Current Affairs

Most Important Current Affairs | 2020- 2021

1- Who won the Ramanujan Prize for Mathematicians for the year 2020?
a) Dr. Carolina Arajuo    b) Cédric Villani
c) Andrew Wiles             d) Grigori Perelman
Answer- (a) Dr. Carolina Arajuo

2. Which nation has successfully activated its ‘Artificial Sun’?
a)Japan           b)Russia          c)US                         d)China
Answer- (a) Japan

3. India has drawn a five-year action plan for the conservation of which species?
a)Eagles           b)Vultures             
c)Heron            d)Siberian Crane
Answer- (a) Eagles

4. Which Tiger Reserve has received the first TX2 International Award for doubling its population?
a)Jim Corbett                                          b)Kaziranga Tiger Reserve
c)Pilibhit Tiger Reserve                         d)Periyar Tiger Reserve
Answer- (a) Jim Corbett

5- The  55-year-old  Chilahati-Haldibari rail link is set to reopen between India and which nation?
a)Nepal           b)Bhutan         c)Bangladesh         d)Myanmar
Answer- (c) Bangladesh

6- PM Narendra Modi has been invited by which nation to celebrate its 50years of Independence in 2021?
a)Maldives                                                          b)Mauritius
c)South Korea                                                     d)Bangladesh
Answer- (d) Bangladesh

7- Football legend Diego Maradona passed away on November 25, 2020.
He played for which nation’s national football team?
a)Brazil            b)Germany              c)France                         d)Argentina
Answer-(d) Argentina

8- India’s first hot air balloon safari in a tiger reserve has been launched in which state?
a) Gujarat        b) Assam      c) Uttarakhand   d) Madhya Pradesh
Answer- (d) Madhya Pradesh

9- What is the new height of Mount Everest?
a)8848.86 m                                 b)8848.46 m
c)8848.56 m                                d)8848.68 m
Answer- (a) 8848.86 m

Explanation-The world’s highest mountain is now officially a little higher. After years of debate, China and Nepal finally agreed on a precise elevation for Mount Everest. The new agreed height of 8,848.86 meters (29,031.69 feet) was announced at a virtual ceremony.

10- The statue of  Maa  Annapurna that was stolen over 100  years ago is returning to its original home in Varanasi from which nation?
a)Canada         b)UK                c)Sweden              d)Brazil
Answer- (a) Canada

11- Mahashay Dharampal  Gulati, the owner of which iconic spice brand passed away on December 3, 2020?
a)Everest                 b)MDH            c)MTR              d)Catch
Answer- (b) MDH

12- Which dance form will make its Olympic debut in Paris Olympics in 2024?
a)Aerobics                                b)Breakdance
c)Pole Dance                            d)Jazz
Answer- (b) Breakdance

13- Which nation has been banned from using its name, flag, and anthem at the Olympics, World Championships, or any major tournament for the next two years?
a)China            b)Ukraine        c)Russia                         d)South Korea
Answer- (c) Russia

14- India’s first lithium refinery will be set up in which state?
a) Madhya Pradesh        b) Gujarat        c) Telangana      d) Rajasthan
Answer- (b) Gujarat 

15- Who has been named Time magazine’s 2020 Person of the Year?a)Donald Trump                     b)Joe Biden
c)Narendra Modi                    d)Justin Trudeau
Answer- (b) Joe Biden

16- Who has become the first female Indian American Vice President-elect of the United States?
a)Kamala Harris                      b)Maya Harris
c)Nikki Haley                           d)Seema Verma
Answer- (a) Kamala Harris

17- The National High-Speed Rail Corporation has signed the nation’s largest contract for the Bullet Train project with which company?a)HAL                                       b)L&T
c)Reliance Infrastructure        d)Ashok Leyland
Answer- (b) L&T

18- Which nation’s street food has been added to the UNESCO  list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity?
a)Thailand                                b)Indonesia
c)Singapore                             d)Malaysia
Answer- (c) Singapore 

Explanation-
Yoga and Tango from India and Argentina respectively.

19- Which cricketer has become the fastest to score 12,000 ODI runs?
a)Rohit Sharma                       b)Shikhar Dhawan
c)KL Rahul                                d)Virat Kohli
Answer- (d) Virat Kohli

Explanation-
breaking the record held by legendary Sachin Tendulkar (300th inning)Virat 242nd inning

20- Who is known as the father of the Indian IT Industry?
a)Azim Premji                        b)FC Kohli
c)Mukesh Ambani                  d)Ratan Tata
Answer- b) FC Kohli

Explanation-
Founder and 1st CEO of TCS
World largest IT service provider
recipient of the Padma Bhushan

21. Who won the UK Booker Prize 2020?
a)Brandon Taylor                             b)Maaza Mengiste
c)Tsitsi Dangarembga                      d)Douglas Stuart
Answer- d) Douglas Stuart

22. Which film has been selected as India’s official entry for the Oscars?a)Jallikattu        b)The Sky is Pink
c)Chhapaak       d)Gulabo Sitabo
Answer- (a) Jallikattu 

23. Legendary violin maestro  TN  Krishnan passed away on November 2, 2020. He was honored with which among the following awards?
a)Padma Vibhushan                  b)Padma Bhushan
c)Bharat Ratna                            d)National Award
Answer- (b)Padma Bhushan

24. Which nation plans to have the first nuclear reactor on the Moon by 2026?
a) Russia          b) China          c) US        d) Iran
Answer-c) US
Explanation-
-electrical power to establish an outpost on the moon or Mars

25. Time Magazine named Eric Yuan as the 2020 Businessperson of the Year. He is CEO of which popular video chat service?
a)Vimeo          b)Zoom           c)Houseparty          d)Skype
Answer-(b) Zoom

26. Who won the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2020?
a)Amitav Ghosh                         b)Sachin Kundalkar
c)Nirmala Govindarajan             d)Raj Kamal Jha
(d) Raj Kamal Jha
Explanation-
journalist-author Raj Kamal Jha| novel, The City and The Sea

27. Who has been awarded the DRDO’s Scientist of the Year Award?
a) S Somnath                           b) P Kunhikrishnan
c) Sam Dayal Dev                    d) Hemant Kumar Pandey
Answer-(d) Hemant Kumar Pandey
Explanation-
developed six herbal drugs, Lukoskin has been most widely appreciated (Leucoderma or Vitiligo)

28. India has taken up cultivation of which spice for the first time?a)Saffron              b)Heeng                          
c)Mustard Seeds   d)Cloves
Answer-(b) Heeng 

29. What initiative has been launched by the Indian Railways to ensure the safety of women passengers in trains?
a)Meri Saheli     b)Sarathi      c)Shakti    d)Jailakshmi
Answer-(a) Meri Saheli

30. Which state has given permission to hold Jallikattu amid the COVID-19 pandemic?
a) Kerala          b) Tamil Nadu         c) Karnataka       d) Andhra Pradesh
Answer-(b) Tamil Nadu

31. Who has developed a messaging application called ‘Secure Application for the Internet’?
a)DRDO             b)ISRO             c)Indian Army                d)Territorial Army
Answer-(c) Indian Army
Explanation-
Secure Application for the Internet (SAI), end-to-end secure voice, text, and video calling services for the Android platform over the internet,

32. Which state will take punitive action against owners of vehicles with caste stickers?
a) Madhya Pradesh     b) Uttar Pradesh
c) Telangana                d) Andhra Pradesh
Answer-(b) Uttar Pradesh

33. Which state will be setting up the world’s biggest zinc smelter project?a)Madhya Pradesh                            b)Maharashtra
c)Rajasthan                                       d)Gujarat
Answer-(d) Gujarat
Explanation
Zinc ore to pure Zinc
Dosawada in Tapi district

34. Which nation has been re-elected as the President of the International Solar Alliance?
a)Germany              b)India                c)Russia                     d)Japan
Answer-(b) India 

35. Which country has become the first nation to get Blue Flag certification for 8 beaches in the very first attempt?
a)Malaysia                       b)Australia                                          c)India                               d)Sri Lanka
Answer-

36. What  is   the  name  of  the  World  War II   bomb that  was  detonated underwater in Poland?
a)Fat Man                b)Little Boy             c)Tall Boy                     d)Small
Answer- c)Tall Boy

37. Which state/ UT government has decided to exempt road tax on battery-operated vehicles?
a)Uttar Pradesh              b)Delhi
c)Maharashtra                 d)Madhya Pradesh

Answer- b)Delhi

38. What is the new brand name of India’s premium cotton?a)Komal                           b)Shakti
c)Kasturi                          d)Kumkum
Answer- b)Shakti

39. MagFast Beverages has won a battle against PepsiCo to use ‘Mountain Dew’ trademark. The company is based out of which nation?
a)India                     b)US                             c)China                          d)Japan
Answer- a)India

40. Which among the following is the world’s longest highway tunnel at an altitude of 10000 ft?
a)Pir pranjal tunnel b)Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Road Tunnel
c)Rohtang Tunnel d)Atal Tunnel
Answer- d)Atal Tunnel

41. Which state’s officials won Digital India Award 2020?
a) Madhya Pradesh                 b) Bihar
c) Delhi                                     d) Uttar Pradesh
Answer- b) Bihar

42. Who among the following received COVID-19 vaccine publicly?
a)Joe Biden                              b)Donald Trump
c)Angela Merkel                      d)Justin Trudeau
Answer- a)Joe Biden
first dose of COVID-19 vaccine publicly on December 21, 2020

43. PM Narendra Modi was honoured with the ‘Legion of Merit’ award by which nation’s President?
a)US        b)Canada         c)UK        d)France
Answer- a)US

44. Which nation has launched world’s first 6G experimental satellite?
a)China b)Russia c)Israel d)US
Answer- a)China

45. India has been ranked at which position in the Human Development
Index 2020?
a) 111        b)131         c)123        d)108
Answer- b)131  
• 131st place among 189 countries
• measure of a nation’s health, standards
of living and education
• Norway, Ireland & Switzerland

46. Who has been named Social Entrepreneur of the year 2020?
a)Sujoy Santra b)Sandeep Patel
c)Ashraf Patel d)None of the Above
Answer- c)Ashraf Patel
• co-founder of two organizations -Pravah and ComMutiny
• train the youth for leadership roles

47. Veteran Congress leader Tarun Gogoi passed away on November 23, 2020.He was the longest-serving Chief Minister of which state?
a)Bihar b)Assam
c)West Bengal d)Arunachal Pradesh
Answer-b)Assam

48.What is the minimum age limit to play international cricket, as per the new ICC policy?
a)15 years b)16 years c)17 years d)18 years
Answer- a)15 years

49. Which nation’s court has sentenced JuD Chief Hafiz Saeed to 10 years of
imprisonment?
a)Pakistan b)India
c)United States d)Bangladesh
Answer- a)Pakistan
• Pakistan Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) : 10 years in two terror funding cases
• 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attack Mastermind

50. Which Indian author has been selected for TATA Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award 2020?
a)Vikram Seth b)Kiran Desai
c)Amish Tripathi d)Ruskin Bond
Answer- d)Ruskin Bond
• Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan
• 100 books, across genres for adults and
children
• Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra
• A Flight of Pigeons
• The Blue Umbrella

51. Which state government has decided to implement Smart Black Board
Scheme?
a)Kerala b)Karnataka c) Telangana d)Tamil Nadu
Answer- d)Tamil Nadu
• in more than 80,000 Government schools
• audiovisual teaching material

52. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx successfully touched which ancient asteroid’s surface
to collect dust and pebbles?
a)Ceres b)Vesta c)Juno d)Bennu
Answer- d)Bennu
• Bennu, nearest asteroid to Earth
• collect dust and pebbles to know more
about universe
• reach Earth by 2023

53. Maritime Exercise SLINEX-20 was held between which two nations?
a)India, South Africa b)India, Sri Lanka
c)Sri Lanka, Australia d)Japan, India
Answer- b)India, Sri Lanka
• bilateral maritime exercise SLINEX-20

54. Bhanu Athaiya had won India’s first Oscar in costume design for her
work in which classic film?
a)Roja b)Omkara c)Pakeezah d)Gandhi
Answer- d)Gandhi
• India’s first Oscar
• Only Indian women with title
• 1983 classic movie ‘Gandhi’

55. What is a zombie fire?
a) Fire that has no known source
b) Fire that smoulders underground and reignites when weather warms
c) Fire that is caused by zombies, aliens
d) Fire that blazes in uninhabited areas
Answer- b) Fire that smoulders underground and reignites when weather warms
• Increased a lot in 2020

56. Which nation’s cabinet has approved capital punishment for rape?
a)India b)Bangladesh
c) Myanmar d)Nepal
Answer- b)Bangladesh
• as the highest punishment for rape

57. A massive explosion rocked which nation’s capital city on August 4, 2020?
A) Vietnam B) Turkey C) Pakistan D) Lebanon
Answer- D) Lebanon

• 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored in a Beirut port warehouse for 6 years
• Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced the resignation

58. Who has been reappointed as the Attorney General of India by President Ram Nath Kovind?
A) KK Venugopal B) Subhash Chandra C) Rajiv Gauba
D) I. V. Subba Rao
Answer- A) KK Venugopal
• extended for one year from July 1, 2020
• Tushar Mehta as Solicitor General for three years

59.Who became the first cricketer to violate ICC’s ‘saliva ban’ rule?
A) Jofra Archer B) Dom Sibley
C) Stuart Broad D) Chris Woakes
Answer- B) Dom Sibley

60. Who won the first Prof. P. C. Mahalanobis National Award on National
Statistics Day?
A) D. Subbarao B) Chakravarthi Rangarajan
C) Urjit Patel D) Raghuram Rajan
Answer- B) Chakravarthi Rangarajan
• Dr. Chakravarthi Rangarajan, Former Governor (RBI)
• for his contribution to the National Statistical System (NSS) in India.

61. Israel for the first time established direct phone links recently with which nation?
A) Saudi Arabia B) Qatar C) UAE D) Russia
Answer- C) UAE
• historic peace deal brokered by the United States
• Trumph being named for Nobel Peace Prize

62. India has protested the announcement of Elections by Pakistan in which territory?
A) Sindh B) Gilgit Baltistan
C) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa D) Pooch
Answer- B) Gilgit Baltistan

63. Which nation has joined the Djibouti Code of Conduct/ Jeddah Amendment as Observer?
A) Australia B) Pakistan C) Sri Lanka D) India
Answer- D) India
• India has joined Japan, Norway, the UK and the US as Observers to the DCOC/JA
• robbery against ships, human trafficking etc

64. Which nation has decided to construct a standalone war memorial for the Indian soldiers martyred in 1971 War?
A) India B) Bangladesh C) Maldives D) Malaysia
Answer- B) Bangladesh

65. Government released commemorative stamp to honour which former
Prime Minister after celebrating his 100th birth anniversary on June 28, 2020?
A) Atal Bihari Vajpayee B) PV Narasimha Rao
C) Inder Kumar Gujral D) H. D. Deve Gowda
Answer- B) PV Narasimha Rao
• The ‘Father of Indian Economic Reforms’

66. Which nation’s Congressional Committee has passed a bill to promote
legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.?
A) US B) France C) UK D) South Africa
Answer- A) US

67. Which tennis player has been disqualified from the US Open?
A) Roger Federer B) Rafale Nadal
C) Novak Djokovic D) Dominic Thiem
Answer- C) Novak Djokovic

68. What is the name of Russia’s first COVID-19 vaccine?
A) Sputnik V B) Koronas C) Cosmos D) Meridian
Answer- A) Sputnik V
• after the world’s first satellite
• Tried on daughter

69. Which two Bollywood actors have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences?
A) Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra B) Dia Mirza, Parineeti Chopra
C) Anil Kapoor, Tabu D) Alia Bhatt, Hrithik Roshan
Answer- D) Alia Bhatt, Hrithik Roshan

70. Which e-commerce company has acquired Walmart Inc’s Best Price wholesale stores in India?
A) Amazon B) Reliance JioMart C) Flipkart D) Alibaba
Answer- C) Flipkart

71. Which nation has signed a deal with India to set up an AK-203 assault rifles factory at Amethi?
A) Japan B) US C) Russia D) France
Answer- C) Russia
• most advanced version of the legendary AK-47 rifle

72. Which state’s government has launched India’s longest ropeway over
Brahmaputra river?
A) Arunachal Pradesh B) Assam
C) West Bengal D) Meghalaya
Answer- B) Assam
• connect Guwahati to North Guwahati
• 1.82 km long bi-cable

73. Which Indian was named by the UN in the list of 2020 Class of Young
Leaders for Sustainable Development Goals?
A) Akash Rana B) Udit Singhal
C) Karambhir Singh D) Shresth Upadhyay
Answer- B) Udit Singhal

74. Which state/ UT’s Environment Department has decided to introduce ambulances for treatment of sick trees?
A) Chandigarh B) Puducherry C) Delhi D) Gujarat
Answer- A) Chandigarh
• treatment of trees affected by termites & other insects

75.Veteran actor and comedian Jagdeep passed away on July 8. He essayed the popular role of Soorma Bhopali in which film?
A) Andaz Apna Apna B) Do Bigha Zamin
C) Hum Panchi Ek Daal Ke D) Sholay
Answer- D) Sholay

76. Manoj Sinha has been appointed as the new Lieutenant Governor of which Union Territory?
A) Ladakh B) J&K C) Chandigarh D) Puducherry
Answer- B) J&K
• replacing Girish Chandra Murmu (now CAG)

77. Who has been appointed as the new Comptroller and Auditor General of
India?
A) GC Murmu B) Satyapal Malik
C) Manoj Sinha D) RK Mathur
Answer- A) GC Murmu

78. Indian Army has acquired newly developed drones from DRDO? What are they called?
A) Bharat B) India C) Desh D) Hindustan
Answer- A) Bharat
• accurate surveillance in high altitude areas and mountainous terrain, especially along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh

79. Mt. Sinabung erupted on August 10, 2020 spewing columns of smoke and ash into the sky. The active volcano is located in which country?
A) The Philippines B) Thailand C) Malaysia D) Indonesia
Answer- D) Indonesia
• was dormant volcano for almost 400 years, roared back to life in 2010.

80. Which construction company has won the bid for the construction of India’s new Parliament building?
A) Reliance Infrastructure B) GMR
C) Tata Group D) Larsen & Toubro
Answer- C) Tata Group

81. Who has been appointed as the new Chairman of National School of
Drama?
A) Naseeruddin Shah B) Javed Akhtar
C) Shabana Azmi D) Paresh Rawal
Answer- D) Paresh Rawal

82Which nation stormed out of SCO meeting after display of a controversial map?
A) China B) Pakistan C) Russia D) India
Answer- D) India

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