Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Apr 13, 2016

1)   DGFT has defined which form of commerce?

a. m-commerce
b. e-commerce
c. web-commerce
d. Both b and c
e. All the above
Answer  Explanation  Related Ques

ANSWER: e-commerce

Explanation:
Commerce Ministry Today announced that online transactions of goods adhering to e-commerce norms will get duty benefits under MEIS or Merchandise Exports from India Scheme. For MEIS, e-commerce has been defined as the buying and selling of goods and services (including digital goods) over electronic or digital network.

  • Under MEIS, government provides duty benefits at 2,3 and 5 percent depending upon products and country


2)   Who won the silver medal at the Youth Chess Championship at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia?

a. Divya Deshmukh
b. Sebt Rasoul Seyede
c. Nurgali Nazerke
d. Maralgua Ganganbars
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Divya Deshmukh

Explanation:
India’s only U12 FIDE master from women’s category, Divya Deshmukh settled for silver at the Youth Chess Championship at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

  • She could not beat second seed Nurgali Nazerke of Kazakhstan though she did defeat Iran’s Sebt Rasoul Seyede
  • Other Indians in the game include Mrudul Dehankar and Raunak Sadhwani. With five points Mrudul Dehankar got the fifth place in the U-12 girls' section and Raunak Sadhwani finished 12th in the U-12 open boys category.


3)   Which Indian tennis star has been conferred with Padma Bhushan on 12th April 2016?

a. Sania Mirza
b. Laender Paes
c. Mahesh Bhupathi
d. Vijay Amritraj
Answer  Explanation  Related Ques

ANSWER: Sania Mirza

Explanation:
Indian tennis star Sania Mirza was conferred with Padma Bhushan at a glittering investiture at Rashtrapati Bhavan on April 12th 2016 for her contribution to the game.

  • Sania and her partner Swiss legend Martina Hingis took the tennis world by storm for much of last year with a 41-match winning streak
  • The Indo-Swiss pair won 10 titles together, including nine consecutive ones and three grand slams namely the Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open
  • Sania is the fourth Indian tennis ace to receive this award. Vijay Amritraj and Ramanathan Krishana as well as Laender Paes have won the Padma Bhushan as well as the Padma Shri.
  • President Pranab Mukherjee presented remaining of the Padma Awards on 12 April 2016 at a Civil Investiture Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. He conferred 5 Padma Vibhushan, 11 Padma Bhushan and 40 Padma Shri awards.
Padma Vibhushan
  • Dr Vasudeva Kalkunte Aatre
  • Dr Girija Devi
  • Rajanikanth
  • Ramoji Rao
  • Dr V Shanta
Padma Bhusan
  • Ravindra Chandra Bhargava
  • Robert Dean Blackwill
  • Indu Jain
  • Udit Narayan Jha
  • Heinam Kanhailal
  • Sania Mirza
  • Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad
  • Dayanada Saraswati (Posthumus)
  • Ram Vanji Sutar
  • NS Ramanuja Tatacharya
  • Swami Tejomayananda
Padma-award-2016
Padma Shri
This included:
  • Priyanka Chopra
  • Salman Khan
  • SS Rajamouli
  • Veena Tandon


4)   Which former Defence Chief was conferred the Officier de  la Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur (Officer of the Legion of Honour)?

a. Joginder Jaswant Singh
b. Shekhar Sinha
c. Arup Raha
d. Robin Dhowan
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Joginder Jaswant Singh

Explanation:
COAS General Joginder Jaswant Singh was conferred conferred the highest French civilian honour, Officier de l Ordre national de la Legion d Honneur (Officer of the Legion of Honour).

  • This is the highest civilian award given for outstanding service to France regardless of recipient’s nationality.
  • The Legion d’Honneur was established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte and has the following degrees- Chevalier, Officer, Commandeur, Grand Officier, Grand’Croix


5)   Which is the country’s largest telecom tower firm?

a. Reliance
b. Indus Towers
c. Vodafone
d. Airtel
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Indus Towers

Explanation:
The largest telecom firm in India, Indus Towers on April 11, 2016 appointed Hemant Kumar Ruia as the CFO. Prior to joining Indus Towers, he was CFO at Reliance. he started bus career with L&T. Indus Towers is an independently managed company offering passive infrastructure services to telecom operators.


6)   Which festivals in India are associated with onset of harvest season?

a. Bahag Bihu
b. Vishu
c. Puthandu
d. All of the above
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
The PM, President and Vice President greeted people on the following festivals marking the onset of harvest season on April 12, 2016:

  • Vaisakhi
  • Vishu
  • Puthandu
  • Masadi
  • Vaishkhadi
  • Bahag Bihu
These festivals reflect the composite culture and rich agrarian traditions of the nation.


7)   Which of the below are World Heritage Sites?

a. Western Ghats
b. Sunderbans
c. Manas Wildlife Sanctuary
d. All of the above
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
India’s three major natural World Heritage sites- Western Ghats, Sunderbans and Manas Wildlife Sanctuary are facing threat from industrial activities like mining according to the latest WWF survey

  • Activities such as mining, illegal logging and oil and gas exploration will harm 114 out of 229 natural World Heritage Sites
  • Sunderbans is known for its iconic Royal Bengal tiger
  • Western Ghats is one of the top biodiversity sots in India and covers 6 states of India
  • Manas Sanctuary in Assam is the home of endangered species such as Indian rhino.