DAILY

CURRENT AFFAIRS

PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Current Affairs MCQs for Practice – 24 March 2022

Question-1

By how much has domestic cooking gas price increased recently ?

a)  ₹30

b)  ₹50

c)  ₹20

d)  ₹40

Ans- b

Explanation-

After a four-and-a-half month freeze on fuel prices in the run-up to five State Assembly elections, India’s oil marketing companies began recovering the higher crude oil costs that have prevailed in recent months on Tuesday, with an 80 paise increase per litre in retail prices for petrol and diesel, along with a ₹50 increase in domestic cooking gas prices.

Question-2

People from which country have recently started fleeing to India due to growing economic crisis in the country?

a)  Bangladesh

b)  Nepal

c)  Myanmar

d)  Sri Lanka

Ans- d

Explanation-

The economic crisis in Sri Lanka has forced at least 16 Tamils to flee the country illegally and seek shelter in coastal Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday. 

Question-3

Which country's foreign minister has recently said that no country can be “untouched” by the conflict in Ukraine?

a)  Japan

b)  The U.K.

c)  The U.S.

d)  Austria

Ans-d

Explanation-

Accusing Russia of promoting the “law of the jungle” and carrying out a “massive attack against the rules-based international system”, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said that no country can be “untouched” by the conflict in Ukraine.

Question-4

Which Indian state on Tuesday passed a bill against forced religious conversion?

a)  Punjab

b)  Uttar Pradesh

c)  Gujarat

d)  Haryana

Ans- d

Explanation-

The Haryana State Assembly on Tuesday passed the Haryana Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2022, against religious conversion by allurement, coercion or fraudulent means. Congress lawmakers opposed the Bill and staged a walkout from the House.

Question-5

How many out of the 948 routes identified under the government's UDAN scheme are currently operational ?

a)  405

b)  407

c)  410

d)  400

Ans- a

Explanation-

Opening the debate, Congress’ Ravneet Singh Bittu questioned the government’s flagship regional connectivity scheme, UDAN, and claimed that only 405 of the 948 routes identified under UDAN have been operational.

Question-6

With reference to the exports by India, consider the following statements:

1. Exports had reached $331.02 billion in the pre-pandemic fiscal year of 2018-19.

2. The agriculture sector had recorded its highest-ever export during 2021-22 with the help of export of “rice, marine products, wheat, spices and sugar”.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a)  1 only

b)  2 only

c)  Both 1 & 2

d)  Neither 1 nor 2

Ans- c

Explanation-

India’s annual goods exports crossed the $400-billion mark for the first time ever, the government announced, buoyed by an increase in shipments of merchandise, including engineering products, apparel and garments, gems and jewellery and petroleum products.

• Marking the “first time ever” development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the manufacturers, farmers and weavers for achieving this target.
• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal asserted that neither the COVID-19 pandemic nor the global uncertainties following the Ukraine crisis had affected India’s ability to reach its export goals.
• Exports had reached $331.02 billion in the pre-pandemic fiscal year of 2018-19. Shipments have so far increased by $25.19 billion during the month of March and by March 31, the total figure is expected to be $410 billion, the government said.
• The boost in the exports was likely to bolster India’s position in the ongoing negotiations for Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with several trade partners.
• The agriculture sector too had recorded its highest-ever export during 2021-22 with the help of export of “rice, marine products, wheat, spices and sugar”.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Question-7

The government recently raised the Minimum Support Price for which crop?

a)     Wheat

b)     Barley

c)     Rice

d)     Jute

Ans- d

Explanation-

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Tuesday approved the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for raw jute for the 2022-2023 season.

Question-8

Microsoft has recently planned to recycle waste heat from its upcoming datacentre and use it to heat homes in which country ?

a)    Finland

b)    Denmark

c)    Canada

d)    Ireland

Ans-a

Explanation-

Microsoft has partnered with Fortum, a Finnish energy company to heat homes, services and businesses in Finland with sustainable waste heat from a new datacentre that Microsoft has planned to build in Finland. A datacentre is a physical facility that organisations use to store their critical applications and data, process data and disseminate them to users.

Question 9

Mekedatu is a drinking water cum power generation project proposed by Karnataka across which of the following river?

a)    Cauvery

b)    Periyar

c)    Krishna

d)    Son

Ans-a

Explanation-

Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are at loggerheads over the Mekedatu drinking water project across river Cauvery.

• Tamil Nadu’s Assembly has passed a resolution against the project, while Karnataka’s legislative assembly is set to counter it with a resolution seeking the project’s early implementation and clearance.
• Mekedatu is a drinking water cum power generation project proposed by Karnataka across the river Cauvery. The ₹9,000 crore balancing reservoir at Mekedatu on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border envisages impounding of 67.15 tmc (thousand million cubic feet) ft. of water.
• Karnataka has argued that since the project falls inside its own jurisdictional limit, Tamil Nadu’s permission is not needed.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Question 10

Artemis mission, recently seen in news, is an initiative of:

a)    NASA

b)    ISRO

c)    JAXA

d)    ESA

Ans-d

Explanation-

On March 17, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) rolled out its Artemis I moon mission to the launchpad for testing at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, United States.

• The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule of the mission were hurled out to the launchpad by NASA’s Crawler-Transporter 2 vehicle.
• NASA’s Artemis mission is touted as the next generation of lunar exploration, and is named after the twin sister of Apollo from Greek mythology. Artemis is also the goddess of the moon.
• Artemis I is the first of NASA’s deep space exploration systems. It is an uncrewed space mission where the spacecraft will launch on SLS — the most powerful rocket in the world — and travel 2,80,000 miles from the earth for over four to six weeks during the course of the mission.
• The Orion spacecraft is going to remain in space without docking to a space station, longer than any ship for astronauts has ever done before.
• With the Artemis programme, NASA aims to land humans on the moon by 2024, and it also plans to land the first woman and first person of colour on the moon.
• With this mission, NASA aims to contribute to scientific discovery and economic benefits and inspire a new generation of explorers.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Source- The Hindu Newspaper /PIB/ The Indian Express