Current Affairs Quiz – August 14 2016

Current Affairs Quiz

1. Who has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the West Africa’s Republic of Ghana?
a) Navtej Sarna
b) Birender Singh Yadav
c) Sanjiv Kohli
d) Nadir Patel

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Answer b) Birender Singh Yadav . IFS officer of 1997 batch Birender Singh Yadav currently working as Joint Secretary in the Ministry, has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the West Africa’s Republic of Ghana. IFS officer’s serves as Ambassadors, High Commissioners, Consul General, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations and Foreign Secretary are some of the offices.

2. Union Ministers M Venkaiah Naidu and Uma Bharti jointly launched ‘Smart Ganga City’ programme in ____cities
a) 10
b) 15
c) 20
d) 25

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Answer a) 10. Union Ministers M Venkaiah Naidu and Uma Bharti jointly launched ‘Smart Ganga City’ programme in 10 cities located along Ganga to set up Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and improve drainage network there on hybrid annuity mode on public private partnership basis. Union Urban Development Minister Naidu and Water Resources Minister Bharti launched the works through video conferencing and were joined in by District Magistrates/Mayors of cities/towns.

3. The 92-year-old practice of presenting a separate Rail Budget is set to come to an end from the next fiscal. Who is the present Minister of Railways?
a) Piyush Goyal
b) Nitin Gadkari
c) Suresh Prabhu
d) Sadananda Gowda

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Answer c) Suresh Prabhu. The 92-year-old practice of presenting a separate Rail Budget is set to come to an end from the next fiscal, with the Finance Ministry accepting Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu’s proposal to merge it with the General Budget. According to railways, the Finance Ministry has now constituted a five-member committee comprising senior officials of the Ministry and the national transporter to work out the modalities for the merger. The committee has been asked to submit its report by August 31.

4. A first-of-its-kind “touch and feel garden” for the visually impaired people in the country was inaugurated in _____________
a) Kerala
b) Tamil Nadu
c) Rajasthan
d) Uttar Pradesh

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Answer a) Kerala. A first-of-its-kind “touch and feel garden” for the visually impaired people in the country was inaugurated near Calicut University campus by Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan. The garden has nearly 70 aromatic, medicinal and herbal plants brought from various parts the country.

5. Which State government will formally start the verification of rhino horns, stored in various treasuries?
a) Sikkim
b) Punjab
c) Assam
d) Rajasthan

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Answer c) Assam . The Assam government will formally start the verification of rhino horns, stored in various treasuries of Assam since 1980. Assam government instituted a committee recently to verify the genuineness of the rhino horns, which were recovered in last three decades since 1980 and stored in different treasuries of the state.

6. Parliament passed Central Agricultural University (Amendment) Bill, 2016. Who is the Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare?
a) Sanjeev Balyan
b) Chaudhary Birendar Singh
c) Vishnudeo Sai
d) Sudarshan Bhagat

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Answer d) Sudarshan Bhagat. The Central Agricultural University (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in Lok Sabha by Mr. Sudarshan Bhagat, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The Bill proposes to amend the Central Agricultural University Act, 1992. The Bill amends this definition to include the state of Nagaland.

7. More banks are likely to start a facility E-verifying without net banking, E-verifying without net banking facility was primarily started by ___________________ and _________________
a) Punjab and Sind Bank and United Bank of India
b) Punjab National Bank and United Bank of India
c) Syndicate and Indian Bank
d) State Bank of India and Union Bank of India

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Answer b) Punjab National Bank and United Bank of India. After Punjab National Bank and United Bank of India, more banks are likely to soon start a facility wherein an account holder can verify his income tax return on e-filing site even without having net banking. Electronic Verification Code (EVC) can be generated by pre-validating the bank account on the e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department.

8. Which telecom company issued new notification, which to make unlimited free calls from landline to any network’s mobile and landline in India on August 15, and every Sunday thereafter?
a) Airtel
b) Aircel
c) BSNL
d) Idea

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Answer c) BSNL. Customers of state-run BSNL will be able to make unlimited free calls from landline to any network’s mobile and landline in India on August 15, and every Sunday thereafter, Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said today. The service will be available besides BSNL’s free night calling scheme. This will let people experience modern facilities on BSNL landline network, company’s Chairman said.

9. Who has been appointed as the United Nations’ special envoy on youth unemployment?
a) Werner Faymann
b) Michael Haupl
c) Christian Kern
d) Heinz Fischer

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Answer a) Werner Faymann. Former Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann has been appointed the United Nations’ special envoy on youth unemployment. Faymann has been appointed because he has played a long-standing and proactive role in promoting opportunities for young people, the UN said. This is Faymann’s first appointment since he resigned as Austria’s Chancellor in May after serving for seven-and-a-half years.

10. Which online retailer company recently launched a used books store on its online platform that allows users to choose from over 1, 00,000 books across genres?
a) Flipkart
b) Amazon
c) Snapdeal
d) Paytm

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Answer b) Amazon. Amazon India recently launched a used books store on its online platform, that allows users to choose from over 1,00,000 books across genres such as literature, romance, biography and textbooks. The company is giving 100% purchase protection on the books. Earlier in July, Amazon launched its Prime subscription service in India for same day and two-day deliveries.

11. Na. Muthukumar who passed away recently was a/an
a) Actor
b) Politician
c) Lyricist
d) Singer

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Answer c) Lyricist. Two-time national award-winning lyricist Na. Muthukumar succumbed to jaundice in Chennai. He was 41 and is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. He first won the award for the song Aananda Yazhai Meetukiral in the film Thangameenkal and the second award was for the song Azhage Azhagu in Saivam.

12. Politician S P Sarguna Pandian who passed away recently, she belongs to which state?
a) Kerala
b) Tamil Nadu
c) Andra Pradesh
d) karnataka

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Answer b) Tamil Nadu. Former Tamil Nadu social welfare minister and DMK deputy general secretary S P Sarguna Pandian passed away in the early hours of Saturday. She was 75. Sarguna Pandian was elected from R K Nagar constituency twice — in 1989 and 1996 — and was the social welfare minister between 1996 and 2001 when DMK president M Karunanidhi was the chief minister.

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