Hrithik Roshan named ultimate style icon

Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan has been named the ultimate style icon of India in a recent survey. Yahoo! conducted a survey poll in April. The ‘Agneepath’ star is closely by cricketer MS Dhoni and superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the online survey conducted by Yahoo. Hrithik got 18 per cent votes, while Dhoni bagged 16 and SRK 15 per cent votes in the survey. Celebrity couple Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan were voted the most stylish couple and megastar Amitabh Bachchan was named the most well dressed celebrity. Aamir Khan was declared the celebrity for whom technology and style go hand-in-hand while yesteryears actress Rekha was named for her traditional Indian fashion sense. ‘Dirty Picture’ star Vidya Balan was voted for having the most unique fashion sense.

Dada Saheb Phalke Award

Legendary Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee was conferred the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award by Vice President Hamid Ansari . He received the Swarna Kamal (golden lotus) medallion, a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and a shawl.

Dadasaheb Phalke Academy award

Dadasaheb Phalke Academy awards are being held in the name of father of Indian cinema Dadasaheb Phalke. This award is different from the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award instituted by the Government of India which went to Bengali cinema legend Soumitra Chatterjee this year.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar, wife Saira Bano, veteran actors Tanuja and Vinod Khanna and others were honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Academy awards.

Bahchchan got the Phalke Ratna award, while Saira Banu and Dilip Kumar got Saraswatibai Phalke award.

Veteran actors Tanuja and Vinod Khanna were handed over Legendary actor award in male and female category, respectively while Waheeda Rehman received Phalke Icon Cine Artiste award.

Ram Gopal Gupta was given Phalke Senior Most Producer award, Gurudas Maan got Phalke Versatile Singer award and Neila Devi received Phalke Golden Era award (Shammi Kapoor’s wife).

Vidya Balan got Phalke Memorable Performance award (‘The Dirty Picture’), Ajay Devgan got Outstanding Performance award (‘Singham’), Parineeti Chopra and Pakistani singer-turned-actor Ali Zafar received Phalke New Talent award in male and female category, Farhan Akhtar was handed over Best Commercial Film (‘Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobara’), Prakash Raj got Phalke Versatile Cine Star. Ekta Kapoor was given Phalke Icon Producer award – Film & Television.

Besides the awards, Big B unveiled a wax statue of Dadasaheb Phalke, the Hindi film pioneer who directed India’s first full-length feature, ‘Raja Harishchandra’ in 1913.

Facebook sets $28-35 price range for IPO

Facebook has set a price range of $28 to $35 for its initial public offering of stock. The company  valued at between $77 billion and $96 billion. Facebook could raise about $11 billion through the IPO. The company is expected to go public on May 18 and the stock will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbol ‘FB’.

Naik appointed as head of House panel on law, justice

Shantaram Naik of Congress has been appointed the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice. He replaces Abhishek Singhvi, who resigned in the aftermath of the CD controversy. Naik  has been elected to Rajya Sabha from Goa, has served on committee for a year earlier. Ansari has also appointed BSP’s Satish Misra to the Standing Committee on Home Affairs, BJP’s J P Nadda to panel on Transport, Tourism and Culture and Congress’s Satyavrat Chaturvedi to the panel on Agriculture.

Indian women won Asian Squash title

Indian women created history by winning their maiden title as they beat Hong Kong 2-0 in the final of the Asian Team Squash championship. In the women’s final, Joshna Chinappa, ranked 71st , Dipika Pallikal, ranked 14.

India went down 0-2 to Pakistan in the men’s final.

Kohlschreiber wins BMW Open

Fourth-seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany won the BMW Open with a 7-6 (10/8), 6-3 victory over Croatia’s Marin Cilic.

François Hollande Elected President Of France

Francois Hollande won the French presidential runoff elections with 52 percent of the votes, defeating the sitting president Nicolas Sarkozy. Hollande becomes the first Socialist president since Francois Mitterrand and only the second in the Fifth Republic.

Excise on gold jewellery, TDS on realty rolled back

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, facing protests against some taxation proposals in the 2012-13 Budget, on Monday announced a rollback of duty levied on jewellery and deferred implementation of the General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) by a year. The government has decided to withdraw the levy (one per cent excise duty) on all precious metal jewellery, branded or unbranded, with effect from March 17, 2012.

There will no longer be required to deduct 1% of the transaction value at the time of purchase of property. Similarly, for cash purchase of jewellery, the minister has increased the threshold for tax collection at source from Rs 2 lakh proposed by him on March 16 to Rs 5 lakh now. The TCS

threshold for cash purchase of bullion, excluding coin or any item weighing 10 grams or less, has, however, been retained at Rs 2 lakh.

Honour for Jaipur paediatrician

The National Neonatology Forum of India has nominated noted Jaipur-based paediatrician Prof. Ashok Gupta as chairman of its international committee for 2012-13. The committee will assist the developing countries in taking new initiatives for newborn health care management.

SBI raises fixed deposit rates in foreign currency

State Bank of India today raised interest rates on fixed deposits in foreign currency by up to 1.75 per cent. For FCNR (B) dollar-denominated deposit, interest rate has been increased by 0.75 per cent to 3.05 per cent from 2.30 per cent for a maturity of 1-2 year.

Pandit Ravishankar gets Tagore award

Sitar maestro Pandit Ravishankar has been nominated for the first Tagore Award, instituted by the government to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, for promoting values of universal brotherhood. The name of Ravishankar, the Varanasi-born most known contemporary Indian musician, was cleared unanimously by a jury under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. On the recommendation of the jury, the award has been renamed as ‘Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony’. The award comprises Rs one crore, a citation in a scroll, a plaque and an exquisite traditional handicraft or handloom item.

O’Sullivan wins World title

Ronnie O’Sullivan won the 2012 World snooker championship beating Ali Carter 18-11 in the final. Victory gave O’Sullivan his fourth World title while defeat meant Carter had lost in his second final appearance after going down 18-8 to fellow Englishman in the 2008 edition.

  Questions

Q1) The death anniversary of ex-prime minister of India, Shri Rajiv Gandhi is observed as

a) Prime minister Day (C)

b) Loh Purush Day

c) Anti Terrorism Day

d) Gandhi day

Q2) Anti Terrorism Day is observed on

a) 26 jan (b)

b) 21 May

c) 15 Aug

d) 31 Oct

Q3) Recently NATO Summit Held in which city?

a) Chicago (a)

b) Berlin

c) Tokyo

d) Shanghai

Q4) G 8 Summit 2012 held at-

a) Turknesia (b)

b) Camp David

c) Baluchistan

d) Hawai

Q5) India has recently launched heavy satellite —

a) Risat-1 (a)

b) Risat-4

c) Risat-2

d) Risat-3

Q6) Who has been elected World Court judge to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ?

a) Markandey Katju (c)

b) Balakrishnan

c) Dalveer Bhandari

d) C J kapadia

Q7) What is the currency of Australia ?

a) Dollar (c)

b) Sterling

c) Penny

d) Pound

Q8) Millatry Exercise conducted from May 02 to May 05 at Rajasthan named as-

a) Operation akarman (b)

b) Operation shoorver

c) Operation atank

d) Operation Jaanbaaz

Q9) International Press Freedom Day observed on which of the following day?

a) 1 may (c )

b) 2 may

c) 3 may

d) 4 May

Q10) Which bollywood actor is the new brand ambassador for the sanitation drive launched by Union Minister for Rural Development ?

a) Kareena kapoor (c )

b) Madhuri dixit

c) Vidya Balan

d) Amir khan

Q1) Who was railway minister before Mukul Roy ?

Ans:- Dinesh Trivedi

Q2) OPEC summit 2011 held at?

Ans:- Vienna

Q3) Who was guest of honour for republic day?

Ans:- Yingluck Shinawatra

Q4) What is current CRR?

Ans:- 4.75%

Q5) Swabhiman is related to

Ans:- financial inclusion

Q6) Ranbir Kapoor won best actor for film ?

Ans:- Rock Star

Q7) Who is Chief justice of india?

Ans:- S H kapadia

Q8 ) Ranji trophy is related towhich sport?

Ans:-  cricket

Q9) kiran desai has written which of the following book ?

Ans:- Inheritance of loss

Q10) penalty realed to

Ans:- football

Q11) Match the capita?

Ans:- Italy – Rome

Q12) What does ‘D’ stand for in SDR?

Ans:- Drawing

Q13) Russia which is now presently a member will be formally accepted in which group in 2012?

Ans:- WTO

Q14) Earth summit 2012 will be held in

Ans:- Rio de janeiro

Q15) Aids day is observed on?

Ans:- 1 December

Q16) Prez Pratibha Patil term will end on?

Ans:- July 25

Q17) Which agency regulate share market in India?

Ans:- SEBI

Q18) Which agency proposed teaching of financial in school?

Ans:-

Q19) Against which country violation of human rights reported?

Ans:- Sri Lanka

Q20) Who Is the president of france?

Ans:- Francois hollande

Q21) Who is PM of Tridad Tobago ?

Ans:- Kamala Prasad

Q22) Wasim Jafffer is associated with which sport?

Ans:- Cricket

Q23) who got the Nobel peace prize for 2012?

Ans:- tawaakul karmannn

Q24) which term is related to football ?

Ans:- Penalty

Q25) 126 rafael fighter jets are ordered by which country ?

Ans- India

Q26) Which of the following are highlight of union budget ?

Ans:- direct Tax Code

Q27) Padma Bhusan Awardee___

Ans:- Homi K. Bhaba

Q28) Gavaskar-Border trophy is releted with India and which country

Ans:- Australia

Q29) PM Manmohan Singh represented which summit in Russia

Ans:- India-Russia Summit

Q30) Bussiness correspondent is releted to ?

Ans:- Financial inclusion

Q31) India is declared free from which disease?

Ans:- Polio

Q32) Term related to Economics?

Ans:- Arbitrage

Q33) .GDP divided by National income is equal to ?

Ans:-Per Capita Income

Q34) Earthquake measuring instrument ?

Ans:- Siesmometer

Q35) Arjun award is related to

Ans:-Sports.

Q36) saving account with insurance benefits?

Ans:- value added service

Q37) Which of the following is not the function of RBI?

Q38) Winner of Shooting Championship?

Q39) New Framework: for Minor and small banks.

Q40) Question on NATO.

 Tougher U.K. student visa rules come into forceUnder tougher immigration rules, coming into force from 8 April 2012, students from outside the European Union will be required to have a firm job offer of a minimum £20,000 a year from a government-approved employer if they wish to stay on in Britain after completing their studies. In a separate move, the government announced that it was freezing the annual cap on highly skilled workers for two years. It will remain at 20,700 till 2014. This follows criticism from the business sector that constant changes in rules created uncertainty and made it difficult for businesses to plan for future.

Srilata A Zaheer first Indian woman dean of top US Business SchoolSrilata A Zaheer, a former Chennai resident, has been named dean of the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, becoming the first woman of Indian descent to be appointed the head of a top US business school. She graduated from Madras University and obtained her MBA from IIM Ahmedabad in 1975, joins a growing list of Indian-origin academics taking leadership roles in top global business schools.CPI leader Pramode Gogoi passes awayVeteran Communist leader and president of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) Promode Gogoi passed away. He was member of the Central Secretariat and the National Executive of the Communist Party of India .Mr. Gogoi was Water Resources Minister during 1996-2001. He was one of the vice-presidents of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) and was re-elected to the CPI National Executive at the recent party congress held in Patna from March 27 to 31.

Amitabh Bachchan to be honoured for polio campaignActor Amitabh Bachchan, who has been the Goodwill Ambassador for Polio UNICEF campaign from 2005, will be honoured for his contribution to the cause.He has fronted the polio eradication programme successfully.

Serena Wins 2012 Family Circle CupSerena Williams won family circle cup by defeating Lucie Safarova 6-0 6-1 in the final of the Family Circle Cup. She won the 40th WTA title of her career.

(FIIs) can now invest up to 23 per cent in commodity exchangesAs per the new foreign investment norms announced by the Industry Ministry Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) can now invest up to 23 per cent in commodity exchanges without approval of the government. In a consolidated foreign direct investment (FDI) policy document, the government had decided to liberalise norms for overseas investments in commodity exchanges. It has now been decided to liberalise the policy and to mandate the requirement of Government approval only for FDI component of the investment. Such investment by FIIs, in commodity exchanges, will, therefore, no longer require Government approval. This change aligns the policy for foreign investment in commodity exchanges, with that of other infrastructure companies in the securities markets, such as stock exchanges, depositories and clearing corporations.

Shiva Thapa became the Youngest Indian Boxer to qualify for OlympicsThe 18-year-old Shiva Thapa (56kg category) became the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics by beating Japan’s Satoshi Shimizu 31-17 to enter the final of the Asian qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan

ADB pegs 7% GDP growth for India in ’12-13Asian Development Bank Manila-based bank has forecast 7% growth for the country in the current fiscal and 7.5% the next year. The finance ministry has projected a growth rate of 7.6% for the current fiscal.

E-filing returns compulsory above Rs 10 lakhThe government has made it mandatory for individuals with income above Rs 10 lakh to file their tax returns 2011-12 onwards electronically. E-filing has been made compulsory for the person who is an individual, or a Hindu Undivided Family, if his or its total income, or the total income in respect of which he is or it is assessable under the Act during the previous year, exceeds Rs 10 lakh for assessment year 2012-13 onwards. E-filing for such individuals was optional till 2010-11.

Seventh Meeting of the India-Russia Joint Working Group on Combating International TerrorismThe seventh meeting of the India-Russia Joint Working Group (JWG) on Combating International Terrorism was held on April 11 in New Delhi. The discussions were held in an atmosphere of trust and mutual understanding. The parties emphasized that their cooperation in countering new challenges and threats is an integral part of the Indian-Russian special and privileged strategic partnership, expressed mutual concern about the continuous threat of cross-border terrorism, and reaffirmed their commitment to consolidate bilateral interaction in the fight against this global scourge. Both the Countries also underlined the role of international efforts in preventing and suppressing terrorism including the consistent implementation of the UN Global Counterterrorism Strategy and the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.

Mitsui Sumitomo to Buy 26% Stake in India’s Max New York LifeTokyo-based MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings is buying 26 per cent in Max New York Life (MNYL). The stake buy is being done through Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, which is a subsidiary of MS&AD Group Holdings. In an all-cash transaction, MS&AD will pay Rs 2,731 crore ($535

million) for the 26 per cent stake, making it the second largest foreign investment in the Indian life insurance sector

Moody’s downgrades ratings of ONGC, GAILCredit rating agency Moody’s has downgraded the local currency ratings of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and GAIL, as a reflection of the risks that these two entities share with the Indian government. Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the local currency rating of ONGC to Baa1 from A2 and that of GAIL to Baa2 from A3. The outlook for both the ratings is stable.

Salman Bashir new Pak envoy to IndiaPakistan government has appointed former foreign secretary Salman Bashir as new envoy to India. 60-year-old Bashir will succeed Shahid Malik, who has completed a record five-and-a-half-year term as Pak envoy.

IGate accepts Patni delisting offerIGate Corp (IGTE.O) accepted minority shareholders’ offer of 520 rupees per share to delist its Indian unit Patni Computer Systems (PTNI.NS) (PTI.N) from the Indian Stock Exchanges. , at a price higher than what it paid to buy a controlling stake in the company.

Vandalised Gandhiji statue in Sri Lanka restored

A statue of Mahatma Gandhi that was vandalised late on April 5 in the East Sri Lankan town of Batticaloa, headquarters town of the Tamil-dominated Eastern province, has been restored.

Kim is World Bank head

Jim Yong Kim was chosen to be president of the World Bank .He has become the first physician and Asian-American to head the bank. The World Bank board of directors chose Dartmouth College president Kim to succeed Robert Zoellick . He is specialist in HIV/AIDS with a Ph.D. in anthropology . Kim is  52 years old and faced rival bids from Nigeria and Colombia..

President releases commemorative postage stamp on former President Venkataraman

President Pratibha Devisingh Patil released a Commemorative Postage Stamp on the former President, Late R Venkataraman. Mr R Venkataraman was the eighth President of India from 1987-1992.

RBI cuts interest rates

The Reserve Bank cut the benchmark interest rate for first time in three years by 0.5% to provide relief to borrowers and revive the sagging economic growth. In  the annual credit policy the RBI

reduced the short-term lending (Repo) rates to eight% from 8.5%. Bank rate is cut to nine% from 9.5%. The reduction in the repo rate at which RBI lends to banks, has been prompted by deceleration in growth and softening of inflation. RBI has pegged the GDP growth rate for 2012-13 at 7.3 per cent. It is expected to be 6.9 per cent in 2011-12. The cash reserve ratio remained unchanged at 4.75 per cent.

Time magazine’s most influential people list

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been named among the 100 most influential people in the world by the Time magazine in its 2012 list which also includes U.S. President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and billionaire investor Warren Buffet. Apart from Ms. Banerjee, advocate Anjali Gopalan, who works for the rights of gays and the transgendered people in India, is the only other Indian in the list released by the magazine on 18 april 2012. The 2012 list is topped by American basketball sensation Jeremy Lin.

Woori Bank opens in India

One of the oldest and largest banks in South Korea Seoul-headquartered Woori Bank has set up its first Indian branch in Chennai. Woori Bank chose Chennai as location for its head office since the city houses more than 170 Korean companies, including giants Hyundai Motor, Lotte and Samsung

Agni-V test fire

India successfully test-fired of its first inter-continental ballistic missile nuclear-capable Agni-V, with a strike range of 5,000km from Odisha .  India entered  into an elite club of nations with Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) technology. The Agni-V is 17.5m tall, solid-fuelled, has three stages and a launch weight of 50 tonnes. It cost more than 2.5bn rupees ($480m; £307m) to develop. The missile has a range of more than 5,000km (3,100 miles), potentially bringing targets in China within range. The revealed range, over 5,000km, makes it a LRBM, or long-range ballistic missile, something that does not carry the more sinister connotation of an ICBM, or intercontinental ballistic missile, which would have had a range of over 5,500km.

Ponneelan elected president of Progressive Writers Association

Tamil writer and Sahitya Akademi awardee Ponneelan has been elected as the all-India president of the Progressive Writers’ Association. Mr. Ponneelan is at present presidium member of the Tamil Nadu Association of Arts and Literature (Tamil Nadu Kalai Ilakkiya Perumandram) founded by late Communist leader P. Jeevanantham. He had served as president and general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Kalai Ilakkiya Perumandram for one period respectively in the past. He won the Sahitya Akademi award in Tamil for the novel ‘Puthiya Dharisanangal’ in 1994. He had authored various books, including novel ‘Marupakkam’ which revolved round the Mandaikadu communal clashes and reflected the current political scenario across the nation.

$1 billion cap on ECBs for aviation sector

The Govt. of India allowed companies who engaged in the aviation sector could raise working capital resources through the external commercial borrowings (ECBs) route to the tune of $1 billion. The limit for individual airline companies would be $300 million.The companies in the aviation sector would be allowed to avail themselves of ECBs for one year for working capital/refinancing of outstanding working capital rupee loans. The ECB made under this provision would have a maximum ceiling of $1 billion for the entire civil aviation sector. This limit can be availed themselves of either in a lump sum or in tranches, depending on the utilisation of the limit during the one year when the facility is available

 Shantaram Award

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan  announced the list awardees for awards given by Maharashtra Govt. in the field of Cinema for the year 2012:-

Raj Kapoor Special Contribution Award, 2012- Actress Madhuri Dixit

Raj Kapoor Lifetime Achievement Award, 2012 – Veteran Director Shyam Benegal

V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award, 2012 – Veteran Actress Leela Gandhi, and Dilip Prabhavalkar

UK honoured  top Indian-origin scientists

Six Indian-origin scientists have been elected for the prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Society for 2012.They are:-

Tejinder Singh Virdee, Professor of Physics at Imperial College London, who is distinguished for the design, construction and exploitation of the huge CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider.

Professor Krishnaswamy Vijay Raghavan, Director of the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, is described as an “inspirational leader successfully promoting excellence in Indian biology.”

Professor Chandrashekhar Bhalchandra Khare, who is based at the University of California, Los Angeles, is described as “an extremely original mathematician” studying the relationship between Galois representations and modular forms..

Professor Mathukumalli Vidyasagar of the University of Texas at Dallas has been elected to the Fellowship for making “outstanding contributions” to control and systems theory and statistical learning.

Professor Shankar Balasubramanian is an internationally recognised leader in the field of nucleic acids who is distinguished for pioneering contributions to chemistry and its application to the biological and medical sciences.

Professor Varinder Kumar Aggarwal of the University of Bristol is distinguished for his “outstanding contributions” to the field of asymmetric synthesis, particularly applications of ylide chemistry where he is the world leader.

SBI cuts FD rates by up to 100 bps

Country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on 23 April slashed interest rates on fixed deposits by up to 1 per cent across various maturities

Sports:-

Rafel Nadal won Monte Carlo Cup.

Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel won the Grand Prix in Bahrain

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg won the Chinese Grand Prix for his first career Formula One victory. McLaren driver Jenson Button was finished second .Lewis Hamilton of McLaren was third, followed by the Red Bull duo of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel in fourth and fifth.