Wednesday, 20 January 2016

December 2015 Current Affairs


   ÷   Govt sets up 5-member panel to frame new education policy. Former Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian will act as the Chairman of the committee.
   ÷   Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis lifted their ninth title together this year, beating the Spanish pair of Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro to clinch the WTA Finals women’s doubles trophy.
   ÷   Boosting the government’s ambitious ‘Digital India’ drive, social media giant Facebook has come forward to facilitate state-run BSNL in setting up 100 WiFi sites in rural areas of western and southern India. Facebook will spend Rs. 5 crore per annum for sponsoring these 100 WiFi hotspots in the country.
   ÷   New Zealand has won the 2015 Rugby World Cup for record third time by defeating Australia. In the final match played at Twickenham,
   ÷   One of the eminent archaeologists of post-Independent India, Virendra Nath Misra passed away in Pune, Maharashtra. He was 81.
   ÷   Punjab Government has announced to set up bio-ethanol refinery in the state to tackle the menace of wheat and paddy straw burning.
   ÷   The European Parliament gave status of whistle-blower and human rights defender to former contractor of NSA Edward Snowden.
   ÷   India was placed at 7th position in world’s most valuable nation brands report among the 100 assessed nations. Top 7 countries: United States, China, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, France and India.
   ÷   Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications (RCom) declared that it will take over Russian conglomerate Sistema Shyam Teleservices’ (SSTL) venture that operates under the brand name of MTS for a cashless deal valued at around 4500-5000 crore rupees.
   ÷   Footballer Lionel Messi is the new global brand ambassador for Tata Motors’ passenger vehicles.
   ÷   India successfully test-fired BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile from INS Kochi off the west coast.
   ÷   Hero Group founder Brijmohan Lall Munjal died in New Delhi. He was 92 and survived by three sons and one daughter.
   ÷   Roger Federer of Switzerland won the Swiss Indoors men’s singles tennis title. He defeated Rafael Nadal of Spain 6-3 5-7 6-3 at the final match held at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland.
   ÷   Indian Railways has launched Vikalp scheme to facilitate waitlisted passengers to get an alternative train accommodation.
   ÷   Rosberg won the first Mexican Grand Prix since 1992 for his fourth victory this season, denying Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in his bid to tie the Formula One record of 13 victories in a season.
   ÷   The Reserve Bank of India has fixed the public issue price at Rs. 2,684 per gram for the sovereign gold bonds, for which applications will be accepted from November 5 to 20.
   ÷   Punjabi in the first week of November 2015 became the third most common language, after English and French, in the House of Commons of Canada after 20 Punjabi-speaking candidates were elected to the parliament in October 2015.
   ÷   The special forces of the US and Nepalese armies on launched a month-long joint military training codenamed Balance Nail 16-01 in Nepal’s mountainous regions.
   ÷   Odisha Government imposed a seven-month ban on fishing along the coast. The ban will be in force from 1 November 2015 to 31 May 2016.
   ÷   The Meghalaya High Court asked the Union government to enforce the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, (AFSPA) 1958 in Garo Hills region in western part of the state.
   ÷   Veteran CPI(M) leader and former Speaker of the West Bengal Assembly Hasim Abdul Halin passed away in Kolkata
   ÷   The fast patrol vessel (FPV) of Aadesh-Class of Indian Coast Guard, ICGS Arinjay was commissioned in Kochi, Kerala..
   ÷   Maharashtra approved APJ Abdul Kalam Amrut Yojna for pregnant and lactating women. The scheme aims at providing at least one full hot cooked nutritious food to every pregnant lady and lactating mother.
   ÷   Michelle Payne became the first female jockey to win 6.2 million Australian dollars Melbourne Cup.
   ÷   Maldives President Abdulla Yameen declared a state of emergency giving sweeping powers to security forces to arrest suspects ahead of a major anti-government protest rally.
   ÷   Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik announced his retirement from Test cricket and now will play only in the One-Day International (ODI).
   ÷   All India Radio’s (AIR’s) Programme on child labour titled Nilkkam Ivarkkoppam has won the first prize at the 2015 Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Prize ceremony.
   ÷   Noted Kannada actor V Ravichandran, will promote the government’s social security schemes that are offered by the Dharward-headquartered Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank (KVGB).
   ÷   PM Narendra Modi launched three gold related schemes. The primary purpose of the schemes is to reduce dependence on imported gold, recycle the unutilized gold in the country and most importantly, streamline the gold business in the country. At present, India is the largest consumer of gold in the world.
Gold Monetization Scheme (GMS)
   ÷   Its objective is to mobilize unutilized gold from individuals, households and institutions and make them available to gold-base industries including jewellers.
Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme
   ÷   The purpose of the scheme is to reduce the demand for physical gold and to shift part of the estimated 300 tons of physical bars and coins purchased every year for investment into Demat (Dematerialised) gold bonds.
   ÷   Indian Gold Coins
          ö  Its purpose is to revive investment and reduce dependence on imports of gold coins. At present, India has been importing about 60 tonnes of gold coins annually that are sold at a premium of 8-10 per cent.
          ö  Under the scheme, gold coins bearing the Ashok Chakra will be minted by the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India.
          ö  Initially, the coins will be available in denominations of 5 gm and 10 gm.
          ö  They will be sold through banks, post offices and state-run MMTC Ltd. (Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India) which will sell them through the World Gold Council (WGC).
   ÷   The Bankruptcy Law Reforms Committee (BLRC) headed by Dr T K Viswanathan submitted its report to the Union Ministry of Finance.
   ÷   Romania’s Prime Minister Victor Ponta resigned from his position following a deadly nightclub blaze which left 32 dead and nearly 200 injured.
   ÷   Justin Trudeau of Liberal Party has sworn in as 23rd Prime Minister of Canada ending 10 years of Conservative rule.
   ÷   India’s former Ambassador to Nepal and modern Indian historian Bimal Prasad passed away in New Delhi at the age of 92.
   ÷   Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emerged as World’s ninth Most Powerful Person in the Forbes annual ranking of 73 persons list of 2015. For the consecutive 3rd year, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been named the world’s most powerful person in the list.
   ÷   Ace Indian boxer Shiva Thapa has attained second rank in the latest international rankings of boxing in the 56 kilogram category
   ÷   Bosnian and Serbian governments held their joint session in Saravejo. The joint session was the first since the end of the Bosnian War in 1995. The aim of the session was to improve their relations and contribute to the stabilization of the Western Balkans.
   ÷   V Sivaramakrishnan (Siva) was appointed as the Managing Director of the Oxford University Press India (OUPI) with regional responsibilities including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. He will also join the Asia Education Divisional Board of OUP.
   ÷   Maldives Parliament overwhelmingly voted to impeach the country’s Vice President Ahmed Adeeb. He is accused of plotting to kill the President Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
   ÷   Belgium moved to the top of the FIFA world ranking list in football for the first time. The team rose from third to first after overtaking Argentina and world champions Germany. This follows their victories in October’s European qualifiers.
   ÷   China launched a civil communication satellite ChinaSat - 2C from the Xichang space center in Sichuan province.
   ÷   Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its nod Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojna (UDAY) for financial restructuring of debt of power distribution companies. The Scheme aims for financial
   ÷   Invoking Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s mantra for development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced a package of Rs. 80,000 crore for Jammu and Kashmir and pledged to transform it into a new, modern, progressive and prosperous state for which there will no dearth of money.
   ÷   Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin became the fastest Indian to reach 150 wickets mark in the Indian test cricket history. He achieved this feat when he took Imran Tahir’s wicket in the first innings of the first test against South Africa in Mohali, Punjab.
   ÷   Union Ministry of Finance decided to impose 0.5 percent Swachh Bharat Cess (SBC) on all taxable services. It will be levied in addition to the 14 percent service tax that is in force now.
   ÷   Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on 5 November 2015 launched the Rajasthan Agro-Processing and Agri-Marketing Promotion Policy 2015. The policy seeks to promote agro-processing and to reduce post harvest losses at the farm gate
   ÷   The 21st International Conference on Frontiers in Yoga Research and its Applications (INCOFYRA) will be held from 3 to 7 January 2016 at Prashanti Kutiram, Bengaluru.
   ÷   India’s Heena Sindhu won the gold medal in the 10m air pistol women’s event at the 13th Asian Shooting Championship.
   ÷   The long-pending ‘One-Rank- One-Pension Scheme’ for ex-servicemen was brought into force with government issuing a notification which will benefit over 25 lakh veterans and war widows.
   ÷   World Health Organization (WHO), a U.N. health agency has officially declared Sierra Leone Ebola-free.
   ÷   The seventh edition India-Russia Joint Military Exercise ‘Indra-2015’ has begun in Bikaner district of Rajasthan.
   ÷   Indian Army has successfully test fired the Brahmos supersonic land attack cruise missile at Pokhran in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan.
   ÷   Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson of country’s largest bank SBI, remains the most powerful woman in the Indian business sector, according to Fortune India.
   ÷   The BCCI announced a slew of monetary benefits for former cricketers, both domestic and international, including monthly and one-time payments, just a day before the Annual General Body Meeting of the Board in Mumbai. All Test cricketers who retired before December 31, 1993 and have played more than 25 matches will get Rs. 50,000 per month, the BCCI said on its website.
          All Test cricketers who retired before December 31, 1993 and have played less than 25 matches will get Rs. 37,500 per month while those who retired on or after January 1, 1994 will get Rs. 22,500 per month, it said under the heading ‘payment of monthly gratis’.
   ÷   Vidarbha opener Wasim Jaffer became the first cricketer in Ranji Trophy history to notch up 10000 runs on day two of their Group A match against Bengal at the Jadavpur University second campus ground in Saltlake.
   ÷   Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma was honoured with the Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Shikhar Award for lifetime achievement.
   ÷   Book titled What Happened to Netaji? authored by former journalist Anuj Dhar was released.
   ÷   Grand Alliance won the 2015 Assembly Elections of Bihar with two-thirds majority.
   ÷   Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems today announced a joint venture to manufacture aerostructures for aircraft and collaborate on integrated systems development opportunities in India.
   ÷   India test-fired its nuclear-capable strategic ballistic missile Agni-IV, capable of hitting a target at a distance of 4,000 km, from a test range off the Odisha coast as part of a user trial by the armed forces.
   ÷   N. Srinivasan was dethroned as the ICC Chairman after the BCCI decided to recall him and nominate its recently-elected president Shashank Manohar as the chief of the world body.
   ÷   Prof Ashok Misra headed Committee of Eminent Persons CEP on JEE submitted its report.
   ÷   The Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani launched the e-Pathshala, Saaransh and National Programme on School Standards and Evaluation Framework (Shala Siddhi) web portals/ mobile apps.
          These portals were launched during the edNEXT, the National Conference on ICT in School Education that was held at New Delhi.
   ÷   Government has signed a $273 million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to improve rural roads in Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.
   ÷   Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan has been appointed as Vice Chairman of the board of the Bank for International Settlements.
   ÷   Former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice Ajit Prakash Shah, was appointed as the ethics officer (ombudsman) at Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
   ÷   India was re-elected by the General Assembly to a six year term on the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
   ÷   The World Science Day for Peace and Development, dubbed World Science Day, was observed on 10 November 2015 across the world. The theme for 2015 is Science for a Sustainable Future
   ÷   Richard Proud-chaired Independent Commission (IC) on Doping in Sports submitted its report to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The report was submitted in Vienna, Switzerland.
   ÷   The government has initiated the process of 5 per cent stake sale in Container Corporation of India (CONCOR), which could fetch over Rs. 1,300 crore to the exchequer.
   ÷   Indian Railways awarded contracts to General Electric Co. (GE) and Alstom to set up diesel and electric locomotive factories in Bihar at a cost of about Rs.40,000 crore.
   ÷   GSAT-15, the country’s latest communications satellite, was launched successfully by the European Ariane 5 VA-227 launch Vehicle.
   ÷   Government has announced easing and simplification of foreign direct investment (FDI) rules in fifteen sectors and raising the threshold limit for approval by Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to Rs. 5,000 crore from Rs. 3,000 crore.
   ÷   Pakistan’s Younis Khan retires from ODI cricket
   ÷   The Coast Guard’s latest and largest offshore patrol vessel, Samarth, was commissioned here by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar who asked the force not to sit on past laurels and focus on securing India’s maritime interests.
   ÷   A leading UAE-based bank has announced a partnership deal with State Bank of India to help NRI customers in the gulf to carry out their remittances instantly and more conveniently.
   ÷   Former RBI Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn was appointed as an Executive Director on the board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
   ÷   Indiabulls Housing Finance today said it will acquire a 39.76 per cent stake in the UK’s OakNorth Bank for USD 100 million (about Rs 661 crore).
   ÷   NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has detected a monstrous new cloud of frozen compounds on the Saturn moon Titan’s south polar region.
   ÷   Liberian teenager Abraham M Keita was awarded with the prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize 2015.
   ÷   Indian-origin barrister in UK, Kalyani Kaul was sworn-in as a Circuit Judge in the UK . Now, she will be sitting at Snaresbrook Crown Court with immediate effect.
   ÷   A team of Indian scientist led by Sameer Panda from Odisha won the NASA award for an innovative technology named Burst Prevention & Puncture Curative (BPPC) technology. Udit Bondia, KN Panda and Smitiparna Satpathy are the other members of the team.
   ÷   Yitzhak Navon, who served as the fifth president of Israel, died in Jerusalem. He was 94.
   ÷   India and the United Kingdom announced deals worth £9 billion as they signed a civil nuclear pact and decided to collaborate in the field of defence and cyber security besides launching a railway rupee bond.
   ÷   Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party secured a historic majority in Myanmar’s parliament, making it possible for them to form the Southeast Asian country’s first truly civilian government in more than half-a-century.
   ÷   Legislators of the Grand Alliance unanimously elected Nitish Kumar as their leader in the assembly, paving the way for him to once again become the chief minister.
   ÷   The 2015 Valletta Summit on Migration was concluded. It was held for two days at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta, Malta.
   ÷   India’s first Low Income State Infrastructure Equity Partnership (the Neev Fund) was launched on by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in UK in the presence of David Cameron, Prime Minister, United Kingdom.
   ÷   G20 Summit held in Antalya, Turkey.G-20 Leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Chinese President Xi Jinping, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull , Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
   ÷   Prime Minister Narendra Modi Attended BRICS Summit in Antalya, Turkey.
   ÷   Swachh Bharat Cess-With the imposition of the cess, service tax rate will go up from 14 per cent to 14.5 per cent on all taxable services.
   ÷   Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the recently acquired Ambedkar memorial by Maharashtra Government at King Henry’s Road in London, United Kingdom.
   ÷   Bhawana Somaaya, Satish Shah and Brijendra Pal Singh have been nominated as members of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Society.
   ÷   Northeast India’s first exclusive hospital for elephants has been established at the Kaziranga National Park in Assam.
   ÷   INS Vishwakarma, the erstwhile Shipwright School (SWS) and a premier training establishment of the Indian Navy has been commissioned. It was commissioned by Admiral RK Dhowan, Chief of the Naval Staff at a formal ceremony held at Visakhapatnam.
   ÷   Pakistan and China kicked off their ambitious 46 billion US Dollar China- Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC) project.
   ÷   Annual Hundred Drums Wangala Festival has begun on a cultural fervor at Asanang near Tura town in Meghalaya.
   ÷   World Pneumonia Day was observed on 12 November 2015 across the world with the theme Every Breath Counts: Stop Pneumonia Now.
   ÷   Tata Steel has received green clearance for mining of mineral sand, used in coal production, from the riverbed of Gowai in Purulia District, West Bengal with a proposed production capacity of 0.2 million tonnes (MT) per annum.
   ÷   Syed Akbaruddin was appointed as the next Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations at New York. He will replace Asoke Kumar Mukerji who assumed the position in April 2013.
   ÷   PRASAD and SWADSH DARSHAN schemes of the Union Ministry of Tourism were in news in the second week of November 2015.
          The two initiatives, along with Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs), were launched to achieve 1 per cent share of international tourist arrivals by 2016-17 from the present 0.68 per cent.
          Both the schemes are under implementation in mission mode and aimed at developing world-class tourism related infrastructure.
   ÷   Philippines is going to host 2015 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit from 18–19 November 2015 in its capital city Manila for the first time in nearly two decades.
÷   Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has declared Naga militant outfit National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) formally known as NSCN (K) as a terrorist organization.
÷   Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has opened country’s first Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) outlet at AIIMS in New Delhi to sell drugs at highly discounted rates.
÷   Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal has won silver medal at 2015 China Open Superseries Premier Badminton tournament after finishing at second position in the Women’s Singles category.
   ÷   A noted writer of children’s books Kamala Laxman passed away in Pune.
   ÷   Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg from Germany has won the 2015 Brazilian Grand Prix title of Formula One (F1) held at Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Socorro district of Sao Paulo.
   ÷   Online auto classifieds firm CarTrade.com acquired car-selling portal CarWale.com from Automotive Exchange Pvt. Ltd. in a full-cash deal.
÷   Veteran Bollywood actor Saeed Jaffrey passed away due to age-related ailments. He was 86.
÷   The Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das introduced Mobile Governance in the state to realise the dreams of Digital India during the occasion of 16th Foundation Day of the state.
÷   Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar handed over the Maareech - Advanced Torpedo Defence System – developed by DRDO to the Navy Chief Admiral Robin K. Dhowan in Vishakhapatnam.
÷   An inter-ministerial Apex Committee approved State Annual Action Plans (SAAP) of 81 mission cities in 5 states-Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Mizoram under AMRUT for 2015-16.
÷   Union Ministry of Finance constituted the Governing Council (GC) of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF). The GC will be chaired by the Union Finance Minister.
÷   The Czech Republic successfully defended its Fed Cup crown after beating Russia in final day’s play in Prague.
÷   FIFA, the governing body of football, banned Nepal’s football chief Ganesh Thapa for 10 years for corruption.
÷   National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 was implemented in 14 of the 30 districts of Odisha on 16 November 2015. In first phase, the Act will cover about 26.33 lakh families (i.e. 93.35 lakh people) of the state.
÷   Ace Young Indian shuttler Siril Verma has won silver medal at the prestigious 2015 BWF World Junior badminton Championships.
÷   Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson (age 34) has announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket.
÷   The increase in cap on foreign direct investment in the insurance sector from 26 per cent to 49 per cent, earlier this year, has set the ball rolling for Indian promoters to offload some of their stake to their foreign partners.
÷   VHP patron Ashok Singhal dies.
÷   Axis Mutual Fund today announced its new fund offer, the Axis Children’s Gift Fund.
          This is Axis’ first goal-based investment option, the MF house said. Investments can only be made for a minor, represented by a parent or guardian.
÷ The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the Government to sell 10 per cent of its stake in Coal India. The stake sale will bring down the Government’s holding to 69.65 per cent from 79.65 per cent currently.
÷   The Union Cabinet has approved the long-awaited interest subvention scheme that would allow exporters, mostly in the labour-intensive and small and medium sectors, to avail of loans from banks at a 3 per cent lower rate.
÷ The Government has approved six proposals for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) amounting to Rs. 1,810.25 crore—the largest from IIFL Holdings Ltd.
÷   Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, was designated as the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Champion for the Asia Region by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).
÷   Prithvi Raj Singh of Jal Bhagirathi Foundation was elected to Board of Governors of World Water Council (WWC) for 2016-18.
÷   Zarin Daruwala was appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Standard Chartered Bank, India. She succeeds Sunil Kaushal, who was appointed as Regional CEO for Africa and West Asia.
÷   Russia successfully launched the first satellite for its newest early warning system, named EKS or Integrated Space System. The satellite was officially named Kosmos 2510 (Tundra 11L).
÷   Delhi will host the first International Qawwali Festival 2015 titled Taali Ho that is scheduled to be held from 12 February 2015 to 14 February 2015.
÷   China’s Tianhe-2 supercomputer has emerged as the world’s most powerful supercomputer system for the sixth consecutive time.
÷   India and China have decided to deepen bilateral defence ties and maintain peace and tranquillity at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Both neighbouring countries also have decided to strengthen cooperation to fight the menace of terrorism, including at the international level.
÷   Well-known neurosurgeon and Secretary General of Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) Dr. Satya Paul Agarwal passed away in New Delhi.
÷   Former Director of country’s external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), K. Shankaran Nair passed away in Bengaluru, Karnataka. He was 94.
÷   Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale has been appointed as India’s Ambassador to China. He will replace Ashok Kantha.
÷   President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed Justice T.S. Thakur as the Chief Justice of India (CJI) as per provisions of Article 124 of Constitution.
÷   Intel India launched Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur initiative from Nadimpalle village in Mahabubnagar district of Telangana by opening an Unnati Centre.
÷   Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) on 17 November 2015 released Global Terrorism Index 2015. The top 5 countries that were worst effected by terrorism in 2014-Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria.Out of the 162 countries, India was the sixth most affected by terrorism in 2014.
÷   World Toilet Day (WTD) was observed on 19 November 2015 across the world with the theme Sanitation and Nutrition.
÷   The Union Cabinet gave its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Vietnam for cooperation in the field of Animal Health.
÷   The Delhi Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal approved the Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill, 2015. The Bill envisages the establishment of an independent authority to investigate offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. It also covers the Chief Minister’s Office.
÷   The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved setting up of a National Resource Facility for Bio-medical Research (NARF) at Genome Valley in Hyderabad, Telangana.
÷   Financial services group Religare Enterprises has decided to exit mutual fund business with sale of its controlling 51 per cent stake in Religare Invesco AMC to the foreign partner Invesco.
÷   The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been chosen for the prestigious 2015 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development.
÷   Senior JDU leader Nitish Kumar was sworn-in as Chief Minister of Bihar for the fifth time on 20 November 2015. The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Gandhi Maidan in Patna.
÷   The 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) headed by Justice AK Mathur submitted its report to the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The commission recommended 23.55 percent hike in pay and allowances of government employees.
÷   Egypt and Russia signed an agreement to build a nuclear power plant in Egypt. As per the agreement, Russia will extend a loan to Egypt to cover the cost of construction.The plant is expected to be completed by 2022.The plant will be the first in Egypt and will be built at Dabaa in the North of the country.
÷   Tennis champion-turned Hollywood filmmaker Ashok Amritraj 5 was awarded with an honorary doctorate of Arts by the University of East London.
÷   Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest software exporter, launched a new Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Internet of Things (IoT) in collaboration with Intel.
÷   World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) suspended the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) with immediate effect. WADA termed RUSADA as non-compliant with international sport’s anti-doping code.
÷   World Economic Forum (WEF)released the Global Gender Gap Report 2015. It ranked 145 economies according to how well they are leveraging their female talent pool, based on economic, educational, health-based and political indicators.India stood at the 108th position.Top 5 countries with high gender equality are Iceland (1), Norway (2), Finland (3), Sweden (4) and Ireland (5).
÷   Former Gujarat Governor and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Ram Krishna Trivedi passed away in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh after prolonged illness.
÷   Tata Steel has commissioned the first phase of its integrated steel plant at Kalinganagar steel plant in Jajpur district of Odisha.
÷   23rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders Summit was held at Manila, Philippines from 18 November to 19 November 2015. The summit was chaired by
          Philippines President Benigno S. Aquino III.Peru will chair APEC throughout 2016 and host the 24th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
÷   Harshavardhan Neotia, Chairman of Ambuja Neotia group, was elected as the President of industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for the year 2016.
÷   Rajasthan and South Australia signed the historic Sister-State Agreement to boost export and investment opportunities between the two states.
   ÷   The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has pledged to provide 120 million dollar loan in order to finance cross-border electricity link between Bangladesh and India under SASEC Programme.
÷   Syrian woman journalist Zaina Erhaim has won the prestigious 2015 Reporters without Borders Prize for her defence of press freedom.
÷   Union Railways Ministry has inaugurated the landmark Silchar-Lumding broad gauge rail line in Assam. It was inaugurated by Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu by flagging off a passenger train from New Delhi via video-conference.
÷   Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani won the 2015 IBSF World Snooker Championship. In the final match played at Hurghada (Egypt), he defeated his Chinese opponent Zhua Xintong by 8-6 score in the best-of-15 final.
÷   India test-fired its indigenously developed supersonic interceptor missile, capable of destroying any incoming ballistic missile, from a test range off Odisha coast.
          The interceptor, known as Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile, was engaged against an electronically prepared target which simulated the trajectory of a hostile ballistic missile.
÷   Axis Bank opened a representative office in Dhaka, capital city of Bangladesh. Indo-Bangladesh trade is growing and opening office in Dhaka would help in leveraging the opportunity.
÷   India is the fourth most vacation-deprived nation globally, with 65 per cent saying they feel very or somewhat vacation-deprived, according to a survey.UAE topped the list of most vacation-deprived countries in 2015 (76 per cent), followed by Malaysia (73 per cent) and Singapore (71 per cent).
÷   French President Francois Hollande will be the Chief Guest at the 67th Republic Day parade of January 26, 2016.
÷ Indian cueist Pankaj Advani won the IBSF World Snooker Championship held at Sunrise Crystal Bay resort in Hurghada, Egypt.
÷ The Scheme Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries was in news as Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Radha Mohan Singh on the eve of World Fisheries Day 2015 on 21 November 2015 mentioned about it.
          The scheme was conceptualized by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 and entails a total outlay of 3000 crore rupees.
÷   Djokovic became 1st player to win ATP World Tour Finals for 4th consecutive time
÷   National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in third week of November 2015 was named as the official partner for the Hockey World League (HWL) final.
÷   Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated ‘e-lala’, an e-commerce portal of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) in New Delhi.
÷   The President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena on 22 November 2015 inaugurated the Mahatma Gandhi International Centre (MGIC) inaugurated in Matale.
÷   Indian-American politician Swati Dandekar was nominated as executive director to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with ambassadorial rank by US President Barack Obama.
÷   Uttar Pradesh government’s ambitious Clean UP, Green UP initiative has earned itself a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Under state government’s green drive initiative 10 lakh saplings were planted in one day within a span of eight hours on November 7, 2015 at 10 locations in the state.
   ÷   The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has constituted a 13 member expert committee exclusively on Sanskrit in its attempt to revive interest in the ancient Indian classical language Sanskrit.
÷   Conservative opposition candidate Mauricio Macri of Republican Proposal Party has won Argentina’s 2015 Presidential election.
÷   The Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment of Michael Keating of United Kingdom as Special Representative for Somalia and Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM).
÷   India and Singapore signed 10 agreements on mutual co-operation. These include Defence, Civil Aviation, National Planning and cyber Security.
÷   US drugs giant Pfizer Inc. has struck upon a deal to buy Ireland based Allergan for 160 billion dollars making it the biggest pharmaceuticals merger deal in history of healthcare sector.
÷   Noted labour economist Dr. T.S. Papola passed away in New Delhi. He was 74.
÷   Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata has invested an undisclosed amount in Singapore-based big data company Crayon Data.
÷   SREI Infrastructure Finance vice-chairman Sunil Kanoria assumed charge as president of industry body Assocham.
÷   Japan conducted its first dedicated commercial satellite launch by launching Canadian communications spacecraft, Telstar 12V, into the orbit. It is a communications and broadcasting satellite of Canadian satellite operator Telesat, which is owned by Loral Space and Communications and Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP).
÷   The Ministry of Railways and TERI University signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up Railway Chair on Sustainable Mobility at the premises of TERI University.
÷   The 10th East Asia Summit (EAS) was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia . The year’s summit held under the theme Our People, Our Community, Our Vision. The 11th East Asia Summit will be held Lao PDR in 2016.
÷   The Thirteenth ASEAN-India Summit was held successfully in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Theme of the summit was Our People, Our Community, Our Vision.The 14th ASEAN-India Summit to be held Lao PDR in 2016.
÷   Veteran Labour Economist Dr TS Papola passed away in New Delhi following brief illness. He was 74.
÷   TR Govindarajan, one of the long-standing and distinguished football administrators of Tamil Nadu, died after a brief illness. He was 90.
÷   Mahip Singh, the famous Hindi writer, columnist and journalist, passed away at a private hospital in Gurgaon, Haryana. He was 85 and is survived by wife, two sons and a daughter.
÷   Anju Bobby George, the former long jump world champion, was appointed as the chairperson of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). She will be assuming the charge in the first week of December 2015.
÷   Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) have signed a MoU on bilateral cooperation and technical assistance.
÷   The nuclear-capable Dhanush ballistic missile was successfully test fired from warship Subhadra, off the Puri coast of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal. The test was conducted by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and it was a perfect mission as the missile hit the target point with high degree of accuracy.
÷   Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LRSAM) was successfully flight-tested for the first time from an Israeli Naval Platform. The missile is co-developed by India and Israel. LRSAM is also called Barak 8 missile in Israel which in Hebrew language means Lightning.
÷   Dominica-born British lawyer Patricia Scotland was appointed as the Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations. With this, Patricia become the first British citizen and first woman as well to hold the role in the 66-year history of 53-member Commonwealth.
÷   Distinguished Japanese historian of South India and South Asia Noboru Karashima passed away in Tokyo. He was 82. He is survived by his wife Takako Karashima, three sons and three grandchildren.
÷   National Highways Authorities of India (NHAI) has approved a pilot project for undertaking scientific studies on designing greenbelts along national highways. Proposal in this regard was submitted by Nagpur based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI).
÷   India proposes to launch a $1-billion equity fund, with seed capital from public sector units, to support renewable energy companies.
÷   India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile, which has a strike range of 350 km, as part of a user trial by the army.
÷   Sitting Rajya Sabha MP from Nagaland Khekiho Zhimomi passed away following a cardiac arrest at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. He was 69.
÷   The National Milk Day (NMD) was on 26 November 2015 observed across India to mark 94th birth anniversary of the Father of the White Revolution Dr Verghese Kurien.
÷   International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women was observed across the world on 25 November 2015. The day is observed to raise awareness about violence against women and discuss solutions that would work for women community.
÷   The ‘Constitution Day’ of India is being observed on 26th November to spread awareness of Indian Constitution and its architect Dr. B R Ambedkar.
÷   CM Nitish announces liquor ban in Bihar from April 1 2016.
÷   Reserve Bank of India on 24 November 2015 decided to grant in principle approval to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to function as the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU) in Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS).
          The BBPS is an integrated bill payment system which will function as a tiered structure for operating the bill payment system in the country with a single brand image providing convenience of anytime anywhere bill payment to customers
÷   Atonio Costa, the leader of Portugal’s Socialist Party was named Prime Minister of Portugal.
÷   The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) granted in-principle approval to three applicants to set up and operate Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS).
          The three organisations have been asked to set and operate TReDS in accordance to the Guidelines issued on 3 December 2014 under the Payment and Settlement System (PSS) Act 2007.
          Organisations to which in-principle approval was granted are
          ö NSE Strategic Investment Corporation Limited (NSICL) and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Mumbai
          ö Axis Bank Limited, Mumbai
          ö Mynd Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Gurgaon, Haryana
÷   The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted the Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) to buy fully or partly defaulted bonds in the repayment of principal on maturity or principal installment in the case of amortising bond.
÷   The second Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Corvette INS Kadmatt has been formally handed over to Indian Navy at Kolkata, West Bengal. It has been built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE) and would be inducted into the Eastern Fleet shortly.
÷   Australia and New Zealand have created history by playing first day-night Test match at the Adelaide Oval Cricket Stadium with a pink Kookaburra ball. Australia won the match by 3 wickets.
÷   Noted litterateur and Professor Surendra Upadhyay passed away due to cardiac arrest. He was 74.
÷   Anil Khanna was re-elected as the president of Asian Tennis Federation (ATF). He was elected for four years in the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
÷   Great Britain won the 2015 Davis Cup tennis title by defeating Belgium 3-1 at Ghent in Belgium.
÷   Russia has imposed economic sanctions against Turkey, a NATO member over the issue of downing of a Russian Sukhoi 24 warplane on the Syrian border.
÷   Indian Coast Guard has commissioned interceptor boat ‘ICGS C-422’ into its fleet to further enhance its vigil along Pondicherry and South Tamil Nadu coast in the Bay of Bengal
÷   For the first time, Saudi Arabia allowed women to vote and contest in municipal elections. As per a royal decree issued in 2011, the authorities on 29 November 2015 allowed 979 women to register and campaign for 284 municipal councils.
÷   Ethiopian Birhanu Legese and Kenyan Cynthia Limo won the Delhi Half Marathon in the men and women categories respectively.
÷   The Mayyazhi Mahotsavam (Fete de Mahe), a three-day cultural extravaganza, started on 29 November 2015 at Mahe, Puducherry.
÷   The International Cricket Council (ICC) has suspended West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine from bowling in international cricket with an immediate effect.
÷   Union Government has decided to advance the date for implementation of Bharat Stage (BS) V and BS VI emission norms for four-wheelers in order to reduce vehicular air pollution from road transport sector. As per advance dates, BS V norms will be rolled out from 1st of April, 2019 and BS VI norms from 1st April, 2021.
÷   Two-time defending champion PV Sindhu completed a hat-trick of women’s singles title at the USD 120,000 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold after defeating Japan’s Minatsu Mitani in the finals.
÷   India will provide $2.5 million for the vulnerable nations in the Commonwealth to help them introduce clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.


    1.   Who is the chairman of the committee, which is formed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to frame the new Education Policy?
          1) Shailaja Chandra                    2) T S R Subramanian              3) Sewaram Sharma
          4) Sudhir Mankad                       5) None of these.
    2.   Which among the following state has decided to setup bio-ethanol refinery to stop menace of straw burning?
          1) Punjab            2) Gujarat         3) Kerala          4) Maharashtra 5) None of these.
    3.   Headquarters of World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is located at ________.
          1) Vienna, Austria                       2) New York, USA                    3) Rome, Italy
          4) Geneva, Switzerland              5) None of these.
    4.   Which of the following Social Media has come forward to help BSNL to setup 100 WiFi hotspots in Rural India?
          1) Facebook       2) Twitter         3) Google+      4) Thumblr       5) None of these.
    5.   Who is the winner of the women’s doubles title of the prestigious $7 million WTA Finals which was held at Singapore Indoor Stadium?
          1) Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova        2) Sania Mirza and Martina Hings
          3) Hao- Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan  4) Muguruza and Suarez Navarro    5) None of these.
    6.   Swami Vivekanandh Airport is located at _________.
          1) Bhavnagar, Gujarat     2) Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh     3) Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh
          4) Raipur, Chhattisgarh  5) None of these.
    7.   Which of the following countries has won the 2015 Rugby World Cup?
          1) Russia            2) New Zealand           3) Germany      4) US               5) None of these.
    8.   Who is Goodwill Ambassador of the SAARC HIV/AIDS Campaign?
          1) Arjun Kapoor  2) Aamir Khan     3) Anupam Kher       4) Ajay Dengan   5) None of these.
    9.   Saketh Myneni is related to which of the following sports?
          1) Tennis            2) Badminton               3) Hockey        4) Squash        5) None of these.
  10.   Who is known as the “Doyen of Indian prehistoric Archaeology”?
          1) Daya Ram Sahni         2) Virendra Nath Misra 3) Dlip Kumar Chakrabharti     
          4) V D Krishnaswami      5) None of these.
  11.   What is the position of India in World’s Most Valuable Nation Brands Report announced by Brand Finance?
          1) 7th                   2) 5th                3) 4th                4) 8th               5) None of these.
  12.   Which of the following state government has banned for fishing along its coast for 7 months up to till May 2016 to protect the endangered Olive Ridley Sea Turtles.
          1) Maharashtra   2) West Bengal            3) Gujarat         4) Odisha         5) None of these.
  13.   BrahMos Supersonic cruise missile was successfully test fired from ________.
          1) INS Joshi       2) INS Kochi                3) INS Virat      4) INS Arjun     5) None of these.
  14.   Reserve Bank of India has recently allowed subscribing for the National Pension System (NPS) for ________.
          1)  Freedom Fighters Living Aboard       2) Rural Elderly People            3) NRIs           
          4) Descendents of freedom fighters      5) None of these.
  15.   The European Parliament gave the status of whistle-blowers and human rights defenders to ________.
          1) Gilbert Waltz             2) Edward Snowden                3) Alexander Swarosky           
          4) Edward Paul               5) None of these.
  16.   Corbett National Park is located at _________.
          1) Uttar Pradesh     2) Assam      3) Uttarkhand   4) Jharkhand    5) None of these.
  17.   Who is the winner of the Mexican Grand Prix 2015?
          1) Nico Rosberg             2) Valtteri Bottas                      3) Lewis Hamilton       
          4) Sebastian Vettel         5) None of these.
  18.   What is the currency of Netherland?
          1) Franc             2) Pound          3) Dollar           4) Euro                        5) None of these.
  19.   Headquarters of National Housing Bank is located at______.
          1) Hyderabad     2) Kolkata         3) Mumbai        4) New Delhi    5) None of these.
  20.   Who is Brijmohan Lall Munjal?
          1) Founder and Chairman of Hero Motocorp     2) Founder and CEO of Bajaj Auto
          3) Founder and Chairman of Maruti                   4) Founder and CEO of Ashok Leyland
          5) None of these.
  21.   Recently India has signed two MoUs on New and Renewable Energy Sector and Cultural Exchange Programme with which of the following countries?
          1) Japan             2) Indonesia     3) Malaysia       4) Myanmar      5) None of these.
  22.   Who among the following has been appointed as the new Global Brand Ambassador of Tata Motors?
          1) Alessandro Del Piero             2) Novak Djokovic                    3) Thomas Bach          
          4) Lionel Messi                           5) None of these.
  23.   Name the programme which has won the first prize at the 2015 Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Prizes 2015?
          1) Nilkkam Ivarkkoppam              2) Green Revolution                3) Antyodaya Yojna     
          4) Jawahar Rozgar Yojana          5) None of these.
  24.   11th National Tribal Crafts Mela Aadishilp was inaugurated by Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram at __________.
          1) Pune              2) Mumbai        3) New Delhi    4) Kolkata         5) None of these.
  25.   Who has been appointed as the 2nd Commanding Officer (CO) of Indian Navy’s new and formidable aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya?
          1) Captain M N Mulla                              2) Captain D K Joshi    3) Captain Ramaksrihana
          4) Captain Krishna Swaminathan            5) None of these.
  26.   Who has been appointed as the MD and CEO of Andhra Bank?
          1) Suresh N Patel           2) Praveen Kumar Gupta         3) P S Jayakumar                    
          4) Rakesh Sharma          5) None of these.
  27.   Who has won the 2015 Swiss Indoors Basel Title of Tennis in Men’s Single category?
          1) Rafael Nadal               2) Roger Federer                    3) Andy Murray           
          4) Novak Djokovic          5) None of these.
  28.   Which of the following language became the 3rd most common language in the House of Commons of Canada?
          1) Marathi           2) Hindi            3) Punjabi        4) Gujarati        5) None of these.
  29.   Who is Colin Welland?
          1) British Actor   2) Pop Singer  3) US Politician  4) Russian Dancer  5) None of these.
  30.   Hasim Abdul Halin, former Speaker of the ________ State Assembly has passed way recently.
          1) Maharashtra   2) Madhya Pradesh      3) Gujarat         4) West Bengal   5) None of these.
  31.   Recently, International Indigenous Terra Madre- 2015 is started at which place?
          1) Shillong, Meghalaya               2) Mumbai, Maharashtra          3) Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh
          4) Surat, Gujarat                         5) None of these.
  32.   Which of the following country has recently hit by tropical Cyclone Chapala?
          1) Turkey           2) Yemen         3) Saudi Arabia            4) Oman           5) None of these.
  33.   Which of the following state cabinet has approved the A P J Abdul Kalam Amrut Yojna Scheme to provide one full hot cooked nutritious food to pregnant, lactating women in the tribal areas?
          1) Rajasthan       2) Meghalaya      3) Maharashtra          4) Punjab         5) None of these.
  34.   Identify the Indian island which was named after former president of India APJ Abdul Kalam in September 2015?
          1) Wheeler         2) Bhavani       3) Quibble       4) Netrani        5) None of these.
  35.   Who has become the first female jockey to win Australian dollars Melbourne Cup?
          1) Cecily Eaton                           2) Nikita Berriman                    3) Michelle Payne       
          4) Kayla Stra                               5) None of these.
  36.   Which scheme has won the Recognition of Excellence award at ITU World Telecom 2015 held at Budapest, Hungary?
          1) Pradhanmantri Gram Sadak Yojana    2) Indira Awaas Yojana 3) Bharat Nirman
          4) GyanSetu                                           5) None of these.


  37.   Name the Pakistani Cricketer who has recently announced his retirement from the Test Cricket?
          1) Shoaib Malik   2) Younus Khan   3) Imran Khan          4) Umar Gul  5) None of these.
  38.   Garo hill region is located at which of the following state?
          1) Arunachal Pradesh                 2) Meghalaya                           3) Assam         
          4) Himachal Pradesh                  5) None of these.
  39.   Which is the largest spoken Indian Language in United States, according to the United States (US) Census Bureau?
          1) Marathi           2) Punjabi        3) Hindi            4) Gujarati                    5) None of these.
  40.   Modi Gold Cup is related to which of the following sports?
          1) Boxing            2) Hockey        3) Kabbadi       4) Table Tennis           5) None of these.
  41.   Which among the following country’s parliament has ratified the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) agreement ?
          1) China             2) Japan           3) India            4) Nepal           5) None of these.
  42.   Which of the following has been banned by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in New Delhi and 4 other north western states?
          1) Using imported pesticides      2) Digging deep well    3) Using chemical fertilizers    
          4) Straw burning                         5) None of these.
  43.   What is the position of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2015 Forbes’s Powerful Person of the year?
          1) 9th                   2) 7th                3) 8th                4) 10th              5) None of these.
  44.   Who is the next Chief Justice of India?
          1) Justice Gorla Rohini               2) Justice T S Thakur              3) Justice S J Wazifdar
          4) Justice K Sridhar Rao             5) None of these.
  45.   Who has been appointed as the new Indian High Commissioner to United Kingdom?
          1) Navtej Singh Sarna                             2) Ashok Lahiri             3) Pratyush Sinha       
          4) Raghunath Anant Mashelkar              5) None of these.
  46.   Name the Indian Shooter to win Silver in the 13th Asian Shooting Championship in Kuwait City?
          1) Malaika Goel    2) Jitu Rai      3) Anjali Bhagwat    4) Apurvi Chandela   5) None of these.
  47.   What is the rank of Indian famous boxer Shiva Thapa in the latest international ranking of boxing in the 56kg category?
          1) 2nd                  2) 3rd                3) 4th                4) 5th                5) None of these.       
  48.   Who is the head of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) bench?
          1) Justice Mohit S Shah             2) Justice Ashok Bhusan         3) Justice L K Mahapatra
          4) Justice Swatanter Kumar        5) None of these.
  49.   Who has been appointed as the new senior Vice President and Head of Consumer Experience and Growth of Flipkart?
          1) Surojit Chatterjee       2) Bhairon Singh Shekhawat       3) Kocheril Raman Narayanan
          4) Brian Moynihan          5) None of these.
  50.   Who is the present Chief Minister of Jharkhand?
          1) Prithviraj Chavan                    2) Virbhadra Singh                   3) Hemat Soren          
          4) Raghubar Das                        5) None of these.
  51.   Union cabinet has approved to sign MoU between India and ________ to strengthen their Cooperation in the field of Tourism.
          1) Thailand         2) Colombia     3) Singapore    4) Switzerland              5) None of these.
  52.   Recently PM Narendra Modi has launched 3 Gold Related Schemes to reduce the physical damage of the gold, which of the following is NOT one among them?
          1) Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme           2) Indian Gold Coins
          3) Gold Monetization Scheme                4) Indian Golden Papers Scheme
          5) None of these.
  53.   Ujawal DISCOM Assurance Yojna (UDAY) is related to with which of the following sectors?
          1) Food for All                            2) Insurance for All                  3) Houses for All         
          4) Power for All                          5) None of these.
  54.   Who has been conferred with prestigious Vishnudas Bhave Award for his outstanding contribution to Marathi Theatre?
          1) Vikram Gokhale                      2) Shaktikanta Das                   3) K Chockalingam      
          4) Raif Badawi                            5) None of these.
  55.   IMPRINT stands for __________.
          1) Impacting Revolutionary Innovation and Technology
          2) Implementing Revolutionary Innovation and Technology
          3) Impacting Research Innovation and Technology
          4) Implementing Research Innovation and Technology              5) None of these.
  56.   Which country has sent its largest warship to boost up its further operations against Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq ?
          1) Germany                    2) France         3) US               4) Russia         5) None of these.
  57.   How many of the Indian States were implementing the Food Security Act, 2013?
          1) 30                  2) 15                3) 20                4) 25                5) None of these.
  58.   Who has been appointed as the Cultural Ambassador for Seychelles?
          1) A R Rahman                           2) Kareena Kapoor                   3) Hrithik Roshan        
          4) Farhan Aktar                          5) None of these.
  59.   Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport is located at _______.
          1) Mumbai          2) Ahmadabad              3) Bangalore    4) Bhopal         5) None of these.
  60.   Central Government has hiked the Minimum Support Price (MSP) including for season 2015-16 of which of the following crops?
          1) Sugar Cane    2) Wheat          3) Rabi             4) Pulses         5) None of these.
  61.   Navy Chief Admiral R K Dhowan has commissioned the former Shipwright School (SW3) as which of the following INS at Eastern Naval Command (EN3) in Visakhapatnam ?
          1) INS Vikrant                             2) INS Vikramaditya                  3) INS Vishal               
          4) INS Vishwakarma                   5) None of these.
  62.   How much surcharge levied on getting the Permanent Account Number (PAN), whose cost is increased due the imposition of the Swachh Bharat cess ?
          1) 0.7%              2) 0.5%            3) 0.3%            4) 0.6%            5) None of these.
  63.   Between which two countries Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been inked to operationalize Coastal Shipping Accord ?
          1) India and Bhutan                    2) Pakistan and China  3) India and Sri Lanka 
          4) India and Bangladesh 5) None of these.
  64.   Which environmental NGO has launched “Clean Air Nation” App that will provide real-time air pollution levels and precautionary measures ?
          1) Care Earth Trust                    2) Kalpavriksh                          3) Greenpeace India   
          4) Navdanya                               5) None of these.
  65.   Gyps Vulture Reintroduction Programme, by releasing 10 captive bred vultures in the pre-release aviaries is launched in which state ?
          1) Tamil Nadu     2) Karnataka     3) Rajasthan     4) Haryana       5) None of these.
  66.   Which of the following Indian city has not been listed in the Trivago’s Best Value Index for high quality services in hotels ?
          1) Amritsar          2) Rishikesh     3) Jodhpur       4) Wayanad      5) None of these.
 67.   India has partnered with which country for taking up collaborative projects in the field of productivity improvement of cattle and buffaloes ?
          1) Canada           2) Bangladesh        3) Srilankand          4) Brazil           5) None of these.
 68.   J&K Govt will implement which Act in state which is announced by Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public distribution Choudhary Zulfkar Ali ?
          1) Food Safety and Standards Act          2) Food Safety Modernization Act
          3) National Food Safety Act        4) Food Safety and Standards Rules   5) None of these.
  69.   Dudhwa National Park (DNP) is situated at which border ?
          1) India–Nepal                            2) India–Pakistan border          3) India–Sri Lanka border
          4) India–Myanmar border           5) None of these.
  70.   Warren Mitchell, who passed away recently was related to which field ?
          1) Politician         2) Actor            3) Lawyer         4) Writer          5) None of these.
  71.   In which Chinese city the first Yoga institute established by India outside the country to promote cultural exchange and bilateral ties ?
          1) Kaiping           2) Kunming      3) Kaili              4) Kaifeng        5) None of these.       
  72.   Which Advanced Torpedo Defence System (ATDS) has been handed over to Indian Navy by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar ?
          1) Barak              2) Maareech    3) SMB            4) Shyena        5) None of these.
  73.   On which date World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims observed ?
          1) Third Saturday in November (21)                   2) Second Sunday in November (8)
          3) Third Sunday in November (15)                     4) Second Saturday in November (14)
          5) None of these.
  74.   Who has won women’s singles title of China Open Badminton series 2015 ?
          1) Wang Yihan                            2) Saina Nehwal                       3) Li Xuerui   
          4) Nozomi Okuhara                    5) None of these.
  75.   As per Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), India has identified how many new species of fauna in the last five years ?
          1) 773                2) 878              3) 787              4) 778              5) None of these.
  76.   “Mukhya Mantri Jan Van Yozana” (plantation) under which farmers would be given 50 per cent grant for plantations is launched in which state of India ?
          1) Chhattisgarh   2) Karnataka     3) Manipur       4) Jharkhand    5) None of these.
  77.   On which date International Day for Tolerance observed ?
          1) Nov 15           2) Nov 14         3) Nov 16         4) Nov 12         5) None of these.
  78.   Which of the following was ICICI Bank’s corporate banking division head who recently quit the bank to join Standard Chartered bank as its India CEO ?
          1) Rajiv Sabharwal                      2) Nilanjan Bhattacharya           3) Zarine Daruwala      
          4) Dr. Tushaar N. Shah              5) None of these.
  79.   “Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI)” released by Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)-India named which PSU as its topper ?
          1) Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL)        2) Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL)
          3) Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) 4) Airports Authority of India (AAI)
          5) None of these.
  80.   India has signed revised Air Services Agreement as an important landmark with which of the country ?
          1) Ireland            2) New Zealand           3) Germany      4) Canada        5) None of these.


KEY:

     1. (2)       2. (1)       3. (4)       4.  (1)      5.  (2)      6. (4)      7. (2)     8.  (4)
     9.  (1)     10.  (2)     11.  (1)     12.  (4)    13.  (2)    14. (3)    15. (2)   16.  (3)
   17.  (1)     18.  (4)     19.  (4)     20.  (1)    21.  (2)    22. (4)    23. (1)   24.  (3)
   25.  (4)     26.  (1)     27.  (2)     28.  (3)    29.  (1)    30. (4)    31. (1)   32.  (2)
   33.  (3)     34.  (1)     35.  (3)     36.  (4)    37.  (1)    38. (2)    39. (3)   40.  (2)
   41.  (1)     42.  (4)     43.  (1)     44.  (2)    45.  (1)    46. (2)    47. (1)   48.  (4)
   49.  (1)     50.  (4)     51.  (2)     52.  (4)    53.  (4)    54. (1)    55. (3)   56.  (2)
   57.  (3)     58.  (1)     59.  (2)     60.  (3)    61.  (4)    62. (2)    63. (4)   64.  (3)
   65.  (4)     66.  (3)     67.  (4)     68.  (3)    69.  (1)    70. (2)    71. (2)   72.  (2)
   73.  (3)     74.  (3)     75.  (4)     76.  (4)    77.  (3)    78. (3)    79. (2)   80.  (2)


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