1. Which pair won the WTA women’s doubles title defeating the Spanish pair of Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro?
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis.
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis lifted their ninth title together this year. This triumph is especially huge for Martina as the WTA trophy was her 50th WTA doubles title; a milestone only 15 players have reached.
2. Which country has become the world’s seventh-most valued 'nation brand', according to the annual report compiled by Brand Finance?
India.
India has moved up one position to become the world's seventh most valued 'nation brand',with an increase of 32 per cent in its brand value to $2.1 billion. The US remains on the top with a valuation of $19.7 billion, followed by China and Germany at the second and the third positions respectively, as per the annual report on world's most valuable nation brands compiled by Brand Finance. The UK is ranked fourth, Japan is in fifth position, and France is sixth on the list.
Brand Finance is the world’s leading independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy. Brand Finance was set up in 1996 with the aim of bridging the gap between marketing and finance.
3. Which country won the Rugby World Cup defeating Australia in the final?
New Zealand.
New Zealand becomes the first team to retain the World Cup.
4. Hero MotoCorp founder and doyen of Indian two-wheeler industry who passed away on November 1, 2015?
Brijmohan Lall Munjal.
Hero Group, which officially came into existence in 1956, had started its activities in the early 1940s as a bicycle-maker run by the four brothers. After India’s Independence, the Munjal brothers started a small business of manufacturing bicycle components in Ludhiana. Hero MotoCorp is the world’s largest two-wheeler company now for the 14th year in a row. Another group firm, Hero Cycles, has been the largest manufacturer of bicycles since 1986.
5. Who won the Player of the Series award in the three test cricket matches between EnglandandPakistanheldinUAEin2015?
Yasir Shah (Pakistan).
Series - Pakistan won the 3-match series 2-0.
6. Who won the Player of the Series award in the 3 ODI cricket matches between Sri Lanka and West Indies held in Sri Lanka in 2015?
Kusal Perera (Sri Lanka).
Series - Sri Lanka won the 3-match series 3-0.
7. Three-time Oscar-winner who became the first actress to win the Stanley Kubrick Award for Excellence in Film at the Brittania Awards?
Meryl Streep.
Harrison Ford, Meryl Streep, Amy Schumer, James Corden, Orlando Bloom, and director Sam Mendes were feted by the British Academy Britannia Awards.
Harrison Ford was honored with the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment.
Amy Schumer was honoured with the Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy.
James Corden received the Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year.
Orlando Bloom received the Britannia Humanitarian Award.
Sam Mendes received the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing.
8. Name the first-ever passenger jet built and designed by China which is unveiled in November 2015?
C919.
9. Who won the Swiss Indoors Tennis title 2015 defeating Rafael Nadal in the final?
Roger Federer.
10. The world's first robot 'actress': Talking android fitted with a human face is given star role in Japanese nuclear disaster film. What is the name of that film?
'Sayonara'.
Android called 'Geminoid F' is the co-star in the Japanese film 'Sayonara'. The android, called Geminoid F, was designed to look and act like a human with rubber 'skin' and a woman's face - but it is unable to walk and is wheeled around in the film.
11. Name the Iraqi politician who encouraged the administration of George W Bush to launch its invasion of Iraq, passed away on November 3, 2015?
Ahmed Chalabi.
He was an Iraqi politician, a founder of the Iraqi National Congress (INC). He was interim Minister of Oil in Iraq in April–May 2005 and December 2005 – January 2006 and Deputy Prime Minister from May 2005 to May 2006. He became the most prolific conduit of false information alleging that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction WMDs) before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
12. President of which country declared an Emergency on November 4, 2015, suspending key provisions of the Constitution and allowing police sweeping powers of search and detention for three months?
Maldives.
The declaration comes days after investigators arrested the country’s Vice-President Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor on charges of attempting assassinate the President.
13. Who has been appointed as the 43rd Chief Justice of India?
Justice T.S. Thakur.
He is a former acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court and later took over as Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, after which he was elevated to the Supreme Court of India on 17 November 2009.With Chief Justice H. L. Dattu due to retire on 2 December 2015, Thakur was appointed the next Chief Justice of India on 18 November 2015, with effective date 3 December 2015.
14. Prime Minister of Romania who has announced his resignation after mass protests in the wake of a nightclub fire that killed more than 30 people last week?
Victor Ponta.
15. Noted Indian social reformer and founder of NGO Sulabh who has been included in "The Global Diversity List" of 50 top world personalities by The Economist.?
Bindeshwar Pathak.
16. The Reserve Bank has imposed Rs 1 crore penalty on old private sector bank in Kerala for violation of Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML) norms. Which is that Bank?
Dhanlaxmi Bank.
17. Who has been ranked as the world's ninth most powerful person by Forbes magazine in a 2015 list which is topped by Russian President Vladimir Putin?
Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India.
Modi was placed 14th in the 2014 Forbes list of world's powerful people. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is at the second spot followed by US President Barack Obama (third) and Pope Francis (fourth) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (fifth).
18. Which country moved to the top of the FIFA world ranking list for the first time on November 7, 2015 after overtaking Argentina and world champions Germany following their victories in last month's European qualifiers?
Belgium.
19. Who is sworn in as Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister?
Justin Trudeau.
20. Name the four Indian Canadians who w who were sworn in as Cabinet Ministers of Canada on November 6, 2015?
Harjit Sajjan (Defence Minister),Amarjeet Sohi (Minister for Infrastructure), Navdeep Bains (Minister for innovation, science and economic development) and Bardish Jhagger (Minister for Small Business and Tourism).
Herb Dhaliwal was the first Sikh to become a full Cabinet Minister in Canada in 1997, followed by Ujjal Dosanjh in 2004.
21. What is the name of the Christian rock album by Pope Francis which is released on 27 November 2015 on Believe Digital?
Wake Up!.
The album is formed of speeches by Pope Francis recorded in numerous locations worldwide between 2013–15 with accompanying music tracks of prayers and hymns by various Italian artists and producers.
22. Who became the fastest Indian to reach 150 wickets mark in the Indian test cricket history?
Ravichandran Ashwin.
He achieved this feat in his 29th test, when he took Imran Tahir’s wicket in the first innings of the first test against South Africa in Mohali, Punjab. Ashwin also became the first bowler in over 100 years to take 50 wickets after opening the bowling. He achieved this feat in 12 matches off 1888 balls. The previous record was held by Colin Blythe of England who took 74 wickets between 1902 and 1910 in 13 tests. He became the third fastest bowler to reach 150 Test wickets.
23. Registration of Indian branch of a global environmental group has been cancelled by Registrar of Societies in Tamil Nadu on November 6, 2015. Which is that global environment group?
Greenpeace India.
Greenpeace is a non-profit NGO, with a presence in 40 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific.
24. Name the 9 year old accomplished hacker, app developer, cyber security expert and, not surprisingly, CEO of a game development firm, “Prudent Games”?
Reuben Paul.
He was the ‘special ambassador’ at Ground Zero Summit 2015.
25. Well-known Malayalam poet and lyricist who was awarded the Pushkin Medal, a state decoration of Russia, at a ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow?
O.N.V.Kurup.
Kurup is one of the ten people awarded the honour in 2015 for their outstanding services to strengthening peace, friendship, cooperation and mutual understanding between nations.
26. Who won the Player of the Series award in the three test cricket series (Trans-Tasman Trophy-2015) between Australia and New Zealand held in Australia in November-2015?
David Warner.(Australia).
Series - Australia won the 3-match series 2-0.
27. Who becomes India's first transgender Sub Inspector of Police?
K .Prithika Yashini.
The Madras High Court has declared the 25-year-old as a fit candidate, paving the way for her appointment as Sub Inspector by the Tamil Nadu Government. The court has also directed the recruitment board to make changes to draw transgenders to the state police force. Born and brought up as a boy named Pradeep Kumar, the young Computer Applications graduate turned into Prithika after a sex change surgery.
28. Ace Indian shooter who has won Gold medal in 10 metre Air Pistol event in women’s category at 13th Asian Shooting Championships held in Kuwait?
Heena Sidhu.
She is the first Indian Pistol shooter to be Ranked World No.1 (as on 7 April 2014) by ISSF. She is the first Indian Pistol shooter to have won a Gold medal in the 2013 ISSF World Cup Finals -Pistol in 10 metre Air Pistol event.
29. Former Russian press minister and a long time adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin who passed away on November 5, 2015?
Mikhail Lesin.
Lesin once headed state-controlled media giant Gazprom-Media. He was the creator of Russia Today (RT), the state-run Kremlin news service. From 1999 to 2004, he served as Moscow’s Minister of Press, Television, and Radio, a position that granted him enormous power. From 2004 to 2009, he served as an adviser to Putin. In 2013, Lessin was appointed to head Gazprom-Media Holding, which is the largest Russian mass media entity.
30. Who became the first player to reach the 10,000 run-mark in Ranji Trophy cricket?
Wasim Jaffer.
The former India batsman reached five figures when he scored 9 runs for Vidarbha against Bengal. Jaffer scored most of his runs for Mumbai from 1996 to 2015, before being forced to move to Vidarbha this season.
31. Who won the Player of the Series in the three ODI Cricket matches between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh held in Bangladesh in 2015?
Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh).
Series - Bangladesh won the 3-match series 3-0.
32. Name the remote sensing satellite which was successfully launched by China
on November 27, 2015?
Yaogan—29.
The satellite named Yaogan—29 will focus on experiments on survey of land, crop yields and disaster relief. The satellite was carried by a Long March—4C rocket after it was launched from Taiyuan in the country’s northern Shanxi province. This is the 219th mission for the Long March rocket family. China launched the first “Yaogan” series satellite, Yaogan—1, in 2006.
33. Name the extremely rare galaxy of gigantic size which is discovered by a team of astronomers working at the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics in Pune in November 2015?
'J021659-044920'.
This newly discovered galaxy known by its scientific identification 'J021659-044920' was discovered using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), an array of 30 fully steerable, 45-metre diameter antennas, spread out over a 30-km region around Khodad, near Narayangaon town of Pune district.
34. Which cricketer replaced Anil Kumble as the BCCI Technical Committee chairman?
Sourav Ganguly.
35. Chairman of International Cricket Council (ICC) who has been removed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on November 9, 2015?
N. Srinivasan
BCCI president Shashank Manohar will replace Srinivasan. He will complete the remaining term, which ends in June 2016.
36. Which country won the FIFA U-17 World Cup-2015 held in Chile defeating Mali in the final?
Nigeria.
Nigeria is the most successful nation in the tournament's history, with five titles and three runners up. The Brazil is the second most successful with three titles and two runners up. Ghana and Mexico have won the tournament twice.
37. Name the coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) of India which was commissioned by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on 10 November, 2015 at Vasco in Goa?
‘Samarth’.
Samarth class offshore patrol vessel is a series of six vessels being built by Goa Shipyard Limited for the Indian Coast Guard.
38. Name the indigenously made communications satellite of India which was successfully launched on November 10, 2015 from French Guyana in South America?
GSAT-15.
GSAT-15 is an Indian communication satellite similar to GSAT-10 to augment the capacity of transponders to provide more bandwidth for Direct-to-Home television and VSAT services.
GSAT-15 was successfully launched, using one of the world's largest rockets - the Ariane-5.
39. Former India off-spinner who retired from competitive cricket on November 10, 2015?
Ramesh Powar.
Powar had played for the country too, in two Tests and 31 ODIs, taking six wickets in the longest format and 34 in the one-dayers.
40. Sweden's star striker who won Sweden's prestigious Golden Ball award at the annual Swedish football gala on November 9, 2015?
Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Ibrahimovic's award was his 9th in a row and his tenth in total since 2005.
41. Top leader of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) who has been handed over to India on November 11, 2015 by Bangladesh, 18 years after his arrest in Dhaka?
Anup Chetia.
Anup Chetiais the General Secretary of the banned United Liberation Front of Assom in Assam. Chetia was first arrested in March, 1991 in Assam but was released by then Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia. Later on December 21, 1997 he was again arrested in under the Foreigners Act and the Passports Act for illegally carrying foreign currencies and a satellite phone. He was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment by a Bangladeshi court.
42. Who won the Ramnath Goenka Excellence of Journalism award in the regional language category for best reporting for the years 2012-2013?
Biju Paravath.
The Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism is given to journalists from broadcast and print media under different categories. Biju Paravath is the Kannur reporter of Mathrubhumi Malayalam Newspaper.
43. Former German chancellor who is credited with guiding West Germany through economic turbulence and Cold War tensions and turning the country into an economic powerhouse, passed away on November 10, 2015?
Helmut Schmidt.
He served as chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982.Before becoming Chancellor, he had served as Minister of Defence (1969–1972) and as Minister of Finance (1972–1974).
44. The former IAAF chief who has resigned as president of the International Athletics Foundation, the athletics world governing body in wake of Russian athletics doping scandal?
Lamine Diack.
Diack, an honorary International Olympic Committee member until he was provisionally suspended, is under formal investigation in France for corruption and money laundering.
45. Who became the first Indian head to address the British parliament on November 12, 2015?
Narendra Modi.
46. Which countries signed a civil nuclear agreement on November 12, 2015, reaffirming the importance of addressing climate change and promoting "secure, affordable and sustainable supplies of energy"?
India and England.
47. The Chairman of Atlas Jewellery who has been sentenced to three years’ jail by a Dubai court for issuing two bounced cheques for 34 million dirhams?
MM Ramachandran.
Ramachandran , popularly known as Atlas Ramachandran, who has also produced Malayalam films and acted in some films, was arrested by the Dubai police on August 23 following the bouncing of several cheques he had issued to his creditors. Atlas Jewellery has a network of 48 stores in the Gulf countries.
48. Which state has become the first state in India to roll out a transgender policy aimed at ending societal stigma attached to this sexual minority group?
Kerala.
The ‘State Policy for Transgenders in Kerala 2015’ was released by Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson at the ‘International Conference on Gender Equality’ in Kovalam on November 12, 2015. The policy covers all categories of transgenders, including male to female transgenders and intersex people. The policy aims to give 25,000 transgender people in the state a platform to eventually be able to demand a right to equality, dignity, development and expression.
49. Which country tops the Face book’s content removal list according to the social network's biannual Government Requests Report?
India.
India made 15,155 such demands in the January-June period, compared with 5,832 in the preceding six months. Turkey came second at 4,496 and France a distant third at 295.
50. Former Hungary goalkeeper who has died of cancer at the age of 32?
Marton Fulop.
Fulop, who played for Sunderland, Manchester City and Ipswich Town during his years in England, was playing for Greek side Asteras Tripoli when he had surgery in 2013 to remove a tumour from his arm. Fulop was capped 24 times by his country.
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