This is the current affairs of 8 & 9 February 2024. Here are questions and answers of daily current affairs for better preparation of competitive exams for government jobs.
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1. Along with Karpoori Thakur, Advani, which three other personalities have also been announced to be given Bharat Ratna by the Central Government in the year 2024?
a. PV Narasimha Rao, Narendra Modi and Balasaheb Thackeray
b. Chaudhary Charan Singh, MS Swaminathan and Bhagat Singh
c. Rakesh Sharma, Virendra Kumar, MS Bitta
d. PV Narasimha Rao, Chaudhary Charan Singh and MS Swaminathan
Answer: d. PV Narasimha Rao, Chaudhary Charan Singh and MS Swaminathan
– Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Bharat Ratna (posthumous) for PV Narasimha Rao, Chaudhary Charan Singh, and MS Swaminathan on February 9, 2024.
– Chaudhary Charan Singh was the fifth Prime Minister of the country, and PV Narasimha Rao was the ninth. Meanwhile, agricultural scientist Swaminathan is hailed as the father of the Green Revolution.
– Earlier, on February 3, Lal Krishna Advani, a senior leader of the BJP, and on January 23, former CM of Bihar Karpoori Thakur (posthumous), were announced to be awarded the Bharat Ratna.
– Thus, the announcement to confer this honor on five personalities has been made in 2024.
– Since coming to power in 2014, the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conferred this prestigious Bharat Ratna, making it the tenth Bharat Ratna awarded under his leadership.
– In total, 53 individuals have been honored with this award so far.
Chaudhary Charan Singh:
– He was born on December 23, 1902, in a Jat farming family in Noorpur, Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh.
– He participated in the independence movement along with Mahatma Gandhi.
– He served as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from April 3, 1967, to April 17, 1968, and again in 1970.
– He was the Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in 1979. He founded NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development).
– He served as the Prime Minister from July 28, 1979, to January 14, 1980.
– He passed away on May 29, 1987.
PV Narasimha Rao:
– He was born on June 28, 1921.
– He served as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from 1971 to 1973.
– From June 20, 1991, to May 16, 1996, he served as the 9th Prime Minister of the country.
– He was proficient in 18 languages including Hindi, English, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Urdu, Marathi, Gujarati, Odia, Arabic, Persian, Spanish, Bengali, French, German, Greek, and Latin.
– He passed away on December 24, 2004.
Dr. M.S. Swaminathan:
– He was born on August 7, 1925, in Tamil Nadu.
– He was a geneticist, known as the father of the Green Revolution in India.
– High-yielding varieties of wheat and rice seeds were introduced under the Green Revolution program. This revolution transformed India from a food-deficit country to a self-sufficient one.
– He was honored with the Magsaysay Award in 1971, the Albert Einstein World Science Award in 1986, the first World Food Prize in 1987, and the UNESCO Gandhi Gold Medal in 1989.
– He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1967, Padma Bhushan in 1972, and Padma Vibhushan in 1989.
– He passed away on September 28, 2023.
About Bharat Ratna:
– What it is: The highest civilian award of the Republic of India.
– Establishment: 1954
– How is it awarded: The Prime Minister recommends the name of the awardee to the President. There is no formal selection process for this.
– First recipients: C. Rajagopalachari, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and C.V. Raman
What does the award include: A certificate of honor and a copper medal in the shape of a peepal leaf. The medal has a shining sun made of platinum on one side, beneath which “Bharat Ratna” is inscribed in silver. – On the other side, “Satyameva Jayate” is inscribed along with the Ashoka Pillar.
Protocol Ranking:
– The recipient of this honor is accorded VIP status.
– In the protocol, the honored person is placed after the President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Chief Justice, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Cabinet Ministers, Governors, Chief Ministers, former Presidents, former Prime Ministers, former Chief Ministers, and leaders of the opposition in both houses of Parliament.
What are the facilities available to Bharat Ratna recipients:
1. The first thing associated with this award is that the person who receives the Bharat Ratna is given the status equivalent to that of a Cabinet Minister.
2. Bharat Ratna recipients are also exempted from paying income tax. Additionally, they can participate in parliamentary meetings and sessions.
3. They can also participate as special guests in the programs of Independence Day and Republic Day.
They are entitled to free travel by air, train, and bus.
4. If they travel to any state, they are accorded the status of state guests.
5. According to Article 18 (1) of the Constitution, recipients of the award cannot use “Bharat Ratna” as a prefix or suffix to their names. However, they can add “Bharat Ratna” or “Bharat Ratna Awardee” honored by the President in their bio-data, visiting cards, letterheads, etc.
6. Those who receive the Bharat Ratna are given a place in the Warrant of Precedence of the Government of India. The Warrant of Precedence is used to accord priority in government programs.
7. State governments provide facilities to Bharat Ratna recipients in their respective states.
List of 50 people honored with Bharat Ratna
Serial Number – Winner – Year of Award
1. Chakraborty Rajagopalachari – 1954
2. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan – 1954
3. Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman – 1954
4. Dr. Bhagwan Das – 1955
5. Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya – 1955
6. Jawaharlal Nehru – 1955
7. Govind Ballabh Pant – 1957
8. Dr. Dhondo Keshav Karve – 1958
9. Bidhan Chandra Roy – 1961
10. Purushottam Das Tandon – 1961
11. Rajendra Prasad – 1962
12. Zakir Hussain – 1963
13. Pandurang Vaman Kane – 1963
14. Lal Bahadur Shastri (posthumous) – 1966
15. Indira Gandhi – 1971
16. Varahagiri Venkata Giri – 1975
17. Kumaraswamy Kamaraj (posthumous) – 1976
18. Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (Mother Teresa) – 1980
19. Acharya Vinoba Bhave (posthumous) – 1983
20. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan- 1987
21. Manidur Gopalan Ramachandran (posthumous) – 1988
22. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (posthumous) – 1990
23. Dr. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela – 1990
24. Morarji Ranchodji Desai – 1991
25. Rajiv Gandhi (posthumously) – 1991
26. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (posthumous) – 1991
27. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (posthumous) – 1992
28. Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata – 1992
29. Satyajit Ray (posthumous) – 1992
30. Gulzari Lal Nanda (Posthumous) – 1997
31. Aruna Asaf Ali (posthumous) – 1997
32. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam – 1997
33. Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi – 1998
34. Chidambaram Subramaniam – 1998
35. Jayaprakash Narayan (posthumous) – 1998
36. Professor Amartya Sen – 1999
37. Gopinath Bordoloi (Posthumous) – 1999
38. Pandit Ravi Shankar – 1999
39. Lata Deenanath Mangeshkar – 2001
40. Ustad Bismillah Khan – 2001
41. Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi – 2009
42. Prof. CR Rao – 2014
43. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar – 2014
44. Atal Bihari Vajpayee – 2015
45. Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya (Posthumous) – 2015
46. Nanaji Deshmukh (Posthumous) – 2019
47. Dr. Bhupendra Kumar Hazarika (Posthumous) – 2019
48. Pranab Mukherjee – 2019
49. Karpoori Thakur (posthumous) – 2024
50. Lal Krishna Advani – 2024
51. Chaudhary Charan Singh – 2024
52. PV Narasimha Rao – 2024
53. Dr. MS Swaminathan – 2024
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2. RBI did not change the repo rate in the bi-monthly monetary policy review (February 2024), what is this repo rate?
a. 5.5%
b. 5.8%
c. 6.2%
d. 6.5%
Answer: d. 6.5%
– The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI decided not to increase the repo rate on February 8, 2024.
– The MPC of the RBI has kept the repo rate unchanged during the last six monetary policy reviews.
– After increasing the key repo rate by 250 basis points to 6.5%, it has been put on hold for six consecutive reviews.
What is the Repo Rate (Repurchase Rate or Repo Rate)?
– In simple terms, banks lend us money and we have to pay interest on that loan.
– Similarly, banks also need a large amount of money for their day-to-day operations and they borrow from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
– The rate at which the Reserve Bank collects interest from them on this loan is called the repo rate.
Impact of the Repo Rate on the Common Man:
– The repo rate is a powerful tool for the RBI to fight inflation.
– When inflation is very high, the RBI tries to reduce money flow in the economy by increasing the repo rate.
– When banks have access to loans at lower interest rates, meaning the repo rate is low, they can offer cheaper loans to their customers.
– And if the Reserve Bank increases the repo rate, borrowing for banks becomes expensive, and they will charge higher interest rates to their customers.
Reverse Repo Rate:
– It is the opposite of the repo rate.
– When banks have a significant amount of money left after their day-to-day operations, they deposit that amount with the Reserve Bank.
– The RBI pays them interest on this amount.
– The rate at which the Reserve Bank pays interest on this amount is called the reverse repo rate.
– Chairperson of the Monetary Policy Committee – Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Shaktikanta Das.
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3. Name the first Indian-origin Australian senator to take oath by placing his hand on the Bhagavad Gita?
a. Akash Yadav
b. Varun Ghosh
c. Rajendra Ghosh
d. Santosh Varun
Answer: b. Varun Ghosh
– Indian-origin barrister Varun Ghosh became the first senator to take an oath on the Bhagavad Gita in the Australian Parliament.
– He took the oath on February 7, 2024, in the Australian Parliament.
– However, he is not the first person of Indian origin to take an oath in the Australian Parliament. The first person of Indian origin was a member of the Australian Parliament (House of Representatives), Sukhdev Prasad. He took the oath in 1987.
– Varun Ghosh is the first Indian-origin senator to take an oath in the Australian Parliament.
The Australian Parliament:
– It consists of three parts – the Sovereign (represented by the Governor-General), the Senate, and the House of Representatives.
– Comparatively with India, the Sovereign is akin to the President, the Senate is like the Rajya Sabha, and the House of Representatives is like the Lok Sabha.
Who is Varun Ghosh?
– Varun Ghosh was born in India in 1985. He moved to Australia at the age of 9.
– He is the first member of the Australian Parliament to have been born in India.
– Before this, he worked as a barrister in Francis Burt Chambers.
– According to the Australian media house Sydney Morning Herald, his parents, who worked as doctors, came to the country from India in the 1980s.
– Varun Ghosh received his education in Australia.
– He has previously worked as an advisor at the World Bank in Washington.
Rishi Sunak and American Governor had also taken oath on the Gita
– Before this, several other leaders around the world have also taken oath in parliaments by placing their hands on the Bhagavad Gita.
– In January 2023, Aruna Miller, the first Indian-American Lieutenant Governor of the state of Maryland in the United States, also took oath by placing her hand on the Gita.
– British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also took the oath of the Member of Parliament in the British Parliament, the House of Commons, by placing his hand on the Bhagavad Gita.
Australia:
– Australia is the largest country in Oceania by land area and the sixth-largest country in the world.
– Prime Minister: Anthony Albanese
– Capital: Canberra
– Currency: Australian Dollar
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4. In which country has South Asia’s first professional Women’s Handball League (WHL) been unveiled?
a. Bangladesh
b. Maldives
c. Pakistan
d. India
Answer: d. India
– Six teams will participate in this league.
– The unveiling of this league took place on February 6, 2024.
– Along with this, the unveiling of the league’s logo also took place at an event in Delhi.
– The goal of launching the league is to promote and develop women’s handball in the country by January 2025.
– Pavna Sports Venture is the promoter of this league.
South Asia:
– It is a subregion of Asia, which includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
About Handball:
– Handball is a team sport played with two teams of seven players each.
– The objective of the players is to throw the ball into the opposing team’s goal.
– Six out of seven players advance towards the opposing team’s goal while the remaining player fulfills the role of goalkeeper or goal defender.
– A match consists of two halves of 30 minutes each.
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5. In which state did Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurate ONGC’s Sea Survival Training Centre?
a. Gujarat
b. Maharashtra
c. Karnataka
d. Goa
Answer: d. Goa
– Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated it on February 6, 2024.
– The ONCG C Survival Eco-System Center has been prepared with global standards.
– PM Modi also reviewed a briefing on water conservation practices and a demonstration at the training center.
– PM Modi said that this state-of-the-art center for marine survival training ecosystem is an achievement for India.
Annual Training for Employees
– Here, 10-15 thousand employees will be trained annually to deal with challenges encountered while working at sea.
– This center will assist trainees in dealing with real-life emergencies and enhancing their maritime survival skills.
About Goa
– Goa is a state located on the southwestern coast of India.
– Its coastline extends to the Arabian Sea.
– Goa’s land area: 3,702 square kilometers.
– It is the smallest state in India in terms of area.
– The Portuguese ruled over Goa for nearly 450 years, and it was handed over to Indian administration on December 19, 1961.
– Chief Minister: Pramod Sawant
– Governor: P.S. Sreedharan Pillai
– Capital: Panaji
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6. Sahitya Akademi winner Mir Mohammad Farooq Nazki passed away on 6 February 2024, What was he in these?
a. Journalist
b. Poet
c. Musician
d. Both a and b
Answer: d. Both a and b (journalist and poet)
– He was born on February 14, 1940.
– He passed away on February 6, 2024.
– He was 83 years old. He was from Srinagar.
– He worked in various important positions at All India Radio Kashmir and Doordarshan.
– In 1995, Nazki was honored with the Kashmiri Sahitya Academy Award for his poetry book “Nar Hyutun Kanzal Vanas” (Fire in the Eyelids).
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7. According to the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2023 report, which country has the highest corruption?
a. Venezuela
b. Somalia
c. Syria
d. India
Answer: b. Somalia
– Transparency International released the corruption report of 180 countries on January 30, 2024.
– The country ranked number 1 in this ranking has less corruption, and the country ranked 180th has the most corruption.
– According to the report, Somalia (180) is the most corrupt country.
– For this index, experts from Transparency International assess corruption in the public sector of each country.
– Then each country is given a score between 0 and 100.
– The higher the corruption in a country, the lower the score it receives.
– Based on this, the ranking is determined in the index.
– Speaking of the most corrupt countries, Somalia ranks the highest with a score of 11.
– Following Somalia, Venezuela has 13, Syria has 13, South Sudan has 13, and Yemen has scored 16.
Top 10 Most Corrupt Countries
Rank – Country – Score
180 – Somalia – 11
177 – South Sudan – 13
177 – Syria – 13
177 – Venezuela – 13
172 – Equatorial Guinea – 17
172 – Haiti – 17
172 – Nicaragua – 17
172 – North Korea – 17
170 – Turkmenistan – 18
176 – Yemen – 16
Note:
– There are three countries at number 177 in this list. Number 178 is not in the list.
– Similarly, there are four countries at number 172. Number 173 is not in the list.
– The scores of these countries are the same.
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8. Which is the least corrupt country according to Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2023?
a. New Zealand
b. Finland
c. Denmark
d. India
Answer: c. Denmark
– In this report related to corruption, Denmark has topped with a score of 90, meaning Denmark is the least corrupt country among all the countries.
– Denmark has consistently been ranked as the least corrupt country for the sixth time.
– Following Denmark, Finland has a score of 87, and New Zealand has a score of 85.
Top 10 Least Corrupt Countries
Rank – Country – Score
1 – Denmark – 90
2 – Finland – 87
3 – New Zealand – 85
4 – Norway – 84
5 – Singapore – 83
6 – Sweden – 82
6 – Switzerland – 82
8 – Netherlands – 79
9 – Germany – 78
9 – Luxembourg – 78
93 – India – 39
Note:
– There are two countries at number 6 in this list. Number 7 is not in the list.
– Similarly, there are two countries at number 9. Number 10 is not in the list.
– The scores of these countries are the same.
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9. What is India’s ranking in Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2023?
a. 87
b. 88
c. 90
d. 93
Answer: d. 93
– In the Transparency International Index of 2023, India ranked 93rd out of 180 countries.
– There has been a slight change in India’s corruption situation compared to 2022, with the country’s ranking slipping eight places.
– In 2023, India’s overall score was 39, whereas in 2022, it was 40.
– India was ranked 85th in 2022, whereas in the latest report, its rank is 93.
– The report states that in South Asia, both Pakistan (133) and Sri Lanka (115) are struggling with the burden of debt and facing political instability.
– It is mentioned in the report that Bangladesh (149) has emerged from the status of the least developed country (LDC) due to continuous improvements in economic development and reduction in poverty.
– This improvement is possible due to consistent reduction in poverty and improvement in the living conditions.
– China has been placed at the 76th position in this list.
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10. When is World Pulses Day celebrated?
a. 8 February
b. 9 February
c. 10 February
d. 11 February
Answer: c. 10 February
– World Pulses Day is celebrated annually on February 10th.
– Its announcement was made at the United Nations General Assembly in 2018.
– The event was first organized in 2019.
Its objective is to highlight the importance of pulses in nutrition.
– It is observed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
– Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
– Established: October 16, 1945
– Headquarters: Rome, Italy
– Director-General: Qu Dongyu
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11. When is National Deworming Day celebrated?
a. 10 February
b. 11 February
c. 12 February
d. 13 February
Answer: a. 10 February
– This day was initiated in the year 2015.
– The objective of this day is to raise awareness about the prevention of intestinal worms in children.
– Specifically, it aims to achieve complete elimination of soil-transmitted worms in children aged 1 to 19 years.
– Intestinal worms are parasites found in the human intestine that thrive on nutrients and minerals, hindering proper development in children.
