GK & Current Affairs – December 1, 2015

1. Which of the following films has won the prestigious Golden Peacock award at the IFFI 2015?
[A]Mustang
[B]The Measure of a Man
[C]Embrace of the Serpent
[D]Eisenstein
Answer: Embrace of the Serpent
Colombian film ‘Embrace of The Serpent’ has been adjudged as the best film of the 46th International Film Festival of India (IFFI). Director Ciro Guerra of Embrace of The Serpent was bestowed with the Golden Peacock award and the cash prize of 40 lakh rupees. The Best Director award is given to Peter Greenway for the Netherlands film ‘Eisenstein in Guanajuato. The Best male actor award is given to Vincent Lindon for the France film ‘The Measure of a Man’. The Best Female actor award is given to five female actress for their roles in the Turkey Film ‘Mustang’. The special Jury Award is given to Julia Vargas for his film ‘Sealed Cargo’. The ICFT-UNESCO Fellini Award is presented to Kaushik Ganguly’s Bengali film ‘Cinemawala’.
2. What per cent of FDI is allowed in E-Commerce sector in India?
[A]49%
[B]51%
[C]75%
[D]100%
Answer: 100%
According to the extant FDI policy in India, FDI up to 100% under the automatic route is permitted in companies engaged in e-commerce provided that such companies would engage only in Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce. As per the recent rules, a manufacturer is permitted to sell its products manufactured in India through e-commerce retail. A single brand retail trading entity operating through brick and mortar stores, is permitted to undertake retail trading through e-commerce.
3. Which of the following companies has launched the ‘Safe Move-Traffic Safety Campaign’?
[A]Mahindra & Mahindra
[B]Ashok Leyland
[C]Hyundai Motor India
[D]TVS Motor
Answer: Hyundai Motor India
India’s second largest passenger car manufacturer Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) has launched ‘Safe Move-Traffic Safety Campaign’ under its CSR initiative. The campaign is launched in association with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The four main pillars of the campaign are safe move, green move, happy move and easy move. The campaign is launched to promote best practices of road and traffic safety habits among children.
4. Which of the following currency has been added to the IMF’s SDR currency basket, recently?
[A]Indian Rupee
[B]Australian Dollar
[C]Renminbi
[D]Swiss Franc
Answer: Renminbi
The Special drawing rights (SDR) is a type of international reserve asset maintained by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The value of SDR is based on the basket of key international currencies. The SDR basket currencies are reviewed by IMF every five years. Recently, International Monetary Fund (IMF) has included China’s Yuan or Renminbi into its elite reserve currency basket mainly used as an international reserve asset with an effect from 1st October 2016. The other four currencies used in the SDR currency basket are U.S. dollars, euros, pounds sterling and Japanese yen.
5. Which of the following foreign borrowings are considered under External Commercial Borrowings(ECBs) in India?
[A]Buyer’s credit
[B]Supplier’s credit
[C]Bank loans
[D]All the above
Answer: All the above
The ECBs are defined as money borrowed from foreign resources including the following: Commercial bank loans, Buyers’ credit and suppliers’ credit, Securitised instruments such as Floating Rate Notes and Fixed Rate Bonds , and Credit from official export credit agencies and commercial borrowings from the private sector window of Multilateral Financial Institutions such as International Finance Corporation (Washington), ADB, AFIC, CDC, etc. Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has liberalised foreign currency borrowing norms for Indian companies. RBI has allowed pension funds, insurance funds, sovereign wealth funds to become potential lenders to Indian firms. This measure will help to more Indian firms to raise foreign funds. The RBI also raised the limit for small value external commercial borrowings(ECBs) with minimum average maturity of three years to $50 million from $20 million earlier.
6. Who of the following has won the 1st FIDE World Online Women Blitz Championship?
[A]Dronavalli Harika
[B]Humpy Koneru
[C]Mary Ann Gomes
[D]Padmini Rout
Answer: Dronavalli Harika
India’s Chess champion Dronavalli Harika has won the inaugural FIDE World Online Women Blitz Championship, the final of which was held in Rome, Italy. The other finalist form India, Padmini Rout finished at ninth position.
7. Which of the following countries has been ranked at the top of ITU’s ICT Development Index (IDI) 2015?
[A]Switzerland
[B]China
[C]South Korea
[D]Singapore
Answer: South Korea
South Korea has been ranked at the top of UN International Telecommunications Union’s ICT Development Index (IDI) 2015. It was revealed in UN ITU’s flagship annual Measuring the Information Society (MISR) Report. Denmark and Iceland are ranked at second and third place respectively. Indian ranked at 131 position in the report. According to the report, globally 3.2 billion people are now online i.e. 43.4 per cent of the world’s population.
8. Which of the following countries has imposed economic sanctions against Turkey, recently?
[A]United States (US)
[B]France
[C]Russia
[D]Germany
Answer: Russia
Recently, 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. In this regard, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree adopting a series of retaliatory economic measures against Turkey with an effect from 1st January 2016. The economic sanctions covers ban on imports from Turkey, work of Turkish companies in Russia and any Turkish nationals working for Russian companies.
9. Eldar Ryazanov, who passed away recently, was related which of the following fields?
[A]Physicist
[B]Films
[C]Sports
[D]Architecture
Answer: Films
Russian legendary film Director and screenwriter Eldar Ryazanov (88) passed away recently in Moscow, Russia. He was one of Russia’s best-loved Soviet-era film directors and an icon of popular USSR culture of tragi-comedies that satirised daily life in the erstwhile Soviet Union. Eldar Ryazanov was born on 18 November 1927 in Kuybyshev (now Samara) in the erstwhile USSR. He had directed some of the most popular Soviet Era comedies such as Irony of Fate (1975), Office Romance (1977) and The Garage (1979). Comedy film The Irony of Fate is still reckoned to be his most popular film in USSR and still televised on New Year’s Eve in former Soviet countries. In 1984, he was named a People’s Artist, a top USSR artistry tittle. He also has received the USSR State Prize (1977). He has won the Nika Award for Best Director (1991) for the film Promised Heaven. An asteroid 4258 Ryazanov was named after him.
10. Which of the following countries has been ranked first in the latest Global Workforce Happiness Index?
[A]Belgium
[B]Norway
[C]Costa Rica
[D]South Africa
Answer: Belgium
Belgium ranks as the top country for employee happiness. It was revealed by the Global Workforce Happiness Index of Universum, a global employer brand research firm. Universum has surveyed 2,50,000 professionals in 55 markets and calculated the Global Workforce happiness Index based on several factors such as employee’s satisfaction at current job, the likelihood of recommending their current employer etc.

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