Planning Commission renamed "Neeti Ayog"

India's Planning Commission will be renamed "Neeti Ayog" as part of a plan to restructure the institution that the government believes has run its course.

The name, replacing "Yojana (planning)" with "Neeti (policy)" will be announced in an amended resolution for the new plan body today, sources said.

Earlier this month, PM Modi held discussions with chief ministers on replacing the Soviet-style body with a 'Team India' concept that would give states a greater role in developing Asia's third largest economy.

The Planning Commission had suggested to a group chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that its replacement body should be structured to meet the need of changing economic paradigm and comprise sectoral experts and states' representative. The restructured plan panel could be a combination of three or four divisions.

In his first Independence Day speech in August 2014, PM Modi had indicated that the 64-year-old Commission had lost its relevance. Later, he tweeted asking for public feedback on what shape the institution should take.

It was India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, a socialist who admired Joseph Stalin's drive to industrialize the Soviet Union, who in 1950 set up - and chaired - the Planning Commission to map out a development path for India's agrarian economy.

A government-backed report suggested replacing the Planning Commission with a think tank more in line with a US-style Council of Economic Advisors.

However, the opposition Congress has criticised the plan, calling it "shortsighted and dangerous".

Some Tit - Bits on Planning Commission:

The Planning Commission is an institution in the Government of India, which formulates India's Five-Year Plans, among other functions. It is located at Yojana Bhawan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi. It was established in accordance with article 39 of the constitution which is a part of directive principles of state policy.

The composition of the Commission has undergone considerable changes since its inception. With the Prime Minister as the ex officio Chairman, the committee has a nominated Deputy Chairman, who is given the rank of a full Cabinet Minister. Presently the post of Deputy Chairman of the Commission is vacant, after the new Government in the Center.

Present ex officio members of the Commission, are the Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister, Home Minister, Health Minister, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister, Information Technology Minister, Law Minister, HRD Minister and Minister of State for Planning.

The Planning Commission's functions as outlined by the Government's 1950 resolution are following:

Read More

CURRENT AFFAIR | Daily GK Update 31 DECEMBER 2014

1. Palestinian statehood resolution fails at UNSC

i. The UN Security Council has failed to adopt a Palestinian statehood resolution that set a deadline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestinian territories by 2017.

ii. The long-anticipated draft tabled on Tuesday night drew the support of eight countries -- Argentina, Chad, Chile, China, France, Jordan, Luxembourg, Russia -- just one shy of the nine needed to pass a resolution in the absence of a veto by any of the Council’s five permanent members.

iii. The United States and Australia opposed the resolution while the United Kingdom, Nigeria, South Korea, Rwanda and Lithuania abstained.

2. Kudankulam commercial power: SEBs to pay more per unit

i. The significance of commercial generation of power from the first unit at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project is that the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) will start charging money from the State Electricity Boards (SEBs) to which it sells the electricity.

ii. Kudankulam-1 has been declared a commercial unit from the midnight of December 31, 2014. “We are working out the tariff per unit that we will be charging from the SEBs,” a top NPCIL official said.

iii. R.S. Sundar, Site Director, Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, said Kudankulam-1 had been generating its full power of 1,000 MWe from December 10, 2014.

3. Ronaldo voted Europe’s top footballer

 

i. The results of the survey showed 89 of the 144 reporters queried named the Real Madrid forward as the region’s top player,

ii. Portuguese football phenomenon Cristiano Ronaldo was voted by European sports reporters Europe’s best football player for the second year in a row.

iii. The results of the survey, carried out by Uruguay’s El Pais daily, showed 89 of the 144 reporters queried named the Real Madrid forward as the region’s top player.

iv. German goalie Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) and Argentina’s Lionel Messi (Barcelona) came in distant second and third places, with 19 and 16 votes, respectively.

4. Gmail blocked in China, Great Firewall suspected

i. Inc’s Gmail was blocked in China after months of disruptions to the world’s biggest e-mail service, with an anti-censorship advocate suggesting the Great Firewall was to blame.

ii. Almost all of Google’s services have been heavily disrupted in China since June this year, but until last week Gmail users could still access e-mails downloaded via protocols like IMAP, SMTP and POP3. These had let people communicate using Gmail on apps like the Apple iPhone’s Mail and Microsoft Outlook.

iii. The Google disruption began in the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the government’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.

5. Lupin’s HIV drug gets USFDA nod

i. Drug firm Lupin has received tentative approval from the U.S. health regulator to market a generic version of Prezista tablets, used in treating HIV infection.

ii. The company has received tentative approval from the United States Food and Drugs 

Administration (FDA) to market its Darunavir Ethanolate tablets in multiple strengths in the American market, Lupin said in a statement.

iii. Last week, the company had received USFDA approval to market a generic version of ViiV Healthcare’s Epivir Tablets, used in treating HIV infection, in the American market.

6. IRDA renamed to Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India

i. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) was renamed as Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India on 30 December 2014.

ii. The change in name came in to effect after the promulgation of Insurance Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014, by the President of India on 26 December 2014.

iii. The amendment was done to the Insurance Regulation and Development Act, 1999 by inserting the words India after Development Authority in Section 105 of the Ordinance amends section 2 (1)(b) of the IRDA Act.

7. Union Government signed 75 million dollar loan deal with ADB for KIUWMIP

i. Union Government on 30 December 2014 signed a loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for 75 million dollar and 1.8 million dollar grant for Karnataka Integrated Urban Water Management Investment Program (KIUWMIP).

ii. The funds will be used to improve water resource management in three towns of Karnataka, namely Byadagi, Davanagere and Harihar in the Upper Tungabhadra sub-basin.

iii. This project will help increase water treatment capacity by 15000 cubic meters per day.

Read More

CURRENT AFFAIR | 29-DECEMBER-2014

Here we post the CURRENT AFFAIR on the DAILY BASIS .....

1. Congress marks 130th Foundation Day

i. The Congress celebrated its 130th Foundation Day on Sunday as the party marked the occasion in a low-key manner.

ii. Party president Sonia Gandhi unfurled the party flag at its 24, Akbar Road headquarters in the presence of many senior leaders.

iii. Established in 1885, the Congress has seen its political fortunes slide this year. After facing a rout in the Lok Sabha elections, the party has lost a string of assembly elections.
  

2. US marks end of war in Afghanistan

i. The longest war in American history has come to a “responsible conclusion” with the withdrawal US and NATO combat forces from Afghanistan.

ii. NATO’s war in Afghanistan, fought for 13 years, came to a formal end on Sunday with a flag-lowering ceremony in Kabul that marked the transition of the fighting from US-led combat troops to the country’s own security forces.

iii. In the 13 years since US forces landed in Kabul post 9/11 to throw out Taliban out of power, some 2,200 US troops lost their lives in the war against terror in Afghanistan.

iv. From January 1, the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) combat mission, will be replaced by a NATO “training and support” mission.

3. Tata Coffee names Sanjiv Sarin as CEO designate

i. The board of directors of Tata Coffee Ltd. has informed Bombay Stock Exchange that it has approved the appointment of Sanjiv Sarin as the ‘CEO designate’.

ii. Tata Coffee said Mr. Sanjiv Sarin will assume charge as Managing Director and CEO of Tata Coffee Ltd. after the retirement of Hameed Huq, the current MD and CEO.

iii. Hameed Huq will retireretired on March 31, 2015 and has been with Tata Coffee for over 15 years and held the position of Managing Director since 2010.

4. AirAsia QZ8501: Indonesia plane 'at bottom of sea'

 i. The missing AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501 is likely to be at the bottom of the sea, the head of Indonesia's search-and-rescue agency has said.

 ii. The search is continuing for the aircraft, a day after it disappeared with 162 people on board, but no trace has been found so far.

iii. Based on the co-ordinates given to us and evaluation that the estimated crash position is in the sea, the hypothesis is the plane is at the bottom of the sea.

5. L&T Hydrocarbon bags Rs 894 cr offshore contract from ONGC

i. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) today said it has bagged an offshore contract worth Rs 894 crore from Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for additional development of the Vasai East project.

ii. The Rs 2,500 crore project will result in incremental oil production of 1.83 million metric tonne (MMT) and incremental gas production of 1.971 billion cubic metres (BCM) by 2030.

iii.  L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE) has bagged the contract from ONGC to improve recovery factor of Vasai East field where production started in 2008, and it is scheduled to be completed by April 2016.

6. PM chairs high-level meeting on 'Smart City' initiative

i. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has on Monday chaired a high-level meeting with Government officials on the Smart City initiative.

ii. The Prime Minister has asked the Ministry of Urban Development to convene a workshop of all central and state Urban Development Authorities at the earliest.

iii. He said one of the aims of the smart city initiative should be to improve the quality of urban governance, thereby lending greater strength to the overall governance processes of the country.

7. Black money: Over 1,000 entities under Sebi scanner

i. At least 1,000 individuals and companies have come under the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi) scanner for allegedly using stock markets to evade taxes and launder money through companies mostly existing on paper.

ii. A large number of over 1,000 entities currently under scanner - which include individuals and 'shell' companies created by them - are actually related to those already facing action by Sebi or other regulators including in some major scams that have come to the fore in the recent past.
  

Read More

CURRENT AFFAIR UPDATE FOR 13 DECEMBER 2014

1. Dineshwar Sharma has been appointed as the next chief of Intelligence Bureau(IB).

i.  A 1979-batch IPS officer of Kerala cadre known for keeping a low profile.

ii. Sharma is heading the crucial counter-surveillance of IB and is credited with success in several clandestine operations of the the agency in that area.

iii.Sharma, who hails from Bihar, will succeed Syed Asif Ibrahim whose tenure ends on December 31.

iv.Sharma has served at various desks in Intelligence Bureau since he was posted in the organisation in 1991 which includes Kashmir, Northeast besides stints in Lucknow.

2. Ruhi Singh won Miss Universal Peace & Humanity 2014.

i. Ruhi Singh of India was in news because she won Miss Universal Peace & Humanity 2014 at Beirut, Lebanon.

ii. She is the first person to win this pageant from India and she won the pageant among the 145 other countries.

iii. Rebecca Boggiano from Australia finished as first runner-up and Sofia Alkhadra from Palestine was the second runner-up.

3. Asha Bhosle awarded DIFF Lifetime Achievement Award 2014

 i. Playback singer Asha Bhosle on 10 December 2014 was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 11th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) held in Dubai.

ii. She received the award for her decades of dedication to Indian Film Industry.

iii. Along with her, another Egyptian actor Nour El-Sherif was also received the DIFF Lifetime Achievement Award for his work on over 100 films.

4. Oil India signs contract for two oil blocks in Myanmar

i. Oil India Ltd, the second largest state explorer, has signed contract for two offshore oil and gas blocks it had bagged in Myanmar.

ii. OIL along with its consortium partners signed Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) for two offshore blocks M4 and YEB at Nay Pyi Taw.

iii. A total of 30 blocks (11 shallow water and 19 deepsea) were put on offer in this bidding round. OIL and partners bid for three offshore blocks M-4, M-8 and YEB and won two of them.

5. ONGC declares interim dividend, notifies 3 discoveries.

 i. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) on Saturday announced three new oil and gas discoveries in Krishan Godavari Basin and Mumbai offshore and said it will pay its shareholders an interim dividend of 100 per cent.

ii. “The total payout on this account will be Rs 4,277.75 crore out of which the Government of India will receive Rs 2948.08 crore on its shareholding. In addition, dividend distribution tax of Rs 855.55 crore.

iii. ONGC said it has made three discoveries — one in deepwater KG Basin off the east coast, second in Mumbai offshore basin off the west coast and the third in Cauvery basin in the southern onland part of the country.

6. India’s Forex reserves down $1.64 billion.

i. According to the RBI’s weekly statistical supplement, foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the Forex reserves, plunged $867.4 million at $289.95 billion in the week under review.

ii. The foreign currency assets had risen $1.42 billion at $290.82 billion in the week under review (Nov 28).

iii. The value of special drawing rights (SDRs) was lower by $21.6 million at $4.20 billion.

iv. Gold reserves for the week under review were down by $753.2 million at $18.98 billion.

7. Lima talks: New draft text introduced without consultation.

i. Former Vice President of the Unites States Al Gore, former President of Mexico Felipe Calderon, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Peru's President Ollanta Humala, and Peru's Environment Minister and President of the COP, Manuel Pulgar Vidal, gathered at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Lima, Peru.

ii. Delegates from more than 190 countries are meeting in Lima, to work on drafts for a global climate deal that is supposed to be adopted next year in Paris.

iii. Developing countries have been opposing the mitigation centric approach of the developed countries which are not ready to commit to financial targets or technology transfer.

8. Australia defeated India in a thriller.

i. Australia defeated India in the first test of the  Border-Gavaskar trophy in Adelaide.

ii. Virat Kohli scored a fighting hundred but in vain as was outshown by Nathan Lyon's 11 wickets haul.

iii. Australia is now 1-0 up in the series with the next match to be played at Gabba.

Read More

CURRENT AFFAIR QUESTIONS ASKED IN 2014 GOVERNMENT EXAMS

  1. 150 km missile launched by DRDO recently – Prithvi
2. 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting will be held in – Malta
3. 24th ASEAN summit venue – Nay Pyi Taw
4. A Scheme named Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls is also known as – Sabla
A. R. Rahman street is in which country – Canada
5. Accidental prime minister written by “SANJAY BARU” and was published by – Penguin books limited 
6. Adult literacy rate in 2011 census – 74.04 % 
7. Amount provided for developing 100 samrt cities – 7060 crores 
8. Amul related to which revolution – White Revolution
9. Amul set up Dairy worth 200 crore at which city – Varanasi
10. Army Flag day is observed on – 7
11. th December 
12. Ashes trophy played between countries – Australia and England
13. Author of lowland – Jhumpa Lahari 
14. Azlan Shah who died recently is a – Hockey Player
15. Banks Nationalization – 1969
16. Beiji oil refinery located in – Iraq
17. Best ranked IIT among BRICS top universities 2014 – IIT Delhi
18. Bharatiya Mahila Bank Chairman – Usha Ananantha Subramanium
19. Bharatiya Mahila Bank inaugurated by – Manmohan Singh
20. Book “My Journey : Transforming into dreams” written by – APJ Abdul Kalam
21. Budget in which article – Article 112
22. C.Rangarajan estimation percentage of poverty line – 29.5% 
23. Camel is the official animal of which state – Rajasthan
24. Capital of Argentina – Buenos Aires
25. Capital of Bhutan – Thimphu
26. Capital of Brazil – Brasilia
27. Capital of Canada – Ottawa
28. Capital of Ethiopia – Addis Ababa 
29. Capital of Sweden – Stockholm
30. Capro Group has won the International Business of the year award is owned by – Lord Swaraj Paul
31. Casual Vacancy written by – J K Rowling
32. CBS full form – Core Baking Solution
33. Chemical and fertilizer cabinet minister – Ananth Kumar
34. Chinese Currency – Yuan
35. Commercial Paper is issued for how many days – A minimum of 7 days and a maximum of up to one year from the date of issue
37. Commercial Papers issued in what multiples – Rs. 5 lakh or multiples thereof
38. Committee on Cauvery water dispute – B. S. Chauhan
39. Committee on Financial inclusion - Nachiket Mor Committee
40. Constituency of Nitin Gadkari – Nagpur
41. Country having least global peace index – Syria
42. Country having three top most companies – USA
43. CSO full form – Central Statistical Organization
44. Currency of Afghanistan – Afghan Afghani
45. Currency of Italy – Euro
46. Currency of Kuwait – Kuwaiti Dinar
47. Deen dayal upadhyaya gram jyoti yojana is or which purpose – power supply to rural areas 
48. DRDO developed which indigenous plane – Tejas
49. ECB stands for – External Commercial Borrowings 
50. ECB stands for – External Commercial Borrowings 
51. FIBA is related to which sport – Basket Ball
52. FIFA 2014 Mascot – Fuleco (it is a portmanteau of the words “Futebol” (Football) and “Ecologia” (Ecology))
54. Food processing industries minister – Harsimrat Kaur Badal 
55. Full form of ASCII – American Standard Code for Information Interchange
56. Full form of CAG – Comptroller and Auditor General
57. Full form of NVRAM – Non Volatile Random Access Memory
58. Functions of RBI – Bankers Bank
59. Gillette cup is associated with which sport – Cricket
60. Head of SIT Committee – MB Shah
61. Headquarters of Infosys - Bengaluru
62. Highest rural population state as per Census 2011 – Uttar Pradesh
63. Highest Urban Population of which state – Maharashtra
64. How many languages are there in Indian Currency note – 15 languages
65. Human rights day is observed on – 10th December
66. IBSA full form – India, Brazil, South Africa
67. In Lok Sabha elections if any candidates win two seats (like our PM) so in what duration of time he has to leave one seat – 14 days
69. Indian currency notes bear a signature of – RBI Governor
70. Indian oil corporation is going to set up a biggest oil refinery at - paradip (Orissa) 
71. Indian Overseas minister – Sushma Swaraj
72. Institute for Development & Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) run by – RBI 
73. International Day for Old Persons observed on – 1st October
75. Iraq currency – Dinar
76. Japan has sea-conflict with which country – China
77. Kanyakumary formerly known as – Cape Comorin
78. Kaveri river water ddispute between which states – Karnataka & Tamilnadu
79. KVP is the Acronym for – Kisan Vikas Patra(Reintroduced in Budget 2014 for small savings) 
80. Lok Sabha Constituency of Sushma Swaraj – Vidisha
81. Malaysia currency – Ringgit
82. Mario Gotze is a famous – German Football player 
83. Minister of Social Justice and empowerment – Thawar Chand Gehlot
84. Myanmar capital – Naypyidaw
85. Nevia first plant in India – Sanand, Gujarat
86. New India assurance and which bank developed a scheme related to Women – Bharatiya mahila bank
87. Nilgiris is located in which state – Tamil Nadu
88. Official Currency of Indonesia – Indonesian Rupaiah
89. One question on Forbe’s list of companies 
90. OPEC has how much percentage of total oil – 81%
91. Playing to win was written by - Saina Nehwal
92. Press freedom day – 3rd May
94. Proposed money for “BRICS BANK” is – 100 Billion dollars 
95. Ramoji Film city is at – Hyderabad, India 
96. RBI Adjust Liquidity by which tool – LAF (Liquidity Adjustment Facility)
97. RBI does open market operations for the purpose of – Regulate the liquidity in the economy 
98. RBI established in – 1935
99. Recently Hindustan Motor Car plant shut down at – Uttarpara plant in West Bengal
100. Recently in which state Solar Thermal Power plant installed – Rajasthan
101. Recently India banned China milk products. What was the reason – Due to presence of melamine,used for making plastics and fertilizer
103. Recently Navaratna status given to which organization – National Building Construction Corporation & 
104. Engineers India Ltd (EIL)
105. Recently PM Inaugurated a hydro power plant at which place – Uri (Jammu & Kashmir)
106. Recipient of 49th Jnanapeth Award – Kedar Nath Singh
107. Regulatory authorities of Cooperative banks & RRBs – NABARD
108. Reliance company head name – Neeta Ambani
109. RIL & Network 18 Deal (in crores) – 4000 crores
110. Sachin Tendulkar coins were sponsored by which company – East India Company
111. Sahara the Untold story written by – Tamal Bandyopadhyayy
112. Salarjung Museum located in which state – Telangana (Hyderabad)
113. Satyajit ray film and television institute is located at – Kolkata
114. Sign on 1 Rupee Currency Note – Finance Secretary
115. SMSME cabinet minister – Kalraj Mishra
116. State with highest per capita milk availability – Punjab
117. Study of kidney disease comes under which branch – Nephrology
118. Tata group joined which airlines – Air Asia
119. The disease Night blindness is due to the deficiency of which vitamin – Vitamin A
120. The Surface to air missile developed by DRDO – Akash 
121. Thomas cup and uber cup in 206 will be held at –Kunshan, china 
122. Vijay Hazare trophy is related to which sport – Cricket
123. Vijay Sheshadri won Pulitzer prize for – 3 Sections
124. Water resources minister – Uma Bharti
125. What is windows vista – Operating System
126. Where is CRISIL Head Quarters – Mumbai
127. Which award is given to Leander Paes, Ruskin Bond – Padma Bhushan award
128. Which card is issued by NPCI – RuPay Card
129. Which country started first plastic notes – Australia
130. Which device is used to measure Blood Pressure - Sphygmomanometer
131. Which of the following activities is not done by RBI – Trading in commodities
132. Which of the following is not a bank bank - IRDA
133. Which of the following is not an indirect tax – 10% surcharge on income
134. Which of the following is related to Financial inclusion – BSBDA
135. Which of the following is the example of plastic money – Debit Card
136. Which of the following is/are the rating agencies(They gave options as (a)ICRA (b)CIBIL (c)CRISIL) 
137. Which of the following related to social economic development agency – OECD 
138. Which organization collect and publish Financial data – National Sample Survey Organization
139. Which state doesn’t shares the border with Telangana – Jharkhand
140. Who among the following is new deputy governor of RBI – Urjit Patel
141. Who control the Monetary Policy – Reserve Bank of India
142. Who did first hat trick goal in food ball world cup – Thomas Muller (Germany) 
143. Who is a not member of security advisory council – In given option “Prime Minister” is the 
144. answer(Members are National Security Advisor (NSA), the Defence minister, External Affairs minister  
145. Home minister, Finance Minister, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission) 
146. Who is Health Minister – Dr. Harsh Vardhan
147. Who is Richest player in FIFA – Cristiano Ronaldo
148. Who is the current Food & Consumer Affairs Minister – Ram Vilas Paswan
149. Who is the current road, transport, highways and shipping minister – Nitin Gadkari
150. Who is the current SBI Chairman – Arundati Bhattacharya
151. Who provides assistance to small industries – SIDBI
152. Who regulate Monetary Policy – RBI
153. Who was recently hono9red with the Dadasaheb Phalke Acamedy Award for Best Singer (Female)-  Snidhi Chauhan
155. Who won 3 medals in ISSF world cup in Munich – Jitu Rai
156. WIMBLEDON championship is related to which game – Lawn Tennis
157. Winner of Australian Grand Prix – Nico Rosberg
158. World AIDS Day observed on – 1se December
159. World Autism day observed on – 2nd April
161. World economic forum held at – Abuja (Nigeria)
162. World Population day is observed on – July 11
163. World Tourism Day is celebrated on – 27th September 
165. York University, Canada gave award to – Ratan Tata
166. Yuan is the currency for which of the following countries – China

Read More

CURRENT AFFAIR QUIZ FOR OCTOBER MONTH

Hello friends! If you are looking for Current Affairs for October 2014 then no need to search anymore because this page is providing you Current Affairs October 2014 with questions and answers.

QUIZ 

1. India and China agreed to open a new route for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jingping to India. As per the agreement, the new route will be through?

A.    Nathula Pass

B.    Lipulekh Pass

C.    Spanggur Gap

D.   Shipkila Pass

Ans. B

2. Name the Music Maestro Mandolin player who died on 19 September 2014 in Chennai following a failed liver transplant at the age of 45?

A.    Uppalapu Srinivas

B.    Dave Apollon

C.    Ricky Skaggs

D.   None of the above

Ans. A

3. Which State government on 19 September 2014 launched a Unicode based mobile app for android phones to promote the language spoken in the State?

A.    Andhra Pradesh

B.    Tamil Nadu

C.    Karnataka

D.   Telangana

Ans. C

4. The 17th Asian Games is supposed to be held in?

A.    Doha, Qatar

B.    Incheon, South Korea

C.    New Delhi, India

D.   Guangzhou, China

Ans. B

5. Name the youngest Indian sailor who will represent India in 17th Asian Games 2014?

A.    Abigail Jillian

B.    Chitresh Tatha

C.    Vir Menon

D.   Jillian Schlesinger

Ans. B

6. Recently, Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik won the People’s Choice prize at the World Cup of Sand Sculpting-2014 in US. He won prize for his work ____?

A.    Save Tree, Enrich Green

B.    Save Tree, Save the Future

C.    Save Water, Save the Future

D.   Save Water, Save the Life

Ans. B

7. India’s Saina Nehwal clinched the women’s single title at the Australian Badminton Open Super series by defeating ___?

A.    Carolina Marin

B.    LI Xuerui

C.    Wang Yihan

D.   BAE Yeon Ju

Ans. A

8. The major tribal bodies of which State on 8 September 2014 rejected the demand for a separate State called Twipraland?

A.    Madhya Pradesh

B.    Arunachal Pradesh

C.    Tripura

D.   Maharashtra

Ans. C

9. Which state recently made it mandatory for women to wear helmets while riding a two-wheeler?

A.    Maharashtra

B.    Kerala

C.    Delhi

D.   Rajasthan

Ans. C

10. Recently, the power ministry has set up a seven-member panel called “Advisory Group for Integrated Development of Power, Coal and Renewable Energy” to look into issues related power sector. The chairman of the advisory group is _____?

A.    Suresh Prabhu

B.    Pratyush Sinha

C.    Anil Baijal

D.   Partha S Bhattacharya

Ans. A

11. Ramanayaran who passed away recently, was a famous film director in ___?

A.    Tamil

B.    Kannada

C.    Hindi

D.   Telugu

Ans. A

12. Recently, which among the following Indian Airliners has joined global airline body Star Alliance?

A.    Air India

B.    GoAir

C.    IndiGo

D.   Jet Airways

Ans. A

13. Recently, the government of India has extended the ban on imports of milk and its products from China for one more year till 2015. The ban has imposed due to presence of _____?

A.    Urea

B.    Melamine

C.    Magnesium Sulphate

D.   Ammonia

Ans. B

14. Vinod Kumar Duggal resigned as the Governor of which State?

A.    Maharashtra

B.    Madhya Pradesh

C.    Manipur

D.   Nagaland

Ans. C

15. Recently India and ASEAN signed an agreement to strengthen trade relations. In this context, which of the following Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is not signed between India and ASEAN countries?

A.    Free Trade Agreement in services

B.    Free Trade Agreement in investments

C.    Free Trade Agreement in goods

D.   Free Trade Agreement in manpower

Ans. D

16. Who among the following has become the first Indian to win three medals in successive ISSF Shooting World Cup?

A.    P N Prakash

B.    Jitu Roy

C.    Saurav Roy

D.   Prashant Jain

Ans. B

17. The theme of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2014 is ___?

A.    Land Belongs to the Future – Let’s Climate Proof It

B.    Land Degradation – Let’s join hand together to prevent it

C.    Combating land degradation for sustainable agriculture

D.   Desertification and Climate Change – One Global Challenge

Ans. A

18. The “Salar Jung Museum”, which has turned 125 years of foundation recently, is in ____?

A.    Mumbai

B.    Pune

C.    Hyderabad

D.   Kolkata

Ans. C

19. Who among the following has won the prestigious Pen Pinter Prize-2014?

A.    Salman Rushdie

B.    Ronald Clipp

C.    Arundathi Roy

D.   J K Rowling

Ans. A

20. According SEBI new slew of reforms all listed companies including PSU’s must have public shareholding of ___ per cent. Fill the blank with correct option?

A.    Ten

B.    Fifteen

C.    Twenty

D.   Twenty Five

Ans. D

Read More

India's Mars Orbiter Mission / Mangalyan Details

23 IMPORTANT POINTS THAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT MOM(MARS ORBITER MANGALYAN) 

• The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called as Mangalyaan (Mangalyan is an unofficial name)
• This program is run by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization)
• Manufactured by Indian Space Research Organisation Satellite Centre (ISAC)
• Launched into Earth orbit on 5th November 2013
• It was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
• This project is aimed as a "technology demonstrator". It will showcase and prove the capability for    interplanetary missions
• The launch was made using PSLV-XL C25 rocket
• The orbiter will have a life of 6 to 10 months in the orbit
• While orbiting Mars the orbiter will study surface features, minerals and atmosphere on Mars
• There are 5 main instruments on the orbiter:

                A.Lyman-Alpha Photometer (LAP)

                B.Methane Sensor For Mars (MSM)

                C.Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA)

                D.Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS)

                E.Mars Colour Camera (MCC)

• It was successfully inserted into orbit of Mars on 24 September 2014
• India the first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit.
• The Mars Orbiter Mission was achieved on a budget of $74 million, nearly a tenth of the amount    the US space agency Nasa spent on sending the Maven spacecraft to Mars.

Team Members worked on Mangalyaan Mission

• K Radhakrishnan Chairman of ISRO, secretary in department of space.- Responsible for leading          the mission and overall activities of Isro.
• M Annadurai Programme director, Mars Orbiter Mission -Responsible for budget management, direction for spacecraft configuration, schedule and resources.
• S Ramakrishnan Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and Member Launch Authorisation Board. Responsible for realising the rocket (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) that would ferry the Mars orbiter.
• SK Shivakumar Director, Isro Satellite Centre. Responsible for developing satellite technology and implementing satellite systems for scientific, technological and application missions.
• P Kunhikrishnan Project director, PSLV programme; ninth time as mission director. Responsible for seeing the rocket completes its mission successfully and that the satellite is correctly injected in the designated orbit.
• Chandradathan Director, Liquid Propulsion system. Made rich contribution to the realisation of solid motors for sounding rockets
• AS Kiran Kumar Director, Satellite Application Centre- Responsible for designing and building three of the orbiter payloads - Mars Colour Camera, Methane Sensor and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer.
• MYS Prasad Director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Chairman, Launch Authorisation Board- Responsible for range safety and schedules, overall incharge at rocket port.
• S Arunan Project director, Mars Orbiter Mission. -Responsible for leading a team to build the spacecraft.
• B Jayakumar Associate project director, PSLV project -- Responsible for the rocket systems, testing till the final lift-off. 
• MS PannirselvamChief general manager, range operation director at Sriharikota Rocket port. --Responsible for maintaining launch schedules without any slippages

Read More

QUIZ-General Knowledge Questions

1. 13th Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas 2015 will be held in ____? ?

1) Bangalore

2) Kochi

3) New Delhi

4) Mumbai

5) Gandhi Nagar





2. Recently H.L. Dattu sworn in as new ______ Chief Justice of India.

(1) 41st

(2) 42nd

(3) 43rd

(4) 44th

(5) None of these



3. Who is the Program director of Mangalyaan Mission of India?

1) Ratan Kumar Sinha

2) S Ramakrishnan

3) Mylswamy Annadurai

4) K Radhakrishnan

5) None of these



4. The Padma Bhushan awardee MV Kamath, who passed away, recently, was a veteran ____.

1) Historian

2) film director

3) author

4) Journalist

5) None of these



5. Ajay Jayaram is associated with which of the following games?

1) Tennis

2) Table tennis

3) Badminton

4) Billiards

5) None of these



6. Recep Tayyip Erdogan was sworn in as the president of which of the following countries recently?

1) Spain

2) Georgia

3) Cambodia

4) Turkey

5) None of these



7. As revealed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the banking system detected the highest number of counterfeit notes of which of the following denominations in FY14?

1) Rs 50

2) Rs 100

3) Rs 500

4) Rs 1,000

5) None of these



8. A bank draft can be defined as a/an ____.

(1) Letter from commercial bank

(2) Cheque drawn on the bank itself

(3) Direction to a banker to collect a customer’s debt

(4) Instruction to dishonour a stop payment

(5) None of the above



9. The RBI started issuing its bi-monthly credit policy on the recommendation of..?

1) Swaraj committee

2) Raghavan committee

3) Bimal jalan committee

4) Urjit patel committee

5) K.C. Chakravarti committee



10. In which city canara bank has opened its 7th overseas office recently ?

1) New York

2) Tokyo

3) Dubai

4) Beijing

5) London



11. With which sport is Deodhar Trophy associated?

1) Football

2) Volleyball

3) Cricket

4) Hockey

5) Badminton



12. Vistara is the joint venture airlines of ......

1) Tata-Malaysian Airlines

2) Tata-Singapore Airlines

3) Tata-Australia Airlines

4) Tata-Jet Airlines

5) None



13. Which of the following team is not one of the participant of Kabaddi League?

1) Bengal Warriors

2) Telugu Titans

3) Bihar Big Brothers

4) Dabang Delhi

5) Bengaluru Bulls



14. In order to boost tourism, e-VISA to be introduced in a phased manner at how many airports in India in the next 6 months as announced by Finance Minister in the union budget 2014-15 ?

1) 18

2) 5

3) 4

4) 9

5) 25



15. RBI has Recently hiked the trade related remittance limit from Rs.2 Lakh to ______ lakhs ?

1) 4 lakh

2) 5 lakh

3) 6 lakh

4) 8 lakh

5) 10 lakh


Answers:

1	5	6	4	11	3
2	2	7	3	12	2
3	3	8	2	13	3
4	4	9	4	14	4
5	3	10	1	15	2

Read More

CURRENT AFFAIR UPDATE 22 OCTOBER 2014

1. India wins UNHRC re-election; PM expresses joy

i. In a significant victory, India was re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC)from 2015-17, receiving the highest number of votes in the Asia-Pacific group.

ii. India is currently a member of the 47-nation UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and its first term is due to end on December 31, 2014.

iii. India was seeking re-election to the UN body, the elections for which were held on Wednesday in the UN General Assembly.

iv. India was competing in the Asia-Pacific group in which four seats were up for election. The other countries competing in the group were Indonesia, Bangladesh, Qatar, Thailand, Kuwait, Cambodia, Philippines and Bahrain.

v. Out of them, India, Bangladesh, Qatar and Indonesia made it to the UNHRC. India received 162 votes, the highest number in the Asia-Pacific group.

vi. Apart from India, the other 14 member states elected to the Human Rights Council for a three-year term of office beginning January 1, 2015, are Albania, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Botswana, the Congo, El Salvador, Ghana, Indonesia, Latvia, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Paraguay, Portugal and Qatar.

2. India, Nepal sign power trade agreement

i. India and Nepal have inked the Power Trade Agreement (PTA), allowing exchange of electricity and opening up new vistas of cooperation in the hydro-power sector.

ii. Energy Secretary of India Pradeep Kumar Sinha and his Nepalese counterpart Rajendra Kishore Kshatra signed the agreement at a function held at the Prime Minister's Office in Kathmandu yesterday. The two sides had agreed to sign the agreement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Nepal in August.

3. Anita M Singh appointed as Chief of Staff of NSD in US Justice Department

i. Indian-American Anita M Singh on 21 October 2014 was appointed as Chief of Staff and Counselor in the National Security Division (NSD) of the US Justice Department.

ii. Her appointment is part of the restructuring of the NSD. Her appointment was announced by John Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.
 

4. Indian-American student wins innovation award

i. An Indian-American student has won ‘America’s Top Young Scientist’ award for his innovative design of an eco-friendly device that seeks to reduce carbon footprint, while offering power for household usage.

ii. Sahil Doshi, a ninth grader from Pittsburg, competed alongside nine other finalists to be declared winner of 2014 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge.

iii. The award includes $25,000 and a student adventure trip to a destination such as Costa Rica.

5. Switzerland top destination for expats

i.  Switzerland is the world’s favourite destination among expats, followed by Singapore and China, a poll on quality of life for HSBC found today.

ii. “Many Switzerland-based expats mentioned the better work-life balance, availability of outdoor activities and the family-centric culture as the reasons they enjoy the Swiss lifestyle,” the British bank said.

iii. Switzerland emerged the winner, with a trusted economy, good quality of life and comfortable salaries: a quarter of expats said they earned more than $200,000 (157,000 euros) a year.

iv. Asia was a strong region for salaries, with an average annual expat wage of $120,000, compared with a global average of $92,000.

v. Meanwhile, China was a top country for high-earners, with one in four of respondents there earning more than $300,000 a year, and having more disposable income to spend on their social lives.

vi. Other top-ranked countries were Germany, seen as stable and safe, followed by Bahrain, New Zealand, Thailand, Taiwan, India and Hong Kong.

vii. The lowest-ranked of the 34 countries was Egypt, followed by the UK and Brazil.

6. AIBA suspends boxer Sarita Devi for protesting at Asiad

i. Taking a strict action, AIBA has provisionally suspended India's woman boxer Laishram Sarita Devi for refusing to accept the bronze medal at the Asian Games podium ceremony.
ii. Protesting against a controversial verdict, Sarita in an unprecedented move had refused to wear the medal around her neck as she broke down on the podium during the ceremony for the 57-60 kg category.

iii. "The AIBA also provisionally suspended Sarita's coaches (Messrs Gurbakhsh Singh Sandhu, Blas Iglesias Fernandez and Sagar Mal Dhayal) as well as Indian chef-de-mission in the Incheon Asiad, Adille J. Sumariwalla and will not allow any of them to participate at all levels of competitions, events and meetings until further notice," an AIBA statement said.

iv. The 29-year-old boxer accepted the medal in her hand and wiped her tears holding it, before handing it to South Korean silver medallist Ji-Na Park, who had defeated Sarita after what seemed to be a "bad" referee decision.

7. Malala Yousafzai conferred 2014 Liberty Medal

i. Pakistani teenager and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has been conferred the 2014 Liberty Medal for her continued demonstration of courage and resilience in the face of adversity and for serving as a powerful voice for those who have been denied their basic human rights and liberties.

ii. She is the youngest recipient of the American award, which was established in 1988 to commemorate the 200 years of the US Constitution.

iii. The annual Liberty Medal, is given to honour men and women of courage and conviction who strive to secure the blessings of liberty to people around the globe.

iv. Malala has pledged to donate the award money of 100,000 US Dollars towards education in Pakistan. Malala, 17, called for spending money on books, not guns in her speech.

8. Union Government constituted Vishwanathan committee to provide Bankruptcy code for SMEs

i. Union Government on 20 October 2014 constituted Vishwanathan committee to provide Bankruptcy code for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).  The committee was formed under the Union Finance Ministry.

ii. The committee will be headed by former Lok Sabha secretary-general and former law secretary T K Vishwanathan. The committee will prepare a report on corporate bankruptcy framework for SMEs by February 2015.

iii. The formation of the committee is the first step to provide small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with an exit option in case of bankruptcy. The announcement is in tune with a budget promise made by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley to introduce an entrepreneur-friendly legal bankruptcy framework.

9. Mayank Ashar appointed as MD and CEO of Cairn India

i. Mayank Ashar on 21 October 2014 was appointed as the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Cairn India with effect from 17 November 2014.

ii. Cairn India Limited was without a full-time CEO after the resignation of Rahul Dhir in August 2012.

iii. The company first appointed P Elango as Interim CEO who resigned in May 2014. After his resignation, Sudhir Mathur, the Chief Financial Officer of the company was given additional charge of interim CEO.

Cairn India Limited

i. On 9 January 2007, Cairn India Limited was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.

ii. Cairn India is now part of the Vedanta Group, a globally diversified natural resources group.

10. Walsh stays as India coach with a fresh contract

i. A day after his dramatic announcement to quit, India's chief hockey coach Terry Walsh decided on Wednesday to continue in his post after a meeting with top sports officials, who have assured the Australian that his concerns will be addressed in a fresh contract.

ii. After a hectic meeting with the Sports Ministry and SAI officials, the 60-year-old Walsh decided not to go for his resignation. This decision gives much relief to the country's hockey fraternity.

iii. Walsh's decision was announced by the Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who tweeted, "I am happy that after SAI's efforts #TerryWalsh is back. Looking ahead for a bright future for hockey in India."

iv. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) issued a statement, giving details of the meeting and making it clear that Walsh, who guided the Indian team to a historic gold at Incheon Asian Games, had no financial issues with them.

Read More