1. Which countries signed four agreements on visas, cyberspace and investments on December 3, 2016?
India and Qatar.
2. Prime Minister of New Zealand who resigned from the post, citing family reasons?
John Key.
3. Prime Minister of Italy who resigned on December 7, 2016 after a bruising referendum loss?
Matteo Renzi.
4. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for over fourteen years between 1991 and 2016, who passed away on December 5, 2016?
Jayalalitha.
Jayalalitha was an Indian actor turned politician who served six terms as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for over fourteen years between 1991 and 2016. From 1989 she was the general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), a Dravidian party whose cadre revered her as their Amma (mother), Puratchi Thalaivi (revolutionary leader) and Thanga Tharagai (golden maiden).
Ms. Jayalalitha was a reluctant entrant into films as well as politics but she succeeded in both; her film career began in 1965 with her first film 'Vennira Aadai'.
5. French Socialist politician who became the Prime Minister of France on December 6, 2016?
Bernard Cazeneuve.
Bernard Cazeneuve has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of France after Manuel Valls quit his post to focus on running for President in the country’s coming elections.
6. Political commentator, theatre personality and editor of Thuglak, a Tamil magazine known for its withering satire and fearless criticism of political figures, passed away on December 7, 2016?
Cho S. Ramaswamy.
7. Name the Remote sensing satellite which was successfully launched by India on December 7, 2017?
Resourcesat-2A.
Resourcesat-2A is a follow on mission to Resourcesat-1 and Resourcesat-2 which were launched in October, 2003 and April, 2011 respectively. The new satellite provides the same services as the other Resourcesat missions. It will give regular micro and macro information on land and water bodies below, farm lands and crop extent, forests, mineral deposits, coastal information, rural and urban spreads besides helping in disaster management.
8. Name the new four elements officially added to the Periodic Table of elements in December 2016?
Nihonium, Moscovium, Tennessine and Oganesson.
In December-2016, four new elements—with atomic numbers 113, 115, 117, and 118—earned their spots on the periodic table. Scientists first synthesized the new elements between 2002 and 2010, but it wasn’t until December of 2015 that the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry officially recognized the discoveries.
Here are the four elements and where their names come from:
• Japanese researchers proposed Nihonium, symbol Nh, for element 113 after the Japanese word Nihon, which means Japan.
• A team consisting of scientists from Russia and the United States named element 115, symbol Mc, after Moscow, and element 117, symbol Ts, after Tennessee.
• Element 118 was named Oganesson, symbol Og, for Yuri Oganessian, a prolific element hunter, by the Russian team that discovered it.
9. Who becomes the second Indian Cricketer to score a triple-century in Tests?
Karun Nair.
Nair, in his third Test, finished not out on 303 as India declared with their highest score in Tests, a massive 759/7, at the Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. At 25 years and 13 days, Nair also overtook Sehwag's Indian record of youngest Test triple-centurion.
10. Who becomes the 39th Prime Minister of New Zealand?
Bill English.
11. Who won the 2016 Ballon d'Or award for the best player in World Football?
Cristiano Ronaldo.
12. Eminent writer and journalist who has been chosen for the prestigious Moortidevi award for 2016 for his Malayalam travelogue “Haimavatha Bhooviil” which unravels ancient trails of Indian culture and literature?
M. P. Veerendra Kumar.
The award carries an amount of Rs 4 lakh, a statue of Saraswati and a plaque.
13. Who topped Forbes magazine’s list of The World’s Most Powerful People in 2016?
Vladimir Putin.( Russian President).
14. Who is the 69th and current United States Secretary of State?
Rex Wayne Tillerson.
15. Who was removed as director of Tata Group's crown jewel, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) with 93.11 per cent of shareholders present at the extra-ordinary general meeting voting for his ouster?
Cyrus P Mistry.
16. Name the Egyptian movie which has won the Suvarna Chakoram (Golden Crow Pheasant) Award at the 21st International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK)?
Clash”, The movie is directed by Mohamed Diab.
“Clair Obscur” directed by Yesim Ustaoglu won the Rajatha Chakoram (Silver Crow Pheasant) Award for the Best Director. Vidhu Vincent won the Rajatha Chakoram for the Best Debut Director.
17. Which country has won the junior World Cup hockey title after a gap of 15 years?
India.
India beat Belgium 2-1 in a final match they dominated at Lucknow’s Major Dhyan Chand Stadium.
18. Who is the 25th Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force?
Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa.
He assumed the post on 31 December 2016 after Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha retired Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa
19. Who is the 27th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army?
General Bipin Rawat,
He assumed office on 31 December 2016 after retirement of General Dalbir Singh.
20. Who is the present chief of the Intelligence Bureau?
Rajiv Jain.
21. Who is the Chief of the Research and Analysis Wing, India's foreign intelligence service?
Anil Kumar Dhasmana.
He was appointed as the Chief of R&AW as the post fell vacant on 31 January 2017.
22. Which team crowned ISL 2016 champions after beating Kerala Blasters FC in the final?
Atletico de Kolkata .
23. Puerto Rican musician, model, and beauty queen who was crowned Miss World 2016?
Stephanie Del Valle.
24. Who won the unified WBO Asia Pacific and Oriental Super Middleweight boxing titles-2016 held in Mumbai?
Vijender Singh.
25. Name the fourth cyclonic storm, as well as the most intense tropical cyclone of the 2016 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, which struck the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, as well as South India in December 2016?
Cyclone Vardah.
The name Vardah, suggested by Pakistan, refers to the red rose.
26. American actress, writer, and humorist who was known for playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars films, passed away on December 27, 2016?
Carrie Frances Fisher.
27. Astrophysicist who discovered evidence of dark matter, passed away on December 25, 2016?
Vera Rubin.
Rubin was an American astronomer who pioneered work on galaxy rotation rates. She uncovered the discrepancy between the predicted angular motion of galaxies and the observed motion, by studying galactic rotation curves. This phenomenon became known as the galaxy rotation problem, and was evidence of the existence of dark matter.
28. The last leader of Uruguay’s brutal dictatorship of the 1970s and ’80s, passed away on December 28, 2016?
Gen. Gregorio Alvarez.
Alvarez is also known as El Goyo, was an Uruguayan army general who served as the de facto president of Uruguay from 1981 until 1985 and was the last surviving President of the civic-military dictatorship of Uruguay.
29. The Malayalam Poet who has won the Kendra Sahithya Akademi Award for the year 2016?
Prabha Varma.
Prabha Varma’s ‘Shyama Madhavam’ has been selected for Kendra Sahitya Akademi award for the year 2016. The work had earlier won several laurels, including the coveted Vayalar Award.
30. Former Air Force Chief who was arrested over alleged irregularities in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal worth 3,600 crores, signed when the Congress was in power?
SP Tyagi.
31. Which Indian cricketer created history by becoming the first Indian batsman to notch up three double centuries in a calendar year?
Virat Kohli.
Before Kohli, only four batsmen – Sir Don Bradman (1930), Ricky Ponting (2003), Michael Clarke (2012), and Brendon McCullum (2014) – had achieved the same. Clarke leads the list with four double centuries, while the other three batsmen managed three each.
32. Who has been the Prime Minister of Italy since 12 December 2016?
Paolo Gentiloni.
Gentiloni, a member of the Democratic Party, served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 31 October 2014 until December 2016, when President Sergio Mattarella asked him to form a new government.
33. President of South Korea who was impeached by the National Assembly on 9 December 2016, on charges related to influence peddling by her top aide, Choi Soon-sil. Her presidential powers and duties were suspended with the ratification of the impeachment. Name that President of South Korea?
Park Geun-hye.
She was the first woman to be elected as President of South Korea and she served as President of South Korea from 2013 to 2017.
34. Who was named by Time magazine as its 'Person of the Year 2016'?
Donald Trump .
35. Who has won the 2016 Ballon d’Or, an award given to the best-performing football player around the world in 2016?
Cristiano Ronaldo.
It was his fourth Ballon d'Or, the most of any European player in the history of the award.
36. Who is the Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence since 11 December 2016?
Naveed Mukhtar .
He previously served as a three-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army and the Commander of V Corps of Karachi from 2014 to 2016.
37. Which cricketer becomes the 10000th LBW victim in Test Cricket?
Hashim Amla.
He became the 10,00th lbw victim in Test cricket when he was dismissed for a score of 48 by Sri Lanka's Nuwan Pradeep during the first match in Port Elizabeth.
38. Who won the World Billiards Championships title-2016 defeating Peter Gilchrist of Singapore ?
Pankaj Advani.
39. Who amassed an unbeaten 359 in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal tie against Odisha at Jaipur, bettering a 117-year world record for the highest score while carrying the bat in first-class cricket?
Samit Gohel.
Gujarat opening batsman achieved the record, facing 723 balls and hitting 45 fours and a six. The previous record was Bobby Abel’s 357* (in Surrey’s 811) against Somerset in English county cricket at The Oval in 1899.
40. Who has become the third India player and 12th player overall to win the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after being named as the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2016?
Ravichandran Ashwin.
41. The full list of ICC Award 2016 winners is:
ICC Cricketer of the Year (Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy) – Ravichandran Ashwin (India)
ICC Test Cricketer of the Year – Ravichandran Ashwin (India)
ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year – Quinton de Kock (South Africa)
ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year – Suzie Bates (New Zealand)
ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year – Suzie Bates (New Zealand)
ICC T20I Performance of the Year – Carlos Brathwaite (West Indies ) (34 not out, 10 balls, 1x4, 4x6, ICC WT20 India 2016 final v England, Kolkata)
ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year – Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh)
ICC Associate/Affiliate Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Shahzad (Afghanistan)
ICC Spirit of Cricket Award – Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan)
ICC Umpire of the Year (David Shepherd Trophy) – Marais Erasmus
42. Eminent modern Bengali poet who has been chosen for the prestigious Jnanpith Award for 2016?
Shankha Ghosh.
43. Which club won the Italian Super Cup defeating Juventus in the final?
AC Milan.
44. Who was appointed as the brand ambassador of Assam tourism?
Priyanka Chopra
45. Who has been appointed as the Director of the White House National Trade Council, a newly created entity in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government?
Peter Navarro.
46. Which collectorate of Kerala became the first cashless collectorate in the State?
Pathanamthitta.
47. Which country won the 2016 Under-19 Asia Cup defeating Sri Lanka in the final?
India.
The 2016 Under-19 Asia Cup was an international cricket tournament that was held in Sri Lanka from 15 to 23 December 2016.
48. Which country is now the 6th largest economy in the world with a growth forecast of 7.6 per cent by the International Monetary Fund, according to a report published in Forbes magazine?
India.
49. Who has been reelected as the president of India's association football governing body the All India Football Federation (AIFF)?
Praful Patel.
50. Who has been selected as the 2016 Player of the Year by the All India Football Federation (AIFF)?
Jeje Lalpekhlua.
Odisha’s Sasmita Malik was chosen woman footballer of the year-2016.
51. English legendary singer who was best known for his hit singles such as "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" and "Last Christmas", and albums such as Faith (1987) and Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, passed away on December 26, 2016?
George Michael.
52. Name the indigenously developed intercontinental surface-to-surface nuclear capable ballistic missile successfully test fired by India on December 26,2017?
'Agni-5'
Agni-V is an intercontinental ballistic missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India. The nuclear-capable Agni-V, which can even reach the northernmost parts of China with its strike range of over 5,000-km. On 26 December 2016, a fourth test of the missile was successfully conducted from complex 4 of Wheeler Island, Odisha at 11.05 IST
