GK & Current Affairs – August 28, 29, 2016

1. Which high-level committee has been constituted by the Union Government to promote card payments?
[A]Amit Mitra committee
[B]Shankar Acharya committee
[C]Ratan P Watal committee
[D]Arvind Subramanian committee
Answer: Ratan P Watal committee
Notes:
The Union Finance Ministry has constituted a high-level committee to suggest steps to promote card payments through incentives like tax rebates and cash back schemes, with an aim to discourage cash transactions. The committee will be headed by Principle Adviser for social sector in NITI Aayog and former Finance Secretary Ratan P Watal. The committee will review the payments system in India and will also study feasibility of creating a payments history of all card/digital payments and ensure that merchants/consumers can leverage the data to access instant, low cost micro-credit through digital means and create necessary linkage between the payment history and credit information. The committee will also study and recommend need for changes, if any, in the regulatory mechanism under various laws, relevant for the purpose of promotion of payments by digital modes.
2. Who has become first Asian to be nominated for 2016 Heritage Heroes Award of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)?
[A]Andrey Wilson
[B]Bibhuti Lahkar
[C]Bantu Mukura
[D]Niel Sanga
Answer: Bibhuti Lahkar
Notes:
Dr. Bibhuti Lahkar, an ecologist and conservation activist from India, has become the first Asian and the first individual from Assam to be nominated for the prestigious Heritage Heroes Award-2016 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The award is aimed to recognize the outstanding efforts of conservationists around the world in making a difference in the conservation of World Heritage sites in challenging situations. Dr. Lahkar has been working to save the grasslands, flora and fauna of Manas National Park area for the past two decades and is currently engaged as Manas Landscape Administrator for Aaranyak, an NGO working for biodiversity conservation in North East India. The recipient for the award will be selected through online voting through the website www.iucn.org.
3. “DiGiSENSE platform” has been launched by which Indian automobile manufacturer to enable fleet owners to track their vehicles?
[A]Bajaj Auto
[B]Mahindra & Mahindra
[C]Tata Motors
[D]Ashok Leyland
Answer: Mahindra & Mahindra
Notes:
Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) has launched a new digital technology platform “DiGi SENSE 1.0” to enable fleet owners to track their Mahindra vehicles in real time basis. The new digital platform will be able to empower owners, fleet operators, drivers, dealers and service teams to access vital information about their vehicles, trucks, tractors or construction equipment on a real-time basis from the driver’s seat and afar. The new platform will enable customers to digitally build knowledge about the performance and location of their vehicles. With this, Mahindra has become the first Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) in India to integrate its product line-up onto a cloud-based technology platform.
4. Subroto Cup is associated with which sports?
[A]Cricket
[B]Football
[C]Hockey
[D]Badminton
Answer: Football
Notes:
The Subroto Cup Football Tournament is one of the famous inter-school football tournaments in India. It is in news because the Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society (SMSES), which organizes the football tournament, has been bestowed with National Sports Award ‘Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar-2016’ for ‘Sports for Development’ category by Union Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. The Subroto Cup is conducted every year by the Indian Air Force, with support from Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports.
5. The 2016 Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) was held in which country?
[A]Zambia
[B]Morocco
[C]Kenya
[D]South Africa
Answer: Kenya
Notes:
The 6th edition of Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) 2016 has held in Nairobi, Kenya on August 27-28, 2016. This is the first time that the conference is held in Africa. The main themes of the summit were to promote structural economic transformation through economic diversification and industrialization, to promote resilient health systems for quality of life and to promote social stability.
6. Who has won the 2016 Belgian Formula One Grand Prix?
[A]Sebastian Vettel
[B]Daniel Ricciardo
[C]Lewis Hamilton
[D]Nico Rosberg
Answer: Nico Rosberg
Notes:
Nico Rosberg, a German Formula One Mercedes driver, has won the 2016 Belgian Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Belgium.
7. The National Sports Day is celebrated on which day in India?
[A]August 28
[B]August 29
[C]August 27
[D]August 26
Answer: August 29
Notes:
The National Sports Day is celebrated on August 29 in India to mark the birth anniversary of Dhyan Chand, the hockey player who won gold medals for India in the years 1928,1932 and 1936.
8. India’s first textile university will set up in which of the following states?
[A]Madhya Pradesh
[B]Assam
[C]Gujarat
[D]Odisha
Answer: Gujarat
Notes:
India’s first textile university will set-up at Surat, Gujarat to create a complete eco system for the textile industry in Gujarat and India. The objective of the university is to provide all kind of support including technology, research and development (R&D), skilled manpower, etc. The state government will fund about Rs 800-900 crore for the university, which is expected to get operational in the next one and a half years.
9. Dinanath Pathy, who passed away recently, was related to which field?
[A]Art
[B]Sports
[C]Photography
[D]Marine Science
Answer: Art
Notes:
Dr. Dinanath Pathy (74), the noted painter, writer and art historian, has recently passed away in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. He was one of the pioneers of the art movement in Odisha, who dedicated his life to promotion of Odia art all over the world though his art work, poetry and teaching. Pathy published over 60 books on classical, traditional, tribal, folk, rural and contemporary art of Odisha in Odia, English and German languages. Some of them are Sayonara, Punarnava, Chilika Panire Chhai, Digapandhi Ra Drawing Master, etc.
10. Which high-level committee has been constituted by the Indian Navy to find out extent of Scorpene Submarine data leak?
[A]Robin Dhowan committee
[B]Ashok Kumar committee
[C]Girish Luthar committee
[D]Sunil Lanba committee
Answer: Ashok Kumar committee
Notes:
Indian Navy has set-up a high level committee to find out the extent of Scorpene submarine data leak and the damage to the Navy. The committee will be headed by Deputy Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Ashok Kumar. Based on the report of the committee, Indian Navy will see what mitigation measures need to be taken. .

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