Daily GK and Current Affairs Quiz – 1st February 2022

Correct Answer: D. Paytm Money  

Explanation: Paytm Money has introduced “India’s first” intelligent messenger called ‘Pops’. The company has launched ‘Pops’, with which users can receive specific information related to their stocks, analysis about their portfolio, market news, and important market movements in an easy to consume format, all in one place. The platform will also serve as a marketplace to offer sophisticated stock recommendations, news insights, and other services.

Paytm Money is partnering with InvestorAi to offer stock recommendations based on signals generated using artificial intelligence. Now, with Pops on the Paytm Money app, these investors can monitor their portfolios regularly and learn from the market movements with alerts curated for them.

Important Points:

• Paytm Money CEO: Varun Sridhar;
• Paytm Money Headquarters location: Bengaluru;
• Paytm Money Founded: 20 September 2017.

Correct Answer – C. China

Explanation: India defeated China, 2-0 to win the bronze medal at the 2022 Women’s Hockey Asia Cup tournament. The 2022 Women’s Hockey Asia Cup was the 10th edition of the quadrennial Women’s Hockey Asia Cup.The tournament was held from January 21 to 28, 2022 at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat, Oman.Japan defeated South Korea 4-2 in the final to win their third title at the Women’s Hockey Asia Cup tournament.

Correct Answer – A. Maharashtra

Explanation: Maharashtra has topped India’s list in the number of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) owned by entrepreneurs from the Scheduled Castes with as many as 96,805 enterprises.Tamil Nadu with 42,997 enterprises and Rajasthan with 38,517 units occupy the second and third slots, according to the data furnished by the Office of the Development Commissioner in the Union Ministry of MSME.

The fourth, fifth and sixth slots belong to Uttar Pradesh (36,913 units), Karnataka (28,803 enterprises) and Punjab (24,503 units) respectively. Generally, the proportion of enterprises owned by Scheduled Caste entrepreneurs in the overall national tally of MSMEs is 6%.

Correct Answer – D. $ 300 million

Explanation: State Bank of India (SBI) has issued $300 million Formosa bonds and listed the issuance on India INX GIFT IFSC. The lender is the first Indian entity to raise money through Formosa Bond, which is a bond issued in Taiwan. SBI was the first issuer whose Green bonds were dually listed in November 2021 on Luxembourg Stock Exchange through an MOU that has been entered into by both Exchanges.

This first successful issuance of Formosa Bond by any Indian commercial bank, is a testimony of the confidence reposed by the overseas investors into India’s growth story and also in SBI.

Important Points: 

• SBI Founded: 1 July 1955;
• SBI Headquarters: Mumbai;
• SBI Chairman: Dinesh Kumar Khara.

Correct Answer – A. January 30

Explanation: World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day (World NTD Day) is observed on January 30 every year to raise awareness about neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) as a critical public health challenge so that we can progress towards their elimination. 2022 theme is ‘Achieving health equity to end the neglect of poverty-related diseases’. The 2022 slogan is “From neglect to care”.

History of the day:

The first World NTD Day was held on 30 January 2020. The proposal to recognise the day was made by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 74th World Health Assembly endorsed a decision recognizing 30 January as World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day (‘World NTD Day’). World NTD Day commemorates the simultaneous launch of the first NTD road map and the London Declaration on NTDs on 30 January 2012. For countries where neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are prevalent and for the global community of partners, this is a new dawn.

Correct Answer – C. Israel

Explanation:The Government of India has joined hands with the Government of Israel to create 150 ‘Villages of Excellence’ in 12 States of the country, to help farmers to adopt the latest technology in the farm sector. Israel would provide Technical assistance and other expertise to make agriculture a more profitable business.

The 150 villages that are located around CoEs will be converted into ‘Villages of Excellence.’ Out of which, 75 villages are being taken up in the first year to commemorate the 75th year of India’s independence. Already, the Israeli government has established 29 Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in 12 states.

Important Points: 

• Israel President: Isaac Herzog;
• Israel Capital: Jerusalem;
• Israel Prime minister: Naftali Bennett;
• Israel Currency: Israeli Shekel.

Correct Answer – D. PR Sreejesh

Explanation:  India hockey goalkeeper PR Sreejesh won the prestigious World Games Athlete of the Year 2021.He becomes 1st Indian man and only the second Indian to receive the accolade.In 2020, Indian women’s hockey captain Rani Rampal became the first Indian to win the honour.Sreejesh was part of the Tokyo Olympics-bronze medal winning side.In the FIH Stars Awards in October 2021, Sreejesh was named the goalkeeper of the year for 2021.

Correct Answer – D. Manoj Pande

Explanation: Lt Gen Manoj Pande took charge as the new Vice Chief of the Indian Army, succeeding Lt Gen C P Mohanty.Lt Gen Pande was serving as the Eastern Army Commander before assuming the new role.Lt Gen RP Kalita has been appointed as the new chief of Kolkata-headquartered Eastern Army Command.Lt Gen Pande was commissioned in the Bombay Sappers in Dec1982.Lt Gen Pande will be the senior-most Army commander when Army Chief Gen MM Naravane retires from service in April.

Correct Answer – A. GAIL (India) Limited

Explanation: GAIL (India) Limited has begun India’s maiden project of mixing hydrogen into the natural gas system at Indore.This is a first-of-its-kind project in the country.This project marks the stepping stone of India’s journey towards a hydrogen-based and carbon-neutral future.

Correct Answer – C. Magnus Carlsen

Explanation:World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen won the Tata Steel Masters chess 2022 after beating Fabiano Caruana. Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi lost to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan in the 12th and penultimate round of the tournament.The Norwegian, who will get a win by forfeit (over Daniil Dubov) in the final round, is a full point ahead of his closest competitors — Richard Rapport and Mamedyarov.While Gujrathi lost to Mamedyarov and remains on six points.

Correct Answer – A. 6.6 percent

Explanation: Indian economy contracted by 6.6% in 2020-21. As per the provisional estimates released in May 2021, the GDP had contracted by 7.3 percent in 2020-21. Real GDP or GDP at constant (2011-12) prices for the years 2020-21 and 2019-20 stands at Rs 135.58 lakh crore and Rs 145.16 lakh crore, respectively. This was revealed in the revised national account data by National Statistical Office.

Additional Information

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut India’s economic growth forecast to 9 percent for the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2022. In October 2021, it had projected a 9.5 percent GDP growth for India. India Ratings & Research expects India’s real gross domestic product to grow 7.6% in the fiscal year 2022-23. The Indian economy will show a meaningful expansion, as the real GDP in FY23 will be 9.1% higher than the FY20 GDP level. HDFC Bank expects the GDP growth for FY22 to be between 9% and 9.5%. India’s GDP is likely to have grown at 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2020-21 and may have contracted by about 7.3% for the full financial year, according to an SBI research report ‘Ecowrap’ in July 2021.  Retail inflation declined to 4.35 percent in September 2021, mainly due to lower food prices, according to government data released.

• World Bank Founded: July 1944
• World Bank Headquarters: Washington DC, USA
• World Bank President: David R. Malpass (As of Jan 2022).

Correct Answer – A. Punjab National Bank

Explanation: Punjab National Bank (PNB), and Patanjali Ayurved Limited (PAL) have launched co-branded credit cards in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The co-branded credit cards are offered on NCPI’s RuPay Platform and are available in two variants – PNB RuPay Platinum and PNB RuPay Select. They also come with attractive insurance cover of ₹2 lakh and ₹10 lakh.

Additional Information

Fintech company Lendingkart has entered into a co-lending partnership with Canara Bank. It will provide low-cost business loans of up to ₹10 lakh to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across the country. Former RBI Governor Urjit Patel has been appointed as a Vice President of the Beijing-based multilateral funding institution AIIB.

Union Bank of India (UBI) has announced that for the purpose of lending it has replaced London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) with Alternate Reference Rate (ARR). The country’s largest lender State Bank of India has decided to enhance the free IMPS online transactions limit to Rs 5 lakh from the Rs 2 lakh in order to encourage customers to adopt digital banking.

Punjab National Bank:

• Founded: 1894;
• Headquarters: New Delhi;
• MD & CEO: Atul Kumar Goel (as of February 2022).
• Tagline: The Name You Can Bank Upon.

Correct Answer – C. ₹5000 crore

Explanation: The govt has set up the National Land Monetisation Corporation with an initial authorized share capital of ₹5000 cr and subscribed share capital of ₹150 cr. It will fast-track monetisation of land and non-core assets of public sector entities. Setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) was also announced in the 2021 budget to carry out the monetisation of the land and other non-core assets.

Additional Information

The Ministry of Textiles has cleared 20 strategic research projects worth ₹30 crores in the areas of specialty fibers and geotextiles. These strategic research projects fall under the government’s flagship program ‘National Technical Textiles Mission.’  Drinking water supply schemes of Rs. 6,872.28 crore have been approved for Rajasthan under Jal Jeevan Mission. They were approved in the State-level Scheme Sanctioning Committee (SLSSC) meeting held on 5th January 2022.The Union Cabinet has approved the infusion of ₹1,500 crores in the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA). The Centre government has allocated Rs 3,323 crore to Odisha for the Jal Jeevan Mission on 1 Jan 2022.

Correct Answer: A. 01 February

Explanation: The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is the fourth largest Coast Guard in the world. It was inaugurated with just seven surface platforms in 1978. Since then, the organisation has increased its inventory to 156 ships and 62 aircraft. The motto of the ICG is “Vayam Rakshamah” or “We Protect”. The ICG was inaugurated on 19 August 1978, by then Prime Minister Morarji Desai.

Additional Information

Director-General VS Pathania (As of Feb 2022) took over as the 24th Chief of Indian Coast Guard on 31 December 2021. Director-General VS Pathania (As of Feb 2022) succeeds 23rd DG Krishnaswamy Natarajan.Indian Navy has commissioned the 4th Scorpene-class submarine INS Vela on November 27th, 2021. On November 22nd, 2021,  INS Visakhapatnam, was commissioned into the Indian Navy at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai. IG Maneesh Vishal Pathak has been conferred with President’s Tatrakshak Medal (PTM) for his Distinguished Service in the Indian Coast Guard in January 2022.TM (Gallantry) has been awarded to 3 personnel, while TM (Meritorious Service) to 2 personnel.