GK & Current Affairs – November 6, 2015

1. Bimal Prasad, who passed away recently was India’s former ambassador of which country?
[A]Pakistan
[B]Nepal
[C]Sri Lanka
[D]Bangladesh
Answer: Nepal
Bimal Prasad (92), who was former ambassador to Nepal during early nineties passed away on November 4, 2015 in New Delhi. He was a close associate of Jayaprakash Narayan. He authored many books on JP’s philosophy and life including ‘A Revolutionary’s Quest’, ‘Gandhi, Nehru and JP, Studies in Leadership’ and ‘Socialism, Sarvodaya and Democracy.’ He worked as professor at Patna University and Jawaharlal Nehru University. He held the responsibility of Chairman, Institute of Gandhian Studies (Varanasi), Director, Gandhi Smriti and Memorial, Honorary Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) and Honorary Director, Rajendra Prasad Academy in New Delhi.
2. Who is the winner of the 2015 WISE prize for Education?
[A]Fazle Hasan Abed
[B]Vicky Colbert
[C]Ann Cotton
[D]Sakena Yacoobi
Answer: Sakena Yacoobi
Dr. Sakena Yacoobi of Afghanistan wins the WISE Prize for Education at the seventh World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) in Doha, Qatar on November 4, 2015. Dr. Sakena Yacoobi is known as Afghanistan’s mother of education. For the past two decades she is working for the educational development in the war torn country. She has dedicated the prize to the Afghan Institute of Learning.
3. Herve Falciani, who is in news – is well-known for his work in which field?
[A]Education
[B]Space research
[C]Whistleblowing
[D]World Politics
Answer: Whistleblowing
Herve Falciani, who worked as systems engineer at HSBC Bank has offered to cooperate with Indian investigative agencies without pre-conditions. Mr Falciani is presently facing charges in Switzerland of leaking details of bank account holders in Geneva branch of HSBC — a list which later reached French government and subsequently was shared with India as it had accounts of those Indians who had stashed funds abroad.
4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is ranked at what position in 2015 Forbes Most Powerful People list?
[A]5th
[B]8th
[C]9th
[D]11th
Answer: 9th
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emerged as World’s ninth Most Powerful Person in the Forbes annual ranking of 73 persons list of 2015. The list gives the annual ranking of the World’s 72 Most Powerful People on the basis of their financial resources, scope and use of power and the number of people they impact. Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani was placed at 36th position.
5. At what location of Rajasthan state, Ministry of Shipping is planning to develop an inland shipping port?
[A]Haliwaw
[B]Jalore
[C]Bhinmal
[D]Sindari
Answer: Jalore
To boost the trade activity in the non-coastal parts of the country, the Central government will facilitate the construction of an inland shipping port at Jalore, Rajasthan, which will connect the State with the Arabian Sea. The Government is aiming to promote transportation of minerals through the newly created waterway. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) under the Ministry of Shipping proposes to guide and support the Rajasthan Government for building an inland shipping port at Jalore.
6. Which of the following countries plane crashed recently in Sinai peninsula of Egypt killing all people aboard?
[A]Germany
[B]France
[C]Russia
[D]Indonesia
Answer: Russia
The Russian plane heading to St Petersburg, likely carrying tourists returning from holidays in Egypt’s popular Sharm el-Sheikh resort was crahed in Sinai region of Egypt. All the passengers including crew are reported to be killed in the crash. Till now, the real cause for the plane crash is unknown.
7. Recently, which two countries of Europe have conducted a joint session of both governments after a conflict of 25 years?
[A]Bosnia and Slovenia
[B]Bosnia and Serbia
[C]Ukraine and Croatia
[D]Croatia and Serbia
Answer: Bosnia and Serbia
The Serbian and Bosnian governments held their first post-war joint session in Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina on November 4, 2015. Both the countries are trying to improve their relations for economic development and stabilization of Western Balkan region. Both the countries are aspiring to become members of European Union (EU). The joint session was held after their conflict began 25 years ago during the dissolution of Yugoslavia. During the joint session, the two governments has signed agreements on various issues including protection of cultural heritage, telecommunications, finding of mission persons and sustainable development.
8. Who is the first female jockey to win Melbourne Cup?
[A]Hayley Turner
[B]Michelle Payne
[C]Julie Krone
[D]kayla Stra
Answer: Michelle Payne
Michelle Payne is the first female jockey to win the $4.44 million Melbourne Cup in Australia’s most esteemed race. She is the fourth female to drive the Cup in its 155 year history.
9. Which Indian boxer obtained No. 2 spot in world rankings, recently?
[A]Dinesh Kumar
[B]Shiva Thapa
[C]Jitender Kumar
[D]Vijender Singh
Answer: Shiva Thapa
Ace Indian boxer Shiva Thapa has attained second rank in the latest international rankings of boxing in the 56 kilogram category. He ranked second with total 1,550 points in the 56 kilogram category, becoming the highest-ranked Indian boxer. He has moved up by five places from the previous list of rankings. Shiva had won a bronze medal at the 2015 World championships. He was next best-placed Indian at sixth position in the 75kg middleweight division. The top spot in the 56 kilogram category was occupied by Michael Conlan from Ireland with total 2150 points, who had won the gold medal at the 2015 World Championships.
10. ‘IMPRINT INDIA’ initiative is aimed at improving what field in India?
[A]Inland security
[B]Military cooperation
[C]Foreign trade
[D]Scientific research
Answer: Scientific research
IMPRINT INDIA is the joint initiative of IIT’s and IISC to give boost to scientifuc research within the country. IMPRINT India will focus on ten themes with each to be coordinated by one IIT/IISc, namely computer science and ICT (IIT Kharagpur), health care (IIT Kharagpur), advance materials, (IIT Kanpur), sustainable urban design (IIT Roorkee), water resources and river systems (IIT Kanpur), defence (IIT Madras), environmental science and climate change ( IISc, Bangalore), manufacturing(IIT Madras), nano-technology hardware (IIT Bombay) and energy security (IIT Bombay).

The above 5 questions are part of Daily Current Affairs 20 MCQs Series in GKToday Android Application. This series can be subscribed in the app only for Rs. 799/- for entire year. Download Now