Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Nov 20, 2015

ANSWER: Justice Mathur

Explanation:
The Pay Commission headed by Justice Mathur submitted the 7th Pay Commission report to FM Arun Jaitley. The recommendations of the report will be implemented from January, 2016. The report recommends a 23.55 percent hike in allowance, pensions and pays. The hike has the following breakup: 16% increase in pay, 24% increase in pension and 63% increase in allowances. Report recommends a minimum basic pay for central government staff of INR 18,000 per month with maximum pay of INR 2.25 lakh per month. The government has also done away with grade pay and pay bands. 7th Pay Commission recommendations would have 0.65 percent impact on GDP. The Commission will impact 47 lakh serving government employees and INR 1.02 lakh crore in terms of monetary impact. Maximum pay is INR 2,25,000 per month for apex scale and INR 2,50,000 per month for Cabinet Secretaries and others. Ceiling of gratuity was enhanced to INR 20 lakh with ceiling on gratuity to be increased by 25%. DA will rise by 50 percent and 52 allowances will be abolished.

ANSWER: Ashok Amritraj

Explanation:
Tennis champion and Hollywood filmmaker Ashok Amritraj has been conferred an honorary doctorate by University of East London for promoting talented moviemakers. He has made 100 film generating USD 2 billion in worldwide revenues. He has directed numerous Hollywood stars including Bruce Willis, Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Anniston. His company, Hyde Park Entertainment Group offers an east-west connect in the world of filmmaking.

ANSWER: MakeMyTrip

Explanation:
MakeMyTrip has appointed Deepak Tuli, former co-founder and COO at Goibibo as senior VP, growth business. He will implement and build strategies for new business lines in his new role. He has a deep understanding of e-commerce ecosystems. Tuli has 10 years of experience in the field and has also worked with Yatra.

ANSWER: Noah Consulting

Explanation:
Country’s second largest software services company Infosys has completed acquisition of US based oil and gas consulting firm Noah Consulting. The acquisition of Noah Consulting had been announced last month for USD 70 million. With this acquisition, Infosys will offer end to end data management services to international oil and gas firms.

ANSWER: Ebola

Explanation:
A new clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine has been found to stimulate strong immune system responses in adults in West Africa, US and Mali. The first testing of this vaccine has yielded positive results in terms of finding out dose to be used in subsequent clinical trials and for large-scale manufacture of the vaccine. As per researchers from WHO, if larger trials yield positive impact, this vaccine will attain regulatory approval to prevent future outbreaks of the disease.

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
Free online course on agriculture and diseases of horticultural crops and their management has been launched in collaboration with ICRISAT Hyderabad and IIT-Bombay. 2 month course will commence on November 30 and finish on January 29, 2016. It is an initiative by a team of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in agriculture and educators from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and its partners together with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay.

ANSWER: Jhalawar

Explanation:
National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research has been launched in Jhalawar, Rajasthan. GoI will invest INR 500 crore in this international level institute which will be established in two years. INR 100 crore will also be invested in CIPET Jaipur for upgradation.

ANSWER: TADF

Explanation:
Minister of State for Commerce & Industry (I/C), Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman, on 18th November launched the Technology Acquisition and Development Fund (TADF) under National Manufacturing Policy being implemented by Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion(DIPP). This new scheme is to facilitate acquisition of Clean, Green & Energy Efficient Technologies, in form of Technology / Customised Products / Specialised Services / Patents / Industrial Design available in the market available in India or globally, by MSMEs.

ANSWER: PoWiFi

Explanation:
Power Over Wi-Fi systems is an innovative and game changing technology which has won the Popular Science Best of What’’s New 2015 award. This WiFi device can power camera and other device sensors and can coexist with power source as a WiFi router in that it doesn't degrade the quality of your Wi-Fi signals while it's powering devices. This innovation will find application in IoT.

ANSWER: Between the World and Me

Explanation:
His work on race and police violence was given the National Book award for nonfiction on 18th November. Fiction prize was won by “Fortune Smiles,” a book by Adam Johnson which is a story collection set in different parts of the world such as US and Germany. Coates dedicated his win to friend Prince Jones killed by police more than a decade ago and the central subject of the work. The young people’s literature prize went to Neal Shusterman’s “Challenger Deep”, while Robin Coste Lewis’ debut collection, “Voyage of the Sable Venus,” was cited for poetry.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
These include : singer Asha Bhosle, tennis star Sania Mirza, veteran actor Kamini Kaushal, farmer Rimppi Kumari, entrepreneur Smriti Nagpal, campaigner Mumtaz Shaikh, and entrepreneur Kanika Tekriwal.

ANSWER: Botswana

Explanation:
Second largest diamond in the world discovered in Botswana mine
A 1,111 carat "high quality diamond" has been found at a mine in Botswana and is the biggest find in more than a century. The gem is second in size to Cullinan diamond unearthed in 1905 in S. Africa, and was mined by Lucara Diamond Corp.Botswana is the world's second biggest diamond producer, and Lucara said the gem was the largest ever to be recovered in the nation.

ANSWER: Jan Lokpal Bill 2015

Explanation:
The Delhi Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on 18th November 2015 have approval Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill, 2015 which sets up an independent authority to investigate offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. It also covers the Chief Minister’s Office. The bill drafted by CM and Deputy CM Delhi resembles provisions of Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill 2011.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
National Service Scheme (NSS) was launched during Mahatma Gandhi's Centenary Year which is 1969. It involves 40,000 student volunteers in 37 universities and has more than 351 universities and 42 (+2) Councils and implemented in 16,057 academic institutions under it. Winners of the Indira Gandhi NSS award for 2014-2015 were felicitated by Shri Pranab Mukherjee.