Q1. Name the  first person to win the FIFA World Cup as both a player and coach who was as instrumental a figure as any in Brazil's rise to prominence as a global football power and who died recently ?

1. Mario Zagallo
2. Garrincha
3. Romário
4. Zico
5. None of These

Q2. Name the person who has been appointed as the CEO

1. of Indian Olympic Association?
2. Narinder Dhruv Batra
3. Anil Khanna
4. Raghuram Iyer
5. Adille Sumariwalla
6. None of These

Q3. The Indian economy in the 2023-24 fiscal is estimated to grow by

1. 6.3 per cent
2. 7.1 per cent
3. 7.3 per cent
4. 7.6 per cent
5. None of These

Q4. The Canada-based Brookfield Asset Management is set to acquire the Indian business of American Tower Corporation (ATC) for an enterprise value of

1. $1 billion
2. $2 billion
3. $3 billion
4. $4 billion
5. None of These

Q5. The Cabinet  has approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Mauritius to jointly develop a satellite, scheduled for launch by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)  in

1. 2024
2. 2025
3. 2026
4. 2027
5. None of These

Answers

1---------------------------------1   Mario Zagallo

2---------------------------------3   Raghuram Iyer

3----------------------------------3  7.3 per cent

4----------------------------------------2   $2 billion

5----------------------------------------2    2025

Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal on Jan 5  tendered her resignation after the Aam Aadmi Party announced her candidature for the Rajya Sabha elections.

The Political Affairs Committee of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)  has finalized its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections scheduled to take place in Delhi on January 19.

The committee nominated Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal as its candidate for the first time and renominated Sanjay Singh and ND Gupta for a second term in the Upper House of Parliament. 

The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change submits proposals for Wetland City Accreditation (WCA) under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands for the cities of Indore, Bhopal and Udaipur.

India is one of the contracting parties and has already declared a total of 75 wetland sites under the Ramsar Convention – Intergovernmental treaty signed in 1971 at Ramsar (Iran) providing frameworks for the conservation & wise use of wetlands & their resources.

The WCA scheme under Ramsar Convention, aims to further promote the conservation and wise use of urban and peri-urban wetlands, as well as sustainable socio-economic benefits for local populations.

The Ramsar Convention during COP12 held in the year 2015 approved a voluntary WCA system that recognizes cities that have taken exceptional steps to safeguard their urban wetlands.

These are the first three Indian cities for which nominations have been submitted for WCA based on the proposals received from respective State Wetlands Authorities in collaboration with the Municipal Corporations.

The wetlands situated in and around these cities provide a plethora of benefits to its citizens in terms of flood regulation, livelihood opportunities, and recreational and cultural values. Sirpur Wetland (Ramsar site in Indore), Yashwant Sagar (Ramsar site closer to Indore), Bhoj Wetland (Ramsar Site in Bhopal), and several Wetlands (Lakes) in and around Udaipur are lifelines to these cities.

Bhupendra Yadav, Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, announced the nomination on the social media post X.

India is projected to grow at 6.2 per cent in 2024, supported by robust domestic demand and strong growth in the manufacturing and services sectors, the United Nations has said.

The UN World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2024 report said that gross domestic product in South Asia is projected to increase by 5.2 per cent in 2024, driven by a robust expansion in India, which remains the fastest-growing large economy in the world.

India's GDP is projected to increase to 6.6 per cent in 2025.

The report notes that economic growth in India is projected to remain 'strong' at 6.2 per cent this year mainly supported by resilient private consumption and strong public investment.

While manufacturing and services sectors will continue to support the economy, erratic rainfall patterns will likely dampen agricultural output, it said.

Myanmar's military government on Jan 4 pardoned nearly 10,000 prisoners to mark the 76th anniversary of gaining independence from Britain, but it wasn't immediately clear if any of those released included the thousands of political detainees jailed for opposing army rule.

The head of Myanmar's military council, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, pardoned 9,652 prisoners to mark the holiday, state-run MRTV television reported.

Min Aung Hlaing also granted amnesty to 114 jailed foreigners who will be deported, MRTV said in a separate report.

The identities of those granted pardons were not immediately available. There was no sign that among the prisoners being released would be Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held virtually incommunicado by the military since it seized power from her elected government in February 2021.

The 78-year-old Suu Kyi is serving 27 years' imprisonment after being convicted of a series of politically tinged prosecutions brought by the military. The charges on which she was convicted include illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, election fraud, corruption, violating coronavirus restrictions, breaching the Official Secrets Act and sedition.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights monitoring organization, 25,730 people have been arrested on political charges since the army takeover.

Myanmar became a British colony in the late 19th century and regained its independence on Jan. 4, 1948.

In the capital, Naypyitaw, Myanmar's military government celebrated the anniversary with a flag-raising ceremony and a small military parade at City Hall.

The Nepal government has suspended the issuance of work permits to its citizens to travel to Russia and Ukraine following the death of at least 10 Nepalese citizens who joined the Russian Army in the ongoing war between the two neighbours.

Nepal's Department of Foreign Employment, in a notice, said that the matter was of serious concern as several Nepali youths were being illegally recruited into the Russian Army

According to Milan Raj Tuladhar, the Nepali ambassador to Russia, it is estimated that around 150-200 Nepali nationals have been serving in the Russian Army.

On December 4 last year, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said that the government had information that some Nepali nationals are serving in the Ukrainian Army too.

However, the government does not have exact data on how many Nepali citizens are currently serving in the Russian and Ukrainian armies.

The government has asked the Russian government to repatriate Nepalese currently serving in Russian forces as soon as possibleg.

Meanwhile, the ministry had stated that diplomatic efforts are on to rescue and repatriate Bibek Khatri, who was fighting for Russia and has been captured by the Ukrainian Army.

The Islamic State jihadist group said  on Jan 4  that it carried out twin bombings  which killed at least 84 people at a memorial ceremony in Iran for slain Revolutionary Guards general Qasem Soleimani.

The claim from IS came as Iran observed a day of national mourning for those killed in on Jan 3  blasts.

IS said two of its members "activated their explosives vests" among the crowds who had come to honour Soleimani on the anniversary of his death in a targeted US drone strike in Baghdad four years ago.

Soleimani, who headed the Guards' foreign operations arm the Quds Force, was a staunch enemy of IS, a Sunni extremist group which has carried out previous attacks in majority-Shiite Iran.

State-owned GAIL (India) Limited announced on Jan 5 the  signing of a long-term LNG deal with the commodity trader Vital Asia Pte Ltd. The agreement involves the supply of approximately one million metric tons of LNG per annum to India for about 10 years, commencing in 2026.

As per the deal, Vital will deliver LNG from its global LNG portfolio to GAIL in India on a pan-India basis.

GAIL commands approximately 70% market share in gas transmission and holds a gas trading share of over 50% in India. The company owns and operates a network of over 16,000 km of natural gas pipelines on a pan-India basis and is concurrently working on the execution of multiple pipeline projects to further enhance its reach and infrastructure.

Vital has a global LNG portfolio with long-term LNG supply from North America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, a global fleet of LNG vessels and an experienced LNG team across Asia, Europe and the US. In 2022, Vital physically delivered approximately 14 Mtpa of LNG.