GK & Current Affairs – November 1, 2015

1. The Government of India (GoI) has recently introduced how many fee slabs for e-tourist Visa (e-TV)?
[A]5
[B]7
[C]4
[D]3
Answer: 4
The Government of India (GoI) has revised the e-Tourist Visa (e-TV) fee in four slabs of zero, $25, $48 and $60. The revision of Visa fee has been done on the principle of reciprocity. The bank charges have also been reduced from US $ 2 to 2.5 % of the e-TV fee. There is no bank charge for zero visa fees and the new rates will come into effect from November 3, 2015. The scheme is completely online. Out of 113 Countries included in e-Tourist Visa scheme, 5 counties are covered under the $60 slab viz. US, UK, Russia, Ukraine and Mozambique. The rate of $48 has been fixed for 86 countries viz. Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Grenada, Hungary, Jordan, Palestine, Vietnam, etc. The $25 fee has been fixed for 3 countries viz. Japan, Singapore and Sri Lanka, while zero visa fees apply to 19 countries viz. Argentina, Cook Islands, Fiji, Jamaica, Mauritius, Seychelles, Uruguay, etc.
2. Which Indian Metro has bagged ISO rating for energy efficient management, recently?
[A]Mumbai Metro
[B]Chennai Metro
[C]Delhi Metro
[D]Kolkata Metro
Answer: Delhi Metro
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has become the first ever Metro system in the country to be certified with the prestigious ISO 50001:2011 (EnMS) rating for efficient energy management. The ISO 50001: 2011 Energy Management System (EnMS) is a very recent ISO standard on energy management. It specifies requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving an energy management system, whose purpose is to enable an organisation to follow a systematic approach on achieving continual improvement of energy performance, including energy-efficiency, energy use and consumption. The Delhi Metro is now in the process of getting all the under-construction stations on Phase 3 to be certified as per ISO 50001:2011 standards.
3. ICGS Arinjay was commissioned at which naval base of India, recently?
[A]Mumbai
[B]Goa
[C]Kochi
[D]Chennai
Answer: Kochi
The Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) of Aadesh-Class of Indian Coast Guard, ICGS Arinjay has been commissioned by the chief of Southern Naval Command Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba at the naval base of Kochi, Kerala. It is the15th in the series of 20 FPVs, designed and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited. The ship has been named ICGS ‘Arinjay’, meaning ‘Victory Over Evil’ and will be based at Okha under the administrative and operational control of the Commander, Coast Guard region (north west). The 50-metre indigenous FPV has a displacement of 290 tonnes and has a maximum designed speed of 33 knots and is capable of undertaking multifarious tasks viz. surveillance, interdiction, search and rescue and medical evacuation. It will be used for Anti- smuggling and anti-piracy activities and also for search and rescue operation, Fisheries protection and monitoring activities.
4. The Similipal National Park is situated at which state of India?
[A]Odisha
[B]Himachal Pradesh
[C]Jharkhand
[D]Punjab
Answer: Odisha
The Simlipal National Park is the largest tiger reserve of Odisha, situated at Mayurbhanj district. It is part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves since 2009. The park has a protected area of 845.70 square kilometres and has some beautiful waterfalls viz. Joranda and Barehipani. Simlipal is home to 99 royal Bengal tigers and 432 wild elephants.
5. Which technology giant has partnered with BSNL to install 100 rural WiFi Hotspots?
[A]Google
[B]Microsoft
[C]Facebook
[D]IBM
Answer: Facebook
The social media giant, Facebook partnered with BSNL to sponsor 100 Wi-Fi hotspots in villages across west and southern India. Facebook will pay Rs 5 lakh for BSNL bandwidth for each hotspot per annum. The hotspots are being set up by BSNL-selected vendor Quad Zen. The agreement between Facebook and BSNL is for 3- years and it can be further extended for two more years.
6. Which state government of India will set up bio-ethanol refinery in the state?
[A]Haryana
[B]Kerala
[C]Punjab
[D]Karnataka
Answer: Punjab
The state government of Punjab has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a consortium of Beta Renewables, Novozymes and CVC India Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. to set up a bio-ethanol refinery, for an estimated project worth Rs 950 crore. The bio-refinery will help in solving the chronic problem of wheat and paddy straw burning in the state. It will help in containing the loss of fertility and damage to environment and in generating co-products of biogas, pellets and compost through processing bio-refinery effluents and pellets.
7. Who has been appointed as new India’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, recently?
[A]RC Tyagi
[B]Manish Sharma
[C]Amar Sinha
[D]Manpreet Vohra
Answer: Manpreet Vohra
The Senior diplomat, Mr. Manpreet Vohra has been appointed as India’s Ambassador to Afghanistan. He succeeded Mr. Amar Sinha. Mr. Vohra is a 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently serving as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs.
8. Balance Nail 16-01, which is recently in news, is related to which field?
[A]New star found in Galaxy
[B]Military training
[C]Cyclone
[D]New variety of wheat
Answer: Military training
To help strengthen bilateral defence ties, the special forces of the US and Nepalese armies has launched a month-long joint military training codenamed “Balance Nail 16-01” in Nepal’s mountainous regions.
9. Which among the following banks has recently launched ‘Green PIN’ that will allow customers to generate their PIN at the bank’s ATMs?
[A]South Indian Bank
[B]Punjab National Bank
[C]State Bank of India
[D]ICICI Bank
Answer: South Indian Bank
The Thrissur headquartered bank, the South Indian Bank (SIB) has launched ‘SIB Green PIN’, which allows the customers to generate ATM PIN themselves through any of South Indian Bank’s 1,200-plus ATMs across the country. The Green PIN has replaced the conventional PIN mailer and removed the difficulties involved in sending and receiving of physical PIN mailers.
10. Hashim Abdul Halim, who recently passed away was the former speaker of which state of India?
[A]Madhya Pradesh
[B]Gujarat
[C]West Bengal
[D]Bihar
Answer: West Bengal
Veteran CPI(M) leader and former Speaker of the West Bengal Assembly Hasim Abdul Halin passed away in Kolkata. He was 80. Halin was the Speaker of the State Assembly for a record time of 29 years from 1982 to 2011 during the Left Front rule in the state. Thus, he was the longest-serving Speaker of any Legislative Assembly in the country.

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