General Awareness-Current Affairs Month of March-2021: List of Important Days
General Awareness-Current Affairs Month of March-2021: List of Important Days
General Awareness-Current Affairs Month of March-2021: List of Important Days
MONTH OF MARCH-2021
Other Banks
• Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank will handle the salary account of the Indian army
personnel.
• HDFC Bank on the occasion of International Women’ Day has announced the launch of a
dedicated programme named “SmartUp Unnati” for mentoring women entrepreneurs by women
leaders at the bank.
• Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has launched ‘IOB Trendy’, a savings account customized for the
growing millennial population in the country by keeping their banking preferences in mind.
States
• Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has launched “Gharoki Paachan, Chelik
Naam” (daughter”s name is a home”s identity) programme and development schemes worth Rs 42
crore in Nainital.
• Haryana government has approved the bill that will provide 75% reservation in the private sector
jobs with a gross salary of up to Rs. 50,000 per month to the people of the state.
• The Government of Arunachal Pradesh has decided to develop three model villages along the
Indo-Tibet border area as a pilot project with an allocation of Rs. 30 crores.
• The state of Madhya Pradesh has introduced the night safaris in the three national parks in
Madhya Pradesh.
• The Cyberabad Police has launched India’s first-ever Transgender Community Desk’ at the
Gachibowli Police Station in Hyderabad, Telangana.
• The Odisha government will set up District Investment Promotion Agencies- DIPAs in 30 districts
in order to promote and facilitate investment across the state.
• Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that Delhi will bid to host the 2048 Olympics.
• Bihar Cabinet has approved the Ethanol Production Promotion Policy, 2021, becoming the 1st
Indian State to have an ethanol promotion policy.
• The Government of Arunachal Pradesh launched the ‘Dekho Apna Pradesh’ campaign in order to
encourage people of the state to visit tourist places within it.
• The state government of Andhra Pradesh has decided to set up “India’s first government-run
ambulance network” for animals.
Schemes/Initiatives
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development has announced to classify all the major schemes
of the ministry for their effective implementation and programmes under the three Umbrella
schemes namely, Mission Poshan 2.0, Mission Vatsalya and Mission Shakti.
• The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, inaugurates the ‘Maitri Setu’ between India and
Bangladesh via video conferencing.
• He also inaugurates and lay the foundation stone of several infrastructure projects in Tripura
on the occasion.
• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has launched the ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain’
campaign on the occasion of World Water Day for conserving water.
• PM urged that every penny of MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act) funds be spent on rainwater conservation till the monsoon arrives.
• The Union Power and Renewable Energy Minister R.K. Singh launched the Gram Ujala scheme in
the Lok Sabha constituency of PM Modi, Varanasi.
Summit/Conference
• PM Modi held a virtual summit with the Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Lofven.
• Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan, addressed the 7th annual
summit of NATHEALTH.
• The summit focused on ‘Indian Health system expansion in post-COVID era’.
• The India-Finland Virtual Summit was held with the participation of Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of the Republic of Finland Ms Sanna Marin.
• The virtual summit was organised to discuss the entire gamut of bilateral issues as well as
other regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest.
Agreement/Deal/Signed
• Pakistan has signed a ten-years agreement with Qatar over the liquefied natural gas (LNG).
• The Indian Government approved a pact between India and Fiji for co-operation in agriculture
and the allied sectors.
• The Government of India signed a key pact with the Philippines for the supply of defence material
and equipment which are also likely to include BharhMos Cruise Missiles.
• The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) which was
signed between India and Japan for the bilateral cooperation in the field of water resources.
• On the occasion of World Water Day, the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
signed an agreement with the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti to implement the Ken-Betwa river
interlinking project.
• India and the United States agreed to revamp the strategic energy partnership.
• The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of PM Modi apprised of a Memorandum of
Understanding between India and Maldives for sports and youth affairs.
• The State Bank of India (SBI) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) will be sign the first
Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) linked external commercial borrowing (ECB) deal.
• The deal will be signed because the de facto international benchmark reference rate called the
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) will no longer work as the benchmark after December
2021.
• The Information technology companies of India, like Wipro and Tech Mahindra, will be
collaborating with the companies of Finland to develop the 5G and 6G technologies to use them in
India and other markets.
• The tech company, Nokia has already started working in the rural areas of India so as to
expand the 5G applications.
Meet/Visit
• First Strategic and Counter-Terrorism Dialogue was held between Nigeria and India.
• The India-Bangladesh Water Resources Secretary-level meeting took place on March 16, 2021,
under the framework of the Joint Rivers Commission.
• The Sixth India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Women’s Forum meeting was held virtually.
• Russia hosted the “Afghan Peace Meet”. The meeting was organized to bring together the
government representatives and the Taliban adversaries.
Bills
• The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh has introduced the “Madhya Pradesh Freedom of
Religion Bill, 2021” in the assembly.
• Parliament has passed the “Finance Bill 2021”.
• Lok Sabha passes National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development Bill 2021.
• Rajya Sabha passed the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
• Parliament of New Zealand passed the ‘Miscarriage bereavement leave law’.
• This legislation provides mothers and their partners a “right to paid leave” after a miscarriage
or stillbirth.
• New Zealand has become the second country, following India, across the world to pass such
legislation.
• President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the National Capital Territory of Delhi
(Amendment) Bill, 2021 on March 28, 2021.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) introduced the “Government of NCT of Delhi
(Amendment) Bill, 2021 in the Lok Sabha on March 15, 2021.
• The bill proposes that the “Government” in the national capital territory of Delhi means
“Lieutenant Governor” (L-G) of Delhi.
• The Marine Aids to Navigation Bill 2021 was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
• The Rajya Sabha has approved the “National Institute of Food Technology Bill, 2019”.
• This bill declares the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and
Management, Kundli in Haryana and Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology,
Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu as the “National Institutes of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship
and Management”.
• Haryana Yog Aayog Bill 2021 was by the Haryana Vidhan Sabha during the ongoing budget
session.
• The Parliament has cleared the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
• Rajya Sabha has passed the “National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professional Bill,
2020” by voice vote.
• Haryana Assembly has passed the “Haryana Recovery of damages to property during
disturbance to public Bill, 2021”.
Economy
• The Delhi government presented a Rs 69,000-crore budget themed on ‘patriotism’ or ‘Deshbhakti’
for the financial year 2021-22.
• The budget was presented by the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia.
Companies/Industry
• Google and Intel have teamed up to develop cloud-based solutions for communication service
providers to accelerate the deployment of their 5G and network edge solutions.
• Google has launched a new web platform ‘Women Will’ on March 8, 2021 on the occasion of
“International Women’s Day”.
• This platform will provide its support to 1 million rural women in India in order for them to
become entrepreneurs with the help of accelerator programmes, business tutorials and
mentorship.
• Power Grid Corporation of India (POWERGRID) has launched an “e-Tendering Portal” called
‘PRANIT’ to make the tendering process more transparent. Singhraj
• The Finnish telecom equipment maker, Nokia, announced that it has partnered with the Microsoft,
Amazon web services and Google so as to develop a new cloud-based 5G radio solution.
Exports/Imports
• The first consignment of ‘red rice’ was flagged off to the United States of America from Assam,
giving a major boost to India’s rice export potential.
• The exported rice variety is known as ‘Bao-dhaan’, which is also an integral part of the
Assamese food.
Taxation/Trade
• Markets regulator SEBI has cancelled the certificate of registration of Sahara India Financial
Corporation Ltd as a sub-broker citing its failure to fulfil the “fit and proper” criteria.
Space
• The Russian Space agency, Roscosmos, has successfully launched its first ever Arctic-monitoring
satellite that will monitor the Arctic’s climate and environment.
• The rocket was blasted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Arktika-M
spacecraft was launched to the orbit.
• The Indian Space Research Organization- ISRO with the US space agency NASA completed the
development of a Synthetic Aperture Radar- SAR which is capable of producing extremely high-
resolution images for a joint Earth observation satellite mission.
Health/Diseases/Drugs
• Ghana has become the first country in the world to receive vaccines acquired through the United
Nations-backed COVAX initiative with a delivery of 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine
made by the Serum Institute of India.
• The Union Cabinet on approved COVID-19 vaccination for everyone above 45 years of age starting
from April 1st.
• El Salvador is the first country in Central America to be certified malaria-free by the World Health
Organization.
Energy/Gas/Oil
• Recently, India made a deal with Bangladesh where Indian companies will develop the
transmission lines of Bangladesh Rooppur Nuclear power plant.
• The largest floating solar farm of the world is being built in Singapore.
Environment
• The Red List by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recently showed that,
African elephants living in forests and savannas are increasingly threatened with extinction.
Education
• The Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, has announced that the Delhi Cabinet has given
approval to constitute the Delhi Board of School Education.
• Lt General DP Pandey has taken over the command of strategic Kashmir-based 15 Corps from Lt
Gen BS Raju, who has been appointed as the new Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO)
of the Indian Army.
• Senior IPS officer, M. A. Ganapathy was appointed as Director General of National Security
Guard.
• Dr Ajay Mathur has assumed office as the Director-General of the International Solar Alliance
(ISA) with effect from March 15, 2021.
• Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan has been appointed as the
Chairman of the international body Stop TB Partnership Board. Tuberculosis from India by 2025.
Resignation/Dismissed/Retired/Quit
• Trivendra Singh Rawat has resigned as the chief minister of Uttarakhand, a year before the hill
state is scheduled to go to polls.
• The Bharatiya Janata Party’s member of Parliament from Pauri Garhwal, Tirath Singh Rawat,
will be the next chief minister of Uttarakhand.
Deaths
• Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Khandwa in Madhya
Pradesh, has passed away.
• Noted Kannada poet, critic and translator NS Lakshminarayana Bhatta has passed away.
Popularly known as ‘NSL’ in the Kannada literary world.
• M G George Muthoot, the Chairman and Whole Time Director of The Muthoot Group, has passed
away.
• Dhyan Chand National Sports Award-winning veteran Indian athlete Ishar Singh Deol, has
passed away.
• Noted writer and filmmaker Sagar Sarhadi, known for films like “Kabhi Kabhie” and “Bazaar” has
passed away.
Awards/Honours
• Indian Cricket Team Virat Kohli became the first cricketer to hit 100 million followers on social
networking platform Instagram on March 1, 2021.
• The 30th Bihari Puraskar for 2020 will be given to Mohankrishna Bohara for his Hindi book of
Criticism, titled Taslima: Sangharsh aur Sahitya.
• India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was awarded the ICC Player of the Month award for
February, the International Cricket Council (ICC).
• World rapid chess champion Koneru Humpy has won the BBC Indian Sportswoman-of-the-Year
award.
• The Lifetime Achievement award went to veteran athlete Anju Bobby George.
• 67th National Film Awards:
• Sikkim wins award for Most Film Friendly State.
• Anandi Gopal takes the award for Best Film on Social Issues.
• B Praak wins Best Male Playback Singer for ‘Teri Mitti’ from the movie Kesari;
• Dhanush and Manoj Bajpayee share the award for Best Actor.
• Kangana Ranaut wins Best Actress award for Manikarnika-The Queen of Jhansi and Panga.
• The Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2019 is being conferred on (Late) His Majesty Sultan Qaboos
bin Said Al Said of Oman.
• On the other hand, Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2020 is being conferred on Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
• Kerala’s tuberculosis eradication programme had won national honour as the state bagged the
Union government’s award for reducing the prevalence of the disease through various systematic
initiatives.
• ESAF Small Finance Bank had been awarded ‘Great place to work’ certification by the Great place
to Work Institute.
• A team of four undergraduate students from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
emerged as winners at the CoreNet Global Academic Challenge 6.0, sponsored by Cushman and
Wakefield, KI and IA: Interior Architects.
Sports/Game
• All India Football Federation confirms Odisha as the venue for the forthcoming Hero Indian
Women’s League 2020-21 edition.
• This is the fifth edition of IWL, the top division women’s league in India.
• The Indian wrestler, Vinesh Phogat, has won the gold medal in women’s 53-kg category.
• She won the medal at XXIV Outstanding Ukrainian Wrestlers and Coaches Memorial in Kyiv,
Ukraine.
• Deepak Kumar, in boxing, has won a silver medal at the 72nd Strandja Memorial Tournament in
Sofia, Bulgaria.
• Mumbai City FC win ISL League Football Winners Shield at the GMC Stadium in Goa.
• India’s Varun Kapur and Malvika Bansod clinched the men’s and women’s singles titles
respectively at the 2021 Uganda International Badminton tournament in Kampala.
• Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir topped the medals tally in the second edition of the Khelo
India Winter National Games.
• The event concluded in the famous ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
• Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia has regained his world number one ranking after clinching a
second successive gold medal at the Matteo Pallicone Ranking Series.
• India’s ace shuttler PV Sindhu has won a silver medal in the BWF Swiss Open Super 300 in the
final of the women’s singles event held at Basel, Switzerland.
• In Boxing, continuing his splendid run, Manish Kaushik clinched gold as Indian boxers concluded
their impressive campaign at the Boxam International Tournament with 10 medals in Castellon,
Spain.
• Singhraj, the Indian para-athlete has won a gold medal in the 2021 Para Shooting World Cup at Al
Ain in the United Arab Emirates.
• In Cricket, India Legends defeated Sri Lanka Legends to clinch the Road Safety World Series final
title, held at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
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• Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara has won the All England Badminton Championships women’s title as
she defeated Pornpawee Chochuwong in the finals.
• In the men’s category, Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia has won the All England Badminton
Championships title as he defeated Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen in the summit clash.
• India’s Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar won gold in the men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions event at the
ISSF World Cup in New Delhi.
• In Shooting, India won gold in the women’s 25m Pistol Team event at the ISSF World Cup in
Delhi.
• ‘In The Dream House: A Memoir’ by Carmen Maria Machado Wins The Rathbones Folio Prize
2021.
• Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton battled past Max Verstappen to win the
season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix and clinched the 96th race win of his career.
• Mumbai City FC beat ATK Mohun Bagan to win their maiden ISL title.
• Sprinter S Dhanalakshmi beat national record holder Dutee Chand to win women’s 100m sprint
final in the Federation Cup Senior National Athletics Championships in Patiala.
• Afghanistan’s Hashmatullah Shahidi became the first batsman from the country to register a
double hundred in Test cricket.
Report
• Shimla has been placed at top among the cities with less than 10 lakh population in the country in
the government’s “Ease of Living Index 2020”.
• This is followed by Bhubaneswar, Silvassa, Kakinada, Salem, Vellore, Gandhinagar, Gurugram,
Davangere and Tiruchirapalli.
• Bengaluru has been ranked on top among the cities with more than 10 lakh population.
• Tesla chief Elon Musk bagged the top spot on the Hurun Global Rich List for the first time.
• Amazon.com Inc CEO Jeff Bezos ranked second with $189 billion in net worth.
• Bernard Arnault, the chief executive of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, the world’s
largest luxury-goods company ranked third with a net worth of $114 billion.
• The US government funded NGO “Freedom House” published its annual report on global political
rights and liberties recently.
• The report titled “Freedom in the World 2021 – Democracy under Siege” published the report
on political freedom across the world. India declared as ‘partly free’.
• The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has released the final rankings of the Municipal
Performance Index (MPI) 2020.
• Indore and NDMC tops Municipal Performance Index (MPI) 2020.
• The 11th edition of the QS World University Rankings was released.
• The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the United States has retained its top
position as the best university for the ninth year in a row.
• Kieron Pollard becomes 3rd Man to Hit 6 Sixes in an over.
• Other Players: Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa) and Yuvraj Singh (India).
• The United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) published the “Food Waste Index Report,
2021”.
• As per the report, estimated 931 million tonnes of food were wasted across the world 2019.
• India has moved down 13 spots in the latest global home price index to finish last at 56th rank in
the quarter ending December 2020.
• The U.K. just about makes the Top 10, coming in 9th place with a score of 43.
• India ranked 40 among 53 global economies on the latest annual edition of the International
Intellectual Property (IP) Index released.
• The “World Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives” was released by the World Bank.
• The World Development Report focuses on how data can improve the lives of poor people and
advance development objectives, to ensure no one is left behind.
• Indian captain Virat Kohli has breached the 3000-run mark in Twenty20 Internationals with his
last shot in the second T20I against England.
• He also became the third captain in international cricket to score 12000 runs as a captain. He
joined legendary captains Ricky Ponting and Graeme Smith in the elite list.
• New Delhi has been adjudged as the world’s most polluted capital city for the third straight year
in the 2020 World Air Quality Report by Swiss organisation, IQAir.
• Globally, New Delhi is ranked as the 10th most polluted city in the world.
• The topmost polluted city in the world is Xinjiang in China.
• This is followed by nine Indian cities as the most polluted cities in the world, which are
Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar, Bisrakh Jalalpur, Noida, Greater Noida, Kanpur, Lucknow and
Bhiwari.
• Norway’s Oslo emerged as the city where a bottle of water is most expensive, costing $1.85
(Rs.134.50), according to a Bloomberg report citing a survey of 120 cities conducted by travel tech
company Holidu.
• It’s followed by the USA’s Virginia Beach, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Sweden’s
Stockholm.
• Bengaluru featured among the places where water is cheapest, at $0.13 (₹9.45).
• According to the World Happiness Report 2021, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland,
Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Norway, New Zealand and Austria are the top 10 happiest
countries in the world.
• Meanwhile, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Jordan, India, Cambodia, Benin, Myanmar, Namibia, Egypt
and Kenya have been ranked as the 10 least happy countries in the world in the report.
General - National
• India describes Sri Lanka ‘Priority One’ as its “Priority One” partner in the field of defence and
security.
• The Indian government has welcomed the initiative announced by Saudi Arabia to promote peace
in Yemen.
General - International
• Israel’s president has formally received the first-ever ambassador from the United Arab Emirates,
following last year’s historic agreement between the countries to normalise ties.
• UAE envoy Mohamed Al Khaja, who arrived in Israel, delivered his credentials to Israeli
President Reuven Rivlin at a ceremony in Jerusalem.
• The United Nations General Assembly- UNGA has declared 2023 as the International Year of
Millets.
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11. When is International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members observed?
(1) March 26 (2) March 27 (3) March 28 (4) March 25 (5) None of these
12. What is the theme of International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the
Transatlantic Slave Trade 2021?
(1) Women and Slavery
(2) Confronting Slavery’s Legacy of Racism Together
(3) Ending Slavery’s Legacy of Racism: A Global Imperative for Justice
(4) Breaking the Silence, Lest We Forget
(5) None of these
Other Banks
13. Which of the following launched first-of-its-kind initiative called ‘Yield’ an online platform to buy
and sell bonds as well as debentures in the secondary market?
(1) HDFC Securities (2) Yes Securities (3) Axis Securities
(4) ICICI Securities (5) None of these
14. Which private sector bank is going to handle the salary account of the Indian army personnel?
(1) Kotak Mahindra Bank (2) Axis Bank (3) IndusInd Bank
(4) IDFC FIRST Bank (5) None of these
15. Nine banks and 2 non-bank entities are going to put in how much amount jointly as initial capital
in the proposed bad bank that aims to help extract funds stuck in non-performing loans?
(1) Rs 5,000 cr (2) Rs 4,000 cr (3) Rs 7,000 cr (4) Rs 2,000 cr (5) None of these
16. Which bank has launched women-centric ‘Essence’ services that will offer preferentially-priced
loans and healthcare benefits, among other services?
(1) Federal Bank (2) Kotak Mahindra Bank (3) Yes Bank
(4) HDFC Bank (5) None of these
17. The total number of basic bank accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)
reached how many as on March 10, 2021?
(1) 35 crore (2) 61 crore (3) 42 crore (4) 450 crore (5) None of these
States
18. Which digital platform has been launched by Tripura government to boost e- governance in the
state?
(1) Jagrut Tripura (2) Sachet Tripura (3) Sajeev Tripura
(4) Hoshyaar Tripura (5) None of these
19. Which state government launched Engineering Research & Development (Engineering R&D)
Policy to raise its contribution to the sector to 45% in the upcoming five years?
(1) Tamil Nadu (2) Goa (3) Karnataka (4) West Bengal (5) None of these
21. Which state has become the first in the country to have a separate Mission Shakti department that
would exclusively work for around 70 lakh rural women associated with nearly six lakh women
self-help groups?
(1) Odisha (2) West Bengal (3) Tripura
(4) Himachal Pradesh (5) None of these
22. Super-75 scholarship scheme is launched in which state/UT on International Women’s Day to
support the education of meritorious girls from poor families?
(1) Kerala (2) Maharashtra (3) J&K (4) Himachal Pradesh (5) None of these
24. In which state/UT is the project “Awaam Ki Baat” – a Radio program launched?
(1) Delhi (2) West Bengal (3) J&K (4) Chhattisgarh (5) None of these
25. Which state/UT government launched ‘Education Mentoring Programme’ for Girls of Class 9-12?
(1) West Bengal (2) Delhi (3) Sikkim (4) Madhya Pradesh (5) None of these
26. Fruit growers in which sate have started an innovative ‘movement’ to promote fresh fruit cakes as
a healthier option, instead of the traditional bakery-made cakes?
(1) Karnataka (2) Haryana (3) Gujarat (4) Maharashtra (5) None of these
27. Which state government launched i-Learn, a capacity building and performance tracking
application for Community Health Officers, CHOs in the state?
(1) Meghalaya (2) Nagaland (3) Arunachal Pradesh
(4) Sikkim (5) None of these
28. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched e-Office, e-Heli Service, and e-
Aagman for which district?
(1) Keylong (2) Manali (3) Kinnaur (4) Lahaul-Spiti (5) None of these
29. Which state government has announced the universal health coverage scheme called CM
Chiranjeevi Yojna to be operational from May 1 2021?
(1) Himachal Pradesh (2) Bihar (3) Rajasthan
(4) Madhya Pradesh (5) None of these
30. In which district of Jammu and Kashmir ‘Pashudhan Mela’ was organized in March 2021 to
educate farmers about the latest cattle breeds?
(1) Kathua (2) Kangra (3) Kulgam (4) Jammu (5) None of these
33. Where did the Border Roads Organization (BRO) construct a 200-ft bailey bridge in 26 days to re-
establish connectivity with Niti border?
(1) Sikkim (2) Jammu and Kashmir (3) Uttarakhand
(4) Bihar (5) None of these
35. Where is National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) going to commission India’s largest
floating solar power plant in May 2021?
(1) Telangana (2) Goa (3) Karnataka (4) Maharashtra (5) None of these
38. INS Jalashwa reached the port of which country with an Indian Naval training team on-board?
(1) Madagascar (2) Indonesia (3) Seychelles
(4) Maldives (5) None of these
39. Cochin Shipyard Ltd. delivered MV ‘Sindhu’ A 500 pax passengers cum 150 MT Cargo Vessel
built indigenously for which state/UT?
(1) Andaman and Nicobar (2) Kerala (3) Goa
(4) Puducherry (5) None of these
40. Which country test-fired a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile ‘Shaheen-1A’ with a
range of 900 kilometres?
(1) Iran (2) Kuwait (3) Iraq (4) Pakistan (5) None of these
41. For the first time, Indian Navy conducted a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) and a joint patrolling with
navy of which country?
(1) Djibouti (2) Seychelles (3) Comoros (4) Madagascar (5) None of these
Committees/Commissions
42. National Committee to be headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to commemorate 75 years of
India’s Independence has how many members?
(1) 259 (2) 253 (3) 262 (4) 267 (5) None of these
43. Who is the head of the committee reconstituted by centre to chalk out a plan for studying the
mythical Sarasvati river for the next two years?
(1) Dharmendra Pradhan (2) Narendra Singh Tomar (3) Hardeep Singh Puri
(4) Prahlad Singh Patel (5) None of these
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Schemes/Initiatives
44. Where was the Saras Aajeevika Mela 2021 inaugurated by Union Minister Narendra Singh
Tomar?
(1) Surat (2) Lucknow (3) Jaipur (4) Noida (5) None of these
45. Which app was launched by Minister for Social justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot
along with handbook entitled “Access – The Photo Digest”?
(1) Visheshika Bharat App (2) Sugamya Bharat App (3) Shaurya Bharat App
(4) Samridhi Bharat App (5) None of these
46. ‘Maitri Setu’ inaugurated between India and Bangladesh by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
been built over which river?
(1) Muhuri (2) Gomati (3) Juri (4) Feni (5) None of these
47. In which state did Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched the Mission
Gramodaya?
(1) Haryana (2) Andhra Pradesh (3) Jharkhand
(4) Madhya Pradesh (5) None of these
48. Under the Gram Ujala programme launched by State-run EESL arm Convergence Energy Services
Ltd (CESL), high quality energy efficient LED bulbs will be given at what price per piece?
(1) Rs 12 (2) Rs 10 (3) Rs 8 (4) Rs 15 (5) None of these
49. Which state/UT government has launched the SAAMAR (Strategic Action for Alleviation of
Malnutrition and Anemia Reduction) campaign to tackle malnutrition in the state?
(1) Jharkhand (2) Himachal Pradesh (3) Jammu and Kashmir
(4) Karnataka (5) None of these
50. Where was the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Smarak inaugurated by Union Minister of Education,
Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’?
(1) Delhi (2) Raipur (3) Ranchi (4) Lucknow (5) None of these
Agreement/Deal/Signed
51. Which state government will join hands with United Nation and other global agencies to
empower women?
(1) Delhi (2) Karnataka (3) Punjab (4) Uttar Pradesh (5) None of these
52. Which telecom equipment maker has partnered with Microsoft, Amazon web services and
Google to develop new cloud-based 5G radio solutions with its radio access network (RNA)
technology?
(1) Nokia (2) Samsung (3) Huawei (4) Ericsson (5) None of these
53. Atal Innovation Mission and NITI Aayog partnered with which of the following to strengthen the
innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in India?
(1) Amazon (2) Google (3) Microsoft (4) Facebook (5) None of these
54. Union Jal Shakti Ministry signed a memorandum of agreement with Uttar Pradesh and which
other state to implement the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project?
(1) Madhya Pradesh (2) Gujarat (3) Rajasthan
(4) Haryana (5) None of these
55. Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), India signed an MoU with Independent
Administrative Reforms and Civil Services Commission (IARCSC) of which country to facilitate
sharing of experience and expertise?
(1) Thailand (2) Afghanistan (3) Sri Lanka (4) Malaysia (5) None of these
57. Aqua connect has partnered with which of the following for an insurance program for 1.5 lakh
shrimp farmers across India?
(1) Alliance Insurance Brokers (2) Emedlife Insurance Brokers
(3) Prudent Insurance Brokers (4) Global Insurance Brokers (5) None of these
Meet/Visit
58. Under which country the first Meeting of the BRICS Contact Group on Economic and Trade
Issues (CGETI) was held?
(1) South Africa (2) India (3) China (4) Brazil (5) None of these
59. Name the Inter Parliamentary Union President who arrived in India in March 2021 to attend
felicitation ceremony and address Members under the auspices of the Indian Parliamentary
Group (IPG)?
(1) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (2) Houlin Zhao (3) Duarte Pacheco
(4) Guy Ryder (5) None of these
60. Mohammad Haneef Atmar who arrived in India on a 3-day visit is the foreign minister of which
country?
(1) Qatar (2) Iran (3) Afghanistan (4) Bangladesh (5) None of these
Economy
61. What is the annual rate of interest as recommended by Central Board of EPFO for current
financial year?
(1) 8.2% (2) 7.8% (3) 8.5% (4) 7.3% (5) None of these
62. India received highest ever FDI of over what amount during April-December 2020?
(1) USD 71 billion (2) USD 92 billion (3) USD 67 billion
(4) USD 45 billion (5) None of these
63. Retail inflation for the month of February 2021 climbed to what percent?
(1) 4.09% (2) 5.03% (3) 4.56% (4) 5.65% (5) None of these
64. More than how many loans have been sanctioned to the beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri
Street Vendors, Atma Nirbhar Nidhi Scheme – PM SVANidhi so far?
(1) 23 lakh (2) 19 lakh (3) 31 lakh (4) 37 lakh (5) None of these
65. How much amount have been disbursed under Atal Pension Yojana till February this year?
(1) Rs 76,000 lakh (2) Rs 57,000 lakh (3) Rs 35,000 lakh
(4) Rs 82,000 lakh (5) None of these
Companies/Industry
66. Which renewable energy firm has now become a part of the World Economic Forum’s Global
Lighthouse Network?
(1) ReNew Power (2) Suzlon Energy (3) Tata Power Solar
(4) Azure Power (5) None of these
Space
67. NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), a joint collaboration capable of producing
extremely high-resolution images is targeted to launch in which year?
(1) 2024 (2) 2023 (3) 2021 (4) 2022 (5) None of these
69. China along with which other nation have agreed to jointly build a research station on the moon?
(1) USA (2) Russia (3) Japan (4) Australia (5) None of these
71. Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) based where has successfully conducted the
maiden flight trial of deploying Indigenous Instrumented Torpedo Advanced Light (TAL)?
(1) Visakhapatnam (2) Coimbatore (3) Bengaluru
(4) Nainital (5) None of these
Energy/Gas/Oil
72. Which country has become India’s second biggest oil supplier?
(1) UAE (2) Saudi Arabia (3) USA (4) Afghanistan (5) None of these
Transport/Cars/Scooters
73. Indian Railway integrated all its railway helplines into which single number which is Rail Madad
Helpline for quick grievance redressal and enquiry during the journey?
(1) 139 (2) 141 (3) 189 (4) 196 (5) None of these
74. Which airport has India’s first dedicated Express Cargo Terminal exclusively for export and
import of international couriers?
(1) Indira Gandhi International Airport
(2) Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport
(3) Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport
(4) Kempegowda International Airport
(5) None of these
75. Where Indian Railways’ 1st fully centralized AC terminal will be started soon?
(1) Pune (2) Vadodara (3) Bengaluru (4) Mysore (5) None of these
Festival
76. Which state has launched ‘Kalanamak Rice Festival’?
(1) Madhya Pradesh (2) Uttar Pradesh (3) Andhra Pradesh
(4) Uttarakhand (5) None of these
77. Where was the regional Sale of Articles of Rural Artisans Society (SARAS) fair 2021 organized?
(1) Agartala (2) Dimapur (3) Kohima (4) Imphal (5) None of these
80. Who has been appointed as the director general (DG) of CRPF?
(1) Vinay Awasthi (2) Mahesh Sharma (3) Kuldiep Singh
(4) A P Maheshwari (5) None of these
81. Who among the following actor from India joined the 2021 list of the Young Global Leaders
(YGLs) compiled by the World Economic Forum?
(1) Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (2) Shilpa Shetty (3) Disha Patani
(4) Deepika Padukone (5) None of these
82. Which company has appointed Pallav Mohapatra as the new chief executive officer and
managing director?
(1) Asrec (2) Alchemist (3) Arcil (4) Phoenix (5) None of these
83. Ishraq Ali Khan has taken over as executive director (ED) of which bank?
(1) Bank of India (2) UCO Bank (3) Syndicate Bank
(4) United Bank of India (5) None of these
85. Who is appointed as the Director-General of the International Solar Alliance (ISA)?
(1) Vikram Singh (2) Brijesh Nagpal (3) Ajay Mathur
(4) Ankit Singla (5) None of these
86. Who has been appointed as the managing director and chief executive officer of Mahindra and
Mahindra (M&M)?
(1) Anish Shah (2) Deepak Kataria (3) Harish Sehgal
(4) Mahesh Awasthi (5) None of these
Resignation/Dismissed/Retired/Quit
87. Whom of the following announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket?
(1) Pragyan Ojha (2) Ashok Dinda (3) Abhimanyu Mithun
(4) R. Vinay Kumar (5) None of these
88. Who announced his retirement as Principal Advisor to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi?
(1) Nripendra Misra (2) Pradeep Kumar Sinha (3) P.K. Sinha
(4) Pramod Kumar Mishra (5) None of these
Deaths
89. Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan who passed away was related to which profession?
(1) Filmmaker (2) Politician (3) Choreographer
(4) Author (5) None of these
90. Shrikant Moghe who passed away following age-related illness was related with which field?
(1) Actor (2) Author (3) Filmmaker (4) Politician (5) None of these
91. Veteran Indian athlete Ishar Singh Deol who passed away was related with which sport?
(1) Hockey (2) Tennis (3) Football (4) Cricket (5) None of these
93. Renowned poet Adam Zagajewski who passed away hailed from which country?
(1) Poland (2) Madagascar (3) Denmark (4) Estonia (5) None of these
94. Laxmipriya Mohapatra who passed away was related to which of the following?
(1) Mathematics (2) Politics (3) Singing (4) Dance (5) None of these
95. Anil Dharker who passed away was related to which profession?
(1) Director (2) Journalist (3) Politician (4) Singer (5) None of these
96. Kamalesh Chandra Chakrabarty who passed away was related to which of the following
organizations?
(1) Reserve Bank of India (2) SEBI (3) NABARD
(4) NASSCOM (5) None of these
Awards/Honours
97. Which railway station has become the first railway station in Maharashtra to be awarded with
Gold certification as per CII’s Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) ratings?
(1) Hazur Sahib Nanded (2) Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus
(3) Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (4) Pune Junction (5) None of these
98. Mohankrishna Bohara will be awarded Bihari Puraskar 2020 for his which book?
(1) Rachnakar ka Sankat (2) Samkaleen Kahanikar: Naya Vitan
(3) Dumchalla (4) Taslima: Sangharsh aur Sahitya (5) None of these
99. Who won the BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year award (ISWOTY) for 2020?
(1) Mary Kom (2) Dutee Chand (3) Rani Rampal
(4) Koneru Humpy (5) None of these
100. Who has become the first Indian cinema personality to be bestowed with the FIAF Award for his
dedication and contribution to the preservation of the world’s film heritage?
(1) Priyanka Chopra (2) Amitabh Bachchan (3) Akshay Kumar
(4) Deepika Padukone (5) None of these
101. The 2020 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership has been awarded to Mahamadou
Issoufou, president of which country?
(1) Libya (2) Chad (3) Niger (4) Senegal (5) None of these
102. Who is honoured with the International Woman of Courage (IWOC) Award 2021 by U.S.
Consulate?
(1) Medha Patkar (2) Aruna Roy (3) Gowsalya Shankar
(4) Vandana Shiva (5) None of these
103. In Haryana, Government College for Women at Salaheri in Nuh district has been renamed after
whom?
(1) Preeti Wadhwa (2) Mayuri Chaudhary (3) Surbhi Rana
(4) Kiran Shekhawat (5) None of these
104. Which bank has been awarded ‘Great place to work’ certification by the Great place to Work
Institute?
(1) Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (2) ESAF Small Finance Bank
(3) Equitas Small Finance Bank (4) Jana Small Finance Bank (5) None of these
CSB, Ch-17, Ph: 044-24333346 GA/March’21/Page-38
105. A team from which institute emerged as winners at the CoreNet Global Academic Challenge 6.0?
(1) IIT Madras (2) IIT Bombay (3) IIT Kanpur (4) IIT Kharagpur (5) None of these
106. Who will be awarded the Maharashtra Bhushan award as announced by the state government?
(1) Asha Bhosle (2) Anil Kakodkar (3) Ratan Tata
(4) Sachin Tendulkar (5) None of these
107. American author Carmen Maria Machado won the Rathbones Folio prize for which of her
following books?
(1) The Mythic Dream (2) In the Dream House
(3) Her Body and Other Parties (4) The Low, Low Woods (5) None of these
Sports/Game
108. Which state is chosen as the venue for the 2020-21 edition of the Indian Women’s League?
(1) Odisha (2) Maharashtra (3) Goa (4) Assam (5) None of these
109. India got which spot in the latest ICC men’s T20 International team rankings topped by England?
(1) 2nd (2) 3rd (3) 4th (4) 5th (5) None of these
110. Who has become the first Indian woman cricketer and only the second overall to score 10000
international runs?
(1) Smriti Mandhana (2) Harmanpreet Kaur (3) Mithali Raj
(4) Jhulan Goswami (5) None of these
111. Which country will host the Asian Boxing Championships 2021?
(1) India (2) Thailand (3) South Korea (4) Indonesia (5) None of these
112. Who beat Dutee Chand to take the 100m Gold in the competitions at the NIS Campus?
(1) PT Usha (2) M R Poovamma (3) Vismaya
(4) Dhanalakshmi (5) None of these
113. Who has become the first ever batsman to make 3000 runs in men’s T20I cricket?
(1) AB de Villiers (2) Virat Kohli (3) Joe Root
(4) Jasprit Bumrah (5) None of these
114. Who bagged the gold medal for India in the Women’s 10 Meter Air Pistol in the International
Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup?
(1) Yashaswini Deswal (2) Chinki Yadav (3) Tejaswini Sawant
(4) Anjum Moudgil (5) None of these
115. The Indian Style Wrestling Association of India (ISWAI) has been recognized as a National Sports
Federation (NSF) by the Sports Ministry. Where is the HQ of ISWAI situated?
(1) Lucknow (2) Delhi (3) Chennai (4) Mumbai (5) None of these
116. Virat Kohli was ranked at which position in the latest ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings?
(1) 4th (2) 7th (3) 3rd (4) 5th (5) None of these
Report
117. Which institute topped the QS World University Rankings by Subject in which 12 Indian
institutions made it to the top 100?
(1) California Institute of Technology
(2) Harvard University
(3) Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(4) Stanford University
(5) None of these
CSB, Ch-17, Ph: 044-24333346 GA/March’21/Page-39
118. Which state has ranked first in the country for the Land Records Service Index in the ranking
given by the National Council for Applied Economic Research?
(1) Uttarakhand (2) Bihar (3) Madhya Pradesh
(4) Punjab (5) None of these
119. According to a report by economists at Bank of America, since 1990, gender inequality has cost
the world around how much amount?
(1) USD 80 trillion (2) USD 50 trillion (3) USD 30 trillion
(4) USD 70 trillion (5) None of these
120. What is the rank of India among the 40 countries in Asia-Pacific in the latest Economic Freedom
Index published by a US-based think tank?
(1) 39th (2) 26th (3) 34th (4) 19th (5) None of these
121. According to PwC Survey, what is India’s rank on the list of growth destinations?
(1) 2nd (2) 3rd (3) 4th (4) 5th (5) None of these
122. According to Stockholm-based defence think-tank SIPRI, India’s import of arms decreased by
what percent between 2011-2015 and 2016-2020?
(1) 40% (2) 33% (3) 54% (4) 22% (5) None of these
123. According to international property consultancy Knight Frank, India slipped to which position in
home price appreciation?
(1) 56 (2) 43 (3) 49 (4) 52 (5) None of these
124. According to Hurun India Wealth Report 2020, the ‘New Middle Class’, a novel household
category in India has an average savings of how much amount per annum?
(1) Rs 10 lakhs (2) Rs 20 lakhs (3) Rs 25 lakhs
(4) Rs 15 lakhs (5) None of these
125. India has been ranked at which position among countries in the list of UN World Happiness
Report 2021?
(1) 145 (2) 140 (3) 124 (4) 139 (5) None of these
126. According to a study released by defence website Military Direct, India stands at which position
in terms of having strongest military force in the world?
(1) 3rd (2) 5th (3) 4th (4) 2nd (5) None of these
General - National
127. Which of the following has integrated with India’s official vaccination registration website,
cowin.gov.in?
(1) MapmyIndia (2) Bharat Maps (3) Maptell
(4) Indiamap Digital (5) None of these
128. With the support of which country will a centre of excellence for the dairy sector be set up in
Rajasthan?
(1) Singapore (2) Denmark (3) Netherlands (4) Germany (5) None of these
129. How many PSBs are kept out of privatization plan by NITI Aayog?
(1) 4 (2) 3 (3) 5 (4) 6 (5) None of these
130. Union minister Nitin Gadkari expected to complete the construction work of Dwarka Expressway
before 15 August 2022. It will connect Dwarka in Delhi to which region?
(1) Gurugram (2) Noida (3) Jaipur (4) Agra (5) None of these
General - International
132. Which year is chosen as the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables by the United Nations
General Assembly?
(1) 2021 (2) 2023 (3) 2024 (4) 2022 (5) None of these
133. Which country celebrated 50 years of its Independence and National Day on 26 March, 2021?
(1) Bangladesh (2) Nepal (3) Sri Lanka (4) Afghanistan (5) None of these
134. Who is author of the book titled ‘Bride of the Forest: the Untold Story of Yayati’s Daughter’?
(1) Shrishti Das (2) Madhavi S Mahadevan (3) Namita Munjal
(4) Kriti Upadhyay (5) None of these
135. Who is the author of the book titled “India: A Scamster Born Every Minute”?
(1) Romila Thapar (2) Snigdha Poonam (3) Madhuri Vijay
(4) Anita Desai (5) None of these
136. Who is the writer of the book “Bare Necessities: How to Live a Zero Waste Life”, along with
sustainability consultant Tim De Ridder?
(1) Kunal Kapoor (2) Anita Dongre (3) Sahar Mansoor@
(4) Saurabh Munjal (5) None of these
137. Who is the author of the book titled “Advantage India: The Story of Indian Tennis”?
(1) Anurag Awasthi (2) Virendra Kumar (3) Kodi Ravichandran
(4) Anindya Dutta (5) None of these
138. Who is the author of the book titled ‘The Mystery of the Parsee Lawyer’?
(1) Smiriti Das (2) Shreya Kulkarni (3) Shrabani Basu
(4) Sarat Chandra (5) None of these
139. Who is the author of the book titled ‘Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Power’?
(1) Rajiv Malhotra (2) Sanjeev Kapoor (3) Harshul Vaidya
(4) Vivek Awasthi (5) None of these
140. Name Chef Kunal Kapur’s new book released in March 2021?
(1) A Chef in Every Home: The Complete Family Cookbook
(2) Kunal Kapur’s the Yellow Chilli Cookbook
(3) Kunal Kapur In The Kitchen
(4) No Oil Cooking
(5) None of these
146. Who is the author of the book titled “Battle Ready for 21st Century”?
(1) AK Singh (2) NM Kumar (3) K Rana (4) Vikas Pujari (5) None of these
147. Who is the author of the book titled “Names of the Women”?
(1) Ravinder Singh (2) Aravind Adiga (3) Jeet Thayil
(4) Manu Joseph (5) None of these
148. Who are the authors of the book titled ‘Escaped: True stories of Indian fugitives in London’?
(1) Shivshankar Menon and Ananth Krishnan
(2) Rajiv Sikri and Ruhi Khan
(3) Danish Khan and Ruhi Khan
(4) Danish Khan and Shivshankar Menon
(5) None of these
--×--
Ans: 1-2, 2-1, 3-1, 4-3, 5-1, 6-4, 7-4, 8-1, 9-2, 10-4, 11-4, 12-3, 13-3, 14-1, 15-3, 16-3, 17-3, 18-1, 19-3, 20-4,
21-1, 22-3, 23-2, 24-3, 25-2, 26-4, 27-2, 28-4, 29-3, 30-1, 31-3, 32-4, 33-3, 34-4, 35-1, 36-2, 37-4, 38-1, 39-1,
40-4, 41-4, 42-1, 43-4, 44-4, 45-2, 46-4, 47-4, 48-2, 49-1, 50-1, 51-3, 52-1, 53-1, 54-1, 55-1, 56-3, 57-1, 58-2,
59-3, 60-3, 61-3, 62-3, 63-2, 64-1, 65-2, 66-1, 67-4, 68-2, 69-2, 70-2, 71-1, 72-3, 73-1, 74-4, 75-3, 76-2, 77-3,
78-3, 79-4, 80-3, 81-4, 82-3, 83-2, 84-1, 85-3, 86-1, 87-4, 88-3, 89-2, 90-1, 91-3, 92-1, 93-1, 94-4, 95-2, 96-1,
97-2, 98-4, 99-4, 100-2, 101-3, 102-3, 103-4, 104-2, 105-4, 106-1, 107-2, 108-1, 109-1, 110-3, 111-1, 112-4,
113-2, 114-1, 115-4, 116-1, 117-3, 118-3, 119-4, 120-2, 121-4, 122-2, 123-1, 124-2, 125-4, 126-3, 127-1, 128-2,
129-4, 130-1, 131-2, 132-1, 133-1, 134-2, 135-2, 136-3, 137-4, 138-3, 139-1, 140-3, 141-1, 142-1, 143-4, 144-2,
145-4, 146-1, 147-3, 148-3.
--×--