GK & Current Affairs – December 6, 2015

1. Which of the following committees has submitted its report on ‘Possible Tax rates under GST’?
[A]Jayati Ghosh committee
[B]Abhijit Banerjee committee
[C]Arvind Subramanian committee
[D]Kaushik Basu committee
Answer: Arvind Subramanian committee
The Arvind Subramanian committee has submitted its report on ‘Possible Tax rates under GST’. It has recommended standard rate for Goods and Services Tax (GST) at 17 to 18 per cent. It also recommended the revenue-neutral rate of 15 to 15.5 per cent. It is a single rate at which there will be no revenue loss to the centre and states in the GST regime. The union government had set up the committee under chairmanship of Chief Economic Advisor Dr. Subramanian in June 2015 to arrive at GST rates by factoring in the economic growth rate, taxpayer base and tax compliance levels.
2. The Bharatvani project is set to be launched by which of the following education governing body?
[A]University Grants Commission
[B]National Council of Educational Research and Training
[C]Central Board of Secondary Education
[D]Council of Indian School Certificate Examination
Answer: University Grants Commission
The Bharatvani project is set to be launched by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The main objective of the project is delivering knowledge in and about all languages in India using multimedia such as text, audio, video, images formats through a website. The website is proposed to be all inclusive, interactive, dynamic and moderated. The government is launching this project to strengthen the oral tradition by disseminating the unwritten vernaculars, country’s classical literature in different languages, and also to develop e-content of the country’s linguistic diversity.
3. Fatema Mernissi, who passed away recently, hails from which country?
[A]Iraq
[B]Morocco
[C]Egypt
[D]Syria
Answer: Morocco
Fatema Mernissi(75) passed away recently. She was a Moroccan feminist writer and sociologist. She was best known for her focus on reconciling traditional Islam with progressive feminism. Her most celebrated book, Beyond the Veil, reviewed Islam from a feminist perspective rejecting its age-old patriarchal interpretations.
4. Who has won the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix 2015?
[A]Kimi Raikkonen
[B]Lewis Hamilton
[C]Jenson Button
[D]Nico Rosberg
Answer: Nico Rosberg
German Formula 1 driver Nico Rosberg has won for the Mercedes team the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2015. It was Rosberg’s third consecutive victory – a career first for the German – and his sixth of the season. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is a Formula One race which was announced in the year 2007 at the Abu Dhabi F1 Festival in the UAE.
5. Which of the following countries will host the next Commonwealth summit – CHOGM in 2018?
[A]Mauritius
[B]India
[C]United Kingdom
[D]Sri Lanka
Answer: United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has been selected as the host for the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2018. This would be the third time that the United Kingdom would be hosting the Commonwealth meeting. Earlier it hosted the summit in 1977 and 1997. Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) holds every two years. The next Commonwealth summit was to be hosted by Vanuatu in 2017 but due to the devastating cyclone Pam, the country is unable to host the meeting.
6. Who is the current World Health Organisation (WHO) representative to India?
[A]Carissa F. Etienne
[B]Zsuzsanna Jakab
[C]Henk Bekedam
[D]Matshidiso Moeti
Answer: Henk Bekedam
Recently, Dr. Henk Bekedam, a Dutch national and medical doctor by training, has taken charge as the World Health Organisation (WHO) representative to India. He has worked for 19 years with WHO as its representative in China and Egypt, director of Health Sector Development in the WHO Western Pacific Region Office in Manila, Philippines, and as team leader of the health sector reform project in Cambodia.
7. Who of the following is honoured with 2015 Asian Business Leadership Forum (ABLF) Outstanding Business Achiever award?
[A]G M Rao
[B]Hinduja Brothers
[C]Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
[D]Cyrus Mistry
Answer: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
The Biocon Limited CMD Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has been honoured with 2015 Asian Business Leadership Forum (ABLF) Outstanding Business Achiever award. Along with her, the Hinduja brothers and GMR Group chairman G.M. Rao are presented with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award of ABLF. The 6th Asian Business Leadership Forum (ABLF) was held in Dubai.
8. The headquarters of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) are located in which city?
[A]Bangalore
[B]Dehradun
[C]Kolkata
[D]Bhuvaneshwar
Answer: Kolkata
Recently, the Union Government has released a commemorative postage stamp to mark the Centenary year of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI). The postage stamp was released by Union Communication and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in the presence of Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi. They also released publications of ZSI- the Centenary Souvenir, Centenary Directory and A Glorious 100. ZSI is the apex institution on animal (fauna) taxonomy in India. It was established on 1 July 1916. Its headquarters is in Kolkata. It also has 16 regional centres located in different parts of the country.
9. Which of the following defence forces of India has conducted the exercise ‘Drad Sankalp’?
[A]Indian Army
[B]Indian Navy
[C]Indian Airforce
[D]None of the above
Answer: Indian Army
Recently, Indian Army chief General Dalbir Singh has reviewed the final validation phase of the training exercise ‘Drad Sankalp’ by the Indian Army’s Southern Command at Thar, Rajasthan. The main focus of the exercise has been on validation of operational preparedness of the Indian Army to launch swift offensive in the desert terrain in a network-centric environment in close coordination with long range artillery and Air Force.
10. Which of the following vaccines is used in injectable inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) programme of India?
[A]BharatIPV vaccine
[B]ShanIPV vaccine
[C]NirmIPV vaccine
[D]SanofiIPV vaccine
Answer: ShanIPV vaccine
Recently, India has launched the injectable inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) as part of the country’s commitment to global polio eradication. The IPV injection will be given to children below one year of age, along with the third dose of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) at the routine immunization sessions free of cost. In the first phase, the vaccine will be introduced in six states namely Assam, Gujarat, Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. The introduction of IPV in routine immunization is as per recommendation made in the World Health Assembly in May 2015. In India, Hyderabad-based Shantha Biotechnics Private Limited is manufacturing the ShanIPV vaccine, which is used in the country’s injectable IPV programme. Shantha will provide 2.3 million doses of ShanIPV in 2015, and 9 million in 2016 to Unicef for India’s needs.

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