1. Which of the following has been chosen as the Word of the Decade?
a. They
b. Us
c. You
d. People
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• Neutral pronoun 'they' has been voted word of the decade by US language experts, beating out other contenders.
• "They" is used in English by a growing number of non-binary individuals, people who do not identify as either male or female.
• The recognition comes after US dictionary Merriam-Webster in December 2019 named "they" as word of the year
2. Who was the first woman to conduct an orchestra at the Oscars.?
a. Eímear Noone
b. Jane Glover
c. Marin Alsop
d. Simone Young
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• Irish composer Eímear Noone will be the first woman to conduct an orchestra at the Oscars.
• She will lead the 42-piece orchestra at the Academy Awards on 9 February 2020.
• She was invited to take charge by Oscars' Music Director Rickey Minor.
• She conducts as many as 50 concerts a year and was the first woman to conduct at Dublin's National Concert Hall.
3. The book, "A New India: Selected Writings 2014-19” consists of selective writings of whom?
a. Arun Jaitley
b. Sushma Swaraj
c. Amit Shah
d. Nitin Gadkari
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• The book, "A New India: Selected Writings 2014-19", is an authoritative account of the policies and decisions made by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government during its first stint.
• It is a compilation of selected writings by former finance minister Arun Jaitley.
• It offers readers with the late politician''s sharp insight on topics including GST, demonetisation and Kashmir.
4. Who among the following launched Yashaswini scheme?
a. Smriti Irani
b. Maneka Gandhi
c. Narendra Modi
d. Amit Shah
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• Union Minister for Women and Child Development and Textiles, Smriti Irani launched Yashaswini Scheme for Women entrepreneurship in Goa on 11 Jan 2020.
• Swasthya Sakhi Project and breast cancer screening initiative were also inaugurated on the occasion.
• Under Yashaswini scheme, women self-help groups will be given interest-free loans of upto Rs 5 lakh for business.
5. With which of the following has Uber tied up to develop electric air taxis?
a. Hyundai
b. Maruti
c. BMW
d. Tata
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• Uber Technologies Inc and automaker Hyundai Motor have teamed up to develop electric air taxis.
• The partnership aims to make small self-flying cars to ease urban congestion.
• The team is heading towards a goal of launching Uber Air by 2023 and urban air mobility service in 2028.
• Hyundai is the first carmaker to join Uber’s air taxi project.
