Current Affairs Quiz , 24 Dec 2018

1) Lalitgiri is a major Buddhist complex comprising major stupas, Buddha images, and monasteries located in

a) Telangana
b) Maharashtra
c) Bihar
d) Odisha

Answer: d
• PM to open Buddhist site museum at Lalitgiri in Odisha
• Lalitgiri
o One of the earliest Buddhist settlements in Odisha, Lalitgiri, where excavations have yielded ancient seals and inscriptions, has been converted into a museum
o Located in Cuttack district, it will be the third site museum of the Bhubaneswar circle of the Archaeological Survey of India after Ratnagiri and Konrak
o Lalitagiri is a major Buddhist complex in the Indian state of Odisha comprising major stupas, Buddha images, and monasteries, one of the oldest sites in the region

2) Y.M. Deosthalee Committee is related to

a) Agricultural Finance and Cooperative Society
b) Review of GST laws
c) Public Credit Registry
d) Sustainable Development

Answer: c
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has shortlisted six major IT companies, including TCS, Wipro and IBM India, to set up a digital public credit registry (PCR) for capturing details of all borrowers and wilful defaulters.
• Public Credit Registry
o A public credit registry is an information repository that collates all loan information of individuals and corporate borrowers.
o A credit repository helps banks distinguish between a bad and a good borrower and accordingly offer attractive interest rates to good borrowers and higher interest rates to bad borrowers.
o The move is based on the recommendations of a committee headed by Y.M. Deosthalee.
o PCR will address issues such as information asymmetry, improve access to credit and strengthen the credit culture among consumers. It can also address the bad loan problem staring at banks, as corporate debtors will not be able to borrow across banks without disclosing existing debt. A PCR may also help raise India’s rank in the global ease of doing business index.

3) Korolev Crater is an icy crater found recently by space probes in which of the following planets/celestial objects?

a) Jupiter
b) Oumuamua
c) Pluto
d) Mars

Answer: d
• Korolev Crater is about 51 miles (82 km) across and is located in the northern lowlands of Mars, just south of Olympia Undae – an expanse of dune-filled terrain that partially surrounds the north pole.
• The ice that fills the crater largely persists year-round – the central mound of ice maintains a thickness of 1.1 miles (1.8 km). The crater acts as a cold trap, where the air cools down and sinks as it moves over the ice deposit, creating a layer of cold air that sits directly above the ice itself.

4) National Farmers’ Day is celebrated annually on

a) February 3rd
b) July 21st
c) December 23rd
d) May 1st

Answer: c
• Farmer’s Day is celebrated every year on 23 December, on the birthday of the 5th Prime Minister of India, Choudhary Charan Singh, also a farmer’s leader, who introduced many policies to improve the lives of the Indian farmers.

5) Which one of the following states have emerged as the best performing states under maternity benefit programme Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana?

a) Andhra Pradesh
b) Kerala
c) Tamil Nadu
d) Punjab

Answer: a
• Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh were the top three performing states under the maternity benefit programme Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana
• PMMVY is a centrally-sponsored scheme under which the cost-sharing ratio between the Centre, states and the Union Territories with the legislation is 60:40.