1. Which country’s parliament has introduced a bill to declare Diwali as a national holiday?
A. Malaysia
B. Singapore
C. USA
D. Russia
Answer (C) USA
Explanation:
• The New York congresswoman Carolyn B Maloney on November 3, 2021, introduced the Deepavali Day Act in the House of Representatives to make Diwali a national holiday in the US.
• Maloney was joined by Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, Congressman Gregory Meeks Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
• If the Deepavali Day Act gets approved, all federal institutions in the US will observe the Diwali holidays and honour the cultural heritage of millions of Indian Americans in the US.
2. Which platform has introduced the ‘SafeCard’ tokenisation solution to help users meet RBI norms?
A. PhonePe
B. Google Pay
C. Paytm
D. Amazon Pay
Answer (A)PhonePe
Explanation:
• PhonePe has launched a tokenization solution ‘SafeCard’ for online debit and credit card transactions.
• The SafeCard will help in enabling both PhonePe users and merchant partners to continue experiencing the convenience of saved card transactions with increased security and in compliance with the new Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines.
3. Which state has launched two new schemes Jansevaka and Janspandana?
A. Telangana
B. Tamil Nadu
C. Karnataka
D. Kerala
Answer (C)Karnataka
Explanation:
• To deliver government services to the doorsteps of citizens, the Karnataka government has launched ‘Janasevaka’ (peoples’ servant), an online portal, and ‘Janaspandana’, an Integrated Public Grievance Redressal System (IPGRS).
• Janasevaka is an initiative to help people avail government services easily. Using a mobile application or website, or by getting in touch via a call centre, people can get up to 56 government services delivered to their doorsteps, including home delivery of ration at subsidized rates, or an Aadhaar card, caste certificate, income certificate, senior citizen card, BBMP khatha transfer and health card.
4. India jointly launched the ‘Green Grids Initiative – One Sun One World One Grid’, with which country?
A. UK
B. Australia
C. USA
D. Japan
Answer (A)UK
Explanation:
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 2, 2021, launched the Green Grids Initiative – One Sun One World One Grid (GGI-OSOWOG) initiative jointly with his UK counterpart Boris Johnson at the event ‘Accelerating Clean Technology Innovation and Deployment’ at COP26 Climate Summit at Glasgow.
• In May 2021, India and the UK had agreed to combine the Green Grids Initiative and the One Sun One World One Grid and jointly launch GGI-OSOWOG at the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow in November 2021.
5. Who has become the 7th male boxer to win a medal at World Boxing Championships?
A. Vikas Krishnan
B. Shiva Thapa
C. Akash Kumar
D. Amit Panghal
Answer (C)Akash Kumar
Explanation:
• Indian boxer Akash Kumar has became the 7th Indian male boxer who won a medal at the World Boxing Championships.
• Akash a bronze medal in the 54-kg category at the 2021 AIBA Men’s World Boxing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia on November 4, 2021.
• Akash will receive $25,000 as prize money and a belt for his accomplishment. He suffered a 0-5 loss against Kazakhstan’s Makhmud Sabyrkhan in the 54- kg category.
6. Which city’s Deepotsav has made the Guinness World Record for the largest display of oil lamps?
A. Ayodhya
B. Prayagraj
C. Lucknow
D. Gorakhpur
Answer A) Ayodhya
Explanation:
• Ayodhya’s Deepotsav made it to the Guinness World Records on 4th November (Night) after the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department displayed over nine lakh oil lamps along the banks of river Saryu as a part of grand Diwali celebrations in the holy city.
• Deepotsav event set the Guinness World records for ‘the largest display of oil lamps’ after more than 5 lakh 84 thousand lamps were lit on the banks of Saryu.
7. India’s 1st rooftop drive-in theatre has been launched in
A. Kolkata
B. Bengaluru
C. Mumbai
D. Hyderabad
Answer (C)Mumbai
Explanation:
• The first open-air rooftop drive-in movie theatre in India has been inaugurated at Jio World Drive mall of Reliance Industries in Mumbai, Maharashtra on November 05, 2021.
• The drive-in theatre will be operated and managed by the multiplex chain PVR Ltd.
• The theatre has been launched in partnership with the Reliance Retail and multiplex chain PVR.
• The facility can accommodate around 290 cars.
• The first movie screened at the theatre was Akshay Kumar’s Sooryavanshi.
8. Eastern West Khasi Hills district is a newly launched district in which state?
A. Meghalaya
B. Assam
C. Mizoram
D. Nagaland
Answer (A)Meghalaya
Explanation:
• The Meghalaya Cabinet has approved the proposal of creation of a new district called Eastern West Khasi Hills district.
• The new district has been formed by upgrading the Mairang civil sub-division.
• Mairang will now be a sub-division under West Khasi Hills district.
• The new district will be inaugurated on November 10, 2021 by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma.
• This will increase the total number of districts in the state to 12.
9. World’s 1st Earth-science satellite named “Guangmu” has been launched by
A. USA
B. Russia
C. India
D. China
Answer (D)China
Explanation:
• China has launched an Earth science satellite named Guangmu into space from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the northern Shanxi Province.
• The satellite was launched via Long March-6 carrier rocket on November 05, 2021.
• Guangmu is the world’s first Earth-science satellite dedicated to serving the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
10. Which cricketer has announced that he will retire from international cricket after the ongoing T20 World Cup?
A. Dwayne Bravo
B. Kane Williamson
C. Quinton de Kock
D. Aaron Finch
Answer (A)Dwayne Bravo
Explanation:
• The International Cricket Council has informed on November 5, 2021 that West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has confirmed that he will retire at the end of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
• Bravo said that he will retire from international cricket after the ongoing T20 World Cup as “time has come” to leave the stage after a career he can be proud of.
• Dwayne Bravo had announced his retirement from Test cricket in January 2015. He had then announced his retirement from all formats of international cricket except franchise T20 cricket in October 2018. Since 2011, Bravo has been a part of the Chennai Super Kings IPL team.
11. “Isomorphic Labs” is an AI-based drug discovery startup by which company?
A. Amazon
B. Alphabet
C. HITACHI
D. Alibaba
Answer (B)Alphabet
Explanation:
• Google parent company Alphabet has launched a new company in London called Isomorphic Labs.
• The company aims to use AI (artificial intelligence) for drug discovery and medicine to find cures for some of humanity’s most devastating diseases.
• Demis Hassabis will be the CEO of Isomorphic Labs.
• Hassabis is the CEO and co-founder of DeepMind, another Alphabet subsidiary that used AI to predict the 3D structure of a protein directly from its amino acid sequence.
12. PM Narendra Modi has unveiled “Shri Adi Shankaracharya Samadhi and Statue” in
A. Kedarnath
B. Dehradun
C. Nainital
D. Rishikesh
Answer (A)Kedarnath
Explanation:
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Kedarnath in Uttarakhand on November 05, 2021 to inaugurate key infrastructure projects related to redevelopment of Kedarnath.
• PM inaugurated the reconstructed Shri Adi Shankaracharya Samadhi (final resting place) at the premises of the Kedarnath Temple in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand and unveiled the statue of Shri Adi Shankaracharya at the Samadhi. The Samadhi was damaged in the 2013 Kedarnath flood.
13. Which University has topped among state-run universities of India in the QS Asia University Rankings 2022?
A. Delhi University
B. Allahabad University
C. Calcutta University
D. Madras University
Answer (C)Calcutta University
Explanation:
• The result of the QS Asia Rankings 2022 has been released on November 2.
• The National University of Singapore (NUS) has topped the list while Peking University and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU) have been placed in the second and third positions.
• As many as 18 Indian institutes are among the top 200 institutes in Asia with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay leading with 42nd Rank.
14. Which state’s Chief Minister released the book “Modern India”?
A. Maharashtra
B. Haryana
C. Jharkhand
D. Gujarat
Answer (B)Haryana
Explanation:
• Shri M L Khattar, Haryana Chief Minister released the book ‘Modern India’ – a book authored by Poonam Dalal Dahiya; an author popular among the UPSC community for her subject-matter expertise.
• The first copy of the book launched by McGraw Hill, was gifted by the author Ms. Poonam Dalal Dahiya to the honourable Chief Minister of Haryana Shri Manohar Lal Khattar during the book launch event.
• The book provides comprehensive information on the history of modern India.
15. Who has wrote the book titled “Not Just Cricket”?
A. Amit Varma
B. Pradeep Magazine
C. Freddie Wilde
D. Ayaz Memon
Answer (B)Pradeep Magazine
Explanation:
- HarperCollins is proud to announce ‘Not Just Cricket: A Reporter’s Journey through Modern India’ by Pradeep Magazine.
- ‘Not Just Cricket’ will be release in December 2021.
- Pradeep Magazine is a cricket writer, columnist and former sports editor of The Pioneer, the India Today epaper and Hindustan Times. He began his journalistic career in 1979 with the Chandigarh edition of The Indian Express and was its cricket editor in 1999-2000.
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