Daily Current Affairs MCQ / UPSC 2020 / IAS / 27-12-19 | Free PDF

 
MCQ 1
China, Russia and Iran are holding joint naval drills  starting Friday in the

1. Persian Gulf
2. Gulf of Aden
3. South China Sea
4. NOTA

• The four-day exercise comes at a time of heightened  tensions since the United  States withdrew from a  landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran in May last
• “The message of this exercise is peace, friendship  and lasting security through  cooperation and unity …  and its effect will be to show  that Iran cannot be  isolated,” Rear Admiral  Gholamreza Tahani said on  state television.
• The Russian Navy Neustrashimyy-class frigate ‘Yaroslav Mudry’ moored at Chabahar on the Gulf of  Oman during Iran-Russia-China joint naval drills  [Iranian Army office/AFP]

MCQ 2

1. Hezbollah group is based in Gaza strip
2. They are Shia group opposed heavily by Iran

Choose correct

1. Only 1
2. Only 2
3. Both
4. None

• Hezbollah (“Party of Allah” or “Party of God”)— Hizbullah, Hizballah, etc.—is a Shia Islamist political party  and militant group based in Lebanon.
• Hezbollah’s paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese  parliament.
• Since the death of Abbas al-Musawi in 1992, the group has been headed by Hassan Nasrallah, its Secretary-General.
• The group, along with its military wing is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Israel, Canada, the Arab  League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Argentina, Paraguay, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia, and Venezuela (Guaidó  government).
• Germany and the European Union outlawed only Hezbollah’s military wing, and work with Hezbollah’s political wing and allow  it to raise funds in Europe
• After the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, Israel occupied a strip of south Lebanon, which was controlled by the South Lebanon Army (SLA), a militia supported by Israel.
• Hezbollah was conceived by Muslim clerics and funded by Iran primarily to harass the Israeli occupation.
• Its leaders were followers of Ayatollah Khomeini, and its forces were trained and organized by a contingent of  1,500 Revolutionary Guards that arrived from Iran with  permission from the Syrian government, which was in occupation of Lebanon at the time.

MCQ 3

1. Research Design and Standards Organisation is an ISO 9001 research and development organization under the Ministry of Railways
2. It is manufacturing the new wagons called BLCS (type A & B) for

Choose correct

1. Only 1
2. Only 2
3. Both
4. None

• The Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO), Hindi: अनुसंधान अभिकल्प एवं मानक सगठनं) is an ISO 9001 research and  development organisation under the Ministry of  Railways of India, which functions as a technical  adviser and consultant to the Railway Board, the  Zonal Railways, the Railway Production
• Units, RITES and IRCON International in respect of design and standardization of railway equipment and  problems related to railway construction, operation  and maintenance

MCQ 4

1. Initial public offering is the process by which a private company can go public by sale of its stocks to general public for  the first time
2. A PSU’s disinvestment process always starts with issuing an IPO

Choose correct

1. Only 1
2. Only 2
3. Both
4. None

• Initial public offering (IPO) or stock market launch is a type of public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also retail (individual)
• An IPO is underwritten by one or more investment banks, who also arrange for the shares to be listed on one or more stock  exchanges.
• Through this process, colloquially known as floating, or going public, a privately held company is transformed into a public  company.
• Initial public offerings can be used to raise new equity capital for companies, to monetize the investments of private shareholders  such as company founders or private equity investors, and to  enable easy trading of existing holdings or future capital raising  by becoming publicly traded.

MCQ 5
Choose correct regarding the debenture term:

1. Its a short-term security yielding a fixed rate of interest, issued by a company and secured against assets.
2. A debenture is the unit of loan amount
3. A debenture holder is the creditor to the company

(A) Only 1
(B) 1 & 3
(C) 2 & 3
(D) All

• In corporate finance, a debenture is a medium- to long-term debt  instrument used by large  companies to borrow money, at a  fixed rate of interest
• A debenture is thus like a certificate of loan or a loan bond  evidencing the fact that the  company is liable to pay a  specified amount with interest  and although the money raised by  the debentures becomes a part of  the company’s capital structure, it  does not become share capital.
• Debentures are freely transferable by the debenture holder. Debenture holders have no rights to vote in the company’s general  meetings of shareholders, but they may have separate meetings or  votes e.g. on changes to the rights attached to the debentures. The  interest paid to them is a charge against profit in the company’s financial statements.

 MCQ 6

1. New Space India Limited (NSIL) is a wholly owned Government of India undertaking/ Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE)
2. It will be the first PSU under DoS that will facilitate satellite launch vehicles such as Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) and Polar  Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for foreign markets

Choose correct

1. Only 1
2. Only 2
3. Both
4. None

• Year End Review: Department of Space
• The Union Government has already set up New Space India Limited (NSIL), a wholly owned Government of  India undertaking/ Central Public Sector Enterprise  (CPSE), under the administrative control of  Department of Space (DOS) on 06^th March 2019 to  commercially exploit the research and development  work of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)  Centres and constituent units of DOS.

NSIL has been incorporated to carry out the following roles and  functions as part of its madate viz.

• (i) Small Satellite technology transfer to industry, wherein NSIL will obtain license from DOS/ISRO and sub-license it to Industries;
• (ii) Manufacture of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) in collaboration with Private Sector;
• (iii) Productionization of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) through Indian Industry;
• (iv) Productionization and marketing of Space based products and services, including launch and application;
• (v) Transfer of technology developed by ISRO Centres and constituent units of DOS;
• (vi) Marketing spin-off technologies and products/services, both in India and abroad; and
• (vii) any other subject which Government of India deems fit.
• NSIL was set up to meet the ever-increasing demands of Indian space programme and to commercially exploit the  emerging global space market. The emergence of NSIL  would spur the growth of Indian industries in the space  sector and enable Indian industries to scale up  manufacturing and production base.
• A total of 239 satellites were commercially launched by Antrix Corporation Limited during the last three years.
• The total revenue from operations during the last three years is Rs 6289.05 Crores.
• Different from Antrix
• ISRO already has a commercialization arm Antrix Corporation that looks at foreign markets. For instance, it is Antrix that  facilitates satellite launch vehicles such as Small Satellite  Launch Vehicle (SSLV) and Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle  (PSLV) for foreign markets. Countries such as Israel use ISRO’s  satellite launch vehicles. Chandrayaan-2 that will be  launched on July 15 will have a NASA payload.
• But as ISRO’s capabilities expand and collaboration with industries increase, there is a need to expand the  commercialization activities as well domestically.
• NSIL was kickstarted in May 2019 to monetise ISRO’s research, products and services in space technology. While Antrix focuses on  foreign markets, Murthi said the NSIL will focus on the domestic 
• “In the domestic space, there is a huge demand in earth observation, communication and navigation space. Geospacial information will  play a huge part in the coming year,” Murthi said.
• According to him, there is a huge opportunity for infrastructure management such as tracking urban problems and smart city  All these would need a huge amount of geospatial  information that would make informed decisions.
• “NSIL would probably address this space,” he added.

MCQ 7
Which of the following is incorrect statement?

1. The Charter Act of 1793, provided that the Home Government Members were to be paid out of Indian revenues.
2. The Charter Act of 1813, ended the Company’s Monopoly over trade in India and China as well
3. Both ‘a’ and ‘b’
4. None of the above

Charter act (1833)

• Complete end of EIC monopoly trade with India →Other British companies can trade in India)
• East India company no more a commercial agency but a political agent working under crown
• General of Fort William→ Gov. General of India
• William Bentinck was the 1^st one to become Gov General of India
• Appointment of law commission in India which later on unified & codified law system in India
• A law member was added to Council of Ministers Gov. General
• T. B. Macaulay was the 1^st law member to be added in Bentinck council
• Stated every native of India has equal rights in holding any place, office or employment irrespective of color, religion, cast or place of birth→ Indianization of civil services but  exam still held at Britain.

MCQ 8

1. Organization of Islamic Cooperation is an international organization founded in 1969, consisting of 57 member states,  based in Qatar
2. It is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations.

Choose correct

1. Only 1
2. Only 2
3. Both
4. None

About the OIC:

• Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is an international organization founded in 1969, consisting of 57 member states.
• It is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United
• The organization states that it is “the collective voice of the Muslim world” and works to “safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim  world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony “.
• The OIC has permanent delegations to the United Nations and the European Union.
• Permanent Secretariat is in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
• Significance of OIC for India:
• OIC’s growing economic and energy interdependence with India has become important in recent times.
• That India has one of the world’s largest Muslim populations, of course, is the immediate explanation of the surprising invite for Swaraj to address the

MCQ 9
Pacific rim of fire is directly or indirectly associated with

1. Vulcanism
2. Earthquakes
3. Trenches
4. Shortening of pacific ocean

(A) 1 only
(B) 1 & 2
(C) 1,2,3
(D) All

MCQ 10
Seas connected to open oceans

1. Arafura Sea
2. Sea of galilee
3. Dead Sea
4. Aral sea

(A) 1,2,4
(B)1 only 
(C) 1,2,3
(D) All
 
 

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