CURRENT AFFAIRS (11-17 Jan, 2015)

Date: 11-12 Jan, 2015

1) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 11 January 2015 inaugurated the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015 (VGS 15), a flagship programme of the Gujarat government, in Gandhinagar, which was also attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and US Secretary of State John Kerry. This is which edition of Vibrant Gujarat Summit? – 7th

2) Bihar Government and the Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC) on 10 January 2015 organised the first of its kind walk through a 13-km forest trail which Lord Gautama Buddha had taken to reach Rajgir from Bodh Gaya around 2,543 years ago. What was the name given to this highly successful initiative in which people from 11 countries took part? – “Buddha Heritage Walk”

3) Who was selected for the prestigious Vikram Sarabhai Memorial Award for 2015 presented by the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA)? – M.Y.S. Prasad , Director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota Range (SHAR)

4) What is the name of the Indian-origin executive who was named as President of U.S. database behemoth Oracle during January 2015? – Thomas Kurian

5) Which Middle-east based bank during January 2015 launched region’s first online-only consumer banking business will offer personal finance products and credit cards? – Gulf International Bank (GIB)

6) Tennis ace Roger Federer achieved which milestone by winning the Brisbane International Open title on 11 January 2015? – He claimed his 1,000 th career victory by winning this final

7) Which country created history on 10 January 2015 by winning its maiden Hopman Cup by defeating much stronger U.S. in the finals? – Poland

8) West Indies created a world record in chasing target in T20 when it successfully chased 232 run target set by hosts South Africa at The Wanderers in Johannesburg on 11 January 2015. Whose record of highest T20 chasing it broke? – India

Date: 13 Jan, 2015

1) India’s first hi-speed Rural Broadband Network (HSRBN) was commissioned in which district of Kerala and was declared the first district in the country linked to the National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN) on 12 January 2015? – Idukki District

2) The Supreme Court of India on 12 January 2015 gave what important direction regarding e-voting by non-resident Indians (NRIs)? – It directed the central government to enable e-voti ng by NRIs within eight weeks

3) As per the latest Finance Ministry data released on 11 January 2015, private sector banks are way behind their PSU peers when it comes to opening financial inclusion accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). What was the share of private banks in this flagship financial inclusion programme of the government? – Around 3%

4) The Assembly elections for 70 Assembly seats of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi would be held on which date as announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on 12 January 2015? – 7 February 2015

5) The Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (IRDA) has got an actuary after a gap of over three years. What is the name of the person assigned the post of member (actuary) in IRDA? – Pournima Gupte

6) Which club claimed its maiden Federation Cup title after it won the title clash held at Margao on 11 January 2015? – Bengaluru FC

7) Top seed Stanislas Wawrinka retained the singles title of the Chennai Open with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win over Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene in the final held on 11 January 2015. This was Wawarinka’s ……………Chennai Open singles title? –Third

8) Which German newspaper came to news for being target of an arson attack on 11 January 2015 after it printed cartoons of French satire magazine ‘Charlie Hebdo’ following the deadly attack on it? – ‘Hamburger Morgenpost ’

Date: 14 Jan, 2015

1) In an important development for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make In India” pitch, for the first time US aviation regulator the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave its approval to two aircraft parts manufactured by Indian manufacturers. With these FAA approvals the manufacturers will be able to supply the parts to aircraft manufacturing units in the US and the world over. What are the names of these two Indian manufacturers? – The India arm of UTC Aerospace Systems (UTAS) and H BL Power Systems

2) The Union Government during January 2015 asked states to deploy an open source Linux-based operating system meant to run official computers under an initiative titled BOSS. The acronym BOSS stands for what? – Bharat Operating System Solutions

3) The Union Govt. constituted a Commission on Denotified and Nomadic Tribes on 9 January 2015 for preparation of a State-wise list of castes belonging to denotified and nomadic tribes and suggest appropriate measures in respect of them. Who was appointed as the Chairman of this Commission? – Bhiku Ramji Idate

4) The insurance regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) expressed concern over the skewed penetration of health insurance in India with four states accounting for 62% of premium. Which four states are these? –Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Union Territory of Delhi

5) Who took over as the Director General Air Operations (DGAO) in the Indian Air Force (IAF) on 13 January 2015? – Air Marshal Anil Khosla

6) London-based financial journal “Central Banking” named who as the winner of the “Governor of the Year” award on 13 January 2015? – Raghuram Rajan, RBI Governor

7) Who became the first Hindu to be appointed as the Chief Justice of Bangladesh on 12 January 2015? – Justice S K Sinha

8) Which footballer was awarded the FIFA Ballon d’Or award for the second year running and the third overall on 12 January 2015? – Cristiano Ronaldo

Date: 15 Jan, 2015

1) Who was named as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India on 14 January 2015? – Harishankar Brahma (H.S. Brahma)

2) What was the name of the Director General of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), who was sacked from his post on 13 January 2015 by the Union Govt.? – Avinash Chander

3) Which Indian drug company engaged in production of generic drugs was recently barred by the Delhi High Court from making or selling a cheaper copy of Novartis AG’s respiratory drug Onbrez domestically? – Cipla Limited

4) Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was sentenced to one year imprisonment along with 19 others by a Rampur court on 14 January 2015. What is the charge on him? – Breaching prohibitory orders during the 2009 Lok Sa bha polls

5) What is the name of the Samsung Electronics Co.’s own smartphone operating system, first smartphone based on which was launched by the company in India on 14 January 2015? – Tizen

6) What is the name of the Italian President who handed in his resignation as head of state on 14 January 2015? – Giorgio Napolitano

7) Pope Francis gave Sri Lanka its first saint on 14 January 2015 at a huge Mass held in capital Colombo. What is the name of this Indian-born missionary who thus became the first Saint from the country? – Joseph Vaz

Date: 16 Jan, 2015

1) What is the name of the world’s newest jetliner that took to the skies on 15 January 2015 carrying its first paying passengers from Qatar? – Airbus A350

2) In a surprising move the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 15 January 2015 cut its repo interest rate by 25 basis points making its first reduction in a year. What is the new repo rate after this cut? – 7.75%

3) Who took over as the new Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 14 January 2015? – Alur Seelin Kiran Kumar (A.S. Kiran Kumar)

4) In an important development for India’s insurance industry, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 15 January 2015 gave what three major permissions to country’s bank with regard to their participation in insurance business?

The banks have been allowed to act as brokers for i nsurers wherein they may undertake insurance agency or broking business departmentally and/or through subsidiary

The banks have also been allowed to set up subsidia ries and joint venture companies for undertaking in surance business with risk participation

The Banks have also been allowed to act as corporat e agents without seeking prior approval from the RB I

5) Which Northeastern state of India on 15 January 2015 officially lifted prohibition ending almost two decades of prohibition in the state? – Mizoram

6) Microsoft suspended the support for its highly popular Windows 7 operating system on 14 January 2015, which according to some industry estimates runs almost half of the personal computers globally. When Windows 7 was launched? –October 2009

7) Kalanithi Maran, the promoter of the beleaguered airline SpiceJet, would transfer his entire stake in the carrier to one of the original founders of airline, who had founded this airline in 2005. This announcement was made by the airline on 15 January 2015. What is the name of this promoter? – Ajay Singh

Date: 17 Jan, 2015

1) India’s first CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) based train was flagged-off by the Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on 15 January 2015 from which station? – Rewari (Haryana)

2) Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chairperson Leela Samson on 15 January 2015 tendered her resignation amidst controversy of a film featuring Dera Saccha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the lead role being cleared by the Film

Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT). What is the name of this controversial film that was earlier rejected clearance for public screening by the CBFC? – “ MSG – The Messenger of God ”

3) What is the name of the seed trust that was set up by the Union Government during January 2015 to promote more exploration of non-coal minerals and meet the growing needs of the domestic steel, aluminium, copper and other utilities? –National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET)

4) Which IT company during January 2015 announced setting up of the ‘Innovate in India Fund’ worth US $250 million that will be used for investments in promising new Indian companies? – Infosys

5) What is the name of a controversial book on Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s life by Spanish author Javier Moro that was unofficially banned in India for almost last 7 years and has been released recently? – “ The Red Saree ”

6) What is the name of the former director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) who resigned from the post of member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) during January 2015? – Amar Pratap Singh (A.P. Singh)

7) Indian open water swimmer Bhakti Sharma came to news during January 2015 for what reason? – She set a world record by swimming 1.4 miles in 52 minutes in one degree temp erature at Antarctic Ocean

8) During January 2015 which bullion company was slapped Rs. 100 crore fine by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) for violation of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) norms? – Riddhi Siddhi Bullion Limited (RSBL)

9) What is the name of the new book written by Congress leader and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor that was released on 15 January 2015? – ‘India Shastra: Reflections on the Nation in Our Tim e‘

10) Tourism in Switzerland suddenly became expensive from 16 January 2015. What was the reason for this? – Swiss central bank decided to scrap a cap on the Swiss franc that push ed the currency up nearly 30%