- Who has been appointed as the next Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force, effective from 30th September 2024?
(A) Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari
(B) Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh
(C) Air Marshal Anil Khosla
(D) Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh
(E) Air Marshal Arjan Singh
Solution: Option D.)
Ans (D)
The Government of India has appointed Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh as the next Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force.
Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh will be the 28th Chief of the Indian Air Force.
He will assume the position on 30th September 2024.
The current Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, will retire on the same day.
Before becoming Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Central Air Command, Prayagraj.
- Who won the women’s singles title at the 2024 Polish International Badminton Championships?
(A) Malvika Bansod
(B) Anmol Kharb
(C) Ashmita Chaliha
(D) Unnati Hooda
(E) Treesa Jolly
Solution: Option B.)
Ans (B)
Anmol Kharb won the women’s singles title at the 2024 Polish International Badminton Championships.
Anmol Kharb also won her first senior international title at the Belgian International last week.
The Polish International Badminton Championship took place in Lublin, Poland, from 19-22 September 2024, with a prize pool of USD 3000.
Indian badminton players participated in the women’s and men’s singles and doubles events, with no Indian entry for the mixed doubles.
Lakshya Sharma reached the men’s singles semi-final but lost to Sweden’s Gustav Bjorkler.
The men’s singles title was won by Denmark’s Ditlev Jaeger Holm.
The Indian men’s doubles pairs, Ishaan Bhatnagar-Sankar Prasad Udayakumar and PS Ravikrishna-Akshan Shetty, reached the semifinals.
Ishaan Bhatnagar-Sankar Prasad Udayakumar lost to Poland’s Robert Cybul Bulski and Szymon Slepecki in the men’s doubles semifinal.
- Who has sworn in as the 9th President of Sri Lanka in September 2024?
(A) Ranil Wickremesinghe
(B) Rohana Wijeweera
(C) Anura Kumara Dissanayake
(D) Gotabaya Rajapaksa
(E) Ranasinghe Premadasa
Solution: Option C.)
Ans (C)
Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn in as the 9th President of Sri Lanka on 23 September 2024 for a six-year term.
The Election Commission of Sri Lanka declared him the winner of the presidential election on 22 September 2024 after the second round of counting.
He replaced Ranil Wickremesinghe, who finished third in the election with only 17% of the vote.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake is a left-leaning politician and the leader of the Marxist political party Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP).
In the presidential election, he was the candidate of the National People Power alliance, of which the JVP is a member.
- Which country won gold medals in both the Open and Women’s sections of the FIDE Chess Olympiad for the first time since China in 2018?
(A) India
(B) Russia
(C) USA
(D) Hungary
(E) Germany
Solution: Option A.)
Ans (A)
Indian men’s and women’s chess teams won gold medals at the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Budapest from 10-23 September 2024.
The next (46th) FIDE Chess Olympiad will be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in 2026.
The last country to win gold in both the Open and Women’s sections before India was China in 2018.
The Indian team retained the Gaprindashvili Cup for the best combined result in the Open and Women’s sections.
India previously won the Gaprindashvili Cup at the 43rd Chess Olympiad held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in 2022.
India is the second country, after Russia, to successfully retain the Gaprindashvili Cup.
The Indian men’s team included Arjun Erigasi, Rameshbabu Pragannandha, Dommaraju Gukesh, Vidit Gujrathi, and Pentala Harikrishna, winning the gold medal and the Hamilton Russell Cup.
The Indian women’s team, consisting of Vantika Agarwal, Divya Deshmukh, Harika Dranavali, Vaishali Rameshbabu, and Tania Sachdev, won the gold medal and the Vera Menchik Cup.
- Which film has been chosen as India’s official entry for the International Feature Film Category at the 97th Academy Awards 2025?
(A) Laapataa Ladies
(B) Three of Us
(C) Madgaon Express
(D) All India Rank
(E) Shastry Viruddh
Solution: Option A.)
Ans (A)
The Hindi comedy film ‘Laapataa Ladies’ has been chosen as India’s official entry for the International Feature Film Category at the 97th Academy Awards 2025.
The awards ceremony will be held on 2nd March 2025 in Los Angeles, USA.
Last year, “2018: Everyone’s a Hero” was India’s official entry for the 96th Academy Awards 2024.
A total of 57 Indian films, including Laapataa Ladies, have been nominated for this category at the Oscars.
The first Indian film to be nominated for an Oscar was Mother India in 1957.
Only three Indian films have made the final list of Oscar nominees: Mother India (1958), Salaam Bombay (1989), and Lagaan (2001).
No Indian film has won the Best International Feature Film category at the Oscars.
- Who has been designated as the director of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad?
(A) Amit Garg
(B) Subhas Goswami
(C) D. R. Doley
(D) Aruna Bahuguna
(E) Rajiv Mathur
Solution: Option A.)
Ans (A)
Amit Garg has been appointed as the Director of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) in Hyderabad.
He is a 1993-batch IPS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre.
His appointment is for a term lasting until his retirement on October 31, 2027.
The academy is situated in Shivrampalli, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
It is a training institution for Indian Police Service (IPS) officers before they are assigned to their respective state cadres.
Initially established as the National Police Academy on September 15, 1948, in Mount Abu, Rajasthan.
It was renamed to Central Police Training College (CPTC) in 1967 to reflect its expanded role.
In 1974, it was renamed to honor Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
The academy moved to Hyderabad in 1975 for better facilities.
- How much financial assistance will the Asian Development Bank (ADB) provide to the Tripura government for upgrading drinking water supply?
(A) Rs 490 crore
(B) Rs 530 crore
(C) Rs 680 crore
(D) Rs 340 crore
(E) Rs 450 crore
Solution: Option B.)
Ans (B)
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide Rs 530 crore to the Tripura government to upgrade drinking water supply in 12 cities, benefiting around four lakh people.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha laid the foundation for the ‘Mukhyamantri Nagar Unnayan Prakalp’ (Chief Minister’s urban development scheme) in Udaipur.
The plan aims to resolve drinking water issues for over 75,000 families in the 12 cities within three years.
The scheme was finalized after one year of efforts by the Tripura Urban Development Department.
- Which actor has been acknowledged as the most prolific actor in the Indian film industry by Guinness World Records?
(A) Rajinikanth
(B) Amitabh Bachchan
(C) Shahrukh Khan
(D) Chiranjeevi
(E) Aamir Khan
Solution: Option D.)
Ans (D)
- Chiranjeevi was honored by Guinness World Records as the most prolific star in the Indian film industry in the actor/dancer category.
The official recognition was awarded on September 20, 2024.
He has performed 24,000 dance moves in 537 songs across 156 films over a span of 45 years.
Chiranjeevi made his film debut on September 22, 1978.
The award was presented at an event attended by notable personalities, including Aamir Khan.
- Chiranjeevi is a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan and was previously awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2006.
His popular films include Rudra Veena, Indra, Tagore, Swayam Krushi, Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, Stalin, and Gang Leader.
His contributions have significantly impacted Telugu cinema, enhancing pride among Telugu people globally.
- Who has been recently appointed as the new director of National Crime Records Bureau?
(A) Rajiv Tandon
(B) Alok Ranjan
(C) Ramji Lal Suman
(D) Ajay Yadav
(E) Sarekoppa Banga
Solution: Option B.)
Ans (B)
Alok Ranjan is a senior IPS officer of the 1991 batch from the Madhya Pradesh cadre.
He has been appointed as the Director of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
His tenure as Director extends up to his superannuation on June 30, 2026.
He succeeds his batchmate Vivek Gogia, who has been repatriated to the AGMUT cadre.
Besides them, Praveer Ranjan has been appointed as Special Director General in Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) for a tenure of two years.
Praveer Ranjan, a 1993-batch IPS officer of AGMUT cadre, is currently Additional Director General (ADG), CISF.
Vitul Kumar, currently ADG in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), has been appointed as Special DG in the same force, till the date of his superannuation on August 31, 2028.
R Prasad Meena, at present ADG in the Border Security Force (BSF), has been appointed as Special DG in the force, till the date of his retirement that is July 31, 2025.
- Which city will host the 25th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards from March 7 to March 9, 2025?
(A) Mumbai
(B) New Delhi
(C) Jaipur
(D) Bengaluru
(E) Kolkata
Solution: Option C.)
Ans (C)
The 25th International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) will take place in Jaipur from March 7 to March 9, 2025.
This announcement precedes the 2024 IIFA Awards, set to occur in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, starting September 27, 2024.
An MoU has been signed between the Rajasthan Tourism Department and IIFA for the silver jubilee celebrations of the awards.
IIFA 2025 will promote tourism in Rajasthan and marks the second time the event is hosted in India; the first was in Mumbai in 2019.
The ceremony will introduce the inaugural IIFA Digital Awards to recognize achievements in digital entertainment, films, and OTT content.
The IIFA Awards serve as a platform for promoting Indian cinema globally and have been held in various countries since their inception in 2000.
The 24th IIFA Awards will conclude on September 29, 2024, in Yas Island.