Current Affairs Questions and Answers - Dec 23 and 24, 2014
Q1. What is the theme announced by the Union Government for the calendar of the year 2015?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: Clean India Green India. The Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley launched the calendar and its mobile app.
Q2. With which state government, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) on 22nd Dec’14 signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop commercially viable stretches of National Waterway 5?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: Odisha Government. In the National Waterway-5, East Coast Canal has been integrated with Brahmini river and Mahanadi delta rivers (588 km).
Q3. Name the author of the book ‘Why I assassinated Gandhi’ that was in news in Dec’14?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: Gopal Vinayak Godse and Nathuram Vinayak Godse. The revised edition has been compiled and edited by Virender Mehra.
Q4. Name the company licensed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 22nd Dec’ 14 to operate as non-banking financial company (NBFC)?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: Ford Credit India. It is a subsidiary of Ford Motor Credit Company.
Q5. For what purpose HRIDAY scheme has been launched by the Union Government in Dec’2014?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: It is a scheme for conserving and preserving the heritage characters of 12 cities. These are: Amritsar, Varanasi, Gaya, Puri, Ajmer, Mathura, Dwarka, Badami, Velankanni, Kanchipuram, Warangal (Telangana) and Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh). The scheme aims at developing tourism and job creation because India’s rich cultural, historical, religious and natural heritages have a huge potential of tourism.
Q6. Which space mission is named as the most important scientific breakthrough of the Year 2014 by the science journal released on Dec’14?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: Rosetta, European Space Mission. Rosetta landed its three-legged Philae module on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 12 November 2014, 10 years after the spacecraft was launched.
Q7. Who won Tunisia’s first free presidential election held on 21 December?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: Beji Caid Essebsi. This election was Tunisia’s first free presidential election since independence from France in 1956.
Q8. In which states the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has fallen below 2, as per the 2013 data for the Sample Registration Survey (SRS), conducted by the Registrar General of India (RGI), was released on 22nd Dec’14?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: Eight states viz. Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. TFR is the average number of children that will be born to a woman during her lifetime.
Q9. Who has been appointed as the Chairman of the reconstituted Indian Bank’s Association Committee on Member Sector Private Banks for 2014-15?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: Shyam Srinivasan, CEO of Federal Bank. He is a member of the committee on Financial Sector Legislative Reforms set up by the Reserve Bank of India.
Q10. Who has been appointed as the Directorate General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on 22nd Dec’14?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: Pakash Mishra, Senior IPS Officer. He will serve the office till February 2016.
Q11. Which country’s leaders on 22nd Dec’14 reached an agreement to hold new round of peace talks on Ukraine?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: Ukraine, Russia, France & Germany. The negotiations talks will be held in Belarusian capital, Minsk on 24 December and 26 December 2014.
Q12. As per the announcement made by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on 22nd Dec’14, which state will host 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) from 7th Jan to 9th January 2015?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: Gujarat. The 13th edition of PBD will mark the 100th year of Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India from South Africa.
Q13. Which political party has won a clear majority in Jharkhand and set to form the government after poll results were announced on 23rd Dec’14?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP). BJP has won 42 seats.
Q14. How many bills were passed in the Lok Sabha Winter Session concluded on 23rd Dec’14?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: 18 bills. The Lok Sabha passed 18 bills including Central University, labour reforms, textiles and coal mines during the 22-day sitting of the winter session.
Q15. The 112th Birth Anniversary of former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh is being observed on ______.
View Answer / Hide AnswerQ16. Who is the author of the book "Vande Bharatam" released by the PM Narendra Modi on 23rd Dec’14?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: Pandit Prabodh Kumar Mishra. The book is an anthology of nationalistic poems in Sanskrit, which were published in different newspapers of Odisha on various occasions.
Q17. The 10th Death Anniversary of P V Narsimha Rao was observed on _____.
View Answer / Hide AnswerQ18. Which committee has recommended autonomous state for Vidarbha?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: Vijay Kelkar Committee. It has also recommended shifting of the state secretariat to Nagpur, the state's second capital, for the month of December every year.
Q19. Which ministry of India tops the list for maximum number of followers on official Twitter page, as of 22nd Dec’14?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: Home Ministry. It has 2.32 lakh people following its Twitter handle, while ministry of information and broadcasting (2.17 lakh) comes second. As on December 22, Modi had 2.62 crore Facebook likes and his Twitter handle @PMOIndia was followed by 48 lakh people.
Q20. ‘Losar’ the Buddhist Festival of Ladakh Region of Jammu and Kashmir started from ____.
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: 22nd Dec’14. This marks the beginning of New Year in Ladakh.
Q21. How many seats have been won by BJP in Jammu & Kashmir Election in the Assembly Elections?
View Answer / Hide AnswerANSWER: 25 seats. BJP emerged as the second emerging party in Jammu & Kashmir. PDP has won maximum 28 seats out of 87.
