GK & Current Affairs – January 4, 2016
1. Who of the following has won the 2015 Costa Novel Prize?
[A]Frances Hardinge
[B]Kate Atkinson
[C]Andrea Wulf
[D]Helen Macdonald
Answer: Kate Atkinson
The British writer, Kate Atkinson has won the 2015 Costa novel award for her novel “A God in Ruins”, the companion novel to ‘Life After Life’. With this, she became the first author to receive a Costa prize three times viz. A God in Ruins (2016), Life After Life (2013) and Behind the Scenes at the Museum (1995). The other winners are as follows: a) Costa biography award: Andrea Wulf for ‘The Invention of Nature: The Adventures of Alexander Von Humboldt, The Lost Hero of Science’, b) Costa children’s book award: Frances Hardinge for The Lie Tree, c) Costa Poetry Award: Don Paterson for 40 Sonnets and d) Costa First Novel Award: Andrew Michael Hurley for The Loney.
2. Vilmos Zsigmond, who passed away recently, belong to which of the following fields?
[A]Politician
[B]Scholar
[C]Sportsperson
[D]Cinematographer
Answer: Cinematographer
Hungarian-American cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigmond (85) passed away recently. He was best known for his work on ‘The Deer Hunter’ and ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’. Zsigmond also won an Oscar for his achievement on Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind’.
3. Who of the following has been appointed as the new CEO of Wipro Limited?
[A]TK Kurien
[B]Manik K Mathur
[C]Abid Ali Neemuchwala
[D]Nand Kumar Chauhan
Answer: Abid Ali Neemuchwala
India’s third largest IT services exporter, Wipro Limited has appointed Abid Ali Neemuchwala as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and member of the board of the company. Abidali hails from Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh. He will succeed T.K. Kurien, who has been appointed as the new executive vice chairman of the company. Both the appointments would be effective from February 1, 2016. Kurien will continue to be a member of the Board until March 31, 2017. Prior to this, Neemuchwala was serving as the chief operating officer (COO) of the company since April 2015. Before joining Wipro, he worked with India’s largest IT exporter Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for 23 years.
4. Which of the following organisations has launched Jeevan Labh scheme?
[A]New India Insurance Ltd
[B]National Insurance Company Ltd
[C]State Bank of India
[D]Life Insurance Corporation of India
Answer: Life Insurance Corporation of India
Recently, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has launched Jeevan Labh scheme, a limited premium paying, non-linked, with-profits Endowment Assurance plan on January 4, 2016. The Plan is available from ages 8-59. The plan is designed to meet long-term saving with less premium paying term.
5. Who of the following is the author of the book titled ‘Jinnah Often Came to our House’?
[A]Jaswant Singh
[B]Kiran Doshi
[C]Nisid Hajari
[D]Jairam Ramesh
Answer: Kiran Doshi
Kiran Doshi is the author of the book – Jinnah Often Came To Our House. He is an Indian Foreign Service Officer and former ambassador to Austria. The book is about Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The book has shed a light on his personal life which hasn’t been highlighted much before.
6. On which date, the World Braille Day is observed?
[A]January 4
[B]December 30
[C]November 9
[D]April 11
Answer: January 4
The World Braille Day is observed every year on January 4 across the world to commemorate the birth anniversary of Louis Braille. Louis Braille invented the Braille language which helps blind people to read as well as write. The day helps people to feel the importance to produce works in the Braille language to allow blinds to read the works.
7. Which of the following states became the first state in the country to sign MoU for UDAY scheme?
[A]Rajasthan
[B]Gujarat
[C]Uttar Pradesh
[D]Jharkhand
Answer: Jharkhand
Jharkhand has become the first state to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Union Government for the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) reforms for state-owned power distribution companies. The tripartite agreement is signed between Jharkhand state government, power distribution companies and the union power ministry. The UDAY scheme has been launched by Union Government to improve financial and operational efficiencies of power distribution companies. It envisages to reduce interest burden, cost of power and AT&C losses. The scheme is optional and operationalised through signing of MoU between state governments, state discoms and Centre.
8. The 14-km long Zojila tunnel will be constructed in which of the following states?
[A]Sikkim
[B]Jammu & Kashmir
[C]Uttarakhand
[D]Himachal Pradesh
Answer: Jammu & Kashmir
The 14-km long Zojila tunnel will be constructed by the IRB Infrastructure Developers in Jammu & Kashmir state. After completion, it will be the longest tunnel of South Asia. The tunnel will provide all weather connectivity between Kashmir and Ladakh region.
9. In context to India’s defence system, “Pinaka II” refers which one of the following?
[A]Anti-Radiation Missile (ARM)
[B]Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM)
[C]Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) system
[D]Nuclear-capable ballistic missile
Answer: Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) system
The Indian Army has successfully completed user-assisted trials of Pinaka II, a multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) system, at Pokhran field firing range in Rajasthan, India. The trials are conducted by the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune, a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory. The system features six launcher vehicles with 12 rockets each.
10. Which of the following committees has submitted report to Supreme Court for reforms in BCCI?
[A]H L Dattu committee
[B]R M Lodha committee
[C]P Sathasivam committee
[D]Chandra committee
Answer: R M Lodha committee
The Supreme Court-appointed Justice R M Lodha panel had submitted its report to the Supreme Court registry. It suggested for suspension of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two years from participating in IPL. The report, which deals with various aspects relating to the functioning of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), will be considered by the bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur at a later stage.
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