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Current Affairs

A publication ofNirdeshak.com

May 2013

Current Affairs from May 1, 2013toMay 31, 2013

1 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs1 May 2013,1 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,1 May 2013 Current Affairs,Current Affairs of 1 May2013,Daily Current Affairs,Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury,

2 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs15% slash in fertilizer subsidy,2 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,2 May 2013 Current Affairs,Bangaru Talli- Andhra Pradesh,Bangaru Talli Scheme for women,CMJ University - Meghalaya,

3 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs3 May 2013,3 May 2013 Current Affairs,Current Affairs of 3 May 2013,Daily Current Affairs - 3 May 2013,Dr.Anbumani Ramadoss,Latest Repo Rate - 3 May 2013,

4 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs4 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,4 May 2013 Current Affairs,ATP,Aviation Arm of Indian Navy,Aviation Armof Indian Navy completes 60 years,Bhikhiwind,

5 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs5 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,5 May 2013 Current Affairs,Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali,Current Affairs of 5 May2013,Karnataka Assembly Polls 2013,PV Sindhu,

6 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs6 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,6 May 2013 Current Affairs,Barisan Nasional (BN),BertrandPiccard,Charanka Solar Park Gujarat,Charanka Solar Park Patan district Gujarat,

7 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs7 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,7 May 2013 Current Affairs,coal block allocation case,Creative IndexReport 2013,Current Affairs of 7 May 2013,Daily Current Affairs - 7 May 2013,

8 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs119 constitutional amendment,119th constitutional amendment,8 May 2013,8 May 2013 - Daily CurrentAffairs,8 May 2013 Current Affairs,Axis Bank to be trustee for NPS,

9 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs9 May 2013,9 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,9 May 2013 Current Affairs,Congress comes to power inKarnataka,Current Affairs of 9 May 2013,Environmental Benefits and Vulnerability Reduction throughMGNREGS,

10 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs10 May 2013,10 May 2013 Current affairs,Ali Haider Gilani kidnapped,Bichitra - Website for RabindranathTagore's works,Current Affairs of 10 May 2013,Daily Current Affairs,

11 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs11 May 2013,11 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,11 May 2013 Current Affairs,2013 as Year of WaterConservation,Ashwini Kumar,Ashwini Kumar resigns as Law Minister,

12 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs12 May 2013,12 May 2013 Current Affairs,2 Major Ports of India,4-year undergraduate course - DelhiUniversity,CURRENT AFFAIRS,Current Affairs India,

13-14 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs13 May 2013 Current Affairs,14 May 2013 Current Affairs,50th career title for Serena Williams,CabinetSecretary - Ajit Seth,Current Affairs of 13 May 2013,Current Affairs of 14 May 2013,

15 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs15 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,15 May 2013 Current Affairs,Air India resumes Boeing Dreamliner787,British Super Priority Visa service,Current Affairs of 15 May 2013,First completely indigenousRotavirus,

16 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs16 May 2013,16 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,16 May 2013 Current Affairs,Current Affairs of 16 May2013,Emergency in 3 states of Nigeria,First CEO of AirAsia India,

17 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs17 May 2013 Current Affairs,17 May 2013- Daily Current Affairs,Ajit Chandalia,Ankit Chavan,Arthur RoadJail,Current Affairs of 17 May 2013,

18-19 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs18-19 May 2013 Current Affairs,Amit Shah,Current Affairs of 17 May 2013,Current Affairs of 18 May2013,Current Affairs of 18-19 May 2013,Current Affairs of 19 May 2013,

20 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs20 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,20 May 2013 Current Affairs,6th cricket to play 300 First Classmatches,6th cricket to play 300 First Class matches - Shivnarine Chanderpaul,Current Affairs of 20 May2013,First defence university of India,

21 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs21 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,21 May 2013 Current Affairs,Arunima Sinha,Arunima Sinha conquersMt. Everest,Arunima Sinha Mt. Everest,Current Affairs of 21 May 2013,

22 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs22 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,22 May 2013 Current Affairs,Current Affairs of 22 May 2013,

23 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs23 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,23 May 2013 Current Affairs,4 Years of UPA-II,Approval for quadricyclesin India,Bajaj RE60,Cash subsidy for diesel and cooking oil for 2012-13,

24 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs2013 Ellen L. Lutz Indigenous Rights Award,24 May 2013,24 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,24 May 2013Current Affairs,25 years of SEBI,80 year old Yuichiro Miura conquers Mt. Everest,

25 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs25 May 2013,25 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,25 May 2013 Current Affairs,50 Years of HimachalAssembly,Current Affairs of 25 May 2013,First Yoga University in India,

26 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs26 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,26 May 2013 Current Affairs,50 years of African Uinion,ChhattisgarhMaoist Attack on Congress,Current Affairs of 26 May 2013,European Champions League 2013,

27 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs27 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,27 May 2013 Current Affairs,Current Affairs of 27 May 2013,IPL 6Finals,IPL 6 Orange Cap winner,IPL 6 Purple Cap winner,

28 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs28 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,28 May 2013 Current Affairs,66th Cannes Film Festival Winner,BestFilm at 66th Cannes Film Festival,Current Affairs of 28 May 2013,Failed Cooperative Banks in 2012-13,

29 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs29 May 2013,29 May 2013 - Daily Current Affairs,29 May 2013 Current Affairs,60th anniversary of Mt.Everest Conquer,Byalalu - ISRO Navigation Centre,Chairperson of NCPCR,

30 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs30 May 2013 Current Affairs,Aruna Roy,Aruna Roy quits NAC,Asos,Coal Regulatory Authority Bill,CurrentAffairs of 30 May 2013,

31 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs20th Asian Athletics Championships,20th Asian Athletics Championships to be held in Pune,31 May2013 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS,31 May 2013 Current Affairs,Abhijit Sen Committee on BPL,CurrentAffairs of 31 May 2013,

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1) What is the name of Additional Solicitor-General, who resigned from his post on 30 April2013? – Harin P Raval (He submitted his resignation to the Union Law Minister AshwaniKumar a day after he wrote to the Attorney-General G.E. Vahanvati that he had been made ascapegoat in the ‘coalgate controversy. In the CBI status report filed in the Supreme Court inMarch, he submitted that the draft status report was not shared with the government. But later,the CBI Director filed an affidavit stating that the report was shared with the Law Minister, aJoint Secretary in the Coal Ministry and an official in the Prime Minister’s Office and thissparked a furore)

2) Price of petrol was reduced by Rs. 3 per liter by state-owned petroleum companies on 30April 2013 as result of decline in international price of crude oil and improvement in Rupee-USdollar exchange rate. This is the steepest reduction in rates in over five years. When the last

“big” reduction in petrol prices was done? – In December 2008, when rates were slashed by Rs. 5

3) Consumer goods giant Unilever Plc. is to raise its stake in its Indian subsidiary Hindustan Unilever to 75% by spending US$ 5.4 billion.What is the present holding of Unilever Plc. in Hindustan Unilever? – 52.48% (Unilever Plc. is an Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant,which is world’s second largest consumer goods company. Indian law requires a minimum public shareholding of 25% for a publicly listedcompany)

4) A six-member inter-ministerial committee was constituted by the Union Govt. recently to suggest measures for enhancing exports fromcountry’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME). Who is the head of this committee? – R S Gujral, Finance Secretary (MSMEcontributed about 8% in country’s GDP and 40% in country’s total exports. However, of-late this sector’s contribution has been decreasingand new reports suggest that MSME’s contribution in exports have dwindled to around 36%. India’s total exports are also experiencingcontinuous decline)

5) The Netherlands got its first King in over 120 years as the Dutch Queen Beatrix on 30 April 2013 signed the Act of Abdication in favourof his son, who therefore became new King of the Netherlands. What is the name of new Dutch King? – King Willem-Alexander (QueenBeatrix abdicated her 33 year old rein by signing abdication document at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. Willem III, who died in 1890,was the last King of the Netherlands)

6) Who was elected as the new Speaker of Bangladesh’s Parliament (Jatiya Sangsad) on 30 April 2013, thereby becoming the firstwoman Speaker of Bangladesh? – Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury (She was the lone candidate for the post and was nominated by theruling Awami League’s parliamentary party. Chaudhury also became the youngest Speaker and she replaces Abdul Hamid, who assumedpresidency recently)

7) What was India’s rank in the recently released Economist magazine’s Index of Democracy 2012? – 38, out of a total of 165 countries(India’s overall score was 7.52. The top three positions go to Norway (9.93) Sweden (9.73) and Iceland 9.65, while the United States isranked 21st with an overall score of 8.11

8) Astronomers of NASA discovered two new exoplanets recently with the help of Kepler space telescope. What are the names given tothese newly discovered exopanets? – KOI-200b and KOI-889b (Exoplanets are planets outside our solar system. More than 850exoplanets have been discovered till now. These two newly discovered exoplanets have about the size of Jupiter but eccentric orbits withperiods of less than 10 days)

1 May 2013



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1) Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh died in the wee hours of 2 May 2013 in a Lahorehospital after being in coma for nearly a week following a brutal assault by other inmates ofthe high security Kot Lakhpat Rai Jail, Lahore. Sarabjit was convicted in which case, thoughhe continuously claimed his innocence? – Involvement in a string of bomb attacks inPunjab province that killed 14 people in 1990 (The previous Pakistan People’s Party-ledgovernment put off Sarabjit’s execution for an indefinite period in 2008. His family claimedthat he was the victim of mistaken identity and had inadvertently strayed across the border inan inebriated state)

2) The high-powered Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), headed by Prime MinisterManmohan Singh on 1 May 2013 approved a modernization project for central paramilitaryforces. How much fund has been allocated for this much-awaited project, which will beimplemented in five years beginning this fiscal? – Rs. 11,000 crore (The central paramilitary

forces which are included in this project include Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan BorderPolice (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), National Security Guard (NSG) and Assam Rifles)

3) Union Cabinet on 1 May 2013 gave its go-ahead for slashing the subsidy on phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers by 15% for thisfiscal. This move is expected to save the government around Rs. 5,000 crore. What was the main reason for this decision? – Fallingglobal prices of fertilisers

4) Which stock exchange recently launched an Islamic equity index especially for Islamic investors? – Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)– This equity index includes 500 stocks of those companies that fulfill Islamic finance principles like staying away from business of alcohol,tobacco and gambling-related products. BSE had also launched India’s first Islamic index in 2010

5) Which brokerage firm’s application for annulment of an erroneous trade executed by one of its brokers was rejected by an NSE panel,by which NSE’s benchmark index Nifty lost almost 900 points on 5 October 2013? – Emkay Global (Emkay Global had to bear thelosses, amounting to about Rs. 51 crore, caused by this trade, but the brokerage firm later requested for annulment of the trade terming itas a one-off error)

6) Which state govt. recently launched the “Bangaru Talli” scheme under which the government would bear Rs. 55, 000 on each girl child topursue studies till graduation and allocate Rs.1 lakh after completion of the course? – Andhra Pradesh (This scheme’s concept is basedon a scheme envisaged by former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who had announced in 2005 that every woman would be madea “lakhpati”)

7) A private university of Meghalaya faces probes after it awarded Ph.D. degrees to as many as 434 candidates in the academic year of2012-13, even as only 10 of its faculty members have doctorates. Which university is this? – CMJ University (Meghalaya Governor R SMooshahary, in his capacity as the varsity’s Visitor, has asked it to withdraw all degrees awarded so far. Terming the admission of over3,300 students as illegal, the governor has directed the university not to take fresh admissions until a new Chancellor is appointed as perUGC regulations)

2 May 2013




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1) Indian cinema completed its 100 years on 3 May 2013. “Raja Harishchandra”, the first filmmade by an Indian (Dada Saheb Phalke) premiered was released exactly 100 years ago on3 May 1913. In which theatre of Mumbai was this landmark film released? – CoronationTheatre

2) RBI came up with its annual monetary policy statement on 3 May 2013. What was theeconomic growth rate proposed for the Indian economy for the current fiscal of 2013-14 inthis statement? – 5.7% (In comparison the growth rate during 2012-13 was at decade’slowest level of 5%)

3) In its annual monetary policy statement of 3 May 2013, RBI Governor D. Subbaraohighlighted which measure as the biggest threat to monetary policy? – Widening CurrentAccount Deficit or CAD (CAD is the difference between inflow and outflow of foreign

currency)

4) What is the new repo rate after RBI announced a cut of 25 basis points in its annual monetary policy statement of 3 May 2013? –7.25% (No changes were announced in cash reserve ratio (CRR), which stays at 4%. Repo rate is now at its lowest level since May2011)

5) Former Union Minister Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss was arrested on 2 May 2013 by Kancheepuram police in connection with a case filedagainst him in 2012. Ramdoss belongs to which party? – PMK (He was arrested in connection with a speech that he made at theChithirai Muzhunilavu Peruvizha meeting organised by the Vanniyar Sangam in 2012 at Mamallapuram)

6) World premier of Amitabh Bachchan’s first major Hollywood film was held on 2 May 2013. What is the name of this film which featuresHollywood aces Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire in the main lead? – The Great Gatsby (The film is based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s1925 novel by the same name)

7) Who was recently selected to head Kolkota’s Victoria Memorial Hall, which is one of India’s finest museums? – Prof. JayantaSengupta (The post of Secretary-cum-curator of Victoria Memorial Hall had been lying vacant since Prof. Chittaranjan Panda completedhis term in January 2012. Prof. Sengupta is a historian from the University of Notre Dame, Paris and has also served as a Fulbrightlecturer at Utah State University)

3 May 2013




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1) Sarabjit Singh’s village came into limelight after his last rites were performed in his villagewith full state honours on 3 May 2013. What is the name of this village, which witnessed hugeoutpourings from all across the state and country on the day of Sarabjit’s funeral? –Bhikhiwind (In Punjab’s Tarn Taran district)

2) A day after Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh died of his injuries after being assaulted in aLahore jail, a Pakistani prisoner in Jammu’s Kot Bhalwal jail was seriously injured after hewas attacked by another inmate on 3 May 2013. What is the name of this Pakistaniprisoner? – Sanaullah Ranjay

3) Who topped the UPSC Civil Services exam for 2012, results of which were announced on3 May 2013? – Haritha V. Kumar of Kerala (Haritha is at present at the National Institute of Customs, Excise and Narcotics in Faridabadwhere she is undergoing training as an IRS officer. This is for the third time in a row that a girl has topped this prestigious exam, which isperceived as India’s toughest exam. Candidates from Kerala bagged three spots amongst the top five ranks and this is after 20 years thata candidate from Kerala has topped the exam)

4) Executive Chairman of ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals), the top-most association of professional tennis players worldwide,passed away on 3 May 2013. What was his name? – Brad Drewett (A former Australian tennis player, Drewett was a top-40 singles andtop-20 doubles player before he retired in 1990. He led the ATP since January 2012 and helped increase prize money at Grand Slamtournaments during his tenure)

5) What is the name of a customized stamp service launched by India Post, which provides facility of printing customized stamps featuringself or any theme to customers? – My Stamp (Under this scheme any Indian national can get a stamp featuring him/her at a nominal costof Rs. 300 for 12 stamps of Rs. 5 denomination. The person may submit his/her photograph or get photographed at the post office for noextra cost and the stamp is printed after police verification that may take one week. This is the latest in a series of measures India Posthas taken to survive in a world of instant messaging, where a letter by post is a thing of the past. The scheme was launched in 2011 inmany states but not many people know about it. The scheme was launched in Chennai recently with emphasis on making it popular)

6) Which branch of Indian Navy completes 60 years of operations during May 2013? – Aviation Arm (The Aviation arm of Indian Navywas founded in May 1963 with a few aircrafts. Six decades later this arm flies 220 aircrafts and will induct new squadrons in comingyears)

7) Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani is among the favourites to buy a US-based sports, fashion and entertainmentmanagement agency, which has been put on sale by privat equity firm Forstmann Little & Co. What is the name of this agency, whichrepresents leading sporting stars such as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams, Lindsey Vonn and JackieStewart? – IMG Worldwide

8) What is the name of the member of Railway Board, who allegedly gave Rs. 90 lakh bribe to Rail Minister Pavan Bansal’s nephewV.Singla for fixing a top level position in the board? – Mahesh Kumar (He was recently promoted as Member (Staff) and was trying to geta lucrative position as Member (Electrical) in the Railway Board. CBI arrested V. Singla on 2 May 2013 in Chandigarh for allegedlyaccepting Rs.90 lakh in cash from Manjunath, the conduit of Mahesh Kumar. Rail Minister Pavan Bansal however distanced himself fromthis incident saying he had no business links with Singla and denied any wrongdoing despite tremendous pressure from the opposition)

4 May 2013




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1) Which South-East Asian country imposed a 33.11% anti-dumping duty on steel importsfrom India recently, thus giving a further blow to Indian steel industry? – Thailand (Thailand’sdepartment of Foreign Trade announced anti-dumping duty from 27 February 2013 andwould continue to be in effect till the first week of August 2013. Earlier Indonesia decided tocontinue to anti-dumping duty against Indian firms Essar Steel and JSW Steel)

2) How much loan would be provided to India by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in nextthree years, as stated by ADB President Takehiko Nakao on 5 May 2013 at the concludingday of the 46th annual meeting of the funding agency held at Greater Noida, India? – US $6billion (India is the biggest borrower of ADB and it had extended $2.4 billion loan to India in2012 across sectors like transport, energy, commerce, industry, trade and finance)

3) Assembly elections were held for how many assembly seats in Karnataka on 5 May2013? – 223 (Election in Periyapatna in Mysore district had been put off to 28 May 2013 following the death of the BJP candidate)

4) An upcoming Indian women badminton player won her first Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament on 4 May 2013, when she won theYonex Sunrise Malaysia Open. What is her name? – PV Sindhu (Sindhu defeated Gu Juan of Singapore by 21-17, 17-21, 21-19 in thefinals)

5) What is the name of a senior govt. prosecutor of Pakistan, who was shot dead on 3 May 2013 in Lahore and who handled the 26/11Mumbai attack case of 2008? – Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali (Ali also handled the Benazir Bhutto assassination case. He was killed in a firingspree by unidentified gunmen while he was driving)

6) Fourth Brigadier-level flag meeting between India and China on 4 May 2013 failed to come to any outcome on the burning issue ofoccupation of Indian territory by the Chinese Army personnel. Where was this meeting held? – At Chushul, Ladakh (Refusing to budgefrom the territory occupied by them, Chinese troops asked the Indian forces to pull back first from the Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) sector ofLadakh)

7) About 3,000 travel agents owing allegiance to Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) will voluntarily keep their shutters down on 7May 2013. What is the reason behind this decision? – To protest against lack of transparency in airfares and unbundling ofdifferent services such as preferential seating, meals, snacks, drinks (except drinking water) and baggage by the AviationMinistry recently

5 May 2013




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1) The border stand-off between India and China in the cold plains of Depsang in EasternLadakh ended on 5 May with an agreement to withdraw troops to their original positions andremove temporary camps that had sparked the face-off since 15 April 2013. Thisbreakthrough was achieved in two back-to-back flag meetings after the third meeting failed.What was the main agreement finalized in this breakthrough meeting? – Both India andChina would simultaneously withdraw their forces from Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO)sector, where the forces face each other head to head (But China had not given up itsdemands that concrete structures and fortifications that have been built by India on its side ofthe border need to be destroyed)

2) What is the name of the ruling coalition of Malaysia which won a simple majority inGeneral Elections held on 5 May 2013? – Barisan Nasional (BN) or National Front (This

front won 112 seats of a total of 222 seats and thus gained a simple majority in the Parliament. Ruling front has been in power for the last57 years. The opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim was expecting a reversal in fortunes as about 80% electorate took part in this election)

3) What is the name of a solar-powered aircraft which successfully completed its first leg of coast-to-coast journey from California to NewYork on 4 May 2013? – Solar Impulse (This solar-powered plane took-off from Moffet Field in San Francisco on 3 May 2013 and landed20 hours later at Phoenix Sky Harbor on 4 May 2013. Solar Impulse used only three-quarters of the plane’s battery power. The plane waspiloted by Bertrand Piccard. If this 5-leg journey succeeds, it will be the first cross-country flying trip with travel occurring during bothdaytime and nighttime)

4) How many mobile consumers are there in India as announced in a recently released survey results conducted by TRAI (TelecomRegulatory Authority of India), which includes mobile consumer figures till February 2013? – 86.16 crore consumers

5) Which state emerged as the state with largest mobile phone consumers in the recently conducted survey by TRAI? – Uttar Pradesh(Uttar Pradesh has 12.16 crore mobile consumers (which includes UP (East) and UP (West) circles). It is followed by Maharashtra (9.75crore consumers including Mumbai circle) and Tamil Nadu (7.18 crore consumers)

6) The Rs. 9,000-crore Gujarat Solar Park (GSP), set up on government wasteland in north Gujarat, has already been producing 214 MWfrom the sun, making it the first Indian state to generate such capacity at a single location. Where is this GSP located? – Charanka inPatan district (When expanded to 5,000 acres from the present 2,669 acres this GSP will generate 500 MW. This will make it Asia’slargest solar farm. In all, Gujarat’s total installed capacity is 605 MW, and projects are operational in 10 districts of the state)

7) An animal species was sighted recently in the famous Kaziranga National Park of Assam recently, after it was believed to have becomeextinct from the park for more than two decades. Which species is it, which was sighted and caught successfully on a camera? – IndianBison (The last time Kaziranga had a record of Indian bisons was in the rhino census of 1978 when 25 bisons were counted. The bisonwas caught in a camera on 19 April 2013 and was later sighted again)

8) Who is the author of the recently released book “The State of the Nation”? – Fali S. Nariman, famous jurist

9) Indian security market regulator SEBI has been mulling over steps it can take to check risks being posed by new-age mobileapplications like Blackberry Messenger (BBM) and WhatsApp. What is the main risk posed by these applications? – Spreadingsensitive stock information by market manipulators through these applications

10) The expert committee set up to work out a fair method for normalizing Class XII board results across 29 different school boards inorder to ensure a level playing field for the reworked Joint Entrance Exam (JEE/0, 2013 finally zeroed in on a normalization scheme aftermonths of debate and discussion. What is the main feature of this normalization scheme? - The percentile of a student will becomputed on the basis of aggregate marks in his/her board from 5 subjects and then JEE (Main) aggregate markscorresponding to the percentile at all India level will be determined

6 May 2013




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1) The Union Cabinet recently decided that women self help groups (SHGs) will getbank loans at 7% interest rate per annum under its flagship programme, National RuralLivelihood Mission (NRLM). What is the existing interest rate under NRLM? – 11.5% to14% per annum (Total burden due to this reduction in interest rate for 2013-14 has beenestimated at Rs. 1,650 crore, of which the Centre will bear Rs. 1,400 crore and theremaining will be met by state governments. This reduction will bring the rate of interest forwomen SHGs at par with the rate at which banks lend to farmers)

2) CBI Director Ranjit Sinha on 6 May 2013 admitted to the Supreme Court that twochanges were made in the final status report on the coal block allocation case at theinstance of Union Law Minister Ashwini Kumar. He also admitted that certain changes weremade on the suggestions of Attorney General GE Vahanvati, then Additional SolicitorGeneral HP Raval and officials of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Coal Ministry.

When was this status report submitted to the apex court? – 8 March 2013

3) The Supreme Court on 6 May 2013 gave its clearance to the national policy for establishment of the controversial Kudankulamnuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu and held that all safety measures have been compiled with. A batch of petitions had been filed byanti-nuclear activists, challenging the project on the ground that safety measures recommended by an expert body had not been put inplace. Which establishment is to operate this plant? – Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited – NPCIL

4) Union Govt.’s ambitious National Food Security Bill was moved in for consideration in the Lok Sabha on 6 May 2013 amidst uproarby opposition benches. The bill however failed to move ahead due to continued din in the house. When this bill was first introduced in theLok Sabha? – On 22 December 2011

5) A controversial re-vote was held for the post of players’ representative on the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) cricketcommittee on 6 May 2013, in which a former Indian cricketer defeated Tim May by 6-4 votes. Who is this former Indian player? –Laxman Sivaramakrishnan (Earlier Tim May had won by a huge margin of 9-1 but a re-vote was held after some boards said that he isunacceptable to them. May is the chief executive of Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA), which is not recognized bythe BCCI. The BCCI is now been accused of arm-twisting other boards to vote in favour of Sivaramakrishnan, its nominee)

6) The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Govt. started functioning from Srinagar from 6 May 2013 as part of “Darbar Move”. What is “DarbarMove”? – Darbar Move is a century old practice under which the J&K Govt. functions six months from each of its two capitals,Jammu and Srinagar. This tradition was started during in 1872 during the Dogra regime of Maharaja Ranbir Singh. The govt.functions from summer capital Srinagar from May to late October and from the winter capital of Jammu from November tolate April

7) What was India’s neonatal mortality rate (NMR) for year 2011 as announced in the latest Sample Registration System (SRS) datareleased recently? – 31 per 1,000 live births (NMR for 2010 stood at 33 per 1,000 live births. This figure remained at 37 for the period2004-07. NMR is number of deaths of newborns aged 28 days or less and is crucial as it comprises 70% of the infant mortality rate (IMR)in the country. Kerala has the lowest NMR of 7 while Madhya Pradesh has the highest NMR of 41 followed by Uttar Pradesh, Orissa andRajasthan)

8) According to the recently released Creative Index Report 2013, which state is India’s most creative in terms of use of moderntechnology, talented people and tolerance?- Delhi (Delhi is followed by Chandigarh, Punjab, Kerala, Goa, Mizoram, Andaman andNicobar Islands, Puducherry and Maharashtra in this index. The study explores the presence of the 3Ts – Technology, Talent and Tolerancein economic development within each state and Union Territory in India. The report was launched by Martin Prosperity Institute, Institute forCompetitiveness and The Prosperity Institute of India)

9) The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPI), which held its summit meet at Abu Dhabi on 5 May 2013, presented a comprehensiveplan to eradicate all types of polio from the world. What is the time frame of this eradication plan? – Year 2018 (This is a six-year plan inwhich efforts will be taken to eradicate polio completely by 2018. Global leaders and philanthropists backed the plan by pledging close tothree-quarters of the required $5.5 billion for this initiative. This initiative apparently takes a cue from India’s success in eradicating polio)

10) Which telecom major hiked its mobile call rates for pre-paid services by 20 to 30% with immediate effect on 6 May 2013? – RelianceCommunications – RCom (This hike applies to both GSM and CDMA services and applies to all customers. This hike is expected tobe emulated by other operators also)

7 May 2013




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1) 119th constitutional amendment, which was moved in the Rajya Sabha by ExternalAffairs Minister Salman Khurshid on 7 May 2013, is associated with which subject? –Giving effect to the acquiring of territories by India and transfer of territories toBangladesh in pursuance of the agreement between the two countries (Members ofthe Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) opposed this amendment as it was moved in the house asthey felt it would lead to a secessionist movement in the state)

2) A two-member Supreme Court bench on 7 May 2013 directed constitution of a largerbench to test the legality of a contentious provision of the Narcotic Drugs andPsychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, that takes away the constitutional power of thePresident and Governors to commute the punishment of a person convicted under this law.

Which section of the NDPS Act pertains to this controversial provision? – Section 32A (This section contains contentious provision ofclipping the powers to the President and Governors to commute the sentence under Articles 72 and 161 of the Constitution)

3) Which bank will replace state-run Bank of India (BoI) as the trustee bank for the National Pension System (NPS) from July 2013onwards? – Axis Bank (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority(PFRDA) had appointed Bank of India as Trustee Bank forNPS for a period of 5 years. The NPS Trustee Bank facilitates fund transfers across various entities of Central Record Keeping Agencysystem – Nodal Offices, Pension Fund Managers and Annuity Service Providers)

4) Indian mutual funds sold how much net funds during the fiscal year 2012-13 as disclosed in the latest data compiled by market regulatorSEBI? – Rs. 22,749 crore (This is the highest net outflow for a single fiscal since 2000-01 when funds had pulled out shares worth Rs.27,670 crore. Net mutual fund sale means a situation when sales of mutual funds exceeds its purchase)

5) Union Govt. informed the Parliament on 7 May 2013 that there is no potential for massive increase in employment in agriculturesector and the sector is projected to contribute no increase in the 11th Five Year Plan. How many agricultural workers are projected tolose job in the 12th Five Year Plan, as stated by the govt.? – About 4 million

6) One of the most active volcanoes of the Philippines erupted on 7 May 2013, spewing huge stones and ash and killing at least 5climbers and trapping more than a dozen others near the crater in its first eruption in three years. What is the name of this volcano? –Mayon (This volcano is situated in Albay Province about 340 km southeast of capital Manila. It has erupted about 40 times during the last400 years.)

7) Who was sworn in as Malaysia’s Prime Minister for a second term on 6 May 2013? – Najib Razak (Razak’s 13 party coalitionsecured a simple majority in the recently held parliamentary elections in the country on 5 May)

8) Which state recently announced launching “Shiksha Setu” cards for all students studying in govt. schools with an objective tokeep the teachers and guardians updated about students’ performance? – Haryana (The move aims to ensure that individual attention isgiven to every student)

9) Pakistani cricketer turned politician Imran Khan suffered non-serious head injuries when he fell off a forklift that was hoisting himon to a stage for an election campaign meeting in Lahore on 7 May 2013. He is the leader of which political party, whose campaign he isleading? – Tahrik-e-Insaf

10) Which team won Indian football’s prestigious I-League for 2013? – Churchill Brothers, Goa (Churchill Brothers scored 52 pointsfrom 25 matches. This is for the fifth time in succession that this title has been won by a team from Goa)

8 May 2013




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1) A parliamentary panel on empowerment of women and rehabilitation of victims of sexualoffences and trafficking placed its report in the Lok Sabha on 8 May 2013. In its report it urged thegovt. to look if the age bar for juveniles accused of crime against women could be reduced from 18 to16. Who is the head of this panel? – Ratna Singh, MP (The panel also proposed a nationaldatabase of offenders, sprucing up forensic labs for speedy analysis of evidences and an overhaul ofthe archival policing system)

2) A recently released assessment report on “Environmental Benefits and VulnerabilityReduction through MGNREGS”, concluded that around 80% of MGNREGS works are related towater resources and this had a significant impact on improving ground water levels and increasingwater availability. Which ministry conducted this survey? – Ministry of Rural Development (incollaboration with Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and GIZ. The sample study for the survey wasconducted in four districts of four states – Andhra Pradesh (Medak), Karnataka (Chitradurga),Madhya Pradesh (Dhar) and Rajasthan (Bhilwara))

3) Congress returned to power in southern state of Karnataka after about 7 years by scoring alandslide victory over the BJP. How many seats were won by Congress out of a total 223 assembly

seats, results for whom were announced on 8 May 2013? – 121 (BJP and JD(S) were tied at 40 seats apiece while former Chief MinisterBS Yedyurappa’s Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) could get just 6 seats. 16 seats were bagged by other small parties and independents.Following this defeat Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar submitted his resignation to Governor HR Bhardwaj. Karnataka was the first southernstate to have a BJP govt., when it won in 2008)

4) The Supreme Court gave scathing comments while hearing coal block allotment case on 8 May 2013. It commented that the heart ofthe status report pertaining to coal blocks allotment was changed on the directives of the govt. and ordered Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) to ensure that Law Minister and other ministers do not have access to such reports in future. Supreme Court also gavedirectives to the Central Govt. to come out with a law to insulate the CBI. By when, the govt. has to come out with such a law, as directedby the Supreme Court? – 10 July 2013

5) Union Govt. on 7 May 2013 roped in a senior lawyer to assist the team of lawyers in the controversial coal allocation case inthe Supreme Court, hearing for which was held on 8 May 2013. Who is this senior lawyer, who assisted Attorney General G E Vahanvatiand Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran in this case? – T R Andhyarujina, senior constitutional lawyer

6) The sensitive index – Sensex of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) again touched the psychological mark of 20,000 points on 8 May2013. When was this mark touched last time by the sensex? – 31 January 2013 (However the Sensex slipped from 20,000 mark to closea tad lower)

7) Kerala cabinet on 8 May 2013 decided to oppose declaration of any populated area on the Western Ghats in the state asecologically sensitive area. This decision came as opposition to the report of the High Level Working Group on Western Ghats chaired byK. Kasturirangan. How many ecologically sensitive areas in Kerala with buffer zone of 12 km were recommended by this Working Group?– 22 (Kerala Govt. announced that it is not opposed to protection of environment or buffer zones. However, it wanted the buffer zone to bebrought down to zero, if the area is populated)

8) British monarch Queen Elizabeth for the first time in 40 years will not attend the Commonwealth Heads of GovernmentsMeeting (CHOGM), according to an announcement made from the Buckingham Palace on 7 May 2013. 2013’s CHOGM is to be held atwhich city? – Colombo, Sri Lanka (Prince of Wales (Prince Charles) would instead represent the British monarchy in this meet. Theannouncement came amid growing calls for the venue of the summit to be moved out of Sri Lanka following protests over its human rightsrecord, but the Palace insisted that the Queen’s decision was not related to it and cited her advanced age as the reason)

9) The merger of two companies of a steel group was approved by the Bombay High Court in the first week of May 2013. After thismerger this group will become India’s second largest steel manufacturer after state-owned SAIL. Which group is this? – JSWGroup (The merger of JSW Ispat Steel into JSW Steel was approved by the Bombay High Court on 3 May 2013. After this merger JSWSteel’s annual production capacity will increase to 14.3 million tonnes (MT) from existing 11 MT)

10) English Football’s most famous club Manchester United’s manager and coach for last 26 years announced his retirement afterend of the present season. He is termed as the most successful coach in British football history. Who is he? – Sir Alex Ferguson(Ferguson took over the reins of Manchester United in 1986 and was responsible for his team winning a total of 38 trophies, including 13Premier League championships, two Champions League titles and five FA Cups)

9 May 2013




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1) The Supreme Court on 9 May 2013 gave its approval for the $8.48 billion deal byBritain’s Vedanta Group to acquire a majority stake in Cairn India. By this acquisitionVedanta will get rights to explore oil and natural gas blocks in which state, which are ownedby Cairn India? – Rajasthan (This approval of the Supreme Court is important in the sensethat it not only upholds a major deal between two private multinational firms, in the quest ofcommercial discovery of oil and natural gas under the govt.’s exploration licensing policy inIndia, but also sets a precedent as far as judicial intervention in business decisions isconcerned. The apex court rejected a PIL which had challenged the centre’s nod in 2011-12to the Cairn-Vedanta deal)

2) Which state imposed a ban on sale, storage and production of gutka and panmasala on 8 May 2013? – Tamil Nadu (Tamil Nadu joined states such as Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Gujarat and Mizoram.Madhya Pradesh was the first state to impose a ban on gutka and pan masala)

3) Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay passed away on 9 May 2013 while being treated for injuring sustained in a scuffle with a fellowinmate in the high security Kot Bhalwal Jail in Jammu. He was being treated in PGIMER in Chandigarh. He was arrested on whichcharge? – Of being involved in carrying out bomb blast in Jammu in 1994 in which 4 persons were killed (Sanaullah wasarrested under TADA provisions and was serving a life sentence. Indian Home Ministry announced handing over Sanaullah’s body toPakistan)

4) Union govt. on 8 May 2013 approved the National Cyber Security Policy for the country with an objective of creating a securecomputing environment in the country. Which committee gave its go-ahead to this policy? – Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) –An important feature of this policy is that its caters to all types of information and communication technology (ICT) users and providers,which includes small and home users, medium and large enterprises and government and non-government entities)

5) What is the title of an online collection of Rabindranath Tagore’s works that was launched by President Pranab Mukherjee on 5May 2013? – “Bichitra” (A bilingual website in English and Bengali was developed to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the poet and itwould provide all variant texts and specialised tools needed by Tagore scholars. “Bichitra” is an initiative of Kolkota’s Jadavpur University)

6) Former Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s son Ali Haider Gilani was kidnapped on 9 May 2013 in Pakistan’s Punjabprovince by unidentified gunmen who shot dead his personal secretary and a bodyguard. Yousuf Raza Gilani is associated with whichpolitical party, for which he is campaigning? – Pakistan People’s Party – PPP

7) RBI Governor D. Subbarao on 9 May 2013 highlighted a tool for dealing with the probable shortage of cash in the Indianeconomy. Which tool is this, which could be utilized as and when situation demands? – Open Market Operations – OMO (RBIGovernor pressed on OMO to deal with the problem of liquidity in the system. OMOs are the market operations conducted by the RBI byway of sale/ purchase of Government securities to/ from the market with an objective to adjust the rupee liquidity conditions in the marketon a durable basis. Last fiscal, the RBI injected liquidity to the tune of Rs. 1.5 lakh crore through OMO purchase auctions)

8) A Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) MP came to limelight after he apparently displayed disrespect to national song “VandeMataram” by leaving the house, as it was being played at the end of session of Lok Sabha on 8 May 2013. Who is this MP, who wascriticised for his action by several parties and parliamentarians? – Shafiqur Rehman Burq

9) A noted exponent of Hindustan classical vocalist Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar passed away at the age of 80 on 8 May 2013.Dagar was exponent of which form of Hindustani classical music? – Dhrupad (Son of the illustrious Dhrupadiya Ustad Ziauddin Dagar,Zia along with his brother, the late Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar (legendary Rudra Veena player), played a major role in the revival ofdhrupad tradition)

10) Who was selected by Manchester United as the new manager to replace Sir Alex Ferguson, who retires at the end of presentEnglish football season? – David Moyes (Moyes is at present manager of Everton, another English football club)

10 May 2013



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1) Pakistan went to a landmark poll for the National Assembly on 11 May 2013. Howmany members would be elected for National Assembly through these polls? – 272(Pakistan’s National Assembly (or lower house of parliament) has a total of 342 seats out ofwhich 272 members are elected through elections and the remaining 70 are reserved forwomen (60) and minority candidates nominated by parties (10).

2) Year 2013 would be celebrated as – Year of Water Conservation (This decision wastaken at the Cabinet Meeting held on 9 May 2013. Under this, the Water Resources Ministrywill launch a series of programmes among masses, especially children, on waterconservation)

3) Legendary actor of yesteryears Pran Sikand, popularly known as Pran, was honouredwith the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award at his Mumbai residence on 10 May

2013. Pran could not attend the ceremony in New Delhi due to ill-health. It is probably for the first time that an artiste was given the Phalkeaward at his home. Who gave this award to Pran at his residence? – Manish Tewari, Information and Broadcasting Minister (The veteranactor was honoured with a ‘Swarna Kamal’ (golden lotus) medallion, a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and a shawl)

4) Who was selected as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka on 10 May 2013 by a secret vote in a Congress Legislature Party (CLP)meet at Bangalore? – Siddaramaiah (Defence Minister A K Antony, who is also Congress General Secretary in charge of Karnataka,made the formal announcement after a CLP meeting held at the party office in Bangalore)

5) Price of diesel was increased by how much from the midnight of 10 May 2013 by the public-sector oil companies? – Rs.1 per litre

6) Two cabinet ministers in the Union Govt. tendered their resignations on 10 May 2013 on account of controversies surrounding themrecently. Which two ministers are these? – Pawan Bansal, Rail Minister and Ashwini Kumar, Union Law Minister (Bansal, who hadtaken over the Railway Ministry last October, found himself at the centre of a huge controversy after the CBI caught his nephew VijaySingla accepting Rs 90 lakh in cash as bribe for a lucrative posting for a senior Railway official. Law Minister Ashwani Kumar had been inthe eye of a storm for vetting the CBI report on coal block allocations. The CBI had admitted to changes in its report when it filed anaffidavit to the Supreme Court which took a strong exception to the Minister’s act)

7) In a setback to the West Bengal government, the Calcutta High Court on 10 May 2013 upheld the primacy of the State ElectionCommission (SEC) and directed that the panchayat elections would be held in three phases with Central armed police force as per theSEC’s requisition. The state govt. had earlier notified these elections to be held in how many phases? – Two phases

8) What was the growth rate of India’s industrial output (as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP)) for 2012-13,according to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on 10 May 2013? – 1% (This is the lowest growth in IIP since 1991-92,when the industrial output grew by just 0.6%. IIP growth rate during 2011-12 stood at 2.9%. However, IIP during March 2013 stood at 2.5%,which is the highest in last 5 months)

9) After spending his time on the bench for 12 matches, 24-year old Parvez Rasool became the first cricketer from the state ofJammu and Kashmir to play in IPL. Rasool appeared for his team Pune Warriors India against Kolkata Knight Riders on 9 May 2013,bowled 4 overs for 23 runs and got his first wicket of IPL. Whose prized wicket was claimed by Rasool? – Jacques Kallis

11 May 2013




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1) The proposal of the Ministry of Shipping for establishing two new major ports in thecountry was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 9 May2013. These new ports are to be established in which states? – Andhra Pradesh andWest Bengal (Dugarajapatnam port is to be established in Andhra Pradesh whereas a newport at Sagar Island is to be established in West Bengal. Dugarajapatnam port is to come atDugarajapatnam village in Nellore district. This will be the second Union government-controlled port in Andhra Pradesh after the one in Visakhapatnam. The proposed SagarIsland port in West Bengal would solve capacity handling problems pertaining to two presentports in the state, Kolkata Docks at Kolkata and Haldia Dock Complex at Haldia)

2) Who was given additional charge of Law Ministry on 11 May 2013? – Kapil Sibbal,Telecom Minister (He was given additional charge, as his predecessor Ashwini Kumar resigned a day before, in the wake of a ragingcontroversy over his vetting the CBI probe report in the coal block allocations scam)

3) Who was given additional charge of Rail Ministry on 11 May 2013? – Dr C P Joshi, Road and Transport Minister (He was givenadditional charge as Rail Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal resigned on 10 May 2013 following the arrest of his nephew Vijay Singla a fewdays ago for allegedly accepting Rs.90 lakh for fixing promotion in Railway Board)

4) Which Indian university recently introduced a 4-year undergraduate course, which came in for criticism from university teachers aswell as some sections of the student fraternity? – Delhi University (The new programme awards a diploma if a student exits after twoyears, a bachelor’s degree after three years, and a bachelor’s degree with honours (or a B. Tech degree) on completion of four years)

5) Declan Walsh, the Bureau Chief of an international newspaper was expelled by the Pakistan Govt. on 10 May 2013, on the eve of anhistoric election in the country. Walsh belongs to which newspaper? – New York Times

6) A special session of trading was conducted at BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) on 11 May 2013, in which BSE’s benchmark index –the Sensex gained points. Why was, this special held? – To test its new disaster recovery software (The two hour special tradingsession was held between 1115 and 1315 hrs)

7) South African cricket coach Gary Kirsten announced his retirement after the the tema completes its participation in the upcomingChampions Trophy, which is to be held in June 2013. He is retiring due to family reasons. Who will replace Kirsten? – Russell Domingo(Domingo had served as Kirsten’s assistant for the last two years and has been in charge of the country’s Twenty20 team sinceDecember)

8) A right-wing political party of Pakistan on 11 May 2013 announced its boycott of the general elections for national and provincialassemblies, claiming massive rigging and mismanagement at several polling stations, as voting was being held across the country.Which party is this? – Jamat-e-Islami (JI)

9) A meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of Seven (G-7) was held at which place near Londonon 10 and 11 May 2013? – Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, southern England (The discussions of the G7 finance chiefs were on wide-range of subjects, covering world economy, its recovery and growth, tax system, monetary policy and banking reforms)

12 May 2013




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1) Congress leader Siddaramaiah was sworn in as the 22nd chief minister of Karnataka bythe Governor H R Bharadwaj on 13 May 2013. He has been deputy Chief Minister of thestate how many times? – Twice (In 2006 he left Janata Dal Secular to join Congress)

2) Which stock exchange launched country’s first dedicated debt trading platform on 13May 2013? – NSE (This new debt trading platform is expected to provide an opportunity toretail investors to invest in corporate bonds on a liquid and transparent exchange platform.The mutual funds, insurance companies and pension funds are also expected to participateafter guidelines for the same are issued by the SEBI)

3) One year extension was given to Cabinet Secretary by the Union Govt. on 13 May 2013,by which his service has been extended till 13 June 2014. Who is the present CabinetSecretary? – Ajit Seth (PM lead Cabinet Committee on Appointments approved thisextension for Seth, who is country’s 30th Cabinet Secretary)

4) Trade deficit during the month of April 2013 widened further to reach $17.7 billionaccording to data released on 13 May 2013 by Commerce Secretary SR Rao. What was

the main reason for this widening trade deficit? – Heavy amount of gold imports during the month (Total gold imports during April2013 stood at $7.5 billion as against $3.1 billion during the corresponding period a year ago, thus registering 138% increase. This isdespite several attempts by the govt. to curb the gold imports)

5) Consumer price index (CPI) based retail inflation came to single figure after hovering in double figures for last 13 months. What was theretail inflation for April 2013, as announced on 13 May 2013? – 9.39% (In March 2013 it stood at 10.39%)

6) Alerts were issued in Orissa’s 10 districts due to expected arrival of year’s first major cyclone. What is the name of this cyclone whichwas earlier expected to hit Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh coast in a major way but which later weakened and is moving in northwestdirection? – Mahasen

7) For the first time in the history of Italian Football’s Serie A, a match was suspended due to racist chanting by fans on 12 May 2013. Thismatch was being played between which two teams? – AC Milan and Roma (The match was held at San Siro Stadium in Milan. Visitingteam Roma’s supporters were chanting anti-racist comments at Milan players Mario Balotelli and Kevin-Prince Boateng. The match wasstopped for 97 seconds during the second half after warnings to stop these chanting over the public address system went unheeded)

8) Jagdish Mali, who passed away on 13 May 2013 at a hospital in Mumbai, was associated with which field? – Photography (Maliwas a renowned fashion and film photographer. He was father of noted actress Antara Mali)

9) Who won the Spanish Grand Prix Formula 1 on 12 May 2013 at the Barcelona circuit? – Fernando Alonso (Spain) belonging toFerrari team (Finland’s Kimi Raikonen of Lotus claimed the second position while Alonso’s teammate Felipe Masa of Brazil was third.Alonso started the race from fifth position and became the first driver in 23 years of racing at Barcelona circuit to win from outside topthree grid positions)

10) Serena Williams on 12 May 2013 won 50th title of her career after defeating Maria Sharapova in the finals. Which title was this? –Madrid Open (Williams also retained her No.1 ranking with this win. She defeating Sharapova by 6-1, 6-4)

13-14 May 2013



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1) Union govt. on 14 May 2013 formed a Group of Ministers (GoM) to draft a law to insulateCBI from external influence in the wake of Supreme Court’s scathing observations on CBI.Who is heading this GoM? – P. Chidambaram, Union Finance Minister (Other members inGoM are – External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Communications and InformationTechnology Minister Kapil Sibal, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari andMinister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy. CBI Director Ranjit Sinha will also give hisinput to the newly-constituted GoM)

2) Air India resumed domestic operations of grounded Boeing Dreamliner 787 planes from15 May 2013. Company’s six Dreamliner B-787 aircrafts were grounded since 17 January2013, which were grounded after a fire in the lithium-ion batteries of a parked plane in

Boston and a case of forced landing of another B-787 for the same reason in Japan. Flight for which sector was the first under thisresumption of services? – Delhi to Kolkata

3) The Election Commission of Pakistan on 14 May 2013 announced the results for 250 out of a total of 272 parliamentary seats, sayingresults were awaited from 18 constituencies in Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh provinces and the tribal areas. What was the final tally formajor parties out of the 250 seats announced by the commission? – Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N 122 seats, Pakistan People’s Party 31seats, Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) 26 seats, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) 16 seats, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam(JUI) 10 seats and independents 25 seats

4) Lowest level of WPI-based inflation in around three and half years was recorded during April 2013, which is expected to present a casefor further monetary policy easing for the RBI. What was the inflation during April 2013? – 4.89% (Inflation based on the Wholesale PriceIndex (WPI) stood at 5.96% in March 2013, while in April, 2012, it was 7.50%. Inflation during April 2013 is the lowest level of inflationsince November, 2009 when it was 4.78%)

5) Indian scientists on 14 May 2013 unveiled the first completely indigenous and affordable vaccine to prevent severe rotavirus diarrhoea,which kills more than one lakh children under five in India every year. Named “Rotavac”, the results of the Phase III clinical trials of this viruswere also released. Which company has been associated in the development of vaccine candidates and clinical trials for Rotavac? –Bharat Biotech (Bharat Biotech has announced a price of Rs. 54 per dose — much cheaper than other rotavirus vaccines available inthe market. Rotavac is an oral vaccine administered to infants in a three-dose course at the ages of six, 10 and 14 weeks alongsideroutine immunisations recommended at these ages)

6) Which country recently launched the Super Priority Visa service for urgent travellers from India, which is first-of-its-kind service to belaunched by this country anywhere in the world? – Britain (The same-day super priority service is an optimal service, which incurs anadditional fee of 600 pounds besides the standard fee. This visa service had been announced by British PM David Cameron during hisvisit to India in February this year)

7) The Steel Ministry has recently sought the Union Cabinet’s approval to allow SAIL and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) to moveout of the control of Shipping Ministry’s chartering arm in borrowing vessels to import coking coal by making their own arrangements.What is the name of Shipping Ministry’s chartering arm? – Transchart (Apart from these two PSUs, other state-run companies importingraw material are also required to get routed through Transchart because of a five-decade-old policy which envisages supporting domesticship-owners)

8) Market regulator SEBI on 13 May 2013 extended the 30 June 2013 deadline for listed companies to comply with norms that baremployee benefit schemes like ESOP (employees stock option plan) and trusts from buying shares of their own firms from the secondarymarket. What is the new declared deadline? – 31 December 2013 (These norms are aimed at curbing manipulative trading in shares ofcompanies)

15 May 2013




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1) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 15 May 2013 submitted his nomination papers seeking re-election to the Rajya Sabha for the fourth consecutive time from which state?– Assam (Manmohan Singh was sent to the Rajya Sabha from Assam for the first time in1991)

2) A crucial meeting between Indian sports officials and International Olympic Committee(IOC) was held on 15 May 2013 at Lausanne (Switzerland), in which it was agreed to draw aroadmap to bring India back in the Olympic fold. This meeting worked out the exact detailsand the time frame to get this ban lifted. When the IOC imposed this ban on India? – 4December 2012 (The ban was imposed in 2012 after India failed to adhere to the Olympiccharter. Sports Minister Jitendra Singh and Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra were the

major representatives from Indian sports fraternity in this meeting.)

3) The Orissa Govt. recently decided to repeal a decade old Cooperative Act that led to mushrooming of chit fund firms in the state in theguise of self-help cooperatives. What is the name of this act that was once seen as a reformist law to give a fillip to the cooperativemovement in the state? – The Orissa Self Help Cooperative Act, 2001 (This decision has been taking in wake of the raging chit fundscam in West Bengal)

4) A state of emergency was imposed in how many states of Nigeria by the President Goodluck Jonathan on 15 May 2013? – Three(Emergency was imposed in three states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe after a series of deadly attacks by Islamist militant groups.Militants from Boko Haram have been blamed for most of the violence, which has left 2,000 people dead since 2010)

5) According to data released by the PFRDA ((Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority) on 15 May 2013, the NationalPension Scheme (NPS) gave better returns than EPF (Employees Provident Fund) and GPF (General Provident Fund) during the year2012-13. Which scheme of NPS gave the best return during the fiscal? – Private : Corporate Debt (Funds under this segmentgenerated 14.19% returns. Performances of other funds/schemes are as follows – Private : Govt. Debt 13.52%, Swavlamban 13.40%,State Govt. 13%, Central Govt. 12.39% and Equity Fund 8.38%. In contrast EPF scheme gave returns of 8.5% in 2012-13 while GPFoffered a return of 8.8%. EPF manages retirement savings of over 6 crore formal sector workers while GPF takes care of retirementsavings of govt. employees recruited before 2004)

6) According to announcements made by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 15 May 2013, when it will launch the much-talked aboutinflation-indexed bonds? – On 4 June 2013 (The main objective of these bonds will be to protect savings of poor and middle classesfrom inflation and incentivize household sector to save in financial instruments rather than buy gold)

7) Who was appointed as the first CEO of AirAsia India, which is the newest airline company to start its operations in the country? – MittuChandilya

8) Which Indian company on 15 May 2013 announced to delist its stock from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) due to low tradingvolumes of its shares? – Tata Communications

16 May 2013




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17 May 2013 – Daily Current Affairs

1) Which three IPL players belonging to Rajasthan Royals were arrested on the early hours of 16 May 2013 by Delhi Police on charges of spot fixing? –S. Sreesanth, Ankit Chavan and Ajit Chandalia (These three players were arrested along with 11 bookies. BCCI later suspended all threeplayers from the IPL)

2) The Supreme Court on 16 May 2013 said that no person should be arrested for posting objectionable comments on social networking sites withouttaking prior permission from senior police officials. It refused to pass an order for a blanket ban on the arrest of a person for making objectionablecomments on websites and directed that state governments should ensure strict compliance of the Centre’s 9 January 2013 advisory which said that aperson should not be arrested without taking permission from senior police officials. Which section of the Information Technology Act is associated withobjectionable comments on websites, which is being examined by the Supreme Court in this context? – Section 66-A

3) Who has been recently nominated as the new head of the World Trade Organization (WTO)? – Roberto Azevedo of Brazil (He will take place ofPascal Lamy)

4) Who was appointed as the new Governor of Arunachal Pradesh on 16 May 2013? – Lt Gen (retd) Nirbhay Sharma (He was appointed by the President Pranab Mukherjee and will take place of Gen(retd) JJ Singh, whose tenure ended in January)

5) Steven Miller, the acting commissioner of the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), was ousted on 15 May 2013 by the US administration. What were the charges against him? – Under him IRS gavespecial scrutiny to Republican groups

6) What are the main findings of a govt. inquiry committee on US retail giant Wal-Mart headed by Mukul Mudgal, Former Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court? – Wal-Mart was not involved inbribery or lobbying in India but have been lobbying in the US (This committee is expected to submit its report to the govt. soon. This committee was constituted to probe allegations thatWal-Mart had spent money to influence Indian officials to get an access to the lucrative Indian market)

7) Film actor Sanjay Dutt, who surrendered before a special TADA court in Mumbai on 16 May 2013, was sent to which jail to complete his remaining three-and-a-half year sentence in the 1993 Mumbai serialblasts case? – Arthur Road Jail

8) Iconic British footballer David Beckham announced his retirement from football on 16 May 2013. Beckham captained England in 2006 World Cup and was associated with Manchester United and a few topclubs of the world. With which club is he being associated presently? – Paris saint-germain FC (PSG FC), Paris (Beckham would play the last match of his career on 25 May 2013)





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1) Who won the Norway Chess 2013 super tournament that concluded on 18 May atStavanger, Norway? – Sergey Karjakin of Russia (Karjakin ended the tournament on sixpoints while World Champion Vishwanathan Anand finished joint fourth. World number oneMagnus Carlsen of Norway finished a joint second place alongside Hikaru Nakamura ofUnited States)

2) A former BJP MP from Arunachal Pradesh came to limelight when he said that the Indiangovernment should allow people from the State to visit China on ‘stapled visas’ withoutcompromising its position on sovereignty over the border region. Who is this leader? –Kiren Rijiju

3) Which leading English newspaper of India recently appointed Nicholas Dawes, a SouthAfrican journalist as its new Chief Editorial and Content Officer? – Hindustan Times (Dawes is presently editor-in-chief of Mail andGuardian (M&G), a leading South African paper)

4) SBI Chairman Pratip Choudhuri recently said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should be made regulator of all home loans in thecountry. Who are regulators of home loan segment in India at present? – RBI is the regulator of home loans provided by allcommercial banks while National Housing Bank (NHB) is the regulator of loans provided by housing finance companies likeHDFC Limited, LIC Housing Finance Co. Ltd., etc.

5) Which country on 17 May 2013 became 14th country in the world to give legitimacy to gay marriages? – France (French PresidentFrancois Hollande signed the controversial bill on gay marriages on 17 May. With this France became 9th European country and 14thoverall to legalise gay marriages. 13 countries before France to do so were Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Iceland,France, Netherlands, Portugal, Norway, Spain, South Africa and Sweden)

6) What achievement was achieved by Raha Moharrak, a Saudi woman on 18 May 2013? – She became the first Saudi woman toconquer Mt. Everest and the youngest Arab woman to do so (She was part of a four-person expedition that also included the firstQatari man and the first Palestinian man to reach the summit. The group is aiming to raise $1 million to help fund education projects inNepal)

7) According to a report released by Switzerland-based Financial Stability Board (FSB) on 18 May 2013, what is the total estimated sizeof shadow banking business in India? – Over $670 billion (nearly Rs. 37 lakh crore) – Shadow banking is generally referred toinvolvement of financial intermediary in aiding credit creation without regulatory oversight

8) Which international ratings agency on 17 May 2013 warned that it may downgrade India’s sovereign rating to junk grade if the govt.failed to check the widening fiscal and current account deficits reforms for growth? – Standard & Poor’s (S&P’s) – The agency affirmedits ‘BBB-’ long-term and ‘A-3′ short-term unsolicited sovereign credit ratings on India. ‘BBB-’ is the lowest investment grade just above thejunk status and a downgrade would make overseas borrowings costlier for Indian companies)

9) Who was appointed as BJP’s in-charge of politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha Elections of 2014 on 18 May2013? – Amit Shah (Shah is a close confidant of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi)

18-19 May 2013



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1) How many agreements were signed between India and China on 20 May 2013 on theoccasion of Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang’s official visit to India? – 8 Agreements(The agreements were signed after delegation-level talks between Prime MinisterManmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang. To enhance trade, both the sidesdecided to set up three working groups under the Joint Economic Group. The three groupsare Services Trade Promotion Working Group, Economic And Trade Planning CooperationGroup and Trade Statistical Analysis Group)

2) Supplies of yellow fever vaccines in India are fast running out of stock following stoppageof production at the only govt.-run production unit for yellow fever in the country. Where is thisunit situated? – Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh (Production in this unit stopped about 2 yearsago and the govt. had been relying on bulk stock of vaccine imported from the WHO in India.Yellow fever vaccine is mandatory for travel to African and South American countries

considered endemic regions for the disease)

3) What was the name of a founding member of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tahrik-e-Insaf (PTI), who was shot dead in Karachi on 19 May2013? – Zahra Shahid Hussain (She was vice-president of party’s Sindh unit)

4) The presence of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) president Yasin Malik at a meeting organised by a pro-Tamil Eelam outfit,Naam Tamilar Party (NTP) was objected to by major political parties of India including Congress and the BJP. NTP meeting was held atwhich place on 18 May 2013, where Malik was not only present but also put his political view on pro-Tamil movements? – Cuddalore,Tamil Nadu

5) The estimated Rs. 950 crore IPO of a local search engine started on 20 May 2013, which is one of the largest initial public offerings byan Indian internet company. Which company is this? – Just Dial

6) Which West Indian batsman on 19 May 2013 became the sixth cricketer to reach the milestone of having played 300 first classmatches? – Shivnarine Chanderpaul (He joined the league of 5 players (which include Denis Compton, Sachin Tendulkar, GarfieldSobers, Ranjitsinghji, Graeme Hick and Barry Richards), when he appeared for Derbyshire against Sussex in the English Countychampionship)

7) Indian National Defence University, India’s first defence university is to be set up at – Gurgaon’s Binola village, Haryana (Theuniversity to be built at a cost of Rs. 300 crore will provide a holistic study of the defence and strategic challenges)

20 May 2013




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1) Who became the first Indian woman amputee to successfully scaled Mt. Everest on 21May 2013? – Arunima Sinha (Former volleyball player Arunima lost her left leg in a trainaccident in April 2011. Overcoming her physical disability, the Uttar Pradesh girl receivedtraining under veteran climber Bachendri Pal and scaled several peaks in the GarhwalHimalayas)

2) The Supreme Court on 20 May 2013 came down heavily on appointments of ad hocteachers for govt. primary schools in various states, noting that such a hiring withoutrequirements of minimum qualifications was against the spirit of Article 21-A. This article isrelated with which provision? – Right to Education or RTE (The apex court made thiscomment while hearing an appeal by the Gujarat govt. against a High Court order on serviceconditions of ad hoc teachers appointed for primary schools. The Supreme Court

commented that such temporary arrangements hampered the entire education system of the country)

3) Which UK-based bank recently agreed to purchase New York-based Morgan Stanley’s wealth management assets in India? –Standard Chartered Plc. (The price of this sale agreement was not specified and the sale is expected to be completed by the end of theyear. Morgan Stanley handles around $800 million of assets under its management)

4) Which social media blogging service is to be bought by Yahoo Inc. for $1.1 billion? – Tumblr (Tumblr is one of Web’s most popularhubs of so-called user-generated content. The deal will help Yahoo reach a younger generation of users less tied to traditional web portaland email services. Yahoo, an Internet pioneer, has been struggling of late mainly due to company’s absence in social and mobilesegments)

5) Which US state was devastated by a powerful tornado on 20 May 2013, in which more than 90 people died? – Oklahoma (Thetornado with winds up to 320 kph ripped through the suburb of Moore in a Midwest region of the U.S. known as Tornado Alley. Block afterblock were converted into ruins and cars and trucks were left crumpled)

6) An 18-year-old Indian-American girl has invented a super-capacitor device that could potentially charge a mobile phone in less than 20seconds. What is the name of this girl? – Eesha Khare (She was awarded the Young Scientist Award by the Intel Foundation afterdeveloping the tiny device that fits inside mobile phone batteries, that could allow them to charge within 20-30 seconds. The so-calledsuper-capacitor, a gizmo that can pack a lot of energy into a tiny space, charges quickly and holds its charge for a long time)

7) Who was the President and Chief Executive of Nasdaq-listed software services firm iGate, who was sacked on charges of sexualharassment as per an announcement made by the company on 21 May 2013? – Phaneesh Murthy (This is the second time that Murthyhas been involved in a sexual harassment case. In 2003, he faced a sexual harassment lawsuit at Infosys, which settled the lawsuit out ofcourt for $ 3 million)

21 May 2013




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1) Who took over as the new Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on 22 May2013? – Shashi Kant Sharma (The 1976 Bihar cadre IAS officer Sharma was DefenceSecretary till now. He took charge from Vinod Rai superannuated on the same day. SinceCAG is a constitutional post, Sharma will be administered the oath of office by PresidentPranab Mukherjee on 23 May 2013)

2) Which team became the first finalist of IPL 6 on 21 May 2013? – Chennai Super Kingsor CSK (CSK defeated Mumbai Indians (MI) by 48 runs in the first Qualifier played atFirozshah Kotla in Delhi)

3) Actor Sanjay Dutt was shifted to which jail on the night of 21 May 2013 from Mumbai’sArthur Road Jail? – Yervada Jail, Pune

4) Which IPL franchise announced moving out of IPL (Indian Premier League) on 21 May2013 protesting against BCCI’s cashing of franchisee’s bank guarantee and some other

differences? – Pune Warriors India – PWI (PWI also alleged that BCCI failed to begin arbitration proceedings to lower the franchise fee.BCCI cashed PWI’s bank guarantee immediately after the team exited the tournament on 19 May 2013. Sahara India, which bought thefranchise for Rs. 1,700 crore in 2010, said that it was disgusted by BCCI’s attitude towards it, and it would now not rejoin the league underany circumstances. Sahara also announced that it would not renew its sponsorship of Indian cricket team)

5) What is the scaled-up target of bilateral trade between India and China by year 2015 as agreed between the two countries on 20 May2013? – $100 billion (The bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $67.8 billion during 2012-13)

6) During Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to India, year 2014 was declared as which year for the two countries? – Friendship Year(The objective of celebrating 2014 as Friendship Year is to increase people-to-people interaction and peaceful co-existence between thetwo countries)

7) Myanmar President Thein Sein’s historic visit to the US on 20 May 2013 opened a new chapter of bilateral relations between the USand Myanmar. After how many years a President from Myanmar (formerly Burma) visited the United States? – 47 years

8) With an objective of tightening the norms for algorithmic trading (algo), market regulator SEBI on 21 May 2013 made it mandatory forthe users to have their systems audited every six months and increased penalties on errant stock brokers. What is algo trading? – Inmarket parlance, algorithmic or algo trading refers to orders generated at a super-fast speed by use of advancedmathematical models that involve automated execution of trade

9) Union Govt. on 21 May 2013 further relaxed the tax regime for foreign institutional investors (FIIs) investing in corporate bonds in India.What was the main relaxation announced for FIIs? – FIIs parking their funds in govt. securities and corporate bonds will have topay only 5% withholding tax on interest earned from such investments till May 2015 (Earlier this tax was charged at 20%)

10) What is the name of Microsoft’s third generation gaming console, first preview of which was shown by Microsoft on 21 May 2013 andwhich is an extension of its famed Xbox gaming range? – Xbox One (Xbox One will be launched worldwide this year. This new deviceinteracts with television, responds to voice and gesture commands, and includes Skype video calling, 15 exclusive game titles andoriginal programming content)

22 May 2013



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1) The second regime of United Progressive Alliance (UPA-2) completed how many years inpower at the Centre on 22 May 2013? – 4 years

2) What is the new income criterion for creamy layer section of OBC, which was recentlyhiked by the union govt.? – Rs. 6 lakh per annum (This income criterion earlier stood at Rs4.5 lakh per annum. Creamy layer refers to economically advanced segment of OBCs (otherbackward castes) which are barred from reservations provided OBC section by the govt.The Rs 4.5 lakh criterion was fixed in 2008)

3) A govt. panel on 22 May 2013 gave its go-ahead for the quadricycle to ply as publictransport vehicle within city limits. This approval for quadricycles is apparently good news for

which auto company which has already developed a model of quadricycle? – Bajaj Auto (Bajaj Auto has developed a model ofquadricycle called RE60. Quadricycles are considered to be safer than three-wheeler as they have fully enclosed body structure with hardtop and doors. Their maximum speed limit and engine capacity are considerably lower than that of a regular car)

4) India on 22 May 2013 successfully test fired the 290-km range Brahmos supersonic missile from Indian Navy’s latest guided-missilefrigate INS Tarkash. This test was conducted at – Goa (INS Tarkash, an advanced Talwar Class frigate, was commissioned on 9November 2012)

5) How much cash subsidy towards diesel and cooking fuel is to be doled out for year 2012-13 as agreed upon by the union govt.recently? – Rs. 1,00,000 crore (The finance ministry had previously given out cash subsidy of Rs. 55,000 crore and it agreed to give Rs.40,000-45,000 crore more now to uncover for unmet revenue losses on fuel sale in the fiscal year ending 31 March 2013. The agreementwas reached during a meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had with Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Petroleum Minister M.Veerappa Moily)

6) The landmark US immigration bill, which offers a path to citizenship for more than 11 million undocumented immigrants, including over260,000 Indians, and increasing H-1B visas, on 21 May 2013 passed its first legislative test in the US Senate Judiciary Committee. Whatis the name of this bill which was passed by 13-5 votes? – Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration ModernizationAct (This bill raises the minimum number of visas annually for high-skilled foreign workers – known as the H-1B visa – to 115,000 from110,000, while keeping the maximum at 180,000 a year. The bill (No 744) now goes to the Senate for approval, which is expected towitness another round of negotiations and tough bargaining. It needs 60 votes to pass the 100-seat Senate)

7) Who won the £60,000 Man Booker International Prize for 2013, which is given in recognition of a writer’s overall contribution to fiction?– Lydia Davis of US (Indian author U.R. Ananthamurthy was also one of the nominees for this prestigious literary prize. An offshoot of themore famous annual Man Booker Prize, this prize recognises a writer for his or her continued creativity, development and overallcontribution to fiction on the world stage)

8) Which three investment banks were selected by the union govt. for managing 10% stake sale of Engineers India Limited (EIL)? – ICICISecurities, IDFC and Kotak Mahindra (This stake sale is expected to fetch about Rs. 600 crore to the exchequer)

9) Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe signed a new constitution into law on 22 May 2013, replacing a 33-year old document forgedin dying days of British colonial rule and paving the way for elections later this year. What are the main features of this new constitution? –It clips powers of the president substantially and imposes a two-term limit (A referendum for this constitution was held in Marchthis year, which was approved overwhelmingly)

10) Capital of which Scandinavian country witnessed large scale rioting and arson recently, which started on 19 May 2013? – Sweden(Swedish capital Stockholm witnessed unusual incidents of rioting that began on 19 May 2013 in response to the 13 May shooting, inwhich police killed a 69-year-old, knife-wielding man)

23 May 2013




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1) Indian market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) completed howmany years of its establishment on 24 May 2013? – 25 years (SEBI was formed on this dayin 1988 by an order of Govt. of India. It was given statutory powers in 1992 through the SEBIAct, 1992)

2) Which language is set to be granted the status of a classical language after the unioncabinet on 23 May 2013 approved classifying this language as a classical language? –Malayalam (The government has earlier notified Tamil, Telugu and Kannada as classicallanguages. The benefits extended to Classical Languages include, two major annualinternational awards for scholars of eminence and setting up of a Centre of Excellence forStudies in Classical Languages)

3) Which Pakistani cricket umpire was on 23 May 2013 withdrawn from the panel of ICCumpires for the upcoming Champions Trophy in England, for him being investigated by theMumbai Police in IPL spot-fixing controversy? – Asad Rauf (The ICC on 23 May 2013

issued a media release stating that Rauf had been removed from the panel of umpires for the tournament to be held from 6 June to 21June)

4) On 23 May 2013 the CEO of IPL franchisee Chennai Super Kings (CSK) was summoned by the Mumbai Police in connection with IPLspot-fixing scandal for his alleged role. What is the name of this CEO, who is also the son-in-law of BCCI chief N. Srinivasan? –Gurunath Meiyappan (Meiyappan’s name allegedly figures in the list of calls made by Vindoo Singh, who was arrested in this case afew days ago)

5) What are the names of two TV channels owned by the scam-tainted Saradha Group, which were taken over by the West Bengal Govt.?– Tara Newz and Tara Muzik (Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that 168 employees of these two channels would be provided anex-gratia of Rs. 16,000 per month)

6) Which Indian-American scripted history after he was confirmed as the first South Asian judge to America’s second highest court, theUS Court of Appeals, on 23 May 2013? – Srikanth Srinivasan (Chandigarh-born Srinivasan’s nomination to the US Court of Appeals forthe District of Columbia Circuit was unanimously approved by the Senate with 97 voting in favour)

7) On 23 May 2013, who became the oldest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest? – Yuichiro Miura of Japan (However, his oldfoe 81-year old Min Bahadur Sherchan of Nepal, is following close behind and is attempting to scale the summit very soon)

8) Who was selected for the 2013 Ellen L. Lutz Indigenous Rights Award for protecting the rights of tribals? – Dayamani Barla (She waschosen for this prestigious prize from among 60 international nominees by Cultural Survival, an international NGO. Dayamani Barla, 48, aMunda adivasi has led people’s movements against displacement for over a decade, gained prominence when she travelled acrossvillages in four districts of Jharkhand organizing villagers who were opposed to giving up their agricultural land for setting up of ArcelorMittal’s steel plant over 11,000 acres of land)

9) Who was appointed as the new chairman of the Board of Governors of the Medical Council of India (MCI) on 23 May 2013? – Dr. RKSrivastav, former Director General of Health Services (He will replace Dr. KK Talwar. A new Board of Governors for MCI has beenconstituted as an interim arrangement before an elected body takes over)

10) How much were the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of the State Bank of India (SBI) for year ended 31 March 2013 as declaredon 23 May 2013? – Rs. 51,189 crore (NPAs stood at Rs. 39,676 crore in the previous year. SBI’s gross NPA as a percentage of totalloan rose to 4.75%, which is the highest among Indian banks. NPAs represent portion of bad loans)

24 May 2013




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1) The Legislative Assembly of Himachal Pradesh completed how many years of itsformation on 24 May 2013? – 50 years (Himachal assembly celebrated its golden jubilee onthis day, in which President Pranab Mukherjee addressed a special session, who becamethe second President to address the assembly. Earlier APJ Abdul Kalam addressed theassembly in 2004)

2) On 24 May 2013 a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft was diverted to a Britishairport designated as a counter-terrorism airport after this Manchester-bound aircraftsounded a mid-air security alert, forcing Britain to scramble two fighter jets to escort theplane. What is the name of the British counter-terrorism airport, where this plane wasdiverted to? – Stansted (This PIA aircraft with 297 passengers on-board was on Lahore-Manchester flight when two passengers onboard created ruckus in the aircraft thus

endangering its safety)

3) Which team will take on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the finals of the sixth edition of IPL? – Mumbai Indians (Mumbai Indiansdefeated Rajasthan Royals by 4 wickets in the third qualifier on 24 May 2013)

4) Who recently became the first woman to receive the US Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for popular song? – Carole King, USsinger and songwriter (The Gershwin Prize is given by the US Library of Congress each year and is given as a lifetime achievement inpopular music. The prize was conferred on King by the US President Barack Obama on 22 May 2013 at the White House)

5) What is the name of country’s first yoga university which was inaugurated by the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on 23 May 2013at Ahmedabad? – Lakulish Yoga University (It is claimed to be the first such university in India and has been set up by theSurendranagar-based Life Mission Trust. This university will offer a 3-year six-semester degree course in Yoga in which students will betaught subjects of Ashtang Yoga, Karma, knowledge, Bhakti Yoga, philosophy, psychology, anatomy, Ayurveda and naturopathy)

6) The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has recently relaxed the eligibility criteria for the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY). As per thenewly announced criteria for JSY, all women belonging to the below poverty line (BPL) segment can access JSY benefits irrespective oftheir age and number of children. What was the existing criterion for JSY till now? – The women had to prove that they were 19 yearsof age and had no more than two children (JSY provides financial assistance to mothers for institutional deliveries. The relaxationhave been incorporated as it was witnessed that a majority of eligible women for this scheme were out of the purview as they were unableto produce proof of age or verify the number of children they have)

25 May 2013




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1) Mahendra Karma, a powerful tribal leader of the Congress from south Chhattisgarh, who founded a famousmovement to combat Maoists, was killed in a naxalite attack on Congress’ ongoing Parivartan Yatra at Sukmain Chhattisgarh on 25 May 2013. Congress state chief of Chhattisgarh Nand Kumar Patel, his son DineshPatel and senior Congress leader Uday Mudaliar was also killed in this attack while another senior leader VCShukla was seriously injured in this attack. What is the name of the movement founded by Mahendra Karma?– Salwa Judum (Under this movement a militia consisting of local tribal youths was raised to lead anti-insurgency operation in Chhattisgarh. However, in 2011 the Supreme Court declared this militia asunconstitutional and illegal and ordered the state govt. to recover all the firearms along with the ammunitionand accessories provided to the activists of Salwa Judum militia)

2) Who was appointed as the new Defence Secretary of India on 25 May 2013? – Radha Krishna Mathur(He succeeds Shashikant Sharma who has taken over as Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). RK Mathuris a 1977-batch IAS officer of Manipur-Tripura cadre and was serving as Secretary (Defence Production) in the

Defence Ministry. He will have tenure of 2 year)

3) A two-child limit for Muslim families has been imposed in which state of Mynmar recently in an effort to ease tensions with the Buddhist neighbours of the stateafter a spate of deadly sectarian violence? – Rakhine (The new measure will be applied to two Rakhine townships of Buthidaung and Maundaw, which borderBangladesh and have the highest Muslim populations in the state)

4) African Union (AU) completed 50 years of its establishment and a summit meet was organized on this occasion on 25 May 2013. Where was this summit held?– Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia (AU is an organisation of countries of the Africa continent, which was established with an objective of liberating the continentfrom its colonial masters and which is now trying to stay relevant in a continent regularly troubled by conflicts. Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari represented Indiaat this summit)

5) Which team won the title of European Champions League in the finals played on 25 May 2013? – Bayern Munich of Germany, who defeated its German rivalBorussia Dortmund by 2-1

26 May 2013




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1) Which franchisee team won the 6th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), final ofwhich was held on 26 May 2013 at Kolkata’s Eden Garden? – Mumbai Indians (MI) – (MIdefeated Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 23 runs. This was the first IPL title for MI, who weredefeated by CSK in the finals of 2010)

2) Who claimed the orange cap for scoring highest runs in the 6th edition of the IPL? –Michael Hussey of Chennai Super Kings (Hussey scored 733 runs during the tournamentfollowed by Chris Gayle who scored 708 runs)

3) Who claimed the purple cap for claiming highest number of wickets in the 6th edition ofthe IPL? – Dwayne Bravo of Chennai Super Kings (Dwayne Bravo bagged 32 wickets during IPL 6 followed by James Faukner ofRajasthan Royals, who bagged 28 wickets)

4) Who won the Monaco F1 Grand Prix, final of which was held on 26 May 2013? – Nico Rosberg of Germany belonging to theMercedes team (Both second and third spots were claimed by drivers of Red Bull team, Sebastian Vettel (Germany) and Mark Webber(Australia). Nico Rosberg emulated his father’s win on the same track in 1983 when his father Keke Rosberg took the chequered flaghere)

5) Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement from T-20 cricket immediately after his team Mumbai Indians won the 6th edition of IPL on26 May 2013. Which is the only cricket format in which Sachin Tendulkar is now playing international cricket? – Test cricket (Sachin hadalready announced his retirement from one day internationals in 2012)

6) Which agency was commissioned to investigate security lapses in the 25 May Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh, in which 28 people,including senior Congress leaders, lost their lives? – National Investigative Agency (NIA)

7) The Serbian govt. on 26 May 2013 accepted a normalization agreement with its former province of Kosovo. Which organisation hadbrokered with Serbia and Kosovo for this agreement? – The European Union (The agreement paves the way to both Serbia andKosovo for closer ties with the European Union. Kosovo, with a mostly Albanian population, declared independence in 2008, nine yearsafter NATO intervened against Serbia to end a war there)

27 May 2013




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1) Indian Air Force (IAF)’s first fighter air base in South India was inaugurated by Defence Minister AK Antonyon 27 May 2013. Where is this air base situated? – Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu (IAF’s state-of-the-art Su-30MKIcombat aircraft will be stationed at this new air base. The establishment of the premier fighter base isimportant in the view of current geo-political scenario and threat perception in the peninsular region and in theIndian Ocean)

2) Which wholly-owned loss-making subsidiary of the State Trading Corporation of India was recommended tobe wound up by the union govt. recently? – Spices Trading Corporation Limited – STCL (STCL hassuffered massive liability of Rs. 1,208 crore account of fraud and in view of the govt. it was not viable to reviveit)

3) How many cooperative banks failed in 2012-13, resulting in credit insurance company Deposit Insuranceand Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) paying nearly Rs. 160 crore to depositors? – 13 (Among the 13 cooperative banks, which failed to repay deposits tocustomers, nine are from Maharashtra, two from Gujarat and one each from Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. DICGC is a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India)

4) Nawaz Sharif is set to become Pakistan’s Prime Minister for an unprecedented third term on 5 June with his party PML-N nominating him for the post on 27 May2013. Which were the two earlier terms of Nawaz Sharif as Prime Minister of Pakistan? – 1990-93 and 1997-99 (First session of the new National Assembly will beconvened on 1 June 2013)

5) Which film won the prestigious Palme d’Or at the recently concluded 66th Cannes Film Festival? – ‘Blue is the Warmest Colour’ (This film was directed byFrench-Tunisian filmmaker Abdellatif Kechiche and is a gay themed love story)

6) World Cup Cricket 2019 would be jointly hosted by which two countries? – England and Wales (The International Cricket Council (ICC) and the England andWales Cricket Board (ECB) officially signed the agreement to stage the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales. The tournament will be held throughout June 2019and will be played at 10 venues. It is currently scheduled to involve 10 teams)

28 May 2013




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1) On 29 May 2013, which anniversary of the conquer of Mt. Everest is being celebrated? – 60th (World’shighest peak Mt. Everest was conquered by Sir Edmund Hillary (New Zealand) and Tenzing Norgay (India) on29 May 1953 when they reached the 29,028 ft (8,848m) summit)

2) Which state on 28 May 2013 became the third state in the country after Goa and Sikkim to introduceonline lottery? – Punjab (Punjab state cabinet cleared a proposal to introduce online lottery, which will offergames through a network of computer terminals or other such devices at retail locations. These devices andterminals will be connected to a central data centre. The state cabinet also cleared a law to facilitate thesetting up of race courses in Punjab)

3) Senior advocate and rebel MP Ram Jethmalani was expelled from the BJP for how many years on 28 May2013? – 6 years (A few weeks ago Jethmalani barged into a meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Party andquestioned his continued suspension from the party. He was suspended after he opposed a second term forNitin Gadkari as party president)

5) Who was appointed as the Chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) recently? – Mrs. Kushal Singh (She was appointed bythe Ministry of Women and Child Development and was earlier selected by a committee headed by Krishna Tirath, Minister of Women and Child Development)

6) Who was appointed as the Managing Director of India operations of confectionery major Britannia Industries in place of Vinita Bali? – Varun Berry (Berry wasChief Operating Officer (COO) of the company till now. Vinita Bali will now focus on international business of the company)

7) The first ever social audit of its kind in the country of the mid-day meal (MDM) scheme – aimed at providing nutritious, hot, cooked meal to children in primaryschools – has revealed that schools in Andhra Pradesh get inadequate quantity of rice and that too of poor quality. Which body conducted this study, whichsubmitted its report to the HRD Ministry recently? – The Society of Social Audit, Accountability and Transparency – SSAAT (SSAAT is an independent bodyset up by Andhra Pradesh’s Rural Development department. SSAAT conducted its social audit of MDM scheme across 40 schools in Khammam and Chittoordistricts of Andhra Pradesh and covered more than 4,600 students)

29 May 2013

4) Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Navigation Centre was inaugurated on 28 May 2013 by V. Narayanasamy, the Minister of State in the PrimeMinister’s Office (PMO). Where is this centre situated? – Byalalu, about 40 km from Bangalore (This centre will act as a focal point of all important operations ofIndian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), which is a network system of 7 satellites and which provides crucial information of India and itsneighbourhood)



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1) Japan and India on 29 May 2013 agreed to form a joint working-group to set up the sale of first defence item from Japan to any country in the world.Which item is this? – The US2 amphibious aircraft (A landmark agreement on the supply of amphibious planes to India was signed to establish a JointWorking Group (JWG) to explore the modality for cooperation in seeing through that the deal is finalized. It is the first time that Japan has offered such astep on this aircraft which has dual uses of landing on choppy waters and having long-range civilian and military applications. The US-2 which wasdeveloped by ShinMaywa Industries has a range of 4,700 kilometres and can land in seas with waves of up to three metres. The sale of the aircraft, whenit happens, would be the first of a finished product made by Japan’s homegrown defence industry since rules were imposed in 1967 restricting the exportof weapons systems and other equipment)

2) Which famous social activist, who was a member of the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC), decided not to continuein the council for another term of NAC? – Ms. Aruna Roy (Roy’s term ends on 31 May 2013. She also criticised the Prime Minister’s office for not takingup the recommendations of NAC on minimum wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Royis a former civil servant and a founder member of the Rajasthan-based Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan. She is now apparently looking to work atgrassroots level)

3) A Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on 29 May 2013 approved a bill which seeks to set up an independent regulatory authority for the coal sector to addresscontentious issues such as pricing, supply and quality of coal. What is the name of this proposed bill, which will be sent to the Cabinet within 10 days for approval? – Coal Regulatory Authority Bill

4) What is the growth estimate for India for year 2013 as released by Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)? – 5.3% (This estimate has been scaled-down from itsearlier estimate of 5.9%. OECD cautioned that structural bottlenecks could further constrain investment and growth potential of India)

5) According to the latest reports, Taliban’s No. 2 commander in Pakistan was killed on 29 May 2013 in a US drone strike in country’s North Waziristan tribal region. What is the name of this commander? –Waliur Rehman (Rehman was the deputy chief of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan)

6) Indian Rupee sank to 10-month lows on 29 May 2013 and it closed at Rs. 56.17 per dollar. The fall would have been more pronounced, had there not been sustained capital inflows worth over $100 million inequities. What are the main reasons for continued decline in value of rupee as against the US dollar? – Heavy demand for dollar from gold dealers, oil importers and for defence-related buying (Aweak rupee will make imports costlier, which will have a cascading effect on inflation)

7) The Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) has asked for complete overhaul of the current Indian financial sector regulatory architecture, if India wants to become $14 trillion economyby 2015. What are the main recommendations of FSLRC, which has submitted its report to the Finance Ministry in March 2013?

a) Creation of a unified financial agency that would subsume sectoral regulators like IRDA, PFRDA, etcb) Limit the role of the RBI to monetary managementc) Introduction of Indian Financial Code (IFC) for replacing the current regulatory regime (IFC’s draft was also included in this report)

(Justice BN Srikrishna is the Chairman of the FSLRC)

8) What is the name of Britain’s largest online fashion retailer, which recently recalled a range of premium leather belts manufactured in India, after the metal studs on them were found to be radioactive? –Asos (These belts were supplied by Haq International and manufactured by Royal Ascot Leather in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. According to an internal report by Asos, these belts could cause radioactive injury ifworn for more than 500 hours)







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1) Noted filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh passed away of a cardiac arrest on 30 May 2013. The maker of acclaimed films like ‘Unishe April’ , ‘Dahan’,’Asukh’, ‘Chokher Bali’, ‘Raincoat’, ‘Bariwali’, ‘Antarmahal’ and ‘Noukadubi’ was just 49 years of age at the time of his death. Ghosh won how manynational awards in his illustrious career? – 12 (He made his directional debut in 1994 with children’s film ‘Hirer Angti’. His second film ‘Unishe April’ starringAparna Sen and Debashree Roy won him his first of the 12 National Film Awards)

2) What was the name of the so-called grand-mother of women’s movement in South Asia who passed away on 30 May 2013 and who was the architectof the epochal Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India in post independent India? – Dr. Vina Mazumdar (As a member of the firstCommittee on the Status of Women in India (1973-74), Mazumdar wrote the committee’s report “Towards Equality”, the first of its kind on the status ofIndian women. This report was a watershed in the fight for women’s rights in the country)

3) Which Indian city will host 20th Asian Athletics Championships, as announced on 30 May 2013? – Pune (This championship will be held from 3 to 7July 2013. This event was proposed to be held in Tamil Nadu originally but the State government refused to host it on political grounds. Later, Delhi too backed off from being the alternate venue for theChampionships)

4) The Environment Ministry’s 2012 guidelines for high-rise buildings that link a building’s height with the width of the road on which it is located – and had been strongly opposed by state governments –failed to get the backing of a review committee set up by the ministry itself. Who is this chairman of this committee? – Dr. K. Kasturirangan, member Planning Commission and former head of ISRO (Thiscommittee has recommended that the issues relating to urban planning, fire fighting and disaster management should be left to the state governments and local bodies instead)

5) In a severe setback to the Congress in Andhra Pradesh, a senior party leader and a former Rajya Sabha member quit the party and joined the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) on 30 May 2013. Who is thisleader? – K. Keshava Rao (Rao left Congress due to party’s allegedly inactive role in resolving the Telangana issue)

6) India signed an extradition pact with which prominent South-East Asian country on 30 May 2013 on the occasion of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to this country? – Thailand (This pact withThailand completes a legal architecture to ease process for monitoring, arresting and deporting India’s key suspects. Thailand’s liberal tourist visa policies have made it a preferred escape destination for aplethora of criminals from almost all regions of India)

7) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was on 30 May 2013 elected to the Rajya Sabha from Assam for ___ time? – 5th (Manmohan Singh is a Rajya Sabha member from Assam since 1991. He received 49votes in the recently held elections for the Upper House)

8) Who was appointed as the Managing Director of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), which is the largest financial institution in the country? – SK Roy (Roy was a senior executive of LIC. However, Roy isalso one of the contenders for LIC Chairman’s post, which falls vacant on 31 May 2013 following superannuation of current incumbent RK Mehrotra)

9) A govt. committee has recommended to do away with the BPL list in 22 “most backward” of the 82 Integrated Action Plan (IAP) districts of the country, mainly due to presence of Left wing extremism inthese districts. Who is heading this committee? – Abhijit Sen, member Planning Commission (This committee was formed in October 2012 to suggest methodology for inclusion of eligible families in theexisting Below Poverty Line (BPL) list. The committee submitted its report to the govt. on 22 May 2013)

10) What is the name of Mercedes Benz India’s first luxury hatchback car, which was launched by the company on 30 May 2013? - A Class (This premium hatchback is priced from Rs 21.93 lakh to Rs 22.73and is targeted towards the affluent youth of India)







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