Attempt these current affairs MCQs
Answers at the bottom of the page
Q1
Recently the Supremen Court struck down the Maratha quota in admissions and government jobs.
The quota violated which of these verdicts ?
(a)Indra Sawhney & Others v. Union of India
(b)M. R. Balaji v. State of Mysore
(c)Union of India v. Varpal Singh
(d)M. G. Badappanavar v. State of Karnataka
Q2
Which of these is not a proposal under "Global Innovation Partnership" MoU signed between India and UK recently
(a) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
(b) E-BAAZAR
(c) New marketplace
(d) Education
Q3
Consider the following statements about the "New Big 5 project" .
1. It is a proposal to include 5 animals in the critically endangered list
2. Polar Bear and Gorilla are included in the list
Which of these statements are true?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 & 2
(d) None
Q4
Recently the Uttarakhand state government started the rehabilitation of the Raini village which was affected by flash floods. The village is famous for
(a) Farmer agitation
(b) High grade truffles
(c) Chipko Movement
(d) Ayurveda
Q5
Sun’s halo , recently observed in Bangalore, occurs when :
(a) Sun rises while raining
(b) At the end of a solar eclipse
(c) White light dispersion through clouds
(d) None of the above
Solutions
1. Answer: (a)
Supreme Court struck down the Maharashtra law granting quota to the Maratha community in admissions and government jobs, by terming it as "unconstitutional", and held that there were no exceptional circumstances to breach the 50 per cent reservation cap set by the 1992 Mandal verdict ( Indra Sawhney & Others v. Union of India)
2. Answer: (d)
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi gives ex-post facto approval to the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of Republic of India and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom on Global Innovation Partnership (GIP).
Objectives:
- Through this MoU, India and UK agree to launch the Global Innovation Partnership. GIP will support Indian innovators to scale up their innovations in third countries thereby helping them explore new markets and become self sustainable. It will also foster the innovative ecosystem in India. GIP innovations will focus on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) related sectors thereby assisting recipient countries achieve their SDGs.
- Through seed funding, grants, investments and technical assistance, the Partnership will support Indian entrepreneurs and innovators to test, scale up and take their innovative development solutions to select developing countries.
- The innovations selected under GIP would accelerate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals and benefit the base of the pyramid populations thus promoting equity and inclusivity in recipient countries.
- GIP will also develop an open and inclusive e-market place (E-BAAZAR) for cross border innovation transfer and will focus on results based impact assessment thereby promoting transparency and accountability.
3. Answer: (b)
The New Big 5 Project, an international initiative of more than 250 wildlife photographers, conservationists and wildlife charities in the world, has designated five animals for framing instead of firing.
- These are elephants, polar bears, gorillas, tigers and lions.
- Created by British photographer Graeme Green.
4.Answer: (c)
The state government has started the process of rehabilitating the families living in Raini village which was affected by the February 7 flash floods that killed over 200 people.
- The village is known as the cradle of the Chipko movement
- It is the native place of Gaura Devi, one of the protest pioneers.
5. Answer: (c)
The halo that appeared around the Sun is a 22-degree ring that appears due to the dispersion of light as white light passes through ice crystals found in upper-level cirrus clouds, causing the halo to have colours.
• The clouds contain millions of tiny ice crystals, which refract, split and even reflect the light to give an impression of a circular rainbow ring.
• The crystals have to be oriented and positioned just so with respect to your eye, in order for the halo to appear.