GK & Current Affairs: December 29, 2016

1. “Swachh Swasth Sarvatra” initiative has been launched by the Union Health Ministry in collaboration with which union ministry?
[A]Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation
[B]Ministry of Finance
[C]Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
[D]Ministry of AYUSH
Answer: Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation
Notes:
The Swachh Swasth Sarvatra is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation to achieve better health outcomes through improved sanitation and increased awareness and healthy lifestyles. It has been launched to strengthen Community Health Centres (CHCs) in 708 Open Defecation Free (ODF) blocks in India to enable them achieve higher levels of cleanliness and hygiene. Under it, Rs. 10 lakh of financial assistance will be given to the CHCs so that they can be strengthened to meet the standards of sanitation, hygiene and infection control. The initiative is a part of the Swachh Bharat Mission, under the National Health Mission. It is focused on the twin objectives of constructing toilets and enabling behavioural change, with the goal of making India Open Defecation free by 2nd October, 2019.
2. The 77th session of Indian History Congress (IHC) has started in which state of India?
[A]Tamil Nadu
[B]Kerala
[C]Karnataka
[D]Andhra Pradesh
Answer: Kerala
Notes:
President Pranab Mukherjee has inaugurated the 77th session of Indian History Congress (IHC) at University of Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on December 29, 2016. Over 3,000 historians and research scholars will attend the 3-day session of Congress. The IHC is the largest professional and academic body of Indian historians with over 10,000 members. It’s current President is Radha Champakalakshmi of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
3. India’s first Digi Dhan mela has been held in which state to promote cashless transactions?
[A]Jharkhand
[B]Uttar Pradesh
[C]Haryana
[D]Odisha
Answer: Haryana
Notes:
India’s first Digi Dhan mela has been held in Gurugram, Haryana on December 26, 2016 to promote digital and cashless transactions. In it, a customer can purchase any item meant for sale by paying digitally only. All daily use items ranging from vegetables to general store, handicrafts, horticulture products, seed & fertilizers for farmers, etc., were available in this fair and the customers had to make payment through digital mode. The Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLE) working at the Common Service Centres educated the masses about how to use digital mode for making payments, instead of hard cash. The next Digi Dhan Mela will be organized in Dehradun on December 29, 2016 to promote plastic money.
4. Who has been appointed as the new Lt Governor of Delhi?
[A]Vishnu Sahay
[B]Pradeep Sinha
[C]K M Chandrasekhar
[D]Anil Baijal
Answer: Anil Baijal
Notes:
Anil Baijal, a 1969 batch IAS officer, has been appointed as the new Lt Governor of Delhi. He succeeded Najeeb Jung, who recently resigned from the post. Baijal had served as Union Home Secretary under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government besides holding key positions in other ministries.
5. Prafulla Haldankar, who passed away recently, was the famous player of which sports?
[A]Table Tennis
[B]Badminton
[C]Wrestling
[D]Boxing
Answer: Table Tennis
Notes:
Prafulla Haldankar (79), the former international table tennis player, has recently passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He was ranked first in India in 1961-62 season and also represented the country in two Asian Championships and two World Championships. After retiring from the game he was the coach of Indian Railways for many years. He worked for Western Railway and retired in 1995 as Chief Welfare Inspector from DRM office, Bombay Central.
6. Which High Level Committee (HLC) will be constituted by Union Government to review institutionalization of arbitration mechanism in India?
[A]B N Srikrishna
[B]Araghya Sengupta
[C]Ravindra Bhat
[D]Indu Malhotra
Answer: B N Srikrishna
Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) will constitute a High Level Committee (HLC) to review institutionalization of arbitration mechanism in India. The committee will be headed by Justice B N Srikrishna, the retired Judge of Supreme Court. The terms of reference for the HLC are such as to analyze & review effectiveness of present arbitration mechanism, to review the facilities, resources, funding and manpower of existing ADR institutions and to review working of the institutions funded by the Government of India (GoI) for arbitration purposes.
7. Debbie Reynolds, who passed away recently, was the legendary actress of which country?
[A]Brazil
[B]Germany
[C]France
[D]California
Answer: California
Notes:
Debbie Reynolds (84), the legendary actress of Hollywood, has recently passed away in Los Angeles, California on December 28, 2016. She is known for role in “The Affairs of Dobie Gillis”, “Bundle of Joy”, “The Catered Affair”, etc. Reynolds died one day after her daughter Carrie Fisher passed away. Carrie Fisher was the well-known actress, author and screenwriter who brought a rare combination of nerve, grit and hopefulness to her most indelible role, as Princess Leia in the “Star Wars” movie franchise.
8. Indian Army has partnered with which Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) for critical technology requirements?
[A]IIT Bombay
[B]IIT Roorkee
[C]IIT Kanpur
[D]IIT Gandhinagar
Answer: IIT Gandhinagar
Notes:
Indian Army has partnered with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar to set up a Research and Development (R&D) cell at the IIT campus. The research cell will work with the faculty and research students to identify problems and possible solutions for the Indian Army. The agreement will also enable the IIT and Indian Army to collaborate in areas including critical technology requirements of Indian Army, sharing of professional and technical knowledge.
9. The book “Watership Down” was authored by whom?
[A]Richard Adams
[B]Lilian Rosa
[C]George Beadon
[D]Dal Carnegie
Answer: Richard Adams
Notes:
The book “Watership Down” was authored by Richard Adams, who died recently in England, United Kingdom. It is a classic adventure novel that have tale of suspense, hot pursuit and derring-do.
10. Prithviraj Ayachi is associated with which sports?
[A]Boxing
[B]Wrestling
[C]Badminton
[D]Shooting
Answer: Shooting
Notes:
Pruthviraj Ayachi (16), who hails from Gujarat, has won the gold medal in the junior men’s 50M Rifle Prone event at the National Shooting Championship in Pune, Maharashtra. He shot 209.5 in the finals and equals the score of the Rio Olympics’ gold medalist. .

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