1. In the Indian subcontinent, the rainy season during June to September is known as?

North-south-west monsoon

In the Indian subcontinent, the rainy season during June to September is known as the 'Southwest Monsoon' period. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced that the southwest monsoon has swept over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, indicating that it will soon hit the mainland.

2. Which state is the leader in sweet potato production in India?

Answer: Odisha

Odisha is at the forefront of the production of sweet potato across the country. Recently a group of farmers have successfully cultivated purple sweet potato in summer, which is a winter crop harvested in September and March. According to the Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, purple sweet potato has a high anthocyanin content of 90 milligrams per hundred grams.

3. Recently which country has proposed the global minimum corporate tax rate of 15%?

North America

The US Treasury Department said international corporations should pay at least 15 percent tax on their earnings. The department announced that 15 percent is the minimum rate and it will continue discussions to increase this rate further. American companies currently pay a 21 percent tax rate that was brought down to 35 percent by former President Donald Trump. President Joe Biden proposed to raise the tax rate to 28 percent.

4. DIPCOVAN is an antibody detection-based kit developed by which organization?

Answer - DRDO

The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has developed an antibody detection-based kit, named DIPCOVAN. It means 'DIPAS-VDx COVID 19 IgG Antibody Microwell ELISA'. This kit can be used for sero-monitoring to detect the presence of covid antibodies among people. This kit can detect the spike as well as the nucleocapsid (S&N) protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

5. What is the amount of surplus transferred by the RBI to the Central Government for the period ended 31 March?

Answer - 99,122 crores

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is going to transfer Rs 99,122 crore as surplus to the central government for the nine months ended 31 March (July 2020-March 2021). This is higher than the government's estimate, as the Finance Minister had scheduled a transfer of Rs 53,511 crore. The Bimal Jalan committee had said that RBI should maintain a contingency risk buffer of 5.5% of its balance sheet at all times.

6. Who has been appointed as the CEO of the proposed Bad Bank - NARCL?

Answer - Padmakumar M Nair

Padmakumar M. Nair of State Bank of India (SBI) will be the Chief Executive Officer of the National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL). NARCL, also known as Bad Bank, will be operational in June 2021. It is primarily a proposed entity for lenders of public sector banks to avail bad loans.

7. Recently which state has carried out the monkey census using a mobile application designed by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII)?

Answer: Haryana

Haryana has organized a three-day monkey census as a part of a large wildlife census for 2021. More than 600 people from all over Haryana participated in the monkey census and documented about 6,000 monkeys on the 'Wildlife Census Haryana' mobile application by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

8. Which celestial body has a crater, the 'Jagero' crater, which has recently been photographed?

Answer: Mars

NASA's Perseverance rover has recently begun to study the structure of the floor of the ancient crater Jezero Crater. This rover has begun to focus its means of science on the rocks lying at the bottom of the crater. A camera named 'Watson' took detailed images of the rocks in this rover's robotic arm.

9. What is the outlay of PLI scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage?

Answer - Rs 18,100 crore

The Union Cabinet has approved a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme of Rs 18,100 crore for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage. Its main objective is to establish a 50 GHz watt (GWh) manufacturing capacity for advance chemistry cell batteries. This is expected to accelerate the switch to electric vehicles to curb pollution and reduce oil imports.

10. As a proof of payment received from abroad, what is the name of the document issued by the bank?

Answer - FIRA

The FIRA is a document issued by banks to exporters as proof of payment received from abroad. It is a proof of receipt of export earnings in foreign currency received from abroad. American payment company PayPal has initiated an automated process to obtain Foreign Inward Remittance Advice (FIRA). The initiative aims to empower Indian MSME exporters.