2020 TNPSC Current Affairs GK Questions Part 1

Answer: Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde was appointed as the Chief Justice of India in January 2020. He succeeded Justice Ranjan Gogoi and served as the 47th Chief Justice of India until his retirement in April 2021.

Answer: The 2020 Asian Youth Games were scheduled to be held in Shantou, China. However, they were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually canceled. These games were meant to be the fourth edition of the Asian Youth Games.

Answer: The theme of the 2020 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos was "Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World." The forum focused on achieving a more cohesive and sustainable world by addressing global challenges through international cooperation.

Answer: Odisha hosted the first Khelo India University Games in February 2020. The event was held in Bhubaneswar and featured over 3,000 athletes from more than 170 universities across India competing in 17 disciplines.

Answer: Rene Zellweger won the Best Actress Award at the 92nd Academy Awards for her performance in "Judy." She portrayed actress Judy Garland in the film and received critical acclaim for her role.

Answer: The United Kingdom officially withdrew from the European Union on February 1, 2020, marking the end of 47 years of membership. This event is commonly referred to as Brexit, following the 2016 referendum where British citizens voted to leave the EU.

Answer: The World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. This declaration came as the virus spread rapidly to multiple countries around the world, prompting governments to take unprecedented measures to contain its spread.

Answer: Kristalina Georgieva was appointed as the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund in October 2019 and assumed office in March 2020. She succeeded Christine Lagarde and became the first person from an emerging economy to lead the IMF.

Answer: Four Indian Air Force pilots were selected for India's first manned space mission, Gaganyaan, in March 2020. They are Group Captains Prashanth Nair, Angad Pratap, Ajit Krishnan, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla. They underwent extensive training in Russia for the mission.

Answer: Roberto Azevdo was the Director-General of the World Trade Organization in April 2020. However, he announced his resignation in May 2020, a year before his term was set to end. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was later appointed as his successor, becoming the first woman and first African to lead the WTO.

Answer: Lebanon witnessed the devastating Beirut port explosion on August 4, 2020. The explosion was caused by the detonation of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been stored unsafely at the port for years. It resulted in at least 218 deaths, 7,000 injuries, and widespread destruction.

Answer: In 2020, the Ramon Magsaysay Award was given to four individuals and one organization. From India, Ravish Kumar, a senior executive editor at NDTV, received the award for his "unfaltering commitment to professional, ethical journalism of the highest standard."

Answer: General Bipin Rawat was appointed as India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in December 2019. He assumed full responsibilities in January 2020, serving as the single-point military adviser to the government of India until his untimely death in a helicopter crash in December 2021.

Answer: Kerala launched the 'Kerala Fibre Optic Network' (K-FON) project in May 2020. This ambitious project aimed to provide affordable and high-speed internet access to all households and institutions in the state, creating a comprehensive digital infrastructure across Kerala.

Answer: Cyclone Amphan originated in the Bay of Bengal and made landfall in West Bengal on May 20, 2020, causing widespread destruction in West Bengal and parts of Odisha and Bangladesh. It was the strongest tropical cyclone to strike the Ganges Delta since Amphan 1999, resulting in approximately 128 deaths and economic losses of over $13 billion.

Answer: In June 2020, there was no change in the Solicitor General of the United States. Noelle C. Franklin became the first woman to serve as Solicitor General of Virginia in 2021, not the U.S. The U.S. Solicitor General at that time was Noel Francisco, followed by Jeff Wall as acting, and later Elizabeth Barchas Prelogar became the first woman to hold the position in October 2021.

Answer: Rafael Nadal won the 2020 French Open Men's Singles title, defeating Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 in the final. This was Nadal's 13th French Open title and his 20th Grand Slam singles title, tying him with Roger Federer for the most Grand Slam men's singles titles in history at that time.

Answer: China launched the Mars Mission "Tianwen-1" on July 23, 2020. The mission successfully entered Mars orbit in February 2021, making China the second country to successfully land and operate a spacecraft on Mars. The mission included an orbiter, a lander, and the Zhurong rover.

Answer: Krishnamurthy Subramanian was appointed as the Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India in December 2019 and served throughout 2020. He is an Indian economist and former professor at the Indian School of Business (ISB). He played a key role in formulating economic policies during the challenging pandemic year.

Answer: In 2020, no Indian received the Nobel Prize in Economics. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson "for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats." The last Indian to receive the Nobel Prize in Economics was Amartya Sen in 1998.

Answer: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched the Hope Probe (Al Amal) to Mars on July 19, 2020, from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. This mission marked the first interplanetary mission by any Arab country. The probe successfully entered Mars orbit in February 2021, aiming to study the Martian atmosphere and climate.

Answer: Andhra Pradesh launched the "Amma Vodi" Scheme in January 2020. This poverty alleviation scheme, officially called "Jagananna Amma Vodi," provides financial assistance of Rs. 15,000 per year to mothers or guardians from below-poverty-line families to send their children to school. The initiative aims to reduce dropout rates and improve educational outcomes in the state.

Answer: Dominic Thiem won the 2020 US Open Men's Singles title, defeating Alexander Zverev 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 in the final. This was Thiem's first Grand Slam title and he became the first player in the Open Era to come back from two sets down in a US Open final.

Answer: Sudha Murty received the Padma Bhushan (not Padma Vibhushan) in 2023 for her contributions to Literature and Education. In 2020, several recipients were honored with the Padma Vibhushan, including George Fernandes, Arun Jaitley, and Shinzo Abe, but none specifically in the Literature and Education category.

Answer: Admiral Yudo Margono was appointed as the Chief of the Indonesian Navy in May 2020. He took over from Admiral Siwi Sukma Adji and served in this position until December 2022, when he was appointed as the Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces.

Answer: Australia won the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup, defeating India by 85 runs in the final held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 8, 2020. This was Australia's fifth Women's T20 World Cup title, further establishing their dominance in women's cricket.

Answer: Pradeep Kumar Joshi was appointed as the Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in August 2020. He succeeded Arvind Saxena and served as the 12th Chairman of UPSC until his retirement in May 2022. Joshi is a retired IAS officer from the 1979 batch of the Madhya Pradesh cadre.

Answer: Louise Glck was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature for "her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal." Glck is an American poet and essayist who has received numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.

Answer: Nitish Kumar was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the seventh time in November 2020 after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won the 2020 Bihar Legislative Assembly election. He has been serving as the Chief Minister of Bihar since 2005, with a brief break in 2014.

Answer: The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded with one half to Roger Penrose "for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity" and the other half jointly to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez "for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy."

Answer: Odisha launched the "Kalia Yojana" (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation) in December 2018, with implementation continuing through 2019 and beyond. This scheme aims to provide financial assistance to farmers, cultivators, croppers, and landless agricultural laborers in the state to accelerate agricultural prosperity and reduce poverty.

Answer: Joe Biden won the 2020 US Presidential Election, defeating the incumbent President Donald Trump. Biden, representing the Democratic Party, alongside his running mate Kamala Harris, won both the popular vote and the Electoral College. The election was held on November 3, 2020, and the results were projected on November 7, 2020.

Answer: M.K. Stalin was appointed as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in May 2021, following the victory of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) alliance in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election. He succeeded Edappadi K. Palaniswami and became the 8th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

Answer: China's Chang'e-5 mission successfully brought back lunar samples in December 2020. This made China only the third country to return samples from the Moon, after the United States and the Soviet Union. The mission collected approximately 1.73 kilograms of lunar material from the Oceanus Procellarum region.

Answer: Toni-Ann Singh of Jamaica won the 2019 Miss World title. The 2020 Miss World pageant was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 69th edition of Miss World was eventually scheduled for 2022, when Karolina Bielawska of Poland was crowned the winner.

Answer: N. Rangasamy was appointed as the Chief Minister of Puducherry in May 2021, following the victory of the All India N.R. Congress (AINRC)-led alliance in the 2021 Puducherry Legislative Assembly election. He has served as the Chief Minister of Puducherry on multiple occasions, previously from 2001 to 2008 and from 2011 to 2016.