CURRENT AFFAIRS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS DECEMBER 2016

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

CURRENT AFFAIRS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS- JULY 2016

1.    What is the name given to the seventh major version of the Android operating system which is to be officially released on August 22, 2016?
"Nougat" .
Android 7.0 "Nougat" introduces notable changes to the operating system and its development platform, including the ability to display multiple apps on-screen at once in a split-screen view, support for inline replies to notifications, as well as an OpenJDK-based Java environment and support for the Vulkan graphics rendering API, and "seamless" system updates on supported devices.

2.    Which country was unanimously elected as the International Cricket Council’s 39th Associate Member?
Saudi Arabia.

3.    Former India captain who has resigned from his post as media representative in ICC’s prestigious Cricket Committee?
Ravi Shastri.

4.    Name the single-seat, single-engine, lightweight, high-agility supersonic fighter aircraft which has entered into service with the Indian Air Force (IAF) in July 2016?
Tejas.
Tejas is designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force and Navy.

5.    What is the code name given to the project which aims to plug any possible routes for terrorists to infiltrate into India, be it land, air or sea?
Operation Chakravyuh.
Under Operation Chakravyuh, a network of highly-sensitive censors, radars, cameras, optical fibre and automatic guns will be laid along the Pakistan border, which will be linked to a round-the-clock control room. Operation Chakravyuh, which draws inspiration from the impenetrable military formation from the Mahabharata, is actually modelled after an Israeli security mechanism to plug any possible routes for terrorists to infiltrate the country.

6.    Romanian-born American Jewish writer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1986) passed away on July 2, 2016?

Elie Wiesel.
He was a professor, political activist, and Holocaust survivor. He was the author of 57 books, written mostly in French and English, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps. 

7.    Who won the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix, formula one car race?
Lewis Hamilton.

8.    What is the name given to the NASA space probe orbiting the planet Jupiter after entering orbit on July 5, 2016?
Juno.
Juno was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on August 5, 2011, as part of the New Frontiers program, and ranged into Jupiter's orbit on July 4, 2016.

9.    Name the Indigenously-built heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo which has been successfully inducted in the navy in July 2016?
Varunastra.
The Varunastra is an Indian advanced heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo, developed by Naval Science and Technological Laboratory of the DRDO for the Indian Navy.

10.    19 new ministers of Modi’s Cabinet:

The Union Council of Ministers was expanded on June 5, 2016 with the induction of 19 new Ministers of State. They are listed below.
Ministers of State:
•    Vijay Goel: Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (Independent Charge)
•    Piyush Goyal: Ministry of Mines (Independent Charge)
•    Anil Madhav Dave: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Independent Charge).
•    Santosh Kumar Gangwar: Ministry of Finance
•    Faggan Singh Kulaste: Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
•    S. Ahluwalia: Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
•    RamdasAthawale: Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
•    RajenGohain: Ministry of Railways
•    Jayant Sinha: Ministry of Civil Aviation
•    Arjun Ram Meghwal: Ministry of Finance and Corporate Affairs
•    Mahendra Nath Pandey: Ministry of Human Resource Development
•    Ajay Tamta: Ministry of Textiles
•    Anupriya Patel: Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
•    R. Chaudhary: Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution
•    P. Chaudhary: Ministry of Law & Justice
    Cabinet Ministers
•    Venkaiah Naidu: Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
o    Ananth Kumar: Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
o    Prakash Javdekar: Ministry of Human Resource Development
o    Ravi Shankar Prasad: Ministry of Law &Justice.
o    Narendra Singh Tomar: Ministry of Rural Development Ministry
o    SmritiZubin Irani: Ministry of Textiles

11.    Who has been appointed as the chairman of the fourth Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission with Cabinet rank?
V.S. Achuthanandan.

12.    Development economist who has been appointed as the vice-chairman of the State Planning Board (Kerala)?
V.K. Ramachandran.

13.    Olympic sprinter who has been sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp in 2013?
Oscar Pistorius.
Pistorius is a South African sprint runner and convicted murderer. Both of Pistorius' legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old. He was the tenth athlete to compete at both the Paralympic Games and Olympic Games, competing in sprint events for below-knee amputees in Paralympic events, and in non-disabled sprint events.

14.    Martial artist who broke the world record for the most number of knuckle push-ups in a minute?
K J Joseph.
Joseph did 85 push-ups on July 8, 2016 and broke the record set by American Ron Cooper in 2015.

15.    Which countries on 8 July 2016 signed four agreements to give new impetus to bilateral co-operation between the two nations?
India and South Africa.
India and South Africa on Friday inked three Memoranda of Understanding and one Programme of Cooperation. The three Memoranda of Understanding are in the fields of ICT (Information and Communications Technology); Tourism and Grassroots Innovation in Science and Technology (S & T).  A Programme of Cooperation in Arts and Culture was the fourth bilateral agreement side between the two sides

16.    Arsenal goalkeeper who announced his retirement from international football with the Czech Republic?
Petr Cech.
Petr Cech retired from international football after playing 14 years for Czech Republic.

17.    Pulitzer Prize Journalist who reported the rise of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, passed away on July 9, 2016?
Sydney H. Schanberg.

The journalist was known for reporting on the fall of Cambodia to the Khmer Rouge after he refused to evacuate the country and his work inspired the film The Killing Fields after he was kidnapped during the Cambodian genocide.

18.    Celebrated humanitarian and Edhi Foundation Chairman who passed away on July 8, 2016?

Abdul Sattar Edhi.
He was a Pakistani philanthropist, ascetic, and humanitarian who founded the Edhi Foundation which runs hospitals, homeless shelters, rehab centres, and orphanages across Pakistan.

19.    Which countries have signed five agreements in July 2016 to accelerate bilateral ties between both nations?
India and Tanzania.
Signed Agreements are MoU(Memorandum of Understanding) for Establishment of Vocational Training Centre at Zanzibar, MoU on Visa waiver agreement for Diplomatic/Official passport holders , MoU on Cooperation in the field of water resource management and development,  Line of Credit (LoC) of US 92 million dollars for rehabilitation and improvement of water supply system in Zanzibar and Agreement on Joint Action Plan (JAP) between National Small Industries Corporation of India (NSIC) and Small Industries Development Organization Tanzania (SIDO).

20.    Wimbledon Winners of 2016:

Wimbledon Men’s Singles Title Winner 2016- Andy Murray (Britain). He defeated Milos Raonic (Canada) in the final.

Wimbledon Women’s Singles Title Winner 2016: Serena Williams. (USA). She defeated Angelique Kerber (Germany) in the final.

Wimbledon Men’s Doubles Title Winners 2016: Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut (France). They defeated Julien Benneteau and Édouard Roger-Vasselin (France) in the final.

Wimbledon Women’s Doubles Title Winners 2016: Serena Williams and Venus Williams (USA). They defeated Tímea Babos (Hungary) and Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) in the final.

Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Title Winners 2016: Henri Kontinen (Finland) and Heather Watson (United Kingdom).
They defeated Robert Farah (Colombia) and Anna-Lena Grönefeld (German) in the final.

21.    Which country has banned the broadcast of Peace TV, a channel run by controversial Indian preacher Dr. Zakir Naik, in the country on allegations that it incited terrorism?
Bangladesh.

22.    Who became the first bullfighter to be killed this century after an 83-stone bull called Lorenzo gored him in the chest as he lay on the ground after up-ending him as he performed at a bullfight in Teruel, east of Madrid?
Victor Barrio.

23.    Who took charge as the first woman chief justice of Nepal's Supreme Court on July 11, 2016?
Sushila Karki.

24.    Which countries inked seven agreements on 11 July 2016 to enhance cooperation and bilateral relations between the two countries?
India and Kenya.

25.    Which country won the Euro-2016 defeating France (1-0) in the final?
Portugal.

26.    Who won the UEFA EURO 2016 adidas Golden Boot with 6 goals?
Antoine Griezmann.

27.    Senior goalkeeper who has been appointed as the captain of the national Hockey team for the Rio Olympics?
P.R .Sreejesh.

28.    A former supermodel who has won a £75m divorce settlement from her billionaire Saudi ex-husband Sheikh Walid Juffali after arguing in the high court that she had to meet her “reasonable needs”?
Christina Estrada.

29.    Who resigned as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Microsoft on 7 July 2016?
Kevin Turner.
Turner would now be joining Citadel Securities as Chief Executive Officer.

30.    An arbitration court has ruled that an Asian country has no historic title over the waters of the South China Sea and that it has breached the Philippines' sovereign rights with its actions. Which is that country?
China.

31.    Which country has been stunned and sickened by a third massacre in 18 months in which a truck driver mowed down night-time crowds celebrating Bastille Day , killing 84 people?
France.

32.     Leader of the Conservative Party who has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Britain on July 13, 2016?
Theresa Mary May.
She is the second female Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister, following Margaret Thatcher.

33.    The Supreme Court on July 20, 2016 restored the Congress-led government in North East state of India ousted by the Centre in January, 2016. Which is that state?
Arunachal Pradesh.

34.    Which train has become the fastest train in India by clocking a speed of 180 km/hr by covering 84 km in 38 minutes in a trial conducted by Railways on Mathura-Palwal route, surpassing the record of Gatimaan Express?
Talgo.

35.    What is the name of the Autobiography of Sania Mirza, well known tennis player of India?
‘Ace against Odds’.

36.    England captain who broke India great Sunil Gavaskar's record of 9,607 for the most runs as a Test opener while making 81 against Pakistan at Lord's?
Alastair Cook.
The 31-year-old England captain had already become the youngest player in the history of cricket to score 10,000 Test runs but 13 of his innings were not as an opener.

37.    Who is appointed as the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh on 17 July 2016?
Pema Khandu.
He is the eldest son of former Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, who died in a helicopter crash on 30 April 2011.

38.    Civilians of which country reclaimed their country in July 2016 from their own military after helping to end coup to overthrow ruling President?
Turkey.
On 15 July 2016, a coup was attempted in Turkey against state institutions, including, but not limited to the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The attempt was carried out by a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces that organized themselves as the Peace at Home Council. They attempted to seize control of several key places in Ankara, Istanbul, and elsewhere, but failed to do so after forces loyal to the state defeated them.

39.    Who beat Tanzanian boxer Francis Cheka to retain his WBO Asia Pacific Super-Middleweight championship-2016?
Vijender Singh.

40.    India’s Chess Grand Master who has won the Fide Women’s Grand Prix trophy in Chendu, China?
Harika Dronavalli.
 It was her maiden career GP title and she won this title by defeating Russia’s Olga Girya.

41.    Pakistan's social media celebrity who was killed allegedly by her brother in Multan in Punjab province, becoming the latest victim of "honour killings" that plague the country?
Qandeel Baloch.
She had received threats from her family to quit modeling and her provocative appearances on social media. Her brother had been threatening her over her Facebook posts and videos.

42.    The Supreme Court has recently accepted the majority of recommendations of which committee covering wide-ranging aspects of Indian cricket at the central and state level?
The Lodha Committee.
In January 2015, the SC appointed a committee under ex-CJI RM Lodha, to determine punishments for those named in the Mudgal Committee report and to recommend reforms for cricket in India.

43.    Karnataka minister who faces harassment charges in the alleged suicide case of Deputy SP Ganpathi, resigned from the ministry on July 18, 2016?
K.J.George.

44.    Legendary Bollywood playback singer and ghazal maestro who passed away on July 18, 2016?
Mubarak Begum Shaikh.
She was a popular playback singer in Bollywood films during the 1950s and 1960s. Her career as a playback singer began in 1949 with the Indian, Hindi-language film Aaiye.  A major hit in her career was the song "Kabhi Tanhaiyon Mein Yun" for composer Snehal Bhatkar in Kidar Sharma's film Hamari Yaad Aayegi which is, till this day, regarded as a classic rendition.

45.    The Rajya Sabha on July 19, 2016 passed a bill that restricts the employment of children below 14 in all occupations and enterprises, except those run by his or her own family. What is the name of that bill?
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill.

46.    Bollywood actor who is selected as the face of ‘city compost’ campaign, which is a part of the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’?
Amitabh Bachchan.

47.    Who is appointed as the new Chairman of CBSE on July 14, 2016?
Rakesh Kumar Chaturvedi.
The post of CBSE Chairman had been lying vacant since December 2014.

48.    Who has been appointed as the new chairman of Airports Authority of India (AAI) in July 2016?
Guruprasad Mohapatra.

49.    The oldest litigant in the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri title suit who passed away in Ayodhya recently?
Mohammad Hashim Ansari,
Ansari was the lone survival among six original plaintiffs of Babri Masjid case fighting for the Mosque title on behalf of Sunni Central Waqf Board since 1961.

50.    One of the greatest names in Indian hockey and part of the team that won gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, has died July 20 2016.Who is that hockey player?
Mohammed Shahid,

51.    The Government of India has taken out a portion from the remit of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and has made it a new Ministry. What is the name of the new ministry?
Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeITY)

52.    Name the Fourteen-year old from Chennai who has bagged the prestigious Google Community Impact Award - part of Google Science Fair 2016 - from Asia?
Advay Ramesh.

53.    Who will succeed Antonio Conte as the head coach of Italian Football Team?
Giampiero Ventura

54.    Who became the first Indian captain to hit a double century away from India in a test match?
Virat Kohli.
He go past Mohammad Azharuddin with the highest score by an Indian captain away from home. Azhar had previously scored 192 against New Zealand in Auckland in 1989-90 seasons.

55.    Who has been appointed as the new coach of Spanish Football Team?
Julen Lopetegui.

56.    An Indian painter who lived and worked in France since 1950, passed away on July 6, 2016?
S.H.Raza.
His works are mainly abstracts in oil or acrylic, with a very rich use of color, replete with icons from Indian cosmology as well as its philosophy. He was awarded the Padma Shri and Fellowship of the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1981, Padma Bhushan in 2007, and Padma Vibhushan in 2013. He was conferred with the highest French civilian honour, the Commandeur de la Legion d'honneur (Legion of Honour) on July 14, 2015. He became one of India's priciest modern artist on 10 June 2010 when a seminal work, Saurashtra by the 88-year-old was sold for ₹16.42 crore ($3,486,965) at a Christie's auction. 

57.    Russian adventurer who has broken the record for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth in a hot air balloon in just over 11 days?
Fedor Konyukhov.
The 65-year-old has broken the 14-year-old record set by American adventurer Steve Fossett, who completed the trip in 13-and-a-half days.

58.    Prime Minister of Nepal who resigned from the post on July 24, 2016, moments before the scheduled voting on a no-confidence motion which he was certain to lose.
KP Sharma Oli.

59.    Telecommunications giant who will buy Yahoo’s core web and advertising business for $4.83 billion and continue to operate them under the Yahoo name?
Verizon Communications Inc.

60.    Who won the Hungarian Grand Prix 2016 Formula One World Championship?
Lewis Hamilton.

61.    Which team clinched the debut title of the Indian Premier Futsal?
Mumbai 5s.

62.    Former Sri Lanka off spinner who has become the first player from his country to be voted into the ICC Hall of Fame?
Muttiah Muralitharan.
Murali is the leading wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs, and one of only two players to tally over a 1000 wickets in international cricket, in a career that spanned 19 years, from 1992 to 2011.

63.    Who was sworn in as President of Peru on July 28, 2016?
Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.
He previously served as Prime Minister of Peru from 2005 to 2006.

64.    Who have been chosen for the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2016?
Bezwada Wilson and T.M. Krishna.
Mr. Krishna will receive the award for "social inclusiveness in culture," while Wilson was named as an awardee for "asserting the inalienable right to a life of human dignity." Bezwada Wilson, a renowned campaigner against manual scavenging is the national convener of the Safai Karmachari Andolan.

65.    What is the name of the Bollywood film in which Australian Cricketer “Brett Lee” plays a lead role?
UnIndian.
Australian cricket legend Brett Lee plays an English teacher who falls in love with a single mother played by Bollywood star Tanishtha Chatterjee.  Anup Sharma is the director of the film.

66.    What is the name of large amphibious flying boat that is being designed and built in China by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC)?
The AVIC AG600, also known as TA-600.

67.    Eminent litterateur and social activist who was honoured with various literary awards such as the Sahitya Akademi Award (in Bengali), Jnanpith Award and Ramon Magsaysay Award along with India's civilian awards Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan, passed away on July 28, 2016?
Mahasweta Devi.
Her notable literary works include Hajar Churashir Maa, Rudali, and Aranyer Adhikar. She won the Jnanpith Award in 1996 and Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1997.

68.    Captain of German Football team who announced his retirement from international football on 29 July 2016?
Bastian Schweinsteiger.

69.    Who became the first India female cricketer to be signed by an overseas Twenty20 league (Big Bash League)?
Harmanpreet Kaur.

70.    Name the American skydiver who has become the first to jump 25,000 feet from a plane without a parachute and land in a net?
Luke Aikins.

CURRENT AFFAIRS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS JUNE 2016

1.    Switzerland has recently inaugurated the longest and deepest railway tunnel in the world. What is the name of that tunnel?

Gotthard Base Tunnel.
Gotthard Base Tunnel is a railway base tunnel through the Alps in Switzerland. It opened on 1 June 2016 with full service to begin in December 2016. With a route length of 57.09 km (35.5 mi) and a total of 151.84 km (94.3 mi) of tunnels, shafts and passages, it is the world's longest and deepest traffic tunnel and the first flat, low-level route through the Alps.

2.    Bollywood actor who is popularly known for his role of Manikchand in Shah Rukh Khan starrer Baadshah, passed away on June 1, 2016?
Razzak Khan.
The comic actor made his debut in Bollywood with Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja in1993 and was seen in more than 90 movies in his entire career span. He had also appeared on Kapil Sharma’s show ‘Comedy Nights with Kapil’ in 2014.

3.    Name the Seven-year-old Japanese boy who was found by authorities in the woods nearly a week after his parents abandoned him for disciplinary reasons?
Yamato Tanooka.
Yamato Tanooka went missing in bear-inhabited forests in northern Japan after his parents apparently abandoned him as punishment, has been found alive.

4.    American Olympic and professional boxer and activist, who is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century, passed away on June 3, 2016?
Muhammad Ali.
Cassius Clay was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, and began training as an amateur boxer when he was 12 years old. At 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, and converted to Islam shortly afterwards. At age 22 in 1964, he won the WBA and WBC heavyweight titles from Sonny Liston in an upset. Clay then changed his legal name from Cassius Clay, which he called his "slave name", to Muhammad Ali, and gave a message of racial pride for African Americans and resistance to white domination during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Ali has suffered from Parkinson’s for three decades, most famously trembling badly while lighting the Olympic torch in 1996 in Atlanta.

5.    The revenue minister in the BJP-led government in Maharashtra who has submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis after allegations of impropriety surfaced against him in a land deal in Pune?
Eknath Khadse.

6.    Name the 96year old Japanese man who has entered the Guinness World Records after becoming the oldest person in the world to receive a university degree?
Shigemi Hirata.
Shigemi Hirata, who lives in Takamatsu in east Japan, received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Art and Design from Kyoto University in March at the age of 96 years and 200 days.

7.    Complete list of winners of French Open Tennis Title 2016: 

French Open Men's Singles Title-2016:
Winner: Novak Djokovic (Serbia). He defeated Andy Murray (UK) in the final.
French Open Women's Singles Title-2016:
Winner: Garbine Muguruza (Spain).
She defeated Serena Williams (USA) in the final.
French Open men's Doubles Title-2016:
Winners: Feliciano Lopez (Spain) & Marc Lopez (Spain).
They defeated Bob Bryan (USA) & Mike Bryan (USA) in the final.
French Open Women's Doubles Title-2016:
Winners: Caroline Garcia (France) & Kristina Mladenovic (France)
They defeated Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) & Elena Vesnina (Russia) in the final.
French Open Mixed Doubles Title-2016:
Winners:  Martina Hingis (Switzerland) & Leander Paes (India).
They defeated Sania Mirza (India) & Ivan Dodig (Croatia) in the final.

8.    What is the name of the Afghan-India Friendship Dam which is a hydroelectric and irrigation dam project located on the Hari River in Chishti Sharif District of Herat Province in western Afghanistan?
Salma Dam.
The dam was opened on 4 June 2016 by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. The Afghan cabinet renamed the Salma Dam to the Afghan-India Friendship Dam in a move to strengthen relations between the two countries. The hydroelectric plant produces 42 MW of power in addition to providing irrigation for 75,000 hectares of farmland.

9.    The second Indian (after Monotosh Roy in 1951) to win any Mr. Universe title, passed away on June 5, 2016?
Manohar Aich.
He won the 1952 NABBA Universe Championships. At 4 feet 11 inches (1.50 m) tall, he was given the name "Pocket Hercules".

10.    Which countries signed seven agreements on June 5, 2016 which including one on finance intelligence to check money laundering and terrorism financing and another to woo foreign investment in the infrastructure sector?
India and Qatar.

11.    Which city became the first city in the country to have its own city animal after Kamrup metropolitan district administration declared Gangetic River dolphin as its official mascot?
Guwahati.
Gangetic River Dolphin locally in Guwahati is known as ‘Sihu’ and it is on the verge of extinction. Less than 2,000 Gangetic river dolphins remain in the Brahmaputra River along Guwahati. Background

12.    Who won the Catalunya Motorcycle Grant Prix 2016?
Valentino Rossi.

13.    Who was elected the Speaker of the 14th Assembly of Kerala State?
P. Sreeramakrishnan (CPM).

14.    Who became the first England cricketer to cross the 10,000-run mark in Test cricket, and the youngest overall, beating Sachin Tendulkar's record set in 2005 by five months at the age of 31 years, five months?
Alastair Cook.

15.    Adobe South Asia region MD who has been appointed as the Managing Director of Facebook, India?

Umang Bedi.
Umang Bedi will take over from Kirthiga Reddy who will be returning to United States to take on a new role at the company’s headquarters at Menlo Park.

16.    The U.S. has recently recognised an Asian country as its ‘major defence partner,’ a classification that will allow that country to buy more advanced and sensitive technologies from the U.S. Which is that country?
India.

17.    Russian Tennis star who has been banned for two years by the International Tennis Federation for using a prohibited drug?
Maria Sharapova.
The ban has been backdated to January 26 - the day the Russian failed her drugs test in Melbourne - meaning it will end on January 25, 2018. The heart disease drug, which 29-year-old Sharapova says she has been taking since 2006 for health issues, became a banned substance on 1 January 2016.

18.    A Maldives court has convicted the country’s former vice president of masterminding a plot to kill the president by exploding a bomb on his speedboat last year and sentenced him to 15 years in prison. What is the name of that former vice president of Maldives?\
Ahmed Adeeb.
Adeeb is the fourth high profile politician to be jailed on terrorism charges since Yameen Abdul Gayoom was elected president in 2013.

19.    Who became the first Indian batsman to hit a century on One-Day International debut?
Lokesh Rahul.
Rahul hit century in his ODI debut in first of the three ODIs against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports
Club.

20.    American singer, songwriter and YouTuber known for her participation in the NBC singing competition The Voice and for her covers of hit songs by contemporary pop musicians, died on June 10, 2016, of gunshot wounds inflicted in a targeted attack that followed her concert performance in Orlando, Florida?
Christina Grimmie.
A gunman opened fire at a Florida concert venue as singer Christina Grimmie signed autographs for fans after a show, killing the onetime star of The Voice before shooting and killing himself.

21.    First forensic surgeon of Kerala who was director and professor of forensic medicine at Kozhikode Medical College, passed away on June 12, 2016?
Dr. P.V. Guharaj.
His finding that P. Rajan, a student of the erstwhile Regional Engineering College, Kozhikode, died as a result of custodial torture had irked several policemen and politicians during the Emergency period. He has authored a book titled Forensic Medicine which is an authentic reference text in India.

22.    World athletics governing body IAAF has provisionally suspended its deputy director over charges that he contrived to conceal news of positive Russian drugs tests in 2013. Who is that deputy director?
Nick Davies.

23.    Veteran Emirati journalist who was one of the first journalists in the UAE, passed away on June 11, 2016?
Musabeh Obaid Al Daheri.
He founded a local newspaper called “Al Nakhi” in 1934.

24.    Who won the Australian Open Badminton Women’s title-2016 after defeating China’s Sun Yu in the final?
Saina Nehwal.

25.    Who won the Canadian Grand Prix-2016?
Lewis Hamilton.
The Canadian Grand Prix is an annual auto race held in Canada since 1961.

26.    Microsoft has recently decided to buy the largest business-oriented social networking site for $26.2 billion in the largest acquisition in its history. Which is that social networking site?
LinkedIn.
The acquisition, by far the largest in Microsoft’s history, unites two companies in different businesses: one a big maker of software tools, the other the largest business-oriented social networking site, with more than 400 million members globally.

27.    Who won the Man of the series award in the three ODI cricket series between India and Zimbabwe held in Zimbabwe in June 2016?
K.Lokesh Rahul (India).
Series - India won the 3-match series 3-0.

28.    The Bombay High Court on June 13, 2016 directed the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to issue an ‘A’ certificate to the Indian crime-drama film  with the deletion of one scene and a modified disclaimer. Which is that film?
Udta Punjab.
It is based on drug abuse in the Indian state of Punjab and is directed by Abhishek Chaubey.
On 4 June 2016, the Central Board of Film Certification sought a stay on the film's release citing that the themes dealt with in the film were too vulgar for the general audience.

29.    President of which country has been accorded the highest honour of Cote D’Ivoirie by its President Alassane Ouattara?
Pranab Mukherjee.
President Pranab Mukherjee was bestowed with Cote d’Ivoire’s highest national honour, the Grande Croix Commandeur in National Merit Order, from the President of Cote d’Ivoire Alassane Ouattara.

30.    Who becomes world's fastest batsman to score 23 ODI hundreds?
Hashim Amla.
Amla broke the record held by Virat Kohli. Amla took only 132 innings to score his 23 ODI hundreds while Kohli reached there in his 157th innings.

31.    Brazil football legend who was presented with an Olympic order -- the highest honour given by the International Olympics Committee (IOC) ?
Pele.

32.    Australian Film Director who is widely regarded as the father of Australian arthouse cinema, passed away on June 18, 2016?

Paul Cox.
The Dutch-born director is known for his films Man of Flowers, A Woman's Tale and Innocence.

33.    Who won European Grand Prix -2016?
Nico Rosberg.

34.    American film and television actor, known for portraying Pavel Chekov in the Star Trek reboot series, who died of injuries in less than a minute after he was pinned between SUV and against a brick mailbox pillar and a fence?

Anton Yelchin.

35.    Who has been elected as Rome’s first female mayor?
Virginia Raggi.
Raggi represents the anti-corruption Five Star Movement (M5S).

36.    Who has taken charge as the Officiating Chairman-cum- Managing Director of United India Insurance Company Ltd with effect from June 8, 2016?
Ariful Hoda.
He has been appointed in place of Milind Kharat who has retired as the Chairman-cum-Managing Director on May 31, 2016.

37.    Which country won the Champions Trophy Hockey title-2016 defeating India in the penalty shootout?
Australia.
This was Australia's 14th Champions Trophy triumph.

38.    Who has been appointed as chief of the country's premier fashion technology institute NIFT?
Chetan Chauhan.

39.    The chief executive of Bharti Group who has been elected chairman of the International Chambers of Commerce (ICC)?
Sunil Bharti Mittal.

40.    Name the newborn fully-formed exoplanet (planets that orbit stars beyond our Sun) discovered by NASA in 2016?
K2-33b.
K2-33b is a bit larger than Neptune and whips tightly around its star every five days. It is only five to 10 million years old, making it one of a very few newborn planets found to date.

41.    The government of India on June 20, 2016 banned use of a permissible food additive following a CSE study that found its presence in bread as causing cancer. Which is that food additive?
Potassium bromate.

42.    What is the name of the autobiography of Sourav Ganguly, former cricket captain of India?
'A Century Is Not Enough'.
Ganguly has collaborated with senior journalist Gautam Bhattacharya for his first book 'A Century Is Not Enough'.

43.    Name the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle which successfully launched the 727.5 kg Cartosat-2 Series Satellite along with 19 co-passenger satellites on June 22, 2016?
PSLV –C34.
PSLV-C34 (also known as Cartosat-2 series satellite) was the 36th mission of the PSLV program and 14th mission of PSLV in XL configuration. The PSLV-C34 successfully carried and deployed 20 satellites in the Sun-synchronous orbit. With a launch mass of 320,000 kilograms and payload mass of 1,288 kilograms, the C34 set a new record of deploying the maximum number of satellites by Indian Space Research Organisation in a single mission.

44.    One of Pakistan's best known Sufi musicians who has been shot dead in the southern port city of Karachi on June 22, 2016?

Amjad Sabri.
Sabri was a Pakistani singer and a proponent of the Sufi Muslim tradition. Son of Ghulam Farid Sabri of the Sabri Brothers, he emerged as one of South Asia's most prominent qawwali singers, often reciting poems written by his father and uncle. He was shot dead in Karachi in a targeted killing claimed by a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban.

45.    The President  & Chief Operating Officer of SoftBank Corp who resigned from the post on June 22, 2016?
Nikesh Arora.
Ken Miyauchi, head of the Soft Bank group’s Japanese telecommunications operations, would become president and chief operating officer to replace Nikesh Arora.

46.    Who becomes all-time top goal scorer for Argentina when he scored in the Copa America semi-final against the United States to take his international tally to 55 goals?
Lionel Messi.
The goal in his 112th international lifts him above Gabriel Batistuta, who scored 54 goals in 78 games for the two-time world champions.

47.    Who was named by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as Team India's head coach for a year?
Anil Kumble.
Kumble has been appointed as the coach of Indian Cricket team for one year.

48.    Who has unexpectedly resigned as chairman of state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India, two years before his term ends?
S.K.Roy.

49.    Who has been appointed as the new Managing Director and Country Manager for Paypal (India), US-based payment platform?
Anupam Pahuja.

50.    Which countries joined Chinese and Russian led security organisation whilst maintaining close relations with the West?
India and Pakistan.

51.    Prime Minister of Britain who has resigned, after the British public took the momentous decision to reject his entreaties and turn their back on the European Union?
David Cameron.

52.    Who has been re-appointed India's batting coach for their four-Test tour of West Indies?
Sanjay Bangar.

53.    Acclaimed dramatist, theatre director and poet who has given to Malayalam literature and theatre fine works such as “Avanavan Kadamba”,” Daivathar”, “Kaikkuttappad” and “Ottayaan”, passed away on June 26, 2016?
Kavalam Narayana Panicker.
He has written over 26 Malayalam plays, many adapted from classical Sanskrit drama and Shakespeare, notably Madhyamavyayogam (1979), Kalidasa's Vikramorvasiyam (1981, 1996), Shakuntalam (1982), Karnabharam (1984, 2001), Bhasa's Uru Bhangam (1988), Swapnavasavadattam, and Dootavakyam (1996)
He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Direction in 1983 by Sangeet Natak Akademi, and its highest award for lifetime achievement, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 2002. In 2007, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in the field of Arts, by the Government of India.

54.    Legendary artist, credited with being one of the pioneers of Indian modern art, passed away on June  29, 2016?
K G Subramanyan.
He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2012.

55.    Former India batsman who was named head coach of the Afghanistan national cricket team in June 2016?
Lalchand Rajput.
He replaced ex-Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq who resigned from the post in April.

56.    The world´s first electric road is opened in which country?
Sweden.
The world´s first electric road is being inaugurated near the city of Gavle in central Sweden.

57.    Which country has joined an exclusive club of countries controlling exports in missile technology?
India.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar signed the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), aimed at preventing unchecked proliferation of missiles. India's entry into the regime [MTCR] as its 35th member.

58.    Which country won Copa America defeating Argentina in the final?
Chile.

59.    Who became the first Indian female athlete to qualify for the 100m dash in Olympics in 36 years as she booked a Rio Games berth at the 26th G Kosanov Memorial Meet in Almaty, Kazakhstan?
Dutee Chand.

60.    Argentina footballer who has retired from international football after missing in a penalty shootout as Argentina lost a fourth major final in nine years?
Lionel Messi.

61. The author whose celebrated 1970 book Future Shock examined the danger and promise of the accelerating pace of change in society, passed away on June 27, 2016?
Alvin Toffler.
Toffler was an American writer and futurist, known for his works discussing modern technologies, including the digital revolution and the communication revolution, with emphasis on their effects on cultures worldwide. Toffler was an associate editor of Fortune magazine. In his early works he focused on technology and its impact, which he termed "information overload." In 1970 his first major book about the future, Future Shock, became a worldwide best-seller and has sold over 6 million copies.

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS MAY 2016

1.    Former Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) president who led the BJS to its biggest ever win in 1967 when it won 35 seats in the Lok Sabha, passed away on May  2, 2016?
Balraj Madhok.

2.    Independent MP and liquor baron who is facing a case of loan default of over Rs. 9,400 crore, resigned from Rajya Sabha on May 2, 2016?
Vijay Mallya.

3.    Leicester City striker who has won the Football Writers' Association Player of the Year-2016 award?
Jamie Vardy.

4.    Who holds the Guinness World Record for “The Fastest time to travel the Indian Golden Quadrilateral on foot (female)”?
 Michelle Kakade.
 She covered a distance of 5970 km along the Golden Quadrilateral that connects the 4 major metros of our country namely Mumbai in the west, Delhi in the north, Kolkata in the East and Chennai in the south.

5.    Who has taken over as the next Chief of the Naval Staff on May 3, 2016 replacing Admiral RK Dhowan, who superannuates from service?
Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba.
Lamba was Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) Western Naval Command before taking over as Navy Chief.

6.    Prime Minister of Turkey who has resigned on May 5, 2016, paving the way for his replacement by a trusted ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan?
Ahmet Davutoglu.

7.    Who has become the first Indian author to win the Commonwealth short story prize, beating almost 4,000 entries for the 5,000 pound award with the first short story he has ever written?
Parashar Kulkarni .
Parashar Kulkarni was declared the winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, 2016.
His story, 'Cow and Company' is a narrative set in India in the 1990s about four men who go in search of a cow to feature in an advertisement for chewing gum.

8.    Who has been elected as the firs Muslim Mayor of London?

 

Sadiq Khan.
He is the first ethnic minority mayor, and the first Muslim to become mayor of a major Western capital.

9.    Former South African cricketer who has been appointed as Pakistan cricket team's head coach on May 6, 2016?
Mickey Arthur.
He fills the role vacated by Waqar Younis' resignation in April, following Pakistan's early exit from the World T20. This is Arthur's third assignment with an international side; he coached South Africa from 2005 to 2010, and Australia from 2011 to 2013.

10.    Who won the Madrid Open Womens tennis title 2016 defeating Dominika Cibulkova in the final?
Simona Halep.

11.    Who has been named chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea at a rare party congress held in Pyongyang?
Kim Jong-un.
The first congress of the Workers' Party in 36 years, which opened on May 6, 2016, was scheduled to promote Kim to the "top post" of the party.

12.    Who has been appointed country manager for Indian operations of Apple Inc?
Sanjay Kaul.
Kaul is taking over the position from Manish Dhir who had resigned as India Head in January this year.

13.    A sculpture of a kneeling Hitler by an Italian artist has sold for a record £12 million in the auction held in the recent New York auction. Who is that artist?

 

Maurizio Cattelan.

14.    Which club won the English Premier League title for the first time?
Leicester City.

15.    Which pair won the $100,000 Busan Open Challenger doubles title-2016 defeating Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana of Taiwan in the final?
Leander Paes (India) and Sam Groth (Australia).

16.    Which club won the German Bundesliga title-2016?
Bayern Munich.

17.    Senior Congress leader who has been renominated as Chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for a third term of one year?
Prof. K.V. Thomas.

18.    Name the personalities who are selected as the Good will Ambassador of Indian contingent for Rio Olympics?
A.R.Rahman, Sachin Tendulkar, Abhinav Bindra and Salman Khan.

19.    Who has been appointed as the acting chief justice of the Kerala High Court on 05th May, 2016?
Mohan Shantanagoudar.

20.    Name the Islamist leader who has been hanged in Bangladesh on May 11, 2016 for crimes during the war of independence from Pakistan in 1971?
Motiur Rahman Nizami.
He is former leader of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. He also served as the Bangladeshi Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Industry. On 29 October 2014, he was convicted and sentenced to death for war crimes in 1971 liberation war of Bangladesh by the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh. It has been considered that he was the supreme commander of the militia group Al-Badr during the Bangladesh Liberation War.

21.    Leicester manager who has won the Enzo Bearzot award for best Italian coach of the season?
Claudio Ranieri.

22.    Name the world's largest cargo aircraft, made its first landing in India at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad?

 

The Antonov An-225 Mriya.

23.    Who has been elected unanimously and unopposed as the Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC?)
Shashank Manohar.

24.    The parliament of which country on May 11, 2016 gave final approval to a law recognizing civil unions of same-sex couples?
Italy.

25.    Name the book written by former Indian women football team skipper Sona Chaudhary, which has made several shocking revelations, including several cases of sexual and mental harassment by the officials against the women footballers?

 

“Game in Game”.

26.    Name the largest passenger ship in the world, which first set sail on 15 May 2016 from the STX France docks in Saint-Nazaire?

 

MS Harmony of the Seas.
Harmony of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship built by STX France at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France for Royal Caribbean International. With a gross tonnage of 226,963 GT, she is the largest passenger ship in the world, surpassing her older sisters Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.

27.    Leicester striker who won the Premier League player of the season 2015-2016?
Jamie Vardy.

28.    Which club won the Spanish league title-2016(La Liga 2016)?
Barcelona.

29.    Who has been elected as the International Federation of Association Football’s (FIFA) first female general secretary?
Senegalese Fatma Samoura.
she is also the first African and non-European to  become the female general secretary of FIFA.

30.    Name the first Muslim woman who has been elected as the speaker of a state parliament in Germany?
Muhterem Aras.

31.    American supercentenarian who was, at the age of 116 years, 311 days , becomes the world's oldest living person passed  away on May 12, 2016?
Susannah Mushatt Jones.

32.    Former India captain who was re-appointed ICC Cricket Committee chairman for a second term of three years?
Anil Kumble.
His one-time team-mate and batting great Rahul Dravid was named member of the top panel.

33.    The West Indian cricket writer, commentator and journalist, who passed away on May 11, 2016?
Tony Cozier.

34.    Name the train provided by Indian Railway with 50 wagons carrying nearly 25 lakh litre water to the scarcity-hit city “Latur”?
The Jaldoot Express.

35.    Which pair won the Rome Masters Women’s doubles title -2016 defeating Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova in the final?
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis.

36.    Former Indian Test Cricketer who was the second Indian batsman, after Lala Amarnath, to score a hundred on Test debut, passed away on May 16, 2016?
Deepak  Shodhan.

37.    Tottenham Hotspur striker who won the Premier League Golden Boot for the first time after finishing the season with 25 goals?
Harry Kane.

38.    Who won the Rom Masters Men’s title -2016 defeating Novak Djokovic in final?
Andy Murray.
Murray becomes the first British player since 1931 to win the tournament in Italy.

39.    South Korean author who has won the Man Booker International Prize-2016 for her novel “The Vegetarian”?
Han Kang.
The novel was translated by Deborah Smith and is published by Portobello Books.

40.    Which cricketer holds the record of most runs by a batsman in an IPL season with this 973 runs in year 2016?
Virat Kohli.
Kohli beat Chris Gayle & Michael Hussey's record who both had made 733 runs exactly.

41.    Azhar is a 2016 Indian sports drama film which is inspired from the life of Indian cricketer and former national team captain Mohammad Azharuddin. Who is the director of the film?
Tony D'Souza.
The film is produced by Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor for Sony Pictures Networks, and features Emraan Hashmi in the titular role. Nargis Fakhri, Prachi Desai and Lara Dutta play crucial supporting roles.

42.    Senior goalkeeper who has been appointed as the captain of the national Hockey team for the Rio Olympics?
Sreejesh P.R.
India's long-time captain Sardar Singh was replaced by goalkeeper PR Sreejesh as the skipper of the Indian men's hockey squad for Rio Olympics.

43.    How many planets have been discovered by the NASA's Kepler mission?
1284.
NASA's Kepler mission has verified 1,284 new planets – the single largest finding of planets to date. These planets beyond our solar system — exoplanets — were discovered with the help of NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, which launched in 2009.

44.    Russian world weightlifting champion who has been banned by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) for four years after he failed a doping test?
Alexei Lovchev.

45.    Which city is ranked the most polluted city according to the data released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 12, 2016?
Zabol. (Iran).
Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh take the second and third spot, respectively.

46.    Who is the 12th Chief Minister of Kerala?
Pinarai Vijayan.

47.    Who is sworn in as the first female president of Taiwan?
Tsai Ing-wen.

48.    Which club won the Europa League title-2016 defeating Liverpool in the final?
Sevilla.
Sevilla achieved a remarkable hat-trick as it became the first club to win three successive Europa League titles.

49.    Which club won the 14th Federation Cup Football title defeating Aizawl in the final?
Mohun Bagan.

50.    Name the non-governmental organisation (NGO) set up in Mumbai to work with street- children which was named Charity of the Year at the first-ever charity awards in the UK?
Magic Bus.
Magic Bus, which supports over 360,000 children and 8,500 young people across 22 states in India and recently launched a pilot programme in the UK, was honoured for its innovative use of a mentoring model and sport-based curriculum to engage children at the Asian Voice Charity Awards 2016.

51.    Who became the first African to scoop PFA Player of the Year award (2016) in Premier League history?
Riyad Mahrez.
He is a professional footballer who plays for English club Leicester City and the Algerian national team as a winger.

52.    Who was elected the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on May 22, 2016?
Anurag Thakur.
Ajay Shirke elected as BCCI secretary.

53.    Which club won the 2015–16 Coppa Italia
Juventus
Juventus successfully defended their title after beating Milan 1–0. They secured a record eleventh title in the competition.

54.    BJP leader and former IPS officer who was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry  on May 22, 2016?
Kiran Bedi.

55.    Which club won the FA cup 2015-2016?
Manchester United.

56.    Which club won the French Cup-2016?
PSG (Paris St Germain).

57.    Which country successfully launched the first technology demonstrator of indigenously made Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), capable of launching satellites into orbit around earth and reentering the atmosphere?
India.
Reusable Launch Vehicle—Technology Demonstration Programme is a series of technology demonstration missions that has been conceived by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as a first step towards realising a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) re-usable launch vehicle.

58.    Which film has won the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival held in May 2016?
Daniel Blake.
British director Ken Loach is the director of the film “Daniel Blake”.

59.    Which club won Kings Cup -2016?
Barcelona.
Barcelona defeated Sevilla in the final.

60.    Which countries signed a total of 12 of agreements on economy, trade, transportation, port development, culture, science and academic cooperation, on May 23, 2016?
India and Iran.

61.    Which country fully lifted a decades-long ban on May 23, 2016, on the sale of military equipment to Vietnam?
U.S.A.

62.    The 42nd G7 summit was held in?
Japan.
The 42nd G7 summit was held on May 26–27, 2016 at the Shima Kanko Hotel in Kashiko Island, Shima, Mie Prefecture, Japan.

63.    An Indian woman has given birth to the world's biggest baby girl on May 30, 2016. What is the weight of the baby girl?
15lbs.
The girl was born in hospital to a 20-year-old called Nandini in the south west Karnataka region.

64.    The former India and Railways all-rounder who has been appointed India's head coach for the team's tour to Zimbabwe?
Sanjay Bangar.

65.    Who was named Chief Minister of Puducherry in May 2016?
V.Narayanasamy
He is the 10th Chief Minister of Puducherry.

66.    Former Argentine junta leader who has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for crimes committed under Operation Condor - a conspiracy between South America's dictators in the 1970s?
Reynaldo Bignone.

67.    Who has been elected as the 14th Chief Minister of Assam?
Sarbananda Sonowal.
Previously he served as Union Minister for Sports & Youth Affairs and Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and Skill Development in the Narendra Modi Government.

68.    Which club won the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League?
Manchester United.
The 2015–16 UEFA Champions League was the 61st season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 24th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.

69.    Which team clinched the 2016 IPL title by beating Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final?
Sun Risers Hyderabad.
Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Royal Challengers by eight runs to be crowned champions of VIVO IPL 2016.
Man of the Match in the final of IPL-2016: Ben cutting (Sun Risers Hyderabad) for his 39* off 15 ball & 35/2.

70.    Which state emerged as champions of the 13th National Youth Athletics Championship?
Kerala.

71.    Which players shared the Players of the series in the three test cricket matches between England and Sri Lanka held in England in May 2016?
Jonny Bairstow (England) and Kaushal Silva (Sri Lanka).
Series - England won the 3-match series 2-0

CURRENT AFFAIRS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS APRIL 2016

1.    Which country has officially blocked Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and South Korean websites in April 2016 in a bid to further control access to outside information?
North Korea.

2.    New Zealand all-rounder who has retired from ODIs, two days after his side was knocked out of the World T20 at the semi-final stage by England?
Grant Elliott.
Elliot finished his ODI career with 1976 runs in 83 matches, including two centuries and 11 half-centuries, at an average of 34.06 and 39 wickets to his name.

3.    Which city has been declared first kerosene free city of India in April 2016?
Chandigarh.
Chandigarh has been declared kerosene free with sale of subsidised cooking and lighting fuel being stopped in Chandigarh from April 1, 2016 completely.

4.    The Upper House of Myanmar's parliament approved a Bill on April 1, 2016 to give state counselor role for the leader of National League for Democracy (NLD). Who is that leader?
Aung San Suu Kyi.

5.    Which country won the T20 World Cup 2016 defeating England in the final?
West Indies.
West Indies' Carlos Brathwaite smashed England's Ben Stokes for four successive sixes to snatch a sensational four-wicket win in World Twenty20 final as the Caribbean side became the first team to win the title twice.

6.    Which country claimed their first Women's World Twenty20 with a pulsating eight-wicket win over Australia in Kolkata?
West Indies.

7.    Which film was declared the worst film at the 8th Golden Kela Awards, which annually recognises the worst in Hindi cinema like Razzies?
Dilwale.
Created by Random Magazine, Golden Kela winners are selected each year by an online poll and receive an award in the shape of a golden banana.  The other award winners are:
Worst Actor (male) - Arjun Kapoor for Tevar.
Worst Actor (female) - Sonam Kapoor for Prem Ratan Dhan Payo.
Worst director - Sooraj Barjatya for Prem Ratan Dhan Payo.

8.    Name the fastest train in India which was launched on 5 April 2016 and operates at a speed of 160 km/h (99 mph)?
Gatimaan Express.
Gatimaan Express is a semi high speed train that runs between Delhi and Agra in India. The train will take a travel time of 100 minutes to cover 188 kilometres (117 mi) journey from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Agra Cantonment railway stations.

9.    Who Becomes the First Sikh Officer In The US Army To Serve With A Turban And A Beard?
Simratpal Singh.
A Sikh army captain, Simratpal Singh, who had decided to sue the United States military for discrimination in March, has won the case. He can continue wearing a turban and beard while being in duty.

10.    Panama papers recently revealed hidden Black money of more than 500 Indians which include two Bollywood celebrities on the list along with Kushal Pal Singh. Who are they?
Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
A huge data leak from a law firm “Mossack Fonseca” in Panama suggesting it hid billions of dollars in assets of global politicians, sports stars and entertainers threatened to dramatically boost the country’s reputation as an offshore haven for money laundering. These are secret documents of firms belongings to global and Indian power-figures parking money in the tax haven.

11.    Who has resigned as Pakistan head coach following his side's group-stage exit at the World Twenty20?
Waqar Younis.

12.    Who was sworn in as the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on April 4, 2016?
Mehbooba Mufti.
PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti was sworn in as the 13th chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

13.    Who became Chelsea's head coach on a three-year deal after Euro 2016?
Antonio Conte.
He is currently manager of the Italian national team and has signed a three-year contract to take charge of English club Chelsea after UEFA Euro 2016.

14.    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 5 inaugurated a scheme which is aimed at creating jobs and promoting entrepreneurs among SC, ST and women by extending loans at cheaper rates. Which is that scheme?
‘Stand Up India’.
The ‘Stand Up India’ scheme was launched by Narendra Modi at a function held at Noida. Under the scheme, which will be implemented through 1.25 lakh bank branches, banks will give loans at the "least applicable rate" of interest. Also every bank branch, including private sector, will give loans between Rs 10 lakh and 1 crore to at least one SC/ST and one woman entrepreneur under the scheme.

15.    Which state of India has declared a total ban on the sale of all forms of alcohol with immediate effect from April 2016?
Bihar.

16.    Who has been appointed as the new Director General of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication for a period of three years?
K.G.Suresh.

17.    South Africa's first non-white woman judge who has been conferred upon the highest French civilian honour?
Navanetham Pillay.
Navanetham Pillay was the first non-white woman judge of the high court of South Africa and has also served as president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda which tried leaders of a genocide that left nearly a million people dead.

18.    Prime Minister of which country was conferred Saudi Arabia's highest civilian honour- the King Abdulaziz Sash in April 2016?
India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred Saudi Arabia's highest civilian honour, the King Abdulaziz Sash, on April 3, 2016. Among other notable recipients of this honour are US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

19.    The wicketkeeper-batsman who has been appointed as Pakistan's T20I captain?
Sarfraz Ahmed.

20.    Name the Bangladesh blogger who opposed radical Islam hacked to death by unidentified assailants in April 2016?
Nazimuddin Samad.
A law student of Jagannath University in Dhaka’s old quarter, Samad was known as an atheist to his friends. He was involved in a 2013 movement to demand capital punishment for war crimes during Bangladesh’s war of liberation against Pakistan in 1971.

21.    Who has been named the most powerful businesswoman in Asia by Forbes in April 2016, leading a list of 50 women leaders from the region that includes eight from India?
Nita Ambani.
She is the Chairperson of Reliance Foundation. SBI Chairman and Managing Director Arundhati Bhattacharya has been ranked second on the 2016 Asia’s 50 Power Businesswomen list that features trailblazing women from China, Indonesia, Australia, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines and New Zealand.

22.    Which country recently has made it illegal to pay for sex, in a move designed to curb prostitution?
France.
Under the new law of France, anyone caught purchasing an act from a sex worker will be fined and required to attend classes on the harms of prostitution.

23.    Name the member of Fifa’s independent ethics committee who has resigned from his post following allegations related to the Panama Papers leak?
Juan Pedro Damiani.
Damiani tendered his resignation on April 4, 2016 after the investigatory chamber had launched a probe into alleged links between him and his compatriot Eugenio Figueredo, the former Fifa vice-president who was arrested last year on corruption charges by the United States Department of Justice.

24.    Which train became country's first train to have CCTV cameras installed in all coaches, as part of Railways' efforts to strengthen security of passengers particularly women travellers?
Shan-e-Punjab Express.
As many as 122 CCTV cameras have been installed in 21 coaches of the train, which runs between Amritsar and New Delhi.

25.    Italian defence and aerospace major Finmeccanica’s former chief who has been sentenced by the Milan appeals court to four-and-a-half years in jail for false accounting and corruption in the sale of 12 VVIP choppers to India for over Rs 3,600 crore?
Giuseppe Orsi.

26.    An explosion and blaze sparked by fireworks have killed at least 100 people at a Hindu temple in the Indian state of Kerala on April 10, 2016. Which is that temple?

Puttingal Devi Temple.
The fireworks exploded as thousands of people had gathered to celebrate a local New Year festival. About 15,000 pilgrims were visiting the temple to mark local Hindu celebrations during the last day of a seven-day festival of the goddess Bhadrakali.

27.    Renowned commentator who has been removed from the IPL-9 commentary team following a controversy during India's WorldT20?
 Harsha Bhogle.
Harsha Bhogle, who has been associated with Indian cricket since the mid-80s and who has been a part of the IPL commentary team since the first season in 2008, has been removed from the panel by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). According to reports, Bhogle was excluded from the IPL commentary team after some senior Indian cricketers complained to a board official following a recent ICC World Twenty20, 2016 game.

28.    Name the indigenously developed surface-to-air missile of India which was successfully test fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur on April 11, 2016?
Akash.

29.    Who became the first bowler to take 300 wickets in T20 matches when he dismissed David Miller of Kings XI Punjab in the IPL match held in Mohali?
Dwayne Bravo.

30.    Name the Indian cricketer who has joined the recently-announced Premier Futsal football league as its brand ambassador?
Virat Kohli.

31.    England cricketer who has been forced to retire from the sport with immediate effect after being diagnosed with a serious heart condition?
James Taylor.
Taylor had been diagnosed with Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy [ARVC], a similar diagnosis to that of Fabrice Muamba after the footballer collapsed while playing for Bolton Wanderers in 2012.

32.    Famed Indian woman biker who was named “Lady of Harley”, died in a road accident in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district?

Veenu Paliwal.
Veenu Paliwal (1970-2016) was a well-recognized Indian motor biker from Jaipur, Rajasthan. For her enthusiasm about bikes, she was named the "Lady of Harley" (Dunes Harley-Davidson) and "HOG Rani".  Paliwal had recently been named the Lady of the Harley 2016.

33.    Tata Steel, largest steel producer of India has signed an agreement to sell the loss-making 4.5-million tonne long-product Scunthorpe steel plant in Britain to UK-based investment firm for a nominal sum. What is the name of that British-based investment firm?
 Greybull Capital.

34.    Name the Spanish made high-speed train which is capable of running at a maximum speed of 200 kmph, reached Mumbai ahead of their crucial test run by the Railways?

Talgo train.
Besides reducing travel time, Talgo’s lighter trains consume 30 per cent less energy which will help railways reduce their power bill.

35.    Name the world champion professional boxer who has retired from boxing after sealing a comprehensive victory over Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas?

Manny Pacquiao.
Pacquiao is generally considered to be one of the greatest boxers of all time as he is the first and only eight-division world champion, in which he has won ten world titles, as well as the first to win the lineal championship in five different weight classes. He is also the third fighter in boxing history to win three "Glamour Division" titles (flyweight, featherweight, and welterweight). According to Forbes, he was the second highest paid athlete in the world as of 2015. He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 2000s (decade) by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA), World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organization (WBO).

36.    Which country ranked first in the latest global football rankings, released by world football's administrative body FIFA on April 7, 2016?
Argentina.
Argentina took over from Belgium at the top of the rankings. World champions Germany slipped to fifth and Copa America winners Chile move up to third -- their highest position. India have dropped two places to be ranked 162nd in the latest global football rankings.

37.    Which IIM has topped the list of best management institutes in the ‘India Ranking 2016’ – the first-ever national ranking of universities by the Government of India?
 Indian Institute of Management Bangalore.
IIT Madras has been ranked first in the Engineering category followed by IIT Bombay at number 2 and IIT Kharagpur at number 3 in the rankings for various private and government institutions released by Human Resource Development Ministry. The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) was launched by the HRD Ministry on September 29, 2015. It evaluates higher educational institutions in Engineering, Management, Universities & Pharmacy categories.

38.    Who became the first woman from Kerala to win the senior national badminton championship?
P.C.Thulasi.
She won Gold medal in the 34th National Games 2015 in badminton singles against Telangana. In April 2016, she won the Yonex Sunrise 80th National Badminton Championship single's title.

39.    What is the codename the nuclear-capable undersea ballistic missile which is secretly test fired by India recently?
K4. K4 is capable of hitting targets upto 3,500 kilometres away.

40.    Head coach   of AC Milan who has been sacked from the post recently?
Sinisa Mihajlovic.
AC Milan has sacked head coach Sinisa Mihajlovic with youth-team boss Christian Brocchi replacing him until the end of the season. AC Milan is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in Serie A.

41.    The New Developed Bank (NDB), formed by BRICS countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, on April 16, 2016 sanctioned its first set of loans of $811 million (about Rs. 5,405 crore). Of the sum of money handed out, an Indian Bank will receive $250 million (about Rs. 1,666 crore) for energy projects. Which is that Bank?
Canara Bank.
India was among the first four countries to get a loan from the newly established BRICS New Development Bank which gave a USD 250 million funding to Canara Bank for a renewable energy project.

42.    Sri Lanka's veteran spinner who  announced his retirement from 50-over and Twenty20 internationals (on April 17,2016) in order to carry on playing Test matches, with a view to extend his Test career?
Rangana Herath.
Herath is a specialist left-arm bowler, widely known as best spinner ever played for Sri Lanka after the retirement of legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. He holds the record of best bowling figures in Tests by a left-arm spinner. He took 74 wickets in 71 one-day internationals and another 18 in 17 T20 matches for Sri Lanka.

43.    Who won the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters crown-2016 defeating Gael Monfils (France) in the final?
Rafael Nadal.
This is his ninth Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters title.

44.    Who won the Chinese Grand Prix -2016, Formula One motor race?
Nico Rosberg.

45.    Who became the first female acting Chief Justice of Nepal's Supreme Court?
Sushila Karki.

46.    Who has become the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympic Games?
Dipa Karmakar.
Karmakar, also a medalist at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, qualified for the Rio Olympics in artistic gymnastics. Since the independence of the country, 11 Indian male gymnast have taken part in the Olympics (two in 1952, three in 1956 and six in 1964) but this will be the first for an Indian woman at the Olympics.

47.    Which team won the 2015/16 edition of the I-League after a convincing 2-0 win over Salgaocar FC?
Bengaluru FC.

48.    Which country won the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament-2016 defeating India (4-0) in the final?
Australia.
The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is an annual international men's field hockey tournament held in Malaysia. It began in 1983 as a biennial contest. The tournament became an annual event after 1998, following its growth and popularity. The tournament is named after the ninth Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia, Sultan Azlan Shah, an avid fan of field hockey.

49.    Haryana Government has recently decided to rename Gurgaon and Mewat district. What is their new name?
Gurgaon as Gurugram.
Mewat as Nuh.

50.    Who has been appointed as the first ever CEO of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on the recommendation of the Justice Lodha Committee?

Rahul Johri.

51.    Name the computer engineering student from Kerala who won a cash prize of Rs. 7 lakh from social media giant Facebook for his discovery of a bug, which has the magnitude to bring down the Facebook into shambles?
Arun S Kumar.

52.    Anti-slavery activist who will be the first woman to appear on a US banknote for more than a century?
Harriet Tubman.
Tubman, who was born a slave around 1820 and helped hundreds of others escape, will feature on the new $20 bill. The United States twenty-dollar bill ($20) is a denomination of U.S. currency. The seventh U.S. President (1829–37), Andrew Jackson has been featured on the front side of the bill since 1928, while the White House is featured on the reverse side. On April 20, 2016, it was announced that a new design, expected to be unveiled in 2020 (the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment), will have a portrait of Harriet Tubman on the front.

53.    Parliament of which country has recently banned all Russian films released after January 1, 2014, saying the move is aimed at improving “national security.”?
Ukraine.
The ban is an amendment to the Law on Cinematography that was adopted by the Ukrainian parliament in 2015.

54.    Which court has quashed the order of the Central government that had put the State under President’s Rule on March 27?
The Uttarakhand High Court.

55.    Mahatma Gandhi’s granddaughter who has been conferred with one of France’s top honour 'The Order of Arts and Letters' for her contribution in promoting peace, solidarity, culture, education, and development?
Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee.

56.    Who becomes the first Malayalam actor who has sworn in as a Member of Parliament (MP) to the Rajya Sabha by the President of India in the category of eminent citizens as per the provisions of Article 80 of the Indian Constitution?
Suresh Gopi.
Five others, including boxer MC Mary Kom, former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, JP leader Subramanian Swamy, former NAC member Narendra Jadhav and journalist Swapan Dasgupta from the field of literature, science, sports, art and social service were also nominated as MP to the Rajya Sabha by the president.

57.    Name the Spanish Jesuit priest who has become an Indian citizen at the age of 90, after a wait of almost four decades?
Father Federico Gussi Sopena.

58.    How many countries signed the Paris Agreement, the historic agreement on climate change on April 22, 2016?
175.
During the 2016 Opening for Signature of the Paris Agreement, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 22 April, 175 Parties (174 countries and the European Union) signed the Agreement. The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gases emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020.

59.    A provincial Pakistani minister for minority affairs who was shot dead in his car on April 22, 2016?
Sardar Soran Singh.
Sardar Soran Singh, who was a Sikh, had held one of several seats reserved for religious minorities in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly.

60.    Which Bollywood superstar has been chosen as the goodwill ambassador for the Indian contingent for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games?
Salman Khan.

61.    Which sport person becomes the most talked-about and most trending sportsman in  India across social media, including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram?
Virat Kohli.
Kohli averaged a record of close to 12 lakh conversations in March 2016, compared with 7 lakh for Dhoni, according to social media tracker Autumn Worldwide.

62.    Name the Bangladesh English professor who was hacked to death by ISIS militants near his home in April 2016?
AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee.
There have been systematic assaults in Bangladesh in recent months specially targeting minorities, secular bloggers, intellectuals and foreigners.

63.    Which country has banned the Apple mobile entertainment services in April 2016?
China.

64.    What is the name of the experimental plane flying around the world without a single drop of fuel landed in California after a two-and-a-half day flight across the Pacific?
Solar Impulse 2.

65.    The Union finance ministry of India on 29-04-2016 agreed to increase interest rate on provident fund deposits to ………… per cent for 2015-16?
8.8%

66.    The Indian American who has been appointed as the U.S. envoy to the central African nation of Chad in April 2016?
Geeta Pasi.

67.    Who beat defending champion Kei Nishikori to win the Barcelona Open -2016?
Rafael Nadal .

68.    Who won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award (2016)?
Novak Djokovic (Tennis).
The list of winners at the 2016 Laureus World Sports Awards:
Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award: Serena Williams (Tennis)
Laureus World Team of the Year Award: All Blacks, New Zealand (Rugby)
Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award: Jordan Spieth (Golf)
Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award: Dan Carter (Rugby)
Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability: Daniel Dias (Swimming)
Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year: Jan Frodeno (Ironman Triathlon)

69.    What is the name given to the  entrance examination in India, for students who wish to study any graduate medical course (MBBS), dental course (BDS) or postgraduate course (MD / MS) in government or private medical colleges in India?
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or NEET-UG.
NEET-UG (Undergraduate), for MBBS and BDS courses, will be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). NEET-UG replaced the All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT) and all individual MBBS exams conducted by states or colleges themselves. However, many colleges and institutes have taken a stay order and conducted private examinations for admission to their MBBS and BDS courses.

70.    What is the name of India’s first small area finance bank (SFB) which started its operations on April 13, 2016?
Capital Local Area Bank (CLAB).
CLAB is the first among the 10 applicants to get final license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The lender is currently active as local area bank. Punjab-headquartered Capital Local Area Bank commenced operations with 10 branches.

71.    Which cricketer has officially been confirmed as New Zealand's captain in all three formats of the game?
Kane Williamson.
He is set to become the 29th man to lead New Zealand in Test cricket.

72.    Popular cartoonist and the creator of the legendary cartoon characters “Boban and Molly”, passed away on April 27, 2016?
Toms.
V T Thomas, popularly known as Toms, has been a household name in Kerala for the past half century and more for his cartoon siblings Boban and Molly. The famous characters he created, Boban and Molly were the children of his neighbour.  Initially these two characters appeared in a cartoon column Sathyadeepam weekly in 1950. Later on, these characters became part of the Malayala Manorama weekly in 1957.

73.    Name the seventh and final of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) series of satellites which was placed in geosynchronous orbit successfully on April 28, 2016?
IRNSS-1G.
The satellite was launched from the First Launch Pad (FLP) of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota on board PSLV-C33.

74.    Which footballer becomes first Indian to play in the Europa League?
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was named in Norwegian club Stabaek FC's squad for their Europa League qualifying match against Welsh Premier League side Connah's Quay Nomads FC, making him the first ever player from India to play in the competition.