Q1. Name the country whose President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was  the Chief Guest at this year's parade ?

1. Iran
2. Egypt
3. UAE
4. Saudi Arab
5. None of These

Q2. Name the state whose chief minister has said that the government has decided to open Rajiv Gandhi Model Day-Boarding Schools in each assembly constituency in a phased manner for providing education to poor children ?

1. Punjab
2. Rajasthan
3. Chhattisgarh
4. Himachal Pradesh
5. None of These

Q3. Name the India pacer who has  became the number one bowler in the ICC rankings for ODI bowlers ?

1. Jasprit Bumrah
2. Mohammed Shami
3. Mohammed Siraj
4. Umran Malik
5. None of These

Q4. Name the  Indian batter who has been  named the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year for his ridiculously good run in the shortest format of the game ?

1. Suryakumar Yadav
2. Hardik Pandya
3. Rohit Sharma
4. Virat Kohli
5. None of These

Q5. The United Nations forecast  Jan 25 that global economic growth  in 2023 will fall significantly to

1. 1.9 per cent
2. 2.1 per cent
3. 3.3 per cent
4. 4.9 per cent
5. None of These

Answers

1---------------2   Egypt

2---------------4    Himachal Pradesh

3---------------3  Mohammed Siraj

4---------------1   Suryakumar Yadav

5----------------1   1.9 per cent 

President Droupadi Murmu commenced the celebrations of the 74th Republic Day, for the first time since assuming office last year, by unfurling the national flag at Kartavya Path on Jan 26 .

Keeping with tradition the unfurling of the Tricolour was followed by the national anthem and a customary 21 Gun Salute. Notably, it was for the first time that the 21 Gun Salute was given with 105 mm Indian Field Guns. It replaced the vintage 25-pounder gun.

The Gun Salute was presented by the Ceremonial Battery of 871 Field Regiment. The Ceremonial Battery was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Vikas Kumar, SM. The Gun position officer was Naib Subedar Anoop Singh.

The 21 Gun Salute is presented during Republic Day, Independence Day and visits of foreign Heads of State.

The President on her arrival at Kartavya Path was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The National Flag was unfurled at Kartvya Path by an Air Force Officer, Flt Lt Komal Rani. Simultaneously, the National Anthem was played and the 21 Gun Salute was presented to the President.

President Murmu was earlier escorted from her residence by the President's Bodyguard on their Bay and Dark Bay-coloured mounts. The President's Bodyguard is the seniormost Regiment of the Indian Army.

This year's Republic Day is special as 'The President's Bodyguard' marked 250 years since its raising, in 1773, at Varanasi.

The Commandant of the President's Bodyguard, Colonel Anup Tiwary, rode to the right of the President's Car, leading this elite body of horsemen, mounted on his charger Glorious.

To the left of the President's Car was the Second-in-Command of the Regiment, Lt Col Ramakant Yadav, mounted on his charger Sultan. It is the senior-most Cavalry Regiment carrying out mounted ceremonial duties for the President.

President of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is the Chief Guest at this year's parade.

Celebrated Indian architect Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, who was fondly called as BV Doshi, passed away in Ahmedabad on Jan 24 , due to age-related complications . He was 95 years old.

Born in 1927 in Pune, Doshi worked with architecture legends like Le Corbusier. He also worked with Louis Kahn as an associate to build the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and many other acclaimed projects.

He was the first founder Director of the School of Architecture, Ahmedabad (1962–72), the first founder Director of the School of Planning (1972–79), and the first founder Dean of the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (1972–81).

He was awarded the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan.

In 2018, he became the first Indian architect to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize, referred to as the Nobel Prize of Architecture.

In 2022, he was awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects' Royal Gold Medal.

The Assam government will book men marrying minor girls under the POCSO Act and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said . A decision towards this effect was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet.

He said that men who would marry girls aged below 14 years would be tried under the POCSO Act. Those who would marry girls aged between 14 and 18 years would be dealt with under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.

The state government would appoint a child protection officer in every village. The panchayat secretaries will be tasked to file an FIR with the police whenever there is an incident of child marriage under their jurisdiction. 

Pakistan is the only country (amongst all members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)) that hasn’t sent its entry for the SCO film festival that is scheduled to be held in Mumbai from January 27 to 31.

Around 57 films will be viewed from different member countries during the course of the festival. Two films per country were selected to represent the respective SCO countries at the film festival. The participating country list includes India, Russia, China, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Uzbekistan.

India is chairing the SCO council of heads of state for a year since September 2022. India joined SCO in 2017. The SCO Film Festival is being organised by the SCO Council of Head of States in association with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting through National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

Venture capital (VC) investments in Indian startups plunged over 38 per cent in 2022 as economic uncertainty and market volatility affected fundraising and investment activities, GlobalData said .

GlobalData said an analysis of its financial deals database reveals that "a total of 1,726 VC funding deals worth USD 20.9 billion were announced in India in 2022 compared to 1,715 deals worth USD 33.8 billion in 2021."

The ongoing economic uncertainty and market volatility continue to affect the fundraising and investment activities in India and subsequently VC investment in the country startups suffered a massive year-on-year 38.2 per cent decline in value terms during 2022," the data and analytics company said.

Full-service carrier Vistara will continue to expand and expects to have a total of 70 planes by mid-2024, its chief Vinod Kannan said on  Jan 24.

The airline, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, reported an operating profit for the first time since inception in the three months ended December 2022.

Vistara is set to be merged with Air India.

By the middle of next year, Kannan said it will have a total of 70 aircraft, including 7 Boeing 787s.

Out of the total 70 planes, there will also be 10 A321s and 53 A320 neos

iPhone maker Apple is not only manufacturing mobile phones for India but it exported handsets worth USD 1 billion as of December.

While speaking at The Business 20 (B20), the official G20 dialogue forum with the global business community, Electronics and IT Secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma said that a number of schemes have been introduced to transform India from a service nation to a product nation.

Apple at present makes iPhone in India at the manufacturing plant of contract manufacturer Foxconn and Wistron.