GK & Current Affairs – December 18, 19, 2015

1. Who is the author of the book ‘Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer’?
[A]Cyrus Mistry
[B]KR Meera
[C]Jaswinder Singh
[D]Madhu Acharya
Answer: Cyrus Mistry
The Indian playwright and novelist, Cyrus Mistry has won the 2015 Sahitya Akademi awards for his English novel “Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer”. Mistry’s portrayal of the near-invisible community of Parsi corpse bearers is the most engaging aspect of the novel.
2. Chatla Sriramulu, who passed away recently, was related to which of the following fields?
[A]Marine Scientist
[B]Politician
[C]Theatre artist
[D]Sportsperson
Answer: Theatre artist
The noted writer and theatre artiste, Chatla Sriramulu (84) passed away recently. He was a railway employee who hailed from Vijayawada of Andhra Pradesh. Sriramulu was awarded ‘Best Actor’ twice by Andhra Nataka Kala Parishad and was also a recipient of Central Government’s Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1982. He was the first artiste from Andhra Pradesh to receive Emeritus Fellowship from the Human Resources Department of Government of India. He was instrumental in the establishment of Rasaranjani, a popular literary and cultural organisation dedicated to the theatre arts. He acted in and directed more than 100 plays and wrote several books on a wide range of subjects.
3. Who of the following has been appointed as new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC)?
[A]Suraj Desai
[B]M A Khan Yusufi
[C]R.K. Mathur
[D]Basant Seth
Answer: R.K. Mathur
The Former Defence Secretary, Radha Krishna Mathur (62) has been appointed as the new Chief Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission, New Delhi and he will have a tenure of about three years, till he attains the age of 65 years. He succeeded Vijai Sharma, who completed his term on December 1, 2015. Mathur is a retired IAS officer of Tripura cadre. The Central Information Commission (CIC) consists of one chief and ten information commissioners.
4. Which of the following committees has been appointed to look into dispute between ONGC and RIL on KG gas fields?
[A]Pradhan Committee
[B]AP Shah Committee
[C]MB Shah Committee
[D]Deshmukh Committee
Answer: AP Shah Committee
Recently, the Union Government has set up a judicial commission headed by the Chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India Justice (retd) Ajit Prakash Shah, to look into the findings of the international consultant DeGolyer & MacNaughton in the gas dispute between Reliance Industries (RIL) and state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). The single-member panel will submit its report in 3 months.
5. Who of the following has been conferred with 2015 Sanctuary Legend Award?
[A]Norma Alvares
[B]Ashok Kumar
[C]Varad Giri
[D]Param Jit Singh
Answer: Ashok Kumar
Ashok Kumar, who is one of the pioneers of the fightback against wildlife crimes in India and chairman emeritus of the Wildlife Trust of India, Noida, has been named the Sanctuary Legend Award by Sanctuary magazine. The 2015 Sanctuary Lifetime Service Award has been conferred to the husband-wife duo of Claude and Norma Alvares, founders of the Goa Foundation which first raised the issue of sand mining in Goa’s beaches in 1987. The Sanctuary Asia’s Wildlife Photography Awards not only recognise the work of nature photographers, but also the contribution by individuals and groups working to protect country’s forest and wildlife. The other awardees are Wildlife Service Awards ( Varad Giri, Nandini Velho, Param Jit Singh, Yash Veer Bhatnagar, Gir Lion Protection Team), Young Naturalist Awards ( Viral Joshi, Sailaja Nayak and Virendra Singh Panwar), etc.
6. On which date, the International Migrants Day is observed?
[A]November 16
[B]December 18
[C]December 24
[D]February 21
Answer: December 18
The International Migrants Day is observed annually on December 18 by the international community to recognize and celebrate the rights of migrants around the world. The year 2015 marked the 25th anniversary of the UN’s International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. It was approved by the UN General Assembly on Dec. 18, 1990. The year 2015 will be remembered as a year of human suffering and migrant tragedies. Millions of people have been exploited and abused by human traffickers and become the targets of xenophobic policies and alarmist rhetoric. The theme of this year is ” #IAmAMigrant ” as a powerful social media hashtag.
7. Which of the following countries is a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)?
[A]Sudan
[B]Afghanistan
[C]Bhutan
[D]Ethiopia
Answer: Afghanistan
Recently, the landlocked Asian country, Afghanistan has officially became the 164th member nation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), to join the global trade body after 11 years of negotiations. Formally, the WTO has approved Afghanistan’s membership proposal at its ongoing 10th ministerial conference in the Nairobi, Kenya. Before Afghanistan, Liberia has officially joined the WTO at the conference on December 16, 2015. At present, Bhutan is the only SAARC member which has so far not joined the multilateral trade body.
8. Who of the following has been chosen for 2015 Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit?
[A]Ram Shankar Awasthi
[B]Dhian Singh
[C]Rasik Shah
[D]Shrikant Bahulkar
Answer: Ram Shankar Awasthi
Recently, the Sahitya Akademi has released a list of 23 poets and authors for 2015 Sahitya Akademi Award. In it, Ram Shankar Awasthi (Sanskrit), Brajendra Kumar Brahma (Bodo), Dhian Singh (Dogri),Cyrus Mistry (English), Jaswinder Singh (Punjabi) and Madhu Acharya ‘Ashawadi’ (Rajasthani), Arun Khopkar (Marathi), Kula Saikia (Assamese), Man Mohan Jha (Maithili), Gupta Pradhan (Nepali), etc. has been chosen for this prestigious award. The Akademi also announced Bhasha Samman award to scholar Shrikant Bahulkar, in recognition of his contribution to classical and medieval literature. The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India’s National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the major Indian languages recognised by the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. It comprises a plaque and a cash prize of Rs. 100,000.
9. Which of the following American Universities has launched the APJ Abdul Kalam Fellowship for Indian students?
[A]Harvard University
[B]University of South Florida
[C]University of California, Berkeley
[D]University of Chicago
Answer: University of South Florida
The University of South Florida (USF) has launched a postgraduate annual fellowship worth $156,000 (Rs.1,03,71,660) in the name of former president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam for Indian students who wish to enrol for PhD courses in specified fields of science and engineering at the institution. The recipients will obtain a fee waiver for four years. They will also receive a stipend worth $18,000 every year. The Kalam fellowship will be effective from the academic year 2016-17.
10. Apurvi Chandela is related to which of the following sports?
[A]Shooting
[B]Boxing
[C]Chess
[D]Volleyball
Answer: Shooting
Recently, Apurvi Chandela has won the women’s gold in 10m air rifle in the 59th National shooting championship. Geetakshi Dixit clinched the silver, one point behind Apurvi.

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