Current Affairs Questions and Answers - August 08, 2015

ANSWER: B. Nayi Manzil

The idea behind the new scheme is to help the students assimilate with their mainstream counterparts. Muslim clergies and academicians have welcomed the move. According to Government estimates, there are at least three lakh madrasas across the country. With an average of 100 students passing out of each madrasa every year, there are at least three crore new passouts.

ANSWER: C. Ram Nath Kovind

He is the senior BJP leader. Mr Kovind, who had been a two-time Rajya Sabha member between 1994 and 2006, hails from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. His appointment comes barely a few months ahead of the Assembly elections in Bihar.

ANSWER: A. Acharya Dev Vrat

Mr Acharya Dev Vrat has been working as Principal in a Gurukul in Haryana's Kurukshetra. He has been a recipient of American Medal of Honor awarded by American Biographical Institute towards selfless dedication in the field of social service.

ANSWER: C. Because of the effects of drought

The Panama Canal Authority has said that from next month it would temporarily limit the size of ships using the waterway, because of the effects of drought. It says the water levels of two lakes through which the route passes have fallen significantly as a result of dry conditions caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon.

ANSWER: C. Foxconn

Foxconn manufactures gadgets for world’s leading electronic brands like Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi, BlackBerry and Motorola. This is second major coup for Maharashtra in the past fortnight. On 30 July, General Motors announced an investment of Rs.6,400 crore in the state. This investment will generate 50,000 direct jobs and the Foxconn plant is most likely to come up at Talegaon in Pune district along the Pune-Mumbai expressway on 1,500 acres of land.

ANSWER: A. In protest against Pakistan not inviting the Speaker of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said, a meeting of Speakers of all states has unanimously decided that India will boycott the meeting of the CPA if the Speaker of
the Jammu and Kashmir is not invited. She also said that India is writing to the CPA Chairperson that if Jammu and Kashmir is not invited India will not attend the
meeting or the venue be changed so that it can attend the conference.

ANSWER: D. Wheat

This is announced in Lok Sabha on 7th Aug’15. It will result in the revenue gain of about Rs 90 crore to the exchequer.

ANSWER: C. China

China Railway Eryuan Group has been entrusted with feasibility study of Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysore corridor for raising the speed of passenger trains to 160 kilometer per hour as a part of cooperation in the rail sector.

ANSWER: B. Data Usage

The directive issued on 7th Aug’15 mandates telecom operators to provide toll free number '1925' from September 1 to activate or deactivate mobile internet service either by making a call on the number and following instruction or by sending a SMS. The new directive from TRAI follows a large number of complaints from customers that mobile operators are keeping the process of deactivation very complex to earn extra revenue. The new amendment issued in Telecom Consumers Protection Regulations directs telecom operators not to charge subscribers for usage beyond subscribed limit without their explicit consent.

ANSWER: D. 21.23%

There is a net increase of 5871 square kilometers in the forest cover of the country as compared with India State of Forest Report – 2011. As per India State of Forest Report – 2013, the total forest cover in the country is 697,898 square kilometers which is 21.23% of the total geographical area of the country.

ANSWER: C. North Korea

On 15th Aug’15 North Korea will celebrate 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese rule at the end of the World War II. At present North Korea has the same time zone as of Japan.

ANSWER: B. UCO Bank

The Gross Non-performing Assets as a percentage of total advances increased to 7.3 percent during June quarter, from 4.3 percent in the same period last fiscal. Net non-performing assets also rose to 4.5 percent against 2.3 per cent during the same quarter last year.

ANSWER: A. Urban Areas

In a notification on its website, RBI said banks can “shift, merge or close all branches except rural branches and sole semi-urban branches at their discretion”. Shifting, merging or closing a branch in a rural area or a sole branch in a semi-urban area would, however, continue to require prior permission from RBI.