1) Consider the following statements with respect to Bharat Parv
It is an annual event organised to encourage foreign tourists to visit different tourist spots in India.
The Central theme of Bharat Parv 2020 is ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ and ‘Celebrating 150 Years of Mahatma Gandhi’.
It is being organised by the Ministry of Tourism.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Answer : c
Bharat Parv, 2020 is being celebrated from 26th to 31st January, 2020 in front of Red Fort at Gyan Path and Red Fort grounds.
Bharat Parv is an annual event organised by the Ministry of Tourism.
The objective of Bharat Parv is to encourage Indians to visit different tourism places of India and to inculcate the spirit of ‘Dekho Apna Desh’.
The Central theme of this year’s Bharat Parv is ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ and ‘Celebrating 150 Years of Mahatma Gandhi’.
2) Consider the following statements with respect to Padma Awards
Government servants including those working with PSUs, except doctors and scientists, are not eligible for these Awards.
The award may be conferred posthumously.
The award may be conferred to foreigners also.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Answer : d
The Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian honours of India announced annually on the eve of Republic Day.
The Awards are given in three categories:
Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service)
Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher order)
Padma Shri (distinguished service)
The award seeks to recognize achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved.
The Padma Awards are conferred on the recommendations made by the Padma Awards Committee, which is constituted by the Prime Minister every year.
The nomination process is open to the public. Even self-nomination can be made.
All persons without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex are eligible for these awards. However, Government servants including those working with PSUs, except doctors and scientists, are not eligible for these Awards.
The award is normally not conferred posthumously. However, in highly deserving cases, the Government could consider giving an award posthumously.
The total number of awards to be given in a year (excluding posthumous awards and to NRI/foreigners/OCIs) should not be more than 120.
The award does not amount to a title and cannot be used as a suffix or prefix to the awardees’ name.
All nominations received for Padma Awards are placed before the Padma Awards Committee.
The Padma Awards Committee is headed by the Cabinet Secretary and includes Home Secretary, Secretary to the President and four to six eminent persons as members.
The recommendations of the committee are submitted to the Prime Minister and the President of India for approval.
Among the Padma Shri award recipients this year are two women from Sri Lanka for their pioneering contributions in their individual fields and for strengthening India-Sri Lanka ties.
The awards have been conferred on Deshabandu Dr. Vajira Chitrasena for her contribution to dance and Late Prof. Indra Dassanayake for her contribution to Hindi literature.
3) An Adhoc Committee instituted recently by the Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu has made 40 far reaching recommendations to prevent sexual abuse of children and to contain access to and transmission of child pornography content on the social media. Who among the following is the Chairman of the Committee?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Answer : c
The Adhoc Committee of the Rajya Sabha instituted by Chairman Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has made 40 far reaching recommendations to prevent sexual abuse of children and to contain access to and transmission of child pornography content on the social media.
The report of the Committee was today presented by the Chairman of the Committee Shri Jai Ram Ramesh to Shri Naidu.
4) Taal Volcano sometimes seen in the news recently is located in?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Answer : c
The Philippine authorities have recently lowered the alert level at Taal Volcano, two weeks after it began spewing ash, steam and rocks, a move that will allow many of the region’s 376,000 displaced villagers to return home.
5) Consider the following statements with respect to Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA)
It functions as the nodal body for adoption of Indian children and is mandated to monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions.
It is a statutorybody of Ministry of Women & Child Development.
It is designated as the Central Authority to deal with inter-country adoptions in accordance with the provisions of the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, 199
Which of the statements given above are correct?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Answer : d
Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is a statutorybody of, Government of India. Ministry of Women & Child Development
It functions as the nodal body for adoption of Indian children and is mandated to monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions.
CARA is designated as the Central Authority to deal with inter-country adoptions in accordance with the provisions of the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, 1993, ratified by Government of India in 2003
CARA primarily deals with adoption of orphan, abandoned and surrendered children through its associated /recognised adoption agencies.
6) Consider the following statements with respect to Spotted Owl
They occur in a variety of habitat types centered around mature forests with dense canopies.
They are listed as Near Threatened in IUCN Red List.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Answer : c
Recently Biologists warn in a study that northern Spotted owls, long endangered by logging operations in the Pacific Northwest, face another threat, competition from the invasive barred owl species.
Over the full extent of their range, Spotted Owls occur in a variety of habitat types centered around mature forests with dense canopies.
The Northern Spotted Owl requires unlogged, expansive, mature coniferous forest stands with large trees and a complex array of vegetation types, sizes and ages.
The California Spotted Owl similarly prefers forest stands with large-diameter trees and varied levels of vegetation.
The Mexican subspecies inhabits pine-oak forests or mixed-conifer forests dominated by Douglas-fir, pine, or fir.
They are listed as Near Threatened in IUCN Red List.
7) Consider the following statements with respect to Bharat Ratna Award
The recommendations for Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister himself to the President. No formal recommendations for this are necessary.
The Award carry a monetary grant of Rs 10 lakhs.
Awardee can use the expression of the award in their biodata/letterhead/visiting card to indicate that he/she is a recipient of the award.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Answer : c
‘Bharat Ratna’, the highest civilian Award of the country, was instituted in the year 1954.
Any person without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex is eligible for these awards.
It is awarded in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavour.
The recommendations for Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister himself to the President.
No formal recommendations for this are necessary.
The number of annual awards is restricted to a maximum of 3 in a particular year.
There is no monetary grant associated with award.
On conferment of the award, the recipient receives a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion.
In terms of Article 18 (1) of the Constitution, the award cannot be used as a prefix or suffix to the recipient's name.
However, should an award winner consider it necessary, he/she may use the following expression in their biodata/letterhead/visiting card etc. to indicate that he/she is a recipient of the award, as “Awarded Bharat Ratna by the President” or “Recipient of Bharat Ratna Award”.
8) Consider the following statements with respect to G 77 (Group of 77)
It is the largest intergovernmental organization with the membership of 77 developing countries in the United Nations.
Palestine has been elected as G77 chair for 2020.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Answer : d
The G 77 Group is the largest coalition of Third World nations.
It was established on 15 June 1964 by 77 developing countries signatories of the “Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Developing Countries” issued at the end of the 1st session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva.
The Group of 77 is the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries in the United Nations.
The membership of the G-77 has increased to 134 countries.
The chairmanship of the G77 is based on the system of geographical rotation.
Recently, Guyana has been elected as G77 chair for 2020.
The G77 grouping considers China as the member state.
China is providing consistent political support to the G77 and even makes financial contributions.
9) GATI web portal sometime seen in news is related to?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Answer : d
Recently Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways launched online Web Portal ‘GATI.’
It is to Monitor Road & Highways Projects.
The portal has been created by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) taking inspiration from the PRAGATI Portal used by PMO, the portal used by the Prime Ministers’ Office (PMO) for monitoring projects.
It can be accessed from NHAI Website.
10) Recently there was an excavations at Nagardhan which is located in?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Answer : c
Recent excavations atNagardhan have brought new clarity on the life, religious affiliations and trade practices of the Vakataka dynasty, which ruled parts of Central and South India centuries ago.
Nagardhan is a large village in Nagpur district, Maharashtra.
The Nagardhan Fort stands south of present-day Nagardhan village.
This was constructed during the Gond Raja period and later renovated and re-used by the Bhosales of Nagpur during the late 18th and 19th centuries.
The area surrounding the fort is under cultivation and has archaeological remains.
Very little was known about the Vakatakas, the Shaivite rulers of Central India between the 3rd and 5th centuries.
All that was known about the dynasty, believed to hail from the Vidarbha region, was largely through some literature and copperplates.
There were assumptions that the excavated site of Nagardhan is the same as Nandhivardhan, the capital city of the eastern branch of the Vakatakas.
It is the first time clay sealings have been excavated from Nagardhan.
The oval-shaped sealing belongs to the period when Prabhavatigupta was the queen of the Vakataka dynasty.
It bears her name in the Brahmi script, along with the depiction of a conch. The sealing is 1,500 years old.
The presence of the conch, scholars say, is a sign of the Vaishnava affiliation that the Guptas held.
The copperplate issued by Queen Prabhavatigupta starts with a genealogy of the Guptas, mentioning the Queen’s grandfather Samudragupta and her father Chandragupta II.
An intact idol of Lord Ganesha, which had no ornaments adorned, too was found from the site.
This confirmed that the elephant god was a commonly worshipped deity in those times.
On the means of living of the Vakataka people, researchers found animal rearing to be one of the main occupations.
Remains of seven species of domestic animals cattle, goat, sheep, pig, cat, horse and fowl were traced in an earlier study by the team.
Some terracotta objects even depicted images of gods, animals and humans, along with amulets, scotches, wheels, skin rubbers and spindle whorls.
