AC + ADDA Dec 8 Flashcards
- Which of the following personalities from India is ‘not’ listed among the Forbes’ 2023
World’s 100 Most Powerful Women published in December 2023?
1) Nirmala Sitharaman
2) Roshni Nadar Malhotra
3) Nita Ambani
4) Soma Mondal
5) Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Answer- 3) Nita Ambani
Explanation:
Forbes’ 20th annual ranking of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women (2023) features a total of 4
Indian women. Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Ministry of Finance and Corporate Affairs is
ranked 32nd on the list.
i. The other 3 Indians are Roshni Nadar Malhotra(rank 60), Chairperson of HCLTech; Soma
Mondal(rank 70), former Chairperson of Steel Authority of India Limited(SAIL) and Kiran
Mazumdar-Shaw(rank 76), Founder and Executive Chairperson of Biocon India Private Limited.
ii. vonder Leyen, the President of the European Commission, European Union (EU) topped the list for
the second consecutive year.
- Which of the following points is/are “correct” with respect to the QS World University
Rankings: Sustainability 2024 published by Quacquarelli Symonds(QS) in December 2023?
A) The University of Delhi (DU), ranked 220th (globally), has topped among the 56 Indian
Universities featured on the list.
B) The University of Toronto, Canada, has topped the list as the world’s most sustainable
University.
C) IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, and IIT Roorkee are ranked among top 400 globally.
1) All A, B & C
2) Only A & B
3) Only B & C
4) Only A & C
5) Only A
Answer- 1) All A, B & C
Explanation:
According to the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2024, the 2nd edition of the list published by Quacquarelli Symonds(QS), a global higher education analyst, the University of Delhi (DU), ranked 220th (globally), has topped among the 56 Indian Universities featured on the list.
• DU is ranked 30th among Asian Universities.
i. The University of Toronto, Canada, has topped the list as the world’s most sustainable University, followed by the University of California (UCB), Berkeley, the United States of America(USA) at 2nd and the University of Manchester, the United Kingdom (UK) at 3rd place.
ii. Among the 56 Indian universities 22 are ranked in the top 700, but none in the top 100.
iii. IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, and IIT Roorkee are ranked among top 400 globally.
- As per the 2023 World Malaria Report by the World Health Organization (WHO) in
December 2023, India constituted __________ of malaria cases in the WHO’s South-East Asia
region in 2022.
1) 60%
2) 54%
3) 50%
4) 66%
5) 58%
Answer- 4) 66%
Explanation:
As per the 2023 World Malaria Report by the World Health Organization (WHO), India constituted
66% of malaria cases in the WHO’s South-East Asia region in 2022.
i. Despite an overall decrease of 11.9% in estimated cases between 2021 and 2022 in the region,
Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand recorded an increase in cases.
ii. Plasmodium vivax(P. vivax), a protozoan parasite, contributed to almost 46% of cases in the region.
• Notably, India and Indonesia accounted for about 94% of all malaria deaths in the South-East
Asia region in 2022.
• Around 249 million malaria cases have been reported around the world(in 85 malaria endemic
countries and areas) which exceeded the pre-pandemic count of 233 million in 2019.
• The WHO South-East Asia Region, including India, managed to contain malaria over the last
two decades, with a 77% reduction in cases and deaths since 2000.
- Name the organisation that has recently (in Dec ‘23) signed an MoU with the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) to promote sustainable infrastructure development.
1) Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
2) International Monetary Fund
3) United Nations Development Programme
4) Asian Development Bank
5) World Bank
Answer- 1) Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
Explanation:
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to promote sustainable infrastructure
development and address development challenges in Asia and beyond.
• The MoU recognises the shared objectives of AIIB and UNDP in supporting national climate
goals and the 2030 Agenda through financing sustainable development initiatives in common
members of operations.
i. Under this partnership, AIIB will leverage its respective strengths and resources to drive positive
change and make a lasting impact on the lives of people in Asia and beyond.
ii. With this partnership, UNDP can unlock new opportunities for financing sustainable development
projects and promote innovative solutions that address pressing global challenges.
- Which company has recently (in Dec ‘23) received multiple orders worth Rs. 3,915 crore for
the supply of various defence equipment?
1) Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
2) Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
3) Bharat Dynamics Limited
4) Bharat Electronics Limited
5) BEML Limited
Answer- 4) Bharat Electronics Limited
Explanation:
The Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), a Navratna Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), has received
multiple orders worth Rs. 3,915 crore for the supply of various defence equipment.
i. It received an order worth Rs 580 crore from the Indian Army for supplying an artificial magnetic
conductor (AMC) of radars.
ii. It also received the orders worth Rs 3,335 crore since its last disclosure on September 15, 2023.
iii. The orders include AMC for an Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C)system, Uncooled TI
(thermal imager) sights, Software-Defined Radios, SWIR (Shortwave Infrared) payload, AMC for the
IACCS (Integrated Air Command and Control System), and Passive Night Vision Binoculars.
- In December 2023, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) projected India’s Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) to grow at ___________ in Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24).
1) 6.4 %
2) 6.8 %
3) 6.5 %
4) 6.6 %
5) 6.7 %
Answer- 2) 6.8 %
Explanation:
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has projected India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to
grow at 6.8 % in Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24) supported by infrastructure development and
promotion of ease of doing business.
i. The projected economic growth is higher than the earlier projection of 6.5-6.7% which was made in
June 2023.
ii. CII also projected that the growth will further accelerate to 7% in FY25.
- In December 2023, Rex Karmaveer Global Fellowship (RKGF) 2023-24 and Karmaveer
Chakra Medal presented at the ________ Edition of the annual REX CONCLiVE.
1) 15th
2) 7th
3) 10th
4) 9th
5) 12th
Answer- 5) 12th
Explanation:
Rex Karmaveer Global Fellowship (RKGF) 2023-24 and the most prestigious and inclusive
Karmaveer Chakra Medal were presented to people who have innovative ideas which may make a
difference to the world.
i. awards are instituted by the International Confederation of Non-Governmental Organisation
(iCONGO) in association with the United Nations (UN).
ii. The awards were presented during the 12th Edition of the annual REX CONCLiVE and Karmaveer
Chakra Award event at Shri Nadar School, Faridabad, Haryana.
- In December 2023, __________ Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Members of Parliament (MPs)
including Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of ____________(Ministry) resigned from the
Parliament after winning the respective state assembly elections.
1) 15; Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
2) 10; Ministry of Rural Development
3) 15; Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
4) 10; Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
5) 12; Ministry of Rural Development
Answer- 4) 10; Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
Explanation:
10 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Members of Parliament (MPs) including Union Minister Narendra
Singh Tomar, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) and Minister of State (MoS)
Prahlad Singh Patel, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), have resigned from the
Parliament after winning the respective state assembly elections.
- In November 2023, the government of India proposed to sell ___________ stake in Ircon
International Limited (IRCON) through an offer for sale (OFS).
1) 20%
2) 8%
3) 10%
4) 15%
5) 5%
Answer- 2) 8%
Explanation:
The government of India has proposed to sell 8% stake in
Ircon International Limited (IRCON), a Navratna Central
Public Sector Unit (CPSU) under the Ministry of Railways
(MoR), through an offer for sale (OFS).
i. As of September 2023, the government holds 73.18%
stake in IRCON.
ii. Initially, the government will sell 3.76 crore shares at Rs.2 per share (representing a 4% stake)
through the OFS and the additional 4% will be sold if the offer is oversubscribed.
iii. Details of IRCON OFS:
• The offer will take place on a separate window of the stock exchanges under the T+1 period.
• The offer will take place on December 7, 2023 (T Day) and continue till the next day(8th
December 2023).
• OFS is open for Non-retail investors on 07th December 2023 (T day).
• The retail investors can participate in the OFS on 08th December 2023 (T+1).
- Name the company that has recently (in Dec ‘23) acquired the Sanghi Industries Limited
(SIL) at an enterprise value of Rs 5,185 crore.
1) JK Cement Limited
2) UltraTech Cement Limited
3) JSW Cement Limited
4) Ambuja Cements Limited
5) Ramco Cements Limited
Answer- 4) Ambuja Cements Limited
Explanation:
Adani Group-owned Ambuja Cements Limited (ACL) completed the acquisition of Gujarat-based
Sanghi Industries Limited (SIL) at an enterprise value of Rs 5,185 crore by holding a controlling
stake of 54.51%.
• The acquisition will be fully funded through internal accruals.
• The deal will boost Ambuja Cements’ capacity to 74.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) from
68.5 MTPA .
• ACL bought about 141 million shares of SIL. Each share is priced at Rs. 121.9 by the Promoters.
• Whereas, 7.3 million shares of SIL were bought threw off-market trade.
- In December 2023, the enemy property shares worth Rs _____________ were sold by the
Government of India as part of its initiative to dispose of the enemy properties in India.
1) 4290 crore
2) 2458 crore
3) 3298 crore
4) 1094 crore
5) 2709 crore
Answer- 5) 2709 crore
Explanation:
The enemy property shares worth Rs 2709 crore were sold by the Government of India as part of
its initiative to dispose of the enemy properties in India.
i. The enemy properties are the assets left behind by people who have taken citizenship of Pakistan
and China, mostly between 1947 and 1962.
ii. In September 2023, 19 enemy properties in Uttar Pradesh were disposed of by way of sale through
e-auction.
iii. As of December 2023, a total of 12,611 enemy properties (12,485 were related to Pakistanis and
126 to Chinese) were vested with the Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI), a statutory
authority under the provisions of the Enemy Property Act (1968).
- Name the company that has recently (in Dec ‘23) launched the largest and most capable
multimodal Artificial intelligence (AI) model called ‘Gemini’.
1) Lenovo Group
2) Microsoft
3) Google
4) IBM
5) Samsung
Answer- 3) Google
Explanation:
Google launched its largest and most capable multimodal Artificial intelligence (AI) model,
‘Gemini’, which comes in three sizes: Gemini Ultra, Gemini Pro, and Gemini Nano.
Variants of Gemini:
• Gemini Ultra: The largest and most capable model for highly complex tasks and it is the first
model to outperform human experts on MMLU (massive multitask language understanding)
with a score of 90.0%.
• Gemini Pro: The best model for scaling across a wide range of tasks
• Google Bard integrated with Gemini Pro for more advanced reasoning, planning, and
understanding.
• Gemini Nano: The most efficient model for on-device tasks It is expected to launch Bard
Advanced with Gemini Ultra in early 2024.
- When was the United Nations (UN) International Civil Aviation Day 2023 observed across
the globe with the theme of “Advancing Innovation for Global Aviation Development”?
1) 7th December 2023
2) 4th December 2023
3) 6th December 2023
4) 3rd December 2023
5) 5th December 2023
Answer- 1) 7th December 2023
Explanation:
The United Nations (UN) International Civil Aviation
Day 2023 was observed across the globe on 7th
December 2023 with the theme of “Advancing
Innovation for Global Aviation Development”.
i. The day also highlights the role of the International Civil
Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a UN agency, in helping
countries to cooperate and realise a truly global rapid
transit network at the service of all mankind.
- When was Armed Forces Flag Day (AFFD) 2023 observed across India?
1) 5th December 2023
2) 3rd December 2023
3) 6th December 2023
4) 4th December 2023
5) 7th December 2023
Answer- 5) 7th December 2023
Explanation:
Armed Forces Flag Day (AFFD) 2023 was observed across India on 7th December 2023 to honour
the martyrs, men, and women in the armed forces who bravely fought and continue to fight on the
borders to safeguard the country’s honour.
• Flag Day emphasises the dedication to looking after the war-disabled soldiers, Veer Naris, and
the families of Martyrs who have sacrificed their lives for the country.
• The 1st Armed Forces Flag Day was observed on 7 December 1949.
i. Kendriya Sainik Board (KSB), an apex body of the Indian Government, operates welfare and
rehabilitation schemes for Ex-Servicemen (ESM) of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, and their
dependents.
• KSB manages funds through Rajya Sainik Boards (RSBs) and Zila Sainik Boards (ZSBs) co-
located in the State Capitals and District HQs respectively across the nation.
ii. Armed Forces Flag Day Fund (AFFDF) was instituted in 1993 and is administratively controlled by
KSB.
• It was instituted by amalgamating the following funds into one fund named as “Armed Forces
Flag Day Fund”.
- Name the state government that has recently (in Dec ‘23) launched ‘AMA bank’ Scheme to
provide banking service in Unbanked Gram Panchayats (GPs).
1) Maharashtra
2) Odisha
3) Gujarat
4) West Bengal
5) Jharkhand
Answer- 2) Odisha
Explanation:
Chief Minister (CM) of Odisha Naveen Patnaik has
launched “AMA Bank” scheme for providing banking
services through Customer Service Point (CSP) Plus
banking outlets in 4373 unbanked Gram Panchayats (GPs)
in Odisha.
• Ama Bank model is the first-of-its-kind financial
inclusion programme in India.
i. Ama Bank offers credit for small businesses along with 15 banking services through CSP Plus
banking outlets.
ii. It is positioned between a business correspondent (BC) and a small bank branch and offers all
banking services.
iii. The scheme was launched in collaboration with six public sector banks (PSBs) namely State Bank
of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Union Bank of India (UBI), UCO Bank, Bank of India (BoI)
and Bank of Baroda(BoB).
- Which state government has recently (in Dec ‘23) signed an MoU with the Airport Authority
of India (AAI) for the advancement of airports?
1) West Bengal
2) Maharashtra
3) Uttar Pradesh
4) Gujarat
5) Karnataka
Answer- 4) Gujarat
Explanation:
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Civil Aviation Department of the
Government of Gujarat and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for the advancement of airports in
Gujarat.
i. Under this MoU, AAI will advance the establishment of 11 proposed greenfield airports, and
evaluate their technical feasibility and the availability of land.
ii. The MoU was signed in the presence of Bhupendra Patel, Chief Minister(CM) of Gujarat and Union
Minister Balwantsinh Rajput, Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA).
iii. 11 locations of Gujarat earmarked for the development of airports are Ankleshwar, Morbi,
Rajpipla, Botad, Dwarka, Dhordo, Rajula, Dahod, Ambaji, Dholavira, and Palitana.
- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) celebrated the ________
anniversary of the International Space Station (ISS) on 7th November 2023.
1) 25th
2) 21st
3) 24th
4) 22nd
5) 23rd
Answer- 1) 25th
Explanation:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) celebrated the 25th anniversary of the
International Space Station (ISS) on 7th November 2023.
i. The ISS involves international flight crews, various launch vehicles, global launch and flight
operations, training, engineering, development facilities, communication networks, and the
worldwide scientific research community.
ii. November 7 marks a significant moment in ISS history when the first two modules, named Zarya
and Unity, were joined together during the STS-88 mission of the space shuttle Endeavour.
- In Which state ‘Satkosia Tiger Reserve’ is located?
1) West Bengal
2) Karnataka
3) Andhra Pradesh
4) Kerala
5) Odisha
Answer- 5) Odisha
Explanation:
About Odisha:
Chief Minister – Naveen Patnaik
Governor – Raghubar Das
Wildlife Sanctuary – Lakhari Valley Sanctuary, Karlapat Sanctuary
Tiger Reserve – Similipal Tiger Reserve, Satkosia Tiger Reserve
