CURRENT AFFAIRS (25-31 Jan, 2015)

Date: 25-26 Jan, 2015

1) India and the United States signed three Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) on 25 January 2015 as part of Indian Governments
ambitious Smart Cities scheme. Under these MOUs, the U.S. would assist India in developing three smart cities to be developed in
which cities? Allahabad, Ajmer, and Visakhapatnam
2) Who became the first ever woman officer to lead the ceremonial Guard of Honour by leading the Guard of Honour contingent that
was inspected by the U.S. President Barack Obama at Rashtrapathi Bhavan on 25 January 2015? Wing Commander Pooja Thakur
3) Top seed Saina Nehwal defeated the reigning World Badminton singles champion in the womens singles final of the Syed Modi
International Grand Prix Badminton Championships in Lucknow to win the title on 25 January 2015. What is the name of this world
champion whom Sania defeated in the finals? Carolina Marin (Spain)
4) Who won the mens singles title of the $120,000 Syed Modi International Grand Prix Badminton Championship on 25 January 2015
that was held at Lucknow? P. Kashyap (India)
Date: 27 Jan, 2015
1) Who took over as the new Prime Minister of Greece on 26 January 2015 after his party scored a historic win in the landmark
elections held in the country? Alexis Tsipras
2) R.K. Laxman, believed to be the greatest cartoonist India has produced, passed away on 26 January 2015 in a hospital in Mumbai at
the age of 93. He was best known for his daily cartoon strip You said it that featured the common man, his legendary creation. This
iconic carton strip was published in which newspaper? The Times of India
3) Who won the Miss Universe for 2015 that concluded on 25 January 2015 at Miami in (United States)? Paulina Vega of Colombia
Date: 28 Jan, 2015
1) In 2014 which airport claimed the title of the worlds busiest international airport from Londons Heathrow airport, which had held
this coveted title for decades? Dubai International Airport
2) What is the name of the first female bishop in the Church of England who was ordained as a bishop on 26 January 2015?
Libby Lane
3) 14-time Grand Slam singles champion Rafael Nadal was ousted from the Australian Open on 27 January 2015 by which player?
Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic)
Date: 29 Jan, 2015
1) Who was appointed as the new Foreign Secretary after the Union Govt., in a surprising move, sacked Sujatha Singh about seven
months before her tenure on 28 January 2015? Dr. S. Jaishankar
2) According to announcement made by international financial transactions agency Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial
Telecommunication (SWIFT), which currency has recently become one of the top five most-used currencies in the world,
overtaking the Canadian dollar and the Australian dollar? Chinese Yuan
3) Which company reported quarterly profits of $18 billion on 27 January 2015 which isthe largest profit in global corporate history?
Apple Inc.
4) Social-networking site Facebook was hit with a major outage globally on 27 January 2015. On its part Facebook claimed that an
internal technical change affected its configuration systems and denied that it was hacked. However, a group notorious for attentionseeking antics online claimed responsibility for this outage. What is the name of this group? Lizard Squad

5) On 27 January 2015 Finnish researchers claimed to have developed a new search engine that outperforms current ones and
helps people search much more efficiently than search engine behemoth Google. What is the name of this search engine that has been
developed at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology (HIIT)? SciNet
Date: 30 Jan, 2015
1) India Ratings (Ind-Ra), a leading rating agency of the county, on 28 January 2015 stated that the revision in base year of Indias
national accounts will increase the size of the economy to Rs. 111.7 trillion in the financial year 2014-15. With a view to present a more
realistic picture of the economy, the government is coming out with a new series of Consumer Price Index (CPI) with a new base year.
Which new base year is being used for the same? 2011-12
2) What is the name of the impeached Sri Lankan Chief Justice who was reinstated by the new government led by President
Maithiripala Sirisena on 28 January 2015? Shirani Bhandaranayake
3) Private sector IndusInd Bank launched a co-branded credit card for football fans on 29 January 2015. It has tied up with which
renowned English Premier League (EPL) club for this card? Chelsea Football Club
4) Global fast-food restaurant chain McDonalds on 28 January 2015 announced replacing its President and Chief Executive (CEO)
Don Thompson. This decision was taken apparently in view of companys worst financial performances in years. Who will replace
Thomson? Steve Easterbrook
5) Which country will host the ICC T20 World Cup for 2016 as announced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on 29 January
2015? India
Date: 31 Jan, 2015
1) Union Govt. sold its 10% stake in Coal India Limited (CIL) on 30 January 2015. This stake sale was oversubscribed 1.05 times and
fetched about Rs. 22,600 crore. This was the biggest ever share sale by any private or public sector company in India. It exceeded the
previous record of over Rs. 15,000 crore by CIL itself. That record-making stake sale was done by CIL in which year? 2010
2) Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off four Express trains simultaneously from Bengaluru remotely through Telepresence
Service on 29 January 2015. Telepresence Service is a more efficient video conferencing service developed by which public sector
undertaking (PSU) associated with the rail sector? RailTel Corporation
3) Sri Lankas Kumar Sangakkara broke the world record for the most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in one-day internationals (ODIs) on
29 January 2015. He achieved this feat when he reached his 473 dismissal against New Zealand in an ODI. Whose record he
surpassed? Adam Gilchrist (Australia)