4th November Current Affairs 2021

1. India’s 1st Mega-scale Maleic Anhydride Plant will be set up in

a. Haryana
b. Punjab
c. Gujarat
d. Uttar Pradesh

Answer: (a) Haryana

Explanation:

• IndianOil Board has greenlighted the setting up of India’s first mega-scale maleic anhydride plant , to manufacture value-added chemical products, at its Panipat Refinery and Petroleum Complex (PRPC) in Haryana.
• The project with a capex of ₹3,681 crore will be commissioned in 54 months from Stage 1 investment approval.
• The project is proposed to have a capacity of 120 KTA (kilo tonnes per annum) of maleic anhydride (MAH) that is used to make speciality products like polyester resins and surface coatings, plasticisers, agrochemicals, and lubricant additives.
• The plant will also manufacture 20 KTA of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) that finds applications in polyurethanes, polybutylene terephthalates (PBT) – an engineering grade plastic and biodegradable fibres.

2. Which Indian philanthropist has topped the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021?

a. Mukesh Ambani
b. Azim Premji
c. Shiv Nadar
d. Kumar Birla

Answer (b) Azim Premji

Explanation:

• Azim Premji, the founder-chairman of Wipro Ltd has topped the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021.
• The 76-year-old, made the highest contribution of ₹9,713 crore between April 2020 and March 2021 towards philanthropic causes to retain the top position for second year in a row.
• Shiv Nadar, founder and chairman of HCL Technologies, retained second spot with an annual donation of ₹1,263 crore.
• India’s richest man and the chairman of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani stood at the third spot with an annual donation of ₹577 crore.
• The EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021 is compiled by the EdelGive Foundation and Hurun Research Institute. It is the eighth edition of the annual list.
• The list ranks individuals from India who donated ₹5 crore and above between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021 towards philanthropic contributions.

3. Uttarakhand’s 1st Internet Exchange has been inaugurated in which city?

a. Nainital
b. Haridwar
c. Mussoorie
d. Dehradun

Answer (d) Dehradun

Explanation:

• Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrashekhar inaugurated Uttarakhand’s first Internet Exchange in a virtual ceremony in Dehradun on 1 November 2021.
• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will help facilitate internet services in rural areas of the state.
• The next internet exchange will be installed in Nainital.

4. Which organisation has recently launched the ‘Whistle-blower Portal’?

a. IRCTC
b. NHPC Ltd.
c. IREDA
d. Power Finance Corporation Ltd

Answer (c) IREDA

Explanation:

• The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) has launched a ‘Whistle-blower Portal’ as a part of celebration of ‘Vigilance Awareness Week 2021’.
• The portal was launched by Shri Pradip Kumar Das, Chairman & Managing Director (CMD), IREDA on November 02, 2021.
• The Whistle-blower Portal has been developed by IT Team of the company and will help the IREDA employees to raise concerns related to fraud, corruption, abuse of power among other things.

5. Which Indian cricketer has hinted at his comeback in February 2022?

a. Yuvraj Singh
b. Suresh Raina
c. MS Dhoni
d. Virender Sehwag

Answer (a) Yuvraj Singh

Explanation:

• The star allrounder of India Yuvraj Singh might make a comeback to cricket in February 2022.
• The batsman had announced his international retirement from cricket in June 2019.
• Yuvraj Singh is known as one of the biggest match-winners that India has ever seen. He became the first cricketer in the world to hit six consecutive sixes in T20 cricket during the inaugural T20 World Cup.

6. Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai who has passed away recently was the former Prime Minister of which country?

a. Egypt
b. Qatar
c. Iran
d. Afghanistan

Answer (d) Afghanistan

Explanation:

• Former Afghan Prime Minister Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai has passed away. He was 78.
• He served as acting prime minister of Afghanistan from 1995 to 1996.

7. How many awardees have been conferred with the Arjuna Awards in 2021?

a. 28
b. 12
c. 35
d. 40

Answer (c) 35

Explanation:

• The National Sports Awards for the year 2021 were announced by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports on November 02, 2021.
• President of India Ramnath Kovind will felicitate the awardees on November 13, 2021.
• The National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports.
• Given below is the list of selected sportsperson who will receive these awards this year.

8.Which University has won the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2021?

a. Lovely Professional University
b. Panjab University
c. Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology
d. Delhi University

Answer (b) Panjab University

Explanation:

• Panjab University will receive Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy for best all-round performance in sports among Indian varsities for third year in a row.
• The ministry of youth affairs and sports announced the National Sports Awards 2021 on 2nd November.
• The winners will receive the awards from the President at a function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on November 13.

9. India will achieve net-zero carbon emissions by which year, as per PM Modi’s address at the climate summit in Glasgow?

a. 2040
b. 2050
c. 2070
d. 2090

Answer (c) 2070

Explanation:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 1 November 2021, pledged to cut India’s net carbon emissions to zero by 2070.
• India is the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
• PM Modi informed that India would scale up its non-fossil energy generation capacity to 500GW by 2030, and meet 50% of its energy requirements from renewables by the same deadline.

10. What is the name of Captain Amarinder Singh’s new party?

a. Lok Punjab Congress
b. Punjab Lok Congress
c. Punjab Shakti Congress
d. Punjab Congress Sena

Answer (b) Punjab Lok Congress

Explanation:

• Former Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh announced the name of his new party- Punjab Lok Congress on November 2, 2021.
• The announcement comes after he resigned from Congress.
• The Punjab assembly elections are scheduled to be held in February or March 2022.

11. Which bank has made Sharad Sharma its non-executive director?

a. ICICI Bank
b. Yes Bank
c. HDFC Bank
d. ICICI Bank

Answer (b) Yes Bank

Explanation:

• Yes Bank has appointed Sharad Sharma as a Non-Executive Director with effect from November 1, 2021.
• He was Managing Director of State Bank of Mysore during the period from August 2012 to April 2016, where he was seconded from State Bank of India (SBI).
• He joined the Union Bank of India as a probationary officer in 1975 before joining SBI as PO in September 1977.

12. ‘Pawan Kapoor’ has been appointed as the new Ambassador of India to which country?

a. Philippines
b. Singapore
c. Russia
d. Norway

Answer (c) Russia

Explanation:

• Pawan Kapoor, New Delhi’s envoy to the United Arab Emirates, has been appointed as the new ambassador of India to Russia.
• Pawan Kapoor, who joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1990, will succeed D B Venkatesh Varma in Moscow.
• Sunjay Sudhir, who was till recently India’s High Commissioner to the Maldives, has been appointed as the next envoy of New Delhi to Abu Dhabi.

13. Who has taken over as the Commandant of the National Defence Academy?

a. Prithvi Singh
b. Sanjeev Kapoor
c. Sanjay Mishra
d. None of these

Answer (b) Sanjeev Kapoor

Explanation:

• Air Marshal Sanjeev Kapoor took over charge as the Commandant of the National Defence Academy (NDA) on 1st November from Lt Gen Asit Mistry, who retired after serving in the Indian Army for 39 years.
• Air Marshal Kapoor joined the Flying branch of the Indian Air Force in December 1985. He has over 7,800 hours of accident/incident-free flying on various trainer, transport and strategic aircraft.
• The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on to respective service academy for further precommission training.
• The NDA is located in Khadakwasla, Pune, Maharashtra. It is the first triservice academy in the world.

14. Who has launched “Bhasha Sangam initiative” for school?

a. Narendra Modi
b. Dharmendra Pradhan
c. Rajnath Singh
d. None of these

Answer (b) Dharmendra Pradhan

Explanation:

• Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on 1 November 2021 launched Bhasha Sangam initiative for schools, Bhasha Sangam mobile app and Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat Mobile Quiz.
• Bhasha Sangam is an initiative of the Ministry of Education under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
• It aims to teach basic sentences of everyday usage in 22 Indian languages.

15. Who has taken over as the Additional Director General of Assam Rifles?

a. Arun Chawla
b. Dinesh Kumar Singh
c. Dr Rahul Gupta
d. Gurbirpal Singh

Answer (b) Dinesh Kumar Singh

Explanation:

• Major General Dinesh Kumar Singh on 1st November, took charge as the additional director general of Assam Rifles.
• During the day, Major General Singh, who was commissioned into The Brigade of Guards in 1990, laid a wreath at the Assam Rifles War Memorial at Laitkor near here and interacted with his subordinates.
• He had earlier served as an aide-de-camp to the chief of the Army staff, an instructor and adjutant at National Defence Academy in Pune, a defence attache in Brazil.