Daily GK and Current Affairs Quiz – 8th January 2022

Correct Answer: D. Reliance Retail

Explanation: Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail has invested $200 million or around Rs 1,488 crore in Bengaluru-based quick commerce player Dunzo for a 25.8 per cent stake on a fully diluted basis. The move will help Reliance get a foothold in the country’s growing quick delivery market. Dunzo raised a total of $240 million in this latest round led by the Reliance Industries Ltd arm. The other existing investors were Lightbox, Ligthrock, 3L Capital and Alteria Capital, who participated in the round.The funding will be used to strengthen Dunzo’s vision to excel in the quick commerce business, enabling instant delivery of essentials from a network of micro warehouses while also expanding its B2B business vertical to enable logistics for local merchants in Indian cities.

Important Points:

• Dunzo Founder(s): Kabeer Biswas, Ankur Agarwal, Dalvir Suri, Mukund Jha;
• Dunzo Founded: July 2014;
• Dunzo Headquarters location: Bengaluru.

Correct Answer – B. Zhang Ming

Explanation: China’s senior diplomat Zhang Ming has taken charge as the new Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in which India is a member. He has taken charge from Vladimir Norov, former Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan for a three-year term. He was until recently China’s ambassador to the European Union.

The SCO comprises eight member states: India, Kazakhstan, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It also comprises four countries with “observer” status and six more as “dialogue partners”. India joined SCO at the Astana summit in 2017. 2022 will be an important year for India at SCO as, for the first time, it will assume the presidency of SCO, after Uzbekistan, for the period 2022-2023 which will culminate with the SCO Summit to be hosted by the Indian side in 2023. The SCO Summit is the meeting of the Council of Heads of States (HOS) and along with the Council of Heads of Government (HOG) makes two most important dialogue mechanisms among SCO member states.

Correct Answer – E. Gujarat

Explanation: Gujarat Chief Minister, Bhupendra Patel has been launched “Student Start-ups and Innovation Policy 2.0 (SSIP-2.0)” for the next five years. The policy contains provisions for the establishment of active innovation and incubation centres in all universities in the state. The policy aims to cover 50 lakh students across 1,000 higher education institutes and 10,000 schools of innovation and entrepreneurship. The policy also aims to give assistance to 10,000 proof of concepts and prototypes developed by the students and to 1,000 proof of concepts developed by school children.

Important Points:

• Gujarat Capital: Gandhinagar;
• Gujarat Governor: Acharya Devvrat;
• Gujarat Chief minister: Bhupendrabhai Patel.

Correct Answer – E. Both 1 and 2

Explanation: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the Certificate of Authorisation (CoA) of two Payment System Operators (PSOs): Muthoot Vehicle and Asset Finance Limited and Eko India Financial Services Private Limited, citing non-compliance with regulatory requirements under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. Both Muthoot Vehicle and Asset Finance Limited and Eko India Financial Services Private Limited had the certificate of authorisation issued by the RBI for issuance and operation of prepaid payment instruments.

The RBI further mentioned in its press release that the COA cancellation came into force on December 31, 2021. But RBI clarified in its notice that the customers or merchants who have a valid claim on these companies as PSOs can approach them for settlement of their claims within three years from the date of cancellation.

Correct Answer – B. South Indian Bank

Explanation: South Indian Bank (SIB) won the UiPath Automation Excellence Awards 2021 for Best Automation under ‘Crisis for Business Continuity.The 2021 edition of the award recognises the contribution of the individuals and organizations across India and South Asia (Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal) for bringing change through transformative automation projects.

Other Awards:

Correct Answer – D. Rome, Italy

Explanation:  United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) in India, has partnered with The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF), a not-for-profit organization, to enhance the effectiveness of the Pradhan Mantri – Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) scheme (earlier known as National Programme for Mid-Day Meal in Schools). The partnership aims to enhance food safety and hygiene projects, capacity building of cooks-cum-helpers and nutritional quality of school meals.

Under this collaboration, WFP and TAPF will share knowledge through workshops and policy and strategy dialogues with the government to enhance the quality of the school meal programme. Since its inception in 1961, school meals have been part of WFP’s mission. WFP has six decades of experience supporting school feeding and working with more than 100 countries to set up sustainable national school feeding programmes.

Important Points:

• World Food Programme Founded: 1961;
• World Food Programme Headquarters: Rome, Italy;
• World Food Programme Executive Director: David Beasley.

Correct Answer – D. 9.2%

Explanation:  India’s economy will return to growth in 2021-22 and its Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow 9.2% against a contraction of 7.3% in the previous fiscal year. This was shown in the first advance estimates by the National Statistical Office (NSO) released on 7 January 2022. Gross Value Added (GVA) is expected to rise by 8.6% compared to a contraction of 6.2% in FY21. With a 9.2% growth rate, India will reclaim the status of the fastest-growing major economy.

Additional Information

The National Statistics Office (NSO) is responsible for collecting, compiling, classifying, producing, publishing statistics, and for carrying out and administering the provisions of the Civil Registry Law. The Reserve Bank of India’s pre-third wave projection of GDP growth was 9.5% in December 2021. 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.

Correct Answer – E. Jayanta Ghosal

Explanation: Harper Collins announced the release date of the book titled Mamata Beyond 2021, on 5 January 2022. The book will be released on 24 January 2022. It has been written by Jayanta Ghosal, a political Journalist, and translated by Arunava Sinha, a fiction and non-fiction translator. The book is based on the political life of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.

Correct Answer – D. Ranjith Balakrishnan

Explanation: Malayalam movie director Ranjith Balakrishnan has assumed the office of the Chairman of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy.It is the apex cinema body in Thiruvananthapuram.His films ‘Thirakkatha’ and ‘Indian Rupee’ won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam in 2008 and 2011 respectively. He took charge as the ninth chairman of the Academy from his predecessor Kamal.

Correct Answer – D. Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC)

Explanation:  The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has bagged the SKOCH silver award in the ‘Power and Energy’ category. The award was given for its outstanding contribution towards ensuring quality, accessibility, and availability of power at an affordable price focusing sustainable environment. SKOCH Group is a think tank dealing with socio-economic issues with a focus on inclusive growth.

Additional Information  

Anil Baijal is the current Lieutenant Governor (as of January 2022) of Delhi.Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana on 12 Dec 2021 launched an e-learning platform, ‘Unnati’. Jai Bhim Mukhyamantri Pratibha Vikas Yojana was launched by the Delhi government in November 2021 to provide free coaching of various competitive exams. In November 2021, Delhi Government launched a pilgrimage scheme called “Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana” The Delhi government launched “Desh ke Mentors” programme on October 11, 2021, this programme was launched with the aim of providing students with young mentors.

Correct Answer – B. Akshaya Patra Foundation

Explanation: An agreement has been signed between World Food Programme in India and The Akshaya Patra Foundation, on 3 January 2022 in New Delhi. The partnership aims to enhance food safety and hygiene projects, capacity building of cooks-cumhelpers, and nutritional quality of school meals. The two organizations will share knowledge by organizing workshops and policy and strategy dialogues with the Government.

Additional Information

Mid-day Meals Scheme also known as Prime Minister Poshan is one of the three main food-based safety nets in India, reaching close to 100 million school-aged children with hot-cooked meals. The scheme plays a significant role in the retention of children in school while providing nutritional security. The United Nations World Food Programme won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020.  The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that strives to address classroom hunger and malnutrition in India.By implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Government and Government-aided schools, Akshaya Patra aims to fight hunger and, at the same time, bring children to school.

Correct Answer – A. Philippines

Explanation: Child marriage has become illegal in the Philippines. A law banning the practice took effect in a country on 6 Jan 2022. One in six girls enters wedlock before the age of 18 in the country. The impoverished Southeast Asian country has the 12th highest number of child marriages in the world, according to Britain-based rights group Plan International.

Important Points

The law is consistent with international conventions on the rights of women and children. However, some portions of the legislation have been suspended for one year to allow for a transition period for Muslims and indigenous communities in which child marriage is relatively common.

Additional Information

• Philippines:
• Capital – Manila.
• Currency – Philippine peso.

Correct Answer – C. Ghaziabad

Explanation: Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena launched the country’s first Mobile Honey Processing Van at village Sirora in Ghaziabad, UP on 7 January 2022. It has been designed by KVIC at its Multi-disciplinary Training Centre, Panjokehra, at a cost of Rs 15 lakh. This mobile honey processing unit can process up to 300 KG of honey in 8 hours.

Important Points

The Mobile Van has been designed in-house by KVIC at its Multi-disciplinary Training Centre, Panjokehra, at a cost of Rs 15 lakh. The van is also equipped with a testing laboratory, that would instantly examine the quality of honey. This Mobile Honey Processing Van is likely to benefit the beekeepers in rural areas of states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, and Rajasthan. The honey processing van will move to different apiaries in these states where beekeepers will be able to get their honey processed at nominal charges that too at their doorsteps.

Correct Answer: A. Md Arif Khan

Explanation: Sports Ministry’s Mission Olympic Cell (MOC), has approved the inclusion of Alpine Skiing athlete Md Arif Khan in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), Core group, until the Winter Olympics, scheduled in Feb’22 in Beijing, China. He will take part in the Winter Olympics in the Slalom and Giant Slalom events. He has also been approved an amount of Rs 17,46,000 under TOPS towards training.

Important Points

The MOC approved the European training camp for Khan for a total of 35 days, which started since his qualification for the Winter Olympics. He won the quota in the giant slalom in a competition in Montenegro in December 2021. Khan’s current training base is in Austria, where he is accompanied by his coach and physio.He had won two gold medals, in the Slalom and Giant Slalom events, at the 2011 South Asian Winter Games, held in Uttarakhand.