gyanm general awareness november 2014 issue

GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2014 1

THE NEW GLOBAL LORD

A small person who supported his father by selling tea to the rail passengers -- Narendra Damodardas Modi, scripted the history when he almost single handedly proved his mettle by securing landmark victory in the recent general elections to the Lok Sabha to ascend the throne of Prime Minister of India, thus relieving the country from the vicissitude of coalition politics and the compulsions attached with it.

After a long gap, India now has a leader who is decisive and means business. From being a Chief Minister of a state to being the prime minister is not a small transition; it also means having a global view of the things than just focusing on domestic issues. And he has proved that he is as consummate a player at Foreign Policy as he at domestic issues.

His first master stroke was invitation to leaders of SAARC countries and PM of Mauritius for his swearing-in ceremony. It not only took the whole polity by surprise but also created an atmosphere of cordiality with neighbouring countries. The decision was being watched by foreign policy experts for he was being seen as a belligerent person with coloured vision of India’s neighbours.

His choice of Bhutan as his first country for visit rather than Japan, further consolidated the importance he attached to neighbouring countries. He followed this visit up by going to Nepal, a first for an Indian Prime Minister in last seventeen years.

The month of September can be described as remarkable for the scale and speed with which Mr. Modi has undertaken the Foreign Policy platform by storm. Stretching his landscape of vision from Japan in the East, to China in the North, to Australia in

the South and USA in the West proves that he has the right perspective of the world in his mind. The alacrity and the speed with which he accepted the invitation of the US President to visit USA proved that he is ready to forget the past snubs and move forward to establish a new era in relationship between two countries.

The highpoint of his diplomatic mission was his meeting with Mr. Barack Obama. The leaders of two largest democracies need a real push that would take the relationship to a new height to take on the challenges posed by totalitarian state like China.

The world today has become a dangerous place to live; the rise of fundamentalism and terrorism in the Middle East, the dangerous hotspots in the Europe pose a real threat. India as an emerging economy in the world has an important role to play at the world stage.

Mr. Modi has proved that he is deft and flexible enough to adjust his views to the ground realities and does not suffer from blinkered vision. He has proved that he is capable to sit at the high table of international diplomacy with comfort and ease. His emergence on the world stage has been stupendous and he has a task to prove that the breathless pace of meetings is not without purpose for there is more to diplomacy than meetings only.

His call to the world leaders to come together as an all G group to fight out terrorism is a clarion call that has the power to change the world scenario. May Almighty give shape to his dreams to make this world a better place to live.

–Chief Editor


GENERAL AWARENESS

NOVEMBER 2014 Year: 2014 Vol. 3, Issue 05

A PUBLICATION OF GYANM EDUCATION & TRAINING INSTITUTE PVT. LTD.

SCO 13-14-15, 2ND FLOOR, SEC 34-A, CHANDIGARH

CONTENTS

CURRENT AFFAIRS JULY TO SEP. 2014 2-26

BULLET NEWS APRIL to JUNE 2014 27-35

IBPS CLERK GUESS PAPER 36-53

PUNJAB GK 54-67

SCIENCE MCQs 68-80

LATEST GK BULLETS 81-100

FIGURES TO REMEMBER

REPO RATE 8.00%

REVERSE REPO RATE 7.00%

MARGINAL STANDING FACILITY RATE

9.00%

STATUTORY LIQUIDITY RATIO 22%

CASH RESERVE RATIO 4.00% BANK RATE 9.00%

BASE RATE(s) (of various banks)

9.80% – 10.25 %

INDIA’S RANK IN

Global Competitiveness 71st

Human Development Index 135th

Global Innovation Index 76th

Economic Confidence Index 01st

Choice for FDI 4th

Global Peace Index 143rd

Press Freedom Index 2014 78th Ease of Doing Business (World Bank) 134th

Social Progress Index 102nd

World Press Freedom Index 140th

Environment Performance Index 155th

Index for Nuclear Safety 23rd

Index of Economic Freedom 120th

Rank in Energy Usage 69th

Ease of Doing Business (Forbes) 98th Corruption Perception Index 94th

World Prosperity Index 106th

Global Hunger Index 2013 63rd

NATIONAL NEWS

SEPTEMBER 2014

MODI MAKES HISTORY AT MSG, NEW YORK Billed as one of the largest receptions ever held for a foreign head of state in the USA, PM Modi addressed a historical public gathering of over 18,000 persons at the USA’s most prestigious venue – Madison Square Garden in New York on 28th September. Pitching his 3D mantra for assured progress, Modi said, "We have democracy (peoples government), demographic dividend (young generation) and demand (huge market of over 125 crore Indians) on our side." India is the youngest nation in the world with 65% of its population below 35 years of age. He made four promises to NRI community:

Life time visas for persons of Indian origin (PIO) cardholders PIO and Overseas Indian Citizen (OCI) cards to be merged in to one common

card Those who come to India for long stay will not have to report periodically at

police stations as is the present requirement US nationals to get long term visas and visa on arrival following electronic travel

authorization

Recognising the importance of Modi’s visit to USA, the US Senate unanimously passed a resolution designating September 30 as 'US-India Partnership Day' (For further details of Modi’s US visit, please see our next issue)

President: Barack Obama Prime Minister: No Position Capital: Washington DC Currency: U S Dollar Parliament: Congress

CHINESE PRESIDENT VISITS INDIA During recent visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, China signed 12 pacts to commit investment of $20 billion in India in the next five years besides allowing greater market access to Indian companies in sectors like pharmaceutical and farm-products. Highlights of the pacts are: China to help in modernization of Indian railways, including setting up of a


Railway University and adding to the speed of trains, beginning with Chennai-Bangalore-Mysore corridor for trains 160 kmph speed.

Three MoUs signed for Gujarat -- making Guangzhou and Ahmedabad as sister cities, setting up of industrial parks in Gujarat.

Making the Guangdong province and the Gujarat partners in cultural and social ties.

To provide support for setting up automotive industrial park near Pune, Maharashtra.

Agreed to opening of a new route to Kailash Mansarovar via Nathu La in Sikkim.

To observe year 2015 as “Visit India” year in China, and 2016 as “Visit China” in India.

China’s Premier (Prime Minister): Li Keqiang Capital: Beijing Currency: Renminbi (Yuan) China’s Parliament: National People's Assembly

JAPAN TO INVEST $35 BILLION IN INDIA

During recent Japan visit of our Prime Minister, Japan pledged to invest Rs. 2.1 lakh crore ($35.5 billion) in a wide spectrum of projects in India over five years. These include infrastructure, clean energy and skill development. Japan will also provide all possible support to introduce the Shinkansen, or bullet train, along the Ahmedabad-Mumbai route. Japan’s Emperor: Akihito Prime Minister: Shinzo Abe Capital: Tokyo Currency: Yen Parliament: Diet KASHI TO LEARN FROM KYOTO India and Japan have signed a partner city affiliation agreement between Varanasi (Kashi) and Kyoto, which will see cooperation in the fields of heritage conservation, city modernisation and culture. Kyoto is also known as ‘city of thousand shrines.’

GOOD NEWS FOR UNDERTRIALS In a historic landmark judgment, the Supreme Court has directed that all under-trial prisoners who have been in the prison for a period more than half of the jail term prescribed for the offences they had been arrested should be released on bail immediately. The Court asked trial court judges to visit jails under their jurisdiction every week starting from October 1 and order the release of such under trial prisoners in the jail itself.

PRESIDENT VISITS VIETNAM

President Pranab Mukherjee made a four-day state visit to Vietnam and met his counterpart Truong Tan Sang. The two countries signed seven pacts to further strengthen their strategic partnership in key sectors including Oil Exploration, Agriculture and Air Connectivity between the two countries.

President: Trương Tan Sang P M:Nguyen Tan Dung Capital: Hanoi Currency: Dong Parliament: National Assembly

NUCLEAR DEAL INKED WITH AUSTRALIA Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott came to India on a two day visit. India signed a landmark civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Australia on 5th September at New Delhi. The deal will ensure regular supply of Uranium for peaceful purposes. Back in 2012, Australia reversed its policy on nuclear sales to India as the latter refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

POSTAL STAMP ON GREAT MUSICIANS President released a set of eight commemorative postage stamps on great Indian musicians - Pandit Ravi Shankar, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, D.K. Pattammal, Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur, Gangubai Hangal, Pandit Kumar Gandharva, Ustad Vilayat Khan and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.

INDIA 71ST IN GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS India has slipped to 71st position (from 60th in 2013) in an annual global competitiveness list released by the World Economic Forum. Switzerland remains on top, followed by Singapore and United States.

GATES FOUNDATION TO SUPPORT TOILETS Union Urban Development Ministry and international organisation Bill and Milinda Gates Foundation have agreed on a partnership to promote user friendly toilets to improve sanitation system in India under Swachchh Bharat Mission. The mission aims at providing toilet facility in every household in the country by 2019.

INDIA’s FIRST CORAL GARDEN In an attempt to conserve several coral species at one place and to boost tourism in the state, the country's first 'Coral garden' will be set up at Mithapur coastal region of Devbhoomi-Dwarka district in Gujarat. DOORDARSHAN COMPLETES 55 YEARS Public service broadcaster Doordarshan is celebrating 55 years of its service. Doordarshan made a modest beginning in India on 15th September 1959, when the first experimental centre at Delhi with a small transmitter was inaugurated by the then President Rajendra Prasad.


NALANDA UNIVERSITY IN ‘NEW AVATAR’ The ancient Nalanda University (NU), which attracted students from the world over in 6th century A D, started functioning once again after almost 800 years at its newly established campus at Rajgir, Bihar. The university was inaugurated by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. The NU came into existence by the Nalanda University Act passed by Parliament. Economist Amartya Sen is the Chairman of the Governing Body of the university that has received financial support from a number of countries – China, Australia, Singapore and Thailand. The idea of resurrecting the ancient seat of learning was mooted by former President APJ Abdul Kalam. INDIA RANKS 3RD IN IT SECURITY According to the I T security firm Trend Micro, India ranks third after Japan and the US in the tally of countries most affected by online banking malware during the April-June quarter of 2014. NATIONAL NUTRITION WEEK This week is celebrated every year from 1st September to the 7th September to make people aware about important tips of their health and well-being. The theme for this week is ‘Poshak Ahaar, Desh Ka Adhaar’. India has signed an agreement with Germany for

cooperation in the field of skill development, solid waste management and cleaning of rivers.

Liar’s Dice, a Hindi film directed by Geetu Mohandas has been selected as India’s entry for the Oscar Awards in the foreign film category.

India and Bangladesh have reached a decision on ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) and to ensure zero border killings.

India and Bangladesh signed a MoU on cooperation in the field of traditional systems of medicine and homeopathy.

Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister visits Afghanistan to meet President and to review key projects.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned 64 on 17th September.

AUGUST 2014 INDIA SAYS NO TO WTO TRADE AGREEMENT At the recent WTO meet at Geneva, India blocked a deal on "Trade Facilitation Agreement", a worldwide streamlining of customs rules that would cut container handling times, guarantee standard procedures for getting goods to and from their destinations and kill off vast amounts of paperwork at borders around the world. Some estimates said it would add $1 trillion to the world economy as well as 21 million jobs, 18 million of them in developing countries.

MODI VISITS NEPAL Prime Minister Mr Modi visited Kathmandu, Nepal and addressed the Constituent Assembly. India agreed to provide Nepal with $ 1 billion as concessional line of credit for various development purposes. Modi suggested HIT formula for Nepal’s development, implying H for highways, I for I-ways (for digital revolution) and T for Transways (for electricity transmission). He said that India will focus on the 4 Cs - cooperation, connectivity, culture and constitution - to enhance bilateral ties. OVER 28 % CHILDREN ARE MALNOURISHED A report released by the ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) about anganwadis says that about 2.3 crore children in India, up to 6 years of age, are suffering from malnourishment and are under-weight. This staggering number amounts to over 28% of the 8 crore children who attend anganwadis across India. The situation is worst in Bihar where roughly 50 per cent children in 0-6 age group are malnourished.

NEW DOMAIN NAMES ENDING WITH .BHARAT Indian domain names will now make their debut with the extension .Bharat which will be in Devanagari script. The facility wil be available in Indian languages like Hindi, Dogri, Konkani, Maithalai, Marathi, Nepali and Sindhi. U K DY P M VISITS INDIA Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister of UK visited India. He met Prime Minister and expressed his desire to work with India in realising the new government’s goal of economic and social transformation through greater collaboration in areas such as clean energy, infrastructure development and cleaning of rivers. WORLD’s HIGHEST PILLAR BRIDGE Northeast Frontier Railway (NRF) has started construction of a bridge with highest pillars in the world, near Noney in Manipur, with height of pillars upto 141 metres. The bridge is part of the Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal railway line to connect the capital of Manipur with the Broad Gauge network of the country.

Rs. 8,000 CRORE SUPPORT FOR J&K Prime Minister waived off Rs. 60-crore liability of Jammu and Kashmir towards the Food Corporation of India and announced Central assistance of Rs. 8,000 crore for four major road projects connecting J&K with rest of the country. RUN FOR AWARENESS FOR BREAST CANCER “Pinkathon Delhi 2014” - a run for cause was organised in Delhi with the slogan "Each One, Kheench One" urging all men to encourage at least one special woman in their life to run for a good cause. The event raises awareness of breast cancer among women.


Sushma Swaraj, the External Affairs Minister visited Vietnam on August 24 to give a fillip to bilateral ties in keeping with Prime Minister’s Look East policy.

India's first Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) inaugurated at Shibpur, Howrah in West Bengal

Prime Minister to visit Japan on 30th August to take the relations of the two countries to a new level and increase cooperation in various fields.

47th Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers meeting held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on 8th August, attended by Sushma Swaraj.

India to construct a pipeline for supply of petroleum products from Raxual, Bihar to Amlekhganj, Nepal; to be extended to Kathmandu later on.

JULY 2014 FOREST COVER CROSSES 24 PER CENT As per India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2013 the total forest and tree cover of the country is 78.92 million hectare, 24.01 percent of the geographical area of India. Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover of 77522 square kilometer, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, 67321 square kilometer. In terms of percentage, Mizoram has highest cover at 90.38 percent, followed by Lakshadweep-84.56 percent. Punjab retains the ‘distinction’ of having the lowest area under Forest cover with only 3.52% of its area under forest cover while Haryana is a little better with 3.59% of its area under forest cover.

AREA ( MILLION HA)

AREA (IN %)

Forest Cover 69.79 21.23 Tree Cover 9.13 2.78 Total 78.92 24.01

INDO–CHINA ENCYLOPEDIA RELEASED India and China have jointly released the first encyclopedia on their age-old cultural contacts, tracing back their history to over 2,000 years, starting from the visit of Chinese scholar Huen Tsang to India in the 7th century to bring Buddhist scriptures to China. INDIA RATIFIES MARRAKESH TREATY

India has become the first country to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty to facilitate access to published works for persons who are visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled. The Treaty was

adopted by 79 member countries of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in June 27, 2013 at Marrakesh, Morocco.

INDIA RANKED 76th IN INNOVATION India has slipped ten places in the Global Innovation Index 2014 to the 76th rank. Switzerland topped the 142-nation list. The index ranks countries on innovation, based on a survey done by INSEAD, Cornell University and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

ULTRA RICH GROW FAST IN POOR INDIA The number of ultra-high networth individuals (UHNIs) in Indiahaving an investible surplus of over Rs 25 crore rose 16 per cent to 1.17 lakh last fiscal, and this is estimated to triple to 3.43 lakh in the next three years, says a wealth report by the Kotak group and Ernst & Young.

DELHI 2nd MOST POPULOUS CITY IN WORLD A recent UN study “World Urbanization Prospects” by U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) has ranked Tokyo as the world’s most populous city with 38 million inhabitants, followed by Delhi with 25 million inhabitants. The study has projected rapid urban growth in India, China and Nigeria.

INDIA RANKS 135TH IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT India’s ranking in the Human Development Index (HDI) remained unchanged at 135 in 2013, reflecting little improvement in the living standard of its people. The report is topped by Norway, followed by Australia and Switzerland. Countries at the bottom of index are Niger, Congo and Central African Republic. The HDI reflects long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human lives - a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. It covers 187 countries and is published annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). DILIP’S HOUSE IS NATIONAL HERITAGE SITE Legendary actor Dilip Kumar’s ancestral home at Mohalla Khudadad in Peshawar, Pakistan has been declared as a national heritage monument by the Pak government. After acquiring the house, the government is plans to convert it into a museum.

World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim visits India.


NEWS FROM STATES

SEPTEMBER 2014 UNPRECEDENTED FLOOD HAVOC IN J&K

First week of September saw all the major rivers of Jammu Kashmir state, particularly Jhelum River over flowing much above the danger mark, flooding a large part of the state, including main city Srinagar, causing unprecedented havoc all around. The situation was declared a “national-level disaster” by Prime Minister. Hundreds of National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) personnel worked round the clock to rescue thousands of marooned persons. Indian Army launched “Operation Megh Rahat” – a rescue operation to save and provide relief to the flood victims. Central govt announced a flood relief package of Rs. 1,000 crore for the state. MADHYA PRADESH TOPS IN GDP GROWTH According to recent data from CSO, Madhya Pradesh outpaced all the major states to top the economic growth charts with a scorching 11 per cent growth in 2013-14 — a year when India recorded only 4.7 per cent growth. Madhya Pradesh is followed by new comer Uttrakhand, pushing Bihar to number three spot. MAHARASHTRA PUT UNDER PRESIDENT RULE President’s rule was imposed in Maharashtra from 28th September on recommendation of the Union Cabinet, following the stepping down of Prithviraj Chavan as Chief Minister as he lost the majority in the state. BIHAR TO RESTORE GLORY OF ‘ORWELL’ Bihar govt has launched the renovation and beautification work of the birthplace of famous author, journalist and critic George Orwell at Motihari in East Champaran district of Bihar, around 165 km from Patna. Orwell, the author of novels like Animal Farm and Ninteen Eighty-Four, was born at Motihari on 25th June 1903. `SWAVALAMBAN ABHIYAN': A set of 11 new pro-poor initiatives of the Gujarat government aimed at promoting dignity and self-sufficiency of the poor, launched at Gandhinagar by the Prime Minister on his birthday – 17th September.

General elections declared in Haryana and Maharashtra for October 15 for electing Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs).

Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has announced that Vijayawada will be the new capital of Andhra Pradesh.

Uttarakhand Government has declared 9 September as Himalaya Diwas to spread the message of conservation of the Himalayan ecosystems.

Lucknow joins the elite club of metro cities to have Metro rail service as the work started on the project on 27th September.

Railway starts conversion of the 201 km long Silchar-Lumding meter-gauge rail route in Barack valley in Assam into broad-gauge.

3rd Ladakh Marathon at Leh in J&K was held on 16th September. This is world’s highest/toughest marathon held at 3,524 meter (11,562 feet) altitude.

Kerala will host a Global Agro meet and an exhibition on hi-tech agriculture and food processing at Kochi on 6th and 7th of November.

AUGUST 2014 FOUR NEW GOVERNORS APPOINTED Kalyan Singh Rajasthan Vajubhai Vala Karanatka C Vidyasagar Rao Maharashtra Mridula Sinha Goa Sheila Dikshit resigned as Governor of Kerala K Sankaranarayanan quits as Governor of Maharashtra Kamala Beniwal sacked as Mizoram Governor V K Duggal resigned as Manipur Governor ‘HIMALAYAN KUMBH’ STARTS IN U’KHAND The 20-day Nanda Devi Raj Jat yatra, also called the ‘Himalayan Kumbh,’ began amid religious customs and traditions from Nauti village in Chamoli district in Uttarakhand on 18th August. The yatra, which is dedicated to the Nanda Devi — the reigning deity of Uttarakhand — takes place once in 12 years, and involves a 280-kilometre difficult hilly trek. Sikkim has become the first choice of foreign tourists in

the north-eastern states of the country, attracting 31698 tourists in 2013, followed by Arunachal Pradesh.

JULY 2014 AMITABH BACHCHAN: The Indian Megastar was appointed as Brand Ambassador of Maharashtra for promoting horticulture sector of the state.

SANIA MIRZA: International tennis star was appointed Brand Ambassador of the Telangana State


GOVERNMENT

INITIATIVES

SEPTEMBER 2014 ‘MAKE IN INDIA’ CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch for making India a manufacturing destination at the launch of his ambitious “Make in India” campaign in the presence of some 3000 business leaders from around the world gathered at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The key elements of the project are as under: 25 Thrust Sectors: Government has identified 25 sectors where India can become world leader. These include automobiles, chemicals, IT, pharma, textiles, ports, aviation, leather, tourism and hospitality and railways. Single Point Interaction For Investors: Invest India will be first reference point to guide foreign investors. It will provide help on regulatory and policy issues and assist in obtaining regulatory clearances www.makeinindia.com: Visitors registered on the website or raising queries will be followed up with relevant information and a newsletter Global Launch Make in India will be launched at national and state levels and missions abroad will take it forward Who And Where: The portal will track visitors for their geographical location, interest and real time user behaviour. Subsequent visits will be customised for the visitor based on this information. Domestic Focus: Government will identify select domestic companies having leadership in innovation and new technology. The idea is to turn these into global champions to promote green and advanced manufacturing and help them to integrate into global value chain Regulatory Regime Overhaul: Review of all regulatory processes to make them simple and reduce complications. Proactive Approach: Investor facilitation cell to assist foreign investors from the time of their arrival in the country to the time of their departure.

All Stakeholders on Board: State governments, business chambers, prominent corporates and foreign companies will be made part of the project.

DEEN DAYAL ANTYODAYA YOJANA To impart skills to rural and urban poor, the Government has launched Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana, which would work towards empowering the population through enhancement of livelihood opportunities. Rs. 1,000 crore has been allocated for this purpose during 2014-15, out of which Rs. 500 crore will be spent on skill development of over five lac urban poor. Further, September 25 will be celebrated as Antyodaya Diwas every year to mark the birth anniversary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.

SKILL DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL YOUTH The Aajeevika Skills Development Programme has been renamed as “Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana” with reeduction in the minimum entry age to 15 years from 18 years. Besides, skills imparted under the programme will now be benchmarked against international standards by roping in private players so that rural youths are provided with certificates recognised overseas. The programme aims to train 10 lakh rural youths by the end of the 12th five year plan (2012-17).

TARGET SET FOR CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS Government has set a target of constructing 30-kilometre roads per day. Further, CCTVs are being introduced at all toll plazas during the current year and all road toll points would be connected with e-governance system. Govt also plans to start cashless treatment of road accident victims during critical golden hour.

COUNTRY’S FIRST ‘CBDR’ IN SPITI, HP The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has sanctioned Rs 5.12 crore for the country’s first 'Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve' (CDBR) in the Spiti region of the tribal Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh. The project aims at conserving medicinal plants, rare wildlife species and natural water bodies found in the cold desert. JALAN TO HEAD EXPENDITURE COMMISSION The Expenditure Management Commission, headed by Bimal Jalan, has been entrusted with the task of suggesting ways to improve fiscal discipline, target subsidies more efficiently and imposition of user charges on utilities.

HEAVY FINES FOR TRAFFIC OFFENCES The new Road Safety and Transport Bill, 2014 proposes a steep hike in penalties for traffic violations, up to Rs 3 lakh along with a minimum 7-year imprisonment for death of a child in certain circumstances. It also proposes a fine of Rs 5 lakh per vehicle as well as imprisonment for faulty manufacturing design, besides cancellation of licences for rash and negligent driving.

RVCs PLANNED FOR TAMING INFLATION Govt has launched the Reefer Vehicle Call-in-Centre (RVC) for smooth transportation of perishable goods. The RVC will identify bottlenecks faced in transportation of goods on the national highways and find ways to overcome them so as to control inflation in prices of perishable goods in the country. RVC is a joint initiative of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, National Centre for Cold-chain Development and Mahindra Logistics.


ANTI T B SURVEY LAUNCHED The first anti-Tuberculosis Drug Resistance Survey of India for the year 2014-15 was launched on September 6 supported by the World Health Organization (WHO). The survey aims to improve our preparedness to fight T B, particularly the Multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). DEVRAJ COMMITTEE ON UNIVERSITIES A high-powered committee headed by H Devraj, set up at the behest of the Supreme Court to look into the working of 'C' category deemed universities has found that out of 41 such universities hardly 10 fulfill the criteria needed to become deemed university. Rest of them may be allowed to exist as educational institutions affiliated to universities.

All India Radio has started free SMS service to provide news in Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit, Dogri and Nepali.

A National Sports University will be set up in Manipur to promote excellence in sports studies.

Textiles Ministry has approved setting up of 13 textile parks entailing investment of at least 100 crore rupees in each park.

India Newborn Action Plan launched in New Delhi to achieve the single digit neonatal mortality and stillbirth rate by 2030.

The Supreme Court has directed Central Government to ensure 3 percent quota for disabled persons in all government jobs, including IAS and promotions.

The Expenditure Management Commission, headed by Bimal Jalan, has been entrusted with the task of suggesting ways to improve fiscal discipline, target subsidies more efficiently and imposition of user charges on utilities.

AUGUST 2014 BILL PASSED FOR JUDICIAL COMMISSION On 13th August, the Lok Sabha passed the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014 to scrap the collegium system of appointing Supreme Court and High Court judges. Along with it, the 99th Constitution Amendment Bill was also passed which gives constitutional status to the proposed Commission. The bill was passed by Rajya Sabha also on14th August. (See The Adjoining Box)

FDI IN DEFENCE RAISED TO 49% The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for raising FDI limit in Defence from 26 per cent to 49 per cent. In Railways, the proposal is to allow up to 100 per cent FDI in infrastructure projects such as high-speed train systems, suburban corridors and dedicated freight line that are to be executed under public-private partnership (PPP) mode. FLIPKART MoU WITH HANDLOOM WEAVERS Union Textiles Ministry has signed a MoU with online shopping company Flipkart to provide online marketing platform to handloom weavers all over India. It aims to help weavers and artisans on areas such as deciding on the right selling price, payment automation, proper packaging, transportation, and brand building etc. at the national level.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NEW JUDICIAL BILL – 2014 A six member panel for appointment of judges to the Supreme Court &

High Court CJI will head the panel which will have 2 SC judges, 2 eminent

persons and law minister Constitutional amendment status to stop easy change in current

legislation by future govts. Eminent persons will be selected by CJI, PM & Open party in Lok

Sabha One of eminent persons will be nominated from persons belonging to

SC/STs OBCs. Minorities or women Term of eminent person will not exceed 3 years will not be re-

nominated If two members are panel do not agree appointment will not happen

President can return recommendation for reconsideration once

ADVANTAGES Judges no more will choose themselves. Armed with expertise of legal

luminaries. Parliament to have a significant say With the dearance of bill. Government to lay down a set procedure for

appointment of judges to higher judiciary Government vested with more powers no more to remain a post office

can flag objections at elementary stage of selection and shoot down a candidature

More transparency, consistency and accountability in judicial appointments

CRITICISM Moe political interference likely in recommendation of ‘suitable’

candidates for elevation to the bench Given the composition of the commission executive can have its way

by attainting majority in the committee intelligence reports can be cited by political parties to scuttle chances of a candidate who may not find favour with political parities

Procedural delay for appointment of Judges, Thereat to judicial independence as political parties may strike a deal over a candidate

HISTORY OF THE COLLEGIUM SYSTEM Putting an end to interference of political parties and the executive, the collegium system was introduced in 1993 under which no ‘outsider’ had any role to play in selection and appointment of judges to HCs and SC Under the current system, a collegium of three senior most judges of a high court, headed by the CJ of the said court, recommends name of lawyers / lower court judges to the Supreme Court of elevation to the bench. The law ministry or the government has little say in the entire selection process. Even if the executive objects to a candidature it has little choice but to accept the same after the SC relterates its decision. ADVANTAGES Aware of performance of lawyers and lower judiciary, HC/SC judges

better placed to recommend names Performance as a lawyer / lower court judge sole consideration for

recommending or selecting Total judicial independence without any interference of political party or

executive Minimal delay in the selection process as all main decisions to be

taken by HCs & SC PITFALLS Executive can object but only to a limited extent. Final word lies with

the Supreme Court Abject lack of transparency in selection as grounds for clearing or

rejecting remain’s unknown Larger room for arbitrary and whimsical decisions


CABINET NOD FOR DIGITAL INDIA PROJECT Union Cabinet has approved the Digital India Programme to transform the Indian economy into a digitally empowered knowledge economy. The project aims to provide thrust to nine growth areas that include - Broadband highways, Everywhere Mobile Connectivity, Public Internet Access Programme, e-Governance, e-Kranti for electronic delivery of services, Information For All, Electronics Manufacturing, IT for Jobs and early harvest programmes. RASHTRIYA GOKUL MISSION LAUNCHED

Govt has launched a nationwide scheme by the name Rashtriya Gokul Mission to promote conservation and development of indigenous breeds of cows in a focused and scientific manner. The Mission is a focused project under National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development. AGE OF JUVENILE LOWERED TO 16 The Union Cabinet has cleared a historic, all new juvenile justice law under which 16 to 18 year olds who commit heinous offences such as rapes and robberies can be tried as adults. Heinous offence has been defined as “an offence for which the minimum punishment under the IPC or any other law is imprisonment for seven years or more.” The bill is yet to be passed by the Parliament. EXPENDITURE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION Govt has approved the constitution of the Expenditure Management Commission to be headed by former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan. The commission will suggest ways to reduce food, fertiliser and oil subsidies and narrow the fiscal deficit. The subsidy bill on food, petroleum and fertilisers is estimated at Rs 2.51 trillion for 2014-15,

The Union Cabinet has lifted the restriction of one LPG cylinder per month for domestic use, within the overall limit of 12 cylinders in a year.

Govt. has set up R. Ramanujam committee to identify obsolete laws which hamper governance by creating avoidable confusion.

JULY 2014 WEBSITE LAUNCHED FOR PUBLIC GOVERNANCE Prime Minister has launched a website, mygov.nic.in to help people contribute in governance of the country by giving their views on important issues. Initially three suggested topics include–

Creative engagement with govt. departments Suggest ideas to boost girl child education Suggest a roadmap to clean the Ganga

FDI IN INSURANCE HIKED TO 49% The Union Cabinet has hiked FDI cap in insurance sector from 26 to 49 per cent, liberalizing foreign investments, a move that will cheer foreign investors and facilitate funds’ flow. It will provide a boost for the pension sector also as the FDI cap in pension has been linked to insurance.

GOVT TO LAUNCH 4 NEW VACCINES Four new vaccines will be introduced in India as part of the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) to reduce child mortality by two-thirds by next year. The 4 vaccines are against rotavirus, rubella and polio (injectable) and an adult vaccine against Japanese encephalitis

RS. 7060 CR FOR 100 SMART CITIES Govt plans to allocate Rs 7,060 crore in this financial year for developing 100 ‘smart cities' in the country as satellite towns of larger cities and for modernising the existing mid-sized cities. The new cities need to be developed to accommodate the burgeoning number of people, otherwise, the existing cities would soon become unliveable.

‘SOIL HEALTH CARD’ LAUNCHED FOR FARMERS Govt plans to provide 'Soil Health Card' to all farmers for optimum utilization of resources and right selection of crops. The Card will give crop-wise recommendations of nutrients/fertilizers required for a particular village to help the farmers improve productivity by wise use of inputs.

‘KISAN TV’ FOR FARMERS Government to launch ‘Kisan TV' dedicated to the interests of agriculturists and allied sectors and has allocated Rs 100 crore for this purpose. The channel will provide real time information on farming techniques, water conservation and on new technologies to help the farmers.

SKILL DEVELOPMENT FOR 50 CRORE BY 2022 Government has set a target to develop skills of 50 crore people by 2022 under the National Policy on Skill Development (NPSD). This target will be distributed among 20 ministries and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). Government has set up a National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) to coordinate and harmonise the skill development efforts of the govt and private sector. PRADHAN MANTRI KRISHI SINCHAYEE YOJANA

The government plans to launch a nationwide rural irrigation scheme to insulate farmers from excessive dependence on monsoon. Rs 1,000 crore will be spent on creating infrastructure for the ‘Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana’ to provide assured water to farmers.


VALIDITY OF INDUSTRIAL LICENCES EXTENDED The Government has extended the validity period of an industrial licence to three years from present two years, with a provision for further extension by two years. The licence will, however, lapse automatically after five years, in the absence of commencement of commercial production PLAN TO MERGE 3 SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEMES The Ministry of Labour and Employment plans to launch a pilot in 20 districts from January 1, 2015 to enable unorganised workers to avail benefits of the Rashtriya Swastha Bima Yojana (RSBY), Aam Aadmi Bima Yojan (AABY) and Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS) via one single smart card. The pilot project would be funded from the National Social Security Fund. GOVT TO SET UP 660 NIRBHAYA CENTRES Women and Child Development Ministry has advised that at least 660 rape crisis centres will be established across the country and named as Nirbhaya centres, as a tribute to the victim of December 16, 2012 Delhi gangrape case.

The Nirbhaya Centres will act as one stop centre for women victims of molestation, rape, sexual assault, domestic violence and provide them medical assistance, police assistance, psycho-social support and counselling, legal aid and temporary shelter.

To protect investors, the Cabinet has cleared the SEBI Bill, to empower SEBI to initiate action against ponzi schemes and investment frauds.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

SEPTEMBER 2014 S&P UPGRADES INDIA’s RATING TO ‘STABLE’ Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has raised the outlook on India’s sovereign rating from negative to stable and said the new government has the willingness and capacity to deliver on reforms and restore high growth. The agency said that there has been a considerable improvement in sentiment and macro indicators with the new government taking over. ADB UPS INDIA’S GROWTH RATE TO 6.3% Asian Development Bank has revised India's GDP growth upwards by 0.3 per cent to 6.3 per cent for 2015, saying that the India’s economy shows a new promise of turnaround after the election brought a stable government in May. PPI TO TRACK INFLATION IN SERVICES The government has set up a committee headed by Prof. B N Goldar to develop a new inflation index - the Producer Price Index which may replace the Wholesale Price Index. The most important part of PPI will be inclusion of services, as currently there is no index tracking inflation in this sector that contributes about 55% to India's GDP.

Continuing a downward trend, India’s forex fell by $101.3 million to $315.59 billion in the week ended September 19.

Growth of the eight core industries slowed down to 2.7 per cent during July 2014 on shrinking output of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers and steel.

Index of Industrial Production grew only 0.5% in July as against 3.4% in June primarily due to 1% drop in manufacturing sector which constitutes 75% of index.

India's exports growth slowed down to 2.35% in August, touching $26.96 billion, while imports reached $ 37.80 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $ 10.84 billion.

AUGUST 2014 GDP GROWTH JUMPS TO 5.7% Latest data from CSO shows that India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at 5.7 per cent during April-June, the highest in past 10 quarters. The boost came from increase in factory output with the latter showing a big jump from –1.2% in the last year to 3.5 % growth this quarter. Electricity output grew robust 10.2 per cent as compared to 3.8 per cent in same quarter this year. RBI PUTS GDP GROWTH RATE AT 5.5% With improvement in economic activity and revival of sentiments, the RBI has projected that GDP growth in the current fiscal may rise up to 5.5% from 4.7% in the last financial year as there are early signs of modest strengthening of corporate sales and business flows. UN REPORT PUTS INDIA’s GROWTH AT 5.5% A report from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) says that India’s economy is expected to record stronger growth momentum of 5.5 per cent in the current fiscal, underpinned by "solid expansion" in industrial and services sectors, and impetus to economic reforms by the new government. Global rating agency Moody’s has projected a better

growth outlook for India saying that the country’s GDP would grow by 5% this year.

JULY 2014 NOMURA PREDICTS 6% GROWTH FOR INDIA According to the Japanese brokerage firm Nomura, India is set to be Asia's biggest turnaround story and the country's GDP growth is expected to rise to over 6 per cent in FY 2015 and over 7 per cent in FY 2016. The Indian economy is starting to turn around as inflation is abating, the current account deficit is narrowing, forex reserves are accumulating and growth is just starting to rise. FITCH PROJECTS 5.5 % GROWTH FOR INDIA International rating agency Fitch has improved India's economic growth forecast to 5.5 per cent this financial year and 6.5 per cent in FY16 due to the clear mandate received by the pro-reform Narendra Modi government. The agency said there will be significant risks to growth if the monsoon turns out to be much weaker than expected.


ECONOMY

SEPTEMBER 2014 214 COAL BLOCKS ALLOCATION CANCELLED In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on 24th September cancelled 214 coal block allocations made since 1993, except four blocks — one belonging to NTPC and SAIL each and two allocated to Sasan ultra mega power projects. The Court granted six months breathing time to mining companies to wind up their operations in the coal blocks. The allocation of coal block licenses has been the subject of a CBI investigation that is being monitored by the Supreme Court. It became a major political issue when CAG Vinod Rai in his report in 2012 stated that around Rs. 1.83 lakh crore has been lost because coal blocks were not auctioned openly. GOVT PLANS 45,000 CRORE DISINVESTMENT The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the sale of stakes in Coal India Limited (CIL), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC). The Finance Ministry proposes to sell 10, 5 and 11.36 per cent holding in CIL, ONGC and NHPC respectively. Govt expects to mop up around Rs. 45,000 crore through this sale. MNREGA TO FOCUS ON DRAUGHT RELIEF With a view to mitigating drought and drought-like situation in many parts of the country, govt has directed that 50 per cent of all the works taken up at the district level under MNREGA scheme should only be for water conservation. NETHERLAND TO HELP INDIA IN AGRICULTURE

The Netherlands is working with India to set up 10 centres of excellence across the country with an aim to raise agriculture output and introduce modern farm technologies and techniques. Three such centres are already working in Kerala, Maharashtra, and Punjab. MUKESH IS THE RICHEST – 8th TIME Reliance Industries Chairman, Mukesh Ambani has topped the Forbes list of billionaires in India for the eighth consecutive year with a net worth of $23.6 billion, followed by Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharma at $18 billion. 100 BILLIONAIRES IN INDIA According to the Wealth-X and UBS Billionaire Census 2014, India ranks sixth in terms of number of billionaires, having 100 such people, collectively having $175 billion in networth, while globally the number of uber-rich has reached a record high of 2,325 persons.

The Asian Development Bank to give $63.3 million loan to improve urban municipal services in 14 towns in north Karnataka and $150 million for development of renewable energy in Rajasthan.

India's foodgrain production is projected to drop by 7 per cent to about 120 million tonnes this year due to poor monsoon.

Union government has decided to close down India’s sole and oldest (1961) public sector watch company - HMT Watches in a phased manner.

India has signed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in services and investments with 10 ASEAN countries. ASEAN: Association of South East Asian Nations

The ADB to give $150 million loan to help build transmission lines for renewable energy development in Rajasthan.

Telephone subscriber base in India rose marginally in July to reach 94.64 crore, with 34.5 lakh users added during the month, with a monthly growth of 0.37%.

AUGUST 2014 PHONE USERS REACH 943 MILLION The number of telephone subscribers in India increased by 0.49 per cent over May 2014 to 942.95 million at the end of June, 2014. The share of urban subscribers was 59.36%.

SEBI SETS 15 MINUTE LIMITS SEBI has proposed that all listed companies should intimate decisions on dividends, bonus, fund-raising and buyback, among others, within 15 minutes of closure of the board meetings. The move is part of SEBI's effort to ensure 'timely and adequate' disclosures by listed companies to avoid chances of insider trading.

Retirement fund body EPFO’s trustees have decided to retain interest payment on provident fund deposits for 2014-15 at 8.75 per cent.

‘Vistara’: Brand name of the new joint venture airline of the Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines.

Country’s first seaplane service was launched on Mumbai-Lonavla short route (80 kms) from the Juhu aerodrome on 25th August.

JULY 2014 RANGARAJAN PANEL REPORT ON POVERTY

As per Dr. C Rangarajan panel estimates, a person spending less than Rs 1,407 a month (Rs 47/day) in urban areas and Rs 972 a month (Rs 32/day) in rural areas would be considered Below Poverty Line. The number of poor in India stood at 36.3 cr. (29.5%) in 2011-12, down from 45.4 crore(38.2%) in 2009-10, as per Rangarajan panel norms.


As per Tendulkar Committee, these figures were fixed at Rs 1,000 a month (Rs 33/day) in cities and Rs 816 a month (Rs 27/day) in villages. INDIA HAS WORK FORCE OF OVER 47 CRORE As per NSSO survey result for 2011-12, the estimated workforce in India is 47.41 crore persons of which 82.7 per cent is in unorganised sector and 17.3 percent is in organised sector.

DISINVESTMENT TARGET - RS. 58,425 CRORE The government has set a target of mopping Rs 43,425 cr from stake sale in PSU firms and an additional Rs. 15,000 cr from sale in other entities such as SUUTI (Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India). The bulk of the Rs 15,000 cr would be from offloading shares in Axis Bank MSP FOR KHARIF CROPS 2014-15

CROP MSP PER QUINTAL PADDY 1360 JOWAR 1530 BAJRA 1250 MAIZE 1310

GROUNDNUT 4000 TUAR AND URAD DAL 4350

MOONG 4600 SUNFLOWER 3750

SAHOO PANEL PROPOSES ‘BhDRs’ A government panel led by M S Sahoo has proposed a new class of securities, 'Bharat Depository Receipts (BhDRs)', for foreign firms to raise money in India, to provide more choice to domestic investors. A BhDR would be a rupee denominated instrument issued by domestic depository against listed equities of a foreign company. FDI IN DEFENCE, INSURANCE RAISED TO 49% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in defence manufacturing has been hiked from 26 per cent to 49 per cent. The ownership of such joint ventures will stay with Indian companies. FDI in insurance sector has also been hiked to 49 per cent from 26 per cent. W B LOAN FOR ROAD CONNECTIVITY World Bank has sanctioned $500 million loan for India’s National Highways Inter-connectivity Improvement Project (NHIIP) to improve the national highway network connectivity to less-developed states.

INDIA SIGNS FATCA WITH USA India and the US have agreed to implement Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), a US law that targets tax non-compliance by US taxpayers with foreign accounts. As per FATCA, it is compulsory for US taxpayers to report about their offshore assets and accounts. Similarly, foreign financial institutions are required to report about accounts held by US taxpayers. INDUSTRIAL MoU SIGNED WITH CHINA India and China have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that allows Chinese companies to invest in industrial parks and zones in India. This way Indian firms will get the benefit of learning economies of scale and inventory management from the Chinese firms. TCS REACHES MARKET CAP OF 5 TRILLION Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has become first Indian company to achieve a market capitalization of Rs. 5 lakh crore rupees. TCS is followed by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) at 3.5 lakh crore rupees and Reliance Industries at 3.3 lakh crore rupees.

World Bank to provide $153 million (Rs 920 crore) loan for the Odisha Disaster Recovery Project to restore and improve housing and public services in Odisha.

The ADB has approved a multi-tranche loan facility of $300 million to help Assam continue its drive to eliminate power sector inefficiencies.

Britain has granted one billion pound ($1.68 billion) credit line for investment in Indian infrastructure projects.

The government has granted Navratna status to Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR).

BANKING & FINANCE

SEPTEMBER 2014

BENEFITS UNDER ‘PMJDY’ ARE FOR ALL Government has decided that benefits under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) would be extended to existing bank account holders provided they apply for it.

The idea of universal bank accounts was originally proposed by Nachiket Mor committee formed by the RBI to improve financial inclusion. Universal financial access aims to improve financial savings, reduce leakages through direct benefit transfer and bring down use of cash.


RBI CLARIFIES ON INOPERATIVE ACCOUNTS The Reserve Bank has said that the savings bank accounts in which even if dividend cheque has been credited in it in the previous two years, the account may not be treated as inoperative. A bank account becomes inoperative or dormant if no credit or debit transaction has been conducted for a period of two years or more. SBI, ICICI TOP IN MOBILE TRANSACTIONS State Bank of India accounted for half of the total number of banking transactions done through mobile phone in June,2014, while ICICI Bank became the first bank to surpass the Rs 1,000-crore mark in terms of amount of transactions done through mobile phones. AXIS BANK/ICICI BANK TO COLLECT TOLL TAX NHAI-promoted Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL) has inked a pact with Axis Bank and ICICI Bank for services related to electronic toll collection. Considering the complexities and geographical spread, the nationwide electronic toll collection (ETC) would be first of its kind in the whole world.

COMMITTEE ON CAPACITY BUILDING RBI formed G Gopalakrishna Committee to give recommendations on capacity building in banks and non-banks, streamlining training intervention and suggesting changes thereto in view of ever increasing challenges in banking and non-banking sectors. RBI released committee’s recommendations on 23rd September for inviting suggestions from the stakeholders.

KINGFISHER DECLARED ‘WILFUL DEFAULTER’ The public sector United Bank of India (UBI) has slapped wilful defaulter notice on Kingfisher Airline, its promoter Vijay Mallya and its directors. Kingfisher Airlines had taken a loan of Rs 350 crore from the bank. The Airlines owes around Rs.7,500 crore to a consortium of 17 banks led by the State Bank of India.

WHAT IS WILFUL DEFAULT Banks play an important role in development of the country by providing need based funding to the industry. But some scrupulous borrowers default in repayment of their dues thereby putting public funds at risk. Banks take all possible steps to ensure quick recovery of funds. One such option with banks is to declare the defaulting borrower as “wilful defaulter”. Recently, a lot of heat was generated in newspapers when the United Bank of India declared Vijay Mallya of Kingfisher Airlines as ‘wilful defaulter’. Let us see who is a wilful defaulter.

DEFINITION Wilful default broadly covers the following actions by the borrowers: a) Deliberate non-payment of the dues despite adequate cash flow and good networth; b) Siphoning off of funds to the detriment of the defaulting unit; c) Assets financed either not been purchased or been sold and proceeds have been misutilised; d) Misrepresentation / falsification of records; e) Disposal / removal of securities without bank's knowledge; f) Fraudulent transactions by the borrower.

CUT-OFF LIMITS As per the Central Vigilance Commission guidelines, all cases of wilful default with an outstanding balance of Rs. 25 lakh or more have to be reported by the banks/FIs to RBI. In all cases of wilful defaults of one crore and above, Banks are required to examine the scope for filing the court case and also consider criminal action wherever instances of cheating/fraud by the defaulting borrowers are detected. The identification of the wilful default has to be made keeping in view the track record of the borrower and should not be decided on the basis of isolated or stray transactions/incidents. The default to be categorised as wilful must be intentional and deliberate

PENAL MEASURES Banks are required to initiate the following measures against the wilful defaulters: 1) No additional facilities should be granted by any bank to the wilful defaulters. 2) They should be debarred from institutional finance from the scheduled commercial banks, Development Financial Institutions, Government owned NBFCs, investment institutions etc. for floating new ventures for a period of 5 years from the date on which their name is published in the RBI list of wilful defaulters. 3) Banks should initiate legal action against the borrowers / guarantors. They may initiate criminal proceedings against wilful defaulters, wherever necessary. 4) Wherever possible, the banks may go in for a change of management of the wilfully defaulting borrower unit. 5) A promoter or director on the Board of a company which has been identified as a wilful defaulter will not be allowed to be on the board of any other company. 6) In order to prevent the access to the capital markets by the wilful defaulters, a copy of the list of wilful defaulters (non-suit filed accounts) and list of wilful defaulters (suit filed accounts) are forwarded to SEBI by RBI and Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd. (CIBIL) respectively. GRIEVANCES REDRESSAL MECHANISM Banks are required to take the following measures in identifying and reporting instances of wilful default: (i) With a view to imparting more objectivity in identifying cases of wilful default, decisions to classify the borrower as wilful defaulter should be entrusted to a Committee of higher functionaries headed by the Executive Director and consisting of two GMs/DGMs as decided by the Board of the concerned bank/FI. (ii) The decision taken on classification of wilful defaulters should be well documented and supported by requisite evidence. The decision should clearly spell out the reasons for which the borrower has been declared as wilful defaulter vis-à-vis RBI guidelines. (iii) The borrower should thereafter be suitably advised about the proposal to classify him as wilful defaulter along with the reasons therefor. The concerned borrower should be provided reasonable time (say 15 days) for making representation against such decision, if he so desires, to a Grievance Redressal Committee headed by the Chairman and Managing Director and consisting of two other senior officials. (v) A final declaration as ‘wilful defaulter’ should be made after a view is taken by the Committee on the representation and the borrower should be suitably advised.


SBI STARTS ACCOUNTS FOR MINORS

State Bank of India has introduced personalised savings accounts for anyone below 18-year age. Account named 'Pehli Udaan' is a singly operated savings bank account for a minor aged 10 years and above and who can sign uniformly, while account 'Pehla Kadam is a savings bank account for minor of any age operated jointly with his/her parent or guardian.

CARDLESS WITHDRAWAL FROM ICICI BANK ICICI Bank has introduced a Cardless Cash Withdrawal facility which allows customers to transfer money from their account to anyone in India with a mobile number. The recipient, even if he does not have a bank account, can withdraw money round the clock without using a debit card from over 10,000 ATMs of ICICI Bank. RBI NOT TO PRINT RUPEE ONE NOTE The Law Ministry has clarified that the Government of India has all the powers to print rupee one currency notes under the Coinage Act, 2011and the Reserve Bank has the authority to issue bank notes of denominational values of Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 500, Rs 1,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000. The Govt. of India also has the sole right to mint coins of denominations up to Rs. 1000. H R KHAN COMMITTEE The government has set-up a Committee headed by the Deputy Governor H R Khan of Reserve Bank of India to take stock of unclaimed deposits in the Public Provident Fund (PPF) and post office saving schemes and suggest how these funds can be utilised for the benefit of senior citizens

BANKS TO FIX TIMELINE FOR LOANS RBI has said that Banks should clearly delineate the procedure for disposal of loan proposals, with appropriate timelines, and institute a suitable monitoring mechanism for reviewing applications pending beyond the specified period.

NABARD PUTS COOP BANKS ON CBS A total of 201 state and district level Central Cooperative Banks with 6914 branches from 16 states and three union territories of the country have joined the 'NABARD initiated Project on Core Banking Solutions in Co-operative Banks.

RBI has advised that if a company fails to repay its bank dues, its other group units may also be termed wilful defaulters.

RBI has fixed 70 years as the upper age limit for Managing Directors and Chief Executive Officers and other whole-time director of banks in the private sector.

Export-Import Bank of China and China Development Bank Corp.signed MoU with SBI, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank to facilitate trade between the two countries.

AUGUST 2014

PRADHAN MANTRI JAN DHAN YOJNA Prime Minister has announced a new financial scheme - Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna to provide a bank account to every poor in the country as part of 'Sampoorn Viteeyea Samveshan' or Comprehensive Financial Inclusion.

To begin with, over 1.84 crore accounts were opened on launch date 28th August. The government has set a target of 15 crore new accounts by 2018, ensuring at least two bank accounts per family.

The salient features of the scheme are: The scheme will be launched in two phases – first from

15.8.14 to 15.8.15 and second from 16.8.15 to 15.8.18, each phase targeting opening of 7.5 crore bank accounts.

The accounts will be opened with zero balance with no minimum balance condition.

Every account holder will get a accidental insurance cover of Rs. One lac.

Persons opening account upto 26th January, 2015 will also get a health insurance cover of Rs. 30,000.

All account holders will be issued Rupay debit card to facilitate ATM withdrawals.

All account holders will get mobile banking facility for easy money transfer.

Accounts runs satisfactorily for 6 months will be allowed to have over draft facility of Rs. 5000.

A Rs 1,000-crore credit guarantee fund will be set up by NABARD for this purpose.

Of the 24.67 crore households in the country, 10.19 crore do not have access to banking services. In rural areas, 44 per cent households and in urban areas 33 per cent still do not have a bank account. The present banking network of the country comprises of a branch network of 1,15,082 and an ATM network of 1,60,055.

SLR SLASHED TO 22 PER CENT RBI has reduced the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) of scheduled commercial banks by 50 basis points from 22.5 per cent to 22.0 per cent with effect from the fortnight beginning 9th August, 2014, unlocking around Rs 40,000 crore of bank funds. All other rates – Repo, Reverse repo, MSF and Bank Rate have been left unchanged.


FREE ATM TRANSACTIONS LIMITED TO 5/3 Banks have been advised to provide their savings bank account holders with at least five free transactions per month at their own ATMs. Beyond this, banks may decide to levy transaction charges (not exceeding Rs 20). The number of free transactions on ATMs set up by other banks will continue to five per month except in six metros - Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, where it has been reduced to three only per month. ‘BHARAT BILL PAYMENT SYSTEM’ For the convenience of people to pay school fees and municipal taxes and utility bills through an integrated platform, the Reserve Bank proposes to set up an "anytime anywhere" bill payment system by the name ‘Bharat Bill Payment System’. Bill payment is a major component of the retail payment transactions as over 3,080 crore bills amounting to more than Rs 6,00,000 crore are generated each year in the top 20 cities in the country. The Reserve Bank has approved the transfer of surplus

(profit) amounting to Rs 526.79 billion for the year ended June 30, 2014 to the Government of India.

India post announced the launch of over 1000 ATMs in the near feature. It will also enable core banking solution at its 25000 offices over the next year.

JULY 2014 RBI MOOTS PAYMENT BANK AND SMALL BANK The Reserve Bank has issued guidelines for setting up of Payment Bank and Small Banks. A minimum paid-up capital of Rs.100 core will be required for setting up of these banks. Both the banks will have to comply with the CRR and SLR requirements.

Payment Banks will be allowed only acceptance of demand deposits and payments and remittances services to migrant labour workforce, low-income households, small businesses and other unorganised entities. They will not be allowed to undertake lending activities.

Small Bank shall primarily undertake basic banking activities of acceptance of deposits and lending to small farmers, small businesses, micro and small industries and unorganised sector entities. The area of operations of the small bank will be restricted to contiguous districts in a homogenous cluster of the States.

REVISED KYC NORMS FROM RBI RBI has revised its "know your customer" guidelines where a main change is that it has now specified "officially valid documents" to be the Aadhaar card, voter ID card, permanent account number (PAN) card, driving licence, passport, or the NREGA card. The Ration Card has been dropped from the list.

Now, Banks are no more authorized to accept any other document as proof of identity.

Rs. 5000 CR LYING IN UNCLAIMED ACCOUNTS Parliament has been advised that Banks had Rs 5,124 crore in unclaimed deposits (accounts with no operations for 10 years) lying with them as of December 31, 2013. This amount will be transferred to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund for promotion of depositors' interests. The Reserve Bank has from time to time advised banks to play a more pro-active role in finding the whereabouts of the people whose accounts have remained inoperative. Banks are required to transfer the unclaimed amount to Reserve Bank of India every month.

RBI TO IDENTIFY ‘LARGE’ BANKS The Reserve Bank has said that Banks having size equal to or more than 2 per cent of GDP will be designated as domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs) and they will be subject to higher capital requirements. Additionally, five largest foreign banks, based on their size, will also be added to the sample for identification of D-SIBs.

D-SIBs are perceived as banks that are ‘Too Big To Fail (TBTF)’. This perception of TBTF creates an expectation of government support for these banks at the time of distress. Due to this perception, these banks enjoy certain advantages in the funding markets. PSBs TO ISSUE RUPAY CARDS Govt has urged public sector banks to issue RuPay cards to all existing customers who do not have debit cards as well as to new clients. Banks have also been told to "encourage" merchant establishments to install point of sale terminals for RuPay cards. Already, 20 million cards have been issued.

GOVT PLANS UBI’s MERGER WITH IDBI

The government has asked IDBI Bank and Kolkata based United Bank of India to prepare a consolidation plan in view of poor performance of UBI. Govt also plans to approve the merger plan of SBI and State Bank of Patiala.

SIX NEW DRTs TO BE SET UP To expedite the process to recover bad bank loans, govt proposes to set up six new Debt Recovery Tribunals. The Government of India had constituted 33 Debts Recovery Tribunals and five Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunals across the country. These six additional tribunals will make total number of tribunals to 39.

NO 60% CUT OFF FOR EDUCATION LOANS The Madras High Court has ruled that banks cannot fix 60% cut off of minimum marks in Plus Two as condition for extending education loan to students joining engineering courses. Once a candidate has been admitted in a course, banks should consider his request for loan on genuine grounds of need and not on basis of marks obtained at plus two level.


RBI TO SWAP GOLD RBI plans to swap some of the old gold lying in its Nagpur vault since pre-Independence times—and whose quality is not exactly top grade—with purer gold. The operation would "standardise the gold available with RBI in India with respect to international standards" and the gold acquired would placed at its overseas custodian, Bank of England.

MFIs CAN NOT CHARGE MORE THAN 27.75% RBI has advised that the lending rate ceiling for micro finance companies will continue at their present level - at 27.75% for the July to September quarter. This is the highest rate MFIs can charge to their borrowers in the next quarter. They may have to charge less if their cost of funds is lower than 17.75%. The Non Banking Finance Companies engaged in Micro Finance are required to be registered with RBI as NBFC-MFIs and have to follow the guidelines for maximum rate of interest they can charge on loans.

BANK CREDIT GROWTH MORE THAN DEPOSITS Bank deposits grew 13.24 per cent year-on-year to Rs 79,96,060 crore during the fortnight ended July 11 and credit growth was 13.67 per cent reaching Rs 61,21,418 crore during the same period.

The RBI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Monetary Authority of Hong Kong for exchange of supervisory information of banking.

The Reserve Bank will soon put to circulation Rs 10 denominated coins on the occasion of diamond jubilee of Coir Board.

RBI has allowed Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) to accept e-KYC service to verify identity and address proof of customers to reduce risk of fraud.

DEFENCE, SCIENCE

& TECHNOLOGY

SEPTEMBER 2014 JOINT ARMY EXERCISE HELD WITH US ARMY A joint 14 days military exercise between the armed forces of America and India was held at Ranikhet in Almora district of Uttrakhand. The exercise included 250 personnel of the US army and a similar strength of a Mountain Brigade of the Indian Army. INS SUMITRA JOINS INDIAN NAVY The new generation Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel (NOPV), INS Sumitra, built by Goa Shipyard Limited for the Indian Navy, was formally commissioned by Chief of Naval Staff on 4th September 2014 at Chennai.

Pakistan conducted a successful test of its surface to surface missile Hatf IX (NASR), having a range of 60 kilometers

Iran unveiled a new surface-to-air missile - Talash-3 (“Endeavor-3”), claimed to be capable to shoot down hostile target at high altitude.

INDIA CONQUERS MARS IN FIRST ATTEMPT India scripted history on September 24, early in the morning when it became the first country to place its Mars Orbiter Spacecraft (MOS) in the orbit in very first attempt. Highlights of the mission are as under: The mission puts ISRO among an elite league of three

other space agencies- NASA, European Space Agency and Russian Space Agency, to undertake a successful voyage to the Red Planet.

Scientists ignited the main 440 Newton Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) and eight small thrusters on 24 September morning to slow down the speed of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft ‘Mangalyaan’.

The 1,350 kg spacecraft was slipped into its elliptical orbit spanning 423 km X 80,000 kms, capping a 66 million km journey that began on November 5 last.

The spacecraft will take 77 hours or 3.2 earth days for each rotation around Mars

At just $74 million, the mission is less than the estimated $100 million budget of the sci-fi blockbuster “Gravity”.

MOM costed one tenth of NASA’s Mars mission Maven that entered the Martian orbit just 2 days back, on September 22.

Till date, of the 51 missions to Mars launched by several other countries, only 21 have been successful.

The spacecraft is carrying five scientific instruments aboard for various investigations: i) Mars Colour Camera: to take images of the planet's

surface features ii) Methane Sensor: to look for the methane gas, an

indication of life on the planet iii) Mars Exosphere Neutral Composition Analyser: to

study neutral gas atoms found in the outermost part of the Martian atmosphere.

iv) Lyman Alpha Photometer: to measure relative abundance of two isotopes of hydrogen on Mars

v) Thermal Infrared Imagery Spectrometer: to map the surface temperature to infer presence of minerals.

MARS PLANET PROFILE After Venus, Mars is the closest planet to the Earth. It is the fourth planet from the Sun. Named after the Roman god of war; it is also called the “Red Planet” due to its reddish appearance because of abundance of red oxide dust on the planet. Distance from Earth: 60 million kms, farthest could be 400million kms. Distance from Sun: 150 million kms Diameter: 6,800 kms Circumference: 21,300 kms Known Moons: 2- Phobos & Deimos Orbit Period: 687 Earth days (Mars year) Rotation Period: 24hrs, 37min (Mars day) Surface Temperature: Average -81 °F Atmosphere: Less than 1% of earth’s, mostly Carbon-di-oxide, 96% Surface gravity: 37% of the Earth, i.e. one can jump three times higher on Mars


CROPS IN ‘FERTILE CRESCENT’ UNDER THREAT Scientists have warned that millions of lives could be at risk because of the threat to food crops posed by conflict in the Middle East. Many of the most valuable wild relatives of crops vital to global food security grow in the Fertile Crescent – a region that encompasses Iraq, Syria, Israel and Lebanon. REMAINS OF SUPER DINOSAUR DISCOVERED Researchers at Drexel University in the US have claimed to have discovered in Argentina remains of an enormous Dinosaur weighing nearly 60 tons. The scientists said measurements of the fossilized bones suggest that the animal was about 26 meters long. The new super massive dinosaur has been named Dreadnoughtus. China launched two satellites - Yaogan-21 and Tiantuo-

1 to relay information on natural resources, disaster management and smart satellite experiments.

DRDO successfully test-fired Agni-I - nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missile from Wheeler Island off Odisha coast. It has a striking range of 700 to 1250 km.

AUGUST 2014

INDO RUSIA JOINT AIR DRILL India and Russia conducted their first-ever joint Air Force exercise “Avia Indra-2014” in Astrakhan region located north of the Caspian Sea. Beginning on 25th August, the exercise will continue till 5th September. CHINA DISPLAYS ICBM DONGFENG - 41 China has unveiled its next generation Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Dongfeng – 41 (DF-41). The missile with an operation range varying between 12000 km to 15000 km is amongst the world’s longest range missiles. INDARC OBSERVATORY DEPLOYED IN ARCTIC Country’s first multi-sensor moored observatory IndARC was successfully deployed in Kongsfjorden Fjord of the Arctic region, roughly halfway between North Pole and Norway on July 23. A team of scientists from the Earth System Science Organisation-National Institute of Ocean Technology (ESSO-NIOT) Chennai and ESSO-National Centre for Antartic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) termed the same as a milestone in India’s scientific endeavours in the Arctic region. MARS ROVER CREATES TRAVELLING RECORD NASA’s Mars exploration rover ‘Opportunity’ set the record of maximum distance covered by a rover in one go when it travelled a distance of 157 feet (48 meters) on 27 July 2014 on the surface of Mars. The 384-pound rover landed on Mars on January 25, 2004. ROSETTA CREATES SPACE HISTORY After travelling a distance of 6.4 billion kilometres since it was launched in March 2004, Rosetta- space vehicle by European Space Agency made history on August 6 when it became the first spacecraft to rendezvous with a comet — 67P/Churyumov - Gerasimenko, a 4.5-km-long object. It will airdrop a lander – Philae on the comet.

DRAUGHT PREDICTIONS BY SATELLITE NASA scientists have developed Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite that can predict the severity of droughts worldwide and help farmers maximize the crop yield. This mission is scheduled to launch in November 2014. REVERSE VENDING MACHINES IN UAE An integrated environment and waste management company will install reverse vending machines designed to collect and recycle domestic light bulbs and batteries across the UAE, making the Gulf country the second nation in the world, after the UK to adapt this technology.

JULY 2014 INS KOLKATA JOINS INDIAN NAVY The Indian Navy‘s largest ever destroyer – INS Kolkata was inducted in to service on 10th July. It is India’s first domestically built guided missile destroyer to feature a Western-style air search radar and stealth technology. ADVANCED BRAHMOS TEST FIRED An advanced version of the 290-km range Brahmos supersonic cruise missile was successfully tested off the coast of Odisha, giving the country the capability to hit enemy targets hidden behind mountains or in a cluster of buildings with “pinpoint accuracy”. The missile travelled its full strike range of 290 km in 500 seconds. INDIA LAUNCHES FIVE FOREIGN SATELLITES India successfully launched five foreign satellites from four countries on board PSLV-C23 rocket on June 30. The five satellites, launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, included two from Germany, and one each from France, Canada and Singapore.

PSLV: Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle HIGH SPEED DATA TRANSFER BY LI-FI A Mexican software company has managed to transmit audio, video and Internet data across the spectrum of light emitted by LED lamps — at a data transfer rate of 10 gigabytes per second. The technology called Li-Fi or light fidelity can illuminate a large work space, such as an office, while providing full mobile Internet to every device that comes into the range of the light spectrum. OBJECTS SPOTTED BEYOND PLUTO Scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have discovered two new objects beyond Pluto for NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft to visit. New Horizons spacecraft, launched in 2006, is on track to become the first probe to visit Pluto in July 2015, some 4.7 billion miles from Earth in the Kuiper Belt. CARBON GEL – WORLD’s LIGHTEST MATERIAL The world's lightest solid material - carbon aerogel - created by Chinese scientists has fetched a staggering $1.6 million at an auction. With a density of just 0.16 milligrams per cubic centimeter, a sixth of air's density, the carbon aerogel was developed by scientists at Zhejiang University last year.


NASA SATELLITE TO TRACK CO2 American space agency NASA has successfully launched a satellite -Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), designed to track atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, a leading human-produced greenhouse gas responsible for global warming.

Warships, submarines, aircrafts and helicopters of India, US and Japan participated in the trilateral Malabar naval exercise from 24th July in North Western Pacific Ocean.

INTERNATIONAL

SEPTEMBER 2014 MODI ADDRESSES UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY The Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the 69th session of United Nations General Assembly, UNGA in New York. The theme of the speech was ‘delivering and implementing the Post-2015 development agenda’. BAMIYAN, DHAKA TO BE CULTURAL CAPITAL SAARC Culture Ministers Conference was held at New Delhi on 25 September. The meet named Bamiyan, the Afghan town which shot into prominence when the Taliban blew up two ancient statues of the Buddha in 2001, to be the SAARC cultural capital for a year beginning April 2015 and Dhaka for 2016-17. The year 2016-17 was also declared the SAARC Year of Cultural Heritage. FRANCE ATTEMPTS TO REDUCE SMOKING In a bid to reduce high smoking rates among the teenagers, France plans to introduce plain cigarette packaging and ban electronic cigarettes in certain public places. The new cigarette packets would be “the same shape, same size, same colour, same typeset” to make smoking less attractive to young smokers. U N CLIMATE SUMMIT HELD IN NEW YORK UN Climate Change Summit 2014 held at UN headquarters in New York on 23 September 2014. The purpose of the Summit was to raise political momentum for a meaningful universal climate agreement in Paris in 2015.

SCOTLAND TO STAY WITH UK Scotland has rejected independence and decided to stay with United Kingdom. In a referendum that threatened to break up 307 years union between them, 55 percent Scottish people polled NO vote and 45 percent YES vote to a simple question – “Should Scotland be an independent country?”

United Kingdom comprises of four countries – England, Scotland, North Ireland and Wales.

UKRAINE MOVES AWAY FROM RUSSIA Ukraine's Parliament has ratified a landmark European Union pact that decisively steers the former Soviet state towards Europe and away from Russian influence. The legislation grants greater autonomy to the separatist regions in the east of the country, as well as amnesty for most of those involved in recent fighting with government forces.

NATO ADOPTS ‘WALES RESOLUTION’ The NATO summit was held in Wales, UK on 4 to 5 September 2014. Leaders from around 60 countries including USA and France attended the summit. The resolutions adopted in the summit were named ‘Wales Resolution’. PAKISTAN REELS UNDER FLOOD FURY At least 280 people have been killed and over two million affected in massive flooding triggered by heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan, mainly in Punjab province and in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Most havoc was caused by overflowing of major rivers like Chenab and Jhelum. NO INDIAN UNIVERSITY IN WORLD’s TOP 220 The QS World University Ranking 2014 ranks Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA at number one, followed by the University of Cambridge, Imperial College, London, Harvard University and University of Oxford. Highest rank secured by an Indian university is 222 secured by IIT, Bombay, followed by IIT Delhi-235. ONE MILLION BABIES DIE IN FIRST 24 HOURS A report released by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) states that one million babies each year died within 24 hours of birth from mostly preventable causes. Further, almost 2.8 million babies die each year within the first 28 days. The Report showed that many of these deaths could be easily prevented with simple, cost-effective interventions before, during and immediately after birth. 6th meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional

Cooperation for Home Ministers held on September 19 at Kathmandu, attended by Rajnath Singh.

West Asia’s largest consumer IT and electronics retail show- GITEX Shopper held at World Trade Center in Dubai

London will host its first-ever Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (RPBD) next month from October 16 to 18.

The seventh round of nuclear talks between Iran and six major world powers- US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany were held in New York.

AUGUST 2014 EBOLA CATASTROPHE IN WEST AFRICA Three West Africa nations - Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, are struggling to control an outbreak of Ebola viral fever that has claimed over 700 lives in the recent past. The World Bank has pledged USD 200 million in emergency funding to contain spread of deadly Ebola. Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever is a severe, often fatal illness in human with almost 90 per cent mortality rate. It is highly infectious and can spread easily through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluid. The virus was first discovered nearly four decades ago in Congo in a village near the Ebola River.


NAGOYA PROTOCOL RATIFIED BY 51 MEMBERS The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization will enter into force on 12th October 2014 following its ratification by 12 more countries. With this development, 51 members to Convention on Biological Diversity that was agreed in October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan have ratified the treaty. India is currently the President of CoP till CoP-12 is held in Pyeongchang, South Korea in October this year. CoP equal to Conference of the Parties. BANGLADESH TO JOIN BRICS BANK Bangladesh has decided to join the newly formed BRICS Bank, an initiative of the world's five emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Named as 'New Development Bank', BRICS Bank was formed after an agreement was signed by BRICS countries during July, 2014 Summit in Brazil, with the aim at easing financing constraints faced by BRICS and other developing countries to address infrastructure gaps and sustainable development needs. 100 YEARS OF WORLD WAR I Britain observed Lights Out Project on 4 August 2014 to commemorate 100 years of First World War (WW-1). Under the project, lights were turned-off for an hour to pay tribute to all those who died in World War I. World War I, also called The Great War, took place in and around Europe from July 1914 to November 1918 involving 135 countries and claiming more than 9 million lives. WORLD’s FIRST ECO TEMPLE A Hindu temple - Shree Swaminarayan Mandir, claimed to be the world's first 'eco-temple' featuring solar panels and a rainwater harvesting system, has been opened in northwest London in the UK. THE "ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE"

Over the past several weeks, social media has been flooded with one of the most effective fund-raising campaigns of all time - The "Ice Bucket Challenge". It encou-rages participants to dump bucket of freezing water on their head to raise awareness for the

‘amyotrophic lateral sclerosis’ (ALS) – a debilitating disease. Participants are encouraged to donate $10 if they complete the challenge or $100 if they don't. In the past few weeks alone, the ALS Association has earned more than $88.5 million this way.

The World Health Organization has asked for a ban on the use of e-cigarettes indoors and its sale to children.

The US government has said that its economy grew at a brisk annual rate of 4.2 percent in the April-June quarter, slightly faster than it had first estimated.

JULY 2014 6TH BRICS SUMMIT HELD AT FORTALEZA, BRAZIL Prime Minister Mr. Modi visited Fortaleza, Brazil to attend the 6th BRICS Summit. The five countries decided to establish the New Development Bank with an initial authorised capital of USD 50 billion which will be equally shared by the founding members to prevent domination by any one member. The Bank will work for funding infrastructure and “sustainable development” projects in the BRICS countries. India will have the first Presidency of the NDB for six years with headquarters in China. Agreement was also reached on establishing a Contingency Reserve Arrangement with an initial size of USD 100 billion to provide additional liquidity protection to member-nations during balance of payments problems. Funding of CRA is 41 per cent by China, 18 per cent each from Brazil, India, and Russia, and 5% from South Africa. The 7th BRICS Summit will be held in the Russian city of Ufa. ISRAEL OPENS WAR WITH GAZA Israel Defence Forces launched “Operation Protective Edge” against Hamas militants in Gaza strip for their alleged kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers. In over a month long conflict, Israeli forces have killed over one thousand persons in Gaza strip through attack by ground and air strikes. MALAYSIAN PLANE SHOT DOWN, KILLING 298 A Malaysian aircraft, flight MH 17 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by terrorist using a Russian Buk missile when it was flying above 33,000 feet over eastern Ukraine on July 17, killing all 295 people aboard. The disaster is clouded in mystery as both Russia and Ukraine claim that their forces have not shot the plane. UKRAINE MOVES TOWARDS EUROPEAN UNION Ukraine signed a landmark economic trade pact with the European Union June 27. The Association Agreement is expected to boost Ukraine’s exports to the European Union but has attracted strong negative reaction from the Russia. It was a refusal to sign this pact last year by Mr Poroshenko’s predecessor, Viktor Yanukovych, which triggered popular protests in Ukraine, leading to Russia’s annexation of the Crimea peninsula

India will host the 7th IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa) summit in 2015.


PERSONS IN NEWS

SEPTEMBER 2014 R A MASHELKAR: Eminent scientist and former Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, has been named to head an expert panel to recommend best technologies for the "Swachh Bharat" national sanitation campaign with an emphasis on areas like potable water and sanitation.

AKKINENI NAGESWARA RAO (ANR): Legendary Telugu actor, who passed away in January 2014, became the first Indian actor to be honoured with a postage stamp by the U.S. Post Service (USPS).

CHITRESH TATHA: 12-year-old, a sailor of ‘Optimist’ dinghy category is the youngest sailor to represent India at the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon, South Korea.

TN SURESH KUMAR: A senior ISRO scientist has become the first Indian to visit the stratosphere, the second layer of the Earth’s atmosphere. He travelled to an altitude of 17,100 metres in 48 minutes in a MIG-29 reaching a maximum speed of 1850 km per hour from Sokol Airbase near Nizhny Novgorod in Russia.

J. JAYALALITHAA: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister was in news as she and three others were sentenced to four years in jail by a special court in Bangalore in a 66.65 crore rupees Disproportionate Assets case on 27th September. She was also fined Rs. 100 crore.

ALOK SHETTY: The 28 year old Indian architect has been named ‘Young Leader of Tomorrow’ by Time magazine for his pioneering work in designing affordable flood-proof houses for slum dwellers.

KRITTIKA BISWAS: 21 year old daughter of an Indian diplomat in New York consulate was in news as she won a significant legal victory from the local court which awarded $225,000 settlement for her wrongful arrest and jail for a day in 2011.

JACK MA: Chinese founder and promoter of world’s largest online shopping portal – Alibaba was in news as the firm successfully launched world’s largest IPO, amassing around $25 billion from the investors.

CONNIE HEDEGAARD, Commissioner for Climate Action, European Commission visited India to mobilize opinion in favour of acceptance of Common But Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR) resolution in an realistic manner wherein all countries agree to accept their responsibility towards control of emissions affecting the climate change.

TOM THABANE: Prime Minister of Lesotho, a tiny hilly kingdom in South Africa, was in news as he fled in fear of his life after soldiers seized power in a coup.

USAIN BOLT: Sprint king from Jamaica was in news as he visited Bangalore for a day to take part in a cricket match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium as part of promotional activity for a footwear company.

AUGUST 2014 IROM SHARMILA CHANU: The human rights activist and former journalist was in news as an Imphal sessions court on 19th August ordered her release, accepting her plea that she did not attempt suicide by fasting unto death. Ironically, after release she again went on protest fast and was rearrested. She has been on a fast since November, 2000 when Assam Rifles men killed 10 persons at Malom area in Imphal in an alleged encounter with insurgents. She has been demanding repeal of the draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), which gives sweeping powers to armed forces in disturbed areas.

V K DUGGAL: Manipur Governor resigned, the 9th governor to do so in last few months, following change of govt at the center.

SHAH RUKH KHAN: Indian superstar has been roped in as an ambassador for Inter-pol’s “Turn Back Crime” campaign to promote awareness of how everyone can play a role in preventing crime. The campaign aims at empowering the public to not to be duped by criminals when buying products or using the internet.

KAMLA BENIWAL: Governor of Mizoram was in news as she was sacked by a Presidential order. She was earlier Governor of Gujarat and shifted to Mizoram on July 6 this year. She was sacked reportedly for certain irregularities committed by her during her Gujarat tenure.

NIKHIL CHANDWANI: The 20-year-old noted Indian author and documentary filmmaker, has become the first Asian to win the prestigious Author of the Year award from the American Literary Forum Society for his novel 'Coded Conspiracy’.

K. SANKARANARAYANAN: Maharashtra Governor was in news as he quit his office to protest his transfer to Mizoram.

JOHN KERRY: US Secretary of State (Foreign Minister) visited in India to hold 5th Indo-US Strategic Dialogue CHUCK HAGEL: U.S. Defence Secretary (Defence Minister) visited India to lay the groundwork for the revival of Indo-U.S. defence ties. GENERAL PRAYUTH CHAN-OCHA: Thailand's coup leader was in news as he was appointed Prime Minister by a legislature that was formed by him only, giving the army chief a veneer of legitimacy to his action.

JULY 2014 ARSENIY YATSENYUK: Ukraine’s Prime Minister was in news as he resigned in a shock move to protest the disbanding of the ruling parliamentary coalition, plunging the strife-torn nation into political uncertainty. AKHOURI SINHA: In a rare honour, the USA has named a mountain in Antarctica after this eminent Indian-American scientist whose pioneering biological research expedition to Antarctica has provided vital data about animal populations in that area.


NEYMAR: Ace striker of Brazil’s football team was in news as he suffered a back bone fracture after being hit by the Colombian defender Juan Zuniga. Brazil’s bid to win a sixth World Cup suffered a devastating blow as Neymar was ruled out of the rest of the tournament.

APPOINTMENTS

SEPTEMBER 2014

R A MASHELKAR: Technology Head of the "Swachh Bharat Mission".

LALITHA KUMARAMANGALAM: Chairperson of the National Commission for Women.

P. SATHASIVAM: Governor of Kerala, he is former Chief Justice of India

HARDEEP SINGH PURI: Secretary General of Independent Commission on Multilateralism

O PANNEERSELVAM: Elected as new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, in place of Jayalalitha ADIL ZAINULBHAI: Former McKinsey India Chief has been appointed Chairman, Quality Council of India.

Formed jointly by Govt of India and three apex industry organizations – FICCI, ASSOCHAM and CII, the Council aims at helping India achieve and sustain total quality and reliability, in all areas of life, work, environment, products and services across all levels -- individual, organisational, community and societal.

Justice H.L. DATTU: 42nd Chief Justice of India.

ASHRAF GHANI: President of Afghanistan

VOREQE BAINIMARAMA: Fiji's new Prime Minister

JOHN KEY: Prime Minister of New Zealand

LE YUCHENG: China's new Ambassador to India.

RICHARD RAHUL VERMA: Next US ambassador to India.

AUGUST 2014 FOUR NEW GOVERNORS APPOINTED

Kalyan Singh Rajasthan Vajubhai Vala Karanatka, C Vidyasagar Rao Maharashtra Mridula Sinha Goa

K.V. THOMAS: Congress MP appointed Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament. The post is given for one year to a member of the largest opposition party in the Lower House. The committee scrutinizes the accounts of the government and the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.

S S MUNDRA: Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India for three year term. He is ex CMD of Bank of Baroda.

T M BHASIN: Chairman of the Indian Banks Association – IBA for 2014-15. He is CMD of Indian Bank.

RAJNI RAZDAN: Chairman, Union Public Service Commission – UPSC.

M. THAMBIDURAI: Deputy Speaker, Lok Sabha

K. V. Chowdary: Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)

AHMET DAVUTOGLU: New Prime Minister of Turkey

HAIDAR AL-ABADI: Prime Minister of Iraq

GEN. PRAYUTH CHAN-OCHA: Prime Minister of Thailand

JULY 2014 SIX NEW GOVERNORS APPOINTED

Ram Naik Uttar Pradesh. Kesri Nath Tripathi West Bengal Om Prakash Kohli Gujarat Balramji Dass Tandon Chhattisgarh. Padmanabha Acharya Nagaland. Kaptan Singh Solanki Haryana

PINKY ANAND: Additional Solicitor-General

FUAD MASUM: President of Iraq

JOKO WIDODO (JOKOWI): President of Indonesia

JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER: President of the European Commission

AWARDS & HONOURS

SEPTEMBER 2014 SARASWATI SAMMAN: Noted Hindi novelist Govind Mishra for his novel ‘Dhool Paudhon Par’. The prize is given annually by the K K Birla Foundation in recognition of outstanding literary work in any one of the Indian languages listed in Schedule VIII of the constitution of India. The prize carries a cash award of Rs. Ten lakh. SHANTI SWARUP BHATNAGAR AWARD: 10 scientists selected for the annual award conferred for their outstanding works in the field of science and technology. It consists of a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh, a citation and a plaque. SAAKSHAR BHARAT AWARDS are given on International Literacy Day – Sep 8 by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development for the best performance in the field of adult education. BHARTENDU HARISHCHANDRA AWARDS: Given by Union Ministry for Information & Broadcasting for original writing in Hindi by Indian authors on subjects like Journalism and Mass Communication, National Integration, Women’s Issues and Children’s Literature.

MIDORI PRIZE IN BIODIVERSITY – 2014: Kamal Bawa, Indian scientist and ecologist for his research on climate change in the Himalayas. The prize given by a Japanese foundation, honours three individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.


GOLDEN LION: Award for best film at the Venice Film Festival was bagged by the Swedish film, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch While Reflecting on Existence directed by Roy Anderson. LION OF THE FUTURE: Award for best debut feature film at the Venice Film Festival won by the film Court by Indian writer-director Chaitanya Tamhane.

AUGUST 2014 OUTSTANDING PARLIAMENTARIAN AWARDS BJP leader Arun Jaitley for 2010 Congress veteran leader Karan Singh for 2011 JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav for 2012 The awards were given by the President Pranab Mukherjee on 12 August, 2014.

ASHOK CHAKRA: Major Mukund Vardarajan named for highest peace time gallantry award for showing exemplary bravery in killing two terrorists in Kashmir before he was shot dead in April this year.

22ND RAJIV GANDHI SADBHAVNA AWARD: Noted film maker Muzaffar Ali, for his outstanding contribution towards the promotion of communal harmony, peace and goodwill. The award carries a citation and cash award of Rs 5 lakh.

CORE BANKING SYSTEM INITIATIVE AWARD-2014: won by Bharatiya Mahila Bank Ltd at the Asian Banking and Finance - Retail Banking Awards, Singapore.

FIELDS MEDAL: Known as the "Nobel Prize of Mathematics” won by Manjul Bhargava. Four such prizes are awarded by the International Mathematical Union.

MARYAM MIRZAKHANI: Iranian-born mathematician has become the first woman to win this prize (Fields Medal).

PARDO D’ORO (GOLDEN LEOPARD): Award for best film at the 67th Locarno International Film Festival in Locarno, Switzerland won by “Mula sa kung ano ang noon” by Lav Diaz, Philippines

JULY 2014 PREM BHATIA AWARD for Journalism:

SMITA GUPTA, Associate Editor with The Hindu, for political reporting.

NITIN SETHI, Associate Editor, Business Standard, for excellence in environmental and development reporting

BOOKS & AUTHORS

SEPTEMBER 2014 And then One Day: A Memoir – Autobiography of noted film artist Naseeruddin Shah The Highlights by Frank Keating Odyssey of My Life : Autobiography of former Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil Playing It My Way — My Autobiography by cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar Gods of Antarctica by Yashwardhan Shukla, a 13 year old school boy from Delhi

The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee, Kolkata-born British author. The book has been shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize 2014

AUGUST 2014 Heaven is for real by Todd Burpo &Lynn Vincent The boys in the boat by Daniel James Brown Orange is the new black by Piper Kerman The book of life by Deborah Harkness The goldfinch by Donna Tartt Half girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat Simian by Vikram Balagopal One Life is Not Enough by Natwar Singh Not just an accountant by Vinod Rai, former CAG of India Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi: An Inside Job? by Faraz Ahmad Strictly Personal, Manmohan and Gursharan by Ms Daman Singh

JULY 2014 The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee Finding Neema by Juliet Reynolds Half a Rupee Stories by Gulzar The Substance and The Shadow by Udaya Tara Nayar, a biography of veteran actor Dilip Kumar Innovation in India by Shyama V. Ramani

OBITUARY

SEPTEMBER 2014 BIPAN CHANDRA: Padma Bhushan awardee historian, authority on economic and political history of India

BAPU (Sathiraju Lakshminarayana): Veteran Telugu film director, artist and cartoonist, Padma Sri awardee G.E. VAHANVATI: The former Attorney-General of India BALRAJ PURI: Veteran journalist, Padma Bhushan awardee, author of over 40 books MANDOLIN U. SHRINIVAS: Eminent Carnatic music exponent from Andhra Pradesh, Padmasri awardee, known for his expert use of mandolin, a western instrument, in Carnatic music. He passed away at an early age of 45. KIREET JOSHI: Eminent educationist and former education adviser to the Union government

FIROZA BEGUM: Prominent Bangladeshi Nazrul Sangeet singer JOAN RIVERS: 81-year-old noted lady comedian and TV host from USA Norman Gordon: South African fast bowler, oldest surviving Test cricketer passed away at 103 years.


AUGUST 2014 B K S IYENGAR: 96 years old Padma Vibhushan awardee Yogacharya, known for his vast contribution in spreading Indian Yoga all over the world.

U.R. ANANTHAMURTHY: Jnanpith awardee and renowned Kannada novelist and story writer MADHUKAR SINGH: Eminent Hindi litterateur and novelist from Bihar PRAN KUMAR SHARMA: Eminent cartoonist, popularly known as Pran, who gave life to lovable comic characters Chacha Chaudhury and his friend Sabu. RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH: Oscar-winning British filmmaker and actor, renowned for his critically-acclaimed biopic ‘Gandhi’ on Mahatma Gandhi that won eight Oscars, died at the age of 90.

ROBIN WILLIAMS: Oscar winning famous US comedy actor dies of suspected suicide.

JULY 2014 ZOHRA SEHGAL: Legendary actress from Hindi theatre and cinema, aged over 102 years.

NADINE GORDIMER: South African Nobel Prize-winning author, one of the most powerful voices against the injustice of apartheid.

PLACES IN NEWS

SEPTEMBER 2014 GOA: The city was declared as the permanent venue for the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). The 45th IFFI will be held here from 20 to 30 November, 20 14. VIJAYAWADA: City of Andhra Pradesh was in news as it was declared to be the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. CHABAD HOUSE: The Jewish centre, also called Nariman House, in Mumbai was reopened on 26 August 2014, nearly six years after the 26/11 terror attack in November 2008. The Centre is a sacred synagogue of Jews. OMARI MOSQUE, Jabaliya: The centuries old mosque in Gaza was in news recently due to its destruction in ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. MOUNT ONTAKE: The volcano 200 km west of Tokyo was in news as it erupted suddenly, belching out clouds of rock and ash, catching hundreds of hikers unawares and killing over 36 persons.

AUGUST 2014 MALIN VILLAGE: A small village in district Pune, Maharashtra was in news as it was hit by a massive mud slide, washing out almost entire village.

SINDHUPALCHOK: District of Nepal was in news as a massive land slide near Mankha on 2 August 2014 blocked the Sunkoshi River and caused maasive damage to local settlements, claiming at least 156 lives.

MOUNT SINJAR: place in Nineveh province of northern Iraq was in news as US forces dropped food packets there to thousands of Yezidis stranded there as they flee from nearby areas persecuted by ISIS militants. Hundreds of Yezidis have been massacred by the ISIS militants for their refusal to convert to Islam. Yezidis are a gentle community of ethnic Kurds, whose religious beliefs are traced to antiquity and the ancient Zoroastrian and Hindu religions as well as to Christianity and Islam.

LONGTOUSHAN: A town in Ludian county of Yunnan province of China was in news as it was struck by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake, killing over 400 persons and causing widespread devastation.

JULY 2014 NEOGURI: Name of powerful typhoon that lashed Japan's southern Okinawa islands on 8th July, forcing over half a million people to seek shelter, as the typhoon damaged buildings, downed trees and brought air/sea traffic to a halt.

SPORTS WORLD

SEPTEMBER 2014

17TH ASIAN GAMES OPEN IN INCHEON The Asian Games, the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympics, begin in Incheon, South Korea on 19th September. Around 13,000 athletes from 45 nations will compete in the next 15 days in 439 events spread across 36 sports and disciplines. 516 Indian athletes will be seen vying for top honours in 28 sports. Sardara Singh, Captain of Indian Hockey team was the flag bearer of the Indian contingent.

Some major acheivments of Indians (up to 29th Sep):

GOLD MEDALISTS Jitu Rai, shooter won India's 1st gold in the 50m event. Men's squash team, led by Saurav Ghosal, won gold after edging out Malaysia Men’s archery team won gold beating the S. Korea team.

Yogeshwar Dutt ended a 28-year gold drought for India in wrestling after winning Gold by beating Zalimkhan Yusupov of Tajikistan in men’s 65kg freestyle category.

Saketh Myneni and Sania Mirza gave India their first gold in tennis (mixed doubles) beating Chinese pair

Seema Punia, gave India their first gold medal in athletics in Discus throw.


SILVER MEDALISTS Men's shooting team wins silver in the 25 metre center fire pistol Women's squash team, led by Saurav Ghosal, won silver after losing to Malaysia Saketh Myneni and Sanam Singh won silver in men’s tennis doubles Saurav Ghoshal won silver in individual squash event Khushbir Kaur won the country’s first-ever silver in the women’s 20 kms race walk in Asiad. Bajrang won the silver in 61kg freestyle wrestling defeating his Iranian opponent.

**** * ****

Viswanathan Anand won the Bilbao Chess Masters Finals at Bilbao, Spain, defeating Levon Aronian of Armenia. Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold: Young Indian shuttler H S Prannoy won the badminton championship beating Firman Abdul Kholik of Indonesia at Palembang, Indonesia. 51st Shooting World Championship: Indian shooter Pradeep bagged a bronze medal at Granada, Spain. Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black won the women’s doubles title at the WTA Toray Pacific Open at Tokyo, Japan. Davis Cup Commitment Award: Ace Tennis player Rohan Bopanna. It is given to players who have competed in at least 20 ties. Pankaj Advani, noted snooker and billiards champion has announced his retirement from the professional snooker. However, he will continue to participate in Billiards. MANOJ KUMAR: A 2010 CWG boxing gold-medalist was in news as he was selected for Arjuna Award after a directive from the Delhi High Court where he had filed a case challenging his non selection for the award. DHONI SCORES RECORD 91 ODI WINS India thrashed England by nine wickets in the fourth ODI played at Edgbaston to take 3-0 lead in the five-match series. The victory also made Dhoni the most successful Indian ODI captain with 91 wins. 60th National School Games in six sporting disciplines will be held in November in Punjab. 20th Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships held at Mumbai.

India’s first National Academy of Athletics established at Kariavattom near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. International Boxing Association (AIBA) has permitted Indian boxers (pugilists) to take part in the 17th Asian Games 2014 under the Indian flag as it gave provisional recognition to Boxing India.

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has allowed players to wear religious head coverings, such as hijabs or turbans by Sikhs, on a trial basis. U S OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP, NEW YORK Marin Cilic (Croatia) beats Japan's Kei Nishikori to win men’s singles title Serena Williams of USA beats Caroline Wozniazki of Denmark to win Women’s singles title Sania Mirza with Brazil's Bruno Soares won the mixed doubles title

BWF WORLD BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIP COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

Chen Long of China won the men’s singles beating world no. one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia

Carolina Marin of Spain become Spain's first-ever World champion in badminton history, beating world no 1 Li Xuerui of China.

P V Sindhu won the bronze medal in women’s singles. FIBA Basketball World Cup: USA lifts the cup by defeating Serbia at Madrid, Spain.

FILA Senior World Wrestling Championship held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Li Na, China's ace tennis star and only Grand Slam winner announced her retirement at the age of 32.

Marvan Atapattu appointed as the head coach of the Sri Lankan cricket team. He is the former captain of their national team. ICC World Cricket League Division 3 will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 23 to 30 October, 2014. Summer Youth Olympic Games 2014 held at Nanjing, China


AUGUST 2014 COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2014 CONCLUDE 20th Commonwealth games came to an end on August 3 at Hampden Park, Scotland’s National Stadium, Scotland. 4,750 athletes from 71 countries participated in 18 sports over 11 days for 824 medals. The 2018 Commonwealth Games will be held at Gold Coast, Australia. India won 64 medals – 15 gold, 30 silver and 19 bronze and stood at 5th rank. England topped the medal tally with 174 medals, including 58 golds.

INDIA’s GOLD MEDALS IN CWG - 2014 SR. NO. SPORTS PERSON SPORTS

1 K Sanjita Chanu Weight lifting 2 Sukhen Dev Weight lifting 3 Satish Sivalingam Weight lifting 4 Abhinav Bindra Shooting, 10 m rifle 5 Apurvi Chandela Shooting, 10 m rifle 6 Jitu Rai Shooting, 50 m pistol 7 Rahi Sanorbat Shooting, 25 m pistol 8 Sushil Kumar Wrestling 9 Amit Kumar Wrestling

10 Vinesh Phogat Wrestling 11 Yogeshwar Dutt Wrestling 12 Babita Phogat Wrestling 13 Vikas Gowda Discuss throw 14 Parupalli Kashyap* Badminton 15 Joshna Chinappa

and Dipika Pallikal** Squash

*Parupalli Kashyap became the first Indian male shuttler in 32 years to win a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in Badminton.

**Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal won the first ever medal in squash since 1998, when this game was included in Commonwealth Games.

NATIONAL SPORTS AWARDS 2014

These awards are announced every year on 29th August on the birthday of legendary hockey wizard Sh. Dhyan Chand, which is observed as National Sports Day. DHYAN CHAND AWARDS (FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT)

Sl. No. Name Discipline

1. Shri Gurmail Singh Hockey 2. Shri K.P. Thakkar Swimming (Diving) 3. Shri Zeeshan Ali Tennis DRONACHARYA AWARDS (FOR COACHES)

Sl. No. Name Discipline 1. Shri Mahabir Prasad Wrestling 2. Shri N. Lingappa Athletics – Lifetime 3. Shri G. Manoharan Boxing – Lifetime 4. Shri Gurcharan Singh Gogi Judo – Lifetime 5. Shri Jose Jacob Rowing – Lifetime

ARJUNA AWARDS

S. No. NAME DISCIPLINE 1. Mr. Abhishek Verma Archery 2. Ms. Tintu Luka Athletics 3. Mr. H.N. Girisha Para-Athletics 4. Mr. V. Diju Badminton 5. Ms. Geetu Anna Jose Basketball 6. Mr. Jai Bhagwan Boxing 7. Mr. R. Ashwin* Cricket 8. Mr. Anirban Lahiri Golf 9. Ms. Mamta Pujari Kabaddi 10. Mr. Saji Thomas Rowing

11. Ms. Heena Sidhu Shooting 12. Ms. Anaka Alankamony Squash 13. Mr. Tom Joseph Volleyball 14. Ms. Renu Bala Chanu Weightlifting 15. Mr. Sunil Kumar Rana Wrestling

TENZING NORGAY AWARDS 2013

Sl. No. Name Discipline 1. Subedar Jagat Singh Land Adventure 2. Shri Passang Tenzing

Sherpa Land Adventure

3. MWO Surender Singh Air Adventure 4. Wing Commander (Retd)

Amit Chowdhury Life Time

Achievement

ARCHERY WORLD CUP, Wroclaw, Poland: Indian women’s team, led by Deepika Kumari, clinched the recurve team gold. THE WORLD KABADDI LEAGUE started in London on August 9. The league to be played across 16 international cities, will end on November 30, 2014 in India. SABINE LISICKI of Germany created a world record of fastest serve in the women’s tennis by serving at 131 miles per hour at a match played in Stanford, USA. FRANKIE JONES: Canadian gymnast was awarded the David Dixon Award for the best athlete of the Games. She won six medals, including one gold. RORY MCLLROY: of Ireland became number one in Golf by winning the elite World Golf Championships held at Akron, USA. USAIN BOLT: Jamaican sprint superstar set a new best time record of 9.98 second for the rarely run 100 meter indoors at Warsaw’s national football stadium in Poland. DANIEL RICCIARDO of Australia won the Belgian Grand Prix F1 car race for team Red Bull. BWF World Badminton Championship held in Copenhagen, Denmark


JULY 2014 20TH C’WEALTH GAMES START IN GLASGOW The 2014 Commonwealth Games (officially the 20th Commonwealth Games) will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, from 23 July to 3 August 2014. Mascot for the games has been named ‘Clyde’ after the famous Clyde river of Scotland. It is in the shape of a thistle plant, not an animal. Shooter Vijay Kumar led Indian Contingent as flag bearer.

SAINA NEHWAL: Indian shuttler lifted her first Super Series title in two years, clinching the $ 750,000 Star Australian Open after outplaying Spain's Carolina Marin at Sydney, Australia.

PANKAJ ADVANI won his 9th world title beating Poland’s Kacper Flilpiak in the IBSF World 6-Red snooker championship at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Ritu Rani to captain India’s women hockey team for the Commonwealth Games, Glasgow. GERMANY LIFTS FIFA WORLD CUP 2014 Mario Gotze scored the winning goal for Germany in the 22nd minute of extra time as Germany became the football world champions when they beat Argentina 1-0 in the final at Rio-de Janeiro. Germany, who had made the final for the fourth time in a row, won their first title after 1990.

AWARDS FOR FIFA WORLD CUP 2014

GOLDEN BALL Player of the Tournament- Lionel Messi, Argentina

GOLDEN BOOT Highest Goal Scorer (6) –: James Rodriguez, Colombia

GOLDEN GLOVE Best Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer, Germany

The Indian men's football team has been ranked 151th in the FIFA world rankings, which is topped by recently-crowned world champions Germany. Wimbledon Tennis Open, London: Novak Djokovic of Serbia won the Men’s title defeating Roger Federer of Switzerland.

Women’s title was won by Petra Kvitova of Czechslovakia by defeating Eugenie Bouchard of Canada VINCENZO NIBALI of Italy won the world famous three week cycling marathon - Tour de France.

SIM BHULLAR has become the first player of Indian origin to be a part of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in USA after joining the Sacramento Kings team. India clinched their first Test win against England at the historic Lord's ground in London in nearly three decades.

DAYS & DATES

NOVEMBER Infant Protection Day, World Cancer Awareness Day November 07

International Radiology Day November 08 World Legel Service Day November 09 Transport Day November 10 National Children Day, World Diabetes Day November 14 National Law Day November 26 National Flag Day November 30

OCTOBER

International Non- violence Day October 02 World Habitat day October 03 World Teacher’s Day October 05 Indian Air Force Day October 08 World Post Day October 09 World Food Day October 16 United Nation (UN) Day October 24

SEPTEMBER

Teacher’s Day (Birth Day of S. Radhakrishnan) September 05

World Literacy Day September 08 Raj Bhasha Divas (Hindi Divas) September 14 World Deaf Day September 23 World Tourism Day September 27 World Heart Day September 29

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(April 2014– June 2014)

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N A T I O N A L N E W S

JUNE 2014

Panjab University, Chandigarh, is the highest ranked Indian higher educational institution in the globally recognized Times Higher Education’s Asia rankings.

India has signed the Washington Accord to provide Indian students with accredited technical education degrees recognised by 17 major nations.

'Mobile Seva' by govt for delivery of public services electronically through the mobile platform has been awarded a United Nations Public Service Award.

In a 25 nation-list compiled by global research firm Ipsos, India has been placed at number one rank in terms of economic confidence of citizens.

Unctad's annual World Investment Report 2014 shows that China remained the first choice of MNCs, followed by the USA, Indonesia and India.

Prime Minister Mr. Modi made his first overseas trip by visiting Bhutan. He inaugurated the new Supreme Court building at Thimpu.

Govt has launched Project Mausam at the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Doha, Qatar.

National carrier Air India has joined Star Alliance - a group of 26 (now 27) carriers with as many as 4,338 aircraft flying to 1,328 destinations across 195 countries.

Vice-President Hamid Ansari visited China. He unveiled an encyclopaedia of 2,000-year old history of cultural exchanges between India and China.

June 2, 2014 witnessed the birth of 29th state of India – Telangana, formed by carving out 10 districts of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.

Global Peace Index (GPI) 2014 released by the Institute for Economics and Peace released in London has placed India at 143rd place in list of 162 countries.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh on her first solo overseas visit.

The Narmada Control Authority gave its nod to Gujarat for raising the height of the Narmada dam to a level of 138.72 metres from the present 121.92 metres.

MAY 2014

As per the Nielsen global survey, Consumer confidence level in India jumped to 121points, making it 2nd most optimistic country in the quarter ended June 30.

Data released by the World Bank shows that India has emerged as the world's third largest economy in 2011, moving ahead of Japan.

India started its biggest year-long cultural festival, “Glimpses of India” in China

World Bank and International Finance Corporation’s report on “Doing Business” has ranked India 134th among 189 nations. Singapore ranked first.

Namibia has imported 3400 India made Electronic Voting Machines for use in their Presidential Election.

Indian film Titli (butterfly), directed by Kanu Behl and produced by Aditya Chopra was screened at Cannes Film Festival at Cannes, France.

Press Freedom Index 2014 has placed India at 78th place on the basis of freedom of media in the country. Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden topped the list.

World Bank has agreed to provide $ 1 billion assistance to India to support its Sarva Shikhsa Abhiyan – III.

The Supreme Court has prohibited use of bulls in Tamil Nadu’s ‘Jallikattu’ festivals as use of bulls in such events severely harmed the animals.

A study has claimed that more than seven lakh newborns die in India every year, the highest number of such deaths globally.

Supreme Court has struck down the legal provision that makes prior sanction mandatory for the CBI to conduct a probe against senior bureaucrats.

A UN report says that 60% of the one billion people practising open defecation in the world live in India.

WHO has counted Delhi among one of the most polluted city in the world in terms of air quality as it has highest concentration of particulate matters.

APRIL 2014

The Supreme Court has said that Aadhaar card is not mandatory for citizens to avail government services.


India has slid down to 83rd spot among 148 economies in terms of leveraging information and communications technologies for growth.

The India Public Policy Report 2014 has ranked India’s smallest states — Sikkim, Mizoram, Goa, Punjab and Delhi — best in policy effectiveness.

The Social Progress Index 2014 compiled by US-based non-profit group Social Progress Imperative ranks India102nd among the 132 countries.

India and Bhutan have signed an agreement on development of four hydropower projects for producing 2120 MW of electricity.

Supreme Court has recognised eunuchs as 3rd gender and directed Centre and states to take steps to treat them as socially and educationally backward classes.

NEWS FROM STATES

JUNE 2014 Kanyashree Prakalpa, a West Bengal govt scheme for

scholarship to poor girls has been given international recognition by UK and UNICEF.

Mumbai became the fourth city in the country to have Metro rail operations, besides Kolkata, Delhi and Bangalore.

World Bank will provide $ 100 million to Himachal Pradesh for promoting development of sustainable hydropower.

Sikkim govt to give 12% reservation in state govt jobs for candidates of Sikkimese origin living below poverty line.

India’s first One Stop Crisis Centre (OSCC) named Gauravi was launched in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh on 16 June 2014.

Gujarat has become the first state in India to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the police force.

MAY 2014

NEW CHIEF MINISTERS IN 5 STATES Naveen Patnaik (Biju Janata Dal) – Odisha, 4th time Pawan Chamling (Sikkim Democratic Fund) – Sikkim, 5th time, becoming the longest serving C M in India.

Chandrababu Naidu (Telugu Desam Party)—Andhra Pradesh K Chandrasekhara Rao (Telangana Rastra Samithi) – Telangana

Nabam Tuki (Congress) -- Arunachal Pradesh

Some Other Chief Ministers Were Also Changed:

Anandiben Patel (BJP): Elected as Chief Minister of Gujarat in place of Narendra Modi.

Jitan Ram Manjhi became new Chief Minister of Bihar as present CM Nitish Kumar resigned owing the responsibility for poor performance of his party in general elections.

T R Zeliang (Naga People's Front): Elected as the new Chief Minister of Nagaland following the resignation of current C M Neiphiu Rio as he got elected as M P.

A four-year ban on SMSs on prepaid mobile phones in Jammu and Kashmir has been lifted

Rajasthan to open 325 Ma Bari centres in tribal areas to provide education to the children in 6-12 age group.

APRIL 2014

The Arunachal Pradesh was put on the country’s railway map on April 7 at Naharlagun, near state capital Itanagar, starting from Dekargaon, Assam.

Asia’s largest Tulip garden - Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip garden is located on the banks of Dal Lake, Srinagar, J&K. Spread on 15-hectares, it has over 1.5 million tulips.

India’s first double-decker flyover opened in Mumbai on 18th April connecting the eastern suburbs with western suburb via the Santa Cruz-Chembur link road.

GOVT INITIATIVES

JUNE 2014

Central govt to exempt from transfers all its employees who have differently abled children to take care of.

Govt has decided to abolish all the Groups of Ministers (GoMs) and Empowered Groups of Ministers (EGoMs) set up by the previous UPA-II govt.

Govt. has increased the daily food supplement budget from Rs 280 to Rs 750 for the power games such as wrestling, weightlifting, judo and boxing.

The Centre has decided to give Rs 12,000 per household as labour charges to the poor for building their homes under Indira Awaas Yojna-IAY.

MAY 2014 The Supreme Court has reconstituted a Special

Investigation Team (SIT) headed by retired judge MB Shah to monitor the probe into the black money cases.

India and Myanmar have inked a pact to enhance security cooperation in combating the key issues of insurgency, arms smuggling and human trafficking.

The ministry of environment and forests has been renamed as the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

APRIL 2014 Indian Oil Corporation has introduced the sale of

market-priced 5-kg Free Trade LPG (FTL) cylinders through kirana stores and supermarkets for the first time in India.


ECONOMIC INDICATORS

JUNE 2014 GDP GROWS @ 4.7% IN 2013-14: Latest data

released by the Central Statistical Office (CSO) has estimated value of India’s GDP at current market prices at Rs. 113.55 lakh crore, achieving a growth rate of 4.7 percent in 2013-14 as against 4.5 percent achieved in 2012-13. This is the first time in 26 years after 1987-88 that GDP has grown at sub 5% in two successive years. The per capita income at current prices during 2013-14 is estimated to have attained a level of Rs.74,380.

INDIA TO GROW @ 5.5% - WORLD BANK: The World Bank has projected a 5.5% growth for India in 2014-15, estimating that this will accelerate to 6.3% in 2015-16 and 6.6% in 2016-17.

MAY 2014

UN World Economic Situation and Prospects-2014 report says that Indian economy will grow 5 per cent in 2014 and by 5.5 per cent next year.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says that India's economy is expected to grow up to 4.9% in calendar year 2014

APRIL 2014

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), growth of India’s GDP could recover to 5.4% in 2014-15 from 4.4% expected in 2013-14

The Asian Development Bank has cut India's growth for 2014-15 to 5.5% against 5.7% estimated earlier, on account of weaker industrial growth.

ECONOMY

JUNE 2014 The govt has extended the ban on imports of milk and

its products from China for one more year till June 2015.

Foreign investment of 10 per cent or more in a listed company will now be treated as foreign direct investment.

Israel to open centres of excellence at Nalanda and Vaishali in Bihar in the field of vegetables and mango respectively.

SEBI has asked listed public sector undertakings to adhere to the mandatory 25% public shareholding norms that are applicable to private companies.

India has overtaken Germany and Italy to emerge as the world's second largest textile exporter. But it lags China, whose exports are nearly seven times higher.

The World Bank has approved funding of USD 107 million (nearly Rs 650 crore) for a road project in Mizoram, connecting Myanmar and Bangladesh.

MAY 2014

As per 3rd Advance Estimates of crop production, India is likely to produce 264.38 million tonnes of foodgrains during 2013-14

Deutsche Bank says that a weaker Indian rupee has allowed India to remain the cheapest major economy in the world despite suffering the highest inflation rate.

Exim Bank has extended $ 100 million in line of credit to Nigeria for building energy projects that will eventually help boost Indian exports.

FDI inflows from Singapore added up to nearly $6 billion in 2013-14, making it largest source of FDI in India, followed by Mauritius at $4.9 billion.

APRIL 2014

As per a World Bank report, India ranked first in receiving global remittances in the year 2013 with a whopping $70 billion in its kitty.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has approved a loan of about Rs 674 crore for a forest project in Uttarakhand.

Every listed company and those public firms having paid up share capital of Rs 100 crore or more should have at least one woman director on their board.

The Supreme Court has allowed mining of iron ore in Goa after a gap of nearly one-and-a-half year when it was banned.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has acquired Ranbaxy Laboratories for USD 3.2 billion to become the largest pharmaceutical company in India.

Cadbury India has changed its name to Mondelez India Foods Limited to fall in line with its parent company - Mondelez International.

BANKING

JUNE 2014

RBI reduced statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) to 22.5% from 23%, freeing almost Rs 40,000 crore of resources.

RBI has advised that for opening of bank accounts, in case the proof of address furnished by the customer is not the local address or address where the customer is currently residing, the bank may take a declaration of the local address on which all correspondence will be made by the bank with the customer. No proof is required for this local address.

Ecr Reduced To 32 Per Cent: The Reserve Bank has reduced the availability of funds under the export


credit refinance (ECR) b services with the aim of spreading financial inclusion. The RBI said the existing guidelines on the appointment of BCs were reviewed taking into account recommendations of the Nachiket Mor Committee.

Limit Raised To Carry Currency Abroad: The Reserve Bank has permitted residents and non-residents, except Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, to carry up to Rs 25,000 in Indian currency notes while leaving the country as against Rs 10,000 earlier.

IndusInd Bank has launched ‘video branch’ - a unique service allowing customers to interact face-to-face with their bank branch using desktop, tablet or smartphone.

Reserve Bank has raised the annual overseas investment ceiling for individuals to $ 125,000 from present $ 75,000.

The Reserve Bank has asked banks to disclose sector wise loans in their financial statements from 2014/15 onwards.

MAY 2014 P J Nayak Committee to review Governance of Boards

of Banks has recommended that the govt should cut its stake in public sector banks to below 50%.

RBI has asked banks to consider allowing their borrowers the facility of prepaying all floating rate term loans without any penalty.

RBI has asked banks not to levy penalties on customers who don’t maintain a minimum balance in any inoperative account.

RBI alows banks to open only savings bank account in the name of minors of age above 10 years, independently, without the name of their guardians.

The Law ministry plans to amend the Legal Services Authority Act to allow banks to set up Lok Adalats for cheque bouncing cases.

RBI has directed that all new ATMs from July 2014 onwards would provide audible instructions and Braille keypads to customers.

Bharatiya Mahila Bank has been included in the second schedule to the RBI Act.

RBI plans to launch one billion plastic notes of Rs.10 denomination in a field trial soon in five selected cities.

APRIL 2014

RBI has granted bank licences to two applicants - Infrastructure Development Finance Company and microfinance lender Bandhan Financial Services Ltd.

The Reserve Bank has adopted the new Consumer Price Index (combined) as the key measure of inflation on recommendations of Urjit R. Patel panel.

RBI has asked banks not to levy penal charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance in ordinary savings bank account and inoperative accounts.

State Bank of India has launched its operations through the Twitter to connect better with the tech-savvy young generation.

RBI has fixed cap of Rs. 50,000 for issuance of pre-paid payment instruments to make all issuers comply with the strict money laundering laws.

Umesh Bellur panel has suggested modalities for setting up of ‘Government Internal Revenue Order’ for centralised bills payment system in the country.

DEFENCE, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

JUNE 2014 India’s first indigenously - built anti submarine warfare

corvette INS Kamorta commissioned into the Indian Navy.

Indian-Russian joint venture Brahmos Aerospace test-fired its 290-km range supersonic missile from the stealth destroyer INS Kolkata.

The fifth Indo-French bilateral air exercise — Garuda-V was held at the Jodhpur Air Base.

NASA plans to build world’s most powerful telescope - Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) to analyse the environment of other planets.

US astronomers have found a huge Earth-like planet - Kepler-10c or ‘Mega-Earth’ having diameter of 29,000 kilometers and weighing 17 times more than Earth.

MAY 2014 Singapore Indian Maritime Bilateral Exercise – SIMBEX-

2014, the naval exercise between the Indian and Singapore Navy was conducted in the Andaman Sea

World Meteorological Organisation has warned that there is strong possibility of an "El Nino" climate phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean this year

Indian Army conducted the “Sarvada Vijay” exercise in West Rajasthan as part of regular army training

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has delivered a Dornier light-weight aircraft named Nabhratna to DRDO to carry out testing of its radar systems.

India’s first indigenously developed beyond visual range (BVR) air to air missile - Astra successfully test fired from a Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jet.

India and China have decided to conduct a joint military exercise at Bathinda, Punjab

The DRDO has successfully test-fired the surface to air Akash air defence missiles near Balasore in Odisha.

Pakistan successfully test-fired its surface-to-surface ballistic missile Hataf-III - Ghaznavi capable of carrying nuclear weapons up to 290 kilometers.

APRIL 2014

India successfully launched its second navigational satellite IRNSS 1B onboard PSLV-C24 from Sriharikota on Andhra coast.


From April 8, Microsoft has stopped technical support for its most popular operating system (OS) Windows XP globally.

The Navy has sold the iconic air craft carrier INS Vikrant to a ship-breaking company for Rs. 63.2 crore. The ship was decommissioned in 1997.

India and France conducted a 10-day joint Air exercise 'Garuda-5 in Rajasthan's Jodhpur airbase in Rajasthan.

The government has approved recruitment of young women as 'combat officers' in Sashastra Seema Bal.

India successfully conducted first night test of its nuclear-capable surface to surface ballistic missile – Agni-I, with strike range of 700 km

The Indian missile frigate INS Shivalik visited Qingdao - the eastern port city of China, to take part in exercises to mark the Chinese Navy’s 65th anniversary.

The Army successfully test fired an advanced version of 290-km range supersonic cruise missile, BrahMos, at the Pokhran test range in Rajasthan.

DRDO team successfully tested its surface-to-air missile Aakash from the Integrated Test Range near Chandipur, District Balasore in Odisha.

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

JUNE 2014 Sunni militants, led by jihadists from the Islamic State

of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have killed thousands of civilians and army personnel in Iraq and Syria.

China plans to shut down over 2,000 small coal mines to eliminate outdated capacity and improve work safety and address pollution concerns.

G7 meet of industrialized nations held at Brussels, Belgium

MAY 2014 Russia and China used veto power in UN Security

Council against referring the Syrian civil war to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Thousands of angry Vietnamese torched several Chinese projects in Vietnam to protest attempts by a Chinese oil rig to drill in the disputed waters.

USA has said that America will withdraw its troops from Afghanistan completely by 2016.

Boko Haram Islamist militants abducted more than 200 school girls from north-eastern Nigeria to pressurize Nigerian govt for release of their ally militants.

The leaders of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus have signed a treaty for creation of Eurasian Economic Union

The UNO and the International Olympic Committee have signed an agreement to promote peace and economic development

The world's highest train tunnel became operational in northwest China on May 1 passing through the Qilian Mountains at an altitude of over 3,600 metres

Moldova and Georgia have signed the European Union (EU) Association Agreement to strengthen their trade and political ties with EU.

Afghanistan has signed an agreement with a non-profit independent organization 'Harkat' for implementing the Sharia compliant banking system in the country.

Bhutan is likely to become the first country in the world to go wholly organic in its food production, totally avoiding usage of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

Royal Navy Submarine Service of United Kingdom for the first time in its 110-year history has appointed female submariners.

Spain has suspended the 12th bull fight festival (called San Isidro festival in Spain) after matadors got injured by bulls.

Brazil released two postage stamps to pay tribute to the 100 years of Indian cinema.

Saudi Arabia has decided to ban the import of Indian chilies due to presence of high pesticide residues.

APRIL 2014 Finance Ministers from G20 nations met at Washington,

USA, to discuss ways to boost investment in infrastructure.

The European Union has banned the import of Alphonso mangoes and four other vegetables from India due to the alleged presence of pests in them.

Latest WTO report projects global trade to recover and grow by 4.7% in 2014, more than double of what was achieved in 2013.

PERSONS IN NEWS

JUNE 2014 ARUNADHATI BHATTACHARYA: Chairperson of State Bank of India has been ranked as most powerful women in India by the Forbes Magazine. She stood at 36th rank. KIRAN MAZUMDAR-SHAW: Chairperson of Biocon Industries, has been awarded the Global Economy Prize for business by the Kiel Institute in Germany.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER: German Formula1 champion was in news as he emerged out of coma after almost 5 months, following his ski accident in Dec. 2013. ANGELA MERKEL: Chancellor of Germany, declared as most powerful women in the world by Forbes Magazine. JUAN CARLOS: Spain's King, was in news as he announced his abdication in favour of his son, Prince Felipe, making way for a "new generation”.

MAY 2014 YINGLUCK SHINAWATRA: Prime Minister of Thailand was removed from office by a Constitutional Court as she was found guilty of abusing her power when she transferred a civil servant to another post more than three years ago.


RAMARNI WILFRED: An 11-year-old boy in the UK has achieved the highest possible score of 162 on a Mensa IQ test, making him brainier than physicist Albert Einstein.

ALENKA BRATUSEK: First lady Prime Minister of Slovenia submitted her resignation as she lost the majority in her own party.

APRIL 2014 CHUNG HONG-WON: South Korea’s Prime Minister resigned taking moral responsibility for the sinking of a passenger ferry that left 300 people dead or missing. SERIK AKHMETOV: Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Central Asia's largest economy, was in news as he resigned from his post, along with his entire cabinet. JEAN-MARC AYRAULT: Prime Minister of France was in news as he was sacked by his President after a stinging defeat of his (Jean’s) group in local elections. NANCY POWELL: The U.S. ambassador to India has resigned following a row over the arrest of a junior Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York.

A P P O I N T M E N T S

JUNE 2014 RANJIT KUMAR: Solicitor General of India

Dr. AJIT KUMAR DOVAL: National Security Adviser, Govt of India

ARUN JAITLEY: Governor on the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank.

MADHURI DIXIT: appointed as UNICEF's 'celebrity advocate for child rights'.

VISHAL SIKKA: Chief Executive Officer, Infosys

SUMITRA MAHAJAN: Speaker, Lok Sabha

DR. SUDHIR KUMAR MISHRA: CEO & MD, BrahMos Aerospace Corporation

Arun Mishra, Adarsh Kumar Goel and Rohinton Nariman: Judge in Supreme Court

N. SRINIVASAN: First Chairman of International Cricket Council, Dubai

JUSTICE VK RAJAH: Attorney General of Singapore, he is an Indian-origin judge.

ALEXANDER STUBB: Prime Minister of Finland

REUVEN RIVLIN: President of Israel, from Likud party

BASHAR AL-ASSAD: Elected as President of Syria, for the third time successively.

PRINCE FELIPE: New King of Spain

ABDUL FATTAH AL-SISI: President of Egypt

MAY 2014

MUKUL ROHATGI: 14th Attorney-General of India RAJIV MATHUR: Chief Information Commissioner Lt Gen D S SUHAG: Chief of Army Staff (28th) RAJEEV SURI: President and CEO of Nokia. AHMED MAITEEQ: Prime Minister of Libya DALIA GRYBAUSKAITE: President of Lithuania

PETRO POROSHENKO: President of Ukraine JACOB ZUMA: President of South Africa LUIS GUILLERMO SOLIS: President of Costa Rica

APRIL 2014

RAJENDRA MAL LODHA: Chief Justice of India (41st), appointed by President of India ILA PATNAIK: Noted economist has been appointed Principal Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Finance. Admiral Rabinder Kumar Dhowan: New Chief (22nd) of Indian Navy ARVIND MAYARAM: Union Finance Secretary. R. CHANDRASEKARAN: Chairman, National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) R. GANDHI: Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India VIKTOR ORBÁN: Prime Minister of Hungary KARIM MASSIMOV: Prime Minister of Kazakhstan ABDELAZIZ BOUTEFLIKA: President of Algeria MANUEL VALLS: Prime Minister of France

AWARDS & HONOURS

JUNE 2014

49TH JNANPITH AWARD – 2013: Noted Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh. The award includes Rs 11 lakh as cash. MOORTIDEVI AWARD,2013: C Radhakrishna for his book 'Theekkadal Katanhu Thirumadhuram' in Malyalam. Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction: Eimear McBride for her first novel ‘A girl is a Half-Formed Thing’ 'LEGION OF FRANCE': Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan for his contribution to Cinema.


TANG PRIZE 2014 DECLARED FIELD NAME CONTRIBUTION

Sinology Yu Ying-shih Research in Chinese cultural, intellectual and political history

Sustainable Development

Gro Harlem Brundtland, Ex. PM of Norway.

innovation, leadership and implementation of sustainable development

Rule of Law Albie Sachs fight against apartheid

Bio-pharmaceutical science

Dr. Tasuku Honjo & James Allison

fight against cancer

WORLD FOOD PRIZE: won by Sanjaya Rajaram, for his contribution in increasing the wheat production in world.

DAG HAMMARSKJOLD MEDAL: Gallantry award given by UNO to eight Indian soldiers on 29th May - International Day of UN peacekeepers.

MAY 2014

GOLD MEDAL FOR INDIAN DOCUMENTARY “Silent Screams — India’s Fight Against Rape” a documentary film directed by Pria Somiah won a Gold World Medal for ‘Best Investigative Report’ as well as Bronze Medals each in the ‘Current Affairs’ and ‘Human Concerns’ sections respectively at the 2014 New York Festivals International TV and Film Awards. NEW FRONTIERS AWARD 2014 FOR INDIA Arabian Travel Market (ATM) conferred this award on India for its outstanding contribution to rebuild physical infrastructure and its rural tourism economy in the wake of the June 2013 floods, landslides in the northern state of Uttarakhand and the devastation wreaked by tropical Cyclone Phailin. PALME D’OR: The top prize for best picture at the Cannes Film Festival won by Turkey’s Winter Sleep directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan National Florence Nightingale Awards 2014 conferred on 35 nursing personnel by President of India for their meritorious services.

APRIL 2014 THE IIFA 2014 AWARDS

Held at Tampa Bay, Florida, USA

Best Picture: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Best Actor: Farhan Akhtar for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Best Actress: Deepika Padukone for Chennai Express

Best Director: Rakeysh Om Mehra for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Lifetime Achievement Award: Shatrughan Sinha

Best Entertainer of the Year: Deepika Padukone GOLDMAN ENVIRONMENTAL PRIZE: Indian environment activist Ramesh Agrawal has won the prestigious award ‘Green Nobel’ that honours heroic grassroot environmentalists around the world.

61ST NATIONAL FILM AWARDS – 2013

NAME OF AWARD NAME OF THE WINNER

Best Feature Film

Ship of Theseus (English-Hindi) by Anand Gandhi

Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (Hindi) by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

Best Hindi Film Jolly LLB by Subhash Kapoor

Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration

Thalaimuraigal(Tamil) by Balu Mahendra

Best Direction Hansal Mehta for Shahid (Hindi)

Best Actor Raj Kumar For Shahid (Hindi) & Suraj

Venjaramoodu for Perariyathavar(Malayalam)

Best Actress Geetanjali Thapa for Liar’s Dice (Hindi)

Femina Miss India World 2014--KOYAL RANA 1st Runner up Jhataleka Malhotra

2nd Runner up Gail Nicole Da Silva

Miss India Asia Lopamudra Raut Pacific 2014

PULITZER PRIZE (POETRY): India-born poet Vijay Seshadri, for his collection of poems – ‘3 sections’.

MILLENNIUM TECHNOLOGY PRIZE: Stuart Parkin, British-American physicist has won the 1 million-Euro prize for discoveries leading to a thousand-fold increase in digital data storage on magnetic disks.

THE KNIGHT GRAND CROSS: Tata Group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata has been decorated with the British government’s highest civilian honour in recognition for the work his group is doing in England. 45th DADASAHEB PHALKE AWARD – 2013: Gulzar, veteran poet and film lyricist. His real name is Sampooran Singh Kalra. It is the highest honour from the govt side to recognize a person’s contribution in promoting Indian cinema.


OBITUARY

JUNE 2014 SULTAN AZLAN SHAH: 'Father of Malaysian Hockey' as he promoted the international hockey for over 41 years -- both as a player and as an administrator.

GOPINATH MUNDE: Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Prominent BJP leader from Maharashtra.

MAY 2014 RUSSY MODI: Noted corporate personality, Ex Chairman and Managing Director of Tata Steel

MADHAV MANTRI: India's oldest Test cricketer, maternal uncle of the legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar

GARY BECKER: Nobel Laureate economist from Chicago, USA.

APRIL 2014 V K MURTHY: Renowned cinematographer and Dada Saheb Phalke awardee, known for capturing breathtaking images in Guru Dutt's classics like Pyaasa, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam and Kagaz Ke Phool. GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ: The Nobel laureate, most popular veteran Spanish-language story writer and novelist from Colombia. His famous works include ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ and ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’.

P L A C E S I N N E W S

JUNE 2014 INDIRA GANDHI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: The airport in Delhi was declared second best in service quality in world and sixth best airport in the world. MEHRANGIR: Name of the bungalow of Late J. J. Bhabha, a pioneer nuclear scientist, at Malabar Hills, Mumbai that was auctioned for a record price of Rs. 372 crore. RANI-KI-VAV, PATAN: The 11th century step well at district Patan of Gujarat has been approved as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. GHNP, KULLU: The Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh has been accorded the UNESCO World Heritage Site status THALOT/ LARJI: place about 40 km from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh was in news as 24 engineering students, including six girls, were washed away in River Beas GARIPHEMA: Village in Nagaland was in news as it has been declared the country’s first tobacco-free village on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day on May 31.

MAY 2014 HERAT: City in Afghanistan was in news as militants armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades attacked the Indian Consulate. MANISA: Place in the western Turkey was in news as over 300 people were killed and hundreds more remained trapped underground after an explosion and fire in a coal mine. AAB BAREEK: A village in Badakhshan province of Afghanistan was in news as several hundreds of persons were killed when their village was swept away due to a heavy mud slide.

APRIL 2014 THE EBOLA (GUINEA): A deadly disease, outbreak of which in West Africa has claimed more than 145 lives so far. More than 240 people, mostly in Guinea, are suspected of having caught the illness. There is no vaccine, no treatment and the disease is almost always fatal.

S P O R T S W O R L D

JUNE 2014 Jitu Rai became first Indian shooter to win three medals in successive ISSF Shooting World Cup. Yogeshwar Dutt and Sushil won the gold medal and silver medal respectively, in wrestling in International Competition in Sassari city, Italy.

Indian Premier League – 7: Kolkata Knight Riders won the IPL title beating Kings Eleven Punjab at the final played at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

Abhishek Verma has become the first Indian archer to win three gold medals in a single international tournament Viswanathan Anand won the bronze medal at the World Rapid Chess Championship held at Dubai. NATIONAL GAMES: The 35th edition of these will be held in Kerala in Jan– Feb, 2015. Sachin Tendulkar has been appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for these games. FRENCH OPEN TENNIS at Roland Garros, Paris Rafael Nadal of Spain won the men’s title for the ninth time, and the fifth time in a row, beating Novak Djokovic of Serbia, Women’s title was won by Maria Sharapova of Russia, defeating Romania's Simona Halep. Hockey World Cup (men) Australia defeated The Netherlands to win the cup at The Hague, Netherland. Women’s cup won by Netherland beating Australia 16th Asian Junior Athletics Championship: India won 2 Gold, 5 Silver and 5 Bronze to finish 5th at Taipei City, China from 12 June to 15 June.


MAY 2014 Uber Cup for women’s badminton: China beats Japan in the final played at New Delhi. Indian team lead by Saina Nehwal won the bronze medal for the first time in Uber Cup.

Thomas Cup: (men’s badminton) Japan beats Malaysia to lift their maiden trophy in the final played at New Delhi.

National Football Championship (women’s): Manipur beats Odisha to clinch the title at Golaghat, Assam.

Virat Kohli was ranked no 1 in the latest ICC list of One Day International (ODI) rankings.

Malavath Purna: The 13 year old school girl from Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh created history by becoming the youngest female to scale the Mount Everest.

Ronnie O'Sullivan: Snooker player from UK named World Snooker's ‘player of the year’

World Snooker Championship 2014: won by Mark Selby of England at Sheffield, England, beating the defending champion Ronnie O Sullivan.

EUROPEAN CUP (football): Real Madrid won the cup beating Atletico Madrid in the finals played at Lisbon, Spain

WTA Portugal Open 2014: Sania Mirza of India and Cara Black of Zimbabwe won women’s doubles title held in Oeiras, Portugal.

ATP World Tour Masters Tennis: Men’s title won by Rafael Nadal (Spain) at Mutua Madrid, Spain. Women’s title was won by Maria Sharapova of Russia.

Barcelona Club to retain Football player Lionel Messi on net annual salary of 20 million Euros ($27.4 million) making him world’s highest paid player

India has slid down two places to the 147th spot in the latest FIFA Rankings of Football playing countries.

APRIL 2014 Manavjit Singh Sandhu: won the men's trap gold medal at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Tucson, USA.

Saurav Ghosal: India's numero uno squash player has been awarded the Dato Alex Lee Award for the 'Outstanding Asian Men's Player of the Year 2013'.

Heena Sidhu has been ranked world No.1 in the 10 meters air pistol event by the International Shooting Sport Federation.

Chitra Magimairaj: won the senior’s title in World Snooker Championships held in Leeds,UK.

7th South Asia Judo Championships: Indian judokas won 10 gold, one silver and one bronze medal at Kathmandu, Nepal.

USA Open Karate Championship: Indian players won eight medals comprising two gold and six bronze in held at Las Vegas, USA.

Sri Lanka lifts ICC World T20 trophy after beating India in the final at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Australia beats England to lift the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 trophy at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Stanislas Wawrinka won the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters Tennis Cup beating Roger Federer at Monte Carlo, Monaco.

2019 Asian Games: Vietnam has decided to quit as hosts due to lack of preparedness and concerns that holding the multi-sport event would not be financially viable.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS

BOOK AUTHOR Blood Feud: The Clintons vs. The Obamas

Edward Klein

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Americanah Hannah Kent Burial Rites Audrey Magee The Undertaking Eimear McBride A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing Donna Tartt The Goldfinch Post Haste: Quintessential India B.G. Verghese Hard Choices Hillary Clinton India Junction – A Window to the Nation brought out

Public Relations Directorate, Railway Board

A Stamp is Born C. R. Pakrashi Arctic Summer Damon Galgut Capital in The Twenty First Century

Thomas Piketty

My Years with Rajiv and Sonia R.D.Pradhan Shivaji, the Real Hero: A pictorial book

the artist Brijesh Mogre, released in Parliament of UK

‘An Undocumented Wonder: The Making of the Great Indian Election’

S. Y. Quraishi

Story of A Death Foretold Oscar Guardiola-Rivera Good Governance: Never On India's Radar

Madhav Godbole

The Hindus: An Alternative History

Wendy Doniger

India at Risk Jaswant Singh My Way by Derek O’Brien, Rajya Sabha

member In Pursuit of a Lesser Offence Sujata Parashar Be Careful What You Wish For Jeffrey Archer The Country Without a Post Office Agha Shahid Ali Dhool Paudho Par Govind Mishra

GYANM’S GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2014 36

IBPS CLERK EXAM (GUESS PAPER)

R E A S O N I N G A B I L I T Y 1) How many such pairs of letters are there in the word CHARIOT, each of which has as many letters between them in the word as in the English alphabet? 1) None 2) One 3) Two 4) Three 5) More than three 2) If it is possible to make only one meaningful word with the first, second. Fourth, and the sixth letters of the word ‘STARVING’, which would be the second letter of the word from the right end? If more than one such word can be formed, give X as the answer. If no such word can be formed, give K as your answer. 1) T 2) S 3) X 4) I 5) K 3) In a certain code ‘UNDER’ is written as ‘6152@’ and ‘DEAF’ is written as ‘52#7’. How is ‘FRAUD’ written in that code? 1) 7@56# 2) @7#65 3) 7@#65 4) 765@# 5) None of these 4) The positions of the first and eighth digits of the number 56487931 are interchanged. Similarly, the positions of the second and the seventh digits are interchanged and so on. Which of the following will be the fifth digit from the right end after the rearrangement? 1) 7 2) 8 3) 9 4) 1 5) 3 5) What should come next in the following letter series? ACFHKMPRUW? 1) Z 2) Y 3) U 4) V 5) T 6) Each vowel in the word DROWNED is changed to the next letter in the English alphabet and each consonant is changed to the previous letter in the English alphabet and then, the letters so arrived are arranged in alphabetical

order. Which of the following will be the second from the left end in the new arrangement? 1) C 2) V 3) F 4) P 5) Q Directions (Qs. 7-11): Read the following information carefully and then answer the questions given below it. Eight persons Jayant, Amit, Chandan, Dhiraj, Rahul, Anu, Shweta and Namrata of a family had their dinner at Parikarma in Connaught Place. Four each sat on both the sides of a rectangular table. The restaurant is moving anticlockwise. Amit is immediate left to Chandan, Shweta is immediate right to Rahul, Narmata is between Rahul and Dhiraj. Jayant is extremely left on his side and Anu and Dhiraj are facing each other. In the meantime they watched GPO, Regla Cinema. President house, Parliament House, Pragati Maidan and MC building. All these sights come after equal intervals. They started and finished their dinner when they were at the sight of Pragati Maidan. President House is between GPO and Parliament house. MC building is left of Regal Cinema. They reached MC building just after GPO . 7) If it took half an hour to reach Pragati Maidan’s sight from MC building’s sight, how long have they taken their dinner? 1) 1 hour 2) 1 hour 30 min 3) 2 hours 4) Can’t be determined 5) None of these 8) Who is sitting in front of Amit? 1) Shweta 2) Namrata 3) Rahul 4) Jayant 5) Anu 9) How much time will it take to cover to watch the sight of Parliament House and MC buildings? 1) 60 minutes 2) 45 minutes 3) 30 minutes 4) Can’t be determined 5) None of these 10) Who is sitting between Jayant and Chandan? 1) Amit 2) Rahul 3) Anu 4) Data inadequate 5) None of these 11) Which male member is sitting between two female members? 1) Amit 2) Jayan t 3) Rahul 4) Dhiraj 5) None of these


Directions (12-15): Each of the questions below consists of a question and two statements numbered I and II are given below it. You have to decide whether the data provided in the statements are sufficient to answer the question. Read both the statements and--- Give answer (1) if the data in Statement I alone are sufficient to answer the question, while the data in Statement II alone are not sufficient to answer the question. Give answer (2) if the data in Statement II alone are sufficient to answer the question, while the data in Statement I alone are not sufficient to answer the question. Give answer (3) if the data in Statement I alone or in Statement II alone are sufficient to answer the question. Give answer (4) if the data in both the Statements I and II are not sufficient answer the question. Give answer (5) if the data in both the Statements I and II together are necessary to answer the question. 12) What does ‘ka’ mean in a code language? I. ‘sa ka na’ means ‘she may work’ in that code language. II. ‘ha ka ta’ means ‘work is workship’ in that code language. 13) What is Sonal’s rank from the top in a group of 10 students? I. Meenu’s rank is three ranks above Sonal. II. Sita is second from the bottom and is three ranks below Sonal 14) On which day of the month is definitely Dheeraj’s birthday? I. Dheeraj’s brother correctly remembers that Dheeraj’s birthday is after 15th but before 19th of the month. II. Dheeraj’s friend correctly remembers that Dheeraj’s birthday is after 17th but before 21st of the month 15) How far is A from the starting point? I. A drives 10 km. towards East, then takes a right turn and drives another 10 km. He again drives 5 km. towards left and again drives 15 km towards left. Finally, he moves 15 km. towards left and stops. II. A drives 20 km. towards East, then takes a left turn and drives another 20 km. He again drives 10 km. towards right and again drives 25 km. towards right. Finally, he moves 30 km. towards right and stops. Directions (Qs. 16-19): Read the following information carefully and then answer the questions given below: Eight stars of Bollywood like different brands of whiskey. All have their respective fiancee. Shahrukh Khan likes Johnny Walker but neither Puja Batra nor Tabu is his fiancee. Akshay Khanna does not like McDowells and Aristocrate. Karishma Kapoor is his fiancee. Govinda likes McDwells but

Urmila is not is his fiancee Salman Khan, who likes Black Dog, has Manisha Koirala as his fiancée. Sunil Shetty does not like Officers’ Choice and Green Label. Madhuri Dixit is his fiancee. Aamir Khan neither likes Gibeys nor Bagpiper. Urmila and Puja Batra are fiancee of Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar, though not respectively. Sonali Bendre is not the fiancee of the star who likes Johnny Walker or Aristocrate. Tabu is the fiancee of the star who likes Green Label. Kajol and Sonali Bendre are not fiancees of Chandrachur Singh. Akshay Kumar neither likes Officers’ choice nor Gigbeys nor Bagpiper. 16) Tabu is the fiancee of which actor? 1) Shahrukh Khan 2) Govinda 3) Chandrachur Singh 4) Data inadequate 5) None of these 17) Who is the fiancee of Govinda? 1) Tabu 2) Kajol 3) Sonali Bendre 4) Data inadequate 5) None of these 18) The actor, whose fiancee is Kajol, loves which whiskey? 1) McDowells 2) Johny Walker 3) Bagpiper 4) Data inadequate 5) None of these 19) Sunil Shetty likes which whiskey? 1) Bagpiper 2) Gilbeys 3) Bagpiper or Gilbeys 4) Data inadequate 5) None of these 20) Aamir Khan likes which whiskey? 1) Aristocrat 2) Officers’ choice 3) Officer’s choice or Aristocrat 4) Data inadequate 5) None of these Directions (21-26): In each of the questions below are given four statements followed by four conclusions numbered I, II, III and IV. You have to take the given statements to be true even if they seem to be at variance from commonly known facts. Read all the conclusions and then decide which of the given conclusions logically follows from the given statements disregarding commonly known facts. 21) Statements: All silver are metals. All metals are steel. Some steel are stones. All stones are stands. Conclusions: I. Some stands are metals. II. Some stones are silver. III. Some stands are steel. IV. Some stones are steel. 1) Only III and IV follow 2) Only I follows 3) Only II follows 4) Only III follows 5) None of these 22) Statements: All chairs are tables. All tables are songs.


Some songs are rhythms. Some rhythms are pillows. Conclusions: I. Some tables are chairs. II. All tables are rhythms. III. All chairs are songs. IV. Some pillow are songs. 1) Only I and III follow 2) Only I and IV follow 3) Only I follows 4) Only III follows 5) None of these 23) Statements: Some mobiles are pens. Some pens are covers. Some covers are plates. All plates are papers. Conclusions: I. All mobiles are covers. II. Some pens are papers. III. All plates are pens. IV. Some papers are mobiles. 1) Only I follows 2) Only II follows 3) Only I and IV follow 4) Only II and IV follow 5) None follows 24) Statements: All shoes are tables. Some tables are lanes. All caps are lanes. Some lanes are row. Conclusions: I. Some tables are rows. II. Some tables are shoes. III. Some rows are caps. IV. Some lanes are shoes. 1) Only I and II follow 2) Only II follows 3) Only III follows 4) Only either I or IV follows 5) None of these 25) Statements: All brands are bottles. All bottles are machines. All machines are files. All files are roots. Conclusions: I. Some files are machines. II. Some brands are roots III. Some machines are roots. IV. All brands are files. 1) None follows 2) Only I follows 3) Only IV follows 4) All follow 5) Only I and IV follow 26) Statements: Some symbols are numbers. Some numbers are letters. All alphabets are symbols All pianos are letters. Conclusions:

I. Some symbols are letters. II. Some numbers are pianos. III. No letter is symbol. IV. Some symbols are alphabets 1) Only I follows 2) Only II follows 3) Only III and IV follow 4) Only IV follows 5) Only either I or III and IV follow Directions (Q. 27-31): Study the following information carefully and answer the given questions. A @ B means A is father of B A % B means A is husband of B A $ B means A is sister of B A ₤ B means A is mother of B A ¥ B means A is brother of B 27) What should be come in place of question

mark to make the expression ‘E’ is grandfather of ‘T’ true? E @ V ? N % R ₤ T 1) @ 2) ₤ 3) ¥ 4) % 5) None of these

28) Which of the following statements is true if

the given expression is definitely true? A % L $ K ₤ B ¥ C 1) K is sister-in-law of A 2) C is daughter of K 3) A is father of B 4) C is son of L 5) None of these

29) Which of the following expressions, if true,

makes ‘N’ is sister of ‘R’ true? 1) F ₤ N @ B $ K ¥ R 2) N $ F ₤ K ¥ R $ U 3) R $ U ¥ K $ N 4) N ₤ F $ K ¥ R $ U 5) None of these

30) Which of the following statements is false if

the given expression is true? J ₤ K ₤ L @ M ¥ N $ O 1) M is son of L 2) K is grandmother of O 3) M is grandson of J 4) N is sister of M 5) None of these

31) What is the relation between W and P if the

given expression is definitely true? G % H ₤ W ¥ V % R ₤ P 1) P is son of W 2) W is uncle of P 3) P is sister-in-law of W 4) Can’t be determined 5) None of these

Direction (32- 35): The symbols @, , $, % and are used with different meanings as follows: ‘P Q’ means ‘P is either greater than or equal to Q’. ‘P $ Q’ means ‘P is either smaller than or equal to Q’. ‘P % Q’ means ‘P is neither greater than nor smaller than Q. ‘P Q’ means ‘P is greater than Q’.


‘P @ Q’ means ‘P is smaller than Q’. In each of the following questions assuming the given statements to be true, find out which of the two conclusions I and II given below them is/are definitely true. 32) Statements : E K, K @ M, M R Conclusions : I.R @ K II. M @ E 33) Statements : W $ N, N % B, B F Conclusions : I.B % W II. B W 34) Statements : M % T, T J, J D Conclusions : I.D @ T II. J @ M 35) Statements : B @ H, H $ N, N % F Conclusions : I.F H II. N B Directions (Qs. 36-40): Read the following information carefully and then answer the questions given below it. Eight persons P, Q, R, S, T, U, V and W are studying in a library around a rectangular table. They are preparing for MCA, MBA, CA, Law, Civil services, Gate and CS. Two persons are preparing for CA. Same sexes are not facing each other. One CA and Gate-student are diagonally to each other. T and a law student are also diagonally to each other. P is facing a CS student, who is a female. The student preparing for Civil Services is between Q and a law student, who is a female. MBA student is opposite to Gate student, who is a male. U is doing law and opposite to W. R and P are alone on their respective sides. Two CAs are not adjacent to each other. There is a female between CA and MBA student. 36) Which is a group of four female students? 1) S, R, V, Q 2) V, R, U, Q 3) S, V, U, R 4) Data inadequate 5) None of these 37) Who is preparing for MCA? 1) S 2) V 3) P 4) Data inadequate 5) None of these 38) Who is between Q and T? 1) P 2) R 3) S 4) V 5) None of these

39) If S is preparing for MCA, then who is preparing for Civil Services and what is his/her sex? 1) V, female 2) V, male 3) P, male 4) T, male 5) None of these 40) If ‘V’ is between Q and U, what is their order in anticlockwise direction? 1) Q V U R W T S P 2) Q V U R W S T P 3) V U R S W T P Q 4) T S W R U V Q P 5) None of these

N U M E R I C A L A B I L I T Y Directions – (Q. 41-45): What should come in place of question mark (?) in the following questions?

41)

58

85

546381

429

1) 12219

2)

40399

3) 37812

4)

38499

5) None of these

42) ?38

45

52

331

2

1) 1247

2)

1344

3) 1738

4)

1354

5) None of these

43) 3 9261262447056 1) 658 2) 613 3) 548 4) 718 5) None of these 44) (24% of 825) + (40% of 805) + (75% of 644) = 1) 2003 2) 1003 3) 1073 4) 2013 5) 1413

45) If P X Q = 1833 and A X B = 4161, then find the value of (AXP) + (BXQ) 1) 8645 2) 7899 3) 8941 4) 8423 5) None of these Directions (Q. 46-50): What approximate value should come in place of question mark (?) in the following questions? (you are not expected to calculate the exact value)


46) 99999 = ?

1) 540 2) 470 3) 320 4) 390 5) 410 47) (65.32)2 = ? 1) 2030 2) 3340 3) 1550 4) 3760 5) 4270 48) 87324 x 77 = ? x 55567 1) 98 2) 120 3) 145 4) 180 5) 210 49) (886 % of 333) + 1230 = ? 1) 5550 2) 4920 3) 3350 4) 5230 5) 4180 50) (9238 + 2387 + 1101) (926 + 243 + 611)

=? 1) 13 2) 18 3) 3 4) 26 5) 7 Directions – (Q. 51–55): What should come in place of question mark (?) in the following number series? 51) 5, 6, 14, 45, 184, ? 1) 1110 2) 741 3) 885 4) 1236 5) 925 52) 180, 181, 208, 333, 676, ? 1) 1676 2) 1019 3) 757 4) 1405 5) 1188 53) 4, 9, 25, 49, 121, 169, ? 1) 219 2) 229 3) 319 4) 289 5) None of these 54) 1, 27, 125, 343, 729, 1331, ? 1) 2190 2) 2197 3) 3195 4) 1326 5) None of these 55) 7, 8, 6, 9, 5, 10, ? 1) 1 2) 2 3) 7 4) 4 5) None of these 56) Which number should replace both the

question marks in the following equation?

304?

= ?

19

1) 74 2) 76 3) 78 4) 82 5) 84 57) What would be the simple interest obtained

on an amount of Rs. 8,500 at the rate of 11 p. c. p. a. For 7 years ? 1) Rs. 6,545 2) Rs. 7,140 3) Rs. 6,842

4) Rs, 7,437 5) None of these 58) The difference between two numbers is 43

and their product is 1344. What is the sum of the numbers?

1) 85 2) 88 3) 92 4) Cannot be determined 5) None of these

59) The cost of 18 pens and 12 scissors is Rs.

756. What is the cost of 6 pens and 4 scissors?

1) Rs. 252 2) Rs. 189 3) Rs. 378 4) Cannot be determined 5) None of these

60) A number is increased consecutively two

times by 25% each. The original number is actually increased by what percent?

1) 50 2) 37.5 3) 56.25 4) 62.5 5) None of these

61) In a field 832 plants are planted in 26 rows

with equal number of plants in each row. How many plants are there in each row?

1) 44 2) 36 3) 28 4) 32 5) None of these

62) 54 chocolates are distributed among some

boys and girls. If each boy gets 3 then each girl gets 5. But if each boy gets 5 and each girls gets 3, 4 more chocolates are needed. What is the number of girls?

1) 8 2) 10 3) 6 4) 12 5) None of these

63) In the Annual Examination Ramit scored 64

percent marks and Sangeet scored 634 marks. The maximum marks of the examination are 850. What are the average marks scored by Ramit and Sangeet together?

1) 544 2) 567 3) 589 4) 591 5) None of these

64) The average marks in Hindi subject of a class of 54 students is 76. If the marks of two students were misread as 60 and 77 but the actual marks were 36 and 47 respectively, then what would be the correct average?

1) 75.5 2) 77 3) 75 4) 76.5 5) None of these

65) The average age of a woman and her daughter is 46 years. The ratio of their present age is 15 : 8 respectively. What is the daughter’s age?


1) 30 years 2) 32 years 3) 34 years 4) 36 years 5) None of these

Directions – (Q. 66–70) Study the information carefully to answer the questions that follow–

In a college there are 800 students studying four different courses viz. Marketing, Finance, Accounts and Retail. 20% of the total number of students are studying Marketing. One fourth of the total number of students are studying Accounts. There are 210 students in Finance, remaining students are studying Retail. Three fifth of the number of students in Retail are girls. There are 50 boys in Marketing. 60% of the number of students in Accounts are boys. There are 150 girls in finance. 66) What is the total number of boys in Accounts

and number of girls in Finance together? 1) 180 2) 410 3) 230

4) 170 5) None of these 67) Number of girls in Finance is what percent of

the total number of students in Retail? (rounded off to two digits after decimal)

1) 72.74 2) 81.65 3) 53.88 4) 65.22 5) None of these

68) In which stream is the difference between

the number of boys and girls the lowest? 1) Marketing 2) Finance 3) Accounts

4) Retail 5) Marketing and Finance 69) What is the difference between the number

of boys in Marketing and the number of girls in Accounts?

1) 20 2) 40 3) 60 4) 80 5) None of these

70) What is the respective ratio of total number

of boys to the total number of girls? 1) 18 : 23 2) 161 : 239 3) 239 : 161

4) 27 : 19 5) None of these Directions – (Q. 71–75) Study the table carefully to answer the questions that follow- Production of Rice (in hundred tonnes) by six factories

over the years

Year Factory

A B C D E F

2007 116 80 112 100 130 86

2008 125 84 124 110 134 90

2009 132 91 130 112 142 98

2010 145 96 139 116 148 108

2011 150 102 144 121 160 116

71) What is the ratio between total productions of factories E and F respectively for the years 2008 and 2010 together?

1) 47 : 33 2) 238 : 151 3) 39 : 28 4) 10 : 7 5) None of these

72) What is the average production of factory

C for all the years together (in hundred tonnes)? 1) 1333.6 2) 111.33 3) 129.8 4) 108.16 5) None of these

73) What is the ratio between total

production by all the factories together in the year 2007 and 2010 respectively?

1) 52:59 2) 41:54 3) 66:77 4) 39:47 5) None of these

74) Production of factory D in 2011 is what

per cent of the production of factory D in the year 2009? (rounded off to two digits after decimal) 1) 92.56 2) 108.04 3) 106.36 4) 33.61 5) None of these

75) Production of factory B in 2009 is

approximately what percent of the production of factory A in same year?

1) 145 2) 18 3) 12 4) 22 5) 69

Directions – (Q. 76–80) Study the following graph carefully to answer the questions that follow– Number of Students Enrolled in Three Different Disciplines

in five Different Colleges

76) Number of students studying B.A. in

College S forms what percent of total number of students studying all the disciplines together in that college? (rounded off to two digits after decimal)

1) 38.64 2) 42.55 3) 40.42 4) 32.65 5) None of these

0

100

200

300

400

500

P Q R S T

210

360 380 400310

345 275300

375 410380 350

260

450

315

B.A B.Com B.Sc.


77) Number of students studying B.A. in College T forms approximately what percent of the total number of students studying B.A. in all the College together?

1) 19 2) 28 3) 67 4) 77 5) 91

78) What is the respective ratio of total

number of students studying B.Sc. in Colleges S and T together to those studying B.Com. in the Colleges P and Q together?

1) 4:5 2) 14:13 3) 41:51 4) 153:124 5) None of these

79) What is the respective ratio of total

number of students studying B.A., B.Com. and B.Sc. in College S ?

1)19 : 18 : 16 2) 16 : 15 : 18 3) 16 : 15: 13 4) 19 : 16 : 13 5) None of these 80) What is Total number of students

studying B.Sc. in the College P,R and T together?

1) 1755 2) 1155 3) 955 4) 1555 5) None of these

G E N E R A L E N G L I S H

Directions– (Q. 81 to 86) Read each sentence to find out whether there is any grammatical error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The letter of that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is (5) (Ignore the errors of punctuation, if any) 81) There were 1)/many people 2)/present on the3)/ award function.4)/ No error5) 82) It was a long 1)/and uncomfortable journey 2)/ but he managed 3)/to reach with time.4)/ No error 5) 83) The car broke 1)/down while he2)/ was on his 3)/way to work. 4)/No error5) 84) Do you wanted 1)/ to discuss this 2)/ project today or can 3)/ we do it tomorrow4)/? No error 5)/ 85) Inspite of being 1)/ unwell, Shalini gave 2)/ a wonderful performance 3)/ at the concert. 4)/No error5)/ 86) The customers were asked to 1)/give their

feedback after 2)/using the try pack of the 3)/new detergent powder.4)/ No error5)/

Directions – (Q. 87-92) In each question below a sentence with four words printed in bold type is given. These are lettered as (1), (2), (3) and (4). One of these four words printed in bold may either be misspelt or in appropriate in the context of the sentence. Find out the word which is wrongly spelt or inappropriate if any. The letter of that word is

your answer. If all the words printed in bold are correctly spelt and also appropriate in the context of the sentence, mark (5) i.e. ‘All Correct’ as your answer.

87) The car 1)/ was praked 2)/near 3)/her building4)/. All correct.5)/ 88) A vaccination1)/ drive was held2)/ to prevent the outbreak 3)/of an epidemic4)/. All correct.5)/ 89) Rina was 1)/the first 2)/one to reech 3)/the venue 4)/. All correct.5)/ 90) She could 1)/not attend 2)/the function 3)/as her flight got canselled.4)/ All correct 5)/ 91) Mohan trried 1)/to help2)/ but his friend 3)/ refused to take his help4)/. All correct.5)/ 92) The peon1)/has met 2)/ with an accident 3)/ while acrossing the road 4)/. All correct.5)/

Directions – (Q. 93 to 102) In the following passage there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.

Parenting is a difficult job. A creative and imaginative (93) is a great (94) to the (95) parent. This is precisely the reason why a repressive society produces few creative and imaginative people. As not so ordinary children, the weaker ones are (96) and the hardier ones often over react in a way that turns them into (97) or actual criminals if they happen to live in a squalid environment. As adults, most of us do not care to (98) the kinetic qualities of children. Just like we want them to stop wriggling or jumping or sloshing through puddles or dangling from fence posts. 93) 1) spouse 2) sibling 3) one 4) people 5) child 94) 1) bore 2) challenge 3) burden 4) problematic 5) companion 95) 1) ordinary 2) surrogate 3) step 4) willing 5) tension 96) 1) accepted 2) tolerated 3) crushed 4) patented 5) placed 97) 1) delinquents 2) mad 3) angry 4) addictive 5) useless 98) 1) peace 2) hooking 3) tolerant 4) explore 5) accessible


Directions (Qs. 99-102): Which of the phrase (1), (2), (3) and (4) given below each sentence should replace the phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is given and no correction is required, mark (e) as the answer. 99) After keeping a ten-year-old in detention for

around six days, the police finally registered a case of fraud against the child and sent him to jail. 1) has finally register 2) final register 3) is finally registration 4) is final registration 5) No correction required

100) Whichever reasons, there is no denying the

changing attitudes to traditions as well as livelihoods, and by implication to the environment as well.

1) Whichever the reasoning 2) Whichever reasoned 3) Whatever reasoning 4) Whatever the reason 5) No correction required 101) Environmentalists has pay little heed to the

‘softer’ aspects of the movement, of which the need to change our culture is one of the most important.

1) is paying little heed 2) are paying little heeding 3) has paid little heeds 4) have paid little heed 5) No correction required 102) Even in a changing world, we cannot wishes

away the Indian nation and replace it with a world government overnight.

1) Cannot wish away 2) Can never wishing out 3) Cannot wish out 4) Never wishes out 5) No correction required Directions– (Q. 103-107) Rearrange the following SIX sentences (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (6) in the proper sequence so as to form a meaningful paragraph, and then answer the questions given below: A) The farmer called his neighbours and asked them to help him put mud into the well but the mule thought that he was calling the neighbours to help him get out of the well. B) A farmer wanted to get rid of his old mule always came back from wherever the farmer left him. C) He walked away from his cruel master and never returned. D) One day the mule fell into a well and the farmer thought, “Why not bury it there so that I don’t have to worry about getting rid of it? E) The mule started shaking off all the mud that fell on him and kept climbing on the heap of mud as it

fell into the well; soon he was on top of the mud heap and he easily got out of the well. F) When they started putting mud in the well the mule realized his master’s plan and started thinking of ways to save himself.

103) Which of the following should be the FIFTH sentence in the rearrangement? 1) D 2) B 3) A 4) F 5) E 104) Which of the following should be the FOURTH sentence in the rearrangement? 1) A 2) F 3) B 4) C 5) D 105) Which of the following should be the LAST (SIXTH) sentence in the rearrangement? 1) B 2) E 3) C 4) A 5) D 106) Which of the following should be the FIRST sentence in the rearrangement? 1) D 2) A 3) C 4) B 5) F 107) Which of the following should be the SECOND sentence in the rearrangement? 1) B 2) F 3) E 4) D 5) A Directions (Q.108-110): Each sentence below has a blank/s each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Choose the word/s that best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole. 108) The man sitting __________ the enquiry counter was very helpful ________ polite. 1) on, or 2) by, but 3) near, then 4) over, because 5) at, and 109) Everyone was advised not to go near the seashore as high tide was _____ 1) estimated 2) Predicted 3) Calculated 4) deposited 5) Avoided 110) His father gifted him a motorbike but ____ him to ride it safely. 1) helped 2) saw 3) cautioned 4) pleased 5) teach

Directions – (Q. 111–120) Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.


The chasm between India’s flourishing cities and bleak rural hinterland is narrowing. Spread across 6,50,000 villages, with an average population of 1,100, rural villagers were long imagined by city dwellers as primitive, impoverished and irrelevant, something to drive past on the way to something else. A new prosperity is sprouting in rural India, it may be a trickle, but India’s urban prosperity is flowing to the countryside. The transformation of such villages will also add fuel to the debate over democracy’s influence on economic development. India has been faulted for growing more lethargically than China, in part because of its democracy. But the new rural prosperity suggests that the high cost of democracy also has a hidden benefit. By compelling each politician to deliver results to his own narrow constituency, democracy spreads economic change more thinly. In China, a widening income gap between town and country is worrying officials.

In India, what is changing is the nature of the rich-poor divide. That divide was once synonymous with the urban-rural split. The only way to get rich was to live in town, and to reside in the country was to be bound to interminable property. Across India, most of the workers are farmers or landless labourers. India’s riches to extend to them, economists say, will require a revolution in farm productivity; drastic improvements in infrastructure like roads, irrigation and electricity; and the proliferation of labour-intensive factories to absorb surplus labour from the farms. None seems an immediate likelihood. But, being rural is no longer a life sentence of poverty. The government has invested billions of dollars in development, including road building and rural electrification, and has forced banks to lend to farmers. Hearty monsoons have fattened farmer’s profits. For rich and poor farmers alike, education is within closer reach. Ten years ago, the area that had three schools; now has five. And ever more students travel to small towns or cities to pursue higher education after high school. Widening educational access has helped farmer’s children to get city jobs and send money home.

Directions– (Q. 111–113) Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the word printer in bold as used in the passage. 111) Thinly 1) evenly 2) blindly

3) heterogeneous 4) circumstantially 5) vaguely

112) Fattened 1) unhealthy 2) heightened 3) depleted 4) effected 5) disowned

113) Interminable 1) regular 2) limited 3) huge 4) finite 5) everlasting

Directions – (Q. 114 and 115): Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.

114) Primitive 1) spirit 2) waste 3) modern 4) folk 5) country 115) Transformation 1) secret 2) addition 3) development 4) stagnation 5) elaboration 116) Which of the following is TRUE as per the

passage? 1) Indian economy has not progressed at all in the

last few years 2) Democracy is the cause behind the Indian rural

population becoming rich, while staying in the rural areas

3) India being a democratic nation is a huge setback to the development of the Indian economy

4) The economists in China are in favour of introducing a democratic set up in China

5) None is true 117) Which of the following is NOT TRUE as per

the passage? 1) The access to education has improved in the

rural areas of India 2) The rural people and rural areas were looked

down upon by city dwellers 3) Democracy leads to a homogenous distribution

of economic prosperity 4) The Chinese economy is being remodelled as

per the Indian economy 5) All are true 118) Which of the following suggests the correct

meaning of the phrase ‘urban-rural split,’ as used in the passage?

1) The poor live in urban areas, the rich live in rural areas.

2) The poor live in rural areas, the rich live in urban areas.

3) The urban poor exploit the rural poor. 4) The urban rich exploit the rural rich. 5) None of these 119) Which of the following describes difference

between India and China as quoted in the passage?

1) India is a rich nation, China is a poor one. 2) India has villages, China has no villages. 3) Indian economy has transformed, Chinese

economy is stagnant. 4) While India is a democratic nation, China is not. 5) None of these


120) Which of the following is not a measure (as suggested by economists) to be taken to extend India’s riches to the landless labourers?

1) Revolution in farm productivity 2) Improvements in irrigation 3) Proliferation of labour intensive factories 4) Drastic improvements in infrastructure like roads

and electricity 5) None of these

COMPUTER LANGUAGE 121) If a word is typed that is not in Word’s dictionary, a ___ wavy underline appears below the word. 1) red 2) green 3) blue 4) black 5) None of these 122) The _____ button on the quick access Toolbar allows you to cancel your recent commands or actions. 1) Search 2) Cut 3) Document 4) Undo 5) None of these 123) In Excel, any set of characters containing a letter , hyphen, or space is considered ___ 1) a formula 2) text 3) a name 4) a title 5) None of these 124) In a database of employees, all the information about a particular person would constitute a: 1) file. 2) record. 3) field. 4) table. 5) None of these 125) A ____________ is a small program that helps to automate a frequently used series of commands in most productivity software tools. 1) template 2) macro 3) utility 4) wizard 5) None of these 126) ______ cells involves creating a single cell by combining two or more selected cells. 1) Formatting 2) Merging 3) Embedding 4) Splitting 5) None of these 127) The operating system is the most common type of ______________ software. 1) communication 2) application 3) system 4) word-processing 5) None of these

128) When you quickly press and release the left mouse button twice, you are ____ 1) Primary-clicking 2) pointing 3) Double-clicking 4) Secondary-clicking 5) None of these 129) The horizontal and vertical lines on a worksheet are called ___ 1) cells 2) sheets 3) block lines 4) gridlines 5) None of these 130) Microsoft Office is an example of a(n): 1) software suite. 2) open-source product. 3) integrated software application. 4) business-management application. 5) None of these 131) The operating system does all of the following EXCEPT: 1) provide a way for the user to interact with the computer. 2) manage the central processing unit (CPU). 3) manage memory and storage. 4) enable users to perform a specific task such as document editing. 5) None of these 132) The power-saving mode that allows the computer to be restarted by simply pressing a key on the keyboard is called: 1) standby. 2) warm boot. 3) power management. 4) cold boot. 5) None of these 133) Underlined text, such as text and folder names is referred to as a ____. 1) hyperlink 2) menu 3) source drive 4) none of the above 5) None of these 134) ____________ is the ability of an operating system to control the activities of multiple programs at the same time. 1) Multitasking 2) Streamlining 3) Multiuser 4) Multiprocessing 5) None of these 135) The unique signal, generated by a device, that tells the operating system that it is in need of immediate attention is called an: 1) action 2) event 3) interrupt 4) activity 5) None of these 136) The ____ program compresses larger files into a smaller file. 1) WinZip 2) WinShrink 3) WinStyle 4) none of the above 5) None of these 137) Press the ____ button to have the window fill the entire screen.


1) Close 2) Maximize 3) Minimize 4) none of the above 5) None of these 138) MS-DOS is a ____________ operating system. 1) point-and-click 2) user-friendly 3) command-driven 4) Mac 5) None of these 139) A ____ is a pointing device. 1) monitor 2) mouse 3) keyboard 4) printer 5) None of these 140) The category of operating system that you most likely have running on your desktop or laptop computer at home is a ____________ operating system. 1) real-time 2) single -user, single-task 3) single-user, multi-task 4) multi-user, multi-task 141) The main advantage of magnetic disk compared to magnetic tape is 1) low cost 2) direct access 3) high packet density 4) sequential access 5) None of these 142) What does the XP stand for in Windows XP? 1) Exponential 2) Experience 3) Expertise 4) Exchange 5) None of these 143) COBOL is widely used in _________ applications 1) Commercial 2) Scientific 3) Space 4) Mathematical 5) None of these 144) Father of ‘C’ programming language 1) Dennis Ritchie 2) Prof Jhon Kemeny 3) Thomas Kurtz 4) Bill Gates 5) None of these 145) Verification of a login name and password is known as: 1) configuration. 2) accessibility. 3) authentication. 4) logging in. 5) None of these 146) The combination of the operating system and the processor is referred to as the computer’s: 1) CPU. 2) platform. 3) BIOS. 4) CMOS. 5) None of these 147) A fault in a computer program which prevents it from working correctly is known as 1) Boot 2) Bug

3) Biff 4) Strap 5) None of these 148) Memory which forgets everything when you switch off the power is known as 1) Corrupted 2) Volatile 3) Non-Volatile 4) Non-Corrupted 5) None of these 149) The larger the number of pixels of a computer monitor, the higher its: 1) resolution. 2) refresh rate. 3) dot pitch. 4) data transfer rate. 5) None of these 150) CAD stands for 1) Computer aided design 2) Computer algorithm for design 3) Computer application in design 4) All of the above 5) None of these 151) The basic input/output system (BIOS) is stored in: 1) RAM. 2) ROM. 3) The CPU. 4) The hard drive. 5) None of these 152) Ensuring that the essential peripheral devices are attached and operational is the ____________ process. 1) Configuration 2) CMOS 3) POST 4) ROM 5) None of these 153) The memory resident portion of the operating system is called the: 1) registry. 2) API. 3) CMOS. 4) kernel. 5) None of these 154) The resolution of a printer is measured in terms of: 1) pixel density. 2) dot pitch. 3) hertz. 4) dpi. 5) None of these 155) Which of the following is the correct sequence of smallest to largest unit of storage size? 1) megabyte terabyte gigabyte kilobyte petabyte 2) kilobyte megabyte gigabyte terabyte petabyte 3) kilobyte megabyte gigabyte petabyte terabyte 4) kilobyte megabyte petabyte terabyte gigabyte 156) A small biomedical device currently on the market that can be implanted underneath the skin for identification purposes is called the: 1) Identitron. 2) Verichip. 3) Digicard. 4) Nanoguard. 5) None of these


157) All of the following statements concerning windows are true EXCEPT: 1) windows are an example of a command-driven environment. 2) windows can be resized and repositioned on the desktop. 3) more than one window can be open at a time. 4) toolbars and scrollbars are features of windows. 5) None of these 158) All of the following statements concerning files are true EXCEPT: 1) A file is a collection of related pieces of information stored together for easy reference. 2) Files can be generated from an application. 3) Files are stored in RAM. 4) Files should be organized in folders. 5) None of these 159) Using Windows Explorer, a plus (+) sign in front of a folder indicates: 1) an open folder. 2) the folder contains subfolders. 3) a text file. 4) a graphics file. 5) None of these 160) Retail employees typically use ____________ terminals to process sales transactions. 1) sales processing 2) transaction point 3) automatic teller 4) point of sale 5) None of these

GENERAL AWARENESS 161) John Kerry who visited India recently is the Foreign Minister of which country? 1) USA 2) UK 3) Australia 4) New Zealand 5) None of these 162) Foreign Minister of USA is officially designated as which one of the options given below? 1) Secretary of State 2) Foreign Secretary 3) Foreign Minister 4) External Affairs 5) None of these 163) Which body has been constituted in law to protect

the interest of bank depositors? 1) Reserve Bank of India 2) Securities Exchange Board of India 3) Insurance Regulatory Development Authority 4) Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority 5) None of these

164) What is the name of village, near Pune where a massive mud slide occurred in Maharashtra? 1) Lavale Village 2) Malin Village 3) Mulshi 4) Lohegaon 5) None of these

165) Name the famous Eminent Hindi litterateur and novelist from Bihar who passed away recently? 1) Madhukar Singh 2) Padma Sachdev 3) Pran Kumar Sharma 4) Rahi Masoom Raja 5) None of these 166) If a company intends to issue shares to the public,

it will require prior permission from which of the following organizations? 1) Forward Market Commission 2) Securities Exchange Board of India 3) Shares Issue Authority of India 4) Ministry of Finance 5) None of these

167) The exploration rover of NASA that created a record of travelling maximum distance on Mars. What is the name of that rover? 1) Creativity 2) Extremity 3) Opportunity 4) Expedition Mars 5) None of these 168) To promote conservation and development of indigenous breeds of cows in a focused and scientific manner by Govt. a nationwide scheme has been launched named as: 1) Rashtriya Govardhan Mission 2) Rashtriya Gokul Mission 3) National Milk Programme 4) Bhartiya Dugdh Yojana 5) None of these 169) One of the German player in women’s tennis player has created a world record of fastest serve in the women’s tennis by serving at 131 miles per hour. Who is she? 1) Sabine Lisicki 2) Cilly Aussem 3) Annika Beck 4) Justine Ozga 5) None of these 170) Which body has been constituted in law to protect

the interest of Insured? 1) Reserve Bank of India 2) Securities Exchange Board of India 3) Insurance Regulatory Development Authority 4) Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority 5) None of these

171) Recently the Nagoya Protocol was ratified by 51 countries. What is the objective of this protocol? 1) Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits of genetic resources 2) Fair and Equitable Sharing of Natural Resources 3) Fair and Equitable Sharing of Economic Resources 4) Fair and Equable Sharing of Water Resources 5) None of these 172) What is the total numbers of medals won by the India in 20th Commonwealth Games held at Glasgow, UK? 1) 65 2) 63 3) 66 4) 64 5) None of these


173) The Commonwealth Games 2014 were held at UK, where India won 64 medals, out of which how many were gold: 1) 15 2) 20 3) 18 4) 22 5) None of these 174) Which country has been won highest number of medals at the Commonwealth Games 2014? 1) Australia 2) England 3) South Africa 4) India 5) None of these 175) England tops the Commonwealth Games 2014 by capturing how many medals? 1) 174 2) 176 3) 202 4) 180 5) None of these 176) Name the first Indian Satellite launched. 1) Rohini 2) Aryamihar 3) Aryabhatta 4) Sputnik 5) None of these 177) Parupalli Kashyap became the first Indian male player in 32 years to win a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games. He is related to which sports? 1) Table Tennis 2) Swimming 3) Badminton 4) Boxing 5) None of these 178) Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal won the doubles gold medal in Commonwealth Games in which game? 1) Squash 2) Lawn Tennis 3) Table Tennis 4) Badminton 5) None of these 179) What is the full form of IRNSS in context of Indian Satellite Systems? 1) International Regional Naval Satellite System 2) Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System 3) Indian Regional National Satellite System

4) Indian Regional New Satellite System 5) None of these

180) Frankie Jones who has been awarded the David Dixon Award for the best athlete of the Games is from which country? 1) UK 2) Canada 3) Australia 4) South Africa 5) None of these 181) Name African region where Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone countries have been attacked by Ebola virus: 1) West Africa 2) South Africa 3) East Africa 4) North Africa 5) None of these 182) In which country, the Ebola virus was first discovered nearly four decades ago:

1) Ethiopia 2) Congo 3) Nigeria 4) Somalia 5) None of these 183) World War I, also called The Great War, took place in and around Europe from July ______to November _________: 1) 1914-1916 2) 1914, 1918 3) 1918-1922 4) 1916-1919 5) None of these 184) The forthcoming Asian Games are which number in series: 1) 17th 2) 16th 3) 15th 4) 14th 5) None of these 185) The book “The Boys in the boat” has been written by which author: 1) Daniel James Brown 2) Damon Galgut 3) R.D. Pardhan 4) Thomas Piketty 5) None of these 186) Which sprint superstar set a new best time record of 9.98 second for the rarely run 100 meter indoors race: 1) Asafa Powel 2) Yohan Blake 3) Tyson Gay 4) Usain Bolt 5) None of these 187) What is the name of the Latest novel written by Chetan Bhagat: 1) The Girlfriend Story 2) Half Girlfriend 3) Friends are forever 4) Three words 5) None of these 188) Under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna, every new bank account opener will also get a life insurance cover of __________ lakh rupees: 1) One 2) Two 3) Three 4) Zero 5) None of these 189) Name the recently appointed new Deputy Governor of the RBI: 1) S S Mundra 2) Anand Sinha 3) Urjit Patel 4) Vijay Kelkar 5) None of these 190) S S Mundra, has been appointed Deputy Governor of RBI for _________ years: 1) One 2) Two 3) Three 4) Four 5) None of these 191) Which law governs the functioning of stock

exchanges? 1) Indian Contract Act 2) Forward Contract Act 3) Securities Contract Regulation Act 4) Stock Exchange Regulation Act 5) None of these


192) Which body has been constituted in law to protect the interest of stock investors? 1) Reserve Bank of India 2) Securities Exchange Board of India 3) Insurance Regulatory Development Authority 4) Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority 5) None of these

193) Which body has been constituted to coordinate the

activities of various financial regulators? 1) Finance Stability and Development Council 2) Reserve Bank of India 3) Securities Exchange Board of India 4) Financial Action Task Force 5) None of these

194) Generally, we come across the term capital market.

Which of the following statement about capital market is true? 1) Both primary market and secondary market constitute capital market 2) Only secondary market constitute capital market 3) Only primary market constitute capital market 4) Only money market 5) None of these

195) The functioning of commodities market is regulated

by _________? 1) Govt. of India 2) Forward Market Commission 3) Securities Exchange Board of India 4) Commodities market of India 5) None of these

196) Which of the following statement regarding

commodity market is true? 1) They trade in primary products like wheat, sugar 2) They trade in mine products like gold and silver 3) They trade in shares of public limited companies 4) Only 1 and 2 5) All 1, 2 and 3

197) Name the scheme that aims at providing nutritional supplements, health check-ups immunization to the children up to the age of 6 years. 1) National Health Mission 2) Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana 3) Integrated Child Development Services 4) National Child Development Scheme 5) None of these 198) Under Total Sanitation Campaign which award is given to panchayat of the village that attains 100% target of indoor toilets? 1) Nirmal Bharat Puraskar 2) Nirmal Gram Puraskar 3) Nirmal Abhiyan Puraskar 4) Nirmal Panchayat Puraskar 5) None of these 199) Which Ministry has launched ‘Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan? 1) Ministry of Women and Child Development 2) Ministry of Urban Development 3) Ministry of Rural Development

4) Ministry of Minority Affairs 5) None of these 200) Name the agreement that was objected to by India at the recent WTO meet: 1) Trade Facilitation Agreement 2) International Trade Agreement 3) WTO Trade Agreement 4) International Trade Pact 5) None of these

ANSWER KEY

REASONING ABILITY

Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. 1 2 2 4 3 3 4 1 5 1 6 1 7 2 8 3 9 2 10 1 11 3 12 5

13 2 14 5 15 3 16 3 17 3 18 2 19 3 20 2 21 1 22 1 23 5 24 2 25 4 26 5 27 3 28 1 29 5 30 3 31 2 32 4 33 3 34 5 35 5 36 4 37 4 38 1 39 2 40 2

NUMERICAL ABILITY

Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A.

41 2 42 1 43 5 44 2 45 5

46 3 47 5 48 2 49 5 50 5

51 5 52 4 53 4 54 2 55 4

56 2 57 1 58 1 59 1 60 3

61 4 62 3 63 3 64 3 65 2

66 5 67 4 68 4 69 5 70 2

71 1 72 3 73 4 74 2 75 5

76 4 77 1 78 4 79 2 80 3

GENERAL ENGLISH

Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. 81 3 82 4 83 5 84 1 85 1 86 3 87 2 88 5 89 3 90 4 91 1 92 4 93 5 94 2 95 1 96 3 97 1 98 4 99 5 100 5

101 2 102 5 103 5 104 2 105 3 106 4 107 4 108 5 109 2 110 3 111 1 112 2 113 5 114 3 115 4 116 2 117 4 118 2 119 4 120 5


COMPUTER LANGUAGE

Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. 121 1 122 4 123 2 124 2 125 2 126 2 127 3 128 3 129 4 130 1 131 4 132 1 133 1 134 1 135 3 136 1 137 2 138 3 139 2 140 3 141 2 142 2 143 1 144 1 145 2 146 2 147 2 148 2 149 1 150 2 151 2 152 3 153 4 154 4 155 2 156 2 157 1 158 3 159 2 160 4

GENERAL AWARENESS

Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. 161 1 162 1 163 1 164 2 165 1 166 2 167 3 168 2 169 1 170 3 171 1 172 4 173 1 174 2 175 1 176 3 177 3 178 1 179 2 180 2 181 1 182 2 183 2 184 1 185 1 186 4 187 2 188 1 189 1 190 3 191 3 192 2 193 1 194 1 195 2 196 4 197 3 198 2 199 3 200 1

EXPLANATIONS 1. (2) 3 8 1 18 9 15 20 C H A R I O T 2. (4) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 S T A R V I N G Meaningful word STIR 3. (3) U N D E R 6 1 5 2 @ D E A F 5 2 # 7 Therefore, F R A U D 7 @ # 6 5 4. (1) According to question

1 3 9 7 8 4 6 5

5th from right 5. (1) A +2 C +3 F +2 H +3 K +2 M + 3 P +2 R +3 U +2

W +3 Z 6. (1) D R O W N E D -1 -1 +1 -1 -1 +1 -1 C Q P V M F C

7-11)

7. 2) There are six sectors in the circle and it is given that to cross two sectors [as shown in fig, between MC Building and Pragati Maidan there are two sectors] it takes 30 minutes. Hence to cross one sector it will take 15 minutes. Hence for six, it will be 6 x 15 = 90 minutes = 1 ½ hrs. 8. 3) See the figure 9. 2) The reason is the same as in Q. 46. 10. 1) See the figure. 11. 3) From the given names it can be easily distinguished between their sexes. Hence, Rahul is sitting between Shweta and Namrata. 12. (5) From both the statements sa ka na she may work

ha ka ta work is worship

13. (2) From Statement II So || S ||

6th 9th 14. (5) From both the Statements

Dheeraj’s birthday is on 18 th.

16-20): Following table can be made after going through the information:

Star Whiskey Fiancees Shahrukh Kajol JW A Khanna Karishma Gil/Bag Govinda Sonali McDowell Salman Manisha BD Sunil Madhuri Bag/Gil Amir Urmila/Puja Off A Kr Puja/Urmila Aristo

Chandra Tabu GL 16. 3 17. 3 18. 2 19. 3 20.2

21. (1)

Silver Metal

Steel

Stones

Stands


22. (1) 23. (5) 24. (2) 25. (4) 26. (5) 27. (3) E is grandfather of T E+ V+ – N+ = R– T 28. (1) K is sister in law of A A+ = L– – K– B+ – C 29. (5) None of these 30. (3) M is grandson of J J– K– L+ M+ – N– – O

31. (2) W is uncle of P

G+ = H– W+–V+ = R– P (32-35):

$ % =

@

32. (4) E K E K K @ M K M M R M R

Therefore, E K M R Conclusions : I. R @ K R K : Not True II. M @ E M E : Not True

33. (3) W $ N W N N % B N = B

B F B F Therefore, W N = B F Conclusions : I.B % W B = W : Not True II. B W B W : Not True B is either greater than or equal to W.

34. (5) M % T M =T T J T J J D J D

Therefore, M = T J D Conclusions : I.D @ T D T : True II. J @ M J M : True

35. (5) B @ H B H

H $ N H J N % F N = F

Therefore, B H N – F Conclusions : I.F H F H : True II. N B N B : True

Chairs Table

Song

Rhythm Pillows

Mobiles Pen Covers Plates Papers

Shoes Tables Lanes Row

Caps

Brand Bottle

Machine

Files Roots

Symbols Numbers Letters

A P


Now, MCA is definitely between (W) and (T) and P is C.A. – student [because two CA’s are not adjacent to each other]. The position of S and V is not definite according to the passage. 36. 4) Since the sex of S and V is not definite. 37. 4) He/she may be S or V. 38. 1) See the picture shown above. 39. 2) Now we will be certain about S and V. 40. 2)

41) 40399

58

85

958

85

54X8163

X429

42) 1247

38

417

37

38

45

X5

1737

43) 3 926126244X7056

= 84 X 162 21 = 4 X 162 = 648 44) (24% OF 825) + (40% OF 805) + (75% OF 644) = 198 + 322 + 483 = 1003 45) 1833 and 4161 are odd so their factors will also be odd. Hence, A, B, P, Q all are odd and thus (AXP) + (BXQ) cannot be odd. So answer is an even no. Hence, none of these

46) )Approx(1000099999

= 10100 = 320 approximate

47) 65.32 x 65.32 = 65.3 x 65.3 (approx) = 4270 (approx)

48) x = )approx(12055567

7787324

49) (886% of 333) + 1230 = ? 2950.38 + 1230 = 4180 50) (9238 + 2387 + 1101) (926+ 243 + 611) = x 12726 1780 = 7.14 51) x 1 + 1, x2 + 2, x3 + 3, x4 + 4, x5 + 5 So answer is 925 52) Difference is (1)3, (3)3, (5)3, (7)3, (9)3 So answer is 676 + 729 = 1405

53) Squares of prime numbers So answer is (17)2 = 289 54) Cubes of odd numbers So answer is 133 = 2197 55) +1, –2, +3, –4, +5 So answer is 10 – 6 = 4

56) 304x

= x

19

X = 7619304

57) P = 8500, r = 11%, t = 7 yrs

SI = 6545100

7118500

58) x – y = 43 xy = 1344 numbers are 64 and 21 64 + 21 = 85 59) 18p + 12s = 756

6p + 4s = 2523

756

60) 25 + 25 + 100

)25)(25(

50 + 6.25 = 56.25

61) 3226832

62) 5G + 3B = 54 Using options, we get G = 6 and B = 8

63) 64% of 850 + 634 = Total

Average2

634544

So average = 589 64) 60 36 –24 –54 77 47 –30

So new average = 76 – 5454

= 75

65) Ratio is W : D and total 92 15 : 8 23 92 1 4


So W = 15 x 4 = 60 D = 8 x 4 = 32 Qs. 66 – 70)

Boys Girls Total

Marketing 50 110 160

Finance 60 150 210

Accounts 120 80 200

Retail 92 138 230

66) 120 + 150 = 270

67) %22.65230150

68) Using table use can observe the difference 69) 80 – 50 = 30 70) B : G B : G 322 : 478 so 161 : 239

71) 3347

198282

)2010&2008(F)2010&2008(E

72) 8.1295

144139130124112

73) (116 + 80 + 112 + 100 + 130 + 86) = 624 and (145 + 96 + 139 + 116 + 148 + 108) = 752

Ratio is 4739

752624

74) %04.108100112121

100)2009(D)2011(D

75) )approx(%6910013291

100)2009(A)2009(B

76) %65.321001225400

77) )approx(%191001660310

78) 124153

620765

)QP(Com.B)TS(.Sc.B

79) B.A (S) : B.Com (S) : B.Sc.(S) 400 : 375 : 450 16 : 15 : 18

80) B.Sc. (P) + B.Sc. (R) + B.Sc. (T) 380 + 260 + 315 = 955 81) martyrdom is followed by “of” and not “about”. 82) Well-verse means having a good hold over

something. 83) Omit ‘a’ and add ‘the’. Ruskin talks of ‘a social affection’ which forms a

specific economy. We are not talking about the economy per se;

rather we are talking about what forms that specific economy.

84) Instead of ‘finding’, add ‘find’. The verb after ‘to’ is always in the base form. 85) Instead of ‘surfacing’ use ‘surface’. Surface means a layer or on outer part.

Surfacing means a verb of coming up to the surface.

86) No error 87) Breeze is the correct word 88) Matter is the correct word 89) We have taken both as doing a task ‘together, and

therefore we do not use ‘either’. Omit ‘either’ and add ‘both’. We are not making a choice. 90) When it is mentioned that a leader is calling upon

someone, that someone should be specific. Therefore, instead of ‘people’ add ‘subjects’ or ‘followers’.

91) Devastating is the correct word. 92) Across is a preposition. Use ‘crossing’ instead of acrossing, which is also

not a word.


Special PUNJAB G.K.

‘Punj’ means five and ‘aab’ in Persian means water. Punjab is referred to as land of five waters (rivers) namely Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Chenab and Jhelum. At present, only three rivers traverse through Punjab as the present day state of Punjab has lost most of its area after partition to Pakistan and its further division after independence.

BRIEF HISTORY OF PUNJAB

Punjab is not only cradle of Indian civilisation but also has been gateway to India. Several foreigners came to India from time to time and settled down here.

The earliest known civilization of people, whom we can say were the original inhabitants of India, is said to have originated in this part of India and is called ‘Indus Valley Civilisation’. This civilisation is known to have risen around 3300 B.C. but withered away around 1800 B.C. These times are known as ‘Bronze Age’. Why this civilization perished and how it perished is still a matter of controversy, but this civilization had all the ingredients of a modern civilization with well planned cities with drainage and storage system.

Second Phase: Around 1500 B.C., people from Central Asia came here, chose to stay back and adopted it as their own country. They were known as ‘aryans’. This era is known as Vedic period during which the ‘vedas’ and ‘puranas’ are said to have been composed. This period is associated with the beginning of Hindu religion. The Punjab of this time is known as ‘Sapt- Sindhu’ or land of Seven Rivers. This era continued upto around 600 B.C.

Third Phase: The 3rd phase witnessed origin of new religions like Buddhism and Jainism, which developed as a result of orthodoxy in Hinduism. Fairly large empires had come into existence by this time. In 326 B.C. Punjab was invaded by Alexander. He was given a tough fight by Porus in the Battle of Hydespus but lost the war. Alexander entered into alliance with Porus and appointed him as his regent. East of Porus kingdom was the powerful kingdom of ‘Magadh’ ruled by Nanda dynasty. Alexander avoided confrontation with Magadh rulers.

By the end of the sixth century, India was now prosperous nation ruled by several kings in different places.

Thereafter there was a long spell of peace in the region.

Fourth Phase: In the seventh century, Muslims forces started arriving. In 10th /11th century area was invaded by Mohamad Ghaznavi and in the 12th century by Mahmoud Ghouri. By the 13th century ‘slave dynasty’ of Turkish origin had established their control over the area.

In the 16th century, the mughal forces led by Babar defeated the ‘Lodhis’ in the first battle of Panipat in 1526 and established the ‘Mughal dynasty ‘. This dynasty ruled India from 1526 to 1857.

Fifth Phase: By the end of the 17th century, Punjab witnessed the rise of militant phase with the advent of a new religion called ‘Sikhism; The mughal forces were numerically large in number, but by now the ‘sikhs’ started organizing themselves and offered mughals stiff resistance. With the decline of the mughals after the death of Aurangzeb, the Sikhs consolidated their power in different areas and by the end of the 18th century, different ‘sikh misls’ held large parts of Punjab.

Punjab was under the control of Maharaja Ranjit Singh who ruled from 1801 to 1839. Lahore was capital of his empire and his regime is also known as Lahore Durbar. During his reign the territory of Lahore Durbar extended from Afghanistan (Khyber pass) in the west, Kashmir in the north, Tibet in the east and Bahawalpur in the South. In 1809, the Britishers entered into a treaty with Maharaja Ranjit Singh accepting river Sutlej as the border between the Sikh empire and the British Empire. The treaty was signed on 25.04.1809 at a place near Ropar at the banks of the river Sutlej.

Sixth Phase: The Britishers had come to India in 1600 as traders. By the end of the 18th century they had acquired political aspirations and controlled a large part of India.

After death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the empire weakened due to internal strife. In 1845 and 1849, two battles known as Anglo-Sikh wars took place in which the Lahore durbar lost and the Punjab was annexed by the Britishers. On 29-3-1849, Treaty of Lahore was signed by


the Britishers with the dethroned king Maharaja Duleep Singh depriving him of sovereignty, kingdom and fortune. He surrendered the famous diamond ‘Kohinoor’ to the Queen of England under terms of the treaty.

The Britishers divided Punjab into princely states and the British province of Punjab which was granted statehood. A Lieutenant Governor was appointed at Lahore as direct representative of the British Crown.

Kashmir which was part of Lahore darbar was sold to Gulab Singh who was Prime Minister in Lahore darbar for Rs. 75 lacs.

SITUATION AT THE TIME OF INDEPENDENCE

The major part of Punjab was under British occupation and princely states of Punjab. The area under the British control was divided into Muslim dominated West Punjab in Pakistan and the Sikh dominated eastern area as province of Punjab in India. In 1950, two separate states were created:

i. Punjab which included the Raj province of Punjab. Gopi Chand Bhargava was the first Chief Minister of Punjab.

ii. PEPSU: (acronym for Patiala and Eastern Punjab States Union) It comprised formerly princely states consisting of Patiala, Nabha, Jind, Kapurthala, Malerekotla, Faridkot, Kalsian and Nalagarh.

The last Maharaja of Patiala, Yadavindra Singh, became Rajpramukh (equivalent to the Governor) of the state with principal city Patiala as its capital.

The union territory of Himachal Pradesh was also created in 1950 with the merger of hill princely states and certain Punjab hill states.

In 1956, PEPSU was merged into Punjab and several northern districts of Punjab were hived off and added to Himachal Pradesh.

In 1966, the state of Punjab was further divided into Hindu dominated southern state of Haryana and the Sikh dominated present day Punjab.

CAPITAL OF PUNJAB

Lahore was the capital of undivided Punjab which was now part of Pakistan. Punjab had to look for a new capital. In 1955, the central government decided to build a new capital Chandigarh for the now divided Punjab or the Eastern Punjab.

This is the first modern town established as a planned city.

At present, Chandigarh serves as the capital of Punjab and Haryana. This city has been designed by French architect Le Corbusier.

HISTORY OF SIKHS Punjab witnessed a development which left a deep impact on the social fibre of the state i.e. birth of a new religion called – Sikhism.

Sikhism: Guru Nanak the first guru of Sikhs laid the foundation of a new religion. During his times, the state was torn with strife and under attack by Mughal army led by Babur. Hindu religion was once again under the Brahminical stranglehold. The Muslim repression was also on the rise. It was under these circumstances that he gave a new philosophy which preached equality of all and tolerance for all faiths. His philosophy was quite akin to the philosophy of Saint Kabir. But after death of Saint Kabir, there was none to carry forward his message while Guru Nanak appointed his successor and this line of succession went on till tenth Guru Gobind Singh, the last guru of Sikhs. Before his death, Guru Gobind Singh designated Guru Granth Sahib as the eternal ‘Guru’ of Sikhs.

TEN GURUS

1) Guru Nanak Dev Ji (1469- 1539)

2) Guru Angad Dev Ji (1504-1552)

3) Guru Amardas Ji (1479- 1574)

4) Guru Ram Das Ji (1534- 1581)

5) Guru Arjan Dev Ji (1563 – 1606)

6) Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji (1595- 1644)

7) Guru Har Rai Ji (1630- 1661)

8) Guru Harkrishan Sahib Ji (1656- 1664)

9) Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji (1621- 1675)

10) Guru Gobind Singh Ji (1666-1708)

Guru Granth Sahib: The fifth guru of Sikhs, Guru Arjun Dev compiled the hymns of all the first four gurus. He also included ‘hymns’ of several ‘bhagats' and compiled the book which is known as ‘Adi Granth’. It included his own ‘bani’ as well. The book compiled by him is known as ‘Adi Granth’ or ‘Pothi Sahib’. The Adi Granth was installed in 1604 as the holy book at Sri Harmindar Sahib Amritsar, with Baba Budha ji as its first ‘Head Granthi’. The granth compiled by Guru Arjun Dev Ji was scribed by Bhai Gurdas.

During his stay at Talwandi Sabo, also known as ‘Guru ki Kashi’, Guru Gobind Singh Ji included the verses by Guru Tegh Bahdur Ji at appropriate places in Adi Granth with Bhai Mani Singh as the scribe. This book is now known as ‘Guru Granth Sahib’ and this scripture was bestowed the ‘Guruship’ by him before his death.

This scripture comprise 1430 pages and is composed in 31 ragas and contains 5894 hymns. It includes the bani of:

i. First five gurus and the ninth guru ii. Fifteen bhagats and eleven bhatts.


SOME IMPORTANT EVENTS ASSOCIATED WITH SIKHISM

Udasis by Guru Nanak Dev Ji: Guru Nanak Dev Ji undertook four journeys in four different directions. He travelled in all four directions - North, East, West and South. He is believed to have travelled more than 28,000 Kms during the period from 1500 to 1524. These four journeys are known as four Udasis.

Langar Pratha: Wherever the guru travelled, Mata Khivi wife of the second Guru Angad Dev Ji provided food (Langar) to the gathering. Though the institution of langar had started during the time of Guru Nanak, the system of langar gained currency during the second Guru Angad Dev Ji. It was during the tenure of third guru Guru Amar Das Ji that the system was formalised uniting the community by establishing the two key concepts:

i. Pangat – All human beings equal, all of them should sit in a row without discrimination or consideration of rank’

ii. Sangat – the congregation of people for the purpose of uttering the name of one God.

Manji System: (Established by Guru Amar Das Ji): Guru Amar Dass ji selected ‘twenty two’ devoted followers to spread the message of ‘Guru Nanak’ across the country and also to provide spiritual guidance. Each such place was known as ‘manji’ and they were also responsible for management of ‘offerings’ by the ‘sangat’ and the same was to be used for langar and the balance after meeting the expenses was supposed to be passed on to Guru’s golak at Goindwal Sahib.

Miri Piri: The concept was started by the sixth guru Hargobind Ji after the sacrifice of his father Guru Arjun Dev Ji. He donned ‘two kirpans’, one to symbolize the concept of ‘Miri or Temporal Authority’ and the second to symbolize the concept of ‘Piri or Spiritual Authority’. It was a departure from earlier traditions when only spiritual powers were worn by preceding gurus.

Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib: During the reign of Aurangzeb, Muslim fundamentalist forces started forcing Hindus to convert and adopt Muslim religion. Kashmiri Pandits led by Pandit Kirpa Ram approached Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib (at Anandpur Sahib) to intercede with the king on their behalf. He travelled to Delhi, where he was asked to convert or face death. He preferred the latter and was beheaded at Chandni Chowk. Alongwith him, Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das and Bhai Dayala were also executed.

Birth of Khalsa: On the day of Vaisakhi i.e. 13th April, 1699, Guru Gobind Singh called Sikhs to congregate at Anandpur Sahib. He announced the formation of a new religion – ‘khalsa’ and called upon his followers to wear five symbols, all beginning with letter- ‘k’; Kesh, Karra, Kangha, Kachch and Kirpan.

Guru Granth Sahib : Just before his death, Guru Gobind Singh on 6 October 1708 asked his followers to fetch Sri Granth Sahib. He instructed that henceforth, Guru Granth Sahib is the ‘guru’, thus ending the line of personal gurus.

Banda Singh Bahadur: He came in contact with Guru Gobind Singh at Nanded. His original name was Lachman Das and belonged to Rajouri area of Jammu. He was a brave fighter and was able to unite different sections of society in his struggle against the excesses of mughals. One of his great success was defeat of ‘Nawab of Sirhind’ who had bricked alive the two youngest sons of Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

He was later on captured and tortured to death in 1716.

RISE OF SIKH MISLS

After Banda Bahadur was captured and executed, the mughals tried to mend fences with Sikhs. In 1733, Zakariya Khan, governor of Punjab made peace with Sikhs and bestowed the title of ‘Nawab’ on Kapur Singh. Kapur Singh organised the Sikh misls into Dal Khalsa and appointed Jassa Singh Ahluwalia as the Supreme Commander.

S.NO. NAME OF MISL FOUNDED BY

1 Faizalpuria or Singhpuria, Nawab Kapoor Singh

2 Ahluwalia Misl Jassa Singh Ahluwalia

3 Bhangi Misl Chajja Singh

4 Ramgarhia Misl Jassa Singh

5 Kanhiya Misl Jai Singh Kanhiya

6 Shukerchakia Misl Charat Singh

7 Phulkian Misl Chaudhari Paul

8 Dallewalia Tara Singh Gheba

9 Nakai Misl Hira Singh

10 Karor Singhia Misl Karor Singh

11 Sahidi Nihang Misl Deep Singh

12 Nishanwalia Misl Sangat Singh

RANJIT SINGH AND THE SIKH EMPIRE

Ranjit Singh born in the Sandhawalia Clan (Sukerchakia Misl). He succeeded his father at the age of 12 and after various campaigns, all Sikh misls accepted him as their leader. Thus, he was able to unite all the Sikhs under one banner. He was crowned at Lahore on April 12, 1801 and died in 1839. After his death the Sikh empire withered and in 1849 Britishers annexed Punjab as a part of British Empire.


VARIOUS MOVEMENTS RELATED TO PUNJAB

1) Nirankari Movement: Founded by Baba Dayal Das. He called for return of Sikhism to its origins and emphasized the worship of God as Nirankar (formless). 2) Naamdhari Movement: This movement founded was by Baba Ram Singh. He was disciple of Balak Singh of Kuka movement. Namdharis played a large role in Indian freedom and cow protection movement. 3) Singh Sabha Movement: In response to the Arya Samaj and actions of Christians missionaries, prominent personalities decided to constitute Singh Sabha on October 1, 1873. Thakur Singh was its President and Gyani Gyan Singh its secretary.

4) Arya Samaj Movement: The movement was founded by Swami Dayanand Sarasvati at Bombay in 1875. The most distinctive feature of Arya Samaj was the Shuddi movement which means the reconversion of those Hindus who had once been willingly or forcibly converted into other religious but were now willing to come back into the fold of Hinduism. 5) Dev Samaj Movement: This movement was founded in 1877 at Lahore by Shiv Narayan Agnihotri. It emphasized on the eternity of the soul, the supremacy of the Guru and the need for good Acton. 6) Ahmadaia Movement: It is also known as Qadiani movement. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1837-1908) at Qadian in Punjab, towards the end of the 19th century. The aim of the movement was to reform Islam and to defend it against the onslaughts of Christian missionaries and the Arya Samajists. 7) Gurudwara Reform Movement: This movement came into prominence in 1920s. The main aim of the Akalis was to purify the management of the Sikh gurudwaras or shrines by removing the corrupt and selfish mahants from them. This movement resulted in the formation of Shrimoni Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee in 1920 and the passage of Sikh Gurudwara Act 1925. 8) Punjabi Suba Movement: In the 1950s and 1960s the nationwide movement of linguistic groups seeking statehood resulted in a massive recognization of states according to linguistic boundaries in 1956. 9) Dharam Yudh Morcha: In August 1982, the Akali Dal under the leadership of Harchand Singh Longowal launched the Dharam Yudh Morcha, or the battle for righteousness. The major issues of the Morcha were: i. Transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab ii. Transfer of Punjabi speaking areas into Punjab, etc.

The Morcha resulted in start of militancy in Punjab which lead to ‘Blue Star Operation’ on Harmandir Sahib and lateron murder of Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India.

Thereafter, a agreement was signed between the government of India and Akali Dal led by Harchand Singh Logowal, which is prominently known as Rajiv-Longowal Accord. Even this was not acceptable to militant leaders and Harchand Singh Logowal was assassinated by them.

FACTS – PUNJAB

CAPITAL CHANDIGARH (POPULATION 9.5

LAKHS) Boundaries With J & K (N), Haryana and

Rajasthan (S), Pakistan (W), Himachal Pradesh (N-E)

Latitude 29’30” N to 32’32” N

Longitude 73’55” to 76’ 50” E

Area 50,362 sq km (1.54% of total geographical area of

country) Forest Area 6% of the total area of the

state Population (census 2011) 277.43 lakhs (2.29% of

country’s population) Rural population 173.44 lakhs (62.52% of

total population) Urban population 103.99 lakhs (37.48% of

total population) Males 146.39 lakhs (52.8% of total

population) Females 131.04 lakhs (47.2% of total

population) Population density (per sq km)

551

Sex Ratio 895 (846 for 0-6 age group) Literacy rate 75.80% Male Literacy Rate 80.40% Female Literacy Rate 70.70% Urban literacy rate 83.2% Rural literacy rate 71.4% Life expectancy 69.4 years Districts 22 Divisions (Jalandhar, Patiala,

Firozepur, Faridkot Ropar) = 5

Sub-divisions 82 Tehsils / Blocks 82 / 146 Sub-Tehsils 85 Inhabited villages 12581 Panchayats 12776 Towns (One lac & above) 143 Cities (Census Towns) 74 High court Punjab & Haryana High

Court, Chandigarh Strength of Vidhan Sabha 117 Seats of Lok Sabha 13 Seats in Rajya Sabha 7 State Bird Baaz (Eastern Goshawk) State Animal Blackbuck (Kala Hiran) State tree Shisham (called ‘Tahli’ in

Punjab)


HISTORY OF PUNJAB

Birth Guruship

–Death (A.D.)

Father/Mother Wife Contemp-orary Ruler

Important Events

Guru Nanak

1469. 1507- 1539

Mehta Kalyan Das/Tripta

Sulakhni Lodhis, Babar, Humayun

Was born at Nankana Sahib Near Lahore. Had two sons Baba Sri Chand & Baba Lakhmi Das. Baba Sri Chand founded Udasi Sect. Four udasis (Journeys) Started Langar Institution of Langar and Guruship. Breathed his last at Kartapur Sahib (Now in Pakistan).

Guru Angad

1504. 1539- 1552

Pheru Mal / Ramo Khivi Sher Shah Suri

Was born at Harike (Amritsar) Also known as Bhai Lehna. Introduced Gurmukhi Script Strengthened institution of Langar Humayun sought blessings to the throne of Delhi

Guru Amardas

1479. 1552-1574

Tej Bhan/Sulakhani

Mansa Devi

SherShah Suri, Humayun, Akbar

Established his headquarters at newly built town Goindwal Sent Bhai Gurdas to Agra Composed Anand Sahib and Abolished caste system Had two sons Bhai Mohan & Bhai Mohri and Two daughters, Bibi Dani & Bibi Bhani.

Guru Ramdas

1534. 1574-1581

Haridas / Daya Kaur

Bhani Akbar Founded the city of Amritsar and designed Golden Temple. Composed “Lavan”, sung at the time of sikh marriage. Had three sons Priti Chand, Mahadev & Arjun Dev. 688 Shabads in Guru Granth Sahib.

Guru Arjan Dev

1563. 1581-1606

Guru Ramdas / Bhani

Ganga Akbar, Jahagir

Started the construction of Harmandir. Its foundation was laid by Sufi Saint Hazrat Mian Mir Founded the city of Taran Taran and dug a tank known to lure leprosy Composed Sukhmani and 2218 hymns in Adi Granth Compiled the AdiGranth with Bhai Gurdas as scribe. Introduced the institution of Dasvand and strengthened the Masand system Executed at Lahore on orders of Jahagir for sheltering the rebellious Prince Khusro

Guru Hargobind

1595. 1606-1644

GuruArjan Dev/Ganga

Nanaki Jahangir, Shah Jahan

Founded the concept of “Miri” and “Piri” “Temporal power and “Spiritual powers”. first to maintain an army and fight wars Constructed Akal Takhat and Logarh Fort at Amrtisar Constructed the city of Kiratpur

Guru Har Rai

1630. 1644-1661

Gurditta/Nihal Kaur

Krishan Kaur

Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb

Helped Shah Jahan in curing Dara Shikoh by providing rare herbs Was summoned by Auranzagzeb on the accusation of helping Dara Shikoh during the war of succession. Sent his son Ram Rai instead

Guru Hari Krishan

1656. 1661-1664

Guru Har/ Krishan Kaur

Aurangzeb Visited Delhi and stayed at the residence of Raja Jai Singh of Amber, Died at Delhi of smallpox while serving epidemic stricken people

Guru Tegh Bahadur

1621. 1665-1675

Guru Hargobind /Nanaki

Gujri Aurangzeb Visited Bihar and Bengal Founded city of Anandpur Was executed on orders of Aurangzeb at Delhi, where now Gurudwara Sis Ganj is situated. His body was taken by Lakhi Vanjara and Cremated at his house which is now known as Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib. His 'Sis' (head) wastaken away by Bhai Jaita, who brought back his head to Anandpur Sahib. 115 sloakas in Guru Granth Sahib.

Guru Gobind Singh

1666. 1675-1708

Guru Tegh Bahadur/Gujri

Sundri, Jeeto, Sahib Kaur

Aurangzeb, Bahardur Shah

Problems with hill chiefs especially Bhim Chadn of Kahlur (Bilaspur). On invitation by Chief of Sirmaur (Nahan) spent some time at the city of Paonta Sahib. Birth of Khalsa on Baisakhi day of A.D. 1699. Built Fort Anandgarh at Anandpur Attacked by Mughals and hill Chiefs. Left Anandpur and wandered about sometime being chased by Mughals Wrote “Zafarnamah” Letter to Aurangzeb. Went south to meet Aurangzeb on his invitation but Aurangzeb died. Helped Bahadur Shah in Succession Died on being stabbed by muslim fanatic probably sent by Wazir Khan, the subedar of Sirhind Wrote: Dasam Granth, Savaiye, Jaap Sahib.


CULTURE Punjab is more famous for its agriculture than its culture. The reasons are obvious. In the late sixties and early seventies, Punjab become the ‘grain bowl’ of the country and as a result India became self reliant in food production. However, Punjab is a land of rich traditions. Because of regular invasions from West and Central Asia, its traditions whether in respect of food habits, clothing or art have acquired and absorbed different hues. RELIGION & CASTE Prior to partition, Punjab was a Muslim dominated area with Hindus and Sikhs forming a large minority. After partition, the Eastern Punjab which was later-on christened as Punjab in 1950, was now a hindu dominated state with sikhs being the largest minority. In the present day Punjab, Sikhs are in majority while Hindus are the largest minority, though Muslims and Christians also constitute a fairly large number. The demographic data of the state is as under:

Religion Percentage Sikhs 63%

Hindus 34% Muslims 2%

Christians 1.2% Jains 0.16%

Though Sikhs do not believe in ‘casteism’, but the practice is quite pervasive in the religion. Following reformist movements among various religions played a great role in lowering the caste barriers: i. Ahmadiya movement among Muslims ii. Arya Samaj among Hindus iii. Singh Sabha movement in Sikhs

But caste system is so deeply rooted in the psyche that the people have failed to shake it off. ‘Jats’ who were themselves considered to be of low caste group joined the ‘Sikh’ fold in big numbers and gained the top position in the hierarchy of Sikhs because of economic prosperity. As per 2011 census, scheduled castes constitute 16.6% of Indian population while population of Scheduled Tribes is 8.6%.Punjab has the highest percent of Scheduled Caste population; 31.9 per cent of the state's total number. It does not have the Scheduled Tribe population.

SCHEDULED CASTE SCHEDULED TRIBE India 16.6% 8.6% Punjab 31.9% 0%

There are 37 Scheduled Castes notified in the State of Punjab. As per 2001 census, around 75.7% of SC population of the state was living in rural areas. Highest proportion of Scheduled Tribe population is in Lakshdweep with 94.8% of its population belonging to Scheduled Tribe category. FOOD HABITS The staple diet of Punjabis is based on wheat and cereals. They are known for their like of rich fried food. Punjab tops in consumption of milk and milk products. Paranthas, Nans, rotis made of wheat flour and corn flour constitute their main food. In winter, Maki-di-roti ans sarson-ka-saag are considered a

delicacy and are also famous world-wide. In respect of non-vegetarian food, mutton in form of ‘rogan josh’ is their favourite dish. Chicken Tikka is a specific Punjabi novelty and it is one of the most famous cuisine in many foreign countries.

ART & CRAFT 1. Phulkari: The most popular craft in Punjab is ‘Phulkari’,

which is a format of embroidery whereby flowery patterns of silken thread are made with a high degree of skill. It is further of two types : i. Bagh: The whole cloth is covered with embroidery. ii. Chope: The flowery patterns are at a distance from

each other. This format of embroidery is said to have its origin in Iran and the immigrants are said to have brought it to Punjab.

2. Pidhis: These are small four legged woven wooden stools of daily use. These are getting out of use for people are now adopting modern ways of life. Even rural areas have taken to sofa and table in their daily life.

3. Durries: These are cotton spreads used to spread on bed or the floor.

4. Jutties: These are foot wear and used by both men and women. These foot wears are decorated with silken embroidery to give them elegant look. Patiala and Abohar are major juttie producing centres.

5. Dolls: These are crafted and dressed all over Punjab. FOLK DANCES OF PUNJAB The famous folk dances of Punjab are: i. Bhangra for men ii. Gidha for girls

Apart from Bhangra, the other dance formats practised by men in Punjab are jhoomer, luddi, julli and dankara. For women ‘kikli’ is another famous form of dance and celebration.

FESTIVALS TRADITIONAL FESTIVALS: The festivals are popular occasions for social intersection and enjoyment and the Punjabis celebrate them with gusto. Punjab being a predominantly agricultural state that prides itself on its food grain production. i. Baisakhi: Baisakhi is celebrated in the month of April

after harvesting of wheat, which is the major crop of the area and also staple diet of the people. This festival acquired further boost with creation of ‘khalsa’ by Guru Gobind Singh on this day in 1699 at Anandpur Sahib.

ii. Lohri: Lohri is seasonal festival marking end of winter and is celebrated with bonfire at night.

iii. Maghi: This festival is celebrated just the day after Lohri. This festival commemorates the heroic fight of ‘chali mekte’ of Guru Gobind Singh, who sacrificed their life to save the life of their guru.

iv. Rakhri: On this day sisters tie decorated threads called ‘rakhi or rakhri’ at the wrist of their brother and brother vow to protect their sisters.


v. Tikka: It is celebrated a day after Diwali and on this day women put a ‘tika’ on forehead of their brothers to protect them from evils.

RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS: DIWALI This festival marks the return of Lord Ram from exile after his victory over Ravana. The festivals is celebrated by Hindus and Sikhs alike with lighting of earthern lamps at night. For Sikhs the day holds is important for on this day Guru Hargobind Sahib ji reached Amritsar and this day is celebrated as ‘Bandi Chor Diwas’. GURPURABS The gurpurabs are celebrated by the Sikhs to express their reverence for their gurus. Major gurpurabs celebrated by Sikhs are: i. Birthday of Guru Nanak Dev ji , the first Sikh Guru in

the month of Katak and ii. The second in the month of Pausa (December-

January) to celebrated the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh.

Besides execution of Guru Arjan Dev Ji, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji and Sahibjada’s (sons of Guru Gobind Singh Ji) are also celebrated as important gurpurabs. HOLI AND HOLA MOHALLA Holi apart from being a tradition spring festival of colours is celebrated all over northern India. The Sikh community in Punjab observes Holla Mohalla a day after Holi, with thousands of devout Sikhs gathering at Anandpur Sahib-where Guru Gobind Singh was baptized Sikhs to participate in the grand fair of Holla Mohalla. Apart from these, many other religious and traditional festivals like Dushehra, Ram-Naumi, Krishna Janamashtami, Teejan etc. are also celebrated in Punjab. COSTUMES The climate of the area being varied, people prefer to wear cotton clothes, for it keeps them cool in summer and warm in winter. Men prefer to wear long Kurta (shirt) with trousers. Most unique identification of a sikh man is his turban and his beard. Women of the state also wear ‘salwar kameez’ along with a dupatta (long stole). Though dupatta or the long stole is getting lost in modernity and new age girls have taken to shorts and jeans like never before.

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Punjabi is said to have evolved from ‘Shauraseni apabhramsa’. It is said that traces of ‘prakrits’ especially ‘pali’ and other proto-indo-aryan and pre-indo-aryan languages also appear in Punjabi phonology and morphology. In the era ‘pre-Guru Nanak’, ‘nathas’ and ‘yogis’ were very active in Punjab and their compositions were in ‘apabhramsa and the language of the people. Gradually, the language of the common people replaced the apabhramsa and manifested itself as ‘sant-bhasha’. This language became popular with the saints who travelled from one place to other further popularizing the language.

It emerged as an independent language in 12th century with Fariduddin Ganjshakar, generally known as ‘Sheikh Farid’(1173-1266), who used this language of the population to compose his teachings .The language flourished when sikh gurus used this language predominantly to compose their verses. The earliest known text of Punjabi is known as ‘Janam sakhis’ of Guru Nanak by his disciple ‘Bala’. It is said to have been written after the death of Guru Nanak Dev at the instance of Guru Angad Dev Ji. The second Sikh guru, Guru Angad Dev Ji gave the language its script which is known as ‘gurmukhi’.

SCRIPTS OF PUNJABI There are at present two variants of this language. In one variety, Punjabi is written in the ‘arabian’ script. This script is followed in present day western Pakistan and is known as ‘lahnda variety’ (lahnda means ‘west’). This variety is written in arabic script and is also called ‘shahmukhi’ script. The other script is called ‘gurmukhi’ which was devised by the second Sikh guru Guru Angad Dev for scriptural use. It is now followed in the eastern Punjab or the present day Punjab of India. This language is spoken by more than ten crore people all over the world. It is the 9th most spoken language in the world and is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan, 11th most widely spoken in India and the 3rd most spoken language in United Kingdom and Canada. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is the first official language of the Indian state of Punjab. In Pakistan, Punjabi has not been granted official status at the national level, though it is the most spoken language in the largest province of Punjab (Pakistan). DISTINCT DIALECTS: A language may be spoken indifferent ways in different areas. Similarly, Punjabi also has different dialects which are characteristic to a particular area. The major dialects of Punjabi in the present day Punjab are:

DIALECT AREA Majhi Amritsar, Gurdaspur Doabi Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur area Pwadi

Kharar, Ropar, Kural, Nurpur Bedi, Morinda Rajpura and Samrala.

Malwi

Ludhiana, Ambala, Bhatinda, GangaNagar, Malerkotla, Fazilka and Farezepur, Hissar and Sirsa area

PUNJABI WRITERS WHO HAVE

WON NATIONAL AWARDS JNANPITH AWARDS: These awards are given for life time contribution to Indian literature. Amrita Pritam in 1981 Gurdial Singh in 1999

SARASWATI AWARDS: Harbhajan Singh : 1994 for ‘Rukh te Rishi’ Dalip Kaur Tiwana : 2001 for ‘Katha Kaho Urvashi’ Surjit Patar : 2009 for ‘Lafzan di Dargah’


SOME IMPORTANT BOOKS IN PUNJABI

Book Author Kaffian Bulle Shah Chandi di War Guru Gobind Singh Chandanwadi Dhani Ram Chatrik Kissa Puran Bhagat Qadaryaar Rana Surat Singh Bhai Veer Singh Sundri Bhai Veer Singh Lehar Hulare Bhai Veer Singh Save Patar Prof. Mohan Singh Kagaj Te Kanvas Amrita Pritam Luna Shiv Kumar Chhita Lahoo Nanak Singh Pavitar Paapi Nanak Singh Jungnama Shah Mohamad Marhi da Deeva Gurdyaal Singh Rasidi Ticket Amrita Pritam

LOVE BALLADS Heer Ranjha Damodar Heer Ranjha Waris Shah Sasi Punnu Hashim Shah Sohni Mahiwal Fazal Shah Mirza Sahiban Hafiz Barkhudar Mirza Sahiban Peelu

RELIGIOUS VERSES Asa di Vaar Guru Nank Dev ji Japji Sahib Guru Nank Dev ji Sidh Gosht Guru Nank Dev ji Barah Mah Guru Nank Dev ji Anand Sahib Guru Amar Dass ji Lavaan Guru Ram Dass ji Sukhmani Sahib Guru Arjun Dev ji Jaap Sahib Guru Gobind Singh ji Savaiye Guru Gobind Singh ji Dasam Granth Guru Gobind Singh ji Zafar Nama Guru Gobind Singh ji Some Other Regligios Texts Kafian Bulleh Shah Kafian Shah Hussain

GEOGRAPHY OF PUNJAB

PHYSIOGRAPHY The present day Punjab is roughly triangular in shape and it borders Pakistan on the west, Jammu & Kashmir on the north, Himachal Pradesh on the north eastern and east and Haryana to its south and southeast. The area is comparatively small at 50,362 sq.kms. and mostly alluvial plain best suited for accessibility and agriculture. The area is sloping gradually with 350 metres above sea level in the northeast and north to about 180 metres in the southwest. Punjab is part of Sutlej basin, with Yamuna forming its western border and Indus bordering it on the east.

DRAINAGE At present, Punjab is left with only three rivers namely – Satluj, Beas and Ravi. Satluj is the main and major stream. It has its source in one of the westerly Mansarover lake in Tibet. It criss-crosses Himachal Pradesh before entering Punjab near Nangal. It is joined by the river Beas at ‘Harike’ before entering Pakistan. Beas river has a very short course rising from Beas Kund near Rohtang Pass in Himachal to its confluence with Sutlej. Ravi originates in the Himalayas in the Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh. It is the smallest of the five Punjab rivers. It enters Punjab plain near Madhopur. It then flows along the Indo-Pak border for some distance before entering Pakistan and joining the Chenab river. Lahore is situated on the banks of this reiver. On the southern margins of Punjab runs a seasonal river Ghaggar which is believed to be same as Vedic river Saraswati. CANAL SYSTEM OF PUNJAB Upper Bari Doab Canal: This canal rakes off from Ravi at Madhopur. This canal is said to have been got constructed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh and was extended by the Britishers for the purpose of irrigation. Bist Doab Canal : This canal takes off from the right bank of river Satluj at Ropar. It has two branches – Jalandhar Branch and Nawan Shahar branch, This canal irrigates Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and Kapurthala region. Bhakra Dam & Canal : It is one of the biggest multi purpose river valley scheme. The dam was completed on October 22, 1963 while the canal system was completed in 1968. Sirhind Canal :This is one of the biggest canal system in India and irrigates malwa region of Punjab. The Sirhind canal takes off at Ropar head works from river Satluj and upto Doraha flows as one channel. Therafter, it divides into four branches. Makhu Canal : This canal irrigates Moga region and branches off the Harike barrage at Harike. Shah Nahar Canal : The canal takes off from river Beas downstream of Pong dam. It irrigates semi-hilly of Himachal Pradesh and some areas of Hoshiarpur district. Some other river projects are: Beas Project: A diversion dam has been constructed at Pandoh in Himachal Pradesh across river Beas. The waters of Beas are diverted to river Satluj at ‘Slappar’. Pong Dam has been constructed at Pong about 35 KM from Mukerian across the river Beas.

Thein Dam : It is constructed across river Ravi about 20 kilo meter above Madhopur.

SOILS: Punjab is divided into three distinct regions on the basis of soil types. The regions are: i) South –Western Punjab ii) Central Punjab and iii) Eastern Punjab.


CLIMATE: The climate of Punjab is varies from extreme hot to extreme cold and the major seasons in Punjab are : i. Summer: From April to June, the temperature can

go as high as 50 degrees Celsius. ii. Rainy: July to September. Though Punjab falls in

low rainfall area but majority of its rainfall is due to monsoon during this period. Average annual rainfall in Punjab is 472.1 mm as per report of planning commission.

iii. Winter: December to February. During this period the temperature can fall as low as 5 degree Celsius. In certain areas the temperature has gone as low as 0 degree Celsius also in the recent years.

Between February and April is the transitional period and this period when the weather is quite pleasant. This season is known as ‘Basant’ (Spring); while between October and November, the trees start losing leaves and this period is known as ‘Patjharh’ (Autumn) .

ECONOMY The economy of the state is largely dependent on agriculture with majority of its population professing farming. The state has number of small, medium and large scale industrial units. Major industries in the state include metals, manufacturing textiles, hosiery, yarn, sports good, hand tools, bicycles and light engineering goods.

COMPOSITION OF GSDP PUNJAB AT CURRENT PRICES (%) 2013-14

SECTOR Punjab Primary 20.81

Secondary 28.30 Tertiary 50.86 Overall 100

Achievement in Eleventh Plan: SECTOR TARGET ACHIEVEMENT Primary 2.40 1.67

Secondary 8.00 9.00 Tertiary 7.40 8.31 Overall 5.90 6.74

(Source: Planning Commission)

AGRICULTURE Agriculture is the backbone of Punjab economy. The progress made by agriculture in Punjab is unparalleled. The state was deficit in food at the time of independence but it made rapid progress during sixties and seventies. The production of wheat and rice has increased considerably during this period and Punjab came to be known as the granary of India.

Food Grain Production Punjab 2012-13 Area

(000, hectares) Production (000, metric

tonnes)

Yield (Kg per hectare)

Rice 2845 11374 3741 Wheat 3512 16591 5097 Other cereal

145 525 3981 (maize)

Pulse 13 12 – Total 6515 28502

Cotton 481 1627 535 Sugarcane 83 489 5952 The state ranks 2nd in wheat production in India after Uttar Pradesh.

The total foodgrain production of Punjab in 2012-13 went down from 29076 in 2011-12 to 28502 due to drought. The expected foodgrain (provisional) yield in the year 2013-14 is 27801 million tonnnes, tells us about the falling yield and impact of climatic conditions on the economic conditions of the farmers.

Some Important facts about Food production: Punjab produced around 18% of the total wheat produced in the country (down in percentage terms from 20% in 2012) and 11% (increased from 9% last year) of the rice. CONTRIBUTION TO THE CENTRAL POOL

2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Wheat 38.7 33.6 43.4 Rice 22.1 25.1 29.3

Other major crops of Punjab are: sugarcane, maize, millet, barley and fruit. Punjab is the most prolific contributor to our national pool of food grains. Khanna, in Ludhiana district is the largest grain market in Asia. Rabi Crops: Wheat, Gram, Barley, Potatoes and winter vegetable Kharif Crops: Rice, Maize, Sugarcane, cotton and Pulses. SHARE OF AGRICULTURE The share of agriculture in GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) has decreased from 21.19% in 2004-05 to 17.51% in 2007-08, 15.47% in 2010-11 and 12.84% in 2013-14. It shows the declining trend of agriculture in the economy of Punjab. However, it must be understood that the overall production of foodgrain has increased over a period of time; the state produced only 65.06 lac mt of rice in 1990-91, the production of which has now gone up to 113.74 lac my in 2012-13.

COMPARATIVE AGR. PRODUCTION (LAC MT) 1990-91 2011-12 2012-13 Rice 65.06 105.42 113.74 Wheat 121.59 179.82 165.91 Total Foodgrain 192.18 290.76 285.02

AGRO-CLIMATIC ZONES Sub-Mountations Zone

(kandi zone) Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Roopnagar, SAS Nagar

Central Alluvial Zone (Sweet water zone)

Amritsar, Taran Taran, Kapurthala, Jalandhar,Ludhiana, Patiala,

Fatehgarh Sahib, Nawanshahar, Sangrur, Barnala

Southern Dry Zone

(Cotton Belt) Bathinda, Faridkot, Firozpur,

Mansa, Moga, Muktsar


While the Net sown area of the state is around 41.55 lac hectares but the cropping intensity is almost double at 191%. The net sown area of the state accounts for around 83% of its geographical area while the irrigated area is around 98%.

PER CAPITA INCOME As per the latest official data the Per capita income in Punjab at current prices for 2013-14 is Rs. 92638. While in terms of constant prices at 2004-05 level, the per capita income has increased to Rs. 49411 in 2013-14.

PER CAPITA INCOME PUNJAB vs. ALL INDIA

At Current Prices At Constant Prices

Punjab All India Punjab All India

2004-05 33103 24143 33103 24143

2011-12(P) 76895 61855 46325 38048

2012-13(Q) 84526 67839 47834 38856

2013-14(A) 92638 74380 49411 39904

(Source: ESO News April – June 2013) ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE OF PUNJAB Governor Sh. Shiv Raj Patil Chief Minister Sh. Parkash Singh Badal Deputy Chief Minister Sh. Sukhbir Singh Badal Speaker of Vidhan Sabha Sh. Charanjit Singh Atwal Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha

Sh. Sunil Jakhar (Congress)

DIVISIONS OF PUNJAB: 5 DIVISION DISTRICTS Jalandhar Gurdaspur, Amritsar, TaranTaran, Kapurthala,

Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahar, Pathankot (Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar)

Patiala Roopnagar (Ropar), SAS Nagar (Mohali), Ludhiana, Sangrur, Barnala, Patiala,

Firozepur Firozpur, Muktsar, Moga, Fazilka Faridkot Faridkot, Bathinda,Mansa

Rupnagar (Ropar)

Mohali, Rupnagar, Fatehgarh Sahib

Number of Districts in Punjab: 22 Number of Sub-divisions in Punjab : 82 Number of Tehsils in Punjab: 82 Number of Sub-Tehsils in Punjab : 85 Number of Blocks in Punjab : 146 Number of Towns in Punjab : 143

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT 1) Lok Sabha-13 ( election held May 2014 to 16th Lok Sabha)

1. Amritsar Captain Amrinder Singh (INC)

2. Anandpur Sahib Prem Singh Chandumajra (SAD)

3. Bathinda Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Bada (lSAD)

4. Faridkot (SC) Prof. Sadhu Singh (AAP)

5. Fategarh Sahib (SC) : Harinder Singh Khalsa (AAP)

6. Ferozpur Shri Sher Singh Ghubaya (SAD)

7. Gurdaspur Vinod Khanna (BJP)

8. Hoshiarpur (SC) Vijay Sampla (BJP)

9. Jalandhar (SC) Santokh Singh Chaudhary (INC)

10. Khadoor Sahib - Ranjit Singh Brahmpura (SAD)

11. Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu (INC)

12. Patiala Dr. Dharam Vira Gandhi (AAP)

13. Sangrur Bhagwant Mann (AAP)

2) Rajya Sabha – 7

Sr. No. Name Date of Retirement

1 Ashwani Kumar, Shri 09/04/2016

2 Bhunder, Shri Balwinder Singh 04/07/2016

3 Dhindsa, Sardar Sukhdev Singh 09/04/2016

4 Gill, Dr. M.S. 09/04/2016

5 Gujral, Shri Naresh 09/04/2016

6 Khanna, Shri Avinash Rai 09/04/2016

7 Soni, Smt. Ambika 04/07/2016

Members of Vidhan Sabha: 117

DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS District with Maximum Area – Firozepur District with Minimum Area – SAS Nagar (Mohali) District with Highest Population – Ludhiana (12.6%) District with Lowest Population – Barnala (2.2%) District with Highest Sex Ratio – Hoshiarpur (961) District with Lowest Sex Ratio – Bhatinda (868) District with Highest Literacy Ratio – Hoshiarpur (84.6%) District with Lowest Literacy Rate – Mansa(61.8%) District- -Highest Population Density – Ludhiana(978) District -- Lowest Population Density – Muktsar ( 348) District with Highest Urbanization – Ludhiana District with Lowest Urbanization – Taran Taran

(Source-Economic Survey Punjab2013-14)

PUNJAB TOPS IN THESE FIELDS Punjab consumes 10% of fertilizer consumption of India One third of all the tractors of India plough fields in

Punjab. Contributes 29.30% of central pool of rice and 43.40% of

central pool of wheat in 2013-14 Record yield of 4898 kg per hectare of Wheat & 3741 kg

per hectare Rice Per Capita eggs availability highest in India – 30 for India

and 126 for Punjab . 971 gm per capita milk (in 2014) availability is highest in

India against 290 gm for All India.( 2012) Highest number of vehicles per thousand population:-

Motor vehicles – 77, tractors – 55


Highest cropping intensity in the country. Highest net area irrigated Highest yield rate per hectare Highest contribution of wheat and rice to the national pool Highest consumption of fertilizers Highest number of tube wells. LITERACY RATE OF PUNJAB:

Overall Male Female Person

Rural 76.6% 65.7% 71.4% Urban 86.7% 79.2% 83.2% Total 80.4% 70.7% 75.8%

CHAIRMAN/PRESIDENTS OF VARIOUS

BODIES IN PUNJAB

Chairman of Punjab State Human Rights commission: Justice Jagdish Bhalla

Chief Information Commissioner of Punjab: S. Sarwan Singh Channy, IAS (Retd.)

Chairman of Punjab Mandi Board : Ajmer Singh Lakhowal State Electoral Officer of Punjab : Sh. V.K.Singh I.A.S.

Chairperson of Punjab State Women’s commission : - vacant

President of SGPC : Avtar Singh Makkar EDUCATION

UNIVERSITIES LOCATION YEAR ESTB.

Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU)

Amritsar Nov. 24, 1969

Punjabi University Patiala April 30, 1962 Punjab University Chandigarh 1882 at Lahore;

Relocated Chd. - 1956

Punjab Agriculture University (PAU)

Ludhiana 1962

Punjab Technical University (PTU) / Baba Sahib Ambedkar Technical

University

Jalandhar Jan. 16, 1997

Baba Farid University of Health & Sciences

Faridkot July 1998

Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences

University

Ludhiana (Bifurcated from PAU)

Aug. 9, 2005

Lovely Professional University.

Phagwara 2006

Thapar University Patiala 1956 Rajiv Gandhi National Law

University. Patiala 2006

Central University of Punjab Bhatinda 2009

Indian Institute of Technology

Ropar 2008

NIPER (National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education

and Research)

Mohali -

Indian School of Business Mohali 2012


Punjab G K Bytes

1) Guru Nanak Dev was born at which place: Talwandi (Nankana Sahib) presently in Pakistan

2) Who composed ‘Anand Sahib’: Guru Amardas 3) Guru Amardas was born at: Village Basarke 4) Guru Ramdas born at: Lahore (Chuna Mandi) 5) Which Mugal ruler got guru Arjan Dev Ji executed:

Emperor Jahanagir 6) In which year Guru Arjan Dev Ji attained

Martyrdom: 1606 AD 7) How was Guru Hargobind related to Guru Arjan Dev

Ji: Guru Hargobind was son of Guru Arjan Dev Ji

8) Guru Harbogind was born at: Guru ki Wadali (Amritsar)

9) In which year was Guru Harkrishan Ji born: 1656 AD

10) Guru Harkrishan was son of: Guru Har Rai Ji 11) How was Guru Har Rai related to Guru Hargobind:

Guru Har Rai was grandson of Guru Hargobind Ji

12) What was the name of father of Guru Har Rai: Bhai Gurditta Ji

13) Who was the 9th Guru of Sikhs: Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji

14) Guru Tegh Bahadur was son of: Guru Hargobind Ji (6th Guru of Sikhs)

15) At which place was Guru Tegh Bahadur born: Amritsar

16) Name the place at which Guru Gobind Singh Ji was born: Patna Sahib (Bihar)

17) In which year was Guru Gobind Singh Ji born: 1666 AD

18) In which year Guru Gobind Singh Ji breathed his last: 1708 AD

19) Name the emperor who got the 9th Guru of Sikhs Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji executed: Aurangzeb

20) In which year Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji attained Martyrdom:11th November, 1675

21) At which place Guru Gobind Singh Ji breathed his last: Hazoor Sahib (Maharashtra)

22) By which other name is Hazoor Sahib known as: Nanded

23) Zaffarnamah, the poetical composition written by: Guru Gobind Singh Ji

24) To whom was the Zaffarnamah addressed: Aurangzeb

25) What is the meaning of Zaffarnamah: Epistle of Victory

26) In which language is Zaffarnamah written: Persian

27) Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born in the year: 1469 AD 28) In which year did Guru Nanak Dev Ji breathed his

last: 1539 AD 29) The ‘Travels’ by Guru Nanak Dev Ji are known as:

Udasis 30) How many journeys were undertaken by Guru

Nanak Devi Ji: Four 31) What was the name of Father of Guru Nanak Dev Ji:

Mehta Kalyan Das 32) What was the name of mother of Guru Nanak Dev

Ji: Mata Tripta Ji 33) Name the wife of Guru Nanak Dev Ji: Mata

Sulakhni 34) Name the wife of Guru Angad Dev Ji, whose name

also appears in Guru Granth Sahib: Mata Khivi 35) Who were the contemporary rulers of India during

the times of Guru Nanak Dev Ji: Lodhis, Babar, Himayun

36) Which Mughal emperor visited and paid obeisance to Guru Amar Das Ji: Akbar

37) Guru Amar Das Ji directed the mughal emperor to ________ before paying his obeisance: sit in the langar and partake food with commoners

38) How was the Guru Ram Das Ji related to Guru Amar Das Ji: Guru Ram Das Ji was son in law of Guru Amar Das Ji

39) What was the name of wife of Guru Ram Das Ji: Bibi Bhani

40) What was the name of father of Guru Arjan Dev Ji: Guru Ram Das Ji

41) Name the contemporary rulers during the times of Guru Arjan Dev Ji: Akbar and Jahangir

42) Guru Hargobind Ji was imprisoned by which Mughal king: Jahangir

43) At which place was Guru Hargobind Ji imprisoned: Gwalior Fort

44) Name the Gurudwara which stand at the place where Guru Arjan Dev Ji was Martyred: Gurudwara Dehra Sahib (Lahore, in 1606)

45) What was the name of wife of Guru Arjan Dev Ji: Mata Ganga Ji

46) What was the original name of Guru Arjan Dev Ji: Arjan Mal

47) Which city was founded by the 3rd guru of Sikhs Guru Amardas Ji: Gobindwal Sahib

48) Which city was founded by Guru Angad Dev Ji, the 2nd guru: Khadoor Sahib

49) What was the original name of Guru Ramdas Ji, 4th guru: Bhai Jetha Ji

50) Which “Salokas” by Guru Nanak referred to invasion by Babar: Babarvani


51) Where was Guru Nanak imprisoned by Babar forces: Sayyadpur, In Pakistan

52) Name the place and the Gurudwara where Guru Nanak Dev Ji mollified Vali Kandhari: Panja Sahib

53) What was the name of the demon Guru Nanak Dev Ji met while passing through Assam: Kauda Rakshash

54) What is the name of the composition that records the dialogue between Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Sidhas: Sidh Ghosht

55) What is the name of the two accomplices of Guru Nanak Dev Ji: Bhai Mardana Ji and Bhai Bala Ji

56) Name the Muslim accomplice of Guru Nanak Ji who carried “Rabab” with him: Bhai Mardana

57) The concept of ‘MIRI-PIRI’ was established by: Guru Hargobind Ji

58) Which guru was made to sit on hot iron plate and burning sand was put on his body: Guru Arjan Dev Ji

59) Which guru established Amritsar: Guru Ramdas Ji

60) Which guru got the tank in Amritsar excavated: Guru Ramdas Ji

61) Name the spiritual leader who built Harmandir Sahib: Guru Arjan Dev Ji

62) Who compiled Adi Granth: Guru Arjan Dev Ji 63) Adi Granth also known as: Pothi Sahib

64) Adi Granth contained ‘Vani’ of how many Sikh Guru’s: Five

65) The Guru Granth Sahib contains vani of how many Sikh gurus: Six (First Five and The Ninth Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji)

66) Who was the first head granthi of Adi Granth: Baba Budha Ji

67) How many pages does Guru Granth Sahib contained: 1430 pages

68) When was Guru Granth Sahib anointed as eternal guru of Sikhs: 3rd October, 1708

69) In which year construction of Harmandir Sahib completed: 1589 AD

70) Who was the scribe of Adi Granth: Bhai Gurdas Ji 71) Name the institution started by the 6th Guru

Hargobind Ji: Akal Takhat

72) At what age Baba Budha Ji passed away: 125 years in 1631

73) How many Guru’s did Baba Budha Ji serve: six

74) Asa di var is composed by : Guru Nanak Dev ji

75) Japji Sahib is the vani of which Sikh Guru: Guru Nanak Dev Ji

76) Who laid the foundation of Harmandir Sahib (Amritsar): Mian Mir

77) Who was the scribe of Guru Granth Sahib when it was dictated by Guru Gobind Singh Ji: Bhai Mani Singh

78) Sukhmani Sahib is composition of which Guru: Guru

Arjan Dev Ji

79) What was the original name of Guru Gobind Singh Ji: Gobind Rai

80) Apart from the ‘vani’ of six gurus, Guru Granth Sahib contains compositions of how many Bhagats: Fifteen

81) Apart from Gurus and Bhagats, Guru Granth Sahib contains compositions of _________ Bhattas: Eleven

82) Name the person who got the Gurudwara at Nanded (Hazoor Sahib) built: Maharaja Ranjit Singh

83) The Gurudwara at Hazoor Sahib is situated on the banks of which river: Tapti

84) How many Hymns in Guru Granth Sahib are contributed by Fifteen Bhagats: 922

85) Which Bhagat has contributed maximum Hymns in Guru Granth Sahib: Bhagat Kabir

86) How many Hymns of Bhagat Kabir are included in Guru Granth Sahib: 541

87) What was the hereditary occupation of Bhagat Kabir: Weaver

88) Bhagat Kabir belonged to which cast: Julaha

89) At which place in Delhi was Guru Tegh Bahadur martyred: Chandani Chowk

90) Which Gurudwara is situated at Chandani Chowk in memory of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji: Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib

91) Name the Gurudwara situated at the place where body of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji was cremated: Gurudwara Rakab Ganj

92) Who carried the head of Guru Tegh Bahadur from Delhi to Anandpur Sahib: Bhai Jaita Ji

93) Name the three persons who were martyred along with Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib: Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das, Bhai Dayala

94) What was the name of the leader of delegation of Kashmiri Brahamans that came to seek help from Guru Tegh Bahadur: Pandit Kirpa Ram

95) Who built the Gurudwaras Rakab Ganj and Sis Ganj built: Sardar Baghel Singh in 1790

96) Gurmukhi script was standardized by : 2nd Guru Angad Dev ji

97) On which day of 1699 Guru Gobind Singh Ji created Panth Khalsa: Vaisakhi ( 13th April 1699)

98) Which person is said to have betrayed Mata Gujari Ji and two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh Ji: Gangu Brahamin

99) Name the Gurudwara which stands at the place where two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh Ji were bricked alive: Gurudwara Fatehgarh Sahib

100) Name the five takhats: i) Akal Takhat (Amritsar) ii) Damdama Sahib (Talwandi Sabo) iii) Keshgarh Sahib (Anandpur Sahib) iv) Patna Sahib (Bihar) v) Hazoor Sahib (Nanded)

101) What was the original name of ‘Banda Singh Bahadur’: Lachman Das


102) ‘Banda Singh Bahadur’ belonged to: Rajori Area (Jammu)

103) Lachman Das who later on was known as Banda Bahadur renounced the world and acquired the name: Madho Das

104) Lachman Das after renouncing the world acquired the name Madho Das and settled at: Panchvati (Nasik)

105) Madho Das met Guru Gobind Singh at ______ and acquired the new name Banda Bahadur: Nanded

106) ___________ was sent by Guru Gobind Singh to Punjab to seek revenge from enemies of khalsa: Banda Bahadur

107) Banda Bahadur conquered Sirhind defeating the mughal forces led by: Wazir Khan, Governor of Sirhind

108) Wazir Khan was defeated by Banda Bahadur at the battle of: Chapar Chiri (:3ZV f:Vh)

109) Banda Bahadur was defeated in the battle of: Gurdas Nangal (Gurdaspur)

110) Banda Bahadur was tortured and executed in the year: 1716 AD

111) Banda Bahadur established his headquarter at which place: Mukhlisar (presently in Distt Mohali)

112) Mukhlisar was renamed by Banda Bahadur as: Lohgarh

113) _______was capital of first Sikh state under Banda Singh Bahadur from years 1710-1715: Lohgarh (presently in Distt. Mohali)

114) Name the person who is known as ‘Bearded Mother Teresa’: Bhagat Puran Singh

115) Lala Lajpat Rai was known as: Sher-e-Punjab

116) Who is known as Flying Sikh of India: Milkha Singh

117) Le Corbusier, the architect of Chandigarh was citizen of: France

118) During the Mahabharata period Punjab was known as: Panchnada

119) Major Gen. Rajinder Singh is also known as: Sparrow

120) Which Mughal king was instrumental in execution of ‘Banda Bahadur’: Farukh Siyar

121) In which year ‘Zakariya Khan’ became governor of Punjab: 1726 AD

122) In which year Nadir Shah attacked Punjab: 1738 AD

123) Mir Manu became governor of Punjab in which year: 1748 AD

124) When was Dal Khalsa found: 1748 AD

125) In which year Maharaja Ranjit Singh annexed Lahore: 1799 AD

126) Maharaja Ranjit Singh Annexed Amritsar in: 1805 AD

127) Kashmir became part of Lahore Durbar (Kingdom of

Maharaja Ranjit Singh) in the year: 1819 AD

128) The regime of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was also known as: Lahore Durbar

129) Treaty of Amritsar was signed in the year: 1809 AD

130) Maharaja Ranjit Singh was crowned on: April 12, 1801 AD

131) Maharaja Ranjit Singh belonged to ______ Misl: Sukerchakia

132) What was the name of father of Maharaja Ranjit Singh: Sardar Mahan Singh

133) Maharaja Ranjit Singh belongs to _______ sikh clan: Sandhwalia

134) Maharaja Ranjit Singh was crowned by: Shri Sahib Singh Bedi

135) Shri Sahib Singh Bedi was a descendent of: Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji

136) Takhat Shri Patna Sahib and Takhat Shri Hajoor Sahib was got built by: Maharaja Ranjit Singh

137) Maharaja Ranjit Singh got ________ gold plated: Shri Harminder Sahib

138) During the reign of Banda Bahadur, sikhs got divided into: Tat Khalsa (9 Z9 <5b; 5) and Bandai Sikhs

139) Name the person who united Tat khalsa (9 Z9 <5b ; 5) and Bandai Sikhs: Bhai Mani Singh

140) Number of MPs in Punjab Rajya Sabha is: 7

141) Singhpuria Misl was founded by: Nawab Kapur Singh

142) The other name for Singhpuria Misl was: Faizalpuria

143) Ahluwalia Misl was founded by: Jassa Singh Ahluwalia

144) Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was given the title of ______ by Nawab Kapur Singh: Sultan-ul-quam

145) Sukherchakia Misl was founded by: Sardar Charat Singh (Grandfather of Maharaja Ranjit Singh)

146) Small Holocaust ()'N5 x Zb=x 575) took place in the year: 1746 AD at Kahnuwan

147) The 2nd Holocaust took place at a place near Ahmedgarh called: Village Kup

148) The 2nd Holocaust took place in the year: 1762 AD

149) In the 2nd Holocaust Sikhs were defeated by: Ahmed Shah Abdali

150) The 2nd Holocaust is known as: Wadda Khalughara (t Zv5 x Zb=x 575)

EDUCATING THE MIND WITHOUT

EDUCATING THE HEART IS NO EDUCATION AT ALL


BIOLOGY – PHYSICS CHEMISTRY MCQs

1) Which gland is not associated with human alimentary canal? a) salivary glands b) adrenal gland c) liver d) pancreas 2) In humans, bile juice is secreted by a) pancreas b) small intestine c) esophagus d) liver 3) An enzyme which can only act in acidic medium is a) pepsin b) trypsin c) rennin d) amylase 4) The part of digestive system where no digestion occurs a) duodenum b) esophagus c) stomach d) mouth 5) Which of the following animals has no need for a gall bladder? a) horse b) lion c) dog d) human 6) About how much saliva does a person produce each day? a) 100 ml b) 250 ml c) 500 ml d) 1500 ml 7) Saliva has the enzyme a) pepsin b) ptyalin c) trypsin d) rennin 8) Curdling of milk in the stomach is due to the action of a) pepsin b) rennin c) HCL d) rennin 9) Pepsinogen is secreted by a) gastric glands b) intestinal glands c) chief cells d) parietal cells 10) Pancreas has a) only endocrine cells b) only one type of cell, the same functioning both in an exocrine and endocrine fashion c) two types of cells-exocrine and endocrine d) only exocrine cells 11) Largest gland in human body is a) liver b) pancreas c) pituitary d) thyroid

12) Grana refers to a) glycolysis of glucose b) by-product of photosynthesis c) stacks of thylakoids d) stacks of quantasomes 13) A specific function of light energy in the process of photosynthesis is to a) activate chlorophyll b) split water c) synthesis glucose d) reduce CO2 14) ATP formation during photosynthesis is known as a) phosphorylation b) photophosphorylation c) oxidative phosphorylation d) substrate level phosphorylation 15) Dark reaction in photosynthesis is called so because a) it does not require light energy b) cannot occur during daytime c) occurs more rapidly at night d) it can also occur in darkness 16) Which of the following is connected with transport of water in plants? a) phloem b) xylem c) epidermis d) cambium 17) The ultimate cause for movement of water against gravity in a tree is a) osmosis b) imbibitions c) transpiration d) photosynthesis 18) Which of the following is not an example of a selectively permeable membrane? a) plasma lemma b) cell Wall c) mitochondrial membrane d) chloroplast membrane 19) Which of the following is responsible for guttation? a) root pressure b) transpiration c) photosynthesis d) osmosis 20) Phenyl mercuric acetate a) reduces transpiration rate b) reduces photosynthesis c) kills the plant d) reduce respiration 21) Which of the following has no blood but respires? a) earthworm b) hydra


c) cockroach d) fish 22) Which type of respiratory organs are present in spiders and scorpions? a) book lungs b) gill books c) gills d) lungs 23) At high altitude, RBCs of human blood will a) increase in number b) decrease in number c) decrease in size d) increase in size 24) Vocal cords occur in a) pharynx b) glottis c) bronchial tube d) larynx 25) Which one of the following structures closes the respiratory passage during ingestion of food? a) larynx b) epiglottis c) hard palate d) soft palate 26) The covering of lungs is called a) pericardium b) pleural membrane c) perichondrium d) peritoneum 27) The narrowest and most numerous tubes of lungs are termed as a) bronchus b) alveoli c) bronchioles d) hilum 28) The exchange of gases in a mammal takes place is a) trachea b) bronchioles c) bronchi d) alveoli 29) Volume of air inspired and expired with each normal breath is called a) tidal volume b) inspiratory capacity c) total lung capacity d) residual volume 30) Tidal volume of air in a normal healthy man during inspiration is about a) 300 – 400 ml b) 500 – 700 ml c) 900 – 1000 ml d) 100 – 250 ml 31) The maximum possible volume of air, which can be inspiration, is called as a) tidal air volume b) vital lung capacity c) complemental air volume d) total lung capacity 32) Percentage of O2 present in inhaled air in man is about a) 21% b) 78% c) 1% d) 43% 33) Oxygen is transported in blood mainly by a) leucocytes b) erythrocytes c) thromobocytes d) blood plasma 34) Asthma is a respiration disease caused due to a) infection of trachea b) infection of lungs c) bleeding into pleura cavity d) spasm in bronchial muscles

35) Mountain sickness results due to a) anaemic hypoxia b) arterial hypoxia c) lack of sufficient RBCs d) lack of sufficient WBCs 36) Which one of the following is the most common type of transpiration? a) stomatal b) lenticular c) foliar d) cuticular 37) The process of the escape of liquid from the tip of uninjured leaf or through hydathodes is called a) transpiration b) guttation c) evapo-transpiration d) evaporation 38) In a closed circulatory system, blood is completely enclosed within a) the skeleton b) sinuses c) vessels d) hearts 39) The smallest blood vessel in the body is a a) capillary b) artery c) vena cava d) vein 40) Both erythrocytes and leucocytes are formed in the a) bone marrow b) thymus c) arterial walls d) lymph nodes 41) An erythrocyte lives for approximately a) one week b) one month c) four months d) one year 42) The abnormal increase in the total RBC count is referred to as a) pneumonia b) polycythemia c) leucopenia d) anaemia 43) The life span of human WBC is normally a) 12–13 days b) 80-90 days c) 100-120 days d) 20-30 days 44) The function of vitamin K is in a) regulation of calcium and phosphorus metabolism b) blood clotting c) respiration d) carbohydrate metabolism 45) Oxygenated blood is carried by a) pulmonary vein b) pulmonary artery c) hepatic portal vein d) renal vein 46) In mammals, oxygenated blood enters the heart at the a) right atrium b) left atrium c) right ventricle d) left ventricle 47) Which chamber of the heart has the thickest muscular walls a) right atrium b) left atrium c) right ventricle d) left ventricle 48) When the right ventricle of heart contracts, the blood goes to a) all parts of the body b) Pulmonary arteries


c) aorta d) lungs 49) The tricuspid valve occurs between the a) right auricle and right ventricle b) pulmonary aorta c) carotico-systemic aorta and left ventricle d) left ventricle 50) Typical ‘lub-dub’ sound heard in heartbeat are due to a) closing of bicuspid and tricuspid valves b) closing of semilunar valves c) closure of bicuspid-tricuspid valves followed by semilunar valves d) blood under pressure through aorta 51) What is blood pressure? a) the pressure of blood on the heart muscle b) the pressure of blood exerted on the walls of arteries and veins c) the pressure of blood on the walls of veins only d) the pressure of blood on the walls of arteries only 52) Which one of following is called pace maker of the heart? a) SA node b) AV node c) Chordae tendianae d) AV septum 53) Blood groups in man were discovered by a) Mendel b) Francis Nelson c) S. Miller d) Landsteiner 54) Rh factor was discovered by a) William Harvey b) Landsteiner c) Robert Hook d) C. De Duve 55) Rh factor is named after a) Drosophila b) a Monkey c) a Rat d) a Man 56) Excretion means a) removal of substances present in excess b) formation of those substances that have some role in the body c) removal of such substances that have never been part of the body d) all of the above 57) A mammal excretes nitrogen in the form of a) ammonium ions b) amino acids c) urea d) uric acid 58) Kidneys are not only organs of excretion. Their work is supplemented by a) liver b) heart c) large intestine d) skin 59) The basic unit of a vertebrate kidney is the a) ureter b) nephron c) malpighian tubule d) islets of Langerhans 60) The two kidneys lie a) at the level of ovaries b) at the same level

c) left kidney at a higher level than the right one d) right kidney at a higher level than the left one 61) Function of glomerulus in mammalian kidney is a) reasbsorption of salts b) urine formation through blood filtration c) urine collection d) all of the above 62) The reabsorption of glucose in a nephron occurs in a) loop of Henle b) first half of proximal tubule c) distal convoluted tubule d) proximal part of collecting ducts 63) Strongest cartilage is a) hyaline cartilage b) fibrous cartilage c) elastic cartilage d) none of the above 64) Striated muscles are found in a) gallbladder b) wall of bladder c) leg muscles d) lungs 65) Strongest muscle in the body is present in a) arm b) jaw c) thigh d) neck 66) Axial skeleton in man is made up of a) 126 bones b) 100 bones c) 103 bones d) 80 bones 67) Skull of man is made up of a) 10 bones b) 22 bones c) 30 bones d) 24 bones 68) Longest bone is that of a) humerus b) stapes c) femur d) radio-ulna 69) In man ribs are attached to a) calvicle b) ileum c) sternum d) scapula 70) The smallest bone in mammals is a) septomaxillary b) dentary c) femur d) stapes 71) The longest cell in the body of an animal is a) osteocytes b) neuron c) chromatophores d) lymph corpuscles 72) Which cell stops dividing after birth? a) glial cells b) epithelium c) liver d) neuron 73) The largest number of cells bodies of neurons in our body is found in a) brain b) spinal cord c) tongue d) retina 74) Which part of human brain is more developed in comparison of others? a) cerebrum b) cerebellum


c) optic lobes d) medulla oblongata 75) Which part of mammalian brain controls the muscular co-ordination? a) cerebrum b) cerebellum c) corpus callosum d) medulla oblongata 76) There are how many pairs of spinal nerves in a human a) 8 b) 12 c) 25 d) 31 77) There are how many pairs of cranial nerves in a human? a) 8 b) 12 c) 25 d) 31 78) Pituitary gland is found in a) around trachea b) gonad c) pancreas d) brains 79) Which of the hormones is responsible for the emotional state such as fear and anger and causes rise of blood pressure and rate of heartbeat? a) insulin b) adrenaline c) progesterone d) thyroxine 80) The main function of plasma membrane is to a) maintain cell shape and size b) control of all cellular activity c) regulate the flow of materials into and out of the cell d) store cell material 81) Function of a Centriole is a) formation of spindle fibers b) formation of nucleolus c) initiation of cell division d) formation of cell plate 82) Functional activities of a cell are controlled by a) nucleus b) nucleolus c) mitochondria d) cytoplasm 83) Study of Algae is called a) phycology b) mycology c) dendrology d) mycology 84) Which of the following is a non-poisonous snake? a) cobra b) python c) viper d) krait 85) Which of the following diseases is caused by a virus? a) typhoid b) cholera c) influenza d) diphtheria 86) DTP vaccine is given to infants to immunize them against a) diphtheria, pneumonia and typhoid b) diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus c) diarrhea, pneumonia and tuberculosis d) diphtheria, whooping cough and typhoid

87) Jaundice is a disease of a) kidney b) pancreas c) liver d) duodenum 88) Male mosquito does not carry malarial parasite because: a) it is too small to bite man. b) it lacks the modified mouth parts c) malarial parasites cannot reproduce in them. d) female mosquito is more deadly 89) Continuous fever, headache, slow pulse, pain in the stomach, rose colored ashes are the major symptoms of a) plague b) typhoid c) mumps d) measles 90) Bark of which plant yields famous drug of malaria? a) cinchona b) quercus c) betula d) eucalyptus 91) Deficiency of vitamin C causes a) rickets b) beriberi c) scurvy d) night blindness 92) If there were no ultraviolet rays reaching the earth, human should suffer from deficiency of a) fatty acids b) essential amino acids c) vitamin D d) vitamin E 93) Smog is a combination of a) fire and water b) smoke and fog c) water and smoke d) air and water 94) Sound becomes a hazardous noise pollution if its level is a above a) 30 Db b) 120 dB c) 80 dB d) 150 Db 95) Maximum threat to the world is from (among the following) a) global warming b) ozone hole c) water pollution d) soil erosion 96) Which of the following is the symbol of the metal that occurs in liquid form at ordinary temperature? a) Na b) Sn c) Pb d) Hg 97) Which of the following is least compressible? a) gas b) liquid c) solid d) none of these 98) Which of the following is not a chemical change? a) rusting of iron b) converting water into steam c) making curd from milk d) heating coal 99) Atomicity of Phosphorous is a) 1 b) 2 c) 4 d) 6


100) The number of atoms present in a molecule of an element is known as its a) valency b) atomicity c) chemical Formula d) symbol 101) Random Movement of particles was discovered by a) Robert Brown b) E. Goldstein c) James Chadwick d) Wilhein Weins 102) Scattering of light by colloidal particles is known as a) Tyndall effect b) Brownian motion c) reflection d) rectilinear propagation 103) Which of the following non-metals occur in liquid form at room temperature? a) bromine b) carbon c) sulphur d) chlorine 104) Brass is an example of a ______ a) homogenous compound b) homogenous mixture c) heterogeneous mixture d) heterogeneous compound 105) Which of the following is not a noble gas? a) helium b) neon c) argon d) hydrogen 106) Which of the following acids is present in sour milk? a) glycolic acid b) lactic acid c) citrus acid d) tartaric acid 107) Which of the following acids is called the king of the acids? a) acetic acid b) phosphoric acid c) oxalic acid d) sulphuric acid 108) The sharp pain caused by the sting of an ant is due to a) malic acid b) nitric acid c) formic acid d) lactic acid 109) Vitamin C is an organic acid known as a) ascorbic acid b) citrus acid c) glycolic acid d) acetic acid 110) Soaps are sodium salts of a) mineral acids b) fatty acids c) bases d) carbonic acid 111) Sodium bicarbonate is also known as a) washing soda b) baking soda c) glauber’s salt d) lime soda 112) Which of the following is not a property of acids? a) all acids have a sour taste b) acids turn blue litmus red c) acids turn red litmus blue d) all acids form H+ ions in water

113) Which of the following acid is used in fire extinguishers? a) hydrochloric acid b) sulphuric acid c) nitric acid d) oxalic acid 114) Which of the following acid is used by goldsmiths for cleaning gold and silver ornaments? a) HCL b) H2SO4 c) HNO3 d) H3PO4 115) Which order of relative size amongst the following is incorrect? a) Li < Na < K b) C < Si < Al c) Mg > Al < Na d) F < Cl < Br 116) Which one of the following has the smallest size? a) Al b) Al+ c) Al+2 d) Al+3 117) Which of the following is an example of fossil fuel? a) coal gas b) coke c) natural gas d) producer gas 118) When steam is passed over hot coke, it produces a) producer gas b) synthesis gas c) tear gas d) coal gas 119) Producer gas is a mixture of a) carbon monoxide and nitrogen gas b) carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas c) carbon monoxide and water vapour d) carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide 120) Water gas consists of a) water vapour and coal dust b) a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen c) a mixture of carbon monoxide and the nitrogen d) water vapour and methane. 121) The gas used in the welding and cutting of metals is a) ethane b) ethene c) ethyne d) propene 122) Coal with largest C content is a) anthracite b) peat c) lignite d) bituminous 123) An allotropic form of carbon used for cutting and drilling is a) charcoal b) bone charcoal c) graphite d) diamond 124) Cinnabar is an ore of a) Pb b) Zn c) Hg d) Cu 125) Which of them is not an ore of silver? a) Ag2S b) AgNO3 c) AgCl d) None of these


126) Which of the following alloys contains Tin? a) brass b) solder c) duralumin d) steel 127) An amalgam of metal has which other element? a) C b) Ag c) Mg d) Hg 128) Gold is alloyed with which metal to make it harder? a) Cu b) Hg c) Ag d) C 129) The most abundant element in the universe is a) helium b) oxygen c) silicon d) hydrogen 130) The most abundant metal on the earth is a) iron b) gold c) aluminium d) copper 131) Aluminium is extracted from a) hematite b) bauxite c) calamine d) magnetite 132) Metallurgy is the process of a) extracting metals from the Ore b) roasting the Ore c) liquefaction of nitrogen d) adding carbon to the Ore in blast furnace 133) A metal, which melts on the palm a) potassium b) sodium c) gallium d) zinc 134) The process of protecting iron by coating with Zinc. a) smelting b) galvanising c) rusting d) corrosion 135) A lustrous non-metal is a) diamond b) iodine c) sulphur d) phosphorus 136) Sodium is a a) silvery white and very soft metal b) colourless and hard metal c) silvery white and very hard metal d) colourless and very soft metal 137) Which of the following is used for making magnets? a) duralumin b) magnalium c) bronze d) alnico 138) What should be added to pure iron to make stainless steel? a) nickel and cobalt b) cadmium and chromium c) nickel and cadmium d) chromium and nickel 139) The red or Orange coating that forms on the surface of iron when exposed to air and moisture for some time is called a) galvanization b) electroplating

c) rust d) reduction 140) The tip of the lead pencil is made of a) lead b) graphite c) zinc d) charcoal 141) The most abundant element in the sun’s atmosphere is a) xenon b) argon c) hydrogen d) oxygen 142) Ordinary glass is a mixture of a) sodium silicate, Calcium silicate b) sodium silicate, Calcium silicate and Silica c) sodium silicate and Silica d) none of the above 143) Glass used for making wind screens of automobiles is a) hard glass b) photo chromatic glass c) safety glass d) optical glass 144) Annealing is done to a) increase brittleness b) increase Transparency c) decrease brittleness d) increase refractive index 145) Steel is preferred over iron in construction of ships because a) melting point of steel is higher than Iron b) steel is more uniform than Iron c) steel does not rust d) tensile strength of steel is not high 146) The carbon content in steel is a) 0.1 – 5.0% b) 2.0 – 2.5% c) 0.1 – 1.5% d) less than 0.1 147) Permanent magnets can be made from a) Ni steel b) cobalt steel c) stainless steel d) wrought iron 148) The main constituents of cement are: a) calcium oxide, silicon dioxide, Aluminium oxide b) calcium oxide, Iron oxide, Sulphur dioxide c) magnesium oxide, Silicon dioxide, Aluminium oxide d) none of these 149) A thick paste of cement, sand and water is called a) concrete b) mortar c) slurry d) moderator 150) The process of making soap by the hydrolysis of fats and oils with alkalis is called a) hydrolysis b) saponification c) esterification d) none of these 151) The soap can be hardened by a) adding sodium carbonate or sodium silicate during its manufacture b) adding sodium chloride c) adding potassium hydroxide d) adding animal fat and coconut oil


152) Bleaching powder is a) CaO2Cl b) CaOCl2 c) CaClO2 d) CaCl2+O2 153) Plaster of Paris is obtained by heating a) gypsum b) limestone c) sodium carbonate d) calcium sulphate 154) The common name of sodium bicarbonate is a) lime b) baking powder c) baking soda d) washing soda 155) Slaked lime reacts with chlorine to give a) baking soda b) washing soda c) bleaching powder d) cement 156) The main constituent of cement is a) SiO2 b) CaO c) CaSO4 d) Al2O3 157) The real bleaching agent present in bleaching powder is a) chlorine b) oxygen c) oxygen d) CaO 158) Cake does not taste bitter due to presence of a) sodium carbonate b) tartaric acid c) citric acid d) sugar 159) What is obtained on adding lime to H2O? a) lime b) limestone c) slaked lime d) quicklime 160) Which of the following is different from others? a) speed b) density c) force d) time 161) The amount of substance in the SI system of units is represented by a) candela b) mole c) weight d) kilogram 162) The SI unit of temperature is a) Kelvin b) second c) mole d) candela 163) The National Physical Laboratory is situated at a) Kolkata b) New Delhi c) Bombay d) None of these 164) The SI unit of electric current is a) ampere b) candela c) mole d) none of these 165) How many fundamental units are present in the SI system of units? a) 5 b) 6 c) 7 d) 3 166) Which of the following physical quantities is different from others? a) speed b) distance c) energy d) average velocity

167) The unit for the rate of change of velocity will be a) m/s b) m/s2 c) Ns d) N/s 168) The velocity of a body at rest is always a) unity b) negative c) zero d) infinite 169) Impulse is a) a scalar quantity b) a vector quantity c) neither a scalar nor a vector d) sometimes a scalar and sometimes a vector 170) The weight of a body would not be zero a) at the centre of the earth b) during a free fall c) in interplanetary space d) on a frictionless surface 171) A man is standing on a boat in still water. If he walks towards the shore the boat will a) move away from the shore b) remain stationary c) move towards the shore d) sink 172) If action and reaction were to act on the same body, a) the resultant would be zero b) the body would not move at all c) both (a) and (b) are correct d) neither (a) nor (b) is correct 173) The combined effect of mass and velocity is taken into account by a physical quantity called a) torque b) moment of force c) momentum d) moment of momentum 174) Momentum is a measure of a) weight b) mass c) quantity of motion d) velocity 175) A rocket works on the a) first law of motion b) second law of motion c) third law of motion d) law of conservation of energy 176) When a bicycle travels on a rough surface, its speed a) increases b) decreases c) remains the same d) none of these 177) It is difficult to walk on ice because of a) absence of friction b) absence of inertia c) more inertia d) more friction 178) The law which defines force is a) Newton’s third law of motion b) Newton’s first law of motion c) Newton’s second law of motion d) Newton’s law of gravitation


179) Friction between any two objects is due to a) attraction between them b) repulsion between them c) some adhesive forces between them d) irregularities on the surfaces 180) Pascal is the unit for a) pressure b) thrust c) buoyant force d) None of these 181) The mercury barometer was invented by a) Celsius b) Fahrenheit c) Torricelli d) Bernoulli 182) The buoyant force depends on a) depth of a liquid b) colour of a liquid c) density of liquid d) none of these 183) The hot air balloon rises because it is a) denser b) less dense c) equally dense d) the given statement is wrong 184) A boat full of iron nails is floating on water in a lake. When the iron nails are removed, the water level a) rises b) falls c) remains the same d) nothing can be said 185) An ice cube is floating in a glass of water. What happens to the water level when the ice melts? a) rises b) falls c) remains same d) first rises and then falls 186) The branch of physics which deals with the study of fluids in motion is called a) dynamics b) hydrostatics c) hydrodynamics d) none of these 187) Pressure is a a) scalar quantity b) vector quantity c) normal force d) all the above are wrong 188) The upward force acting on the body immersed in a fluid is called a) hydrostatic pressure b) buoyant force c) true weight d) net force 189) Work done upon a body is a) a vector quantity b) a scalar quantity c) always positive d) always negative 190) the flowing water of a river possesses ______ energy. a) gravitational b) potential c) electrical d) kinetic 191) The unit of power is a) watt per second b) joule c) kilo joule d) watt 192) A bird flying in the sky has a) K.E. only b) P.E. only c) neither K.E. nor P.E. d) both K.E. and P.E.

193) In summer, the clocks a) become slow b) become fast c) gives correct time d) lose time 194) Therm is the unit of a) heat b) temperature c) thermometry d) work 195) Heat flows as a result of difference of a) temperatures b) weights c) masses d) none of these 196) The first thermometer was developed by a) Joule b) Fahrenheit c) Galileo d) Watt 197) Soda bottles are made of thick glass so that they can withstand the a) pressure in summer b) temperature in summer c) decrease in viscosity d) increase in potential energy 198) Evaporation is the process of changing liquid into vapour a) at any temperature b) above its boiling point c) at its boiling point d) below its boiling point 199) The period of pendulum depends upon a) mass b) length c) amplitude d) energy 200) Potential energy of the bob is maximum a) at the mean position b) at the extreme position c) between the mean position and extreme positions d) none of these 201) The force which tries to bring the body back to its mean position is called a) deforming force b) restoring force c) gravitational force d) buoyant force 202) In which of the following media will sound travel the fastest? a) solid b) both solid and liquid c) liquid d) gas 203) Sound waves in air are _____ waves. a) longitudinal b) radio c) transverse d) electromagnetic 204) Sound waves cannot pass through a) a solid-liquid mixture b) an ideal gas c) a liquid-gas mixture d) a perfect vacuum 205) Out of the following, which frequency is not clearly audible to the human ear? a) 30 Hz b) 30,000 Hz c) 300 Hz d) 3000 Hz


206) The distance between two consecutive crests is L, then the wavelength is given by a) L/2 b) 2 L c) 4 L d) L 207) The frequency of a wave is 5 Hz. It refers to (type of wave) a) ultrasonics b) microwaves c) infrasonics d) radio waves 208) A pulse is a wave a) of high duration b) of short duration c) which travels in vacuum only d) which travels in solids only 209) Sound travels fastest in a) water b) steel c) air d) kerosene oil 210) Which of the following types of waves is different from others? a) Light waves b) X-rays c) Radio waves d) Sound waves 211) Waves produced by supersonic jet planes are a) shock waves b) seismic waves c) infrasonics d) none of these 212) Echo is produced due to a) reflection of sound b) refraction of sound c) resonance d) none of these 213) SONAR is based on the principle of a) echo b) resonance c) reverberation d) any one of the above 214) The audible range of frequency is a) 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz b) 40 Hz to 40,000 Hz c) 60 Hz to 60,000 Hz d) 10 Hz to 20,000 Hz 215) Which of the following frequencies of sound cannot be heard by human beings? a) 5 Hz b) 20 Hz c) 400 Hz d) 1000 Hz 216) The mirror used in automobiles to see the rear field of view is a) concave b) convex c) plane d) none of these 217) The mirror used in search lights is a) concave b) convex c) plane d) none of these 218) Shaving mirrors are a) convex mirrors b) concave mirrors c) plane mirrors d) none of these 219) The laws of reflection are true for a) the plane mirror only b) the concave mirror only c) the convex mirror only d) all reflecting surfaces

220) When the object is at focus of a concave mirror, the image is formed at a) focus b) centre of curvature c) within focus d) infinity 221) Which of the following is a non-luminous body? a) fire b) sun c) stars d) earth 222) A body which allows most of the light to pass through it is called a a) transparent body b) opaque body c) translucent body d) none of these 223) During the 19th century, light was considered to be a stream of particles called a) atoms b) electrons c) corpuscles d) quantas 224) Who first proposed that light was wave-like in character? a) Huygens b) Newton c) Young d) Maxwell 225) The screen behind the eye lens is called the a) iris b) ciliary muscle c) retina d) pupil 226) The middle vascular coat that darkens the eye chamber and prevents refraction by absorbing the light rays is a) choroid b) sclera c) retina d) cornea 227) The amount of light entering the eye is controlled by the a) sclera b) cornea c) iris d) crystalline lens 228) The eye lens is a a) transparent double-convex lens b) transparent double-concave lens c) transparent concavo-convex lens d) none of these 229) The eye lens contains a watery liquid called the a) aqueous humour b) peroxide c) vitreous humour d) none of these 230) Long-sightedness is caused by the eyeball being too short. It can be corrected by the use of a a) convergent lens b) plane mirror c) divergent lens d) none of these 231) A lens which is thicker in the middles and thinner at the edges is called a _____ lens. a) convex b) concave c) cylindrical d) none of these 232) A lens which is thinner at the middles and thicker at the edges is called a _____ lens. a) convex b) concave c) cylindrical d) none of these


233) Which of the following lens is used to minimise hypermetropia? a) convex lens b) concave lens c) cylindrical lens d) none of these 234) Most of the refraction of light takes place in the a) iris b) cornea c) pupil d) retina 235) When the light is very bright, a) the iris makes the pupil expand b) the iris makes the pupil contract c) the iris and the pupil remain as they are d) none of these 236) Who discovered by his experiments with glass prisms that white light consists of seven colours? a) Newton b) Faraday c) Maxwell d) Young 237) Autosomes in humans are paired in a) 21 pairs b) 24 pairs c) 22 pairs d) 16 pairs 238) The light which refracts most while passing through a prism is a) red b) violet c) indigo d) yellow 239) The planet having the largest number of satellites amongst the following is a) Jupiter b) Saturn c) Uranus d) Mars 240) In the absence of his tone proteins in prokaryotes, the an ioinic charges of each inter nucleotide phosphate in DNA is neutralized by a) phospholipids b) polyamines c) polysaccharides d) glycelipids 241) Phagocytosis and pinocytosis are collectively termed as a) endocytosis b) suspension feeding c) omnivores d) mucous trap 242) Which one of the following is called pacemaker of the heart? a) SA node b) AV node c) Chordae tendinae d) AV septum 243) The life span of human WBCs is normally a) 12-13 days b) 80-90 days c) 100-120 days d) 20-30 days 244) Oxygenated bold is carried by a) pulmonary vein b) pulmonary artery c) hepatic portal vein d) renal vein 245) The reserve food in fungal cell is a) glucose b) fructose c) glycogen d) starch

246) Trypanosoma is a) bacteria b) fungus c) algae d) protozoa 247) Seeds are called the products of sexual reproduction due to a) it gives rise to new plants b) formation by fusion of pollen tubes c) it can survive for longer periods d) are formed by fusion of gametes 248) The most essential organ for fertilization is a) juicy fruit b) green sepals c) coloured petals d) mature ovule 249) BCG vaccine is used to protect a child from a) polio b) plague c) dengue d) tuberculosis 250) Bulliform cells are present in a) lower epidermis of monocot leaves b) upper epidermis of monocot leaves c) dicot stem d) upper epidermis of dicot leaves 251) Sebaceous glands are found in a) dermis of skin of mammals b) epithelium of intestine of frog c) epithelium of stomach of frog d) epidermis of skin mammals 252) One of the most resistant known biological material is a) lignin b) hemicelluloses c) sporopollenin d) lignocelluloses 253) Parthenogenesis is a type of a) sexual reproduction b) asexual reproduction c) budding d) regeneration 254) Which one of the following is not correct about cathode rays? a) They are deflected to the positive plate of electromagnetic field b) The nature of cathode rays does not depend upon the nature of gas taken in the discharge tube c) The nature of cathode rays depends upon the nature of gas taken in the discharge tube d) Cathode rays are made up of material particles 255) Cathode rays are produced when high electric voltage is applied to the gas held in a discharge tube at a pressure of about a) 10-3 atm b) 10-5 atm c) 1 atm d) 100 atm 256) The electronic configuration of chlorine with atomic number 17 is a) 2, 8, 7 b) 2, 9, 6 c) 2, 10, 7 d) 2, 9, 9 257) A divalent cation has 10 electrons and 12 neutrons. The atomic number and mass number of the elements are


a) 12, 24 b) 10, 12 c) 11, 25 d) 8, 12 258) Isotopes differ in the number of a) electrons b) protons c) neutrons d) nucleons 259) The only elements having no neutron is a) protium b) deuterium c) tritium d) All of these 260) -particle are a) double positive helium nucleus b) single positive helium nucleus c) neutral helium atom d) None of these 261) Neutron was discovered by a) J J Thomson b) James Chadwick c) Goldstein d) Rutherford 262) Man made synthetic fibre is a) wool b) rayon c) nylon d) cotton 263) Which one of the following statements is not correct? a) All metals are solid at room temperature b) All metals are good conductor of heat and electricity c) All metals from basic oxides d) All metals possess luster when freshly prepared 264) Among metals, the poorest conductor of heat is a) lead b) tin c) bismuth d) mercury 265) The correct order of electrical conductivity is a) Al > Au > Cu > Ag b) Cu > Ag > Al > Au c) Au > Ag > Al > Cu d) Ag > Cu > Au > Al 266) Beakers A, B and C contain zinc sulphate, silver nitrate and iron (II) sulphate solutions, respectively. copper pieces are added to each beaker. Blue colour will appear to in case of a) beaker A b) beaker B c) beaker C d) All the beakers 267) A particle is projected up with an initial velocity of 80 ft/s. The ball will attain height of 96 ft/s from the ground after a) 2.0 and 3.0 s b) Only at 3.0s c) Only at 2.0 s d) After 1 and 2 s 268) A stone is dropped into water from abridge 44.1 m above the water. Another stone is thrown vertically downward 1 s later. Both strike the water simultaneously. What was the initial speed of the second stone? a) 12.25 m/s a) 14.75 m/s c) 16.23 m/s d) 17.15 m/s 269) Which one of the following statements is wrong?

a) Sound travels in straight line b) Sound travels in the form of waves c) Sound is a form of energy d) Sound travels faster in vacuum than in air 270) A body is thrown vertically upwards with a velocity ս. Find the true statement from the following. a) Both velocity and acceleration are zero at its highest point b) Velocity is maximum and acceleration is zero at the highest point. c) Velocity is maximum and acceleration is of downwards at its highest point d) Velocity is zero at the higher point and maximum height

reached is g

u2

2

271) The process of respiration is concerned with a) liberation of oxygen b) liberation of carbon dioxide c) liberation of energy d) intake of oxygen 272) Cyanobacteria are a) bacteria b) virus c) algae d) fungi 273) Which one of the following statements is wrong? a) Voltmeter should have high resistance b) Ammeter should have low resistance c) Ammeter is placed in parallel d) Voltmeter is placed in parallel across the conductor in a circuit 274) A. The resistance of super conductor is zero. B. The super conductor are used for the transmission of electric power. a) A and B are true b) A and B are false c) A is true and B is false d) A is false and B is false 275) The resistivity of a wire a) increase with the length of the wire b) decreases with the area of cross-section c) decreases with the length and increases with the cross-section of a wire d) None of the above 276) Ohm’s law is true a) for gases at low temperature b) for metallic conductor c) for electrolytes when current passes through them d) for diode when current flows 277) Which of the following is not an endocrine gland? a) Salivary gland b) Pituitary gland c) Thyroid gland d) Adrenal gland 278) Two rods of same material and length have their electric resistance to ratio 1 : 2. When both rods are dipped in water, the correct statement will be


1) A has more loss of weight 2) B has more loss of weight 3) Both have same loss of weight 4) Loss of weight will be in the ratio 1 : 2 279) The temperature of the Sun is measure with a) platinum thermometer b) gas thermometer c) pyrometer d) vapour pressure thermometer 280) In case of uniform circular motion, which of the following physical quantity do not remain constant? a) Speed b) Momentum c) Kinetic energy d) Mass 281) Inertia is that property of a body by virtue of which the body is a) unable to change by itself the state, the rest b) unable to change by itself the state of uniform motion c) unable to change by itself the direction of motion d) unable to change by itself the state of rest and of uniform linear motion 282) A rider on horse back falls when horse starts running all of a sudden because a) rider is taken back b) rider is suddenly afraid of falling c) inertia of rest keeps the upper part of body at rest whereas lower part of the body moves forward with the horse d) None of the above 283) A person is standing in a elevator. In which situation, he finds his weight less than actual when a) the elevator moves upward with constant acceleration b) the elevator moves downward with constant acceleration c) the elevator moves upward with uniform velocity d) the elevator moves downward with uniform velocity 284) When the speed of a moving body is doubled a) its acceleration is doubled b) its momentum is doubled c) its kinetic energy is doubled d) its potential energy is doubled 285) Which of the following is not a chemical reaction? a) Souring of milk b) Rusting of iron c) Dissolution of sugar in water d) Digestion of food in our body 286) The physical state of water at 100°C is a) solid b) liquid c) gas d) plasma 287) Which of the following characteristics are associated with gaseous state? a) Definite shape, compressible, fixed volume b) Incompressible, fixed shape and size c) No fixed shape and size, highly compressible d) Fixed shape, incompressible, closely packed 288) A gas can be liquefied by a) lowering the temperature

b) increasing the temperature c) increasing the pressure d) increasing the pressure and lowering the temperature 289) The term ‘rancidity’ represents a) acid rain b) oxidation of fatty food c) rottening of fruit d) fading of coloured clothes in the sun 290) Evaporation of liquid occur at a) boiling point b) fixed temperature lower than the boiling point c) all temperature d) None of the above 291) The basic unit of a vertebrate kidney is the a) ureter b) nephron c) malpighian tubule d) islets of langerhans 292) Largest part of the brain of human being is called a) olfactory lobe b) cerebral hemisphere c) corpus callosum d) optic nerve 293) Which part of human brain is more developed in comparison to others? a) Cerebrum b) Cerebellum c) Optic lobes d) Medulla oblongata 294) Hearing is controlled by a) tyemporal lobes b) cerebrum c) hypothalamus d) parietal lobe 295) The two kidneys lie a) at the level of ovaries b) at the same level c) left kidney at a higher level than the right one d) right kidney at a higher level than the left one 296) Example of analogy is a) wings of bird and butterfly b) limbs of horse and man c) wings of bat d) None of the above 297) Removal of anthers from flowers is the process which is known as a) emasculation b) breeding c) manuring d) fallowing 298) Improved variety of paddy (rice) is a) Ranjit b) Sonalika c) Ganga 101 d) Pusa 215 299) Which one of the following crop doesn’t required more nitrogen fertilizers? a) Maize b) Paddy c) Clover (Berseem) d) Sugarcane 300) Which one is used for weeding? a) Insecticides b) Weedicides c) Herbicides d) Pesticides


ANSWER KEY Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. 1 B 2 D 3 A 4 B 5 A 6 D 7 B 8 B 9 C 10 C

11 A 12 C 13 A 14 B 15 A 16 B 17 C 18 B 19 A 20 A 21 A 22 A 23 A 24 D 25 B 26 B 27 C 28 D 29 A 30 B 31 B 32 A 33 B 34 D 35 B 36 A 37 B 38 C 39 A 40 A 41 C 42 B 43 A 44 C 45 A 46 B 47 D 48 D 49 A 50 C 51 B 52 A 53 D 54 B 55 B 56 A 57 C 58 A 59 B 60 C 61 B 62 B 63 B 64 C 65 C 66 D 67 B 68 C 69 C 70 D 71 B 72 D 73 A 74 A 75 B 76 D 77 B 78 D 79 B 80 C 81 A 82 A 83 A 84 B 85 C 86 B 87 C 88 B 89 D 90 A 91 C 92 C 93 B 94 C 95 B 96 D 97 C 98 B 99 C 100 B

101 A 102 A 103 A 104 B 105 D 106 B 107 D 108 C 109 A 110 B 111 B 112 C 113 B 114 C 115 C 116 D 117 C 118 B 119 A 120 B 121 C 122 A 123 D 124 C 125 D 126 B 127 D 128 A 129 B 130 C 131 B 132 A 133 B 134 B 135 B 136 A 137 D 138 D 139 C 140 B 141 C 142 A 143 C 144 C 145 C 146 C 147 D 148 A 149 B 150 B 151 A 152 B 153 A 154 B 155 C 156 A 157 A 158 B 159 C 160 D 161 B 162 A 163 B 164 A 165 C 166 D 167 B 168 C 169 B 170 D 171 A 172 C 173 C 174 C 175 C 176 B 177 A 178 B 179 D 180 A

181 C 182 C 183 B 184 B 185 C 186 C 187 A 188 B 189 B 190 D 191 D 192 D 193 A 194 A 195 A 196 C 197 A 198 D 199 B 200 B 201 B 202 A 203 A 204 D 205 B 206 D 207 C 208 B 209 B 210 D 211 A 212 A 213 A 214 A 215 A 216 B 217 A 218 B 219 D 220 D 221 D 222 A 223 C 224 A 225 C 226 A 227 C 228 A 229 A 230 A 231 A 232 B 233 A 234 B 235 B 236 A 237 C 238 B 239 B 240 B 241 A 242 A 243 A 244 A 245 C 246 D 247 D 248 D 249 D 250 A 251 A 252 C 253 B 254 C 255 A 256 A 257 A 258 C 259 A 260 A 261 B 262 C 263 A 264 A 265 D 266 B 267 A 268 A 269 D 270 D 271 D 272 C 273 C 274 C 275 D 276 B 277 A 278 C 279 C 280 B 281 D 282 C 283 B 284 B 285 C 286 C 287 C 288 D 289 B 290 C 291 B 292 B 293 A 294 C 295 C 296 A 297 A 298 B 299 C 300 B


Latest G.K . Bullets

SEPTEMBER – 2014 1) Padma Bhushan awardee Bipan Chandra was a

authority on economic and political ______ of India: History

2) Sathiraju Lakshminarayana, Veteran Telugu film director, artist and cartoonist who passed away recently, was popularly known as ________: Bapu

3) Name the eminent jurist who has been appointed Governor of Kerala: P. Sathasivam

4) BWF World Badminton Championship was held at which place: Copenhagen, Denmark

5) Chen Long who won the men’s singles title at BWF World Badminton Championship, is from which country: China

6) Women’s singles title at BWF World Badminton Championship was won by_______: Carolina Marin

7) Name the badminton player of India who won the bronze medal in women’s single title at BWF World Badminton Championships: PV Sindhu

8) The famous international Nalanda University has been established at which place: Rajgir, Bihar

9) Who is the chairman of the governing body of the Nalanda University: Prof. Amartya Sen

10) Prof. Amartya Sen is an eminent scholar of which field: Economics

11) Nabard has initiated a project on Core Banking Solutions - CBS for which type of banks: Cooperative Banks

12) Name the legendary Telugu actor who passed away in January 2014: Akkineni Nageswara Rao

13) For what reasons Akkineni Nageswara Rao, legendary Telugu actor was in news recently: U.S. Post Service has issued a stamp in his honour

14) ‘Odyssey of My Life’ is the autobiography of which prominent political figure: Shivraj Patil

15) Japan has promised to provide all possible support to introduce the bullet train, along the Ahmedabad-Mumbai route. What is its Japanese name: Shinkansen

16) With which Japanese city India has signed a partnership agreement for development of Varanasi: Kyoto

17) What is the popular nick name for the Japanese city Kyoto: City of Thousand shrines

18) Prime minister of India recently visited Japan to meet _________, Prime Minister of Japan: Shinzo Abe

19) The parliament of Japan is named as ______: Diet 20) Name the world champion iconic sprinter who

recently visited India: Usain Bolt 21) Govt has setup Prof. B. N. Goldar committee for

what purpose: To develop the Producer Price Index

22) Which committee has been setup by the govt. to develop a new inflation index- Producer Price Index to replace Wholesale Price Index: B. N. Goldar Committee

23) What is the purpose of Producer Price Index: To measure inflation

24) The proposed Producer Price Index aims to replace which existing index: Whole Sale Price Index

25) What is the most prominent feature of the proposed Producer Price Index: To cover services sector also

26) Name the former Attorney-General of India who passed away recently: G. E. Vahanvati

27) Name the new generation Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel that has joined Indian Navy recently: INS Sumitra

28) Which country has unveiled a new surface-to-air missile - Talash-3: Iran

29) What is the name of the autobiography of the Sachin Tendulkar: Playing It My Way

30) In terms of global competitiveness, India ranks ________ in world: 71st

31) ____________ is the number one country in the world in terms of global competiveness: Switzerland

32) Name the South African fast bowler, oldest surviving Test cricketer who passed away recently at the age of 103 years: Norman Gordon

33) What is the special thing about Yashwardhan Shukla, author of the book ‘Gods of Antractica’: He is 13 year old school boy

34) The Chabad House in Mumbai that reopened nearly six years after the 26/11 terror attack in November 2008 is a sacred ___________ of the Jews: Synagogue

35) Justice H.L. Dattu is the _______Chief Justice of India: 42nd

36) The historical Omari Mosque that was destroyed in the recent Israel-Gaza conflict, was in which country: Gaza

37) With which country India has signed a Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) to ensure zero border killings: Bangladesh

38) Recently President released a set of eight


commemorative postage stamps on great Indian_________: Musicians

39) National Nutrition Week is celebrated every year from ______September to the ______September: 1st, 7th

40) What is the theme of the National Nutrition Week 2014: Poshak Ahaar, Desh Ka Adhaar

41) Who is the head of the committee setup to examine the un-claimed amount in PPF, Post Office and Savings Schemes: HR Khan

42) Name the Australian Prime Minister who came to India on a two day visit: Tony Abbott

43) Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has announced that _______ will be the new capital of Andhra Pradesh: Vijayawada

44) MS Dhoni has become the most successful Indian ODI captain with ________ wins to his career: 91

45) Joan Rivers, 81-year-old noted lady comedian and TV host who passed away recently was from which country: United State of America

46) India signed a landmark civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Australia on 5th September to ensure supply of ________ for peaceful purposes: Uranium

47) Prime Minister of which country recently returned two precious ancient idols of Hindu deities to India which were allegedly stolen from temples in Tamil Nadu: Australia

48) The Supreme Court has directed that all ________ prisoners who have been in the prison for a period more than half of the jail term prescribed for the offences they had been arrested, should be released on bail immediately: Under trial

49) According to recent data from CSO, ____________outpaced all the major states to top the economic growth charts with a scorching 11 per cent growth in 2013-14: Madhya Pradesh

50) In the recent rescue operations in J & K, hundreds of NDRF personnel worked round the clock to rescue thousands of marooned persons. What is the full form of NDRF: National Disaster Relief Force

51) Which major river of J & K caused heavy damage due to floods in the State: Jhelum

52) What is the name of the award for best film at the Venice Film Festival: Golden Lion

53) Name the Swedish film directed by Roy Anderson that won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival: A Pigeon Sat on a Branch While Reflecting on Existence

54) Name the film directed by Indian writer-director Chaitanya Tamhane that won award for best debut feature film at the Venice Film Festival: Court

55) Name the tennis star who won men’s single titles at the US open tennis: Marin Cilic

56) Marin Cilic, winner of US open 2014 is from which country: Croatia

57) Name the first ever male Asian player to play in the finals of US Open Lawn Tennis Championship: Kei

Nishnikori 58) Marin Cilic defeated Japan's ________to win men’s

singles title at US open: Kei Nishikori 59) Women’s singles title at the US open tennis

championship was won by_________: Serena Williams

60) Sania Mirza won which title at the US open tennis championship: Mixed doubles q

61) Midori Prize in Biodiversity is given in which country: Japan

62) Midori Prize in Biodiversity is given for what purpose: For outstanding contributions to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity

63) Which Indian scientist and ecologist has won Midori Prize in Biodiversity for his research on climate change in the Himalayas: Kamal Bawa

64) Name the author of the book ‘The Lives of Others’: Neel Mukherjee

65) The book ‘The Lives of Others’ by Neel Mukherjee was in news for what reasons: it has been shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize 2014

66) Booker prize for literature are given in which country: England

67) RBI has fixed _______years as the upper age limit for managing directors (MDs) and chief executive officers (CEOs) and other whole-time director of banks in the private sector: 70

68) Which Union Minister recently visited Afghanistan to meet President and to review key projects there: Sushma Swaraj

69) India has signed the _________ (FTA) in services and investments with 10 ASEAN countries: Free Trade Agreement

70) Which country launched two satellites - Yaogan-21 and Tiantuo-1 to relay information on natural resources, disaster management: China

71) With which neighbouring country India signed a MoU on cooperation in the field of traditional systems of medicine and homeopathy: Bangladesh

72) China has assured cooperation for setting up a automobile manufacturing industrial park at which place in India: Pune

73) Under which Indian law, Govt. of India is the sole authority to print Rupee one currency note: Coinage Act, 2011

74) RBI is authorized to issue currency notes upto which highest denomination:10,000

75) Govt. of India is empowered to issue coins upto which highest denomination: Rs. 1,000

76) Who has been appointed as head of the Expenditure Management Commission: Bimal Jalan

77) What is the purpose of setting up of Expenditure Management Commission: for suggesting ways to improve fiscal discipline

78) ‘Pehli Udaan’ and ‘Pehal Kadam’ are the names for which item: Savings account for minors


79) Which bank has started savings account for minors by the name ‘Pehli Udaan’ and ‘Pehal Kadam’: State Bank of India

80) Which bank has started cardless cash withdrawal facility from its ATMs: ICICI Bank

81) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the sale of stakes in how many PSUs: Three – ONGC, NHPC and CIL

82) 60th National School Games in six sporting disciplines will be held in November in which State: Punjab

83) DRDO successfully test-fired indigenously developed Agni-I - nuclear-capable missile recently. It is what type of missile: Surface-To-Surface

84) India’s first coral garden is proposed to be developed in which State: Gujarat

85) Which public sector bank has declared the Kingfisher Airlines as the ‘willful defaulter’: United Bank of India

86) Which State has launched the renovation and beautification work of the birthplace of famous author, journalist and critic George Orwell: Bihar

87) Bhartendu Harishchandra Awards are given by Union Ministry for Information & Broadcasting for what purpose: For original writing in Hindi Indian authors on subjects like Journalism and Mass Communication, National Integration, Women’s Issues and Children’s Literature

88) Govt has launched the Reefer Vehicle Call-in-Centre (RVC) for what purpose: For smooth transportation of perishable goods

89) Name the prominent Bangladeshi Nazrul Sangeet singer who passed away recently: Firoza Begum

90) Who is India’s noted snooker and billiards champion to announce his retirement from the professional snooker: Pankaj Advani

91) With which country India has signed an agreement for cooperation in the field of skill development, solid waste management and cleaning of rivers: Germany

92) Scientists have warned that millions of lives could be at risk because of the threat to food crops in ‘Fertile Crescent’. Where is this area: Middle East Asia

93) H. Devraj Committee has been setup for what purpose: To examine working of 'C' category deemed universities

94) Which State has declared 9 September as Himalaya Diwas to spread the message of conservation of the Himalayan ecosystems: Uttarakhand

95) Saakshar Bharat Awards are given on which date: Sep. 8 International Literacy Day

96) Saakshar Bharat Awards are given for what purpose: For the best performance in the field of adult education

97) Saakshar Bharat Awards are given by which Union Ministry: Human Resource Development

98) North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Summit

2014 was held in which place: Wales, U.K. 99) ‘Wales Resolution’ is the name given to the

resolutions adopted at the recent summit of which international organization: NATO

100) Chitresh Tatha, a 12 year old boy is representing India at the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon, South Korea in which sports: Optimist Dinghy Race

101) General elections for electing Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) have been declared for how many states: Two (Haryana and Maharashtra)

102) Davis Cup Commitment Award is given for which category of Tennis player: Those who have competed in at least 20 ties

103) Name the winner of the Davis Cup Commitment award 2014: Rohan Bopanna

104) Country’s first 'Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve' (CDBR) is to be developed in which place: Spiti in Himachal Pradesh

105) President Pranab Mukherjee made a four-day state visit to Vietnam and met his counterpart __________: Truong Tan Sang

106) What is the currency of Vietnam: Dong 107) _______ is the capital of Vietnam: Hanoi 108) Which public sector organization is celebrating 55

years of its service: Doordarshan 109) First experimental centre of Doordarshan was

established at which place: Delhi 110) Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold championship is

for which sports: Badminton 111) The Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold

championship – 2014 was held at which place: Palembang, Indonesia

112) Name the winner of the Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold championship – 2014: S Prannoy, India

113) FILA Senior World Wrestling Championship held in_________, Uzbekistan: Tashkent

114) Name the eminent scientist who has been named to head an expert panel to recommend best technologies for the "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”: R A Mashelkar

115) Which country is helping India to set up 10 centres of excellence to raise agriculture output and introduce modern farm technologies: Netherlands

116) Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL) has inked a pact with ___________ for services related to electronic toll collection: Axis Bank and ICICI Bank

117) Which committee recommended idea of universal bank accounts that is bank account for every individual: Nachiket Mor

118) Name the China’s President who recently visited India: Xi Jinping

119) On which railway corridor China has assured technological support for achieving speed of 160 kmph: Chennai – Bangalore – Mysore

120) Which Chinese city has signed a “sister city” agreement with Ahmedabad: Guangzhou

121) China has agreed to opening of a new route to


Kailash Mansarovar via _________ in Sikkim: Nathu La

122) Which type of power projects are categorized as Ultra Megha Power Project: Which generate more than 4000 MW or above electricity

123) Guangdong province of China has agreed to become partner in cultural and social ties with which State of India: Gujarat

124) What is the name of currency of China: Renminbi (Yuan)

125) _______ is the capital of China: Beijing 126) The world’s highest and toughest marathon held at

3,524 meter (11,562 feet) altitude is held at which place: Leh, J & K

127) Who has been appointed as the new Chairperson of the National Commission for Women: Lalitha Kumaramangalam

128) Who has been appointed Chairman, Quality Council of India: Adil Zainulbhai

129) 6th meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) for Home Ministers held on September 19 at which place: Kathmandu

130) Manoj Kumar a 2010 CWG boxing gold-medalist was in news for what reasons: He has been given Arjun Award on Delhi High Court orders

131) 51st Shooting World Championship was held at which place: Granada, Spain

132) 20th Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships was held at_______ : Mumbai

133) Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (RPBD) to be held from October 16 to 18 will be hosted by which city: London

134) A joint 14 days military exercise between the armed forces of America and India was held at which place: Ranikhet in Almora district of Uttrakhand

135) What is the name given to the Joint Army Exercise between armed forces of American and India being held at Ranikhet, Uttarakhand: Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2014

136) Govt. has launched India Newborn Action Plan for what purpose: To achieve the single digit neonatal mortality and stillbirth rate by 2030

137) The 45th IFFI will be held from 20 to 30 November, 20 14 at which place: Goa

138) IFFI stands for: International Film Festival of India

139) Which city has been declared as the permanent venue for the International Film Festival of India (IFFI): Goa

140) Who has been appointed as new ambassador of China in India: Le Yucheng

141) Name the Indo-American appointed by USA as its next ambassador to India: Richard Rahul Verma

142) And then One Day: A Memoir is the autobiography of which noted film artist: Naseeruddin Shah

143) The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 was won by which country: USA

144) The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 was held at which place: Madrid, Spain

145) The Supreme Court has directed Central Government to ensure ______ percent quota for disabled persons in all government jobs, including IAS and promotions: Three

146) Players of which sports have recently been allowed to wear religious head coverings, such as hijabs or turbans by Sikhs, on a trial basis: Basketball

147) Sportspersons of which game have now been allowed to participate in Asian Games under Indian flag: Boxing

148) The Asian games been held in Incheon, South Korea are which number in series: 17th

149) Name the sports person who was the flag bearer of the Indian contingent in the Asian Games: Sardara Singh

150) Who is Sardara Singh, the flag bearer of the Indian contingent in the Asian Games: Captain of Indian Hockey Team

151) Mandolin U. Shrinivas, eminent Carnatic music exponent from Andhra Pradesh who passed away recently was famous for what reasons: His expert use of mandolin, a western instrument, in Carnatic music

152) Name the international NGO that has agreed to promote user friendly toilets to improve sanitation system in India under Swachchh Bharat Mission: Bill and Milinda Gates Foundation

153) All India Radio has started free SMS service to provide news in how many languages: Five

154) Recognising the importance of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to USA, the US Senate has designated September 30 as ________ day: US-India Partnership Day

155) Which country voted in a referendum to continue with UK: Scotland

156) The United Kingdom is a union of how many countries: Four

157) Which are the four countries comprising the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, North Ireland and Wales

158) Alok Shetty the 28 year old has been named ‘Young Leader of Tomorrow’ by Time magazine for his pioneering work in designing affordable flood-proof houses for slum dwellers. He is from which field: Architecture

159) Name the India’s pistol-shooter who won India's first gold in the 50m event at Asian Games: Jitu Rai

160) Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank) and China Development Bank Corporation have signed agreements with which Indian banks to facilitate trade between the two countries: SBI, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank

161) Name the bank which accounted for half of the total number of banking transactions done through mobile phone in June,2014: State Bank of India


162) Who is Jack Ma, whose company recently created the world record for largest IPO, amassing around $25 billion from the investors: Chinese founder and promoter of world’s largest online shopping portal – Alibaba

163) John Key has been elected as new Prime Minister of which country: New Zealand

164) Name the World Chess Championship recently won by Viswanathan Anand: Bilbao Chess Masters

165) Bilbao Chess Masters Finals were held at which place: Bilbao, Spain

166) Summer Youth Olympic Games 2014 were held at which place: Nanjing, China

167) Ashraf Ghani has been appointed new President of which country: Afghanistan

168) Sania Mirza recently won the women’s double title in which championship at Tokyo, Japan: WTA Toray Pacific Open

169) U N summit on climate change was held at which place: New York, USA

170) India’s first National Academy of Athletics has been established at which place: Kariavattom near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

171) Apart from India, how many other international space agencies have been successful in sending a spacecraft Mars: Three

172) Which Indian film has been selected as India’s entry for the Oscar Awards in the foreign film category: Liar’s Dice

173) The UN climate summit 2014 was held at which place: New York

174) RBI has formed G Gopalakrishna Committee to give recommendations on which matter: Capacity building in banks and streamlining training intervention

175) __________ appointed as the head coach of the Sri Lankan cricket team: Marvan Atapattu

176) Which city shall be hosting ICC World Cricket League Division 3: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

177) Noted Hindi novelist Govind Mishra has been honoured with which prize: Saraswati Samman

178) What is the title of the book by Govind Mishra for which he has been awarded Sarswati Samman: Dhool Paudhon Par

179) Which international Chinese tennis star has announced her retirement from the sports: Li Na

180) Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana has been launched for what purpose: To impart skills to rural and urban poor

181) What is the new name for Aajeevika Skills Programme aimed at providing skill development to Rural Youth: Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gramin Kaushalya Yojana

182) Under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gramin Kaushalya Yojana the minimum entry age for imparting skill to rural youth has been reduced from 18 years to ______: 15 Years

183) What is the aim of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gramin

Kaushalya Yojana: To train 10 lacs rural youth by the end of 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017)

184) What is the objective of recently launched “Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana”: For skill development of rural youth

185) India’s first National Sports University is going to be setup in which State: Manipur

186) Name the surface to surface missile recently tested by Pakistan: Hatf IX

187) _______ and _______ has been named as SAARC cultural capital for a year beginning April 2015 and 2016-17 respectively: Bamiyan and Dhaka

188) The year _________ has been declared as the SAARC Year of Cultural Heritage: 2016-17

189) Which country has decided to sell cigarettes in plain packets to discourage smoking: France

190) Name the industrialist who is the 2nd richest billionaire of India: Dilip Shanghvi

191) Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has raised the outlook on India’s sovereign rating from negative to _________: Stable

192) Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards are given for excellence in which field: Science & Technology

193) Name the programme launched by Govt. of India for making India as future manufacturing hub: Make in India

194) How many thrust sectors have been identified under the Make in India campaign: 25

195) The Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the _____ session of United Nations General Assembly in New York: 69th

196) The six major world powers held the 7th round of nuclear talks with which countries: Iran

197) Which state capital has recently started the work on having a metro rail service: Lucknow

198) Name the State that has recently been put under presidents rule: Maharashtra

199) Mount Ontake that erupted suddenly, killing over 36 persons is located in which country: Japan

200) Jitu Rai won India’s first Gold Medal in Asiad 2014 in which sports: Pistol Shooting

201) In which two events, Indian men’s team won the gold medal in Asiad 2014: Archery and Squash

202) Name the Indian wrestler who ended a 28-year drought for gold in wrestling by winning gold at Asiad 2014: Yogeshwar Dutt

203) _________ won the country’s first-ever silver in the women’s 20 kms race walk in Asiad: Khushbir Kaur

204) Saurav Ghoshal won silver in individual _______ event at Asiad 2014: Squash

205) Who has been named as the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu: O Panneerselvam

206) Name the American venue where Prime Minister Modi addressed a gathering of over 18,000 persons: Madison Square Garden, New York

207) _________ is the West Asia’s largest consumer IT and electronics retail show: GITEX Shopper,


Dubai 208) The Prime Minister has assured merger of schemes

for PIOs and OICs. What is the full form of PIOs and OICs: Persons of Indian Origin, Overseas Indian Citizens

209) Global Competiveness report is published by which organization: World Economic Forum (Switzerland)

210) Global Gender Gap Report is published by which organization: World Economic Forum (Switzerland)

211) Which committee has recommended Vijayawada as capital of Andhra Pradesh: The Sivaramakrishnan Committee

212) Name the programme launched by Indian Army to rescue thousands of maroon persons in floods of Jammu & Kashmir: Operation Megh Rahat

213) In which country the city of Bamiyan is located: Afghanistan

214) For what reasons is Bamiyan an important city: It had world’s tallest Buddha Statue which were destroyed by Taliban in 2001.

215) In which city is the Headquarter of United Nations situated: New York

216) Who is the President of United Nations General Assembly: John William Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda

217) Which day has been declared by US Senate to be designated as US-India partnership day: September 30

218) Sarasawati Samman is promoted by which foundation: K.K. Birla Foundation

219) What is the award amount for the winners of Saraswati Samman: Rs. 10 lacs

220) What is the prize money for the winners of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award: Rs. 5 lakh, a citation and a plaque

AUGUST – 2014 221) John Kerry who visited India recently is the Foreign

Minister of which country: USA 222) Foreign Minister of USA is officially designated as

___________ in USA: Secretary of State 223) Name the village near Pune, Maharashtra that was

almost swept away in a massive mud slide: Malin Village

224) Name the famous Eminent Hindi litterateur and novelist from Bihar who passed away recently: Madhukar Singh

225) Name the exploration rover of NASA that created a record of travelling maximum distance on Mars: Opportunity

226) Govt has launched a nationwide scheme by the name _____________to promote conservation and development of indigenous breeds of cows in a focused and scientific manner: Rashtriya Gokul Mission

227) Name the German player who created a world

record of fastest serve in the women’s tennis by serving at 131 miles per hour: Sabine Lisicki

228) Recently the Nagoya Protocol was ratified by 51 countries. What is the objective of this protocol: Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits of genetic resources

229) What is the total number of total medals won by the India in 20th Commonwealth Games: 64

230) India won 64 medals at the Commonwealth Games 2014. Of this how many were gold medals: 15

231) Name the country that won highest number of medals at the Commonwealth Games 2014: England

232) England top the Commonwealth Games by capturing __________ medals: 174

233) Parupalli Kashyap became the first Indian male player in 32 years to win a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in which sports: Badminton

234) Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal won the doubles gold medal in Commonwealth Games in which game: Squash

235) Name the Canadian gymnast who was awarded the David Dixon Award for the best athlete of the Games: Frankie Jones

236) K.V. Chawdary has been appointed chairman of which important central govt. office: Central Board of Direct Taxes

237) Country’s first multi-sensor moored observatory IndARC was successfully deployed in Kongsfjorden Fjord in which region of the world: Arctic Region

238) 22nd Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavna Award has been awarded to which personality: Muzaffar Ali

239) Muzaffar Ali, winner of 22nd Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavna Award is a prominent person from which field: Cinema, Film maker

240) The deadly EBOLA virus has claimed hundreds of lives in Africa. What is the full form of EBOLA: No full form, it is the name of virus

241) Name African region where Liberia, Guinea and Siera Leone countries have been attacked by Ebola virus: West Africa

242) In which country, the Ebola virus was first discovered nearly four decades ago: Congo

243) The book “The Boys in the boat” has been written by which author: Daniel James Brown

244) What is the name of the Latest novel written by Chetan Bhagat: Half Girlfriend

245) Modi suggested “HIT” formula for Nepal’s development. Expand the acronym HIT: Highways, I-ways and Transways

246) India to construct a pipeline for supply of _______ from Raxual in Bihar to Amlekhganj in Nepal: Petroleum products

247) Name the recently appointed new Deputy Governor of the RBI: S S Mundra

248) S S Mundra, has been appointed Deputy Governor of RBI for _________ years: Three

249) Name the agreement that was objected to by India


at the recent WTO meet: Trade Facilitation Agreement

250) In which State of India, world highest piller railway bridge is being constructed: Manipur

251) “Pinkathon Delhi 2014” - a run for cause was organised in Delhi with the slogan "Each One, Kheench One" urging all men to encourage at least one special woman in their life to run for a good cause. What was this cause: Spreading awareness about breast cancer

252) RBI has reduced the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) of scheduled commercial banks by 50 basis points. What is the present rate of SLR: 22%

253) Reduction of SLR by 50 basis points is expected to release Rs. _________ crore of Banks funds: 40,000

254) Name the number one ranking golfer of the world who won the elite World Golf Championships held at Akron, USA: Rory Mcllroy

255) World’s No. 1 golfer Rory Mcllroy is from which country: Ireland

256) Longtoushan, a town in Ludian county of Yunnan province of China was in news for what reasons: It was hit by a severe earthquake

257) Name the eminent Indian cartoonist famous for his popular comic characters, who passed away: Pran Kumar Sharma

258) Name the popular comic characters created by late cartoonist Pran: Chacha Chaudury and Sabu

259) Which Indian bank won the Core Banking System Imitative Award 2014 at Singapore: Bharatiya Mahila Bank Ltd.

260) Governor of which Indian State was recently sacked by the President for her alleged irregularities: Mizoram

261) As per recent estimates from RBI, the projected GDP growth rate for year 2014-15, is around _________ per cent: 5.5

262) The Union Cabinet has cleared a historic, all new juvenile justice law under which _________year olds who commit heinous offences such as rapes and robberies can be tried as adults: 16 to 18

263) Govt. has allowed __________ per cent FDI in defence sector: 49%

264) Nikhil Chandwani who recently won the “Author of the year” award in USA is also known for his works in which other fields: Documentary Films

265) Name the US Defence Secretary who visited India recently: Chuck Hagel

266) What is the name of the recently released controversial book by Natwar Singh: One Life is not Enough

267) The World Kabaddi League started in _________ on August 9: London

268) What is the objective of the proposed Bharat Bill Payment System: Centralised payment of various types of bills

269) 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN)

Foreign Ministers meeting held at which place: Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar

270) The Reserve Bank has approved the transfer of surplus (profit) amounting to Rs 526.79 billion for the year ended June 30, 2014 to__________. Government of India

271) Name the space ship that created a world record of travelling longest ever distance of 6.4 billion kms since its launch in March 2004: Rosetta

272) The space ship Rosetta that created world record for longest distance covered was launched by which space agency: European Space Agency

273) What is the brand name of the new joint venture airline of the Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines: Vistara

274) UAE has become the first gulf country to install reverse vending machines. What is the purpose of these machines: To collect domestic light bulbs and batteries for recycling

275) Haider Al-Abadi has been named as Prime Minister of which country: Iraq

276) Who has been elected as Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha: M. Thambidurai

277) The recent Archery World Cup was held at Wroclaw. It is in which country: Poland

278) Indian women’s archery team led by ___________ won the gold medal in recurve category: Deepika Kumari `

279) Robin Williams who recently died of suspected suicide was a famous __________ of USA: Comedy Actor

280) For which State government announced Central assistance of Rs. 8,000 crore for four major road projects connecting it with rest of the country: Jammu & Kashmir

281) What is the name of the new bill passed by the Parliament to scrap the collegium system of appointing Supreme Court and high court judges: National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014

282) To give national judicial appointments commission a constitutional status, __________ Constitution Amendment Bill was also passed: 99th

283) Which award for popularly known as Nobel Prize of Mathematics: Fields Medal

284) Name the Indian Mathematician who won the recent filed medal: Manjul Bhargava

285) Name the first women to win the Fields Medal in Mathematics: Maryam Mizakhani

286) Govt has approved the constitution of the Expenditure Management Commission to be headed by which person: Bimal Jalan

287) What is the purpose of setting up Expenditure Management Commission: To suggest ways to reduce subsidies on food, fertilizer and oil

288) Name the army officer who was decorated with Ashok Chakra – the highest peace time gallantry award of the country: Major Mukund Vardarajan

289) What is the name of the award for the best film at


the famous Locarno International Film Festival: PARDO d’ORO (Golden Leopard)`

290) The famous Locarno International Film Festival is held in which country: Switzerland

291) Who is the new Chairperson Union Public Service Commission: Rajni Razdan

292) What is the formal name of the scheme launched to provide a bank account to every Indian: Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna

293) Under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna, every new bank account opener will also get a life insurance cover of __________ lakh rupees: One

294) As per new RBI guidelines, banks are required to provide their savings bank account holders with at least ________free transactions per month at their own ATMs.: Five

295) The number of free transactions on ATMs set up by other banks had been reduced to_________, from five earlier, in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad: Three

296) Name the JD(U) leader who has been selected for Outstanding Parliamentarian Award 2012: Sharad Yadav

297) Recently, a large number of countries around the world organized various functions to commemorate 100 years of which major international event: World War 1

298) World War I, also called The Great War, took place in and around Europe from July ______to November _________: 1914, 1918

299) Which place of Nepal was in news as a massive land slide near Mankha on 2 August 2014 blocked the Sunkoshi River and caused maasive damage to local settlements, claiming at least 156 lives: Sindhupalchok

300) Which country recently unveiled its next generation Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Dongfeng – 41 (DF-41): China

301) In which Indian State started the The 20-day Nanda Devi Raj Jat yatra also called the ‘Himalayan Kumbh,’: Uttarakhand

302) BKS Iyengar, 96 year old Padmavibhushan Awardee who passed away recently was a world famous Guru in which field: Yoga

303) A Hindu temple - Shree Swaminarayan Mandir, claimed to be the world's first 'eco-temple' featuring solar panels and a rainwater harvesting system, has been opened in which place: London, UK

304) Among Northeastern States, ________ has been the first choice of foreign tourist in 2013: Sikkim

305) Name the human rights activist and former journalist of Imphal who has been protesting against AFSPA since November 2000: Irom Sharmila Chanu

306) What is the full form of AFSPA: Armed Forces Special Powers Act

307) General Prayuth Chan-ocha has been proclaimed as Prime Minister of which country: Thailand

308) Which neighbouring country of India has decided to join the newly form BRICS bank: Bangladesh

309) Who has been appointed as the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament: K. V. Thomas

310) Name the CMD of Indian Bank who has been elected as Chairman of the Indian Banks Association for 2014-15: T M BHASIN

311) Youth Olympic games 2014 were held at which place: Nanjing, China

312) Name the Jnanpith awardee and renowned novelist and story writer, who passed away recently: U R Ananthamurthy

313) U R Ananthamurthy was renowned novelist and story writer of which language: Kannada

314) Sushma Swaraj, the External Affairs Minister recently visited which country to promote country’s Look East Policy: Vietnam

315) Governor of which State recently quite his office to protest his transfer to Mizoram: Maharashtra

316) Which sprint superstar set a new best time record of 9.98 second for the rarely run 100 meter indoors race: : Usain Bolt

317) The sprint superstar Usain Bolt is from which country: Jamaica

318) Which online shopping portal has signed a MoU with Union Textile Ministry to provide online marketing platform to handloom weavers all over India: Flipkart

319) Noted film maker and actor Richard Attenborough who passed away recently, hailed from which country: Britain

320) Name the super hit biopic, winner of 8 Oscars, directed by Richard Attenborough: Gandhi

321) Which animal has been selected as mascot for the forthcoming Asian Games: Harbor Seals

322) The forthcoming Asian Games are which number in series: 17th

323) Name the city that is hosting the 17th Asian Games: Incheon

324) Incheon city is located in which country: South Korea

325) Governor of Kerala, Ms. Sheila Dikshit was in news for what reasons: She resigned from governorship

326) BJP veteran Kalyan Singh has been appointed Governor of which State: Rajasthan

327) Who has been appointed as the new governor of Maharashtra: C Vidyasagar Rao

328) Vajubhai Vala, a senior BJP leader from Gujarat has been made Governor of which State: Karnataka

329) Deputy Prime Minister of which country recently visited India to promote mutual economic and social ties: United Kingdom

330) Name the Deputy Prime Minister of UK who recently visited India: Nick Clegg

331) Who is the Prime Minister of United Kingdom: David Cameron


332) What is the official name of the currency of United Kingdom: UK Pound

333) With which country India conducted its first ever joint Air Force exercise: Russia

334) What is the name of the joint Air Force exercise conducted with Russia: Avia Indra-2014

335) Avia Indra-2014 is being conducted in ________ region located North of the Caspian Sea: Astrakhan

336) Of the total 943 million telephone users of India, roughly _____ per cent are from urban area: 60%

337) On which route India’s first sea plane service has been launched: Mumbai-Lonavala

338) What is the title of the recent book launched by Vinod Rai, former CAG of India: Not just an Accountant

339) Ahmet Davutoglu has been appointed Prime Minister of which country: Turkey

340) India’s first Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) has been established at which place: Shibpur, West Bengal

341) Prime Minister of India recently visited which East Asian country: Japan

342) Which international organization has called for a ban on the use of e-cigarettes indoors and its sale to children: World Health Organization

343) BWF World Badminton Championship was held in which country: Denmark (Copenhagen)

344) Indian domain names now can make their names with extension _______ in Devnagri Script: .Bharat

345) The 2018 Commonwealth Games will be hosted by which country: Australia

346) V K Duggal recently resigned as Governor of which State: Manipur

347) Which international organization has appointed Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador for it project “Turn Back Crime”: Interpol

348) Govt. has setup R. Ramanujam Committee for what purpose: To identify obsolete laws

349) The popular “Ice Bucket Challenge” is aimed at collected charity to fight which decease: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

350) Under Pradhanmantri Jan Dhan Yojana, the account holders will also be provided Rs. _________ accident cover insurance: One lac

351) Persons opening account under PM Jan Dhan Yojana by 26th January 2015 will get Rs. _________ life insurance cover: 30,000

352) If account under PM Jan Dhan Yojana is run satisfactorily for at least six months, the account holder will be allowed to have Rs. _________ as overdraft limit: 5,000

353) Accounts holder under PM Jan Dhan Yojana will be issued which type of debit cards: Rupay

354) Govt plans to open _________ crore bank accounts under PM Jan Dhan Yojana by 26th January, 2015: 7.5

355) Govt. targets to open __________ crore bank accounts under PM Jan Dhan Yojana by 15th August, 2018: 15

JULY – 2014 356) Which country recently signed an Association

Agreement with the European Union: Ukraine 357) Saina Nehwal lifted her first Super Series title in last

two years. Name this championship: Star Australian Open

358) Name the Indian player who won his 9th world title in snooker: Pankaj Adavani

359) Govt. has fixed Rs. ___________ per quintal as the minimum support price for the winter paddy crop: 1360

360) Who has been elected as President of the European Commission: Jean-Claude Juncker

361) ISRO recently launched how many satellites all together onboard its launch vehicle PSLV-C23: Five

362) The recently launched five foreign satellite by ISRO were from how many countries: Four

363) Name the four countries whose satellites were recently launched by ISRO: Germany-2, France, Canada, Singapore

364) With which country India has jointly released the first encyclopedia on their age-old cultural contacts, tracing back their history to over 2,000 years: China

365) Who was the famous Chinese traveller who visited India in the seventh century to bring Buddhist scriptures to China: Huen Tsang

366) Who is Akhouri Sinha in whose honour the USA has named a mountain in Antarctica: Eminent Indian-American scientist

367) With which country India has signed and MoU to allow their companies to invest in industrial parks and zones in India: China

368) American space agency NASA has successfully launched a satellite -Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) for what purpose: To track atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

369) International rating agency Fitch has improved India's economic growth forecast to _______ per cent this financial year: 5.5

370) RBI plans to swap some of the old gold lying in its _________vault since pre-Independence times — and whose quality is not exactly top grade — with purer gold: Nagpur

371) RBI plans to swap some of the old gold lying with it and the gold acquired in lieu of this would be kept at which place: Bank of England, London

372) India and the US have agreed to implement FATCA, a US law that targets tax non-compliance by US taxpayers with foreign accounts. What is FATCA: Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act

373) The ADB has approved a multi-tranche loan facility of $300 million to Assam for what purpose: To improve power sector


374) The govt. plans to merge two insurance scheme and one pension scheme to enable senior citizens to avail benefit of these schemes through a single smart card. Name these three schemes: The Rashtriya Swastha Bima Yojana (RSBY), Aam Aadmi Bima Yojan (AABY) and Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS)

375) RBI has advised that the lending rate ceiling for MFIs will continue at their present level - at 27.75% for the July to September quarter. MFIs stands for: Micro Finance Companies

376) With which country The Reserve Bank of India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for exchange of supervisory information of banking: Hong Kong

377) Which new financial entities have been allowed by RBI to accept e-KYC service as a valid process to verify identity and address proof of customers to reduce risk of fraud and forgery: Non Banking Financial Companies

378) A government panel panel led by M S Sahoo has proposed a new class of securities for foreign firms to raise money in India. Name this security: Bharat Depository Receipts (BhDRs)

379) Bharat Depository Receipts are denominated in which currency: Rupee

380) Bharat Depository Receipts will be issued by which financial authority: Local Depositories

381) Which is the newly invented world’s lightest solid material created by Chinese scientists: Carbon Gel

382) Name the international body that has sanctioned $500 million loan for India’s National Highways Inter-connectivity Improvement Project (NHIIP): World Bank

383) India has become the first country to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty. What is the purpose of this treaty: To facilitate access to published works for persons who are visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled

384) The city of Marrakesh located in which country: Morocco

385) The Government has extended the validity period of an industrial licence to _______ years from present two years, with a provision for further extension by two years: Three

386) Ritu Rani has been named captain India’s women _________ team for the Commonwealth Games, Glasgow: Hockey

387) Brazil’s bid to win a sixth World Cup suffered a devastating blow as their ace striker ________ suffered a back bone fracture after being hit by the Colombian defender Juan Zuniga: Neymar

388) Name the head of the panel that has recommended new norms for fixation of poverty line: Dr. C. Rangarajan

389) As per Rangarajan panel report a person spending less than Rs 1,407 a month (Rs ______day) in urban areas will be considered Below Poverty Line (BPL): 47

390) As per Rangarajan panel report a person spending less than Rs 972 a month (Rs ______day) in rural areas will be considered Below Poverty Line (BPL): 32

391) As per Rangarajan panel report the number of poor in India stood at 36.3 crore in 2011-12 which is roughly ____ per cent of India’s population. 30

392) Which ministry plans to setup 660 rape crisis centres across the country: Women and Child Development Ministry

393) What is the proposed name for one stop centre for women victims of molestation, rape, sexual assault, domestic violence: Nirbhaya Centre

394) The Madras High Court has ruled that banks cannot fix _____ cut off of minimum marks in Plus Two as condition for extending education loan to students joining engineering courses: 60%

395) Name the only supersonic cruise missile of India: Brahmos

396) Name the Indian who has become the first player of Indian origin to be a part of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in USA after joining the Sacramento Kings team: Sim Bhullar

397) Name of powerful typhoon that lashed Japan's southern Okinawa islands on 8th July, forcing over half a million people to seek shelter: Neoguri

398) As per India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2013 the total forest and tree cover of the country is 87.92 million hectare, which is _______ percent of the geographical area of India: 24.01

399) ___________ state has the largest forest cover of 77522 square kilometer, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, 67321 square kilometer: Madhya Pradesh

400) In terms of percentage, _______ state has highest cover at 90.38 percent, followed by Lakshadweep-84.56 percent: Mizoram

401) Pinky Anand has been appointed to which important national post: Additional Solicitor General

402) What is the function of the Additional Solicitor General: Legal advisor to Central Govt.

403) Name the legendary actress from Hindi theatre and cinema who passed away recently at the age of 102 years: Zohra Sehgal

404) Name the Indian Navy‘s largest ever destroyer –_____________that was inducted in to service on 10th July: INS Kolkata

405) The INS Kolkata is equipped with stealth technology. What is the benefit of this technology: It avoids detection of the ship by the enemy radar

406) Name the India’s first indigenously built anti-submarine corvette commissioned into service by Indian Navy: INS Kamorta

407) In which sector Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been hiked from 26 per cent to 49 per cent: Defence manufacturing

408) FDI in insurance sector has been hiked to ______


per cent from 26 per cent: 49 409) A recent UN study “World Urbanization Prospects”

by U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) has ranked Delhi as second most populous city in the world with 25 million inhabitants. Which is the most populous city: Tokyo, 38 million

410) Ancestral House of which Indian film celebrity has been declared as a National heritage monument by the Pakistan Govt.: Dilip Kumar

411) World Bank has agreed to provide $153 million (Rs 920 crore) loan to Odisha for what purpose: To restore cyclone hit housing and public services

412) Mr. Ram Naik has been appointed Governor of which State: Uttar Pradesh

413) Who has been appointed as New Governor of West Bengal: K.N. Tripathi

414) Sh. Om Prakash Kohli has been appointed Governor of which State: Gujarat

415) Name the New Governor of Chhattisgarh State: Balramji Das Tandon

416) Mrs. Margret Alva has been appointed as new Governor of which State: Goa

417) Sh. Kaptan Singh Solanki has been appointed as new Governor of which State: Haryana

418) Name the new governor of Nagaland: Padmanabha Acharya

419) Name the football player who scored the winning goal for Germany in the FIFA World Cup 2014: Mario Gotze

420) Germany won FIFA World Cup 2014 by defeating which country: Argentina

421) Name the best player of the FIFA World Cup 2014 who won the Golden Ball: Lionel Messi, Argentina

422) Name the best goalkeeper of the FIFA World Cup 2014 who won the Golden Glove Award: Manuel Neuer, Germany

423) Name the best player who scored highest goals – 6, in the FIFA World Cup 2014 and won the Golden Boot award: James Rodriguez, Colombia

424) Final match of FIFA World Cup 2014 was played at which place: Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

425) The Indian men's football team has been ranked __________ in the FIFA world rankings: 151th

426) In the FIFA world rankings, which country has been ranked as no. 1: Germany

427) Under which programme Government has set a target to develop skills of 50 crore people by 2022: The National Policy on Skill Development (NPSD)

428) The government has set a target of mopping Rs _________ from stake sale in PSU firms: 43425 crore

429) Govt. plans to raise Rs 15,000 crore from sale in financial entities such as SUUTI. What is the full form of SUUTI: Specified Undertaking of the

Unit Trust of India 430) To expedite the process to recover bad bank loans,

govt. proposes to set up six new DRTs. What is the full form of DRT: Debt Recovery Tribunal

431) How many judges are there in a Debt Recovery Tribunal: One

432) The judge in the debt recovery tribunal is named as: Presiding Officer

433) Bad Bank Loans cases of upto Rs. ____________ can be filed in DRT: No Limit

434) To promote financial inclusion, govt proposes to sanction an overdraft (OD) facility of Rs. _________by the bank to individuals who open an account with them: Rs 5,000

435) With what objective government plans to grant OD of Rs. 5000 to new bank account openers: To attract people to open bank account to promote financial inclusion

436) Name the comprehensive scheme for financial inclusion which will ensure that every earning citizen opens a bank account: 'Sampoorn Viteeyea Samveshan'

437) Which financial institution has been asked to create a Rs. 1,000-crore credit guarantee fund to finance govt’s proposed OD scheme: NABARD

438) Parliament has been advised that Banks had Rs 5,124 crore in unclaimed deposits as on December 31, 2013. What is a unclaimed deposit account: Accounts with no operations for 10 years

439) Out of the two – balance of trade and balance of payment, which item is larger: Balance of Payment

440) Government proposes an allocation of Rs 7,060 crore in this financial year for developing __________smart cities in the country as satellite towns of larger cities and for modernising the existing mid-sized cities 100

441) Which country has granted one billion pound ($1.68 billion) credit line for investment in Indian infrastructure projects: Britain

442) Name the proposed Rs. 1000 crore nationwide rural irrigation scheme to insulate farmers from excessive dependence on monsoon: Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana’

443) Name the proposed soil health card' that will be issued to all farmers for optimum utilization of resources and right selection of crops: Soil Health Card

444) Government plan to launch ___________TV dedicated to the interests of agriculturists and allied sectors and has allocated Rs 100 crore for this purpose: Kisan

445) Recently held BRICS summit was ___________ in series: 6th

446) The 6th BRICS summit was held at which place: Fortaleza, Brazil

447) Name the new development bank that the BRICS nations propose to form as an alternative to the


World Bank: New Development Bank 448) What is the initial authorized capital of the New

Development Bank: $50 billion 449) In what proportion the BRICS countries have agreed

to share the capital of New Development Bank: 20% each

450) BRICS nations have agreed to establish a $100 billion fund to provide additional liquidity protection to member-nations during balance of payments problems. What is its name: Contingency Reserve Arrangement

451) Which country has agreed to contribute largest share of 41% to the Contingency Reserve Arrangement: China

452) What will be the India’s contribution to the proposed CRA by the BRICS Nations: 18%

453) The headquarters of the proposed BRICS New Development Bank will be located in which country: China

454) Which country has been allocated the presidency of the proposed BRICS New Development Bank: India

455) The 7th BRICS Summit will be held at which place: Russian city of Ufa

456) Under which programme government plans to launch four new vaccines to reduce child mortality by two-thirds by next year: Universal Immunization Programme (UIP)

457) As per the Global Innovation Index 2014 India has been placed at which rank: 76th

458) A Mexican software company has managed to transmit audio, video and Internet data across the spectrum of light emitted by LED lamps — at a data transfer rate of 10 gigabytes per second. What is this technology called: Li Fi

459) What is the full form of the new data transferee technology Li Fi: Light Fidelity

460) The 7th IBSA summit 2015 will be held in which country: India

461) What is the full form of term IBSA: India, Brazil, South Africa

462) An civilian aircraft of which country was recently shot down by terrorist using a Russian Buk missile: Malaysia

463) Name the two new types of banks for formation of which the RBI has issued guidelines: Payment Bank and Small Banks

464) The proposed payment banks will not be allowed which major function of the banks: Lending

465) Prem Bhatia Award are given for excellence in which field: Journalism

466) The area of operations of the small bank will be restricted to which level: Contiguous districts in a homogenous cluster of States

467) Smita Gupta has been awarded the Prem Bhatia award for political reporting. She is associated with which news paper: The Hindu

468) Nitin Sethi, Associate Editor, Business Standard, has been honourd with which award for excellence

in environmental and development reporting: Prem Bhatia Award

469) Nadine Gordimer, Nobel Prize-winning author, one of the most powerful voices against the injustice of apartheid, passed away recently. He was from which country: South Africa

470) Newly elected President of which country is popularly known as ‘Jokowi’: Indonesia

471) As per NSSO survey result for 2011-12, the estimated workforce in India is 47.41 crore persons. Write full form of NSSO: National Sample Survey Organization

472) The Reserve Bank has said that Banks having size equal to or more than 2 per cent of GDP will be designated as D-SIBs. Write full form of D-SIB: Domestic Systemically Important Banks

473) What is the new condition in terms of capital requirement for the purposed D-SIBs: Required to maintain higher capital requirement

474) Reserve Bank proposes to circulate special Rs. 10 coins on the occasion of diamond jubilee of which organization: Coir Board

475) In which international ground Indian Cricket Team recently won a test match after nearly three decades: Lords, London

476) As per latest RBI guidelines which popular identity document has now been declared invalid for the purpose of KYC norms: Ration Card

477) The commonwealth games that were held at Glasgow, Scotland, were which number in series: 20th

478) What is the name of the mascot for the 20th, Commonwealth Games: Clyde

479) The name of the commonwealth games mascot – Clyde has been kept after which: Famous river of Scotland

480) Name the Indian player who carried the Indian flag to lead the Indian Contingent in Commonwealth Games: Vijay Kumar (Shooter)

481) Name the sports person who won 1st gold medal for India at the 20th Commonwealth Games: Khumukcham Sanjita Chanu

482) The 1st medal in 20th Commonwealth Games was won by India in which sports: Weight Lifting

483) Name the Indian shooter who won Gold in 10 meter rifle shooting and announced his retirement from the Commonwealth Games: Abhinav Bindra

484) Name the player who won gold at the Commonwealth Games in the women’s 10m air rifle event: Apurvi Chandela

485) Name the author of the book The Lives of Others: Neel Mukherjee

486) Name the three countries whose warships, submarines, aircrafts and helicopters participated in the trilateral Malabar naval exercise: India, US and Japan

487) The trilateral Malabar naval exercise by India and two other countries was held at which place: North


Western Pacific Ocean 488) Fuad Masum has been elected as President of which

country: Iraq 489) Prime Minister of which country was in news as he

resigned in a shock move to protest the disbanding of the ruling parliamentary coalition: Ukraine

490) To protect investors, the Cabinet has cleared the SEBI Bill, to empower SEBI to initiate action against ponzi schemes and investment frauds. What is a ponzi scheme: Fraudulent deposit collection scheme

491) In the recently compiled Human Development Index, India has been placed at which rank: 135th

492) Name the country which enjoys the honour of being placed at the top of the Human Development Index: Norway

493) The mascot of 20th Commonwealth Games – Clyed has been derived from which animal: No animal, it is a thistle plant

494) Govt. plans to merge United Bank of India with which bigger bank: IDBI Bank

495) Which public sector undertaking has recently been granted Navratna status: Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR)

496) Name the website that has been launched by the Prime Minister to help people contribute in governance of the country by giving their views on important issues: mygov.nic.in

497) Name the world famous three week cycling marathon won by Vincenzo Nibali of Italy: Tour de France

498) Kargil Vijai Diwas is celebrated on which date: 26th July

499) Israel Defence Forces (IDF) launched “Operation Protective Edge” against __________ militants in Gaza strip: Hamas

500) Name the Indian corporate which became first Indian company to achieve a market capitalization of Rs. 5 lakh crore rupees: TCS (Tata Consultancy Services)

501) Which famous sports person has been appointed as Brand Ambassador of Telangana State: Sania Mirza

502) In the recently released Global Innovation Index 2013, India has been placed at which rank: 66th

503) Name the country that has topped the 142 nations list of Global Innovation Index 2013: Switzerland

504) Men’s title in Wimbledon Tennis Open was won by which sports star: Novak Djokovic

505) Novak Djokovic lifted the Wimbledon Men’s title by defeating which player: Roger Feeder

506) Women’s title in Wimbledon Tennis Open was won by which sports star: Petra Kvitova

507) Petra Kvitova lifted the Wimbledon Women’s title by defeating which player: Eugenie Bouchard

508) Maharashtra has appointed Amitabh Bachhan as its brand ambassador for what purpose: for Promoting Horticulture

509) Economic survey of India is presented in which house of Parliament: Lok Sabha

510) Who presents the economic survey report in the parliament: Finance Minister

511) India plans to start its 1st bullet train on which route: Mumbai - Ahmedabad

512) Govt. proposes to develop Diamond Quadrilateral for high speed trains connecting which main cities: The Four Metros

513) Govt. has raised deduction limit under section 80-C of Income Tax Act by what amount: Rs. 50,000

514) As per sanction 80-C of the Income Tax Act, what is the maximum amount of savings that are exempted from income tax: Rs. 1.5 lac

515) Senior citizen in the age group of 60 and above are exempted from income tax upto what amount of income: Rs. 3 lac

516) Name the new welfare scheme proposed by Indian government for promoting the girl child: Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao Yojana

517) Govt. proposes to start a Rs. 500 cr scheme for providing 24 x 7 power supply to all homes in rural areas. Name this scheme: Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana

518) What is the target for 2014-15 for agriculture credit by banks: Rs. 8 trillion

519) The Swatch Bharat Abhiyaan aims to achieve total sanitation in India by which year: 2019

520) As per the budget announcement of the finance minister the target of financial inclusion has been set at opening at least ________________ bank account in each house hold: Two

521) Govt. plans to setup two biotech clusters at which centres: Bangaluru and Faridabad

JUNE – 2014 522) Latest data released by the Central Statistical Office

(CSO) has estimated value of India’s GDP at current market prices at Rs. 113.55 lakh crore, achieving a growth rate of _____ percent in 2013-14: 4.7

523) The per capita income at current prices during 2013-14 is estimated to be around Rs.________ Rs.74,380

524) Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi has been elected as President of which country: Egypt

525) Name the new Solicitor General of India: Ranjit Kumar

526) Who has been appointed as National Security Adviser, Govt of India: Dr. Ajit Kumar Doval

527) Dag Hammarskjold Medal is by UNO for what purpose: Show of Gallantry

528) In an effort to eliminate outdated capacity and improve work safety and address pollution concerns, which country plans to shut down over 2,000 small coal mines by next year: China


529) Why govt. has decided to abolish, with immediate effect, all the Groups of Ministers (GoMs) and Empowered Groups of Ministers (EGoMs) set up by the previous UPA-II govt.: To improve accountability and responsibility

530) Yogeshwar Dutt and Sushil won the gold medal and silver medal respectively, in which International Competition in Sassari city, Italy: Wrestling

531) Name the cricket team that won the Indian Premier League – 7: Kolkata Knight Riders

532) The final match of IPL – 7 was played at _______ stadium in Bangalore: M. Chinnaswamy

533) Sultan Azlan Shah who passed away recently, was associated with which sports: Hockey

534) Sultan Azlan Shah who passed away recently, was from which country: Malaysia

535) Name the Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj who was killed in a road accident recently: Gopinath Munde

536) RBI in its second bimonthly policy statement, reduced statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) to ______ from 23%: 22.5%

537) Reduction of SLR by 50 basis points is expected to increase banks’ lendable resources by Rs. _____ crore: 40,000

538) The RBI has reduced the availability of funds under the ECR window from 50 per cent of export credit outstanding to 32 per cent with immediate effect. ECR Stands for: Export Credit Refinance

539) Juan Carlos, King of Spain was in news for what reasons: He abdicated his throne for his son

540) Who has been made the new king of Spain: Prince Felipe

541) Which village in Nagaland has been declared as the country’s first tobacco-free village: Gariphema

542) World No Tobacco Day is observed on which date: May 31

543) Name the first Indian archer to win three gold medals in a single international tournament: Abhishek Verma

544) SEBI has said that public sector undertakings listed on stock exchanges to have should also adhere to the mandatory _____ public shareholding norms that are applicable to private companies: 25%

545) Bashar Al-Assad has been elected as President of_________ for the third time successively: Syria

546) Name the fifth Indo-French bilateral air exercise held at Jodhpur Air Base in Rajasthan: Garuda-V

547) Kepler 10 C is the name of the biggest rocky ________ ever discovered: Planet

548) Which state has announced 12 per cent reservation

for BPL candidates in all the state government jobs: Sikkim

549) What is the popular name for the French Open Tennis Championship held at Paris: Roland Garros

550) Name the winner of the Men’s title at French Open Tennis Championship: Rafael Nadal

551) Name the winner of the Women’s title at French Open Tennis Championship: Maria Sharapova

552) Ace tennis player Rafael Nadal is from which country: Spain

553) Ace tennis player Maria Sharapova is from which country: Russia

554) G7 meet of industrialized nations was held at which place: Brussels, Belgium

555) Name the new speaker of Lok Sabha: Sumitra Mahajan

556) RBI has advised that for opening of bank accounts, the proof of __________ is not necessary if customer has submitted proof of his permanent address: Local Address

557) India recently test fired its 290-km range supersonic missile from the stealth destroyer INS Kolkata. What is its name: Brahmos

558) Central government has decided that all the government employees who have differently abled children to take care of will be exempted from ___________: Transfers

559) In which river 24 engineering students, including six girls, were washed away due to sudden release of water from the reservoir: River Beas

560) Reuven Rivlin has been elected ________ of Israel: President

561) Who has been appointed as new Chief Executive Officer, Infosys: Vishal Sikka

562) World Bank will provide $ 100 million to which State for promoting development of sustainable hydropower: Himachal Pradesh

563) Name the Union Minister who has been appointed as India's Governor on the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank: Arun Jaitely

564) Name the Bollywood celebrity who has been appointed as UNICEF's 'celebrity advocate for child rights': Madhuri Dixit

565) Which country has overtaken Germany and Italy to emerge as the world's second largest textile exporter: India

566) Name the country that is largest exporter of textiles in the world: China

567) The Centre has decided to give Rs. ______ per household as labour charges to the poor for building their homes under Indira Awaas Yojna: 12,000


568) Govt. provides Rs. _____ for construction of a house under IAY in hilly areas: 75,000

569) Govt. provides Rs. _____ for construction of a house under IAY in plain areas: 70,000

570) Which private sector bank has launched ‘video branch’ - a 24x7 unique innovative service allowing customers to interact face-to-face with their bank branch using desktop, tablet or smartphone: IndusInd Bank

571) Govt. has recently cleared to raise the height of which dam from present 121.92 metres to 138.72 metres: Narmada Dam

572) Name the city which has become the fourth city the country to have Metro rail operations: Mumbai

573) India recently signed Washington Accord with a group of 17 nations for what purpose: Academic recognition of its degrees

574) For which type of sports Govt. has decided to increase the daily food supplement budget from Rs 280 to Rs 750: Power Games

575) As per new SEBI norms for public issuance of debt securities (debentures, bonds etc.), these offers will have to be of minimum _______ crore: Rs. 100

576) Name the German Formula one champion who emerged out of coma after almost five and a half months, following his devastating ski accident in December, 2013: Michael Schumacher

577) 16th Asian Junior Athletics Championship was held at which place: Taipei City, China

578) Name the India’s first One Stop Crisis Centre (OSCC) launched in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh: Gauravi

579) Name the prize won by Sanjaya Rajaram, India born veteran plant scientist from Mexico, for his contribution in increasing the wheat production in world: World Food Prize

580) World Food Day is observed on which date: October 16

581) Name the historical monument of Gujarat that has been approved as world heritage site by UNESCO: Rani-Ki-Vav

582) Rani – Ki – Vav, a world heritage site, is what type of monument: Stepwell

583) Foreign investment of ______ per cent or more in a listed company will now be treated as foreign direct investment (FDI): 10

584) Arvind Mayaram committee has been setup for what purpose: To review definitions of FDI and FII

585) Rohinton Nariman, the noted advocate has been appointed to which important post: Judge in Supreme Court

586) Kanyashree Prakalpa, a West Bengal government scheme that has been recognized by UK and

UNICEF, is for what purpose: To provide scholarship to poor girls

587) Name the IT initiative of the govt. for delivery of public services through the mobile platform has been awarded a United Nations Public Service Award: Mobile Seva

588) Where is the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) that has been accorded the UNESCO World Heritage Site status for its “exceptional natural beauty and conservation of biological diversity.”: Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh

589) ISIS militants have been waging a fierce civil battle against the democratically elected govt. of which country: Iraq

590) What is the full form of ISIS: Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

591) Which country won the Men’s title in hockey world cup: Australia

592) Which country won the Women’s title in hockey world cup: The Netherland

593) The World Cup Hockey Championship was held at which place: The Hague, Netherland

594) Which Indian university has been named as the best higher educational institution in India by the Times Higher Education’s Asia rankings: Panjab University, Chandigarh

595) Viswanathan Anand won the _______ medal at the World Rapid Chess Championship held at Dubai: Bronze

596) Name the India's biotechnology queen, Chairperson of Biocon Industries who has been awarded the coveted Global Economy Prize for business: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

597) India’s first indigenously-built anti submarine warfare corvette __________ is to be commissioned into the Indian Navy next month: INS Kamorta

598) National carrier Air India has joined ___________ a group of 26 (now 27) carriers with as many as 4,338 aircraft flying to 1,328 destinations across 195 countries: Star Alliance

599) In a 25 nation-list compiled by global research firm Ipsos, India has been placed at ______ rank in terms of economic confidence of citizens: First

600) RBI has permitted which new entities to act as business correspondents (BCs) of banks, allowing them to offer limited services: Non-banking finance companies –NBFCs

601) RBI has permitted residents and non-residents, except Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, to carry up to ________ in Indian currency notes while leaving the country: Rs. 25,000

602) The Corporate Affairs Ministry has recently notified new CSR expenditure rules for the companies. What


is CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility

603) The 35th edition of the National Games will be held in _______ in Jan– Feb, 2015: Kerala

604) _______ has been appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for national games: Sachin Tendulkar

605) The World Bank has approved funding of USD 107 million (nearly Rs 650 crore) for a road project in which state: Mizoram

606) The government has extended the ban on imports of milk and its products from which country: China

607) Which country plans to open two centres of excellence at Nalanda and Vaishali in Bihar in the field of vegetables and mango respectively to help cultivators increase their productivity: Israel

608) Which state has become the first state in India to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the police force, across all cadres: Gujarat

609) Prime Minister Mr. Modi made his first overseas trip by visiting which country: Bhutan

610) Bhutan is major partner with India in production of __________: Hydroelectric Power

611) India’s External Affairs Minister made a goodwill visit to which country as her first solo overseas visit: Bangladesh

612) Name the Indian statesman who recently visited China: Hamid Ansari

613) Who has been elected as the First Chairman of International Cricket Council, Dubai: N. Srinivasan

614) International Widows Day is observed on which date: 23rd June

615) Name the first Indian shooter to win three medals in successive ISSF Shooting World Cup: Jitu Rai

616) 49th Jnanpith award – 2013 has been awarded to which noted Hindi poet: Kedarnath Singh

617) The Moortidevi Award is given in which field: For a work in Indian philosophy and cultural heritage

618) Name the winner for Moortidevi Award 2013: C. Radhakrishna

619) The 2013 Moortidevi Award winner, C. Radharkrishna writes in which language: Malayalam

620) World Refugee Day is observed on which date: June 20

621) Union Ministry of Culture has launched the Project Mausam for what purpose: To explore the diversity of cultural, commercial and religious interactions in the Indian Ocean region

622) As per the Global Peace Index 2014, _________ has been declared as the most peaceful country: Iceland

623) As per the Global Peace Index 2014, _________ has been declared as the most unpeaceful country: Syria

624) As per the Global Peace Index 2014, India has been placed at which rank: 143rd

625) The book titled The Goldfinch has been authored by whom: Donna Tartt

626) Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction 2014 has been won by __________ for her first novel ‘A girl is a Half-Formed Thing’: Eimear McBride

627) Which Indian Airport was declared second best in service quality in world and sixth best airport in the world: Indira Gandhi International Airport

628) Name the lady who has been declared as most powerful women in the world by Forbes Magazine: Angela Merkel

629) Angela Merkel has been declared as most powerful women in the world. Who is she: Chancellor of Germany

630) Who has been declared as most powerful women in India by the Forbes magazine: Arunadhati Bhattarcharya

631) Which Indian actor has been conferred with ‘Legion of France’ recently: Shahrukh Khan

MAY – 2014 632) As per are recently World Bank report, India

emerged as the world's _________largest economy in 2011, from being the 10th largest in 2005: Third

633) Which country has the largest economy in the world: USA

634) India and China have decided to conduct a joint military exercise at which place in India: Bathinda, Punjab

635) World’s highest train tunnel at an altitude of 3,067.4 metres in China passes through which mountain: Qilian Mountain

636) World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has warned that there is strong possibility of an "El Nino" climate phenomenon this year. It occurs at which place in the world: Tropical Pacific Ocean

637) For what banking purpose govt. is considering establishment of exclusive Lok Adalats: For cheque bouncing cases

638) Aab Bareek, a village in Badakhshan province of Afghanistan was in news for what reasons: Its suffered a devastating mud slide

639) Which state has lifted the four years ban on SMS on prepaid mobile phones: Jammu & Kashmir

640) Ahmed Maiteeq has been elected as Prime Minister of which country: Libya

641) What is the recent guideline from RBI in contest of


prepayment of all floating rate term loans: Banks not to charge penalty for prepayment

642) RBI has asked banks not to levy penalties on customers who don’t maintain a minimum balance in which type of accents: Any inoperative account

643) Prime Minister of which country was removed from office by a Constitutional Court: Thailand

644) Which country has decided to introduce Islamic banking: Afghanistan

645) United Nations has signed an agreement with which international body to use power of supports to promote piece and economic development: International Olympic Committee (IOC)

646) What is the brand name of the football that will be used in the Brazil FIFA World Cup: Brazuca

647) What is the name of the India’s first indigenously developed beyond visual range (BVR) air to air missile successfully test fired from a Russian-built Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jet: Astra

648) What is the range of India’s air to air Astra missile: 60 kms

649) What is the recent Supreme Court ruling in context of investigation against senior bureaucrats in corruption cases: Prior permission not required for investigation

650) Name the Pakistan’s surface-to-surface ballistic missile test fired recently: Hataf-III

651) India has been given New Frontiers Award 2014 for what achievement: for fast development of infrastructure after the June 2013 floods, landslides in Uttarakhand

652) WHO has identified which Indian city having worst air quality in the world: Delhi

653) What is the name of the recent book released by Hillary Clinton: Hard Choices

654) Arctic Summer novel has been written by which author: Damon Galgut

655) The book My Years with Rajiv and Sonia has been written by which author: R. D. Pradhan

656) In which country’s parliament a pictorial book on India’s war hero Shivaji, was released: UK

657) In which country Islamist militant group Boko Haram abducted more than 200 school girls: Nigeria

658) Gary Backer who passed away recently was a Noble Laureate in which field: Economics

659) In which country females have been allowed entry in their navy, for the first time in its 110 year history: United Kingdom

660) Hindustan Aeronautics Limited developed “Nabhratna” to carry out testing of its under-

development airborne radar systems. What type of equipment it is: Light-weight Aircraft

661) As per Press Freedom Index 2014, India has been placed at _____ place on the basis of freedom of media in the country: 78th

662) The Supreme Court has reconstituted a SIT under the chairmanship of retired judge MB Shah. What is full form of SIT: Special Investigation Team

663) The Supreme Court has reconstituted a SIT under the chairmanship of retired judge MB Shah for what purpose: To monitor the probe into the black money cases

664) Which country has imported 3400 India-made Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for use in their Presidential Election: Namibia

665) Name the public sector undertaking that is responsible for manufacturing EVMs in India: Bharat Electronic Limited (BEL)

666) Name the Cricket player was ranked no 1 in the latest ICC list of One Day International (ODI) rankings: Virat Kohli

667) Noted cueist Mark Selby of England recently won world championship in which game: Snooker

668) Sania Mirza of India and Cara Black of Zimbabwe won women’s doubles tennis title in which tournament: Portugal Open 2014

669) In terms of consumer confidence India has been ranked _______ most optimistic country: 2nd

670) Saudi Arabia has decided to ban the import of Indian ____ due to presence of high pesticide residues: Chilies

671) India and ________ have inked a pact to enhance security cooperation in combating the key issues of insurgency, arms smuggling and human trafficking: Myanmar

672) Name the Indian who has been appointed President and CEO of Finnish tele- communications equipment maker Nokia: Rajeev Suri

673) The Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) has been nominated for the prestigious UNESCO-approved World Heritage Site status. It is in which state: Himachal Pradesh

674) Name the Indian documentary film that won gold medal and two other medals at the 2014 New York Festivals International TV and Film Awards: Silent Screams — India’s Fight Against Rape

675) Who has been named as the world snookers ‘player of the year’: Ronnie O’Sullivan

676) The Supreme Court has prohibited use of ______in Tamil Nadu’s ‘Jallikattu’ festivals as it harmed the animals and constituted an offence under the Prevention of Cruelty to the Animals Act: Bulls

677) In which country over 300 miners were killed in a


coal mine blast: Turkey

678) Which country has decided to go wholly organic in its food production, totally avoiding usage of chemical fertilisers and pesticides: Bhutan

679) P J Nayak Committee appointed by the RBI has submitted its report recently. What was the task of this committee: To review Governance of Boards of Banks in India

680) A major recommendation of PJ Nayak Committee has been objected to by bank employees unions. It is about what: Government should cut its stake in public sector banks to below 50 percent

681) Nayak committee has recommended that a __________ should be constituted to which the Government transfers its holdings in banks: Bank Investment Company

682) RBI has decided to conduct a field trial for one billion Rs. ___________ denomination plastic notes: Ten

683) The field trial for Rs. 10 plastic notes will be conducted in how many cities: 5

684) Russy Modi who passed away recently was a noted corporate figure. He was associated with which company: Tata Steel

685) Along with General Election 2014, how many states also elected their new MLAs: Five

686) Name the five states that also held state elections along with General Election 2014: Odisha, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana

687) Name the Chief Minister of Sikkim state who has been elected for the record 5th time: Pawan Chamlilng

688) Who has been elected as new Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh: Chandrababu Naidu

689) Who has been elected as new Chief Minister of Telangana: K Chandrasekhara Rao

690) Nabam Tuki has been elected as Chief Minister of which state: Arunachal Pradesh

691) Name the new Chief Minister of Nagaland: TR Zeliang

692) Why a new Chief Minister has been placed in Bihar when there was no state election: Current CM Nitish Kumar resigned on moral grounds for poor performance of his party

693) Who has replaced Narendra Modi as Chief Minister of Gujarat: Anandiben Patel

694) A World Bank report on ‘Ease of Doing Business’ placed India at ______ rank among 189 nations: 134th

695) Which country was put under martial law recently when months of deadly anti-government protests

caused political paralysis: Thailand

696) A study by UNO has forecasted global economic growth rate to be at _____ per cent in 2014: 2.8

697) In a study by Deutsche Bank, which major country has been ranked as cheapest economy in the world: India

698) Which bank has recently been declared as a ‘Scheduled Bank’ by the RBI: Bhartiya Mahila Bank

699) Which banks are called scheduled bank: whose name appears in the 2nd schedule of the RBI Act, 1934

700) By becoming scheduled bank, a bank is entitled to avail which facility from RBI: Taking Loans

701) The 3rd Advance Estimates of crop production in the 2013-14 crop year (July-June) by the Agriculture Ministry has estimated India’s agriculture production at _______ million tonnes: 264

702) RBI has directed that all new ATMs to be installed by commercial banks from July 2014 onwards should provide __________ instructions and ________ enabled key pads: Audio, Braille

703) The Reserve Bank has allowed banks to provide long-term loans of up to a maximum tenor of _____ years to exporters to be utilised for execution of long-term supply contracts for export of goods: 10

704) Name the recently held war exercise by Indian Army in West Rajasthan: Sarvada Vijay

705) Name the international badminton championship for Men and Women held recently in New Delhi: Thomas Cup and Uber Cup, respectively

706) India started its biggest year-long cultural festival, “Glimpses of India” in which country: China

707) India’s first indigenous payment gateway, RuPay has been launched to counter rival networks such as ___________. : Visa and Mastercard

708) India’s first indigenous payment gateway, RuPay has been launched by which financial institution: National Payments Corpo-ration of India

709) Jacob Zuma has been re-elected as President of which major South African Country: South Africa

710) Name the India’s oldest test cricketer who passed away recently: Madhav Mantri

711) Mr. Rajiv Mathur has been appointed as new ____ ____ Commissioner of India: Chief Information

712) Who has been appointed as 28th Chief of Army Staff: Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag

713) The women’s title in National Football Championship 2014 has been which team: Manipur

714) Which football player, reportedly, is the highest paid in the world: Lionel Messi


APRIL – 2014 715) The Social Progress Index 2014 compiled by US-

based non-profit group Social Progress Imperative ranks India _______among the 132 countries: 102nd

716) Who is Nancy Powell who resigned recently: U.S. ambassador to India

717) Viktor Orban has been elected as Prime Minister of which country: Hungary

718) Global monetary agency International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected India’s GDP growth to reach ________ per cent in the current fiscal year: 5.4

719) The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has pegged India’s GDP growth rate during 2013-14 at _____ per cent: 4.9

720) RBI has issued new licences for banks to how many applicants: Two

721) Name the two applicants who have been granted licences to open new bank: Infrastructure Development Finance Company and Bandhan Financial Services Ltd.

722) As per rules notified by the Corporate Affairs Ministry, every listed company and those public firms having paid up share capital of Rs 100 crore or more should have at least ______ woman director on their board: One

723) According to an Assocham report, ______has emerged as the number one state in the country replacing Gujarat, attracting cumulative investment proposals of Rs 14,73,466 crore as on December 2013: Maharashtra

724) The Reserve Bank has fixed the upper limit to Rs. ______for issuance of pre-paid payment instruments to make all issuers comply with the strict money laundering laws: 50,000

725) Name the India’s top shooter who won the men's trap gold medal at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Tucson, USA: Manavjit Singh Sandhu

726) Name the bank that recently started rendering its services from the social site Twitter: SBI

727) The Reserve Bank has directed banks offering GMLs to strengthen their credit appraisal process in the wake of frauds committed by certain unscrupulous jewelers. What is the full form of GMLs: Gold Metal Loans

728) Guljar, the veteran poet and film lyricist has been awarded 45th Dada Saheb Phalke Award for which field: No film, it is life time achievement award

729) What is the real name of the Phalke award winner Gulzar: Sampooran Singh Kalra

730) Name the Indian state that has recently witnessed

its first rail line: Arunachal Pradesh

731) The pharmaceutical major Ranbaxy laboratories of India has been bought out by which Indian pharma company: Sun Pharmaceutical Industries

732) The Millennium Technology Prize is given every two years for what purpose: To recognize technological innovation for improving human life

733) Name the winner of 2014 Millennium Technology Prize: Stuart Parkin

734) What is the strike range of nuclear-capable surface to surface ballistic missile – Agni-I: 700 kms

735) As per a World Bank report, which country ranked first in receiving global remittances in the year 2013 to the tune of 70 billion US dollar: India

736) What is the full name of the New Chief Justice of India: Rajendra Mal Lodha

737) Justice R M Lodha is the _______ Chief Justice of India: 41st

738) The RBI has decided to adopt which tool as the key measure of inflation: Consumer Price Index

739) Who has been appointed as Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India: R. Gandhi

740) Where in India we have Asia’s largest tulip garden - Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden: Srinagar, J&K

741) V K Murthy, winner of Dada Saheb Phalke Awrad passed away recently. He was from which field of Cinema: Cinematographer

742) Who has been elected as New Chairman of National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom): R. Chandrasekaran

743) Name the first aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy that has been sold off as scrap: INS Vikrant

744) Name the India-born poet who has been awarded Pulitzer Prize for his witty and philosophical collection of poems: Vijay Seshadri

745) What is the name of the Pulitzer Prize winning book written by Vijay Seshadri: 3 sections

746) Arvind Mayaram has been appointed as new Union ________ Secretary: Finance

747) The seventh South Asia Judo Championships were held at which place: Kathmandu, Nepal

748) Who has been appointed as the New Chief of the Indian Navy: Admiral Rabinder Kumar Dhowan

749) The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has approved a loan of about Rs 674 crore for a forest project in which State: Uttarakhand

750) Recently declared National Film Awards were _____ in the series: 61st


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751) Name the film that won the national award for best feature film: Ship of Theseus

752) Name the film that won the national award for best Popular Film: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

753) Which film has been selected for National Award for best Hindi Film: Jolly LLB

754) Who has been selected as Femina Miss India World 2014: Koyal Rana

755) Gabriel Garcia Marquez who passed away recently was a noted story writer and novelist of which language: Spanish

756) Which country has decided to quit as hosts of the 2019 Asian Games due to lack of preparedness and concerns that holding the multi-sport event would not be financially viable: Vietnam

757) Prime Minister of which country recently resigned from his post, along with his entire cabinet: Kazakhstan

758) Prime Minister of which country was recently sacked by his President after a stinging defeat of his (PM’s) group in local elections: France

759) Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been elected as President of which African country: Algeria

760) India successfully launched its second navigational satellite IRNSS 1B recently. IRNSS Stands for: Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System

761) Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System is also known as _____ of India: GPS

762) In which city we have India’s 1st double-decker flyover: Mumbai

763) Tata Group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata has been decorated with the British government’s highest civilian honour. Name this award: The Knight Grand Cross

764) Name the stadium in Dhaka in which final match of ICC T20 World Cup was played: Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium

765) The recently played ICC T20 world-cup was _____ in the series: 5th

766) ICC Women’s World Twenty20 trophy was won by which country: Australia

767) What is the name of the supersonic cruise missile recently tested by Indian Army: BrahMos

768) The 290-km range supersonic cruise missile, BrahMos was test a recently at which place: Pokhran, Rajasthan

769) Name the operating system launched in October 2001 for which Microsoft has stopped the technical support: Windows XP

770) Sports person Heena Sidhu has been ranked world No.1 in which game: Air Pistol Shooting

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