Weekly Update: FINANCE/ECONOMY: Week4, January 2016

Finance/Economy during the fourth week of Jan 2016 i.e. 17/01/2016 to 23/01/2016

Ques. Which state's commercial tax department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) for sharing of foreign exchange realization data?

Ans. Bihar

Ques. Which among the following is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in which it has increased its shareholding by contributing Rs.1,000 crore towards its paid-up capital?

Ans. National Housing Bank

Ques. With which company the Cochin Port Trust has entered into an MoU for the running of weekly container train service from Irugur ICD, Coimbatore to ICTT Vallarpadam, Cochin Port.

Ans. CONCOR

Ques. India has been elected to the board of directors of-?

Ans. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Ques. In which sector does BTI Payments operate from which the technology giant IBM has bagged a 7-year deal worth USD 40 million?

Ans. a white Label ATM (WLA) operator

Ques. How many girls are there among twenty five children, who have been selected for the National Bravery Awards for 2015?

Ans. 3

Ques. Which company has taken over the management and control of Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Co Ltd (PDOC)?

Ans. Reliance Infrastructure Ltd

Ques. The International Monetary Fund cut its global economic growth forecast for 2016 to-?

Ans. 3.4 percent

Ques. How much expenditure has been approved by the Cabinet for Solar projects?

Ans. Rs. 5,050 crore

Ques. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed banks to sell India Gold Coins (IGC) with ------------------ manufactured by public sector MMTC Ltd.

Ans. Ashok Chakra

Ques. What is the medium term and long term duration of Gold Monetisation Schemes for which the RBI has allowed depositors to withdraw pre-maturely after the minimum lock-in period? 

Ans.  5-7 year and 12-15 years

Ques. ONGC Videsh Ltd, has entered into an agreement with which African Nation for cooperation in upstream hydrocarbon sector?

Ans. Equatorial Guinea

Weekly Update: SPORTS: Week4, January 2016

Ques. Who will represent Indian runners at the Rio Olympics?

Ans. Gopi T and Kheta Ram

Ques. Who became the fastest player to score 7000 ODI runs?

Ans. Virat Kohli

Ques. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been named as captain of Rising Pune Supergiants. Who is the owner of this team?

Ans. Sanjiv Goenka

Ques. To which of the following sports firm the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has signed as its marketing rights partner for the next two years?

Ans. IOS Sports & Entertainment

Ques. Which U-15 badminton player has been appointed as the brand ambassador of Life Insurance Company PNB Metlife India?

Ans. Vaishnavi Reddy

Ques. Lleyton Hewitt who announced his retirement from tennis recently belonges to which country?

Ans. Australia

Weekly Update: ABBREVIATION: Week4, January 2016

Ques. What is the abbreviation of DIPP?

Ans. department of industrial policy and promotion

GK update 24th January 2016

Ques. Who has been named as the advisor to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar?
Ans. Prashant Kishor

Ques. Which language was made the official language of India?
Ans. Hindi

Ques. Where is India's tallest and largest tricolour situated?
Ans. Ranchi

Ques. Who hoisted India's tallest and largest tricolour in Ranchi?
Ans. Manohar Parrikar

Ques. How much is the budget Telengana government has decided for 2016-2017?
Ans. Rs 1.40 lakh crore

Ques. What does USFDA stands for?
Ans. United States Food and Drug Administration

Ques. What amount has been raised Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL), through Non Convertible Debenture?
Ans. Rs 425 crore

Ques. World Economic Forum is being held at?
Ans. Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.

Ques. Sushma Swaraj is in Bahrain to attend?
Ans. first India-Arab Ministerial meeting

Ques. AC Jose passed away recently. He was -?
Ans. Former Kerala assembly speaker

Ques. Which indiginously made helicopter took part in the international air show?
Ans. Dhruv

Ques. India's which indigenous Light Combat Aircraft took part in the international air show?
Ans. Tejas

GK update 23rd January 2016

Ques. What is the rank of India in the inaugural list of the world's best countries, released on the sidelines of WEF Annual Meeting?
Ans. 22nd

Ques. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed banks to sell India Gold Coins (IGC) with ------------------ manufactured by public sector MMTC Ltd.
Ans. Ashok Chakra

Ques. Who has been appointed as Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)?
Ans. Atulesh Jindal

Ques.  'Mahamana Express' was recently flagged off by ther Prime Minister from-
Ans. Varanasi

Ques. What is the medium term and long term duration of Gold Monetisation Schemes for which the RBI has allowed depositors to withdraw pre-maturely after the minimum lock-in period? 
Ans.  5-7 year and 12-15 years

Ques. Umaid Bhawan Palace in ------------------------- has been declared world's best hotel in the Travellers' choice awards by the world's biggest travel site TripAdvisor.
Ans. Jodhpur

Ques. To which of the following sports firm the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has signed as its marketing rights partner for the next two years?
Ans. IOS Sports & Entertainment

Ques. Which U-15 badminton player has been appointed as the brand ambassador of Life Insurance Company PNB Metlife India?
Ans. Vaishnavi Reddy

Ques. Lleyton Hewitt who announced his retirement from tennis recently belonges to which country?
Ans. Australia

Ques. Who has been appointed as the Prime Minister of Moldova?
Ans. Pavel Filip

Ques. ONGC Videsh Ltd, has entered into an agreement with which African Nation for cooperation in upstream hydrocarbon sector?
Ans. Equatorial Guinea

GK update 21st January 2016

Ques. The International Monetary Fund cut its global economic growth forecast for 2016 to-?
Ans. 3.4 percent

Ques. Indian Space Research Oraganisation (ISRO) launched India's fifth navigation satellite powered by PSLV - C31 rocket. What is the name of this satellite?
Ans. IRNSS-1E

Ques. The first Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG) has been inaugurated at which place?
Ans. Shilong

Ques. Which Indian neighbour has conducted a successful flight test of the indigenously developed nuclear capable cruise missile Ra’ad with a range of 350 kms?
Ans. Pakistan

Ques. Amina J. Mohammed, who will serve the next chair of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) is the environment minister of which country?
Ans. Nigeria

Ques. India with which country has agreed to strengthen economic cooperation in infrastructure and financial services to address cross-border tax evasion and avoidance?
Ans. UK

Ques. How much expenditure has been approved by the Cabinet for Solar projects?
Ans. Rs. 5,050 crore

Ques. Which company has announced to launch Indo-Nepal remittance services in partnership with Nepal's Prabhu Money Group?
Ans. Eko

Ques. International Conference on “Cooperative Federalism: National Perspectives and International Experience” was held in-
Ans. New Delhi

Ques. 'The Z Factor: My Journey as the Wrong Man at the Right Time' is an autobiography of Dr. Subhash Chandra, he is the chairman of-
Ans. Essel Group

Ques. What is the rank of India among the top markets considered as most important for overall growth according to the annual global CEO survey of PwC released at the WEF Annual Meeting?
Ans. Fifth

GK update 19th January 2016

Ques. Who is the secretary of DIPL?
Ans. Amitabh Kant

Ques. What is the abbreviation of DIPP?
Ans. department of industrial policy and promotion

Ques. India has been elected to the board of directors of-?
Ans. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Ques. Who inaugurated the India-Palestine Digital Learning and Innovation Centre at the campus of the Al Quds University in Ramallah.
Ans. Sushma Swaraj

Ques. Who is the Social Justice Minister?
Ans. Thaawarchand Gehlot

Ques. V. Rama Rao died recently. He was a former governor of which state?
Ans. Sikkim

Ques. Who won the prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian Literature?
Ans. Anuradha Roy

Ques. Where is Galle Literary Festival being held?
Ans. Sri Lanka

Ques. Who will represent Indian runners at the Rio Olympics?
Ans. Gopi T and Kheta Ram

Ques. Who became the fastest player to score 7000 ODI runs?
Ans. Virat Kohli

Ques. Who is the first female President of Taiwan?
Ans. Tsai Ing-wen

Ques. In which sector does BTI Payments operate from which the technology giant IBM has bagged a 7-year deal worth USD 40 million?
Ans. a white Label ATM (WLA) operator

Ques. How many girls are there among twenty five children, who have been selected for the National Bravery Awards for 2015?
Ans. 3

Ques. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been named as captain of Rising Pune Supergiants. Who is the owner of this team?
Ans. Sanjiv Goenka

Ques. Every year, India observes National Immunisation Day in January to mark the launch of-
Ans. pulse polio programme

Ques. Which country for the first time, has launched an online system to check the “authenticity” of top Tibetan Buddhist monks, amid growing incidents of fraud involving religious leaders?
Ans. China

GK update 18th January 2016

Ques. Dr. Harsh Vardhan who inaugurated the new user-friendly website of IMD and dedicated to the nation the System of Aerosol Monitoring And Research (SAMAR) is Union Minister of-
Ans. Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences

Ques. Which state's commercial tax department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) for sharing of foreign exchange realization data?
Ans. Bihar

Ques. Which among the following is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in which it has increased its shareholding by contributing Rs.1,000 crore towards its paid-up capital?
Ans. National Housing Bank

Ques.  Dr. Jitendra Singh recently inaugurated the “Hall of Nuclear Power” exhibition. Which ministry he does he hold?
Ans. (1) MoS (I/C) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER),

(2) MoS PMO

(3) Mos Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions,

(4) MoS Atomic Energy and Space

Ques. With which company the Cochin Port Trust has entered into an MoU for the running of weekly container train service from Irugur ICD, Coimbatore to ICTT Vallarpadam, Cochin Port.
Ans. CONCOR

Ques. Who has won the European Commission's prestigious Lorenzo Natali Media Prize for 2015 in Asia and the Pacific amateur category?
Ans. Ankita Anand

Ques. What is the name of the Indian-American Scientist who has won the prestigious National Medal of Science?
Ans. Rakesh K. Jain

Ques. For which European country China has sent a its first communication satellite, Belintersat-1?
Ans. Belarus

Ques. What is the name of the exhibition by the artist Shri Sudarshan Shetty at National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA)?
Ans. Shoonya Ghar

Ques. In which of the following year China will send a new lunar mission to the dark side of the moon?
Ans. 2018

GK update 16th January 2016

Ques. Who has been awarded with the Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellowship in Singapore?
Ans. Shivraj Singh Chouhan ( for providing dedicated leadership for development)

Ques. Alejandro Aravena has won the 2016 Pritzker Architecture Prize. He belongs to which country?
Ans. Chile

Ques. When is the Army day celebrated?
Ans. 15th January

Ques. Who is the road transport minister of India?
Ans. Nitin Gadkari

Ques. Which commission has issued a notice to West Bengal Government over an alleged banning of HIV positive student?
Ans. National Human Rights commission

Ques. What is the total budget outlay of the Neeranchal project which is being implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development over a six-year period (2016-21) with World Bank Assistance?
Ans. Rs.2142 crore

Ques. What freedom did the Reserve Bank of India has given to banks?
Ans. (1) To provide loan applications through ATMs

(2) To provide draft making services through ATMs

(3) To provide railway ticketing through ATMs

(4) To provide water and electricity bill payment through ATMs

Ques. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully test-fired the Nag anti-tank missile at the Mahajan Field Firing Range. In which state the Mahajan Field Firing Range is loacated?
Ans. Rajasthan

Ques. Marat Safin who has been inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame recently belongs to which country?
Ans. Russia

Ques. Who has been appointed as the Chairperson for Gujarat State Commission for Protection of Child Rights?
Ans. Jagruti Pandya

Ques.  Minister of health and family welfare launched four mobile health services- Kilkari, Mobile Academy, M-Cessation and TB Missed Call in New Delhi. Who is the present Minister of health and family welfare?
Ans. J. P. Nadda

Ques. Which state has signed four MOUs with Singapore in the field of urban planning, capacity building skill training and food processing?
Ans. Madhya Pradesh

Ques. Who has won the International Woolmark Prize 2015-2016?
Ans. Suket Dhir

Ques. Which among the following organisations has released Global Risks report 2016?
Ans. World Economic Forum

Ques. Jimmy Morales has been sworn in as the new president of which country?
Ans. Guatemala

Ques. ‘Sahyog-Kaijin’ is joint coast-guard exercise in the Bay of Bengal between India and ----------------.
Ans. Japan

Ques. Which state has been ranked number 1 in the country in terms of installed solar power capacity?
Ans. Rajasthan

Special: Final List of Oscars 2016 Nomination

The Oscars for year 2016 will take place on February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. These will be the 88th Academy Awards. The final list of nominations for Oscars 2016 is as follow:

Best Picture

1.      The Big Short

2.      Bridge of Spies

3.      Brooklyn

4.      Mad Max: Fury Road

5.      The Martian

6.      The Revenant

7.      Room

8.      Spotlight

Best Director

1.      Adam McKay for The Big Short

2.      George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road

3.      Alejandro G Inarritu for The Revenant

4.      Lenny Abrahamson for  Room

5.      Tom McCarthy for Spotlight

Best Actress

1.      Cate Blanchett for Carol

2.      Brie Larson for Room

3.      Jennifer Lawrence for Joy

4.      Charlotte Rampling for 45 Years

5.      Saoirse Ronan for Brooklyn

Best Actor

1.      Bryan Cranston for Trumbo

2.      Matt Damon for The Martian

3.      Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant

4.      Michael Fassbender for Steve Jobs

5.      Eddie Redmayne for The Danish Girl

Supporting Actor

1.      Christian Bale for The Big Short

2.      Tom Hardy for The Revenant

3.      Mark Ruffalo for Spotlight

4.      Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies

5.      Sylvester Stallone for Creed

Supporting Actress

1.      Jennifer Jason Leigh for The Hateful Eight

2.      Rooney Mara for Carol

3.      Rachel McAdams for Spotlight

4.      Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl

5.      Kate Winslet for Steve Jobs

Foreign Language Film

1.      Embrace of the Serpent (Colombia)

2.      Mustang (France)

3.      Son of Saul (Hungary)

4.      Theeb (Jordan)

5.      A War (Denmark)

Animated Feature

1.      Anomalisa

2.      Boy and the World

3.      Inside Out

4.      Shaun the Sheep Movie

5.      When Marnie Was There

Film Editing

1.      The Big Short

2.      Mad Max: Fury Road

3.      The Revenant

4.      Spotlight

5.      Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Production Design

1.      Bridge of Spies

2.      The Danish Girl

3.      Mad Max: Fury Road

4.      The Martian

5.      The Revenant

Adapted Screenplay

1.      The Big Short

2.      Brooklyn

3.      Carol

4.      The Martian

5.      Room

Original Screenplay

1.      Bridge of Spies

2.      Ex Machina

3.      Inside Out

4.      Spotlight

5.      Straight Outta Compton

Original Score

1.      Bridge of Spies

2.      Carol

3.      The Hateful Eight

4.      Sicario

5.      Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Original Song

1.      "Earned It,"from 50 Shades of Grey

2.      "Manta Ray," from Racing Extinction

3.      "Simple Song #3," from Youth

4.      "Til It Happens to You," from The Hunting Ground

5.      Writing's On the Wall," from Spectre

Visual Effects

1.      Ex Machina

2.      Mad Max: Fury Road

3.      The Martian

4.      The Revenant

5.      Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Cinematography

1.      Carol

2.      The Hateful Eight

3.      Mad Max: Fury Road

4.      The Revenant

5.      Sicario

Documentary Short Subject

1.      Body Team 12

2.      Chau Behind the Lines

3.      Claude Lanzmann

4.      A Girl in the River

5.      Last Day of Freedom

Documentary Feature

1.      Amy

2.      Cartel Land

3.      The Look of Silence

4.      What Happened, Miss Simone?

5.      Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom

Costume Design

1.      Carol

2.      Cinderella

3.      The Danish Girl

4.      Mad Max: Fury Road

5.      The Revenant

Sound Editing

1.      Mad Max: Fury Road

2.      The Martian

3.      The Revenant

4.      Sicario

5.      Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Sound Mixing

1.      Bridge of Spies

2.      Mad Max: Fury Road

3.      The Martian

4.      The Revenant

5.      Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Makeup & Hairstyling

1.      Mad Max: Fury Road

2.      The 100-year-old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared

3.      The Revenant

Live Action Short Subject

1.      Ave Maria

2.      Day One

3.      Everything Will Be Okay

4.      Shok

5.      Stutter

Animated Short Film

1.      Bear Story

2.      Prologue

3.      Sanjay's Super Team

4.      We Can't Live Without Cosmos
5.      World of Tomorrow