1) Which payment bank has partnered with the Forum of Industry Academic Knowledge Sharing (FIAKS) platform to provide digital literacy and spread awareness among postmen to avoid digital fraud?
(a) India Post Payments Bank
(b) Fino Payments Bank
(c) NSDL Payments Bank
(d) Paytm Payments Bank
(e) Airtel Payments Bank
2) With which country is India exploring the possibility of accepting RuPay and Mir cards in both countries for hassle-free payments amid sanctions imposed?
(a) Russia
(b) Denmark
(c) Poland
(d) Spain
(e) Italy
3) Which of the following bank has partnered with Pine Labsforthe acceptance of Digital Rupee (e Rupee) on its PoS (Point of Sale) terminals?
(a) State Bank of India
(b) HDFC Bank
(c) Bank of Baroda
(d) Union Bank of India
(e) ICICI Bank
4) Which of the following terminal became the first operational GCT with complete investment from a private player and zero revenue-sharing on account of the Indian Railways?
(a) Paradip East Quay Coal Terminal
(b) Maithon Power Limited
(c) Hindustan UrvarkRasayan Limited
(d) Rewari Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal
(e) None of the above
5) Asia's most extensive underwater hydro-carbon pipeline, below the river Brahmaputra connecting ___________ and Majuli in Assam.
(a) Dibrugarh
(b) Jorhat
(c) Titabor
(d) Silchar
(e) Tezpur
6) Which organization is the marketer of Amul and planned to set up a milk processing plant in Vargal near Hyderabad, Telangana?
(a) Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd
(b) National Dairy Development Board
(c) Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd.
(d) Indian Dairy Association
(e) None of the above
7) How tall is the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj that was recently unveiled by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavisin Mauritius?
(a) 6 feet
(b) 10 feet
(c) 8 feet
(d) 12 feet
(e) 14 feet
8) What is the name of the electric bus service launched between Mumbai and Pune?
(a) Shivsangram
(b) Shivshahi
(c) Shivkrupa
(d) Shivneri
(e) Sahyadri
9) Which state government has recently launched Didi Libraries to promote reading habits among children in villages?
(a) Meghalaya
(b) Assam
(c) Bihar
(d) Karnataka
(e) Gujarat
10) Where was India’s first undersea twin tunnels to open in November 2023?
(a) Bengaluru, Karnataka
(b) Mumbai, Maharashtra
(c) Jamui, Bihar
(d) Pune, Maharashtra
(e) Surat, Gujarat
11) Log9 Materials has inaugurated India’s first commercial lithium-Ion (Li-ion) cell manufacturing facility on its campus in _____________.
(a) Bengaluru, Karnataka
(b) Mumbai, Maharashtra
(c) Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
(d) Pune, Maharashtra
(e) Surat, Gujarat
12) Name the veteran politician, who stepped down as the Chief of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)?
(a) Sonia Gandhi
(b) Praful Patel
(c) Sharad Pawar
(d) Rahul Gandhi
(e) Bal Thackeray
13) BharatPe has acquired a ________ majority stake in Trillion Loans, a Mumbai, Maharashtra-based NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Company).
(a) 43%
(b) 51%
(c) 35%
(d) 29%
(e) 58%
14) What is the name of the exercise recently conducted by the Indian Army in the high-altitude Artillery Ranges of the eastern theatre?
(a) Buland Bharat
(b) Vanda Bharat
(c) Samekh Bharat
(d) Bright Bharat
(e) Brave Bharat
15) Recently, The World’s biggest rocket exploded during its first test flight to space from Boca Chica in Texas. Which organization has owned this Starship?
(a) JAXA
(b) SpaceX
(c) ISRO
(d) NASA
(e) ESA
16) Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and ____________ have achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first Indian men's doubles pair to win a gold medal at the Badminton Asia Championships.
(a) Srikanth Kidambi
(b) Prannoy HS
(c) Chirag Shetty
(d) Lakshya Sen
(e) Dhruv Kapila
17) As per the FIFA report, which country is set to host the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup?
(a) Australia
(b) Cambodia
(c) Netherlands
(d) Argentina
(e) Canada
18) Which among the following tennis player has released his autobiography titled “Crosscourt”?
(a) Ramesh Krishnan
(b) Somdev Devvarman
(c) Jaideep Mukherjee
(d) Yuki Bhambri
(e) Mahesh Bhupathi
19) P S Sreedharan Pillai has written twelve books in English and Malayalam. He is the present Governor of which state government?
(a) Maharashtra
(b) West Bengal
(c) Karnataka
(d) Tamil Nadu
(e) Goa
20) Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, Arun Manilal Gandhi passed away at the age of 89. He was a renowned _________________.
(a) Author
(b) Environmental Activist
(c) Socio-Political Activist
(d) Both A and B
(e) Both A and C
Answers :
1) Answer: A
India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has partnered with the Forum of Industry Academic Knowledge Sharing (FIAKS) platform to provide digital literacy and spread awareness among postmen (or Gramin Dak Sevaks) to avoid digital frauds.
What is FIAKS?
FIAKS, a cross-border platform comprising over 5,000 members, will carry out research, development, and designing of digital content under the programme FIAKS Digital Shiksha Prasaar Abhiyaan along with other partners.
The body will provide virtual and physical training to the postmen identified by IPPB.
2) Answer: A
India and Russia will explore the possibility of accepting RuPay and Mir cards in each other's country for hassle-free payments amid sanctions imposed by the West on Moscow.
This decision was made during the meeting of the Internal Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological, and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC).
This meeting was chaired by the External Affairs Minister of India Shri S Jaishankar and Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Shri Denis Manturov.
Key Highlights :
The mutual acceptance of RuPay (India) and Mir cards (Russia) will help Indian and Russian citizens to make hassle-free payments in Indian rupees and Russian rubles in their respective countries.
In addition, the meeting also explored the possibility of interaction between India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Russia's Faster Payments System (FPS).
Besides, it was also agreed to look at adopting the Russian financial messaging system, the Services Bureau of Financial Messaging System of the Bank of Russia, for cross-border payments.
Currently, overseas payments from India and vice versa are through the SWIFT network.
3) Answer: E
Pine Labs, a merchant commerce omni channel platform, has announced the acceptance of Digital Rupee (e Rupee) on its PoS (Point of Sale) terminals in partnership with ICICI Bank.
The technology integration between the two entities will now support e₹ acceptance at Pine Labs’ point-of-sale terminals across key retail outlets in Mumbai, Maharashtra and Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Key Highlights
Pine Labs’ execution of the Digital Rupee payment process is completely digital via dynamic QR built within its smart Android PoS terminals.
This would present a seamless payment option to the users and improve the operational efficiency of merchants with Pine Labs PoS terminals.
4) Answer: D
The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCC) commenced operations on the Rewari Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal (GCT) in public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
This becomes the first operational GCT with complete investment from a private player and zero revenue-sharing on account of the Indian Railways.
The Rs 8-crore GCT in Haryana, built solely for container traffic, along the edge of Line 10 of the New Rewari station on Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), will be operated by Pristine Mega Logistics Park, which got the project in a race against state-owned Container Corporation of India (Concor) and shipping major DP World.
The terminal has been made operational within 75 days of awarding of the contract.
The Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals (GCTs) are being developed by private players and can be developed on non-Railway land or fully/partially on Railway land.
5) Answer: B
Asia's largest underwater hydro-carbon pipeline, below the river Brahmaputra connecting Jorhat and Majuli in Assam, has been completed by the Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited (IGGL).
The challenging task of laying a 24-inch diameter hydrocarbon pipeline beneath the mighty Brahmaputra river by Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) method was completed marking the completion of a major milestone in the construction of the North East Gas Grid (NEGG) connecting North East India to the National Gas Grid.
6) Answer: A
The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF), the marketer of Amul has identified land at Vargal near Hyderabad to set up a milk processing plant with a capacity of 5 lakh litres per day (LLPD).
The upcoming plant will be done through one of the 18 GCMMF member dairy unions, Sabarkantha District Cooperative Milk Union (Sabar Dairy).
The procurement of milk will take place from the dairy producers of Telangana State.
In December 2021, Sabar Dairy signed an agreement with the Telangana government to set up the facility with an estimated investment of ₹500 crore.
The plant which will employ about 500 people, would also manufacture value-added dairy products such as curd, buttermilk, lassi, yoghurt, paneer, and sweets.
7) Answer: D
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis unveiled a 12-foot statue of Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Mauritius to mark the strong bond between the two nations.
It was his first visit to the island nation.
The sculpture was created in India by a Delhi-based artist and sent to the island nation in a container ship.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed between the Economic Development Board, Mauritius, and the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation to establish a platform for investment between the Western State and the island nation.
Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was the founder of the Maratha Empire in western India.
8) Answer: D
On the occasion of Maharashtra Day (May 01,2023) Maharashtra Chief Minister (CM) Shri Eknath Shinde launched electric Shivneri bus services between Mumbai and Pune.
The inaugural ceremony was held at Sahyadri Guest House in Mumbai’s Malabar Hill.
He also launched a campaign, named after Bal Thackeray, for the cleanliness and beautification of bus stands.
The new e-buses have a passenger-seating capacity of 43, besides seats for the driver and the co-driver.
The manufacturer, Olectra Greentech Limited, has claimed that the buses can travel up to 250 kilometres on a single charge.
Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) received a total of 8e-buses, with 6 yet to get clearance from the regional transport office (RTO).
In another development, actor Makarand Anaspure has been appointed as the ‘goodwill ambassador’ for MSRTC.
9) Answer: C
In a bid to encourage children in villages to promote the habit of reading, the Bihar government has started ‘Didi ki library’, established under Jeevika.
The first Didi ki library or community library in Singheshwar was inaugurated by Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar on February 10, 2023.
At least 100 libraries have been opened in 32 districts.
Community Library and Career Development Centres (CLCDCs) have also been set up in many blocks of Bihar.
There are a total of 12,318 members registered in all the 100 community libraries, of which about 80 per cent are girls.
Till now, 63 government buildings have been taken over for the purpose, while the remaining 37 are being developed in private houses hired by Jeevika.
10) Answer: B
India’s first undersea twin tunnels in South Mumbai, Maharashtra are nearing completion, & are set to open in November 2023.
About India’s First Undersea Twin Tunnel :
It is a 2.07-kilometer-long tunnel being built in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
The Tunnels are a part of the Rs 12,721-crore Mumbai Coastal Road Project (MCRP) being built by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The tunnels extend under the Arabian Sea towards North, covering Girgaon Chowpatty and Malabar Hill as well.
11) Answer: A
Bengaluru-based Log9 Materials, an advanced battery-technology and deep-technology startup, inaugurated India’s first commercial lithium-Ion (Li-ion) cell manufacturing facility on its campus in Jakkur, Bengaluru.
The facility will produce batteries for electric vehicles.
Log9’s commercial Li-ion cell manufacturing line has an initial capacity of 50 MWh.
This facility will cater to the manufacturing of lithium-titanate oxide and lithium iron phosphate cells.
The startup also launched its indigenously developed battery management system—Charvik, incorporated with state-of-the-art power control mechanisms—and its academic engagement programme named Log9 Rise to support talent pool creation in battery technologies in the country.
Dr Akshay Singhal, co-founder & CEO of Log9 Materials.
12) Answer: C
Veteran politician Sharad Pawar stepped down as the chief of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
He made the announcement of his retirement during the release of his autobiography titled, ‘Lok MajheSangati – Political Autobiography’.
About Sharad Pawar :
Pawar has served as the Chief Minister (CM) of Maharashtra for four terms.
He has also served as the Minister of Defence (MoD) in the Cabinet of P.V Narsimha Rao and Minister of Agriculture in the Cabinet of Manmohan Singh.
13) Answer: B
India’s leading name in fintech, BharatPe has acquired a 51% majority stake in Trillion Loans, a Mumbai, Maharashtra-based NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Company).Trillion Loans, which sells a range of secured and unsecured loans to small businesses and credit products such as auto, gold and education loans to retail customers.
With this acquisition, the fintech unicorn joins well-funded fintech peers like Cred, Uni and Lendingkart in acquiring NBFCs to shore up their credit play.
BharatPe also revealed that Ravindra Pandey, Nalin Negi and Sabyasachi Senapati have been appointed to the Board of Trillion Loans.
14) Answer: A
Indian Army conducted the 'Buland Bharat' exercise in the longest high-altitude Artillery Ranges of the eastern theatre.
It is an integrated surveillance and firepower training exercise conducted by the Indian Army.
It was a month-long training exercise that culminated in a test exercise.
About the exercise :
The exercise involved the synergised application of surveillance and firepower capabilities of the Artillery and the Infantry in close coordination with Special Forces, Aviation, and Central Armed Police Forces deployed in West Kameng and Tawang districts of Arunachal Pradesh.
15) Answer: B
The Elon Musk-owned SpaceX’s Starship, world’s biggest rocket, exploded during its first test-flight to space from Boca Chica in Texas.
The test was the first for the spacecraft manufacturer’s Starship spacecraft (the carrier) and Super Heavy rocket (the booster), collectively referred to as Starship.
The Starship Rocket is the world's most powerful rocket ever built.
The project comprises a rocket called Super Heavy Rocket and a spacecraft attached to its top called the Starship.
About Starship :
Starship is around 120 metres in height, with Super Heavy being 69 m tall and Starship being 50 m tall.
16) Answer: C
SatwiksairajRankireddy and Chirag Shetty achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first Indian men's doubles pair to win a gold medal at the Badminton Asia Championships.
The Indian duo beat the eighth-seeded Malaysian pair of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi in the final in Dubai.
In 2022, the sixth seeded pair had also won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games and a bronze medal at the World Championships.
In this tournament, the previous best performance was a bronze medal win in 1971 by an Indian men's doubles pair, Dipu Ghosh and Raman Ghosh.
Overall, this is India's second gold medal in this event.
In 1965, Dinesh Khanna had won the men’s singles gold in Lucknow after beating Thailand’s SangobRattanusorn.
The Championship is a tournament organized by the governing body Badminton Asia to choose the best badminton players in Asia.
In 1962, the tournament was started.
The 2023 Championships was held from 25 to 30 April 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The 2023 championships was the 40th edition of the Badminton Asia Championships.
17) Answer: D
FIFA Council has announced Argentina as the official host of the upcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023.
Indonesia were the original tournament host but FIFA has removal them after a new bid submitted by the Argentinian Football Association (AFA).
The hosting agreement has been signed by the AFA, along with all other relevant documents on the part of the host and local authorities.
The FIFA U-20 World Cup will take place from 20 May to 11 June 2023 and will feature six groups of four teams.
Argentina is the most successful nation in the history of the FIFA U-20 World Cup. They have won the tournament six times with their most recent victory in 2007.
They last hosted the tournament in 2001.
18) Answer: C
Renowned tennis player Jaideep Mukherjee released his autobiography titled “Crosscourt” in the presence of prominent Indian tennis players such as Ramesh Krishnan and SomdevDevvarman.
Titled Crosscourt, co-authored by Papri Sen Sri Raman, and published by Vitasta, it is a welcome addition to India’s tennis literature.
The book provides an insight into Mukherjee’s life and describes his journey as a successful tennis player.
In addition to tennis, “Crosscourt” also covers various aspects of Mukherjee’s personal life, including her successes, failures, relationships and behind-the-scenes moments.
19) Answer: E
Twelve books written by Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai, in English and Malayalam, are being released in Delhi, Goa and Kerala in April and May.
With the release of these books, the Governor will have authored 200 books in over five decades of public life.
The books will be exhibited at specific centres after the release.
The celebrations of completing 50 years of amazing writing will be done in Kozhikode.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will release two of these books in Kozhikode on April 28 and on May 2, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will release one of the books in Thiruvananthapuram.
20) Answer: E
Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, author and socio-political activist Arun Manilal Gandhi passed away at the age of 89 in Kolhapur, Maharashtra.
About Arun Manilal Gandhi:
Arun Manilal Gandhi was born on 14 April 1934, in Durban,South Africa.
He was a South African-born Indian-American author, and son of Manilal Gandhi, thus a grandson of nationalist leader Mahatma Gandhi.
In 2017, he published The Gift of Anger: And Other Lessons From My Grandfather Mahatma Gandhi (New York: Gallery Books/Jeter Publishing 2017).
