Q.2195

This city is famous for its white marble. This fact has been cited as the etymological origin of its name, as well as its nickname "ash-Shahabaa" (which means a variant of white). Its old city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site but it's been in the news for all the wrong reasons, especially in 2015.

Which famed ancient city?

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The beleagured Aleppa in Syria, which saw renewed fighting in Sept 2016. More here.

Q.2081

In May 1916, this secret agreement carved up areas in Western Asia held by the Ottoman Empire among European Allied powers. The agreement has been held responsible for many of the geo-political problems in the region and has been the subject of many an article by historians marking its centenary in 2016.

Officially called the Asia Minor Agreement, it is usually referred to by the names of the two diplomats who created it. What's this eponymous name?

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The Sykes-Picot agreement. More here

Q.1912

India’s first indigenously designed warship Indian Navy Service (INS) ______ was decommissioned on 23 December 2015 . It was the lead ship of her class of three guided-missile frigates of the Indian Navy. The other two warships are INS Ganga and INS Gomati. She was also among of the first frigates in the world capable of carrying two Sea King helicopters.

Fill in the blank!

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INS Godavari

Her operations include Operation Jupiter – 1988 (Sri Lanka), Operation Shield and Operation Bolster - 1994 (de-induction of Indian Army from Somalia) and Patrol of Gulf of Aden (PoG) – 2009, 2011 (anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden). In 1988, in an operation called ‘Operation Cactus’, India successfully thwarted a coup d’état against Maldivian Government. ‘Godavari’ and ‘Betwa’ intercepted and arrested the mercenaries, who tried to flee.

Q.1895

On 8 December 2015, a handful of aging U.S. military veterans marked the 74th anniversary of an infamous event. They wore Hawaiian leis around their necks and watched as a bugler played ‘Taps’, when they gathered at Kilo Pier, near the USS Arizona Memorial.

They were the survivors of which attack?

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74th anniversary of attack on Pearl Harbour.

They survived the surprise Japanese bombing raid at Pearl Harbour that drew the United States into World War Two.

Q.1892

The 44th Navy Day was observed on 4 December 2015. The occasion saw screening of a Navy Telefilm titled ‘Empowering India Through Maritime Security and Indigenisation’ on DD National. The Navy day is celebrated every year to commemorate the success of an operation, during which the Indian Navy sank three vessels near the largest Pakistani port of Karachi in a night’s attack.

Which famous operation is this?

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Operation Trident during the 1971 Indo-Pak war.

Q.1881

‘OIR’, the US military operation name for the intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was in the news in the fourth week of November 2015.

What does ‘OIR’ mean?

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Operation Inherent Resolve

Effective from 22nd September 2015, III Corps is responsible for Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR).

Q.1880

The Dayton Peace Accord brought which devastating War that lasted for about four years and claimed over 100000 lives, to an end on 21st November 1995?

The Accord was in news on 21st November 2015 as the world commemorated its 20th Anniversary. The process of signing of accord was led by Richard Holbrooke, the then chief US peace negotiator and Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

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that brought the Bosnian War to an end on 21st November 1995

The accord divided Bosnia into two autonomous entities- the Serb Republic and the mainly Bosniak-Croat Federation and created a highly decentralised and unwieldy system of ethnic quotas.

Q.1870

A ‘Shamal’ which means ‘North’ in Arabic is a wind blowing over Iraq and the Persian Gulf states.

An operation by the French military takes its name from these winds. On 13 November 2015, ISIL Terrorists attacked six locations around Paris killing around 130 civilians and injuring another 200 people. ISIL claimed the attacks were a retaliation for the aforementioned French operation.

What is it called?

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Operation Chammal

While majority of the deaths occurred in the Bataclan concert venue, around 80000 football fans in the Stade de France came under the deadliest attacks who were watching a friendly match between France and Germany. To deal with impending attacks, France President Francois Hollande, who was at the venue during the attack, immediately convened an emergency.

Q.1865

The BrahMos Aerospace Limited is a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India and the Federal State Unitary Enterprise NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM) of Russia. Indian Army on 7th November 2015 successfully test-fired the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile at Pokhran in Rajasthan.

The BrahMos missile is named after which two geographical entities from both the countries?

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Named after two rivers, the Brahmaputra and the Moskva

For BrahMos, it was the 50th test-flight. It is the first supersonic cruise missile known to be in service and is capable of carrying a conventional and nuclear warhead of 300 kilogram.

Q.1826

If the ‘Rajput’ category comprises of Rajput, Rana, Ranjit, Ranvir and Ranvijay.

And the ‘Delhi’ category consists of Delhi, Mysore and Mumbai, then ‘Kochi’ on 30th September 2015 was added to which remaining category?

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Kolkata-class destroyers

Union Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar on 30 September 2015 unveiled the INS Kochi. The Indian navy currently operates two Kolkata, three Delhi and five Rajput-class guided-missile destroyers.

Q.1805

In February 1945, she joined the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service as an honorary second subaltern with the service number of 230873. She trained as a driver and mechanic and was promoted to honorary junior commander five months later.

Identify her.

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Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II became longest-reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. She passed the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria on 9 September 2015 who ruled for 63 years between 1837 and 1901.

Q.1775

The image shows the logo of an initiative which was launched on 9 August 2015 by the Alumni Association of Rajagiri School to honour the ‘sacrifice’ of the family members of brave military men, who laid down their lives for the nation.

What is it aptly names?

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Param Tyag Chakra

It is a web platform aimed at collecting the details of these family members. Everyone can join this initiative in multiple ways like by identifying and referring such families.

Q.1771

Colonel Harwant Singh, a World War-II hero, passed away on 4th August 2015 at Patiala at the age of 95. He was awarded the Military Cross, the highest award of the British Army in 1944 for gallantry during an offensive against the German forces in Italy.

For which extremely important ceremony in 1947 was he the officer-in-charge?

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Flag hoisting ceremony on the first Independence Day of India in 1947.

This was held at Princess Park. He also presided over the ceremony at Red Fort on August 16th 1947.

Q.1761

Shown is the poster for the movie LOC Kargil, which is based on the Kargil War and Operation Vijay of 1999. In the movie, Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey is played by Ajay Devgan, Subedar Yogendra Singh Yadav is played by Manoj Bajpayee, Naib Subedar Sanjay Kumar is played by Sunil Shetty and Captain Vikram Batra is played by Abhishek Bachchan.

What connects these four national heroes?

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They were awarded the Param Vir Chakra

Captain Vikram Batra and Lt. Manoj Kumar Pandey (posthumously). The 16th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas observed across the nation on 26 July 2015.

Q.1695

Give one word for:

-An Indian investigative newspaper
-A Portuguese Music magazine
-Strategic bombing of UK by Nazi Germany
-A British punk rock band
-The mascot of Seattle Seahawks
-Bobby Ellsworth

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Blitz
In May 2015, surrounding areas of Wembley Stadium have been evacuated following the discovery by construction crews of a still-live World War II conventional-explosive bomb, a remnant of the Blitz.

Q.1694

The President inaugurated the 50th anniversary of a monumental achievement by Indians at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

On 20th May 1965, Indian team led by Captain Mohan Singh Kohli of the Navy made history. The team comprised of 21 men but only nine men reached the ultimate pinnacle. Nawang Gombu, thus became first person to achieve this twice, firstly with an American contingent in 1963.

What is this feat which was completed for the very first time on 29th May 1953?

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India’s first historic climb of Mt.Everest
On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
Kohli wrote a book ‘Nine Atop Everest’.

Q.1669

Identify the peninsula to the left in the Dardanelles region in Turkey, which saw lots of Australians and New Zealanders congregate there to commemmorate a centenary on 25 April 2015.

Image: "Dardanelles map2". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dardanelles_map2.png#/media/File:Dardanelles_map2.png

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Gallipolli, the scene of a famous battle between the Ottomans and Allied forces (also including Indians) in World War II. More here on the significance of the event.

This day last year: Q.1304

Q.1664

Lawyer Raphael Jemkin coined this term partly based on events involving Armenians during World War I in Apr 1915. 2015 marks the centenary of this terrible time in 20th century history. Turkey still denies the application of this word to that time, while Pope Francis annoyed them by repeating this word in public.

What word?
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"Genocide". More on the Armenian Genocide here.

This day last year: Q.1299

Q.1653

Guest question by Avinav Prakash | contribute questions

In March 2015, a 30-member contingent of Indian Army began preparing to clean one of the most littered places on earth, hoping to come back with about 4000 kg of waste, taking a cue from PM Modi's "Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan".

To be attempted in May 2015, where are they taking the cleanliness campaign?

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Mount Everest. More here.

This day last year: Q.1288

Q.1534

In Dec 2014, the Hollywood production giant Sony's IT systems were hacked and large amounts of confidential data were made public. This was widely seen as being connected to the release of which Sony film?

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"The Interview", which depicts an assassination plot on North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un. More here.

This day last year: Q.1169