General Knowledge Questions

The Ministry of Rural Development has selected Vizianagaram as one among the 17 districts across the nation for the MGNREGA annual award for effective implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act during 2015-16. The award would be presented at the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Sammelan to the district programme coordinator and District Collector on June 19, 2017 in New Delhi.

Paytm Payments Bank becoming the first bank to offer cash backs on deposits. Customers will also be offered zero charges on all online transactions and no minimum balance requirement. The Payments Bank plans to roll out 31 branches and 3,000 customer service points in the first year. For savings accounts, it will offer an interest of 4 percent per annum. It will also offer current accounts to its millions of merchants.

Plants are of different types. Some grow well and then produce fruits before they die. In other words they fruit only once in their life. Such plants are said to be monocarpic. Other plants produce fruits every season. These are called polycarpic plants.

Lala Lajpat Rai is known as Punjab Kesari.

Golden Rice (Oryza sativa) denotes a genetically modified rice capable of biosynthesizing and accumulating β-carotene (provitamin A) in the endosperm, yielding a characteristic yellow color in the polished grains. Golden rice was developed to help cope with vitamin A deficiency, a problem that prevails in developing countries, affecting millions (Underwood, 2000; UNICEF, 2000). Vitamin A deficiency causes mortality and growth retardation in children and frequently impairs vision, leading to blindness. It also contributes indirectly to anemia by interfering with iron bioavailability.

The endosperm of Golden Rice (Oryza sativa) is yellow due to the accumulation of β-carotene (provitamin A) and xanthophylls. The product of the two carotenoid biosynthesis transgenes used in Golden Rice results in Pale Yellow color.