#501

Which item saw its Advance Tax increased for vehicle registration based on engine capacity in the 2024-25 Budget?

(a) Electric Vehicles

(b) Motorcycles

(c) Luxury Cars (2000cc and above)

(d) Bicycles

Explanation: The budget significantly increased the Advance Tax on the registration of vehicles with engine capacities of 2000cc and above to tax luxury consumption.

#502

Which province passed the controversial 'Defamation Act 2024'?

(a) Sindh

(b) Punjab

(c) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

(d) Balochistan

Explanation: The Punjab Assembly passed the Defamation Act 2024, aiming to curb disinformation on social media, though it faced criticism from journalists and civil society.

#503

Pakistan's ranking in the 'Global Gender Gap Index 2024' was:

(a) Top 10

(b) Middle 50

(c) 145th (Second lowest)

(d) Top 100

Explanation: Pakistan ranked 145th out of 146 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index 2024, indicating significant disparity.

#504

Under the new 'Visa Policy 2024', Pakistan abolished visa fees for citizens of how many countries?

(a) 50

(b) 90

(c) 126

(d) 10

Explanation: To boost tourism and business, Pakistan abolished visa fees for citizens of 126 countries and simplified the electronic visa application process.

#505

In late 2024, Google released which experimental AI model series designed specifically for the 'agentic era'?

(a) Gemini 1.5 Pro

(b) Gemini 2.0

(c) PaLM 3

(d) Gemma Ultra

Explanation: Google released the first models in its Gemini 2.0 experimental series in December 2024, positioning them as models designed for the 'agentic era' with enhanced capabilities for taking actions and executing multi-step plans.

#506

Which experimental Google model, released in 2024, is a 'foundation world model' capable of generating playable 3D environments?

(a) Sora

(b) Genie 2

(c) Luma

(d) Dreamix

Explanation: Genie 2 is a foundation world model introduced by Google in 2024. It is capable of generating an endless variety of action-controllable, playable 3D environments, useful for training embodied AI agents.

#507

Which company's 'AlphaChip' reinforcement learning method was highlighted in 2024 for transforming chip floorplanning?

(a) NVIDIA

(b) Google

(c) Intel

(d) AMD

Explanation: Google highlighted its 'AlphaChip' method in 2024, which uses reinforcement learning to accelerate and optimize the floorplanning process for computer chips, improving design efficiency.

#508

Which AI tool released by OpenAI in late 2024 is capable of generating realistic video from text instructions?

(a) DALL-E 3

(b) Sora

(c) Veo

(d) Make-A-Video

Explanation: Sora is a text-to-video AI model released by OpenAI in December 2024 (publicly demoed earlier in the year) that can create realistic and imaginative scenes from text instructions.

#509

Which company released the 'Llama' series of open-source language models, with significant updates in 2024 and 2025?

(a) Google

(b) Meta

(c) Microsoft

(d) Amazon

Explanation: Meta Platforms released the Llama series of models (including Llama 3 in 2024), which became a standard for open-source large language models in the AI community.

#510

In February 2025, Intuitive Machines' IM-2 mission launched with the Nova-C lander named 'Athena'. What was the specific landing site targeted by this mission?

(a) Malapert A

(b) Mons Mouton

(c) Schrödinger Basin

(d) Shackleton Crater

Explanation: The IM-2 mission targeted Mons Mouton, a flat-topped mountain near the lunar south pole, specifically chosen to hunt for water ice using the PRIME-1 drill.

#511

Which major milestone did SpaceX's Starship achieve for the first time during its fifth flight test in late 2024/early 2025?

(a) Reaching the Moon

(b) Successful catch of the Super Heavy booster by the launch tower arms

(c) Deploying 100 Starlink satellites

(d) Docking with the ISS

Explanation: During the fifth flight test, SpaceX successfully caught the Super Heavy booster using the 'Mechazilla' launch tower arms, a historic feat for reusable rocket technology.

#512

ISRO's 'Proba-3' mission, launched in late 2024, is a collaboration with ESA to demonstrate what technology?

(a) Soft lunar landing

(b) Precise formation flying to create a solar coronagraph

(c) Reusable launch vehicle return

(d) Mars atmospheric entry

Explanation: Proba-3 is an ESA mission launched by ISRO to demonstrate precise formation flying, where two satellites fly in tandem to form an artificial solar eclipse (coronagraph).

#513

The JAXA 'Martian Moons eXploration' (MMX) mission, originally targeted for 2024, was officially delayed in the 2025 timeframe to launch in which year?

(a) 2025

(b) 2026

(d) 2030

Explanation: Due to issues with the H3 launch vehicle, JAXA postponed the MMX mission launch from 2024 to the next available Mars window in 2026.

#514

Which ISRO mission launched in late 2024/early 2025 is designed to demonstrate autonomous docking capabilities in orbit?

(a) Gaganyaan-1

(b) SPADEX

(c) Chandrayaan-4

(d) Mangalyaan-2

Explanation: SPADEX (Space Docking Experiment) is the ISRO mission designed to demonstrate autonomous rendezvous and docking between two spacecraft.

#515

Which ISRO satellite, launched in November 2024/late 2024, is a high-throughput communication satellite launched by SpaceX?

(a) GSAT-24

(b) GSAT-N2

(c) INSAT-4B

(d) CMS-01

Explanation: GSAT-N2 was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 in late 2024 to provide high-throughput communication services for India.

#516

In late 2024, China's 'Shenzhou 19' (or subsequent crew) was rotated. What is the name of China's space station?

(a) Mir

(b) Tiangong

(c) Salute

(d) Harmony

Explanation: China's permanently crewed space station is named Tiangong ('Heavenly Palace').

#517

Which Indian mission launched in late 2024 is dedicated to X-ray polarimetry?

(a) Aditya-L1

(b) XPoSat

(c) Astrosat-2

(d) Gaganyaan

Explanation: XPoSat (X-ray Polarimeter Satellite) is India's first dedicated polarimetry mission to study various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources.

#518

Which city hosted the COP29 UN Climate Change Conference in November 2024, where a new climate finance goal was a central topic?

(a) Dubai, UAE

(b) Baku, Azerbaijan

(c) Belém, Brazil

(d) Glasgow, UK

Explanation: COP29 was held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024. The conference focused heavily on establishing a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) for climate finance to support developing nations.

#519

In late 2024, the final round of negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty took place in which city?

(a) Paris, France

(b) Busan, South Korea

(c) Nairobi, Kenya

(d) Ottawa, Canada

Explanation: The fifth and final session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution was held in Busan, South Korea, in late 2024.

#520

Which politician was nominated by Donald Trump in late 2024 to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)?

(a) Lee Zeldin

(b) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

(c) Vivek Ramaswamy

(d) Doug Burgum

Explanation: In November 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced the nomination of former Congressman Lee Zeldin to serve as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

February 2024 Current Affairs MCQs & Solutions