Friday, 15 March 2019

CURRENT AFFAIRS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS JANUARY-2019


1. Who becomes the first Chief Justice of Telangana?
Thottathil.B.Radhakrishnan.

2. Which country introduced its first minimum wage ($ 1.39/hr) on January 1, 2019?
South Africa.

3. Name the NASA space craft which flew past the most distant world ever studied by human kind “Ultima Thule”?
New Horizons.
Ultima Thule is a frozen relic of the early solar system that could reveal how planets formed.

4. Name the Afghan-born Indian-Canadian film actor, screenwriter, comedian, and director who passed away on December 32, 2018?
Kader Khan.
As an actor, Kader Khan appeared in over 300 films after his debut film in the 1973 film Daag, starring Rajesh Khanna, in which he acted as a prosecuting attorney.

5. Name the China’s space probe which touched down on the far side of the moon on January 3, 2019?
The Chang’e-4.

6. Which film is selected as the best picture of 2018 by the National Society of Film Critics?
The Rider. (Director-Chloe Zhao).

7. Who became the first person to be declared a fugitive economic offender by the special court hearing cases under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA)?
Vijay Mallia.

8. Israeli writer, novelist, journalist, and intellectual who was a prominent advocate of a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, passed away on December 28, 2018?


Amos Oz.
He was the author of 40 books, including novels, short story collections, children's books, and essays, and his work has been published in 45 languages, more than that of any other Israeli writer. He was the recipient of many honours and awards, among them the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the Legion of Honour of France, the Israel Prize, the Goethe Prize, the Prince of Asturias Award in Literature, the Heinrich Heine Prize, and the Franz Kafka Prize.

9. Who became the first player to win three Hopman Cups?
Roger Federer.
Federer won the Hopman Cup teaming with Belinda Bencic and this is the duo’s second consecutive title. Federer first won the Hopman Cup back in 2001 when he teamed with Martina Hingis.

10. Name the bill which was passed by Lok Sabha on January 8, 2019 that seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan?
Citizenship (Amendment) Bill-2019.

11. Name the new book written by Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai which charting her experiences travelling the world and visiting refugee camps?
“We are Displaced”.

12. The high power committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed the CBI Director on January 10, 2019, a day after he resumed office following the Supreme Court verdict restoring his position. Name that CBI Director?
Alok Verma.

13. Who has been appointed president of the Alliance for Media Freedom (AFMF), a cross media advocacy and action group of media organisations, promoters and journalists?
N.Ram.

14. Who won the 2018 Olof Palme human rights prize?
Daniel Ellsberg.

15. Childhood coach of master blaster Sachin Tendulkar who passed away on January 2, 2019?
Ramakant Vitthal Achrekar.
He founded Kamanth Memorial Cricket Club at Shivaji Park. He coached and nurtured numerous cricketers, including the Test players Sachin Tendulkar, Ajit Agarkar, Chandrakant Pandit, Vinod Kambli and Pravin Amre. 

16. Which country has been named the second best performing country after Sweden in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI)?
Morocco.

17. Who was sworn in as Bangladesh’s Prime Minister for a record fourth term on January 7, 2019?
Sheikh Hasina.

18. Which country on January 7, 2019 started levying $9.22 departure tax on each person leaving the country, a measure aimed at raising funds to further boost tourism?
Japan.

19. Tamil Nadu’s  Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister who was convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment in a case of unlawful assembly and rioting in 1998 in Bagalur village near Hosur?
P.Balakrishna Reddy.

20. Former Finance secretary who has resigned as chairman of the Energy Resources Institute (TERI)?
Ashok Chawla.

21. Which state won the Vijay Merchant Trophy defeating Jharkhand in the final on the basis of first innings lead?
Haryana.

22. Who becomes the first South Asian who has been appointed as a member of a congressional committee on intelligence, a powerful body tasked to strengthen U.S’s national security?
Raja Krishnamoorthi.

23. Name the recipients of Bharat Ratna-2019, the highest civilian award of the Republic of India.

Pranab Mukherjee: Mukherjee is an Indian politician who served as the 13th President of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee has been a senior leader in the Indian National Congress and has occupied several ministerial portfolios in the Government of India

Bhupen Hazarika: Hazarika was an Indian playback singer, lyricist, musician, poet and film-maker from Assam, widely known as Sudhakantha. His songs, written and sung mainly in the Assamese language by himself, are marked by humanity and universal brotherhood and have been translated and sung in many languages, most notably in Bengali and Hindi.

Nanaji Deshmukh: Chandikadas Amritrao Deshmukh also known as Nanaji Deshmukh (11 October 1916 – 27 February 2010) was a social activist from India. He worked in the fields of education, health, and rural self-reliance. He was a leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and also a member of the Rajya Sabha.

24. Who won the prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian Literature for the book “No Presents Please”?
Jayant Kaikini, along with translator Tejaswini Niranjana.

25. Australian Open Title 2019 Winners:
Men’s Singles: 
Winner: Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
Runner Up: Rafael Nadal (Spain)
Women’s Singles: 
Winner: Naomi Osaka (Japan)
Runner Up: Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic)
Men’s Doubles:
Winner: Pierre-Hugues Herbert (France) and Nicolas Mahut (France)
Runner Up: Henri Kontinen (Finland) and John Peers (Australia)
Women’s Doubles:
Winners: Samantha Stosur (Australia) and Zhang Shuai (China)
Runners Up: Tímea Babos (Hungary) and Kristina Mladenovic (France)
Mix Doubles:
Winners: Barbora Krejcíkova (Czech Republic) and Rajeev Ram (United States).
Runners Up: Astra Sharma (Australia) and John-Patrick Smith (Australia)

26. Who won the Indonesia Masters-2019 after Carolina Marin was forced to retire with a knee injury in the final?
Saina Nehwal.

27. Who becomes the first Hindu woman judge of Pakistan?
Suman Kumari.

28. The ICICI Bank has recently decided to terminate the contract of former Managing Director and CEO, after the B.N.Srikrishna panel found that she violated the Bank’s code of conduct. Name the former CEO?
Chanda Kochar.

29. Who is sworn in as the 26th Chief Justice of Pakistan?
Justice.Asif Saeed Khosa.

30. American poet who won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, passed away on January 17, 2019?
Mary Oliver.
Her fifth collection of poetry, American Primitive, won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1984.

31. Who becomes the new king of Malaysia, after the last monarch abdicated in a historic fist following his reported marriage to a Russian ex beauty queen?
Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.

32. Sachin Tendulkar was present at the book launch of Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar's book launch in Mumbai. What is the name of her book?


“The small Wonder”
The book gives an insight into the life of the gymnast and the hardships that she has gone through to reach the stage of her life where she is at the moment. The book also speaks about her feat in the Rio Olympics in 2016 where she finished fourth in the finals of the vault event. 

33. Former defence minister, anti-Emergency crusader and founder of the Samata Party, passed away on January 29, 2019?
 George Fernandes. He held several ministerial portfolios including communications, industry, railways, and defence.

34. Who becomes the first cricketer to hit 900 sixes in T20 format?
Chris Gayle.

35. Who won the ICC women Cricketer of the year (2018) award?
Smrithi Mandhana.
She adjudged 'Women's Cricketer of the Year' as well as the 'Women's ODI Player of the Year' by the ICC.

36. Who won the ICC T20I Woman Player of the Year-2018?
Alyssa Healy (Australia’s wicketkeeper)
England’s Sophie Ecclestone named ICC Emerging Player of the Year-2018.

37. Who becomes the first Indian Wicket Weeper to score a century in Australia?
Rishabh Panth.

38. Which cricketer has beaten Sachin Tendulkar as the quickest batsman to 19,000 international runs?
Virat Kohli.
The Indian skipper reached the milestone in 399 innings while Sachin did it in 432.

39. Which footballer has surpassed Lionel Messi to become the second highest international goal scorer among active players?
Sunil Chhetri.

40. Who has been named the CAF African Footballer of the Year 2018?
Mohamed Salah.

41. American nuclear physicist who served as United States Secretary of Defense from 1977 to 1981, under President Jimmy Carter, passed away on January 4, 2019?
Harold Brown.

42. Who is currently not recognized as the legitimate president of Venezuela by over 50 countries and a number of international organizations?


Nicolás Maduro
Despite encouragement to resign as president when his first term expired on 10 January 2019, President Maduro was inaugurated by Maikel Moreno, Chief Justice of the Supreme Tribunal of Venezuela. This resulted in widespread condemnation; minutes after taking oath, the Organization of American States approved a resolution in a special session of its Permanent Council in which Maduro was declared illegitimate as President of Venezuela, urging that new elections be summoned.  The National Assembly invoked a state of emergency and some nations removed their embassies from Venezuela.
Additionally, on 23 January 2019, the President of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, was declared the interim President by that body. Guaidó was immediately recognized as the legitimate President by several nations, including the United States and the Lima Group, as well as the Organization of American States. Maduro disputed Guaidó's claim and broke off diplomatic ties with several nations who recognized Guaidó's claim.

Lima Group: Lima Group is a multilateral body that was established following the Lima Declaration on 8 August 2017 in the Peruvian capital of Lima, where representatives of 12 countries met in order to establish a peaceful exit to the Crisis in Venezuela.

43. Who became the fourth Indian to reach the milestone of 10,000 runs in ODIs?
Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

44. Who becomes the youngest Grand Master of India?
Gukesh.D
At the age of 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days, Indian prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju became the second youngest grandmaster in chess history. The country’s 59th GM is also the youngest after breaking the record of state-mate R. Praggnanandhaa set in June last year.

45. Which country created history by growing the first seed in Moon?
China.
Cotton seeds carried on board the Chang’e-4 lunar lander have just sprouted, making them the first plants to ever germinate on another world.

46. Who was the first recipient of the Ashok Chakra award from Kashmir region of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir?
Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani. He was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime military decoration in January 2019.

47. Padma Awards 2019.
Please click the below link to know the complete list of winners of Padma Awards-2019.
Padma Awards 2019

48. Who is sworn in as the new president of Congo on January 24, 2019?
Félix Tshisekedi.

49. Pakistan cricketer who has been banned for four matches after he admitted breaching the International Cricket Council’s anti-racism code?
Sarfraz Ahmed.
Sarfraz (Captain of Pakistan) made comments to South Africa’s Andile Phehlukwayo – picked up by the stump mic. Sarfraz met Phehlukwayo to apologise for his remarks, which included the Urdu word “kaale”, meaning “black”.

50. Name the India's first semi-high speed train which has been developed indigenously by the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai?
Vande Bharat Express.
Vande Bharat Express train will travel from Delhi to Varanasi in 9 hours and 45 minutes. Train 18 has been renamed Vande Bharat Express.