Current Affairs August 2015

1. India and Pakistan were recently accorded full membership in which intergovernmental organisation?

Ans: Shanghai Co-operation Organisation

2. Who has been appointed as the new Vice-Chief of Indian Army?

Ans: Lt.Gen Man Mohan Singh Rai

3. Which Indian-American, is among those who were honoured by the White House as 'Champions of Change', for her Fort in protecting environment and communities from the effect of climate change?

Ans: Sunita Viswanath

4. Name the recently test fired helicopter-launched version of Nag anti-tank missile.

Ans: HeliNa

5. Name the two Indian Premier League teams suspended from the cricket league for two years.

Ans: Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals

6. Which noted Indian artist was conferred with the highest French civilian honour, the Commandeur de la Legion d'Honneur (the Legion of Honour)?

Ans: Sayed Haider Raza

7. Name the newly launched Indian satellite based aviation navigations system.

Ans: GAGAN

8. Which veteran musician who composed music for over 1700' films in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada, passed away recently?

Ans: MS Viswanathan

9. Name the new particle discovered by the scientists of CERN.

Ans: Pentaquark

10. Who heads the panel, constituted by the Reserve Bank of India, to frame a five year action plan for financial inclusion in the country?

Ans: Deepak Mohanty. 
                                          He is currently the Executive Director of RBI.

11. Which cricket league, jointly organised by BCCI, Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Cricket Australia (CA), has been discontinued?

Ans: Champions League Twenty20

12. The Reserve Bank of India signed a $ 1.5 billion currency swap agreement, with which central bank of a neighbouring country?

Ans: Central Bank of Srilanka

13. Where in Kerala, is the country's first defence park to be set up?

Ans: Ottappalam

14. Which Pakistan all-rounder has been given a one year ban from bowling in international cricket after his action was found to be illegal?

Ans: Mohammad Hafeez

15. Which two time grand slam title winner and the first French woman to be ranked world number one, is among the three persons inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame?

Ans: Amelie Mauresmo. 
                                            The other two are David Hall and Nancy Jeffet.

16. Who is the new chairperson of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)?

Ans: Bhanu Pratap Sharma

17. Which project of Kerala Tourism bagged this year's Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Gold Award in the 'Heritage and Culture' category? 

Ans: Muziris Heritage Project

18. World Youth Skills Day was observed on:

Ans: 15th July. 
                          Nelson Mandela International Day was observed on 18th July.

19. Name the new scheme launched by the Government of India for skill training of youth.

Ans: Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana

20. Remnants of India's one of the oldest ports has recently been found in which state?

Ans: Goa. 
                   The port is supposed to be existed on the Zuari river.

F Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO), an intergovernmental regional grouping, currently has China, Russia, Khazakhstan, Kyrgistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan as members. The headquarters of the organisation is located in Beijing. India and Pakistan will technically become full members by 2016 after completion of certain procedures.

F HeliNa (Helicopter-launched Nag) has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). It can hit a target up to seven km. The missile will be integrated with the weaponised version of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv.

F Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana is the flagship scheme for skill training of youth, implemented by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship through the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). The scheme will cover 24 lakh persons. Under the scheme, a monetary reward of around Rs.8000 will be given to each trainee.