Current Affairs Quiz
1. Which State agriculture project has won the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) 2016 prize in the e-Agriculture Category?
a) Tamil Nadu
b) Kerala
c) Karnataka
d) Andra Pradesh
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Answer d) Andra Pradesh. An Andhra Pradesh project to collect very specific climate data from farms and give farmers personalised information through SMS has won the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) 2016 prize in the e-Agriculture category.
2. A statue of a renowned Indian filmmaker, the late Yash Chopra, was unveiled in _______________________
a) Switzerland
b) Japan
c) China
d) Spain
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Answer a) Switzerland. A statue of a renowned Indian filmmaker, the late Yash Chopra, was unveiled in Interlaken, Switzerland. The 350 kg statue, which now stands in Kurssaal Garden in the central Swiss town of Interlaken, canton Bern, is a replica of the one in Chopra’s film studio in Mumbai and was unveiled by his widow, Pamela Chopra.
3. Who won Commonwealth Short Story Regional Prize 2016?
a) Prakash Kullar
b) Prashar Kulkarni
c) Prasanth Kumar
d) Pankaj Kumar
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Answer b) Prashar Kulkarni.A Social Science professor from India Prashar Kulkarni has won the, for the Asia region for his “politically grounded, funny” fiction. Kulkarnis story Cow And Company about four men in search of a cow were adjudged the best piece of unpublished short fiction in English from Asia and will receive 2500 pounds prize.
4. Who has been appointed as the new Chief of Naval Staff?
a) Vice Admiral Robin K Dhawan
b) Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba
c) Vice Admiral Sureseh Mehta
d) Vice Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma
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Answer b) Admiral Sunil Lanba. Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) of Western Naval Command, has been appointed as the new Chief of Naval Staff and will assume charge on May 31. The 58-year-old, a specialist in Navigation and Direction, will have the full three-year tenure as the Navy Chief. He will succeed Admiral RK Dhowan who is retiring.
5. Who has been appointed as chief of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS)?
a) Jyoti Narayan
b) A.K.Chaturvedi
c) Kumar Rajesh Chandra
d) Hargobinder Singh Dhaliwal
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Answer c) Kumar Rajesh Chandra . Senior IPS officer Kumar Rajesh Chandra has been appointed as chief of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the aviation security wing of the government, over three years after the post fell vacant.
6. Which private sector bank has received in-principle nod from markets regulator Sebi to act as custodian of securities?
a) Federal Bank
b) Yes Bank
c) IndusInd Bank
d) HDFC Bank
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Answer b) Yes Bank. Private sector lender Yes Bank has received in-principle nod from markets regulator Sebi to act as custodian of securities. The bank has been given a year’s time to establish the business by developing the operational, tech and human capital capabilities.
7. Which bank has announced the launch of mVisa, a mobile-based payment solution?
a) Central Bank of India
b) Indian Overseas Bank
c) Syndicate Bank
d) State Bank of India
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Answer d) State Bank of India. Country’s biggest lender State Bank of India has announced the launch of mVisa, a mobile-based payment solution. The service will help customers make payments through their smartphones by simply scanning the unique merchant QR (Quick Response) code at merchant outlets.
8. Which private bank became the first financial institution in the country to tie up with the BRICS Grouping-promoted New Development Bank (NDB)?
a) Axis Bank
b) ICICI Bank
c) Kotak Mahindra Bank
d) South Indian Bank
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Answer b) ICICI Bank. Private sector lender ICICI Bank became the first financial institution in the country to tie up with the BRICS Grouping-promoted New Development Bank (NDB) for a partnership in bond issuances, co-financing, treasury management and human resources. As part of the pact, the two lenders — NDBs first president is ICICI Bank veteran KV Kamath — will look at each other as “preferred partners”.
9. Which Bank opened IFSC Banking Unit at International Financial Services Centre at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT)?
a) ICICI Bank
b) State Bank of India
c) Axis Bank
d) Kotak Mahindra Bank
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Answer d) Kotak Mahindra Bank.Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited has become the fourth bank to open its IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) at India’s first and only International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar.
10. The trade body of Indian IT firms NASSCOM has signed an MoU with ________________ to build a product design initiative to engage the country’s young entrepreneurs.
a) Google
b) Twitter
c) Hike
d) Facebook
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Answer d) Facebook. The trade body of Indian IT firms NASSCOM has signed an MoU with Facebook to build a product design initiative to engage the country’s young entrepreneurs into becoming problem solvers and solution builders. Signed in Silicon Valley, the NASSCOM-Facebook initiative is likely to propel innovative thinking and approaches to build solutions in key sectors where technology can play a transformational role.
11. Which cigarette maker company shut its plants from May 4 to comply with a new stipulated pictorial warnings rule issued by the federal government?
a) ITC Ltd
b) Golden Tobacco Ltd
c) NTC Industries
d) VST Ltd
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Answer a) ITC Ltd. India’s biggest cigarette maker ITC Ltd shut its plants from May 4 to comply with a new stipulated pictorial warnings rule issued by the federal government. India’s top court told tobacco companies that they must adhere to a new federal rule requiring much larger health warnings on cigarette packs, in a major setback for the $11 billion industry.
12. Which state decided to create more districts in the state?
a) Karnataka
b) Andra Pradesh
c) Telangana
d) Punjab
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Answer c) Telangana . Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to create more districts in the state, according to an official statement. “The new districts may come into being from either August 15 or Dussehra. The total number of districts may go up to 24-25,” the statement said. As of now, there are ten districts in the state.
13. Goa Shipyard Limited launched off-shore patrol vessel Indian Coast Guard ship named as ________________at Vasco.
a) Samar
b) Samrath
c) Samudra
d) Shaurya
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Answer d) Shaurya. Goa Shipyard Limited launched Indian Coast Guard ship ‘Shaurya‘ at Vasco, the fifth of a series of six off-shore patrol vessels that the Coast Guard had tasked the Vasco defence public sector undertaking to build. The vessel is capable of cruising at a speed of 23 knots and has a range of 6,000 nautical miles.
14. Which Ministry gave approval to creation of ‘Government e-Marketplace’ for online purchase of commonly used goods and services?
a) Finance Ministry
b) Transport Ministry
c) External Affairs Ministry
d) Home Affairs Ministry
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Answer a) Finance Ministry. The Finance Ministry gave its green light to creation of ‘Government e-Marketplace‘for online purchase of commonly used goods and services by various central government ministries and departments. The Department of Expenditure has added a new provision in the General Financial Rules (GFR) on the request of Commerce Department for creation of a one-stop GeM by Directorate General Supply and Disposal (DGS&D).
15. India and ________________ to sign MOU for Cooperation in Sports
a) China
b) Japan
c) Australia
d) New Zealand
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Answer b) Japan. India and Japan have decided to exchange sports persons, coaches, experts and administrators to improve the standard of the game in both nations. The two Asian countries will play some friendly matches ahead of the Under-17 World Cup tournament. The decisions were taken during a meeting between Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and a 12-member delegation from Japan led by Hase Hiroshi, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
16. Which medicine company has got final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to manufacture and market cholesterol-lowering tablets?
a) Sun Pharmaceutical
b) Cipla
c) Glenmark Pharmaceuticals
d) Aurobindo Pharma Ltd
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Answer d) Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. Aurobindo Pharma Ltd has got final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to manufacture and market cholesterol-lowering fenofibrate tablets in 48 milligram (mg) and 145 mg dosage forms. The approved abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) is the generic version of AbbVie Inc.’s Tricor® tablets. Fenofibrate is used to treat high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood.
17. Which central bank has decided to permanently stop producing the €500 banknote and to exclude it from the Europa Series?
a) European Central Bank
b) Central Bank of Ireland
c) Central Bank of Malta
d) Bank of England
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Answer a) European Central Bank. European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to permanently stop producing the €500 banknote and to exclude it from the Europa series, taking into account concerns that this banknote could facilitate illicit activities. The issuance of the €500 will be stopped around the end of 2018, when the €100 and €200 banknotes of the Europa series are planned to be introduced. The other denominations – from €5 to €200 – will remain in place.
18. Which country introduced a ‘safe haven baby box’ facility where parents can drop off unwanted newborn babies?
a) UK
b) India
c) USA
d) Japan
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Answer c) USA. The US state of Indiana has introduced a ‘safe haven baby box’ facility where parents can drop off unwanted newborn babies. The Emergency services will be notified within minutes after a baby is placed in the climate-controlled box outside the Fire Department building. Notably, unharmed newborns can be surrendered without any fear of prosecution in all 50 US states.
19. Who has been appointed as non-executive chairman of City Union Bank?
a) Shyam Srinivasan
b) Venkataraman
c) Mahalingam
d) Rana Kapoor
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Answer c) Mahalingam. S. Mahalingam, former chief financial officer (CFO) and executive director of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), is set to become the non-executive chairman of City Union Bank. Mr. Mahalingam is currently an Independent Director on the board of the bank. He is a well-known name in the field of IT (information technology).
20. Which state government has decided to dig one lakh deep bore wells to ensure that the farmers of the drought-hit areas are able to save their crops at the time of drought?
a) Karnataka
b) Maharashtra
c) Odisha
d) Assam
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Answer c) Odisha. The Odisha government has decided to dig one lakh deep bore wells to ensure that the farmers of the drought-hit areas are able to save their crops at the time of drought.A decision to this effect was taken at the Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the state Secretariat.
21. Which e-commerce firm has partnered with Map Unity to launch its map services?
a) Flipkart
b) Amazon
c) Snapdeal
d) Paytm
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Answer a) Flipkart. E-commerce firm Flipkart has partnered with MapUnity, a Bengaluru-based social technology company, to launch its map services. The network will cover 126 cities including those chosen in the ‘Smart Cities’ mission. The company said that the service will help it in handling logistics and supply chain. Notably, Flipkart had acquired 34% stake in Delhi-based digital mapping firm MapMyIndia last year.
22. Which e-commerce company acquired Gurgaon-based predictive marketing technology startup Targeting Mantra?
a) Shopclues
b) Myntra
c) Snapdeal
d) Amazon
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Answer c) Snapdeal. E-commerce marketplace Snapdeal acquired Gurgaon-based predictive marketing technology startup Targeting Mantra for an undisclosed amount. Founded by Saurabh Nangia and Rahul Singh in March 2013, it helps manage customer life cycle through personalization, targeting and big data analytics. In 2014, TargetingMantra raised $1.1 million in seed funding led by 500 Startups, and others.
23. Google entered into a partnership with which telecommunications company to offer direct carrier billing in India?
a) Airtel
b) Idea
c) Reliance
d) Vodafone
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Answer b) Idea. Google entered into a partnership with telecommunications major Idea Cellular to offer direct carrier billing in India. Idea users would now be able to make purchases on Google Play Store directly through their postpaid and prepaid accounts. Costs for the same will be charged through monthly bills and phone balance respectively.
24. Indian batsman Rohit Sharma inaugurated India’s first sports expo in ___________
a) Nagpur
b) Pune
c) Nashik
d) Aurangabad
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Answer b) Pune . Indian batsman Rohit Sharma inaugurated India’s first sports expo in Pune. The Pune International Sports Expo, which is scheduled to run until May 8, will showcase various products and modern technologies for fitness and sports by Indian and multinational brands. The expo will also feature talks by sportspersons including Zaheer Khan, Sunil Chettri and Milkha Singh among others.
25. Who has been appointed as head coach of Pakistan Cricket Team?
a) Greame Smith
b) Jacques Kallis
c) Mickey Arthur
d) Shaun Pollock
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Answer c) Mickey Arthur. South Africa’s Mickey Arthur has been appointed head coach of Pakistan ahead of this summer’s tour of England. The 47-year-old former South Africa and Australia coach takes over from Waqar Younis, who resigned last month. He led South Africa from 2005-10 and Australia from 2011-13 but was sacked 16 days before the 2013 Ashes series in England.
