DAILY

CURRENT AFFAIRS

PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Today’s Current Affairs MCQs for Practice
(From The Hindu- 21^st June 2022)

Question-1

As protests against the Centre’s armed forces recruitment scheme Agnipath continue, a total of how many Agniveers has the army said it will recruit this year in two batches?

a)   25000

b)   40000

c)   50000

d)   35000

Ans- b

Explanation-

The Army has already said it will recruit 40,000 Agniveers in two batches this year. “The registration will open on July 1, and the first recruitment rally is expected to be held in mid-August,” an Army official said.

Question-2

As per Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent announcement, how many government jobs will be provided over the next 18 months?

a)   Ten lakh

b)   Eight lakh

c)   Five lakh

d)   Fifteen lakh

Ans- a

Explanation-

With his announcement that 10 lakh government jobs will be provided over the next 18 months on a “mission mode”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent four messages.

Question-3

The prices of the most prominent cryptocurrency Bitcoin came crashing down this week, from a peak of $69,000 apiece in November last year to $20,000 now. In September last year, which country had adopted Bitcoin as an official currency?

a)   El Salvador

b)   Colombia

c)   Fiji

d)   The Philippines

Ans- a

Explanation-

El Salvador, led by President Nayib Bukele, a self-proclaimed fan of cryptocurrencies, adopted Bitcoin as an official currency in September last year.

Question-4

Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri said on Monday that the Central Vista Avenue in Delhi was ready to open in the next few days. Since when has Central Vista Avenue been closed to the public, on account of its redevelopment?

a)   February 2021

b)   December 2020

c)   January 2021

d)   November 2020

Ans- a

Explanation-

The Central Vista Avenue is set to open in the next few days after remaining closed to the public since February 2021 for redevelopment, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri said on Monday.

Question-5

Consider the following statements regarding prepaid payment instruments (PPIs):

1.    They facilitate the buying of goods and services, including the transfer of funds, against the value stored within or on the instrument.

2.   Both Banks and Non-Banking Financial companies can issue prepaid payment instruments.

Which of the above statement(s) is/are correct?

a)    1 only

b)   2 only

c)    Both 1 and 2

d)   Neither 1 nor 2

Ans- c

Explanation-

Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs)

• The RBI defines prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) as payment instruments that facilitate the buying of goods and services, including the transfer of funds, financial services, and remittances, against the value stored within or on the instrument.
• PPIs are in the form of payment wallets, smart cards, mobile wallets, magnetic chips, vouchers, etc.
• As per the regulations, banks and NBFCs can issue PPIs.

Credit Line

• A credit line is a preset borrowing limit that allows an individual or business access to credit at any time, as per need.
• It can be tapped into by the customer till the limit offered is not exceeded.
• It is like a flexible loan as against a lump-sum loan where a fixed amount is borrowed.

Question-6

Consider the following statements:

1.    For temperate regions, the summer solstice is when the sun reaches its lowest point in the sky.

2.   The Slavic countries including the Czech Republic and Slovakia celebrate Kupala during the summer solstice.

Which of the above statement(s) is/are correct?

a)   1 only

b)   2 only

c)   Both 1 and 2

d)   Neither 1 nor 2

Ans- b

Explanation-

Summer Solstice

• The summer solstice marks the beginning of the astronomical summer and occurs when the earth has its maximum tilt towards the sun.
• For temperate regions, the summer solstice is when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky.
• Solstices happen twice per year: one for the winter and one for the summer and this is interchanged depending on which Hemisphere you live in.
• The longest day of the year happens on the day of the summer solstice since the earth receives the longest period of daylight during the day.
• Poland and some other Slavic countries including the Czech Republic and Slovakia celebrate “Noc Kupaly” or Kupala during the shortest night of the year i.e, during the summer solstice.
• Many of the rituals of this festival are connected to the idea of fertility and ritual purification and include herb collecting, bonfire lighting, and bathing in a river.

Question-7

Consider the following statements:

1.    Higher levels of fiscal deficit imply the government consumes the investible funds of the private sector.

2.   A widening current account deficit (CAD) weakens the domestic currency because CAD implies more foreign currencies are being demanded than rupees.

Which of the above statement(s) is/are incorrect?

a)   1 only

b)   2 only

c)   Both 1 and 2

d)   Neither 1 nor 2

Ans- d

Explanation-

Twin Deficits

Fiscal Deficit

• The fiscal deficit is essentially the amount of money that the government has to borrow in any year to fill the gap between its expenditures and revenues.
• Higher levels of fiscal deficit typically imply the government eats into the pool of investible funds in the market which could have been used by the private sector for its own investment needs.

Current Account Deficit (CAD)

• The current account essentially refers to two specific sub-parts:
• Import and Export of goods — this is the trade account.
• Import and export of services — this is called the invisible account.
• If a country imports more goods (everything from cars to phones to machinery to food grains etc) than it exports, it is said to have a trade account deficit.
• A deficit implies that more money is going out of the country than coming in via the trade of physical goods.
• Similarly, the same country could be earning a surplus on the invisible account — that is, it could be exporting more services than importing.
• If, however, the net effect of a trade account and the invisible account is a deficit, then it is called a current account deficit or CAD.
• A widening CAD tends to weaken the domestic currency because a CAD implies more dollars (or foreign currencies) are being demanded than rupees.

Question-8

The Aegean Sea is bordered by which of the following countries?

a)   Turkey – Greece

b)   Turkey – Greece – Bulgaria

c)   Bulgaria – Albania – Greece

d)   Bulgaria – Albania

Ans- a

Explanation-

Aegean Sea

• The Aegean Sea, spanning over two lakh square kilometers, is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea.
• It is located in the East Mediterranian Basin with the Greek peninsula to its west and Anatolia (consisting of the Asian side of Turkey) to its east.
• There are more than a thousand islands in the Aegean Sea, almost all Greek, and some within two kilometers of mainland Turkey or the Turkish west coast.

Question-9

Consider the following statements:

1.    The heterologous vaccine is the administration of two different vectors or delivery systems expressing the same or overlapping antigenic inserts.

2.   Corbevax is an example of a heterologous vaccine, while Covishield is an example of a homologous vaccine.

Which of the above statement(s) is/are correct?

a)   1 only

b)   2 only

c)   Both 1 and 2

d)   Neither 1 nor 2

Ans- c

Explanation-

Heterologous and Homologous Vaccines

• According to the expert, homologous boosters use the same type of vaccine as the first and second doses.
• A person who got the first two doses of Covishield, a non-replicating viral vector, gets jabbed with the same.
• Heterologous prime-boost immunization is the administration of two different vectors or delivery systems expressing the same or overlapping antigenic inserts.
• The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved Biological E's coronavirus vaccine Corbevax as a heterologous Covid-19 booster dose.

Question-10

With reference to the Web 5.0, consider the following statements:

1. It is being developed by Dorsey’s Bitcoin business unit.

2. It will allow users to ‘own their identity’ on the Internet and ‘control their data’.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a)   1 only

b)   2 only

c)   Both 1 and 2

d)   Neither 1 nor 2

Ans- c

Explanation-

Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey recently announced his vision for a new decentralized web platform that is being called Web 5.0 and is being built with an aim to return “ownership of data and identity to individuals”.

• Web 1.0: Web 1.0 was the first generation of the global digital communications network. It is often referred to as the “read-only” Internet made of static web-pages that only allowed for passive engagement.
• Web 2.0: The next stage in the evolution of the web was the “read and write” Internet. Users were now able to communicate with servers and other users leading to the creation of the social web. This is the world wide web that we use today.
• Web 3.0: Web 3.0 is an evolving term that refers to a “read-write-execute” web – with decentralization as its bedrock. It speaks about a digital world, built leveraging the blockchain technology, where people are able to interact with each other without the need of an intermediary. Web 3.0 will be driven by Artificial Intelligence and machine learning.

Web 5.0

·      Being developed by Dorsey’s Bitcoin business unit, The Block Head (TBH), Web 5.0 is aimed at “building an extra decentralized web that puts you in control of your data and identity”.

·      Web 5.0 is Web 2.0 plus Web 3.0 that will allow users to ‘own their identity’ on the Internet and ‘control their data’. Both Web 3.0 and Web 5.0 envision an Internet without threat of censorship – from governments or big tech, and without fear of significant outages.

·      Hence both statements are correct.

Source- The Hindu Newspaper / PIB/ The Indian Express