Current Affairs Questions and Answers - July 18, 2015

ANSWER: B. 563 lakh hectare

Crops sowing data released by the Agriculture Ministry reveals that the total area of over 563 lakh hectare has been covered till date as against 346 lakh hectare at this time last year. Rice has been sown in over 132-lakh hectare, which is about six-lakh hectare more than last year. About 56 lakh hectare area has been covered under the cultivation of pulses which is more than double of the sown area under the crop last year.

ANSWER: C. 18th July

Nelson Mandela International Day (or Mandela Day) is an annual international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on 18 July, Mandela's birthday. The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day held on 18 July 2010.

ANSWER: D. Carlos Chavez

Carlos Chavez is also the treasurer of the South American Football Confederation, Conmebol. He is accused of alleged corruption in the management of resources. Bolivia began investigating its football federation after a major corruption scandal broke out involving the sport's world governing body FIFA.

ANSWER: A. Tiruchirapalli

The RVTIs are being established all over the country by central government’s Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. There are till now 11 RVTIs all over India including Tura, Hissar, Jaipur, Kolkata, Bangalore, Mumbai and the twelth one has been started now in Trichy.

ANSWER: C. China

Rajiv Mohan Kulshrestha, who travelled along with 19 other foreigners from Gift of the Givers, a South African charity, was taken into custody at Ordos’s in China’s Inner Mongolia province on July 10 for allegedly watching videos of a banned terror group in their hotel rooms.

ANSWER: D. Limited public following

As the championship has been scrapped, the 2015 CLT20, scheduled for September and October, will not go ahead as planned. The GC consists of representatives of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Cricket Australia (CA). CLT20 is an annual international Twenty20 cricket competition played between the top domestic teams from major cricketing nations and was launched in 2008 with the first edition held in October 2009.

ANSWER: D. Sunita Viswanath

She was selected for her work to encourage Hindus to take care of the environment. She was among 12 other faith leaders who were awarded for their efforts in protecting environment and communities from the effects of climate change.

ANSWER: C. 229

Out of total 300 strength of the unicameral legislature, the legislation was approved with 229 votes in favor, 64 against and six abstentions and won the support of three pro-European opposition parties. The approval of legislation by the Parliament gives much needed relief to Greece as people have been reeling under severe capital controls as their ATM withdrawals limited to 60 euro per day and banks and the stock exchange shut since 29 June 2015.

ANSWER: D. 31 years

It was commissioned in Indian Navy in 1984 at Visakhapatnam.

ANSWER: A. Seven

The seven states include Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. In this seven states, activities envisaged under the project includes establishment of 48 new Grid sub-stations of different voltage levels with total transformation capacity around 17100 MVA (Mega Volt Ampere) by installing over 7800 ckt-kms (Circuit Kilometers) of transmission lines.

ANSWER: C. Panagariya Committee

The expert group will be chaired Arvind Panagariya, Vice-Chairperson of NITI Aayog and will be serviced by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and Ministry of Tribal Welfare. The approval was given in lieu of the failure of the states in consolidating different categories and is in line with the one taken by the UPA government on 19 May 2011.

ANSWER: D. Swiss Challenge Method

Swiss Challenge Method means a Private Sector Participant submits an unsolicited or suo-motu proposal and draft contract principles for undertaking a project, not already initiated by the Government Agency or the Local Authority. The Government Agency or the Local Authority then invites competitive counter proposals in such manner as may be prescribed by the Government.

ANSWER: A. A K Bhargava Committee

The Committee unhesitatingly recommended for adherence of the core principles of Net Neutrality, it also suggested few exceptions in the interests of national security and businesses.

ANSWER: A. Three

The direction has been given against the backdrop of government expressing concern over adverse impact of any reduction in direct credit, given the adverse weather conditions. To increase direct lending to agriculture, the RBI in April 2015 revised the target for direct lending to small and marginal farmers under priority sector norms to 7 percent for 2015-16 and to 8 percent for 2016-17.