- Who is the first para-athlete to win a gold medal in the archery event at the Paralympic Games?
(A) Harvinder Singh
(B) Rakesh Kumar
(C) Deepak Malik
(D) Rajinder Singh
(E) Sandeep Kumar
Solution: Option A.)
Ans (A)
Harvinder Singh won the gold medal in the men’s individual recurve open event at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, becoming the first Indian para-athlete to do so.
Dharambir and Pranav Soorma won gold and silver, respectively, in the men’s club throw F51 class.
India has won 27 medals at the 2024 Paris Paralympics: six gold, nine silver, and 12 bronze, the highest in a single edition.
In the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, India won 19 medals: five gold, eight silver, and six bronze.
Harvinder Singh, a bronze medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, defeated Poland’s Lukasz Ciszek 6-0 in the final at Paris.
This was India’s second medal in para archery after Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar won bronze in the mixed compound open archery event.
The 17th Paralympic Games in Paris began on 28 August and will end on 8 September.
- Who led the Indian delegation at the 6th meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation held in September 2024?
(A) Narendra Modi
(B) Rajnath Singh
(C) Ajit Doval
(D) Amitabh Prasad
(E) S. Jaishankar
Solution: Option D.)
Ans (D)
The 6th meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation took place in Riyadh in September 2024.
The Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary Amitabh Prasad, and the Saudi Arabian delegation was led by Major General Salman Bin Awadh Al-Harbi.
The meeting focused on expanding bilateral cooperation in military, training, defence industry, research, and development.
The Joint Committee was established during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Saudi Arabia in October 2019.
It is one of four Joint Working Groups under the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council.
India and Malaysia recently signed an MoU to enhance tourism cooperation.
The MoU was signed by Indian Minister for Tourism and Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Malaysian Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture Y B Dato Sri Tiong King Sing.
Around 2.5 lakh Malaysian tourists visited India in 2022.
- Which Indian government body launched the VisioNxt web portal to enhance the fashion industry?
(A) Ministry of Commerce and Industry
(B) Ministry of Textiles
(C) Ministry of Information Technology
(D) Ministry of Culture
(E) Ministry of Finance
Solution: Option B.)
Ans (B)
The VisioNxt web portal was launched by Union Minister of Textiles, Giriraj Singh, in September 2024 in New Delhi.
The portal aims to provide real-time trend insights for the Indian fashion industry and reduce dependence on foreign forecasting agencies.
Giriraj Singh also launched the India-specific Fashion Trend Book ‘Paridhi 24×25’.
The VisioNxt web portal was developed by the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) under the Union Ministry of Textiles.
NIFT, established in 1986 and made a statutory body by the National Institute of Fashion Technology Act of 2006, is a premier fashion training institute in India.
NIFT’s main campus is in New Delhi, with additional campuses across the country.
- What is India’s target for non-fossil power capacity by 2030 as mentioned by Prime Minister Modi at the International Solar Festival?
(A) 200 gigawatts
(B) 300 gigawatts
(C) 400 gigawatts
(D) 500 gigawatts
(E) 600 gigawatts
Solution: Option D.)
Ans (D)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the first International Solar Festival virtually from Singapore on 5 September 2024.
Modi was on an official visit to Singapore on 4 and 5 September 2024.
Over the past 10 years, India’s solar energy capacity has increased by 32 times.
India has set a target to achieve 500 gigawatts of non-fossil power capacity by 2030.
The International Solar Alliance organized the first International Solar Festival in New Delhi on 5 and 6 September 2024.
The festival aims to promote solar energy adoption, provide financing, develop new technologies, and enhance the capacity of member countries.
Important –
Panama officially became the 98th full member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
Spain officially became the 99th full member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
Paraguay officially became the 100th full member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
USA officially became the 101st full member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
- Recently, PM Modi has announced to set up of the first Thiruvalluvar Culture Center in the world in which country?
(A) Thailand
(B) Singapore
(C) Myanmar
(D) Malaysia
(E) Cambodia
Solution: Option B.)
Ans (B)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Singapore from 4-5 September 2024.
This was Modi’s 5th official visit to Singapore since becoming Prime Minister in 2014; his last visit was in 2018.
India and Singapore signed four Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) to deepen bilateral relations.
Both countries agreed to elevate their bilateral relationship to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’.
PM Modi announced the establishment of the first Thiruvalluvar Culture Center in Singapore to strengthen cultural ties.
The BJP had promised to set up Thiruvalluvar Culture Centers globally during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Thiruvalluvar was a Tamil poet-saint and author of the Tirukkural, influential in Tamil culture.
Indians are the third-largest ethnic group in Singapore, constituting around 9% of the population, with Tamils being the majority among them.
Approximately 74% of Singapore’s population is ethnic Chinese, and the second-largest ethnic group is Malays.
- Who secured the gold medal in the women’s long jump at the National Open Athletics Championship?
(A) Ancy Sojan Edappilly
(B) Shaili Singh
(C) Nayana James
(D) Harmilan Bains
(E) Anju Bobby George
Solution: Option A.)
Ans (A)
Ancy Sojan, an Indian Navy athlete and Asian Games silver medallist, won the gold medal in the women’s long jump event at the National Open Athletics Championship in Bengaluru.
Ancy achieved a personal best jump of 6.71 meters to secure the gold medal.
She was also declared the best female athlete of the championship.
Earlier in 2023, Ancy won the silver medal in the women’s long jump at the Hangzhou Asian Games with a jump of 6.63 meters.
India crossed the 100-medal mark for the first time in their Asian Games history, finishing with a record 107 medals (28 gold, 38 silver, 41 bronze) at the Asian Games 2023.
Athletics contributed 29 medals to India’s total, with six golds, 14 silvers, and nine bronzes.
The archery compound team won five gold medals in their category, contributing to India’s nine archery medals.
India won its first Asian Games badminton gold in men’s doubles, and also secured three medals in sailing.
- Which state government has approved 33% reservation for women in the police force and a 5% additional allowance for pensioners?
(A) Uttar Pradesh
(B) Rajasthan
(C) Maharashtra
(D) Gujarat
(E) Madhya Pradesh
Solution: Option B.)
Ans (B)
The Rajasthan government approved a 33% reservation for women in the police force.
An amendment to the Rajasthan Police Subordinate Services Rules, 1989, was approved to implement this quota.
Rules 67 and 87 of the Rajasthan Civil Services Pension Rules, 1996, were amended to align with central government pension rules.
The state government approved land allotment for a 3,150 MW solar power project.
The solar power project is expected to increase employment opportunities and boost the state’s revenue.
- Kapil Parmar has become the first Indian athlete to win a Paralympic medal in which sport?
(A) Judo
(B) Karate
(C) Taekwondo
(D) Aikido
(E) Fencing
Solution: Option A.)
Ans (A)
Kapil Parmar won India’s first-ever Paralympic medal in judo, securing a bronze in the men’s 60kg (J1) category.
Parmar defeated Brazil’s Elielton de Oliveira 10-0 in the bronze medal match.
He lost in the semifinals to Iran’s S Banitaba Khorram Abadi, 0-10.
The J1 class in para judo is for athletes with no to very low visual activity.
Parmar previously won a silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games in the same category.
In the quarterfinals, Parmar defeated Venezuela’s Marco Dennis Blanco 10-0.
He received yellow cards in both contests on Thursday for minor violations.
- Which Union Minister has been included in Time Magazine’s list of most influential people in AI?
(A) Rajnath Singh
(B) Ashwini Vaishnav
(C) Piyush Goyal
(D) Narendra Modi
(E) Dharmendra Pradhan
Solution: Option B.)
Ans (B)
Union Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, and actor Anil Kapoor were honored in Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in AI 2024” list.
The list features 15 Indian or Indian-origin individuals, including Sundar Pichai (Google) and Satya Nadella (Microsoft).
Under Vaishnaw’s leadership, India aims to become one of the top five countries for semiconductor manufacturing within the next five years.
Anil Kapoor was included in the list after his victory against unauthorized AI use of his likeness in September 2023.
The list also includes other notable Indians/Indian-origin leaders in AI, such as Rohit Prasad (Amazon), Shiv Rao (Abridge), and Vinod Khosla (Khosla Ventures).
- With whom did the Ministry of Panchayati Raj tie up with the aim of strengthening systems for social change?
(A) UNESCO India
(B) UNDP India
(C) UNICEF India
(D) UNHCR India
(E) WFP India
Solution: Option C.)
Ans (C)
The Panchayati Raj Ministry and UNICEF have collaborated to strengthen service delivery and engage communities for social change.
This partnership aims to accelerate progress on localised Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The collaboration will enhance communication with rural citizens and improve the delivery of services.
The Ministry is focused on using technology to ensure quick and effective implementation of government policies in rural areas.
The initiative will empower rural citizens, improve service delivery, and increase transparency in governance.