2020, is afilm of which country?(a) Canada (b) Brazil(c) France (d) South Korea

40. L&T MBDA Missile Systems (LTMMSL) hasrecently set up a missile integration facility at whichstate?(a) Maharashtra (b) Karnataka(c) Tamil Nadu (d) Kerala

41. Which state government recently launched a schemecalled ‘Janasevaka’ to home-deliver variousgovernment services to citizens?(a) Telangana (b) Karnataka(c) Madhya Pradesh (d) Gujarat

42. The Union Cabinet of India recently approvedamendments to bring which category of banks underthe regulation of Reserve Bank of India?(a) Multi-state cooperative banks(b) Land Development Banks(c) Primary agricultural societies(d) Nidhi companies

43. Which country’s delegation of educationalinstitutions recently visited India and signedagreements in the fields of higher education andresearch?(a) Canada (b) Norway(c) Germany (d) Japan

44. Which Indian actor was recently presented with the‘Kishore Kumar Samman’ Award for 2018, by theMadhya Pradesh government?(a) Waheeda Rehman (b) Asha Parekh(c) Vyjayanthimala (d) Hema Malini

45. Pranab Kumar Gogoi, who recently passed away,was a famous personality in which field?(a) Sports (b) Literature(c) Arts Politics

46. Which Indian city is set to play host to the 15th EastAsia Summit conference, 2020?(a) New Delhi (b) Hyderabad(c) Chennai (d) Ahmedabad


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47. The flagship biennial Defence exhibition of India‘DefExpo’ is organised in which Indian city?(a) New Delhi (b) Lucknow(c) Bengaluru (d) Hyderabad

48. Which Asian country recently introduced a“sustainable development fee” for regional touristsincluding Indian visitors?(a) Thailand (b) Bhutan(c) Cambodia (d) Sri Lanka

49. What is the GDP growth rate of India in the 2020-21fiscal, as estimated by the Moody’s InvestorsService?(a) 6.5% (b) 6.0% (c) 5.5% (d) 5.0%

50. Former world champion Mirabai Chanu, whorecently set a new national record in the NationalWeightlifting Championships, belongs to whichstate?(a) Haryana (b) Uttar Pradesh(c) Manipur (d) Rajasthan

51. What is the rank of India in the recently releasedInternational intellectual property index 2020?(a) 36 (b) 40 (c) 42 (d) 44

52. Union Cabinet of India approved Alliance Air to startflight operations between India and which country,by waiving 20-aircraft rule?(a) Sri Lanka (b) Mauritius(c) Thailand (d) Singapore

53. Britain’s Prince Charles has launched a newChildren’s protection fund for which Asian country?(a) Sri Lanka (b) India(c) Bangladesh (d) Nepal

54. Which country recently launched the ‘InternationalReligious Freedom Alliance’ for protecting religiousfreedom across the world?(a) Russia (b) United States(c) Japan (d) India

55. Which social-media platform recently announcedthat it will label the fake news and remove harmfuldata shared on its platform?(a) Whatsapp (b) Twitter(c) Instagram (d) Youtube

56. India’s 13th major port is set to be established inwhich state, as per the recent Cabinet approval?(a) Gujarat (b) Kerala(c) Maharashtra (d) Tamil Nadu

57. Which Indian city was recently certified formally asa World Heritage site by UNESCO?(a) Varanasi (b) Ahmedabad(c) Jaipur (d) Nagpur

58. The Union Cabinet recently approved to confer thestatus of Institution of National Importance (INI) tohow many Indian Institutes of InformationTechnology (IIITs)?(a) 2 (b) 3 (c) 4 (d) 5

59. Israel’s Elbit Systems recently signed an MoU withwhich Indian company for developing an unmannedaerial vehicle?(a) Hindustan Aeronautics Limited(b) Defence Research and Development Organisation(c) Bharat Electronics Limited(d) Indian Space Research Organisation

60. Which Indian celebrity is at the top spot in the latestbrand valuation study by Duff & Phelps?(a) Akshay Kumar (b) Virat Kohli(c) P V Sindhu (d) Deepika Padukone

61. The first India-Africa Defence Ministers’ Conclavewas recently held in which city?(a) New Delhi (b) Lucknow(c) Cape town (d) Nairobi

62. Which famous writer was recently selected for theMystic Kalinga Literary Award (Indian and GlobalLanguages)?(a) Manoj Das (b) Pratibha Ray(c) Surendra Mohanty (d) Ramakanta Rath

63. What is the projected growth rate of India, duringthe next financial year 2020-21, as per the recentMonetary policy of RBI?(a) 5% (b) 5.5% (c) 6% (d) 6.5%

64. The fifth India-Russia Military Industrial Conferencewas recently organised in which city?(a) Moscow (b) New Delhi(c) Lucknow (d) St. Petersburg

65. Which organisation is set to release Digital PaymentsIndex (DPI), which will assess the digitalisation ofpayments in the country?

(a) NITI Aayog(b) National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)(c) Reserve Bank of India (RBI)(d) National Association of Software and Services

Companies (NASSCOM)66. Which city plays host to the 22nd India International

Seafood Show, after a gap of 12 years?(a) Vishakhapatnam (b) Goa(c) Kochi (d) Chennai

67. Which state/UT has recently renamed its PublicHealth Engineering, Irrigation and Flood ControlDepartment as the ‘Jal Shakti Department’?(a) New Delhi (b) Puducherry(c) Jammu and Kashmir(d) Chandigarh

68. The indigenous air to ground missile ‘Khagantak’,which was unveiled during the ongoing DefExpo2020, is built by which firm/organisation?

(a) Defence Research and Development Organisation(b) Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd(c) JSR Dynamics(d) Bharat Electronics Limited

69. What is the theme for this year’s International Dayof Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation,observed on February 6?(a) End Female Genital Mutilation(b) Unleashing Youth Power(c) A Piece of Me(d) Intensify global efforts

70. Who has been named as the head of the trust forconstruction of the Ram Temple, which was recentlyconstituted by the Centre?(a) K. K. Venugopal (b) K Parasaran(c) G E Vahanvati (d) Maninder Acharya

71. The cybersecurity project codenamed Dejfa, that wasrecently making news, belongs to which country?(a) Pakistan (b) Iran(c) Malaysia (d) China


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72. How many major ports of India are named afterindividuals?(a) Two (b) Three (c) Four (d) Five

73. The term “SPICe”, sometimes seen in news, is relatedto which of the following fields?(a) Science & Technology(b) Environment Protection(c) Business & Economy(d) Defence and Arms Production

74. The term “Batterygate”, recently in news, is relatedto which of the following tech giants?(a) Google (b) Samsung(c) Apple (d) Microsoft

75. Recently, Esperanza Base on the Antarctic Peninsulareached a temperature of 18.3 °C , thus becomingthe hottest on record for continental Antarctica.Esperanza Base is a research station of whichcountry on Antarctica?(a) France (b) Portugal(c) Argentina (d) England

76. Seer Goverdhanpur in Uttar Pradesh is the birth placeof which Bhakti saint?(a) Kabir (b) Dadu(c) Ravidas (d) Ramanand

77. In the wake of the coronavirus fears, recently theBaltic Dry Index sank to all time low plunging intonegative territory. What is tracked by Baltic DryIndex?(a) Crude Oil Prices (b) Freight Rates(c) Tourist Arrivals (d) International Flights

78. On February 8, 2020, Thaipoosam festival wascelebrated by the Tamil community around the world.This festival marks birth day of which deity?(a) Thirumal (b) Murugan(c) Nataraja (d) Pavadairayan

79. Which Indian crop faces danger due to a funguscalled Alternaria brassicae as per recent news?(a) Rice (b) Wheat(c) Mustard (d) Sugarcane

80. Which Hollywood actor is playing Dr. Kalam in hisupcoming biopic?(a) Nuveen Andrews (b) Michael C. Hall(c) Muhammad Ali (d) Terry O’Quinn

81. Which state has recently launched an initiative toestablish hotels to provide meals at subsidised pricecalled ‘Kudumbashree’ hotels?(a) Andhra Pradesh (b) Telangana(c) Kerala (d) Tamil Nadu

82. Which Metro rail service in India has become the secondlargest operational metro rail network in the country?(a) Delhi Metro (b) Kochi Metro(c) Hyderabad Metro (d) Chennai Metro

83. What is the profession of Anoop Mishra, who hasbeen in news recently?(a) Politician (b) Army Major(c) Sportsperson (d) Musician

84. Which state recently launched “MukhyamantriParivar Samridhi Yojana”, which provides an annualassistance of Rs 6000 to the needy families?(a) Odisha (b) Haryana(c) Madhya Pradesh (d) Punjab

85. Arun-III, is the hydropower project of which country,to be built with assistance from India?(a) Sri Lanka (b) Bangladesh(c) Nepal (d) Bhutan

86. The Pollution Control Board of which state recentlyreceived the national award for e-Governance 2019-20?(a) Odisha (b) Kerala(c) Telangana (d) Andhra Pradesh

87. Which country has reportedly auctioned licensesto hunt elephants, to tackle human-animal conflict?(a) Zimbabwe (b) Namibia(c) Botswana (d) Mozambique

88. The book- ‘A Child of Destiny’, which was recentlyreleased by the Indian Vice President, is anautobiography of which Indian educationist?(a) K. Ramakrishna Rao (b) Girishwar Misra(c) Amit Abraham (d) Devendra Singh

89. Which city’s police recently launched an initiativecalled ‘Operation Nakai’ to verify the identity of auto-drivers?(a) Mumbai (b) Ghaziabad(c) Hyderabad (d) Lucknow

90. Municipal Performance Index (MPI), is an indexrecently launched by which organisation/ Ministry?(a) NITI Aayog(b) Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs(c) Ministry of Home Affairs(d) National Development Council

91. Which city is host to the 13th UN Convention onthe Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) (COP13), 2020?(a) Mumbai (b) Madrid(c) Gandhinagar(d) Tokyo

92. Recently, the Supreme Court of India upheld theScheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes(Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act. Whenwas the original act of 1989 amended?(a) 2016 (b) 2017 (c) 2018 (d) 2019

93. American Factory, which won the Oscar for the bestfeature-length documentary, was produced by whichfamous American personality?(a) Donald Trump (b) Barrack Obama(c) Hillary Clinton (d) Tiger Woods

94. Which bird is named the mascot of UN Convention ofConservation of Migratory Species (CMS) (COP 13)?(a) Great Indian Bustard(b) White-bellied heron(c) Forest owlet(d) Lesser Florican

95. ‘Ajeya Warrior‘ is the joint military exerciseconducted between India and which country?(a) Japan (b) United Kingdom(c) Israel (d) France

96. Which Union Ministry releases the PublicEnterprises Survey, on the performances of CentralPublic Sector Enterprises?

(a) Ministry of Finance(b) Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(c) Ministry of Corporate Affairs(d) Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises


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97. Which state government recently launched the‘Reading Mission’ initiative for students?(a) Odisha (b) Kerala(c) Haryana (d) West Bengal

98. When is the World Pulses Day observed, acrossthe world?(a) February 8 (b) February 9(c) February 10 (d) February 11

99. Which Union Ministry has recently launched theweb portal for ‘Star rating of Coal mines’?(a) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change(b) Ministry of Coal(c) Ministry of Mines(d) Ministry of Earth Sciences

100. The storm ‘Ciara’ recently hit several countries ofwhich continent?(a) Asia (b) Europe(c) Australia (d) North America

101. The 2nd BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise,2020 has been conducted in which city?(a) Thimphu (b) Bhubaneswar(c) Colombo (d) Kathmandu

102. Hakim Ajmal Khan, was an eminent physician inwhich field of Medicine?(a) Homoeopathy (b) Sowa Rigpa(c) Ayurveda (d) Unani

103. As per the notification of the Ministry of health andfamily welfare, which component will be treated as‘drugs’ from April 1, 2020?(a) Medical devices (b) AYUSH drugs(c) Alcohol (d) Raw materials for drugs

104. What is the official name of the virus outbreak fromChina, as per the World Health Organisation?(a) COVID-19 (b) CORO-19(c) n-COR -19 (d) NOVEL-19

105. What does ‘GSP’ stand for, in the context of India-US trade?(a) Globalised System of Preferences(b) Generalized System of Preferences(c) Globalised System of Partners(d) Generalized System of Partners

106. Who has been appointed as the chairman of thenewly formed space PSU, New Space India Ltd(NSIL)?(a) Satheesh Reddy (b) K Sivan(c) G Narayanan (d) Kasturi Rangan

107. ‘PehleSafety’ is an Internet safety campaign of whichmajor technological company?(a) Facebook (b) Microsoft(c) Google (d) Apple

108. Gulmarg, where the National winter games event isset to be held, is located in which state/UT?(a) Uttarakhand (b) Arunachal Pradesh(c) Sikkim (d) Jammu & Kashmir

109. Which state government recently launched toll-freehelpline numbers for students to resolve theirqueries by experts?(a) Odisha (b) Uttar Pradesh(c) West Bengal (d) Haryana

110. ‘We Think Digital’ is a digital literacy program ofwhich global technological company?(a) Google (b) Facebook(c) Apple (d) Amazon

111. Where is the Headquarters of the International Fundfor Agricultural Development (IFAD) located?(a) New York (b) Geneva(c) Rome (d) Nairobi

112. The School Health and Wellness Ambassadorinitiative has been launched under which scheme?(a) Swachh Bharat Mission(b) Ayushman Bharat(c) Poshan Abhiyaan(d) Fit India Movement

113. What is the theme of the ‘World Radio Day, 2020’,observed on February 13?(a) Radio and Diversity(b) Radio across World(c) Radio and Multilingualism(d) Connecting through Air

114. Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana is the flagshipscheme of which Union Ministry?

(a) Ministry of Environment, Forest and ClimateChange

(b) Ministry of Tribal Affairs(c) Ministry of Earth Sciences(d) Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and

Fisheries115. What is the capital package recently approved for

infusion in three state-owned general insurancecompanies?(a) Rs. 1000 Cr (b) Rs. 2500 Cr(c) Rs. 3000 Cr (d) Rs. 5000 Cr

116. The Direct Tax ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ scheme is to coverpending litigation of which tribunal, as per the recentapproval by the Union Cabinet?

(a) Debt Recovery Tribunal(b) National Company Law Tribunal(c) Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate

Tribunal(d) Armed Forces Tribunal

117. Which product is recently banned in all airports andaircrafts, by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security(BCAS)?(a) Alcohol (b) e-Cigarettes(c) Drugs (d) Face masks

118. Who was recently appointed as the new Presidentof the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI)?(a) Atul Kumar Gupta(b) Nihar Niranjan Jambusaria(c) Prafulla Chhajed(d) N D Gupta

119. Wendell Rodricks, who passed away recently, wasassociated with which field?(a) Cinema (b) Fashion Designing(c) Politics (d) Business

120. Amit Panghal, who was seen in news recently, is afamous personality associated with which sports?(a) Archery (b) Boxing(c) Wrestling (d) Tennis


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121. ‘Apiary on Wheels’ is an initiative of which statutorybody of India?(a) National Commission for Women(b) National Commission for Minorities(c) National Green Tribunal(d) Khadi and Village Industries Commission

122. ‘Pyaar ka Paudha’ (a plant of love), is a campaign ofwhich state, for promoting planting of trees?(a) Madhya Pradesh (b) Arunachal Pradesh(c) Sikkim (d) Bihar

123. Rajiv Bansal has been appointed as chairman andmanaging director of which Indian airline?(a) IndiGo (b) Air India(c) Spice Jet (d) Vistara

124. INS Jamuna of Indian Navy is set to conducthydrographic surveys in which neighbouringcountry of India?(a) Sri Lanka (b) Bangladesh(c) Myanmar (d) Nepal

125. Who was recently appointed as the new FinanceSecretary of India?(a) Rajiv Kumar(b) Ajay Narayan Jha(c) Debasish Panda(d) Krishnamurthy Subramaniam

126. Which Indian player was recently named ‘Player ofthe Year for 2019’, by the International HockeyFederation (FIH)?(a) Manpreet Singh (b) Mandeep Singh(c) Sreejesh (d) Harmanpreet Singh

127. Rishi Sunak recently became the first Indian-originFinance Minister of which country?(a) United States (b) United Kingdom(c) New Zealand (d) Japan

128. Rajinder K Pachauri, who recently passed away, wasthe founder of which Indian research institute?(a) The Energy Resources Institute (TERI)(b) Centre for Science and Environment(c) Agharkar Research Institute(d) National Institute of Plant Genome Research

129. As of 2020, which Indian Telecom operator is thesecond most valuable mobile operator in Asia?(a) Jio (b) Bharti Airtel(c) Vodafone Idea (d) BSNL

130. Lethpora, where a memorial to the CRPF personnelkilled in Pulwama attack was inaugurated, is situatedin which state/UT?(a) New Delhi (b) Jammu & Kashmir(c) Punjab (d) Uttarakhand

131. The National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC)is to be set up in which Indian state?(a) Maharashtra (b) Gujarat(c) Tamil Nadu (d) Kerala

132. Which is the first and only private firm to build anddeliver research ships in India?(a) Titagarh Wagons Ltd(b) Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers(c) Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited(d) Goa Shipyard

133. What is the theme of the 56th Munich SecurityConference (MSC) 2020?(a) Westlessness(b) Sustainable Development Goals(c) We Can Work Together(d) Security for All

134. What is the name of the third corporate passengertrain of India?(a) Tejas Express(b) Kashi Mahakal Express(c) Kashi Indore Express(d) Kashi Vishwanath Express

135. ‘Kambala’, which was in news recently, is atraditional sport of which state?(a) Karnataka (b) Andhra Pradesh(c) Kerala (d) Tamil Nadu

136. Yash Bharti Award is the highest award of whichIndian state/UT?(a) Madhya Pradesh (b) Odisha(c) Uttar Pradesh (d) Punjab

137. Which state commenced operations of India’s firstInter-City Electric Bus service?(a) Karnataka (b) Maharashtra(c) Odisha (d) Telangana

138. As per the recent ‘Military Balance’ report, thedefence modernisation of which country led to highermilitary spending by the US?(a) Russia (b) China(c) Japan (d) India

139. Udyani Mane, who was in news recently, is an Indianplayer of which sports?(a) Tennis (b) Wrestling(c) Golf (d) Badminton

140. Which country has recently developed a recovery-plasma to treat COVID-19 infected patients?(a) India (b) China(c) Thailand (d) Japan

141. ‘Yodhavu’ (Warrior), a mobile application for curbingdrug menace, is an initiative of which state?(a) Karnataka (b) Kerala(c) Andhra Pradesh (d) Telangana

142. The late External Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajwas born in which city, where she was elected asMLA twice?(a) Ambala Cantt, Haryana(b) Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh(c) Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat(d) Ludhiana, Punjab

143. What is the current accounting year of the ReserveBank of India (RBI)?(a) April-March (b) July-June(c) January-December (d) May-April

144. What is the objective of the ‘CREDAI Awaas’ mobileapplication, recently launched by CREDAI?(a) Redressal of Consumer Grievance(b) Ease of purchase of Residential properties(c) Geo-tagging of Residential properties(d) Approval for Residential properties


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145. Joshna Chinappa and Saurav Ghosal are associatedwith which sports?(a) Badminton (b) Squash(c) Tennis (d) Table-Tennis

146. Which city was host to the India-BangladeshSAMPRITI-IX joint military exercise?(a) Umroi (b) Kolkata(c) Vishakhapatnam (d) Kochi

147. As of 2020, which is the only Bollywood movie towin 13 Filmfare Awards?(a) Uri: The Surgical Strike (b) Article 15(c) Saand Ki Aankh (d) Gully Boy

148. What is the theme of Telangana’s biotechnologyand life sciences forum ‘BioAsia 2020’?(a) Life Science for All(b) Today For Tomorrow(c) Instrumental Life Sciences(d) Better Bio-tech

149. ‘Appreciate and Commend’ is a scheme of whichstate, which aims to honour outstanding Policeofficers?(a) Odisha (b) Rajasthan(c) Punjab (d) Andhra Pradesh

150. Which city plays host to ‘GulFood 2020’, the world’slargest annual food and beverage trade exhibition?(a) Riyadh (b) Abu Dhabi(c) Dubai (d) Doha

151. ERO NET, which was in news recently, is a portal ofwhich autonomous organisation of India?(a) All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)(b) Election Commission of India (ECI)(c) Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)(d) Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA)

152. Who was recently named as the nominee for theproposed Delimitation Commission for Jammu andKashmir?(a) Sunil Arora (b) Sushil Chandra(c) Om Prakash Rawat (d) A K Jyoti

153. The first Bird-ringing station of the country withsupport of a state government, is to be built in whichstate/ UT?(a) Arunachal Pradesh (b) Bihar(c) Jharkhand (d) Odisha

154. Which Taxi-hailing start-up recently integrated withthe Himmat application of Delhi Police?(a) Ola (b) Uber (c) Didi (d) Lyft

155. Which global financial institution is set to grant $450million loan to India for Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABHY)?(a) Asian Development Bank(b) World Bank(c) Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(d) New Development Bank

156. Who is the head of the High level expert group onfarm exports, recently set up by the 15th FinanceCommission?(a) N K Singh (b) U K Sinha(c) Tapan Ray (d) Sanjiv Puri

157. Which organisation has recently initiated theprocess of capturing district-wise data on origin ofexport goods?(a) Export and Import Bank of India(b) Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs(c) NITI Aayog(d) Export Promotion Council

158. As per the recent report of World Population Review,what is the rank of India in the ‘Largest Economy ofthe World’ list?(a) Seventh (b) Sixth(c) Fifth (d) Fourth

159. Which city plays host to the ‘3rd Global MinisterialConference on Road Safety’?(a) Stockholm (b) Oslo(c) Helsinki (d) Warsaw

160. What is the name of the storm which hit the UnitedKingdom in February 2020?(a) Habine (b) Dennis(c) Kyar (d) Ciara

161. What is the name of the fourth warship delivered byGarden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers-GRSE tothe Indian Navy?(a) INS Kiltan (b) INS Kamorta(c) INS Kadmatt (d) INS Kavaratti

162. The ‘Task Force on Blue Economy for SustainableDevelopment’ is a collaboration between India andwhich country?(a) Switzerland (b) Norway(c) Sweden (d) France

163. ‘Berlinale’ is the 70th edition of which famousfestival, which is set to be inaugurated in Germany?(a) Berlin Food Festival(b) Berlin Film Festival(c) Berlin Defence Show(d) Berlin Arts Fair

164. Which state government has recently launched ascheme named ‘Nadu-Nedu’, for modernisinghospitals?(a) Telangana (b) Andhra Pradesh(c) Karnataka (d) Tamil Nadu

165. Which country is set to host the men’s edition ofthe junior hockey World Cup 2021?(a) India (b) Argentina(c) France (d) Brazil

166. Chief Minister Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme(CMAPS) and the Yuva Udyamita Vikas Abhiyan(YUVA) are the schemes of which state government?(a) Odisha (b) Madhya Pradesh(c) Uttar Pradesh (d) Punjab

167. Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA),was renamed after which former Union Minister?(a) Arun Jaitley (b) Sushma Swaraj(c) Manohar Parikkar (d) George Fernandes

168. As per the ‘State of India’s Birds Report 2020’, whichbird species showed a big increase in population?(a) Indian peafowl (b) Great Indian Bustard(c) Common Ostrich (d) Turkey

169. What is the name of the exhibition, organised by the


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Ministry of Textiles, for promoting GeographicalIndication (GI) crafts?(a) Shilp Mela (b) Kala Mela(c) Shilp Kumbh (d) Kala Kumbh

170. Kishori Ballal, who recently passed away, was aveteran actor of which language?(a) Telugu (b) Kannada(c) Odia (d) Punjabi

171. What is the corpus of the dedicated fund raisedfrom the fines charged from the defaulting pesticidescompanies and contributions from the Central andstate governments under the PesticidesManagement Bill, 2020?(a) Rs. 20,000 Crore (b) Rs. 40,000 Crore(c) Rs. 50,000 Crore (d) Rs. 100,000 Crore

172. Which all three items are not under GST as ofFebruary 2020?(a) Fuel, Construction, Alcohol(b) Fuel, Movie Tickets, Alcohol(c) Fuel, Tobacco, Alcohol(d) Fuel, Dairy Products, Tobacco

173. Under the GST regime, E-Way bill is mandatory ofthe value of inter-state movement of goods is morethan __?(a) Rs. 50,000 (b) Rs. 100,000(c) Rs. 200,000 (d) Rs. 250,000

174. What is the highest income tax rate slab in Indiaafter Budget 2020-21?(a) 25% (b) 30% (c) 35% (d) 40%

175. A paramilitary Sufi group called Ahlu Sunna Waljama,which is recently in news, is fighting with radicalislamist group in Civil War of which country?(a) Sudan (b) Somalia(c) Syria (d) South Sudan

176. The term “Operation Car Wash” that was makingnews recently, is related to which country?(a) Argentina (b) Brazil(c) South Africa (d) Russia

177. Recently, Ashraf Ghani was re-elected in theAfghanistan Presidential elections. What is the nameof political party of Ashraf Ghani?(a) National Coalition of Afghanistan(b) National Congress Party of Afghanistan(c) Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin(d) None

178. The term “Key Starting Material (KSM)”, recentlyin news, is related to which industry?(a) Textile Industry (b) Pharmaceutical Industry(c) Cement Industry (d) Paper Industry

179. The Far East Development Fund, which recentlysubmitted an expression of interest (EoI) for thebeleaguered Jet Airways, is based in which country?(a) France (b) England(c) Russia (d) Germany

180. Which Supranational union has recently proposeda “framework for trustworthy artificial intelligence”?

(a) Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)(b) European Union(c) Arab League(d) Gulf Cooperation Council

181. The “Pandemic Bonds” are issued by whichmultilateral development bank?(a) World Bank(b) Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(c) European Investment Bank(d) Asian Development Bank

182. The Shanidar Cave, a hotspot for Neanderthalremains, is located in which country?(a) Syria (b) Iraq(c) Tajikistan (d) Egypt

183. Which country is supplier of majority of minedCobalt, which is used in cathodes for lithium-ionbatteries used in cell phones and Electric vehicles?(a) China(b) Kazhakiistan(c) Sudan(d) Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

184. What is the current (2020) number of telecomcompanies in India?(a) 10 (b) 8 (c) 6 (d) 4

185. Which country is world’s biggest palm oil importer?(a) India (b) China(c) Russia (d) Saudi Arabia

186. Currently, which Economic Census is underway inIndia?(a) 5th (b) 6th (c) 7th (d) 8th

187. As per the National Population Register (NPR), aperson is “usual resident” who has resided in a localarea for past how many months / years?(a) 6 months (b) 1 year(c) 18 months (d) 2 years

188. Who heads the 12-member “Technology Group” toadvise ministries, departments and public sectorundertakings (PSUs) on technologyimplementation?(a) Dr. R Chidamabaram(b) Rishikesh Narayanan(c) Dr K Vijay Raghavan(d) Bhaskar Saha

189. Which country has highest rate of hepatitis C in theworld and is expected to eradicate the disease in2020?(a) Saudi Arabia (b) China(c) India (d) Egypt

190. The cabinet of which state in India has cleared a billto enact the “Time-Bound Clearance Act” which shallensure time-bound clearance of industrial licensesfor investment projects?(a) Rajasthan (b) Haryana(c) Madhya Pradesh (d) Gujarat

191. What is the rank of India in the ‘Global Flourishingindex’ released by WHO Commission and UNICEF?(a) 91 (b) 111 (c) 121 (d) 131

192. Project Tej, which was in news recently, was launchedby which Indian state?(a) Andhra Pradesh (b) Odisha(c) Telangana (d) Uttar Pradesh


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193. As per the annual ‘Nature Ranking Index-2020",which Indian institution is ranked in the first placein the country?

(a) Indian Institute of Science (IISc)(b) Council of Scientific and Industrial Research

(CSIR)(c) Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR-

Mumbai)(d) Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI)

194. In which year, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh weregranted Indian statehood?(a) 1972 (b) 1977 (c) 1982 (d) 1987

195. What does CCPA stand for, in the context ofConsumer Protection Act 2019?(a) Common Consumer Protection Agency(b) Central Consumer Protection Authority(c) Company- Consumer Protection Authority(d) Centralised Consumer Protection Affairs

196. Who was named as the Ernst and Young (EY)Entrepreneur of the Year 2019?(a) Adi Godrej (b) Uday Kotak(c) Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (d) Sridhar Vembu

197. Which city was host to the ‘Symposium on EmergingOpportunities for Indian Textiles and Crafts’?(a) Varanasi (b) Lucknow(c) New Delhi (d) Hyderabad

198. Which Indian sportsperson won the ESPN’s FemaleSportsperson of the Year award for the thirdconsecutive year?(a) Mary Kom (b) P V Sindhu(c) Saina Nehwal (d) Sania Mirza

199. Which portal of Indian Railways has won the Silverin National e-Governance Award for excellence inproviding citizen-centric delivery?(a) Where is my Train (b) Rail Suvidha(c) Rail Madad (d) Rail Saarthi

200. Which city was host to NITI Aayog’s ‘SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDG) Conclave 2020’?(a) New Delhi (b) Guwahati(c) Kolkata (d) Shillong

201. Vellbergia bartholomaei , which was seen in newsrecently, belongs to which species?(a) Frog (b) Lizard(c) Spider (d) Snake

202. Leo Varadkar, who recently tendered his resignation,was the Prime Minister of which country?(a) France (b) Ireland(c) The Netherlands (d) Greece

203. Which state Government has ordered destructionof breeding centres of Thai Mangur fish?(a) Odisha (b) West Bengal(c) Assam (d) Maharashtra

204. Atal Kisan – Majdoor canteens’ scheme is associatedwith which state?(a) Uttar Pradesh (b) Haryana(c) Uttarakhand (d) Madhya Pradesh

205. Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission isimplemented by which Union Ministry?

(a) Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare(b) Ministry of Rural Development(c) Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs(d) Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and

Pensions206. ‘Viewpoints’, which was recently in news, is an

application of which major technological company?(a) Google (b) Amazon(c) Facebook (d) Apple

207. Which state/UT was host to the ‘National OrganicFood Festival’, held recently?(a) Lakshadweep (b) Assam(c) Maharashtra (d) New Delhi

208. India is set to provide grant to which country forup-gradation of plantation schools, for Indian-originestate workers?(a) Bangladesh (b) Sri Lanka(c) Nepal (d) Laos

209. ‘Thal Sena Bhawan’, which was seen in newsrecently, is to be built in which state/ UT?(a) Ladakh (b) Jammu and Kashmir(c) Chandigarh (d) New Delhi

210. India’s first floating jetty has been inaugurated inwhich state/UT?(a) Andhra Pradesh (b) Goa(c) Mumbai (d) Gujarat

211. As of February, 2020, which country is India’s toptrade partner?(a) China (b) United States(c) Russia (d) France

212. What was overall rank of India in the Asian WrestlingChampionships, 2020 held in New Delhi?(a) Second (b) Third(c) Fourth (d) Fifth

213. Which city has recently hosted International JudicialConference?(a) New Delhi (b) Bhopal(c) Mumbai (d) Chandigarh

214. What is the upper land-holding limit to becomeeligible for financial support under PM-KISANscheme?(a) 1 Hectare (b) 2 Hectare(c) 3 Hectare (d) No limit

215. The recently set up Sanjiv Puri Expert Group islooking into which domain?(a) Unorganized Sector(b) Farm Exports(c) Manufacturing Industries Service Sector

216. The recently discovered C. gretathunbergae is aspecies of__?(a) Fish (b) Snake(c) Snail (d) Frog

217. Which state has recently ordered the destruction of‘Thai Magur’ fish breeding centers?(a) Gujarat (b) Goa(c) Tamil Nadu (d) Maharashtra


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218. NRI Sabha, which was recently making news, is anNGO controlled by which state government?(a) Rajasthan (b) Haryana(c) Punjab (d) Uttar Pradesh

219. The term “JavaScript sniffers”, that was makingnews recently, is associated with__?(a) Authorization Software (b) Malware(c) Encryption Software (d) Firewall

220. What is Ethnologue, that was recently making news?(a) Database of Languages(b) Database of Heritage Buildings(c) Database of local customs(d) Database of Tribes

221. The Consumer Protection Act 2019, which is to comeinto force from April, 2020, makes provisions relatedto “class action suits”. This suit can be invoked to__?

(a) Sue many producers of same product(b) Recall an entire batch of faulty products(c) Sue entire management team of the producers of

faulty products(d) Claim damages for an entire group of consumers

of faulty product222. After initially dropping shooting and archery from

Commonwealth Games, 2022, it has been recentlydecided that these two sports will be included andwill be organized and funded in India as a part ofBirmingham Commonwealth Games, 2022. What isthe venue of these two sports in India?(a) New Delhi (b) Chandigarh(c) Bengaluru (d) Hyderabad

223. In which city, India’s Central Vista project, that wasrecently in news, is coming up?(a) New Delhi (b) Mumbai(c) Hyderabad (d) Bengaluru

224. Which of the following African countries has beenrecently listed in the FATF’s grey list?(a) Gabon (b) Algeria(c) Kenya (d) Mauritius

225. Who heads the IRDAI committee looking into issueof indemnity based health insurance products forlife insurance companies?(a) D Rajkumar (b) Pravin Kumar Purwar(c) Pradosh Kumar Rath (d) MR Kumar

226. For the first time, which of the followingsupranational banks has listed Masala Bonds in theGlobal Securities Market?(a) World Bank(b) Asian Development Bank(c) Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(d) African Development Bank

227. What is the current number of members in theBIMSTEC grouping?(a) 5 (b) 6 (c) 7 (d) 8

228. In which year, the MoU to establish the ‘BIMSTECgrid interconnection’ was signed between themembers of BIMSTEC countries?(a) 2016 (b) 2017 (c) 2018 (d) 2019

229. The proposed Santusht app is for the beneficiariesof which scheme?(a) National Saving Certificates Scheme(b) Employees State Insurance (ESI) scheme(c) PMKISAN(d) None of them

230. Antihydrogen, which was recently in news, iscomposed of __?(a) Positron and proton(b) Nuetron and proton(c) Positron and Antiproton(d)Neutrino and Neutron

231. As of 2020, the largest cricket stadium of the worldis located in which country?(a) Australia (b) India(c) South Africa (d) New Zealand

232. Which country organised a training course on‘Vessel Search Technique’ for Indian Coast Guardand Customs personnel at Chennai?(a) Japan (b) Australia(c) Oman (d) Qatar

233. Which city hosted the four-day ‘InternationalConference on Banana’ organised by ICAR?(a) Gandhi Nagar (b) Tiruchirappalli(c) Cochin (d) Thiruvananthapuram

234. Which Indian PSU is set to acquire the government’sentire stake in THDC India and North Eastern ElectricPower Corporation Ltd (NEEPCO)?(a) NTPC Limited(b) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation(c) Power Grid Corporation of India Limited(d) NHPC Limited

235. ‘5G Hackathon’ was recently launched by whichUnion Ministry/ organisation?(a) NITI Aayog(b) Ministry of Science and Technology(c) Ministry of Communication(d) Ministry of Human Resource and Development

236. Which is the only Indian company to feature in theFortune’s ‘Top-20 Big Companies to Work For’ listin 2020?(a) Infosys (b) TCS(c) Zoho (d) Zomato

237. The two species of birds- ‘Red Throated Thrushand Plumbeous Water Redstart’ were recently foundin which state/UT?(a) Arunachal Pradesh (b) Uttarakhand(c) Ladakh (d) Lakshadweep

238. Which city was the venue of “Microsoft FutureDecoded – CEO Summit”?(a) New Delhi (b) Mumbai(c) Chennai (d) Gurugram

239. Abhay Kumar Singh has been appointed as theChairman & Managing Director of which Indian PSU?(a) NTPC Limited(b) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation(c) NHPC Limited(d) Power Grid Corporation of India Limited

240. The First anniversary of the launch of which welfarescheme was observed on February 24?

(a) Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan-Dhan Yojana (PM-KMY)

(b) Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)

(c) Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan (PM-SYM)

(d) Pradhan Mantri Laghu Vyapari Maan-dhan Yojana


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MCQs (ANSWER KEY)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

d c b a c b b b c a d c b a a a b c c b

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

c c d c c d a b b b b a b a b b b b b c

41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

b a b a d c b b c c b a b b b c c d a b

61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80

b a c c c c c c b b b c c c c c b b c c

81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

c c b b c d c a b b c c b a b d c c b b

101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120

b d a a b c c d b b c b a b b a b a b b

121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140

d d b a c a b a b b b a a b a c b b c b

141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160

b a b b b a d b c c b b b b b d b c a b

161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180

d b b b a c c a d b c a a b b b d b c b

181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200

a b d d a c a c d c d c b d b c c b c b

201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220

b b d b b c d b d b b b a d b c d c b a

221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240

b b a d d c c c b c b b b a c b c b c b

241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250

c a d a b c b c b b

241. Which aircraft carrier launched freighter services toassist shrimp farmers?(a) Alliance Air (b) IndiGo(c) SpiceJet (d) Vistara

242. Bob Iger, who recently tendered his resignation, wasthe Chief Executive Officer of which global firm for15 years?(a) Walt Disney Company (b) Netflix(c) Warner Bros (d) Pixar

243. As of 2020, what is the Foreign Direct investment(FDI) limit, allowed in insurance intermediaries?(a) 0% (b) 26% (c) 49% (d) 100%

244. What is the name of the new satellite, scheduled tobe launched by the ISRO on March 5, 2020?(a) GISAT-1 (b) GISAT-3(c) GISAT-7 (d) GISAT-11

245. Hosni Mubarak, who recently passed away, was theformer President of which country?(a) Greece (b) Egypt(c) France (d) Libya

246. As per the new agreement signed by the ContainerCorporation of India (Concor) and RZD LogisticsJSC (Russian Railways), cargos are to be transportedthrough which country?(a) Pakistan (b) Afghanistan(c) Iran (d) Uzbekistan

247. Suella Braverman, an Indian-origin minister recentlysworn in as the Attorney General of which country?(a) United States (b) United Kingdom(c) New Zealand (d) Finland

248. Which country is the first to develop an antibodytest to identify the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)?(a) China (b) United States(c) Singapore (d) South Korea

249. As per the recent ‘Hurun Global Rich List 2020’,which country has the highest number ofbillionaires?(a) United States (b) China(c) Russia (d) India

250. ‘Higher Education Leadership DevelopmentProgramme for Administrator’ is a programmelaunched of Union Ministry?

(a) Ministry of Corporate Affairs(b) Ministry of Human Resource Development(c)Ministry of Skill Development and

Entrepreneurship(d) Ministry of MSME


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Power of ConcentrationWhile Swami Vivekananda was in America, whilepassing through a bridge, he saw that some boysfrom the bridge were trying to shoot egg shells thatwere floating in the water below but they missedevery time they shoot.Swami ji were watching all that from a distance.After watching this for sometime, he went close tothem and took asked boys for gun. Boys hesitatedbut then gave gun to Swami ji

Swami ji fired twelve times and every time he fired,he hit egg shells. Boys were surprised to see that amonk was able to shoot gun with such precision.Inquisitive boys were surprised to see this andasked, “How were you able to do this?”

Swami ji replied, “Whatever you are doing, put yourwhole mind to it. If you are shooting then your mindshould be only on the target only then you will beable to do this. Once you learn to focus your mindon target then you will never miss it.”

Moral:We should Learn to Focus our Mind and then we

will be able to Achieve whatever we wish andAim for.

from the content md’s desk...from the md’s desk... content anshuman nayak b.e. (nist, berhampur)...

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