1) IIM-Kozhikode will host the 52nd Annual Conference of TIES from January 4th, 2016. What does TIES stand for?
a. Times Indian Econometric Society
b. The Indian Econometric Society
c. The International Econometric Society
d. None of the above
Answer
Explanation
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ANSWER: The Indian Econometric Society
Explanation: Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode will be hosting the 52nd Annual Conference of TIES or The Indian Econometric Society. This is one of the oldest and largest bodies of professional economists and econometricians with over 2000 members. Prominent speakers include Rana Kapoor, CEO of YEs Bank and Professor Subhash Ray. Professor Pami Dua will preside over the conference.
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2) Which Grammy Award winning singer passed away in the last week of December 2015?
a. Whitney Houston
b. Norah Jones
c. Mariah Carey
d. Natalie Cole
Answer
Explanation
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ANSWER: Natalie Cole
Explanation: The singer died following congestive heart failure from complication of a kidney transplant at the age of 65. She was daughter of late jazz legend Nat King Cole and carved her own success with hits like This Will Be. She won the Grammy Award for best R&B female performance and also earned Grammy Award for Best New Artist in the 1970s.
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3) Which veteran CPI leader passed away on 2nd January and was general secretary of the party from 1996 to 2012?
a. Pratap Karat
b. Brinda Karat
c. A. B. Bardhan
d. Indrajit Gupta
Answer
Explanation
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ANSWER: A. B. Bardhan
Explanation: Shri Bardhan was the general secretary of CPI from 1996 to 2012 and The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has condoled the passing away of veteran CPI leader Shri A.B. Bardhan. Vardhan was also part of the freedom movement as a member of the All India Students Federation.
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4) Which Carnatic vocalist has been conferred with the 2015 Sangita Kalanidhi award?
a. Sanjay Subramaniam
b. Sanjay Subrahmanyam
c. Ariyakudi Iyengar
d. Musiri Subramania Iyer
Answer
Explanation
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ANSWER: Sanjay Subrahmanyam
Explanation: Veteran S. Indian classical vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanyam was conferred with the 2015 Sangita Kalanidhi award during the first week of January 2016. He is now the 7th artist to be conferred with this award before attaining 50 years of age.
Veteran South Indian classical vocalists Sanjay Subrahmanyam was on 1 January 2016 conferred with the 2015 Sangita Kalanidhi award. The prestigious award was conferred upon him by mathematician Manjul Bhargava at 89th annual conference of the Madras Music Academy in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
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5) Digital payments and commerce firm Paytm has acquired which consumer behaviour prediction platform on 3rd January 2016?
a. Shifu
b. Brainjuicer
c. Synovate
d. AC Nielsen
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ANSWER: Shifu
Explanation: Digital payments and commerce company Paytm has acquired Delhi based consumer prediction platform Shifu in a USD 8 million deal. This is expected to enhance consumer experiences on the Paytm platform. Shifu was founded by tech professionals Prashant Singh, Michael Massey and Deepansh Jain in 2012. The 20 member team of this company including its 3 founders will join Paytm.
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6) What is the type of commerce where people get into the habit of transacting online?
a. e-Commerce
b. m-Commerce
c. Habit Commerce
d. None of the above
Answer
Explanation
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ANSWER: Habit Commerce
Explanation: 2016 is pegged to be the year of habit commerce with more people getting into the habit of completing online transactions. Habit commerce is driven by multiple use cases, personalised communication, rapidity of payment and easy delivery service. Significant growth in C2C platforms like Alibaba’s Taobao has come prior to Business-2-Consumer platforms in India.
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7) Which pet care portal has Ratan Tata invested in January 2016?
a. DogCare.in
b. DogSpot.in
c. PetCare.in
d. PetCare.com
Answer
Explanation
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ANSWER: DogSpot.in
Explanation: Continuing a spate of investments across digital startups, Ratan Tata has placed an undisclosed amount in DogSpot.in. This portal for pet care is backed by Ronnie Screwvala’s Unilazer Ventures and K. Ganesh ( Growth Story) as well as early stage fund India Quotient. The co-founder and CEO of this pet care portal is Rana Atheya. DogSpot.in changed its focus on selling own products from a e-commerce model last year. Pet market in India is expected to explode in the coming months with over 4 million pet dogs and Indian pet care market being pegged at USD 1.22 bullion with annual growth rate exceeding 35%.
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8) Saudi Arabia has severed ties with which nation amidst escalating tensions over execution of Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr?
a. Iraq
b. Syria
c. Iran
d. Jordan
Answer
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ANSWER: Iran
Explanation: Saudi Arabia announced on 3rd January 2015 that it was severing diplomatic relations with Iran following the execution of a prominent Shia cleric by the former country. Demonstrators stormed and set fire to the Saudi Embassy in Tehran in protest over the death of Sheikh al Nimr, a prominent Shia cleric. Mass execution of al-Nimr and 46 others carried out in Saudi Arabia is the largest in decades and has divided West Asia, with protestors from Bahrain to Pakistan protesting the execution.
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9) Which country’s government has banned former PMs from staying at embassies to carry out private commercial work?
a. US
b. UK
c. Australia
d. Russia
Answer
Explanation
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ANSWER: UK
Explanation: UK government has banned former PMs from staying for free without paying a fee, at taxpayer’s expense at British embassies and using diplomats for carrying out private commercial work. Foreign Office said the move was aimed to prevent use of government staff and resources in an inappropriate manner.
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10) Which country celebrated its independence day on January 4, 2016?
a. Cambodia
b. Indonesia
c. Malaysia
d. Myanmar
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ANSWER: Myanmar
Explanation: President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee extended greetings and felicitations to the government and people of Myanmar on the eve of their independence day on January 4th 2016. The current president of this nation is U Thein Sein. Both countries share enduring cultural, religious and linguistic ties.
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11) Railway Ministry has fast tracked which bullet train corridor on the lines of DMRC by setting up a separate company?
a. Mumbai-Goa
b. Mumbai-Ahmedabad
c. Mumbai-Pune
d. Mumbai-Nagpur
Answer
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ANSWER: Mumbai-Ahmedabad
Explanation: The bullet train corridor has been facilitated through setting up of a separate company on the lines of the Delhi Metro Railway Corporation build to operate the ambitious project of the NDA. Company will bear registered in January and process has been initiated by IRFC. Company will be registered in the name of Indian Railways initially and later made into a JV with contribution of railways likely to be 50% and Maharashtra and Gujarat to have stake of 25% each.
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12) Which country beat defending champions Afghanistan to lift the South Asian Football Federation Cup on 3rd January 2016?
a. Pakistan
b. India
c. China
d. Bangladesh
Answer
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ANSWER: India
Explanation: India beat defending champions Afghanistan 2-1 in the summit clash of the South Asian Football Federation Cup to life the trophy for the 7th time. India lost to Afghanistan in the 2013 edition in Kathmandu earlier. Victory for the 166th ranked India over the 150th Afghanistan saw India lifting the cup for a record seventh time. With this win, they are likely to make a jump in FIFA rankings.
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13) Scientists have discovered new way to develop solid state lithium batteries which will not explode or burn easily. This method involves using ________ electrolyte coating.
a. Melted
b. Solid
c. Gaseous
d. None of the above
Answer
Explanation
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ANSWER: Melted
Explanation: Scientists have discovered a new way to develop all solid state lithium batteries which will not explode or burn with ease. Method involves melting solid electrolyte and coating the melted electrolyte around the electrodes. Organic liquid electrolyte used in existing lithium ion batteries can get easily gasified or burned. All solid state lithium batteries are an alternative option which is non-flammable.
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14) A new metamaterial which can be used to speed up computers and devise invisibility cloaks is based on the phenomenon of _____________.
a. Refraction
b. Reflection
c. Diffraction
d. Deflection
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Explanation
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ANSWER: Diffraction
Explanation: A new metamaterial that refracts light in unusual ways can be used for speeding up computers and creating invisibility cloaks. Scientists from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and Russian Academy of Sciences have proposed a 2-d metamaterial comprising silver elements which can be used to develop compact optical devices and create invisibility cloak. This will be a high performance material for light with wavelength from 4 to 500 nanometers. Metamaterial has properties created by artificial periodic structure. Principle of operation of the metasurface is based on the phenomenon of diffraction.
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15) Distant stars with planets orbiting them can harbour life, according to scientists who have discovered a way to measure _________ at surface of distant stars.
a. Pull of gravity
b. Push of gravity
c. Weight of stars
d. Mass of stars
Answer
Explanation
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ANSWER: Pull of gravity
Explanation: To assess if distant stars with planets orbiting them can harbour life, an international team of astronomers have discovered a new method to measure pull of gravity at the surface of distant stars. New method allows scientists to measure surface gravity with accuracy of 4%. Understanding the surface gravity of the star is an important determinant of how much you would weigh on the star. Surface gravity depends on the mass and radius of the star and this technique will also enable astronomers to better gauge the mass and sizes of distant stars. The new technique called autocorrelation function timescale technique or timescale technique uses subtle variations in brightness of distant stars recorded by satellites like Kepler and MOST.
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16) Scientists from Ireland have sequenced the _______ genomes from ancient Irish humans for the first time.
a. Second
b. First
c. Prime
d. Main
Answer
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ANSWER: First
Explanation: This genome sequencing is now being used for answering pivotal questions regarding the origins of the country’s people as well as their culture. Geneticists from Dublin Trinity College and Queen’s University in Belfast sequenced the genome of a woman living 5200 years ago near Belfast and three men from the Bronze age around 4,000 years ago in this region. Evidence within the genomes sequenced provides clues to massive migration.
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17) Punjab National Bank has launched which digital banking solution on 3rd January 2016?
a. black PIN
b. red PIN
c. green PIN
d. blue PIN
Answer
Explanation
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ANSWER: green PIN
Explanation: State owned Punjab National Bank has launched numerous digital banking solutions including a green PIN and enhancement of mobile app. PNB has launched mobile apps enabling customers to locate PNB ATM with PNB ATM Assist and the Android app facilities the customer to use GPS. Moreover, customers will be assisted to instantly lodge operational issues and reduce resolution time. Bank has also launched another Android App for basic banking. Green PIN facility was also launched under which customer can get duplicate PIN for debit card through SMS request.
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18) Which state has recognised e-Motor insurance policies for the first time?
a. Andhra Pradesh
b. Telangana
c. West Bengal
d. Karnataka
Answer
Explanation
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ANSWER: Telangana
Explanation: For the first time, an Indian state has commenced the recognition of e-Motor insurance policies in partnership with Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India and Insurance Information Bureau of India.The initiative was formally launched b state IT minister KT Rama Rao.Telangana was the first state to recognise electronic motor insurance policies adding to citizen’s convenience and enhancing compliance levels. Quick Response Code will also be issued in digital format.
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19) Which nation has launched an online service platform for lawyers?
a. China
b. India
c. Pakistan
d. Bangladesh
Answer
Explanation
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ANSWER: China
Explanation: China’s Supreme People’s Court has launched an online service platform for lawyers regarding judicial justice, rule of law and rights of the media. Via this platform, lawyers will be able to file cases, submit material, contact judges or follow cases. Digital recordings of past cases can also be accessed through this online service. Currently, 21,000 law firms and 81,000 lawyers are recorded in the database of the platform.
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