GK & Current Affairs: December 14, 2016
1. Which Bollywood personality has been appointed as the UNICEF’s newest Global Goodwill Ambassador?
[A]Priyanka Chopra
[B]Deepika Padukone
[C]Ranveer Singh
[D]Amitabh Bachchan
Answer: Priyanka Chopra
Notes:
The Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra has been appointed as the UNICEF’s newest Global Goodwill Ambassador at the UNICEF’s 70th anniversary event in New York. As the Global Goodwill Ambassador, she has the responsibility to urge people from across nations to become the collective voice of oppressed children in the world and join forces to leave a better future for the coming generations.
2. India’s largest indoor sports arena will come up in which of the following states?
[A]Assam
[B]West Bengal
[C]Kerala
[D]Andhra Pradesh
Answer: West Bengal
Notes:
India’s largest indoor sports arena will come up in New Town area of Kolkata, West Bengal with a capacity to accommodate upto 15,400 people at one time. The proposed stadium will have solar power and will come up on 10 acres of land near the Deer Park in Eco Park. The facility will have lawn tennis, khokho khokho, kabaddi, badminton, basket ball and table tennis courts.
3. What is the India’s position in the vacation deprived country ranking, as per recently released 2016 Expedia vacation deprivation report?
[A]3rd
[B]5th
[C]4th
[D]1st
Answer: 4th
Notes:
India has been ranked as the 4th most vacation deprived country in the world, as per recently released Expedia Vacation Deprivation report 2016. The survey was conducted online between September 12-29, 2016, across 28 countries by Expedia – an online travel company. The report revealed that 40% Indians don’t use all vacation days as work schedule does not allow for vacation or don’t have enough staff to cover and 32% are not able to take vacation days due to personal schedule. The list is topped by Spain and UAE, followed by Malaysia and South-Korea.
4. The Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development (APMCHUD) has started in which city?
[A]Pune
[B]Chennai
[C]Kolkata
[D]New Delhi
Answer: New Delhi
Notes:
The 6th edition of Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development (APMCHUD) has inaugurated by Union Minister of Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi on December 14, 2016. The 3-day conference seeks to address issues ranging from crowded city centres to peripheral expansion, metropolitan based urban population growth, megacities and urban corridors, among others. During the conference, ministers and senior officials from 68 countries in the region are expected to deliberate on challenges of urban planning and management. In it, the five working groups will deliberate on different sub-themes like Integrated Planning, Management and Governance Structures and on ensuring sustainable and natural disaster resilient urban development including climate change.
5. What is the current India’s economic growth forecast for FY 17, as per updated report “Asian Development Outlook 2016” of Asian Development Bank (ADB)?
[A]7.4%
[B]7.2%
[C]6.9%
[D]7.0%
Answer: 7.0%
Notes:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has cut India’s economic growth forecast to 7.0% from 7.4% for the financial year 2016-17 in the updated report of Asian Development Outlook 2016 due to weak investments, a slowdown in the country’s agriculture sector and the lack of available cash due to the government’s decision to ban high-denomination bank notes. Prior to this, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut India’s growth forecast to 7.1% from 7.6% for FY 17 after the government’s decision to ban high denomination bank notes. Beside this, Global rating agency Fitch has downgraded India’s growth forecast to 6.9% from 7.4 % and rating agency Morgan Stanley has also cut the estimates to 7.3% from 7.6% for FY 17.
6. What is the India’s rank in the defence spending, according to the recently published 2016 IHS Jane’s Defense Budgets Report?
[A]5th
[B]4th
[C]9th
[D]7th
Answer: 4th
Notes:
India is at 4th position in the list of top 10 defence spenders in the world, according to the recently published annual Jane’s Defense Budgets Report by research firm IHS Markit. As per the report, India’s defence budget was $50.7 billion in 2016, up from $46.6 billion in 2015. The worldwide outlook shows that global defense spending rose by 1% to $1.6 trillion in 2016, against 0.6% in 2015. The report has also estimated that India will surpass the UK in defence spending by 2018.
7. Which Indian airport has become the second airport in the Asia-Pacific region to achieve carbon neutral status?
[A]Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore
[B]Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad
[C]Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, New Delhi
[D]Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Hyderabad
Answer: Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Hyderabad
Notes:
The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Hyderabad has become the 2nd airport in the Asia-Pacific region among all categories to achieve carbon neutral status. The airport has also declared the first in the Asia-Pacific region in the 5-15 million passengers per annum category to attain carbon neutral status. The Airports Council International (ACI) has certified Hyderabad International Airport with “Level 3+, Neutrality” under its Airport Carbon Accreditation programme. It is the industry standard for assessment of airports’ efforts to manage and reduce carbon emissions and a significant achievement. The carbon neutrality status is granted if the net carbon emission over an entire year is zero. This means the airport absorbs or offsets the same amount of emission that is generated.Prior to this, the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in New Delhi has become the first airport in the Asia-Pacific region to achieve carbon neutral status.
8. The book “Many Everests: An Inspiring Journey of Transforming Dream into Reality” has been authored by whom?
[A]Ravindra Kumar
[B]Kailash Satyarthi
[C]Manav Kumar
[D]Nitish Bharadwaj
Answer: Ravindra Kumar
Notes:
The book “Many Everests: An Inspiring Journey of Transforming Dream into Reality” has been authored by Ravindra Kumar, who is an ex-seafarer, IAS officer & mountaineer. The book gives you a new approach to life, a new way to make and live a happy, successful and peaceful life. It has been written with the aim to spread the key to success amongst the common people and to ignite the minds of thousands of hopeless people especially youth and students.
9. Which badminton player has won the 2016 ‘Most Improved Player’ award by the Badminton World Federation (BWF)?
[A]Lee Chong Wei
[B]PV Sindhu
[C]Woon Khe Wei
[D]Carolina Marin
Answer: PV Sindhu
Notes:
PV Sindhu, an Indian female badminton player and Rio Olympics silver medallist, has been named as the ‘Most improved player of the year 2016′ by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) at the Players’ Reception and Gala Dinner in Dubai.
10. Which Indian personality has been named as the 2016 Foreign Policy Global Thinker for novel Twitter diplomacy?
[A]Narendra Modi
[B]Akhilesh Yadav
[C]Mamata Banerjee
[D]Sushma Swaraj
Answer: Sushma Swaraj
Notes:
The Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has been named as the Global Thinker 2016 for novel brand of Twitter diplomacy, compiled by the international Foreign Policy magazine. Swaraj was named in the ‘Decision-makers’ category of 14 other notable thinkers including Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel and Justin Trudeau. .
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