Current Affairs of August Month

1. Name the world’s longest serving foreign minister, who passed away recently.
Ans: Prince Saud al-Faisal (Saudi Arabia)

2. Who was nominated as the President of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)?
Ans: Jin Liqun (China). 
                                         He is the former Finance Minister of China.

3. As per the agreement signed with India recently, Kazakhstan will supply how many tonnes of natural uranium to the country?
Ans: 5000 tonnes

4. Name the launch vehicle of ISRO which successfully launched five satellites of United Kingdom.
Ans: PSLV-C28

5. Which city in India signed a memorandum of understanding with China's Xinjinag province to develop twin cities?
Ans: Vadodara

6. Who won men's and women's singles titles in Wimbledon tennis 2015?
Ans: Men's Singles: Novak Djokovic (won against Roger Federer) 
         Women's Singles: Serena Williams (won against Garbine Muguruza)

7. Which legendary Egyptian actor, known for his roles in the movies Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Zhivago, passed away recently?
Ans: Omar Sharif

8. According to the World Bank Group's report titled, The State of Social Safety Nets 2015, which Indian social welfare programme has been ranked as the world's No.1 Social Safety Net Programme, under the Public Works Programme category?
Ans: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)

9. Name the first state in India to install earthquake early warning system? Ans: Uttarakhand

10. Which state has been declared by the Central Government as a 'disturbed area’ for one year, under Section:- 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958?
Ans: Nagaland

11. Who, along with Martina Hingis, won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title?
Ans: Leander Paes

12. India imposed anti-dumping duty for a period of five years, on phenol imports from which country?
Ans: South Africa

13. Which pair won the Wimbledon women's doubles title?
Ans: Sania Mirza (India) and Martina Hingis (Switzerland)

14. How many new sites have been newly included in the world heritage list, by the UNESCO?
Ans: Twenty Four. 
                                The total number of world heritage sites is presently 1031.

15. Name the Russian cosmonaut who set the world record for spending the longest time in space.
Ans: Gennady Padalka

16. Which indigenously developed supersonic surface to air missile was inducted in the Indian Air Force?
Ans: Akash

17. Which Indian movie won the best original screenplay award in the foreign language category at the Madrid Film Festival?
Ans: Buddha in a Traffic Jam. 
                                                    The movie was directed by Vivek Agnihotri.

18. Which Indian American is among the four astronauts who have been selected by NASA for commercial flights to the International Space Station (ISS)?
Ans: Sunita Williams. 
                                      The other astronauts chosen by NASA for this mission are Robert Behnken, Eric Boe and Douglas Hurley.

19. Name the Indian who won the boys doubles title in Wimbledon 2015? 
Ans: Sumit Nagal. 
                                His partner was Nam Ly Hoang Nam (Vietnam)

20. What was this year's theme of World Population Day?
Ans: 'Vulnerable Populations in Emergencies'

Ø  PSLV C- 28: launched three identical mini satellites of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC), and two technology demonstrators, CBNT-1 and De-Orbit Sail, for Surrey Space Technology Limited.

Ø  Indian social welfare schemes listed in World Bank's 'Top Five Social Safety Net Programs' (by number of beneficiaries)
F Category - Name of programme
F Conditional cash transfers - Janani Suraksha Yojana
F Unconditional cash transfers - Indira Gandhi Old Age Pension Scheme
F School feeding - Mid Day Meal Scheme
F Public works programme - MGNREGA