1. Which of the following states has launched National scholarship online portal under ‘Mukhyamantri Yuba Yogayog Yojana’?
a. Meghalaya
b. Assam
c. Tripura
d. Arunachal Pradesh
S-c
EXPLANATION-
• Tripura’s CM Biplab Kumar Deb has launched an online portal scholarships.gov.in under ‘Mukhyamantri Yuba Yogayog Yojana.
• The scheme aims to provide grants of Rs. 5,000 to 14,608 youths for the purchase of smartphones to the students of final year to empower them digitally .
• They can use these smartphones to get jobs through different digital platforms and stay updated.
• The scheme has a total budget of Rs 7.30 crores
2. Which of the following has launched an antimicrobial and washable face mask that can be reused up to 50 launderings?
a. Nanosafe Solutions
b. Zeta Solutions
c. 1 Mg solutions
d. Practo
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• An IIT-Delhi startup named ‘Nanosafe Solutions’ has launched an antimicrobial and washable face mask that can be reused up to 50 launderings.
• It is a triple-layered product consisting of - inner hydrophilic layer for comfort, middle layer having antimicrobial activity and outer most layer having water and oil repellent behaviour.
• The mask has been designed to maximize durability and dimensional stability.
• It can be reused 50 times and this will also help to resolve the huge disposal issues.
• It has 99.2 per cent bacterial filtration efficiency (at 3 microns) as tested according to American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards.
• There is an elastic band in the chin region and wire in the nose region provides adequate fit of the mask to the wearer.
3. Which of the following gas leak was responsible for Vizag LG factory incident?
a. Ethane
b. Methane
c. Styrene
d. Ethanol
S-c
EXPLANATION-
• At least 10 people were killed and nearly 350 hospitalised after styrene gas leaked from Multinational LG Polymers Ltd. , a chemical factory on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
• This incident happened after the factory was being prepared for reopening after the easing of the lockdown.
• Stagnation and changes in temperature inside the storage tank could have resulted in auto polymerization and could have caused vapourisation.
4. How many years will the Central Bank of Iran take to replace the currency from Rial to Toman?
a. Three
b. Two
c. Four
d. Seven
S-b
EXPLANATION-
• The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for developing and maintaining the Iranian rial. It will have two years to change Iran’s currency to Toman.
• The government had to introduce new currency as the existing currency ‘Rial’ was crippling badly because of the sanctions imposed by the US.
• This will make it easier for people to transact without wasting time calculating the price of eggs or chicken, which can run into tens of thousands of rials. E.g. Instead of paying 250,000 rials for a packet of eggs, you’ll pay just 25 tomans.
• Due to high inflation, the value of rial has eroded over the years. It costs more than 150,000 rials to buy one US dollar in the open market while the official exchange rate is pegged at 42,000 rials to one US dollar.
5. How many labour laws have been suspended by the Up government under Uttar Pradesh Temporary Exemption from Certain Labour Laws Ordinance, 2020?
a. 23
b. 38
c. 31
d. 39
S-b
EXPLANATION-
• The Uttar Pradesh government passed an ordinance to suspend 38 labour laws in the state.
• Labour is a concurrent subject, states can frame their own laws but will need the approval of the Centre to enforce them. Therefore, the ordinance will also be sent to the Central government for approval.
• This rule will apply to both the existing businesses and the new factories being set up in the state.
• Provisions related to children and women in the labour laws would continue.
• These laws have been suspended for the for next three years.
• The laws related to settling industrial disputes, health and working conditions of workers and trade unions, contract workers and migrant workers will remain suspended for three years.
