CURRENT AFFAIRS JANUARY 2015

CURRENT AFFAIRS JANUARY 2015

Set 1

1) Which player on 3 January 2015 became the fastest cricketer to reach 12000

Test runs? - Kumar Sangakkara

2) Which bank on 2 January 2015 launched Digital Village Project in Akodara

Village of Gujarat? - ICICI Bank

Note: This was launched in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and

ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochar.

3) IRDA was renamed recently as? - Insurance Regulatory and Development

Authority of India

Note: Change in name came in to effect after the promulgation of Insurance

Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014, by the President of India on 26 December

2014.

4) Who was sworn-in as tenth Chief Minister of Jharkhand on 28 December 2014?

- Raghubar Das

Note: Raghubar Das is the first non-tribal Chief Minister of Jharkhand since the

state came into being on 15 November 2000.

5) BCCI on 28 December 2014 banned which left-arm spinner from bowling in

competitive matches, after his bowling action was found illegal? - Pragyan Ojha

6) Who retired as the Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on

31 December 2014? - K Radhakrishnan

7) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on 1 January 2015 launched integrated

women safety mobile app called? – Himmat

8) Union Government on 1 January 2015 set up the National Institution for

Transforming India (NITI) Aayog to replace? - Planning Commission

9) Which state government on 1 January 2015 launched online Right to

Information (RTI) application filing facility? – Maharashtra

10) Union Government on 2 January 2014 accepted the recommendations of the

Bezbaruah committee on? - Safety of North East people

Note: Bezbaruah committee of five members was set up under chairmanship of M

P Bezbaruah in February 2014 to look into the concerns of the people of the

North East living in other parts of the country.

11) Sports Ministry on 2 January 2015 cleared the National Boxing Federations

new name called? - Boxing India

12) Who took charge as new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Indian

Overseas Bank (IOB) on 2 January 2015? - R. Koteeswaran

13) Union Cabinet recently approved hike of government stake in Industrial

Finance Corporation of India to? - 51 percent

14) Union Government on 29 December 2014 renamed the Department of

Disability Affairs (Nishaktata Karya Vibhag) as? - Department of Empowerment

of Persons with Disabilities (Viklangjan Sashaktikaran Vibhag)

15) Mahendra Singh Dhoni on 30 December 2014 announced retirement from

which format of International cricket? - Test Cricket

16) Who was appointed as the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on 31

December 2014? - M Sathiyavathy

17) Tropical storm Jangmi made landfall in which country on 28 December 2014?

– Philippines

18) Which Indian player on 29 December 2014 won the International Tennis

Association (ITF) singles title of the World Tennis Association circuit held in

Pune? - Ankita Raina

19) AirAsia flight number QZ8501 recently went missing (later confirmed as

crash) with 162 people on board en route from? - Indonesian city of Surabaya to

Singapore

20) Union Government in the recently decided to launch Operation All Out

against Bodo militants in which state? – Assam

21) Who won the ATP World Tennis Championship at Zayed Sports City in Abu

Dhabi on 4 January 2015? - Andy Murray

22) Who took over as the new chairman of Airports Authority of India (AAI) on 2

January 2015? - R K Srivastava

23) Who was appointed as the Chairman of Railway Board on 31 December 2014?

- A.K. Mittal

24) Who was elected as President of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) for

2014-15 on 2 January 2015? - Kiran Bhai Vadodaria

25) President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 30 December 2014 appointed the

Governors of Mizoram, Uttarakhand and Meghalaya. Name them?

Mizoram - Aziz Qureshi, Uttarakhand - Dr Krishan Kant Paul, Meghalaya -

Keshari Nath Tripathi

26) RBI recently amended KYC norms for? - Non-Banking Financial Companies

27) Union Government recently launched Madan Mohan Malviya National

Mission on? - Teachers and Teaching

28) Name the noted educationist and former Vice Chancellor of the Aligarh

Muslim University who died on 29 December 2014? - Saiyid Hamid

29) Jaffna-Kankasanthurai rail track restored by IRCON was recently

inaugurated in which country? - Sri Lanka

30) Who was sworn in as the President of Tunisia on 31 December 2014? - Beji

Caid Essebsi

Set 2

1) Who was appointed as the Vice-Chairman of National Institution for

Transforming India (NITI) Aayog on 5 January 2015? - Arvind Panagariya

2) Who was named as the Business person of the Year for 2014 on 6 January 2015 by Fortune magazine? - Larry Page

3) 102nd Indian Science Congress (ISC) was recently held at? - Mumbai

Note: The theme of the ISC was Science and Technology for Human

Development.

4) Name the French satirical weekly magazine in Paris which was attacked by

three masked gunmen on 7 January 2015? - Charlie Hebdo

5) Which bank on 7 January 2015 launched contactless credit cards and debits

cards called Coral Contactless Credit Card and Expressions Wave Debit Card

respectively in India? - ICICI Bank

6) Who has sworn-in as the 7th President of Sri Lanka on 9 January 2015? -

Mithripala Sirisena

7) Name the joint venture of Tata-SIA which started its flight operation in India

on 9 January 2015? - Vistara Airline

8) Who was on 10 January 2015 appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog with effect from 1

January 2015? - Sindhushree Khullar

9) Which city will host International Hindi Conference in April 2015? - New

Jersey

10) Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5 January 2015

approved to set up the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) in which state? -

Tamil Nadu

11) Who was named as the Brand Ambassador of Andhra Pradesh (AP) health

sector on 6 January 2015? - Amitabh Bachchan

12) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 6 January 2015 released a commemorative

coin to mark the 175th birth anniversary of which industrialist? - Jamsetji

Nusserwanji Tata

13) Which airline was named as the world’s safest airline by AirlineRatings.com

on 6 January 2015? - Qantas

Note: It is Australia’s national airline.

14) Name the new antibiotic discovered by scientists nearly after two decades? –

Teixobactin

15) Which Indian film was on 8 January 2015 nominated for British Academy of

Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards 2015 under non-English best film

category? - Lunchbox

16) Which bank secured its shareholders approval for amalgamation with ING

Vysya Bank recently? - Kotak Mahindra Bank

17) Name the Chinese nuclear physicist who was on 9 January 2015 presented

with the State Preeminent Science and Technology Award 2014 by Chinese

President Xi Jinping? - Yu Min

18) Who presented the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards 2015 to sixteen

personalities on 9 January 2015? - Vice President of India Mohammad Hamid

Ansari

19) Who resigned as Director General of Sports Authority of India (SAI) on 2

January 2015? - Jiji Thomson

20) Board of Control for Cricket in India on 6 January 2015 announced the 15-

man squad for the Cricket World Cup 2015. Who will captain the team? - MS

Dhoni

21) Which country will host the 42nd World Bridge Championships in Sep-Oct

2015? – India

22) PM Narendra Modi on 8 January 2015 inaugurated a state-of-the-art museum

Dandi Kutir at which place? - Gandhinagar, Gujarat

23) Who won 7th Chennai International Open Grandmaster Chess title on 6

January 2015? - Popov Ivan of Russia

24) Who was sworn in as the sixth Governor of Uttarakhand on 8 January 2015? -

Krishan Kant Paul

25) Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on 5 January 2015 launched

the sale of subsidised 5 kg cooking gas cylinders for BPL families under which

scheme? - Free Trade LPG (FTL)

26) Who took charge as Coal India Limited’s full-time Chairman and Managing

Director (CMD) on 5 January 2015? - Sutirtha Bhattacharya

27) Who was on 7 January 2015 appointed as the United Nations (UN) Under-

Secretary-General, Department of Field Support (DFS)? - Atul Khare

28) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 January 2015 released Commemorative

Postage Stamps to mark ___ Years of Mahatma Gandhi’s Return from South

Africa to India? – 100

29) Who won his maiden National Sub-Junior Billiards title at the BRC Gloster

National Billiards & Snooker Championship 2015 recently? - S Shrikrishna

30) Who was elected as the Speaker of Jharkhand Legislative Assembly on 7

January 2015? - Dr. Dinesh Oraon of BJP

31) Which firm launched China's first online bank named WeBank to boost small

businesses on 6 January 2015? - Tencent Holdings

32) Governor's rule was recently imposed in which state on 9 January 2015? -

Jammu and Kashmir

33) Who was appointed as the Prime Minister of West African nation Mali on 8

January 2015? - Modibo Keita

Set 3

1) Who won the 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or award for the best footballer of the year

in the world on 12 January 2015? - Cristiano Ronaldo

2) Who was on 12 January 2015 appointed as Chairman of Indian Space Research

Organisation (ISRO)? - Alur Seelin Kiran Kumar

3) Who has received the Governor of the Year Award for 2015 in the Central

Banking Awards announced on 12 January 2015? - Raghuram Rajan, RBI

Governor

4) Who took charge as Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog on 13 January 2015? -

Arvind Panagariya

5) Which district in Kerala became first District of India to have Complete Rural

Broadband Coverage, as Union Minister for Communications and Information

Technology on 12 January 2015 linked this district to the National Optic Fiber

Network (NOFN)? – Idukki

6) Which club on 11 January 2015 lifted their maiden football Federation Cup

defeating Goa's Dempo Sports Club 2-1? - Bengaluru FC

7) Name the Indian open water swimmer who on 14 January 2015 set a world

record by swimming 1.4 miles in 52 minutes in one degree temperature in the

Antarctic Ocean? - Bhakti Sharma

8) Who was appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) by

President Pranab Mukherjee on 15 January 2016? - Hari Shankar Bramha

Note: He succeeds V.S. Sampath who has retired from service.

9) Baba Ramdev was on 15 January 2015 appointed as state brand ambassador

of? – Haryana

10) Who was appointed as the head coach of Indian men’s football team on 16

January 2015? - Stephen Constantine

11) Who won the Chennai Open Tennis title on 11 January 2015? - Stanislas

Wawrinka

12) Which Pakistan cricket player recently announced his retirement from One

Day International (ODI) and T20 after the Cricket World Cup 2015? - Misbah-ul-

Haq

13) Who won the Brisbane International Tennis title on 11 January 2015? - Roger

Federer

14) Who was on 10 January 2015 selected for the Vikram Sarabhai memorial

award 2015? - MYS Prasad

Note: He is the director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota

Range (SHAR).

15) 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) 2015 concluded on 9 January 2015 in

Gujarat. What was the theme of 2015 PBD? - Bharat ko jano and Bharat ko

mano

16) Which mission of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was on 12

January 2015 won the 2015 Space Pioneer Award in the Science and Engineering

category? - Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)

17) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 15 January 2015 announced sixth Bi-Monthly

Monetary Policy Statement. RBI has cut its main lending rate (Repo Rate) by ___

per cent? - 0.25 (Present Repo Rate - 7.75)

18) Who was on 13 January 2015 presented with the Social Media Person of the

Year Award 2015 by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI)? -

Amitabh Bachchan

19) Which Australian cricketer on 14 January 2015 announced his retirement

from all forms of cricket after a 20-year career? - Brett Lee

20) Reserve Bank of India on 15 January 2015 issued final guidelines for banks to act as? - Insurance Brokers

21) The Red Sari, an unauthorized biography of Congress Party President Sonia

Gandhi, was released by Roli Books in India on 16 January 2015. Book was

written by? - Javier Moro

22) Who was on 16 January 2015 appointed as Nepal's ambassador to India? -

Deep Kumar Upadhyay

23) National Youth Day was observed across India on 12 January every year to

mark the birth anniversary of? - Swami Vivekananda

24) Who was on 12 January 2015 appointed as the 21st chief justice of

Bangladesh, becoming the first non-Muslim to take charge of the office of Chief

Justice of Bangladesh? - Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha

25) Name the Union Minister for Railways who on 13 January 2015 inaugurated

India’s first compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered train on the Rewari –

Rohtak link of Northern Zone? - Suresh Prabhu

26) Which search engine on 13 January 2015 launched its Flight Search Tool in

India? – Google

27) Seventh Vibrant Gujarat Summit was held from 11 January to 13 January

2015 at? - Gandhinagar, Gujarat

28) Who was appointed as CMD (Chairman and Managing Director) of Bharat

Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) on 14 January 2015? - Anupam Shrivastava

29) Who was named as the winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award 2014 for

Sanskrit on 14 January 2015? - Prabhu Nath Dwivedi

30) Who has resigned as Chairperson of Central Board of Film Certification,

(CBFC) on 16 January 2015? - Leela Samson

31) Who has resigned as member of the Union Public Service Commission

(UPSC) on 14 January 2015? - A P Singh

32) Who was on 16 January 2015 conferred with the JGBS-Top Rankers'

Excellence Award for CEO of the year 2014? - R.K. Tyagi, HAL Chairman

33) Which state was on 16 January 2015 selected for the National Award for e-

Governance for the best district-level initiative in Citizen-Centric Service

Delivery through ICT? - Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)

34) Sania Mirza and her partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands of which country on 16

January 2015 won the women’s doubles title of the Sydney International Tennis

Tournament? – USA

35) India on 15 January 2015 observed the ___th Army Day? – 67

36) Pope Francis on 14 January 2015 cannonised Joseph Vaz as the first saint of

which country? - Sri Lanka

37) Union Government on 13 January 2015 removed whom as the Chairman of

Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO)? - Avinash Chander

38) Australia on 10 January 2015 won the 4-match Border-Gavaskar Test series

played against India by 2-0. Who was named Player of the series? - Steven Smith

39) Which Indian professional golfer was on 12 January 2015 voted as the 2014

Players’ Player of the year in Asian Tour? - Anirban Lahiri

Set 4

1) Which cricketer on 18 January 2015 hit the fastest century in One-Day

International (ODI) cricket? - AB de Villiers

Note: The 30-year-old South African captain scored the century in just 31 balls

against West Indies. The previous record was held by New Zealand’s Corey

Anderson who scored a century in 36 balls. He also broke 19-year old record of

the fastest ODI half-century held by Sanath Jayasuriya. De Villers scored fifty

off just 16 balls.

2) Which bank in India was recently named among 50 most valuable banks in

2014 with a market capitalisation of 41.58 billion US dollar? - HDFC bank

Note: It was ranked at 45th position.

3) Who was appointed as the Chairman of Central Board of Film Certification

(CBFC) on 19 January 2015? - Pahlaj Nihalani

Note: Nihalani, known for the 1990s blockbusters Shola aur Shabnam and

Aankhen will succeed Leela Samson who resigned from her office on 16 January

2015.

4) Name the small deposit scheme for girl child launched by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi on 22 January 2015 under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP)

campaign? - Sukanya Samridhi Yojana

5) National Girl Child Day was recently observed on? - January 24

6) Name the Indigenously-built Light Combat Aircraft which was handed over to

the Indian Air Force (IAF) on 17 January 2015? – Tejas

7) National Immunization Day for the year 2015 was observed on? - 18 January

8) Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 17 January 2015 adopted which

Panchyat under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna (SAGY)? - Pachim Bekeli Gaon

Note: It is located in Kamrup district of Assam.

9) The Periyar Tiger Reserve on 20 January 2015 won the National Tiger

Conservation Authority (NTCA) biennial award. It is situated in which state? –

Kerala

10) Which Union Ministry on 21 January 2015 launched the National Heritage

Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) that seeks to preserve and

rejuvenate the rich cultural heritage of the country? - Union Ministry of Urban

Development

11) Which scheme announced by Modi government on 20 January 2015 made it

to Guinness Book of World Records? - Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna(PMJDY)

12) Name the Telugu comedian actor who passed away on 23 January 2015? -

Mailavarapu Surya

13) Name the former Thailand Prime Minister who was impeached on 23 January

2015 by an army-backed parliament? - Yingluck Shinawatra

14) Who won the National Billiards Championship on 17 January 2015 at the

Bengal Rowing Club in Kolkata? - Pankaj Advani

Note: This was his seventh Senior National Billiards Championship. Advani, the

12-time world champion has won the previous six titles in 2012, 2011, 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2005.

15) Which Indian city will host the World Congress on Information Technology

(WCIT) in 2018, as announced recently? – Hyderabad

16) European Union (EU) on 20 January 2015 decided to lift a seven-month-long

ban on the import of ____ from India? – Mangoes

17) Which Committee on 21 January 2015 submitted its report on restructuring of

Food Corporation of India (FCI) to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi? - Shanta

Kumar

18) Name the Saudi Arabia King who passed away on 23 January 2015? - King

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz

19) Which Indian was appointed in the UN peace-building panel recently? -

Saraswathi Menon

20) Name the Prime Minister of Bhutan who visited India from 10 January to 18

January 2015? - Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay

21) Which mobile messaging application on 21 January 2015 unveiled a new

service for sending messages from a Web browser? – WhatsApp

22) Which state will be getting the first international institute in India that is

dedicated to music as announced recently? – Kerala

23) Eicher Motors on 19 January 2015 appointed whom as President of Royal

Enfield? - Rudratej Singh

Set 5

1) Who was crowned Miss Universe 2014 on 25 January 2015? - Paulina Vega,

Miss Colombia

2) Who won the women’s single title of Australian Open on 31 January 2015? -

Serena Williams

Note: She defeated Maria Sharapova, the world number two from Russia 6-3, 7-

6(5) in Melbourne, Australia.

3) Name the eminent Cartoonist who died on 26 January 2015? -Rasipuram

Krishnaswamy Laxman (RK Laxman)

Note: His Common Man, created in 1957, was the symbol of trials and

tribulations of India's ordinary people.

4) Who was on 29 January 2015 appointed as the Chairman of the Sangeet Natak

Akademi (SNA)? - Shekhar Sen

5) Who was appointed as the Foreign Secretary of India on 28 January 2015? - Dr.S Jaishankar

6) Who won the women’s singles of Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold Badminton

Tournament 2015 on 25 January 2015? - Saina Nehwal

7) Alexis Tsipras on 26 January 2015 was sworn in as the Prime Minister of? –

Greece

8) Who were on 26 January 2015 posthumously awarded with the highest

peacetime military honour the Ashok Chakra by President Pranab Mukherjee? -

Major Mukund Varadarajan and Naik Neeraj Kumar Singh

9) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 30 January 2015 constituted a High Powered

Committee to re-examine and recommend appropriate set of businesses, size,

conversion and licensing terms for the Urban Cooperative Banking (UCB) Sector.

Who will chair the eight-member committee? - R Gandhi, the Deputy Governor

of Reserve Bank of India.

10) Anti-Leprosy Day was observed on? - 30 January

11) Which country will host ICC Twenty20 World Cup in 2016 as announced

recently? – India

12) Who took charge as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of National

Research Development Corporation (NRDC) recently? -Hanumanthu

Purushotham

13) Name the Union Minister for Communications & Information

Technology who on 30 January 2015 launched commemorative Postage stamps

on the theme of Swachh Bharat Mission? - Ravi Shankar Prasad

14) Who won the inaugural Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for Poetry at

Jaipur Literature Festival on 24 January 2015? - Poetess Arundhathi

Subramaniam

15) Who was appointed as the Special Director General (DG) of the Central

Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on 27 January 2015? - K Durga Prasad

16) People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on 29 January 2015

announced to create India's first fenced elephant sanctuary at? –Bannerghatta Biological Park in Karnataka

17) Who was appointed as coach of National Men’s Hockey team on 30 January

2015? - Paul van Ass

Note: He succeeded Terry Walsh of Australia.

18) Malaysian government on 29 January 2015 officially declared the

disappearance of which flight as an accident? - MH370

Note: The Beijing-bound Boeing 777 aircraft carrying 239 passengers and crew on

board disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur on 8 March 2014.

19) Who was appointed as the Director General (DG) of the Indo-Tibetan Border

Police (ITBP) on 30 January 2015? - Krishna Chaudhary

20) Who recently won the Allan Border Medal for the Australian Player of the

Year? - Steve Smith

21) Who was on 25 January 2015 appointed as Secretary (Security) in the Union

Cabinet Secretariat? - Divya Prakash Sinha

22) Who was on 30 January 2015 sworn in as 44th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka? -

Kanagasabapathy J Sripavan

23) India on 31 January 2015 successfully test-fired indigenously developed

canister-based inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) Agni-5 from? -

Wheeler's Island off Odisha coast

24) Actor and comedian Mala Aravindan who died on 28 January 2015 was

famous in which film industry? – Malayalam

25) Which company recorded the highest-ever profit of 18 billion US dollars in

corporate history worldwide recently? - Apple Inc

26) Name the President and Founder of Gorkha National Liberation Front

(GNLF) who died on 29 January 2015? - Subhash Ghising

27) Who was on 27 January 2015 appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

of Ogilvy & Mather India with effect from 1 March 2015? - Kunal Jeswani

28) Who on 25 January 2015 became the first lady officer to lead the Inter-Service

Guard of Honour for a major visiting dignitary at the Rashtrapati Bhavan? -

Wing Commander Pooja Thakur

29) Union Government on 30 January 2015 divested ___ percent of its stake in

Maharatna Coal India Limited (CIL)? - 10