GK & Current Affairs: December 13, 2016

1. Antonio Guterres, who has been sworn-in as the new Secretary General of the United Nations, is the former Prime Minister of which country?
[A]Portugal
[B]Singapore
[C]Malaysia
[D]New Zealand
Answer: Portugal
Notes:
Antonio Guterres, the former Prime Minister of Portugal, has been sworn-in as the 9th Secretary General of the United Nations. Guterres, who led the UN refugee agency for 10 years, will succeed Ban Ki-moon on January 1, 2017.
2. Who has won the World Billiards (150-Up format) Championships title?
[A]Dhruv Sitwala
[B]Pankaj Advani
[C]Saurav Kothari
[D]Peter Gilchrist
Answer: Pankaj Advani
Notes:
Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani has won his 11th World Billiards (150-Up format) Championships title in the summit clash in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Advani defeated Peter Gilchrist of Singapore. He beats multiple world champion Gilchrist by six games to three in a gripping final contest, to wrap up his 16th world title overall.
3. India’s first amphibious bus project has been launched by which state government?
[A]Haryana
[B]Andhra Pradesh
[C]Punjab
[D]Uttar Pradesh
Answer: Punjab
Notes:
The Punjab Government has launched India’s first amphibious bus project “Harike Cruise” at the Harike wetland near Amritsar. The amphibious bus project has cost the state government over Rs 11 crore. The bus will travel on land and in water. The bus will be run by the Punjab Tourism department has a seating capacity of 34 people and is equipped with life-jackets for everyone. The current route of the bus includes a 13-km ride from Amritsar to the Harike wetlands, which the bus is expected to traverse over 45 minutes. It will then traverse 4km on water.
4. Who is the newly elected Prime Minister of New Zealand?
[A]Kemal Dervis
[B]Helen Clark
[C]Paula Bennett
[D]Bill English
Answer: Bill English
Notes:
Bill English, the leader of the National Party, has been sworn-in as the 39th Prime Minister of New Zealand at Government House in Wellington. He succeeded John Key, who had resigned due to personal reasons. Prior to this appointment, English was the Deputy Prime Minister from 2008 to 2016.
5. Which state government has tied up with Tata Trust to strengthen Public Distribution System (PDS)?
[A]Uttar Pradesh
[B]Tamil Nadu
[C]Kerala
[D]Andhra Pradesh
Answer: Uttar Pradesh
Notes:
The Uttar Pradesh government has tied up with Tata Trusts to leverage digital platforms to strengthen the public distribution system (PDS) in the state. As part of the initiative, Tata Trusts have installed electronic Point of Sale devices (ePOS) to ensure operation of an Aadhaar-enabled Public Distribution System (AePDS) at fair price shops of the entire urban region of Lucknow.
6. “Fengyun-4” an advance weather satellite has been successfully launched into orbit by which country?
[A]Russia
[B]China
[C]Japan
[D]Malaysia
Answer: China
Notes:
China has successfully launched “Feng-Yun-4” a new generation weather satellite into geostationary orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China’s Sichuan Province by a Long March-3B carrier rocket. The launch marked the 242nd mission of China’s Long March series of rockets. The FY-4 series is an improved generation of geosynchronous meteorological satellites. The satellite will make high time, spatial and spectral resolution observations of the atmosphere, clouds and space environment of China and surrounding regions, significantly improving capabilities of weather and climate forecasts.
7. Gotthard Base Tunnel(GBT), the world’s longest and deepest traffic tunnel,is located in which country?
[A]France
[B]Japan
[C]Switzerland
[D]China
Answer: Switzerland
Notes:
The world’s longest and deepest rail tunnel “Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT)” has officially begin its regular rail service on December 11, 2016 in Switzerland. The 57 km twin-bore Gotthard base tunnel (GBT) will provide a high-speed rail link under the Swiss Alps between northern and southern Europe. The tunnel has overtaken Japan’s 53.9 km Seikan rail tunnel as the longest in the world and pushed the 50.5km Channel Tunnel linking the UK and France into third place.
8. Which of the following footballers has won the 2016 FIFA Ballon D’or Award ?
[A]Neymar
[B]Cristiano Ronaldo
[C]Lionel Messi
[D]Antoine Griezmann
Answer: Cristiano Ronaldo
Notes:
Cristiano Ronaldo, a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid and the Portugal national team, has won the prestigious 2016 Ballon d’Or award at an awards ceremony in Paris, France. With this, he won the 4th Ballon d’Or title in his career.
9. “Vanjeevan” the National Resource Centre for Tribal Livelihood will be launch in which state?
[A]Odisha
[B]Assam
[C]Manipur
[D]Sikkim
Answer: Odisha
Notes:
The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation (NSTFDC) will launch “Vanjeevan” the National Resource Centre for Tribal Livelihood issues at Bhubaneswar, Odisha on December 22, 2016. Vanjeevan will be a programme to identify the problems in livelihood issues in select districts of six states having low HDI of tribal people in the first phase. The states are Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha and Telangana. The programme will focus on the identification of local resources, keeping in view the existing skill level.
10. The book “The Other One Percent: Indians in America” has been authored by whom?
[A]Mohana krishnan
[B]Sanjoy Chakravorty
[C]Joe Harris
[D]Balaji Vittal
Answer: Sanjoy Chakravorty
Notes:
The book “The Other One Percent: Indians in America” has been authored by Sanjoy Chakravorty and Devesh Kapur. The book is the first comprehensive and data-driven account of the selection, assimilation and entrepreneurship of Indians in America. The author explain the contours of the study, the political and social attitudes of Indian Americans and what their future could be in their host country. .

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