1) Union
Cabinet on 10 December 2015 gave its clearance to the Japanese proposal to
build country’s first bullet train line, which will be one of India’s biggest
foreign investments in its infrastructure sector. What is the estimated value
of this project? – $14.7 billion
Explanation: The
$14.7 billion project will link financial capital Mumbai with Ahmedabad through
an ultra-modern bullet train network. Japan had offered to finance 80% of the
cost of this project. Japan’s International Cooperation Agency (JICA) had
completed a feasibility study in July on the 505-km (315-mile) Mumbai-Ahmedabad
corridor offering to cut
travel time to two hours from the current seven to
eight hours.
The
Cabinet’s decision ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit
beginning on 11 January 2015 gave Japan an early lead over China, which is also
bidding to build high-speed rail lines across the country.
However,
official announcement of the project will be done during Shinzo Abe’s visit.
2) Who
was named as TIME magazine’s “Person of the Year” for 2015 as announced by the
magazine on 9 December 2015? – Angela Merkel(German
Chancellor)
Explanation: Angela
Merkel was chosen for this prestigious annual honour for her role in Europe’s
crises over migration and Greek debt.
61-year
Merkel thus joined an eclectic list of former winners, including Adolf Hitler,
Joseph Stalin, Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill and Richard Nixon. She is only
the fourth woman since 1927 to be named an individual winner outright and the
first in 29 years. The other individual women to win were Wallis Simpson
(1936), Queen Elizabeth II (1952) and Corazon Aquino (1986).
Islamic
State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was named runner-up and third place went
to US presidential hopeful Donald Trump.
3) Delhi
has the highest per capita income in India during 2014-15 as reported in Delhi
government’s Delhi Statistical Hand Book, 2015. What is Delhi’s per capita
income according to this Hand Book? – Rs. 2,40,849
Explanation: Delhi
government’s Delhi Statistical Hand Book, 2015 was released on 9 December 2015.
It mentioned that Delhi’s per capita income in 2014-15 rose 13.5% to Rs
2,40,849 from Rs 2.12 lakh in the previous year.
Puducherry
recorded the second highest per capita income in the country at Rs 1,75,006,
followed by Haryana at Rs 1,47,076 during 2014-15.
4) Country’s
first anti-piracy police unit is being established in which state that will
monitor online piracy of films? – Telangana
Explanation: Telangana
Intellectual Property Crime Unit (TIPCU) is the name of country’s
first-of-its-kind anti-piracy police that is being established in the state of
Telangana. It is expected to start work in the next few months. It will have
representatives from cyber-crime police, state IT ministry, internet service
providers, the Telugu film industry, legal experts and financial experts.
TIPCU
is modeled on London’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) and is
being seen as critical for the Telugu film market, which is the second-largest
in South India after the Tamil film industry.
Every
year, 1,500-2,000 films are produced in India, losing up to 30% of their
business to piracy. The industry has long been demanding government
intervention in this area. The government also loses a sizable chunk of tax
revenue to piracy.
5) What
is the name of the mechanism being set up by the Union Govt. with the objective
of supporting all aspects of start-up businesses and other self- employment
activities, as disclosed by the government on 9 December 2015? – Self-Employment
and Talent Utilisation (SETU)
Explanation: Self-Employment
and Talent Utilisation (SETU) is the name given to the mechanism being
established by the Ministry for Skill Development. It will primarily support
all aspects of start-up businesses and other self- employment activities.
6) The
reports of a potential merger of which two chemical and agriculture giants
(valuing nearly $130 billion) resulted in biggest daily gain in seven years in
these scripts on 9 December 2015? –Dow Chemical and DuPont
Explanation: The
reports of the potential merger of chemicals titans Dow Chemical and DuPont
resulted in a flurry of activities in the financial markets on 9 December. The
Wall Street Journal first reported this news on 8 December. According to the
reports the proposed tie-up would merge two agricultural chemicals businesses
and fold in DuPont’s seeds business.
In
agriculture, DuPont sells about one-third of the corn and soybean seeds planted
in the United States, while Dow has about five percent.
As
far as India is concerned, this proposed merger will create a Rs 11,600-crore
speciality chemicals giant in India that will take on the likes of BASF in
chemicals and Syngenta and Monsanto in agrochemicals.
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