Daily GK and Current Affairs Quiz – 4th January 2022

Correct Answer – D. France

Explanation: France has assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union with effect from January 01, 2022. The country will continue to hold the EU presidency for the next six months till June 30, 2022. This is the 13th time that France has taken over the rotating presidency. The motto of France as EU President is “recovery, strength, belonging.”

France will work to place the continent’s digitization and climate protection at the forefront. The presidency of the EU rotates every six months among the member states of the 27-nation bloc. Upon the completion of six months presidency, France will be replaced by the Czech Republic.

Important Points:

• France Capital: Paris;
• France Currency: Euro;
• France Prime Minister: Jean Castex;
• President of France: Emmanuel Macron.

Correct Answer – E. Tony Blair

Explanation: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Duchess of Cornwall, and Baroness Amos are to be appointed as members of the Order of the Garter, England’s oldest and most senior order of chivalry. The former prime minister now will be known as ‘Sir Tony’. The appointments are the personal choice of the Queen, who has up to 24 “knight and lady companions”. The ceremonial order, founded in 1348, is a recognition of significant public service and made without prime ministerial advice.Under Sir Tony’s leadership, the UK joined the US-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan – an official inquiry into the 2003 Iraq war was strongly critical of his government and UK military chiefs. He famously referred to Diana, Princess of Wales, as the “people’s princess” after her death.

Correct Answer – C. Vistara

Explanation: Vinod Kannan took over as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vistara Airlines. He replaced Leslie Thng who was the CEO from July 16, 2017, to December 31, 2021. It added that Deepak Rajawat has been elevated to take up the role of Vistara’s Chief Commercial Officer.Vistara, is a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Sons Private Limited and Singapore Airlines.Kannan spent over two decades working with SIA and has held several senior positions in the airline’s head office in Singapore as well as overseas. He holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the National University of Singapore and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Correct Answer – B. S Sahoo

Explanation: Capital markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India has restructured its primary market advisory committee on data. The committee aims to measure pertaining to areas such as securities market data access and privacy. Sebi has appointed Professor at National Law University, Delhi and former chairperson, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India S Sahoo as Panel Head. Earlier this panel was headed by Madhabi Puri Buch, an ex-whole time member of Sebi.

The objective of the Committee:

• The scope of the work of the committee includes identifying segment-wise data perimeters, data needs and gaps, recommending data privacy and data access regulations applicable to market data. It is responsible for recommending appropriate policy for access to securities market data.
• In addition, the committee recommends standardization of data definitions; data identification logic ( usage of uniform codes for identifying and storing data – raw data and derived data) and data validation techniques (single source of truth, validation).

Other members of the committee:

• Members of the committee include Ashlesh Gosain, Regional Head South Asia, Bloomberg LP, Mumbai; Reena Garg Scientist F & Head (Electronic & Information Technology Department) at BIS; Kiran Shetty, CEO and Regional Head – India & South Asia at SWIFT India; Ganesh Ramakishnan Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering in IIT Bombay.
• Also, BSE Managing Director and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan; NSE MD and CEO Vikram Limaye; Mahesh Vyas, MD of CMIE; Prithvi Haldea, chairman at Prime Database; and Anuj Kumar, CEO of CAMS are also the members.

Correct Answer – B. Sushmita Dev

Explanation: The parliamentary standing committee constituted to examine “The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021” comprise of a total of 31 members, including only one women representative. Out of the total 31 members, TMC MP Sushmita Dev is the sole woman representative in the committee. The Bill seeks to raise the legal age of marriage for women in India from 18 to 21 to bring it at par with men.

About the Bill:

The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021 seeks to amend the “Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006” and seven personal laws, which are: Indian Christian Marriage Act; the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act; the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act; the Special Marriage Act; the Hindu Marriage Act; and the Foreign Marriage Act.

Correct Answer – C. Vijay Paul Sharma

Explanation:  The Centre has again appointed Vijay Paul Sharma as the chairman of Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) after he relinquished the post in May last year following completion of the five-year tenure. The role of CACP chairman will be crucial in the proposed committee on the minimum support price (MSP) and other reforms.Currently, he is a Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Correct Answer – A. Rs 2,000

Explanation: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a framework to enable small value digital payments in offline mode using any channel or instrument such as cards, wallets and mobile devices.An offline digital payment means a transaction which does not require internet or telecom connectivity.Under this new framework, which is applicable with immediate effect, offline payments can be made in face-to-face (proximity) mode only.Such transactions will not require an Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA).The upper limit of an offline payment transaction will be ₹200.The total limit for offline transactions on a payment instrument will be ₹2,000 at any point in time.

Correct Answer – B. Fino Payments Bank

Explanation: Fino Payments Bank has received the Reserve Bank of India’s approval for commencing international remittance business.It received approval from central bank under the Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS).It will be undertaking inward cross-border money transfer activities in association with an overseas principal, the details of which are being worked out.It also has plans to commence outward remittance services soon.

Correct Answer – C. Hyderabad

Explanation: Union Ayush Minster, Sarbananda Sonowal has laid foundation stone for the Heartfulness International Yoga academy for setting new benchmarks in yoga training at Hyderabad. It comprises Yoga halls that can accommodate 100 Yoga students in each hall, therapeutic Yoga rooms for consultation, one to one training spaces or small group classes, pre-natal Yoga rooms, lecture hall with 200 sitting capacity, full-fledged recording studio, etc.It will have trainers from India, Europe, Australia, Uzbekistan and US.

Correct Answer – C. Cochin Shipyard Limited

Explanation: The Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) handed over the first of the 23 battery-powered electric boats being constructed for the water metro project under the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL).This is the first of the 23 boats awarded for building to Cochin Shipyard under the Kochi Water Metro project.Five boats are under construction and will be handed over to KMRL in a couple of months by the CSL.The construction of water metro terminals is also progressing.

Correct Answer – C. Vini Mahajan

Explanation: Vini Mahajan, IAS officer assumed the charge of Secretary in the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation. Prior to this, she was serving as Punjab Chief Secretary from 26th June 2020. Ms Mahajan served as Joint Secretary to the Prime Minister of India from 2007-2012, and earlier in 2004-05 as Director in the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.

Correct Answer – C. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

Explanation: The Reserve Bank of India released a framework to enable small value digital payments in offline mode using cards, wallets, and mobile devices. As per the new rules payment system operators, will be able to allow offline payments in face-toface mode only. Such payments that will happen without the use of the internet or the telecom network will be capped at ₹200 per transaction.

Additional Inforamtion-

In December 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed Corporate-promoted Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC) to hold a stake in commercial banks. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced the empanelment of CSB Bank, a private sector lender as an ‘Agency Bank’ in December 2021.

List of banks recently empanelled as Agency Bank of RBI: RBL Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bandhan Bank, South Indian bank, Karnataka bank, and DCB Bank.To put restrictions on para-banks whenever vital financial metrics dip below the prescribed threshold, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced a prompt corrective action (PCA) framework for large non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) with effect from October 2022.

• RBI 25th Governor: Shaktikanta Das;
• RBI Headquarters: Mumbai;
• RBI Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.

Correct Answer – C. $ 37 billion

Explanation: Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that India has achieved its highestever monthly exports of USD 37 billion in December 2021, registering a jump of 37 per cent from December 2020. Uttar Pradesh is one of the best performing states in terms of the ‘One District, One Product’ scheme. The ODOP scheme by the UP government focuses on boosting the economy of the state.

Additional Information

According to a World Trade Organisation (WTO) report in August 2021 on trends in world agricultural trade in recent 25 years, India has entered the top ten list of agricultural produce exporters in 2019 with a significant share within the export of rice, soya beans, cotton and meat. Federation of Indian Export Organisations is the apex trade promotion organisation in India set up by the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India. The organisation is responsible for representing and assisting Indian entrepreneurs and exporters in foreign markets.The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) is an Indian Apex-Export Trade Promotion Active government body, founded on 13 February 1986. The Bureau of Indian Standards is the National Standards Body of India under the Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India. It is established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 which came into effect on 12 October 2017.

Correct Answer: C. G Asok Kumar

Explanation: G Asok Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti has taken over as new Director-General of National Mission for Clean Ganga, Ministry of Jal Shakti on January 04, 2022. He has also served as the Mission Director for National Water Mission. His work in “Jal Shakthi Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” campaign led to the sanction of over 9.5 lakh water conservation structures in the country.

Additional Information

G Asok Kumar has also served as the Executive Director (Projects) in National Mission for Clean Ganga.As the District Collector in 2002, he supported the construction of over 0.14 million household toilets in 1000 schools in Nizamabad district and was responsible for providing drinking water supply to over 3 million people in Hyderabad in 2008. He has also worked in several other sectors such as infrastructure, urban planning, civil aviation, power, sports, welfare, health, education and IT. Shri Asok Kumar is also the recipient of several awards such as the SKOCH Award for Public Services 2021, the Jal-Mitra award from the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the first Telangana Excellence Award by the Government of Telangana for outstanding work done in Public Administration.