February 15, 2025 Current Affairs (English)

February 15, 2025, Current Affairs (English)

1. Which amendment to the Constitution of India removed the immunity of the President’s satisfaction under Article 356 from judicial review?

a) 38th Amendment
b) 42nd Amendment
c) 44th Amendment
d) 86th Amendment

Answer: c) 44th Amendment

2. Under Indian obscenity laws, which of the following sections governs the publication or transmission of obscene material online?

a) Section 294 of the BNS
b) Section 66A of the IT Act
c) Section 67 of the IT Act
d) Section 377 of the IPC

Answer: c) Section 67 of the IT Act

3. Which Supreme Court case in India replaced the ‘Hicklin Test’ with the ‘Community Standards Test’ for judging obscenity?

a) Ranjit Udeshi v. State of Maharashtra (1964)
b) Aveek Sarkar v. State of West Bengal (2014)
c) S. Rangarajan v. P. Jagjivan Ram (1989)
d) Bobby Art International v. Om Pal Singh Hoon (1996)

Answer: b) Aveek Sarkar v. State of West Bengal (2014)

4. In the context of obscene humor, which philosophical approach states that speech should respect human dignity and must not objectify or dehumanize others?

a) Mill’s Harm Principle
b) Kantian Ethics
c) Consequentialism
d) Virtue Ethics

Answer: b) Kantian Ethics

5. Which term refers to humor in India that people find offensive based on personal beliefs, but does not automatically equate to a legal violation?

a) Obscenity
b) Vulgarity
c) Indecency
d) Seditious speech

Answer: b) Vulgarity

6. What is the primary objective of the Pradhan Mantri Dhan Dhanya Krishi Yojana (PM DDKY)?

a) To provide direct cash transfers to all farmers in India
b) To support farmers in low-productivity regions through better farming practices and financial access
c) To replace all existing agricultural schemes with a single national program
d) To provide subsidies exclusively for large-scale commercial farming

Answer: b) To support farmers in low-productivity regions through better farming practices and financial access

7. Which ministry is responsible for implementing the PM DDKY scheme?

a) Ministry of Rural Development
b) Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare
c) Ministry of Finance
d) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Answer: b) Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare

8. Which key scheme is NOT directly linked to PM DDKY but supports farmers through financial assistance?

a) PM-KISAN Scheme
b) Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)
c) Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme
d) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)

Answer: d) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)

9. Which of the following best describes Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrBs)?

a) Debt instruments issued by private corporations to fund general budget expenditures
b) Government-backed debt instruments specifically to finance environmentally sustainable projects
c) Bonds offered by foreign multilateral institutions for general project financing
d) Corporate bonds for infrastructure development under a PPP model

Answer: b) Government-backed debt instruments specifically to finance environmentally sustainable projects

10. What is the ‘greenium’ in the context of Green Bonds?

a) A penalty charged for non-compliance with green standards
b) A surcharge on interest rates for environmentally risky projects
c) The yield advantage or premium (lower yield) that green bonds typically offer compared to conventional bonds
d) A government tax on Green Bond transactions

Answer: c) The yield advantage or premium (lower yield) that green bonds typically offer compared to conventional bonds

11. Which factor has limited the success of India’s Sovereign Green Bonds according to the news?

a) Excess liquidity in the market making investors wary
b) High investor appetite for lower returns, leading to quick oversubscription
c) Investor reluctance to accept lower yields, resulting in minimal or no greenium
d) Strict RBI regulations preventing issuance of any green bonds

Answer: c) Investor reluctance to accept lower yields, resulting in minimal or no greenium

12. What is a key reason cited for the low demand for India’s Sovereign Green Bonds in the secondary market?

a) Short maturity periods that dissuade institutional investors
b) SGrBs are mostly held until maturity, limiting active trading and liquidity
c) Overabundance of dedicated impact funds driving down demand
d) Mandatory foreign ownership restrictions imposed by the RBI

Answer: b) SGrBs are mostly held until maturity, limiting active trading and liquidity

13. What is the primary purpose of the MITRA platform launched by SEBI?

a) To facilitate new mutual fund investments
b) To help investors track and reclaim inactive or unclaimed mutual fund folios
c) To provide live trading updates for mutual funds
d) To regulate mutual fund returns

Answer: b) To help investors track and reclaim inactive or unclaimed mutual fund folios

14. Which two Qualified Registrar and Transfer Agents (QRTAs) will jointly host the MITRA platform?

a) NSDL and CDSL
b) HDFC and ICICI Securities
c) Computer Age Management Services (CAMS) and KFIN Technologies
d) RBI and SEBI

Answer: c) Computer Age Management Services (CAMS) and KFIN Technologies

15. How is an inactive mutual fund folio classified?

a) When it has a zero balance for five years
b) When there are no investor-initiated financial or non-financial transactions for ten years despite having a unit balance
c) When dividends are regularly credited but no new investment is made
d) When an investor withdraws all funds and closes the account

Answer: b) When there are no investor-initiated financial or non-financial transactions for ten years despite having a unit balance

16. Which virus is responsible for causing Sudan virus disease (SVD)?

a) Marburg virus
b) Sudan virus (SUDV)
c) Ebola virus (EBOV)
d) Lassa virus

Answer: b) Sudan virus (SUDV)

17. What is the approximate case fatality rate of the 2022 Sudan virus disease outbreak in Uganda?

a) 10%
b) 25%
c) 47%
d) 80%

Answer: c) 47%

18. Which of the following is most likely the natural reservoir for Sudan virus disease?

a) Ticks
b) Cattle
c) Bats
d) Poultry

Answer: c) Bats