Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Oct 14, 2016

ANSWER: Bob Dylan

Explanation:
Bob Dylan on 13th Oct 2016 won the Nobel prize in literature 2016

• Dylan won the award for creating new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition
• Apart from being a singer, Dylan is also a songwriter, artist and writer
• Most of his well-known songs date from the 1960s when songs chronicled unrest of a social nature
• His earlier songs such as Blown’ In the Wind and The Times They Are a-Changin’ were musical compositions that inspired the American civil rights and peace movement
• His lyrics have incorporated numerous social , political, philosophical and literary influences
• The accomplishments of the singer as a recording artist and performer were central to his career, but songwriting is held to be his greatest contribution
• Since the 1990s, he has published six books of drawing and painting and his work has been displayed in major art galleries
• As a musician, he sold more than 100m records; he is the best selling songwriter and artist of his times
• Numerous awards were received by him including 11 Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe award and an Academy Award
• He was also awarded a special citation for the Pulitzer Prize jury in 2008, profoundly impacting popular music and culture in N. America along with lyrical compositions that are extremely powerful
• He is the first American to win the prize since novelist Toni Morrison in 1993
• The Nobel Prize in Literature has been annually awarded to an author from any country who has produced outstanding work in the field of literature
• The prize has been awarded since 1901
• It is one of the 5 Nobel prizes established by Alfred Nobel since 1895
• In 2015, Svetlana Alexievich was awarded the Nobel prize in literature for her polyphonic writings

ANSWER: None of the above

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet on 13th Oct 2016 have approval for the setting up of an Indian Institute of Management in J&K. The institute will operate from a temporary campus at Old Government College of Engineering and Technology from 2016-2017

• The project will cost INR 62 crore for 4 years from 2016–2020
• Student strength intake for 2016 in the PGDP in Management is 54 which is set to shoot up to 120 in the 4th year
• Steps are being taken for setting up the campus at Jammu and the out-campus in the Kashmir region
• Union Cabinet has also approved the formation of an IIM Jammu Society under the Society Registration Act 1860
• IIM Jammu will be run and managed by a Society with a board of governors constituted by GoI which will administer the Institute and manage its establishment and operationalisation
• This decision is part of the development package of the PM for J&K– the institute is alongside the establishment of an IIT in Jammu, modernisation of NIT Srinagar and opening of 2 AIIMS institutions- one each in Jammu and Kashmir
• Indian Institute of Management is the country’s premier institution imparting quality education in the field of management
• Currently there are 19 IIMs.

ANSWER: Longest

Explanation:
Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej passed away on 13th Oct 2016 at Thailand’s capital city Bangkok at the age of 88.

• He was the world’s longest reigning monarch
• Following the demise of the Thai King, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkom is expected to become a new king
• Bhumibol Adulyadej was crowned King of Thailand on May 5, 1950 at the Royal Palace in Bangkok where he pledged a reign with righteousness of the benefit and happiness of the Siamese people
• During his reign, he was served by a total of 30 PMs commencing with Pridi Banomyong and ending with Prayut Chan-o-cha.
• They are known as Bhumibol’s Thirty
• Forbes estimated his fortune to amount to USD 30 billion in May 2014

ANSWER: Arundhati Roy

Explanation:
Author Arundhati Roy in the first week of Oct 2016 announced her latest novel called “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.”

• The novel will be published by Hamish Hamilton UK and Penguin India
• Novel will hit stands in June 2017
• It is after 19 years that Roy has released her next novel after Booker prize winning “The God of Small Things.”
• Her debut novel The God of Small Things was first published in 1997. It won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in the same year
• Her debut novel became the biggest selling book by a non-expat author from India
• She is also an activist in the fields of polity, human rights and environmental causes
• She also worked for television and movies
• She wrote screenplays for “In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones” and “Electric Moon.”
• She won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay in 1988 for “In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones.”

ANSWER: RBI ED

Explanation:
RBI’s Executive Director Gurumoorthi Mahalingam has been appointed as the whole-time member of market regulatory SEBI

• His appointment was approved by the Union Finance Ministry for 5 years or till he attains the age of 65, whichever is earlier.
• Mahalingam succeeds Prashant Saran as whole-time member
• Saran retired from the post in June 2016
• Aside from the Chairman, SEBI has three more Whole-Time members / WTMs
• Mahalingam is an ED and former regional director of the RBI
• In his current role in RBI, Mahalingam was involved in monitoring and surveillance of money, forex, government securities and derivative market intervention operations
• Associated with the RBI for the past 3 decades, he has held various posts in the organisation
• He has been associated with NISM or National Institute of Securities Markets, an educational initiative of the SEBI as its visiting faculty
• He holds an MSc in Statistics and Operations Research from IIT-K and an MBA in International Banking and Finance from Birmingham Business School in the United Kingdom

ANSWER: 193

Explanation:
Antonio Manuel de Oliveira Guterres has been appointed as the next Secretary General of the United Nations by the INGA on 13th Oct 2016.

• The 193 member states of the UNGA adopted a resolution by acclamation appointing Guterres as the 9th UNSG
• He succeeds Ban Ki-moon and will assume his new role on January 1, 2017 for a 5 year term that can be renewed by member states for an additional 5 years
• Guterres is a politician from Portugal
• He served as that nation’s PM from 1995 to 2002
• He was also the President of the Socialist International for some time
• He served as UN High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015
• The UNSG heads the UN secretariat
• He is also the de facto spokesperson and leader of the UN
• The role is laid out by Chapter XV (Articles 97–101) of the United Nations Charter
• Secretary General was conceived by US President Franklin D Roosevelt as the world moderator
• Article 97 of Chapter XV of the UN Charter states that the secretary general shall be Chief Administrative Officer of the organisation