1) Who has won the title of 48th National Women’s Chess Championship?
A. Divya Deshmukh
B. Harika Dronavalli
C. Koneru Humpy
D. Prithu Gupta
Ans-A
• Divya Deshmukh has defeated Bhakti Kulkarni in the final round to become a clear champion at MPL 48th National Women Chess Championship 2022 on 5th January 2023.
• This is her second consecutive National Women title where she remained undefeated and finished a full point ahead at 9.5/11.
• WGM Mary Ann Gomes won against WIM Rucha Pujari to finish second scoring 9/11.
• The total prize fund of the event was Rs 30,00,000/- where Divya bagged home a purse of Rs 6,00,000/- and a glittering trophy.
2) India’s largest hockey stadium has been inaugurated in
A. Bhubaneswar
B. Cuttack
C. Rourkela
D. Balasore
Ans-C
• On 5th January 2023, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik officially opens the India’s largest hockey stadium in Rourkela in preparation for the Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023.
• This Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium Complex was constructed in just 15 months at a cost of approximately ₹261 crore (approximately USD 35 million).
• The stadium, located in the Sundargarh district, has a seating capacity of 20,000 and includes practice centers with certified turf and lighting.
3) Who has become the 79th Grandmaster of India?
A. Sandipan Chanda
B. Surya Sekhar
C. Pranesh M
D. Koustav Chatterje
Ans-C
• 16-year-old Indian chess player IM Pranesh M has become India’s 79th Grandmaster after winning the 2022/2023 Rilton Cup, the first tournament of the FIDE Circuit.
• Tamil Nadu player Pranesh crossed the 2500-rating threshold and became a GM, having completed his three norms before the Rilton Cup.
• The 2022/2023 Rilton Cup, the strongest open tournament in Sweden, ran from December 27 to January 5 and brought together 136 players representing 29 national federations.
4) Northeastern cultural festival “Octave 2023” has been organised in –
A. Tamil Nadu
B. West Bengal
C. Odisha
D. Andhra Pradesh
Ans-A
• Tamil Nadu is hosting Octave 2023, a celebration of the unique art and culture of Northeast India.
• It was officially Inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi under the sponsorship of the South Zone Culture Centre in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu.
• Participating states: Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh
• Festival dates: January 3-6, 2023
5) Which city police has won the ‘Best Police Unit’ award for 2021?
A. Nagpur Police
B. Delhi Police
C. Ahmedabad Police
D. Mumbai Police
Ans-A
• Jalna district police and Nagpur city police in Maharashtra have bagged the ‘Best Police Unit’ awards for 2021 in the state.
• The Jalna police got the award in ‘Class A’ and the Nagpur police in ‘Class B’, as per the winners by Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Kulwant Sarangal.
• Police units with less than 6,100 Indian Penal Code cases are grouped in ‘Class A’, while those with more than 6,100 IPC cases are grouped in ‘Class B’.
6) India has overtaken which country to become the World’s 3rd largest auto market?
A. U.S
B. Japan
C. China
D. South Korea
Ans-B
• India has surpassed Japan in terms of auto sales last year to become the 3rd-largest auto market globally for the first time.
• India’s total sales of new vehicles stood at around 4.25 million units, based on preliminary results, topping the 4.2 million sold in Japan.
• Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker, led the total to hit the 4.25 million units mark.
• China continued to lead the global auto market, with 24.8 million vehicles sold, While United States in 2nd with 13.8 million vehicles sold.
7) India has deployed its “largest single contingent” of women peacekeepers in –
A. Sudan
B. Egypt
C. Libya
D. Eritrea
Ans-A
• India deployed a platoon of women peacekeepers in the Abyei region of Sudan on 6 January as part of the Indian battalion in the United Nations Interim Security Force (UNISFA).
• The Indian contingent, comprising two officers and 25 other ranks.
• It is India’s largest single contingent of women peacekeepers in a UN mission since it deployed its first allwomen contingent to Liberia in 2007.
• In 2007, India became the first country to deploy an entirely women contingent for a UN peacekeeping mission.
8) Which country has approved the use of the World’s 1st Vaccine for Honey bees?
A. Japan
B. India
C. America
D. Spain
Ans-C
• The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted a conditional license for the first-ever vaccine for honey bees, which will protect against American foulbrood disease.
• Developed by US biotech company Dalan Animal Health, the vaccine will be made available to commercial beekeepers in the US on a limited basis, with expectations of its release this year.
• American foulbrood (AFB) is a serious infectious disease that affects honey bee colonies. The disease is caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae and can be lethal to bees.
9) Ghaziabad-Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay section has become the longest fully automated block signalling section of Indian Railways. What is its length?
A. 735 km
B. 746 km
C. 762 km
D. 781 km
Ans-C
• The Ghaziabad-Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay segment (762 KM) now holds the record for the Indian Railways’ longest fully automatic block signalling section.
• In order to increase line capacity to run more trains on existing High-Density Routes of Indian Railways, Automatic Block Signalling (ABS) is a cost effective solution.
• Indian Railways has been rolling out Automatic Block signalling on a mission mode. ABS has been commissioned on 268 Rkm during 2022-23.
• As of December 31, 2022, ABS was available on 3706 km of route across Indian Railways.
10) First meeting of “G-20” will be held in –
A. New Delhi
B. Puducherry
C. Guwahati
D. Kolkata
Ans-B
• Puducherry Lieutenant governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan said that the first G-20 meeting will be held in Puducherry on 31st January.
• The G20 logo for the meeting was released by Lieutenant Governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan at a function held at Beach Road Gandhi Tidal.
• These programs will be organised in different parts of the country in different segments. Kolkata will host the first meeting on the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion.
• A working group meeting will be held on health in Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai will host a meeting on education, while Guwahati will host the first sustainable financial meeting and Chandigarh will host the first financial architecture meeting.
11) G20 foreign minister meet is scheduled to take place on March 2023 in –
A. Mumbai
B. Puducherry
C. New Delhi
D. Chennai
Ans-C
• The G20 foreign minister meet is scheduled to take place in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi in March 2023.
• The government has issued an expected guest list that includes Joe Biden (US President), Vladimir Putin (Russia President), Rishi Sunak (UK Prime Minister), Xi Jinping (China President), among others.
• Special invitee guest countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain and UAE.
12) Which Union Minister has launched the theme, logo and website of the Y20 summit?
A. Narendra Modi
B. Anurag Singh Thakur
C. Kiren Rijiju
D. Amit Shah
Ans-B
• Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag SinghThakur launches the themes of the Youth 20 summit, logo, and website in New Delhi on 6 January in the curtain raiser event of Y20 Summit India.
• India is hosting the Y20 summit for the first time. Youth 20 (Y20) is the official youth engagement group of the G20.
• Activities to be undertaken by Y20 during India’s presidency will focus on global youth leadership and partnerships.
13) 3-day ‘North East Krishi Kumbha-2023’ has been inaugurated in –
A. Tripura
B. Nagaland
C. Mizoram
D. Meghalaya
Ans-D
• Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar has inaugurated the three-day ‘North East Krishi Kumbha-2023’ in Meghalaya.
• He also participated in the 49th Foundation Day celebration of the ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam.
• North East Krishi Kumbha 2023 features live demonstrations and exhibitions of new technologies through 102 stalls
14) Who has won the Best Director Award at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards 2022?
A. SS Rajamouli
B. Mani Ratnam
C. Anurag Kashyap
D. Rajkumar Hirani
Ans-A
• Filmmaker SS Rajamouli has honoured with the Best Director Award for RRR at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards 2022.
• RRR has also been nominated in the Best Foreign Film category, and Best Original Song (for Naatu Naatu Song) at the Golden Globe Awards 2023.
• Naatu Naatu has also shortlisted in the Best Song category at the 95th Academy Awards.
15) “Purple Fest”, India’s first festival of inclusion, has been inaugurated in
A. Kerala
B. Goa
C. Karnataka
D. Maharashtra
Ans-B
• Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dr Virendra Kumar inaugurated ‘Purple Fest: Celebrating Diversity’, India’s first festival of inclusion, in Goa on 6 January.
• The Purple Fest is a three-day festival taking place in Goa from January 6-8, 2023.
• It aims to showcase how we can come together to create a welcoming and inclusive world for everyone.
16) How many monuments have gone missing in India, as per the Ministry of Culture?
A. 20
B. 50
C. 80
D. 100
Ans-B
• 50 of India’s 3,693 centrally protected monuments have gone untraceable, which flagged a matter of grave concern.
• Rapid urbanization has engulfed 14 monuments. As many as 12 monuments have been submerged by the construction of reservoirs and dams, while 24 have gone missing.
• The missing monuments include: 11 in Uttar Pradesh, two each in Delhi and Haryana, and in states like Assam, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
17) Union Minister Jitendra Singh has inaugurated the “National Genome Editing & Training Centre” in
A. Ludhiana
B. Mohali
C. Amritsar
D. Jalandhar
Ans-B
• Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh recently inaugurated the National Genome Editing & Training Centre (NGETC) at the National Agri-food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) in Mohali, Punjab.
• The NGETC will serve as a national platform for researchers to utilize genome editing methods such as CRISPR-Cas9, and will also provide training and guidance on its application in crops.
• The center will focus on improving crop nutrition and tolerance to changing environmental conditions through genome editing technology, with a focus on crops such as rice, wheat, tomato, maize, millets, and banana.
18) Centre aims to eliminate Kala-azar from India by which year?
A. 2023
B. 2024
C. 2025
D. 2026
Ans-A
• Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has chaired a high-level meeting to review the status of Kala-Azar disease in the four endemic states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and West Bengal.
• During the high-level meeting, the Union Health Minister assured Centre’s complete support in fight against eliminating the life-threatening disease by 2023. • India is committed to eliminating Kala Azar from the
country by 2023.
• 632 (99.8%) endemic blocks have already achieved elimination status.
19) Which state government will open 122 new sports complexes in rural areas?
A. Odisha
B. Telangana
C. Karnataka
D. Maharashtra
Ans-D
• Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on 5th January 2023, announced that 122 sports complexes will be constructed in rural areas.
• Aim: to reinforce the state’s status as a sporting powerhouse in the country.
20) Amit Shah has inaugurated the 120 feet high ‘Polo Statue’ in –
A. Manipur
B. Meghalaya
C. Mizoram
D. Nagaland
Ans-A
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah on 6th January 2023, unveiled a 120-feet-tall statue of a polo player riding a pony at Marjing Polo Complex in Manipur’s Imphal East district.
• Manipur is considered the birthplace of the game.
• Amit Shah was given a polo mallet and a painting of the game by Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
21) ISRO has tied up with whom to promote spacetech startups?
A. Google
B. Microsoft
C. Facebook
D. Twitter
Ans-B
• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Microsoft on 5th January 2023, signed an MoU to fuel the growth of space technology start-ups in India.
• The MoU seeks to empower space tech start-ups across the country with technology tools and platforms, go-to-market support and mentoring to help them scale and become enterprise-ready.
22) Who has been elected the Chairman of the ‘Gems and Jewelery Council’?
A. Ajit Saxena
B. Anjani Kumar
C. Nalin Negi
D. Sanyam Mehra
Ans-D
• The members of the All-India Gem and Jewelry Domestic Council (GJC) on January 5 elected Sayam Mehra as the chairman and Rajesh Rokade as the vice-chairman of the body for a period of two years (2023-24).
• All India Gem and Jewelry Domestic Council is a national trade association for the promotion and development of the gems and jewellery trade across the country.
23) Hydro tourism will be developed in which state/UT?
A. J&K
B. Ladakh
C. Uttarakhand
D. Assam
Ans-B
• Ladakh Tourism department has collaborated with National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) to develop Hydro tourism at world’s highest hydro power project on the Indus river, near Alchi in Leh.
• Aquatic sports like Jet Skiing, Motorboating, Ice Skating during winter, and boating during summer season will be rolled out in a phased manner.
• Similarly, tourism department is also introducing border tourism in cooperation with Fire and Fury Corps of Indian Army.
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