DECODING THE INDUS WATER TREATY The Indus Waters Treaty is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank. It was signed in Karachi in 1960 by the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the President of Pakistan Ayub Khan. As per the agreement, the control over the three "eastern" rivers — the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej — was given to India, while the control over the three "western" rivers — the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum — to Pakistan. More controversial, however, were the provisions on water sharing. Since Pakistan's rivers flow through India first, it allowed India to use them for irrigation, transport and power generation. Since the source rivers were in India, Pakistan feared droughts and famines, especially during war. Since the treaty, India and Pakistan, most disputes have been settled via legal procedures and it is considered one of the most successful water-sharing arrangements globally. As per the treaty, India can use only 20% of the total water carried by the Indus river. Provisions The treaty envisages the sharing of waters of the rivers Ravi, Beas, Sutlej, Jhelum and Chenab which join the Indus River in Pakistan. As per the treaty, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, the eastern rivers, are allocated for exclusive use to India before they enter Pakistan. However, a transition period of 10 years was permitted, during which India was to supply water to Pakistan from these rivers until it built the canal system for the Jhelum, the Chenab and the Indus, allocated to it. Similarly, Pakistan enjoys an exclusive right over the western rivers - the Jhelum, the Chenab and the Indus. Pakistan also received financial compensation for the water loss from the eastern rivers. After the moratorium, India secured full rights for using the three rivers allocated to it. This treaty resulted in partitioning of the rivers rather than sharing of their waters. The two agreed to exchange data and co-operate in related matters. For this purpose, Permanent Indus Commission was created, with a commissioner appointed by each country. Background The waters of the Indus basin begin in Tibet and the Himalayan mountains in J & K and Himachal Pradesh. They flow through Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Sindh, converge in Pakistan and finally GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
COVER STORY
empty into the Arabian Sea south of Karachi. The developments over the last century have created a large network of canals and storage facilities, which irrigate an area of 1.1 lakh sq. km, the largest irrigated area of a river system globally. The Partition created a conflict over the Indus basin. The two nations disagreed over sharing and managing a cohesive network of irrigation. Further, the source rivers of the Indus basin were in India. Pakistan felt threatened by the prospect of Indian control over the tributaries that fed water into the Pakistani portion. It felt acutely threatened by a conflict over the main source of water for its cultivable land. Initially, after partition, the Indus waters were apportioned by the Inter-Dominion Accord, 1948, by which India released sufficient waters to Pakistan for annual payments to meet immediate requirements . It was followed by negotiations for a permanent solution. However, neither was willing to compromise and the negotiations reached a stalemate. From the Indian viewpoint, there was nothing that Pakistan could do to prevent it from diverting the water in these rivers. Pakistan wanted to approach the International Court of Justice, but India wanted a bilateral resolution. In December 1954, the two sides returned to the negotiating table. The World Bank proposal was the basis for negotiations and the talks continued for six years. A stumbling block was the financing for canals and storage facilities to transfer water from the western rivers to Pakistan, which was necessary to make up for the water Pakistan was giving up by ceding its rights to the eastern rivers. The agreement set up the Permanent Indus Commission to settle any future disputes over water allocation. It provided for an ongoing mechanism for conflict resolution. It is required to meet regularly to discuss potential disputes and arrangements. In cases of disagreement, a neutral expert is called in for mediation and arbitration. Recent Developments The treaty has withstood the test of time including wars of 1965, 1971 and 1999 Kargil misadventure by Pakistan. Post-Uri attack, India has decided to keep the option open and reserve the right to review the treaty. Since there are many parties involve like World Bank and China from where the rivers Indus and Sutlej originate, India has to tread cautiously in this regard.
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GENERAL AWARENESS NOVEMBER 2016 Vol. 5, Issue 05
A PUBLICATION OF GYANM EDUCATION & TRAINING INSTITUTE PVT. LTD. SCO 13-14-15, 2ND FLOOR, SEC 34-A, CHANDIGARH
Contents
NATIONAL NEWS SEPTEMBER 2016
CURRENT AFFAIRS JULY TO SEPTEMBER 2016 BULLET NEWS APRIL 2016 TO JUNE 2016
01-33 34-53
LATEST 100 GK MCQs
54-61
IBPS PO MODEL TEST
62-74
CURRENT GK BYTES
75-100
FIGURES TO REMEMBER 6.50%
REVERSE REPO RATE
6.00%
MARGINAL STANDING FACILITY RATE STATUTORY LIQUIDITY RATIO
7.00%
CASH RESERVE RATIO BANK RATE
4.00% 7.00%
BASE RATE(s) (of various banks)
9.30 to 9.70%
21%
INDIA’s RANK IN World Economic Freedom Index
112th
World Risk Index
77th
Human Capital Index
105th
Sustainable Development Goals
110th
Networked Readiness Index
91st
Global Retail Development Index
02nd
Ranking in Total Wealth
07th
Ranking in Attracting FDI
10th
Global Peace Index Good Country Index Renewable Energy Index
141st 70th 3rd
World Press Freedom Index
133rd 6th
World Happiness Index
118th
Intellectual Property Index -2016 Overall Growth Prospectus Global Talent Competitiveness Index Nuclear Security Index Ease of Doing Business (Forbes) Human Development Index
37th 5th 89th 21st 97th 130th
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
In one of the worst attacks on the Indian Army in recent times, a group of four heavily armed fidayeen militants killed at least 18 soldiers and wounded another 20 seriously in the army base camp in Uri near the Line of Control (LoC) in district Baramulla, J&K. All four of them were killed in counteraction. Planning a befitting reply to Pakistan, India is considering to review Indus Water Treaty under which the waters of rivers Chenab, Jhelum and Indus are allocated for use of Pakistan.
MOST FAVOURED NATION
REPO RATE (05.04.2016)
Rank in Manufacturing Countries
ARMY SUFFERS ONE OF THE WORST ATTACKS
When in 1995, World Trade Organisation came into being, the rules provided that member country cannot discriminate between its trading partners. If a special status is granted to a trade partner, it must extend it to all members of WTO. Literally, it does not mean granting any preferential treatment to any particular country. It only means that the country cannot discriminate between its trading partners; and if it has granted any benefit to one country then it must extend it to all other countries which are member of WTO. India granted the MFN status to Pakistan in 1996, but Pakistan has vacillated in granting the same to India in view of the frosty relations between the two countries. Instead, it has come up with Non-Discriminatory Market Access status to India.
India may also consider proposal to withdraw the 'Most Favoured Nation' status accorded to Pakistan. It has also decided that PM Modi will not attend the SAARC summit scheduled to be held in November in Pakistan. The future of summit is in doubt as Bhutan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have also pulled out of summit.
MODI VISITS VIETNAM, CHINA Prime Minister Modi visited Vietnam on Sep 3 to deepen ties in key areas of defence, security and trade, and ramping up India's engagement in oil exploration. 12 cooperation agreements were signed between the two countries, including a $500 million Defence Line of Credit for Vietnam. Later, he arrived in Hangzhou, China to attend the annual summit of powerful G-20 group. He raised the issue of seeking concrete measures to check terror financing and crackdown on tax evasion. Vietnam PM: Nguyen Xuan Phuc President: Tran Dai Quang Capital: Hanoi Currency: Vietnamese dong
IISc BENGALURU IS THE BEST Thirty one Indian educational institutions feature in a list of 980 best universities in the world. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru has been ranked best in India, though below 200 in world. University of Oxford, UK topped the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2016.
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INDIA FREE FROM AVIAN INFLUENZA
Third BRICS Urbanisation Forum Meet with the
Department of Animal Husbandry under the Union Agriculture Ministry has declared India free from the highly contagious avian influenza (H5N1) or bird flu from 5 September 2016. However, it has cautioned to continue strict vigilance in the matter.
S C NULLS SINGUR LAND ACQUISITION In a landmark ruling the Supreme Court struck down the acquisition of nearly 1,000 acres of land in West Bengal's Singur in 2006 for Tata Motors' Nano car project and called it bad in law, intent and execution. Mamata Banerjee, current Chief Minister had vehemently opposed acquisition way back in 2010 and lead a massive public movement against it. This earned her a land slide electoral win in West Bengal in 2011, uprooting the 34 years old communist rule.
INDIA RANKS LOW IN HEALTH SDG The first annual assessment of UNO’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) on health performance has ranked India 143rd among 188 countries, citing various challenges being faced by the country, including mortality rates, malaria hygiene and air pollution.
PORTAL LAUNCHED FOR BALUCHI SERVICES All India Radio has launched a multimedia website and a mobile application of its Baluchi services. External Services Division (ESD) of AIR broadcasts one hour programme in Baluchi language every day.
theme- “Building responsive, inclusive and collective solutions for urbanisation” was held in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, from Sep 14 to 16. The first BRICS Wellness Workshop was held Bengaluru, Karnataka on Sep 11. The two day “BRICS Convention on Tourism” was held at world heritage site Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh. The National Security Advisors of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) held a meet in New Delhi. The 2-day Indo-US Economic Summit was held in New Delhi on September 13-14. The UN Charter, the seminal treaty of the UNO has now been translated into Sanskrit by the Lucknowbased Akhila Bharatiya Sanskrit Parishad. India has signed a MoU with Greece to allow unlimited number of flights into each other’s countries. The Supreme Court has directed all States and Union Territories to upload the FIRs on their websites within 24 hours of registration at police stations. The India Post has released a commemorative stamp to honour the Mother Teresa’s canonization (grant of sainthood). India has decided to ratify the Paris Climate Change agreement on October 2, 2016. India’s premier scientific research body Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-CSIR celebrated its platinum jubilee. Address of Indian Prime Minister’s official residence in New Delhi has been renamed as Lok Kalyan Marg from Race Course Road at present. Visaranai, the Tamil film has been chosen as India’s official entry for Best Foreign Language film at the 89th Academy Awards (Oscars) to be held in 2017. A three-day International Sikh Conclave was held in Patna from September 22-24.
President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi visited
India. The two countries agreed to enhance cooperation in defence and signed a MoU on maritime transport. Prime Minister: Sherif Ismail Capital: Cairo Currency: Egyptian Pound Vice President Hamid Ansari attended the 17th NAM Summit (Non Aligned Movement) held at Margarita Island, Venezuela. Nepal’s newly elected Prime Minister Mr Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ made his first visit to India after he assumed office for the 2nd term. Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani visited India. India pledged one billion dollar support for various development projects in Afghanistan.
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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AUGUST 2016 MYANMAR PRESIDENT ARRIVES IN INDIA
INDIANS STRUCK IN SAUDI ARABIA Thousands of Indian workers have been facing extreme financial hardships in Saudi Arabia. They have lost their jobs due to slowdown in Saudi economy, triggered by low oil prices and cut in government expenditure. Over 7,700 affected Indian workers are living in 20 camps organised by the Indian Embassy. Indian government has sent its Minister of State for External Affairs, V K Singh to Saudi Arabia to arrange for return of stranded Indians.
MORE SOPS FOR AFPAK MINORITIES U Htin Kyaw, President of Myanmar came to India on a four-day visit to step up overall bilateral engagement with a major focus on ensuring better management of Indo-Myanmar border.
Government has allowed the Long Term Visa (LTV) holders of minority communities of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan to open bank account and purchase property for self occupation. It also decided to issue driving licence, PAN card and Aadhar number to them.
INDIA 7TH IN INDIVIDUAL WEALTH A study by the New World Wealth to assess the wealth held by the individuals in a country, India with a total individual wealth of $5,600 billion was ranked 7th, ahead of Canada ($4,700 billion), Australia ($4,500 billion). USA topped the list with total wealth $48,900 billion.
‘MISSION MILLION BOOKS’ The Alibaba Group, e-commerce giant from China has launched the ‘Mission Million Books’, jointly with Crossword and Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust in India, a drive to collect textbooks and educational material from public for distributing the same to the underprivileged.
INDIA 77TH IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT The World Risk Report 2016 released by the United Nations to assess the risk of natural disasters in 171 countries, has placed India at 77th rank in the World Risk Index. This means that India is ahead of 76 countries in effective handling of natural disasters.
‘PAVA’ TO REPLACE PELLET GUN
INDIA IMPROVES IN INNOVATION As per the Global Innovation Index, India has improved its ranking to 66 this year from 81 in 2015. The index measures the performance of 128 countries in terms of innovation, and is based on 82 sub-indices. The index is topped by Switzerland followed by Sweden, United Kingdom.
RAHMAN PERFORMS AT UNGA Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman enthralled a packed audience at the iconic UN General Assembly hall with his renditions of Indian Carnatic legend M S Subbulakshmi’s music, Sufi songs and the foot-tapping ‘Jai Ho’ at a concert to mark India’s 70th Independence Day here. Rahman became only the second Indian artist after Subbulakshmi to perform in the General Assembly hall.
NO RAILWAY BUDGET FROM 2017-18 The Finance Ministry has accepted Railway minister Suresh Prabhu's proposal to merge the Railway Budget with the Union Budget, ending the 92-year-old practice of presenting a separate Rail Budget from 2017-18 fiscal. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
Government plans to avoid use of pellet guns in J&K due to their damaging lethal effect and instead use the “PAVA” munition. PAVA or Pelargonic Acid Vanillylamide is an organic compound found in natural chilli pepper. Once fired, the shells burst out to temporarily immobilise and paralyse the target (protesters) in a more effective way than a teargas shell or pepper spray and are much less lethal than pellets.
Tourism Ministry has decided that it will make Prime Minister Narendra Modi the face of the Incredible India campaign. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017 will be held in Bengaluru in Jan, 2017. First BRICS film festival will be held in New Delhi from Sept. 2 to 6.
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two-day meeting of BRICS women parliamentarian's forum was held in Jaipur. India has provided $ 1 million grant to Zimbabwe to fight the drought disaster in the country. The United States Postal Service (USPS) on 23 August 2016 announced to commemorate the joyous Hindu festival of Diwali with the launch of Forever stamp.
JULY 2016 INDIA GETS 3 SITES IN HERITAGE LIST
WORLD BANK’s PROJECT FOR YOUNG GIRLS The World Bank has approved a $ 63 million support for the project Tejaswini: Socioeconomic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Jharkhand. It is the first World Bank project in India that is solely focused on the welfare of adolescent girls and young women.
INDIA’s FIRST DIGITAL COURT Giving a kick-start to digital judicature, the first paperless e-court of India was inaugurated in Hyderabad High Court. The court will use digitised case records thereby minimising the usage of man power.
LARGEST ‘CHARKHA’ AT DELHI AIRPORT A 17 ft tall and 30 ft long 4-tonnes Charkha made from high-quality Burma teak wood was installed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. Largest of its kind in the world, it aims to promote the rich cultural heritage of India.
OP. ‘SANKAT MOCHAN’ IN SOUTH SUDAN The ruins of ancient Nalanda Mahavihara known as old Nalanda University of Bihar, Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex and Sikkim’s national park, home to the world’s third highest peak Mount Khangchendzonga, are the three sites that have been included in the list of UNESCO's World Heritage Site.
ANSARI VISITS MONGOLIA Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari visited Mongolia to attend the 11th Asia -Europe Meeting at Ulaanbaatar, capital of Mongolia. He also unveiled a stone statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Pethub Monastery in the Capital.
PM VISITS 4 AFRICAN COUNTRIES Prime Minister made a five days visit to four-nations Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya. The visit aimed at shoring up economic ties, firm up maritime security and counter balance China’s growing influence in the resource-rich continent. A deal was signed with Mozambique to import 1lakh tonnes of pulses. A set of 30 SUVs was handed over to them for their local use. With South Africa four MoUs were signed for bilateral cooperation in information and communication technology, grass root innovation and tourism, arts and culture. A Line of Credit of US$ 92 million was agreed for Tanzania for strengthening of the water resources system in Zanzibar. Seven pacts were signed with Kenya in the field of defence and security and avoidance of double taxation. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
Govt launched ‘Operation Sankat Mochan’ by sending two C-17 Globemaster aircrafts to Juba, capital of South Sudan to evacuate Indians from the war-torn country. The operation was headed by the State Minister of External Affairs, Gen. (retd) V K Singh.
NOT MUCH INDIAN MONEY IN SWISS BANKS As per the data released by the Swiss National Bank, India has slipped to 75th place in terms of money held by its citizens with banks in Switzerland, accounting for hardly 0.1 per cent of total foreign deposits of around $ 1.45 trillion with SNB. U K is the top depositor with 25 per cent share.
MODI RESHUFFLES COUNCIL OF MINISTERS Prime Minister Modi expanded his Council of Ministers by inducting 19 new ministers in the government. The new Ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by the President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Now there are total 78 ministers in the government of which 27 are of Cabinet rank. PRIME MINISTER Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic energy; Department of Space; and all important policy issues, and all other portfolios not allocated to any Minister CABINET MINISTERS Rajnath Singh Home affairs Sushma Swaraj External affairs Arun Jaitley Finance and Corporate Affairs Narendra Modi
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Venkaiah Naidu
Nitin Jairam Gadkari Manohar Parrikar Suresh Prabhu DV Sadananda Gowda Uma Bharati
Ramvilas Paswan Kalraj Mishra Maneka Sanjay Gandhi Ananth Kumar Ravi Shankar Prasad Jagat Prakash Nadda Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati Anant Geete Harsimrat Kaur Badal Narendra Singh Tomar Chaudhary Birender Singh Jual Oram Radha Mohan Singh Thaawar Chand Gehlot Smriti Zubin Irani Harsh Vardhan
Urban Development and Housing; Urban Poverty Alleviation; Information and Broadcasting Road Transport and Highways; Shipping Defence Railways Statistics and Programme Implementation Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Women and Child Development Chemicals and Fertilizers; Parliamentary Affairs Law and Justice; Electronics and IT Health and Family Welfare Civil Aviation Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Food Processing Industries Rural Development; Panchayati Raj; Drinking Water and Sanitation Steel Tribal Affairs Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Social Justice and Empowerment
Textiles Science and Technology; Earth sciences Prakash Javadekar Human Resource Development MINISTERS OF STATE INDEPENDENT CHARGE Rao Inderjit Singh
Bandaru Dattatreya Rajiv Pratap Rudy Vijay Goel
Shripad Yesso Naik Dharmendra
Planning ; Urban Development; Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Labour and Employment Skill development and Entrepreneurship Youth Affairs and Sports ; Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation AAYUSH Petroleum and Natural Gas
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
Pradhan Piyush Goyal Jitendra Singh
Nirmala Sitharaman Mahesh Sharma Manoj Sinha Anil Madhav Dave Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
Power ; Coal ; New and Renewable Energy ; Mines Development of northeastern region ; Prime Minister’s Office; Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy; Department of Space Commerce and industry Culture ; Tourism Communications ; Railways Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minority Affairs; Parliamentary Affairs
MINISTERS OF STATE VK Singh Santosh Kumar Gangwar Faggan Singh Kulaste SS Ahluwalia Ramdas Athawale Ram Kripal Yadav Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary Giriraj Singh Hansraj Gangaram Ahir GM Siddeshwara Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi Rajen Gohain Parshottam Rupala MJ Akbar Upendra Kushwaha Radhakrishnan P Kiren Rijiju Krishan Pal Jasvantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor Sanjeev Kumar Balyan Vishnu Deo Sai Sudarshan Bhagat YS Chowdary
External affairs Finance Health and family welfare Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Parliamentary Affairs Social Justice and Empowerment Rural Development Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Micro, Small Enterprises Home Affairs
and
Medium
Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Drinking Water and Sanitation Railways Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Panchayati Raj External Affairs Human Resources Development Road Transport and Highways; Shipping Home Affairs Social Justice and Empowerment Tribal Affairs
Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Steel Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Science and Technology; Earth Science
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Jayant Sinha Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore Babul Supriyo Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti Vijay Sampla Arjun Ram Meghwal Mahendra Nath Pandey Ajay Tamta Krishna Raj Mansukh L Mandaviya Anupriya Patel CR Chaudhary PP Chaudhary Subhash Ramrao Bhamre
Civil Aviation Information and Broadcasting Urban Development Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Food Processing Industries Social Justice and Empowerment Finance; Corporate Affairs HRD Textiles Women and Child Development Road transport and Highways, Shipping; Chemicals and Fertilizers Health and Family Welfare Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Law and Justice; Electronics and Information Technology Defence
INDIA PRETTY LOW IN HUMAN CAPITAL
INDIA FARES POORLY IN SDGs India has ranked a low 110 out of 149 nations surveyed for their achievements in the Sustainable Development Goals prescribed by the UNO. Sweden was ranked at number one, followed by Denmark and Norway. The goals have to be achieved by 2030.
INDIA LAGS IN TECHNOLOGY READINESS The annual Networked Readiness Index released by the World Economic Forum to assess the countries in terms of their readiness for transition to a digitised economy, placed India pretty low at 91st rank in a study of 139 countries. The index is topped by Singapore, followed by Finland.
The second BRICS Youth Summit was held in
The Human Capital Index released by the World Economic Forum for 130 countries has placed India at a low 105th place. The index measures countries’ ability to nurture, develop and deploy talent for economic growth. Finland topped the index while countries like China (71) and Bangladesh (104) were ranked above India.
Guwahati , Assam. The theme of the summit was “Youth as bridge for Intra-BRICS Exchanges”. BRICS policy planning dialogue meeting was held in Patna on July 26. The first meeting of the BRICS Working Group on “Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency” was held in Visakhapatnam. The first-ever meeting of BRICS Employment Working Group was held on July 27 in Hyderabad. India has set up an apparel training centre in Nigeria to support textiles industry of the West African country. India to give $ 318 million loan to Sri Lanka for improving railway lines and for supplying required locomotives, bogies and tankers, etc. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared India free from Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus and Yaws, an infection of the skin and bones. Union Cabinet has approved an Air Services Agreement with Mozambique to start the flights to Mozambique. India and Japan have signed a Social Security Agreement for benefit of the Indian and Japanese professionals and skilled workers working in each other’s country.
CHILD CAN WORK IN ‘HOME BASED BUSINESS’ The Parliament has passed the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016, seeking to prohibit employment of children below 14 years in any “profession”, but allows them “home-based work”, such as helping their families in forests, agricultural fields and small family-run units.
INDIA WORST COUNTRY FOR RETIREES: The Global Retirement Index compiled by the Natixis Global Asset Management places India at the bottom, making it world's worst country for retirees. The best country is Switzerland, followed by Norway and Iceland. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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NEWS FROM STATES
World Bank has agreed to provide nearly 1,000 crore rupees support to Assam for the betterment of the inland waterways.
SEPTEMBER 2016
AUGUST 2016
KARNATAKA TO RELEASE CAUVERY WATERS
UTTARAKHAND TOPS IN GROWTH In a study conducted by the Assocham to assess the growth in the industry and service sectors in Indian states in past 10 years, Uttarakhand has emerged as the top state in the country, attaining the highest compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.5% and 12.3% in industry and services sectors, respectively.
ODISHA C’GRH LOCK HORNS ON WATER
Supreme Court has directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu to save the Samba (paddy) crops in Tamil Nadu. Widespread demonstrations were held in Karnataka to protest against the SC order. Karnataka has shown its inability to observe the orders, while Supreme Court has asserted that Karnataka must comply with its orders.
RAJASTHAN INSTALLS 5 LAKH LED BULBS Rajasthan became the first state to adopt the Centre's Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) in all its urban local bodies. Almost 5 lakh conventional streetlights have been replaced with LED streetlights across the state.
States of Odisha and Chhattisgarh have eneterd in to a serious dispute over the issue of sharing of waters of the river Mahanadi. The river emanates in Chhattisgarh and enters Odisha. A multipurpose project Hirakud Dam has been constructed in Odisha to harness the waters of Mahanadi. Odisha has complained that Chhattisgarh is drawing excessive waters from the river, affecting adversely the interests of farmers in Odisha.
SAWAI MADHOPUR STATION WINS AWARD The Sawai Madhopur railway station in eastern Rajasthan, gateway to the renowned Ranthambore National Park, has won the National Tourism Award 2014-15 for the ‘Best Tourist-Friendly Railway Station’.
The Maharashtra government, for the first time, has
KERALA CELEBRATES ONAM, PULIKALI People of Kerala celebrated with vigor their harvest festival Onam on Sep. 14. It is one of the rarest festivals which is celebrated by a complete State, irrespective of religion, caste and creed. It is known for its famous ‘tiger dance’ – Pulikali. Breaking into a 200-year-old male bastion, for the first time, four women dancers stormed their way into Pulikali.
MANDI AND SINDHUDURG ARE ‘CLEANEST’ As per the 2016 ‘Swachh Survekshan’ (Cleanliness Index) for rural India to select the cleanest district, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh (hilly) and Sindhudurg, Maharashtra (plaines) were declared as the cleanest districts in India.
SIKKIM TOPS IN SANITATION As per the data released by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) on the condition of sanitation in rural areas in states, Sikkim has been adjudged the cleanest state while Jharkhand comes last. Asia’s biggest digital library dedicated to the memory of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, was opened in National Institute of Technology, Silchar, Assam. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
deployed drones to check rampant lane-cutting and overspeeding on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. Andhra Pradesh has become first Indian state to launch the DNA Index System for DNA profiling of criminals. Kolkata Akashvani Kendra has started a special Bangla service named Moitree Service, for listeners in Bangladesh. The first ever BIO-CNG project in India was inaugurated in Pune, Maharashtra. Odisha government rescued about 1051 missing children and united them with their parents by launching the ‘Operation Muskaan’. West Bengal state cabinet has adopted a resolution to rename the state as ‘Bengal’. The change, however, has to be approved by the Parliament. Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to approve sewage and wastewater policy to ensure proper treatment of urban waste water for making it fit for irrigation. In one of the worst animal tragedies, over 221 hog deer and 21 one-horned rhinos lost their lives in Kaziranga National Park due to floods in Assam.
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JULY 2016 TAMIL NADU TOPS IN ATTRACTING TOURISTS
Data released by the Ministry of Tourism shows that the number of domestic tourists increased by 11.63 per cent during 2015 to 1432 million. Tamil Nadu attracted highest - 333 million tourists, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Country received 23.3 million foreign tourists in 2015, registering a poor growth of only 4.4 per cent. Tamil Nadu again topped attracting 4.7 million foreign tourists, followed closely by Maharashtra.
NGT SAYS ‘NO’ TO OLD DIESEL VEHICLES With a view to curb air pollution in Delhi, the National Green Tribunal has directed the Delhi Government to cancel the registration of all diesel-powered vehicles that are more than 10 years old with immediate effect and these shall not be allowed to operate in the city. There are 2.82 lakh diesel vehicles registered in Delhi.
INDIA’s FIRST COMMERCIAL COURT Country's first commercial dispute resolution centre and a commercial court was inaugurated in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. It will focus on resolving disputes of investors to promote ‘ease of doing business’ in the state.
CONGRESS GOVT RESTORED IN ARUNACHAL In a historic first time decision, a five judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, in a unanimous verdict, circumscribed the powers of the Governor to interfere in the matter of political parties. It said that the Constitution does not enjoin upon the Governor the authority to resolve disputes within a political party, or between rival political parties. The case pertained to restoration of the Congress govt. lead by Nabam Tuki in Arunachal Pradesh which was dismissed on January 26, 2016 as it lost majority because 14 rebel MLAs were dismissed by the Speaker. Madhya Pradesh has passed a law as per which flush toilet in a residential premise will be mandatory for contesting panchayat elections in the state. Govt has approved Rs. 1,600 crore for Jammu and Kashmir under skill development initiative 'Himayat' to train 1, 24,000 locals in vocational courses. As a measure to tackle the increasing rate of obesity, Kerala plans a 14.5% ‘fat tax’ on junk food like burgers, pizzas, sandwiches, etc. Assam govt and the Armed Forces jointly launched exercise ‘Jalrahat’ to efficiently coordinate the rescue operations during the floods. Odisha to provide education loan up to Rs 10 lakh at 1% interest rate to poor students aspiring to pursue professional and technical education. Madhya Pradesh has become first state in India to set up Happiness Department in the state. It will work as resource centre on the subject of happiness. Kerala Tourism won two Gold Awards at the prestigious Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) awards for its excellence in marketing initiatives.
GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES SEPTEMBER 2016 27 SMART CITIES SELECTED
AIIMS TO BE OPENED IN GORAKHPUR Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Gorakhpur for the benefit of the people in eastern Uttar Pradesh and adjoining parts of Bihar.
PURI HOLDS ANNUAL ‘RATH YATRA’ The world famous Rath Yatra was held in the coastal city of Puri, Odisha. It marks the nine day annual journey of Lord Jagannath, his brother Lord Balbhadra and sister Subhadra in three specially built huge wooden Rathas (chariots) from the 12th century Jagannath temple to the Gundicha temple and back. About ten lakh devotees took part in the celebrations. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
Union Ministry of Urban Development released the third list of smart cities comprising of 27 cities from 12 states. This brings the total number of smart cities so far selected to 60. Each selected city will get a funding of Rs 200 crore in first year and of Rs 100 crore each in next three years.
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MERGER OF RLY BUDGET APPROVED
National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) launched for nurturing ideas and innovation into successful start ups. The Railways has launched ‘Yatri Mitra Seva’ to provide wheelchair-cum-porter services for the disabled, elderly and ailing passengers. Govt has launched ‘Gas4India’ campaign for promoting the use of gas in the country. The government has launched toll free number 1924 to register postal complaints. Efforts would be made to resolve the complaints within 24 hours.
AUGUST 2016 ONLINE LIBRARY FOR DISABLED The Cabinet has cleared merger of Railway Budget with General Budget, ending the 92-year long journey of separate budget for Railways. The cabinet also approved advancing of date for presentation of budget in Parliament from the existing last day of February.
Govt has launched Accessible E-Library 'Sugamya Pustakalaya' for Divyang under Prime Minister’s Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan). It makes accessible contents of over 2 lakh books available online to print-disabled people.
OFC LINK WITH ANDAMAN & NICOBAR
SURROGACY TO BE MADE LEGAL
The Union Cabinet has approved the project for laying down a direct communication link through a dedicated submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) between Mainland (Chennai) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands to facilitate better communication with the latter.
The Union Cabinet has cleared the draft Surrogacy Bill 2016, aimed at proper regulation of surrogacy in the country. It will safeguard rights of surrogate mothers and make parentage of such children legal.
PR STATUS FOR FOREIGN INVESTORS
The Parliament passed the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to open way for establishment of six new IITs in Palakkad (Kerala), Goa, Dharwad (Karnataka), Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Jammu, and Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh).
The government has approved granting of Permanent Residency Status (PRS) for 10 years to foreign investors (except Pakistani) who bring in at least Rs 10 crore investment to facilitate business operations in the country. The investment should also result in generating employment to at least 20 resident Indians every financial year.
BHARAT STAGE -VI NORMS ANNOUNCED The Centre has notified the Bharat Stage (BS)-VI emission standards for two-wheelers and four-wheelers to be applicable from April 2020 across the country. With this, the government has skipped the BS-V emission standards and moved directly to BS-VI from the BS-IV norms being followed currently. At present, BS-IV norms are being followed in over 30 cities while the rest follow BS-III norms.
NO NEED TO CARRY DL/RC The government has launched a new service through which vehicle owners can access their driving license and registration certificate digitally and need not carry a physical copy all the time.
Govt has launched a dedicated pan-India helpline named ‘Urja Mitra’ with dedicated phone number 14401 for getting update on power outages. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
SIX NEW IITs TO BE OPENED
RELIEF ON CARD TRANSACTIONS The Finance Ministry has directed that henceforth the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on all digital payments, including payments through cards, pertaining to the government transactions would be borne by government departments, giving relief to the public. Some of the items covered are payments for utility services, petrol pumps, gas agencies, railway tickets, tax payment, tickets at museums, monuments.
E-BOX TO HELP CHILD VICTIMS Ministry of Women and Child Development has launched, POCSO ebox, an online platform where a child victim of sexual abuse can report the case online. The facility has been launched on the home page of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. POCSO:Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses
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DIGITAL ATTENDANCE IN MEDICAL COLLEGES
JULY 2016 23.5% SALARY HIKE FOR GOVT EMPLOYEES
The Medical Council of India (MCI) launched the Digital Mission Mode Project (DMMP) to monitor online attendance of faculty members in about 439 medical colleges of the country through biometric system.
AADHAR ALLOWED FOR NEW MOBILE NUMBER The government has allowed online authentication (eKYC) for new mobile connections by using Aadhar number. In e-KYC, a customer authorises UIDAI to provide demographic details such as name, address, date of birth and gender, along with the digitally-signed photograph, to the mobile operator.
Implementing the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations, Central govt has announced an overall increase of 23.5 per cent in salary of over one crore government employees and pensioners. Increased salary will be effective from January 01, 2016. First revised salary will be payable from the month of August, 2016. The minimum basic pay for the peons, drivers, etc has been fixed at Rs 18,000 and the maximum goes up to Rs 2,50,000 for the Cabinet Secretary. The 7th Pay Commission was headed by Justice A K Mathur. The Pay Commission is constituted every ten years to review the salary structure and pension pay outs for Central Government employees.
INSURANCE FOR RAIL PASSENGERS Railway passengers, booking tickets through the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, IRCTC, website can now avail a travel accident cover of 10 lakh rupees at a premium of 92 paisa, from Sept. 2016.
NOW A LAW FOR GANGA
NEW STEPS IN TRANSMISSION SECTOR To enhance transparency in power transmission sector, govt has launched the ‘TARANG’ Mobile App. TARANG stands for ‘Transmission App for Real Time Monitoring & Growth (of transmission projects)’. A web portal named ‘e-Trans’ was launched online bidding power transmission projects. Another web portal named DEEP (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) was also launched for e-bidding of power tariffs.
TOUCH AND FEEL GARDEN FOR BLINDS A first-of-its-kind touch and feel garden of various herbal and aromatic plants in the country has been opened for the visually impaired people, near Calicut University campus in Kerala. The visitors can touch and smell the plants and can listen to complete details about the plant by using a special audio device installed with every plant.
With a view to provide a legal framework to the mission for cleansing of river Ganga, Ministry of Water Resources has constituted a committee headed by Justice Girdhar Malviya to prepare a draft of Ganga Act.
For the first time, civilian victims of cross border firing along the Indo-Pak border will be given a compensation of Rs. 5 lakh same as terrorism or Naxal victims. Union Cabinet has approved the amendments made to the Maternity Benefits Act which aims to raise maternity leave for women from 12 weeks to 26 weeks. Government has launched a nation-wide programme MAA – ‘Mothers’ Absolute Affection’ for promoting optimal breastfeeding practices. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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PORTAL LAUNCHED FOR FARMERS
‘PRASHIKSHAK’ TO TRAIN SCHOOL TEACHERS HRD ministry has launched a teacher education portal ‘Prashikshak’, for District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) for collecting and reporting data from all DIETs for improved monitoring. At present there are 646 DIETs in the country for imparting quality training to government school teachers.
PERSONALIZED STAMPS FOR Rs12 LAKH A new online portal - kvk.icar.gov.in has been launched to provide district specific agriculture related information to the farmers through the 645 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), known as farm-science centres, spread across the country. The portal will provide information related to all farm schemes, market development, weather updates, besides advisory to farmers.
RIGHT TO PEOPLE AGAINST IAS OFFICERS Govt has issued guidelines for the people who want the government’s permission to prosecute IAS officers. The guidelines have been issued in terms of the Supreme Court’s directions in the matter. Under the law, public servants cannot be prosecuted without the government’s approval to protect the innocent from unnecessary harassment.
SAGARMALA DEVELOPMENT COMPANY The Union Cabinet has approved the incorporation of Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Shipping. The Sagarmala Project was launched for promoting port-led economic development in India.
CLEANLINESS DRIVE FOR 10 ICONIC SPOTS Govt has decided to undertake a clean-up initiative at 100 iconic heritage, spiritual and cultural sites under the Swachh Bharat Mission. In the beginning, 10 sites have been selected that include Taj Mahal, Golden Temple, Tirupati Temple, Ajmer Sharif Dargah and Chhatrapati Shivaji Rail Terminus in Mumbai.
P M SURAKSHIT MATRITVA ABHIYAN It is a new government initiative for boosting the health care facilities for the pregnant women, especially the poor. They will be given free health check-up and required treatment on 9th of every month in all the government hospitals and health centers.
NATIONAL GREEN HIGHWAYS MISSION Govt has launched the National Green Highways Mission for undertaking plantation drive on 1,500 kilometers of National Highways at a cost of about 300 crore rupees. It has been decided to make it mandatory to set aside one per cent of the total project cost of any National Highway contract to a Green Fund corpus that will be used for plantation purpose. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
Department of Posts has announced that any individual or a corporate entity can now get their photo or logo printed inside the postage stamp for Rs 12 lakh. Department will provide 5000 sheets, each with 12 stamps. Govt has released the National Mineral Exploration Policy to adopt comprehensive exploration of non fuel and non coal mineral resources. Railways has launched an online portal named ‘Nivaran’ to address the service related grievance of serving and former railway employees. Govt has launched an online portal 'Transforming India', a repository for real-time sharing of the impact of various governance initiatives with citizens. Cabinet approves Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana with an outlay of Rs.12000 crore to impart skilling to one crore people over the next 4 years. Union Ministry of Health launched nationwide “Intensified Diarrhea Control Fortnight (IDCF)” from July 11-23. Cabinet approves establishment of an All India Institute of Medical Sciences - AIIMS at Bathinda under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana. The holy Gangajal brought from Gangotri and Rishikesh would be delivered through post offices at the doorsteps of people at nominal prices.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS SEPTEMBER 2016 INDIA REGISTERS A GROWTH RATE OF 7.1% As per the recent data released by the Central Statistics Office, India’s economy grew at 7.1 per cent in the April to June quarter of the current fiscal. This is the slowest growth in the last six quarters and was mainly due to subdued performance of the mining, construction and farm sectors.
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The RBI, in its Annual Report, has projected India's
growth rate at 7.6% in 2016-17, up from 7.2% last year. India’s exports contracted by 0.3% to $21.5 billion in August while imports shrank 14.1% to $29.2 billion, leaving a trade gap of $7.7 billion in the month. Industrial production contracted 2.4% in July, its worst performance in eight months, mainly due to a fall in manufacturing and capital goods sectors. The core sector grew 3.2 per cent in July as against 5.2 per cent in last month, primarily due to good growth in oil refining sector. Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Pune are the Indian cities among top 100 in the 6th annual Mastercard Global Destinations Cities Index.
AUGUST 2016 INDIA STANDS TO GROW BY 7.9%
ECONOMY & INDUSTRY SEPTEMBER 2016 CABINET APPROVES GST COUNCIL After the approval of the 122nd Constitutional Amendment Bill on GST by the President, The Union Cabinet has approved the formation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, to be headed by the Finance Minister. State Finance Ministers will be its members. It will make recommendations on important issues related to GST, including the tax rate and items to be covered.
GST EXEMPTION LIMIT AT RS. 20 LAKH The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has fixed the annual turnover limit for exemption from GST at Rs 20 lakh. Further, all the cesses will be incorporated in the GST. The limit would be Rs 10 lakh in the north-eastern states.
INDIA SHINES IN LOGISTICS PERFORMANCE India has jumped 19 places to the 35th rank in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index 2016 that measures countries across six components—customs, infrastructure, international shipments, logistics quality and competence, tracking and tracing, and timeliness. Goldman Sachs, the global financial giant has projected that Indian economy is expected to clock 7.9% growth in the current fiscal driven by better monsoon, government pay hike, key reforms and FDI inflows.
TRADE DEFICIT SHRINKS TO $7.76 BN Exports of goods slipped back into the negative territory in July 2016 posting a fall of 6.84 per cent to $21.68 billion. Trade deficit lowered to $7.76 billion as imports declined at a steeper rate of 19.03 per cent to $29.45 billion.
Industrial output grew by 2.1% in June, down from 4.2% a year ago, on account of poor show by manufacturing and capital goods production. Eight core sectors of the economy registered a 5.2 per cent year-on-year growth in June due to higher electricity, coal and cement output. India’s foreign exchange reserves rose to $367.16 billion as on August 19, as per data released by the Reserve Bank of India.
LUXURY TRAINS TO HAVE FLEXI FARE SYSTEM From Sep 9, passengers travelling by Rajdhani, Shatadbi and Duronto trains will have to pay between 10 to 50 per cent more under a dynamic surge pricing system, named Flexi Fare System. While 10 per cent of the seats will be sold in the normal fare in the beginning, it will go on increasing by 10 per cent with every 10 per cent of berths sold with a ceiling of 50 per cent.
FILM PIRACY COSTS Rs. 19,000 CR A recent Deloitte report says that over 150 rogue sites thrive on piracy by copying the film content. Piracy is eating away at the vitals of the film industry, causing it a loss of Rs. 19,000 crore annually.
HDFC BANK IS THE TOP INDIAN BRAND
JULY 2016 INDIA JUMPS IN TRADE HANDLING India has improved its ranking in the World Bank Group's bi-annual Logistics Performance Index 2016 by jumping to 35th position from 54th in 2014. The index studies 160 countries on the basis of efficiency of trade performance. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
As per a recent study, the overall value of top 50 brands in the country witnessed a marginal dip of 2 percent this year, totaling to $90.5 billion from $92.2 billion in 2015. HDFC Bank topped the rankings for the third consecutive year with a brand value of $14.4 billion, followed by Airtel and SBI.
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UBER JOINS HANDS WITH MARUTI
AUGUST 2016 GST BILL PASSED BY RAJYA SABHA The Rajya Sabha passed the Constitution (122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2014 to introduce the goods and services tax (GST). The Lok Sabha passed it on August 8. Now the bill will need to be ratified by at least 50 per cent of the states Assemblies, to become a law. Assam became the first state to ratify the GST bill. The Bill is aimed at bringing uniform tax regime in the country by subsuming Central excise and state levies such as State VAT, entertainment, entry and luxury taxes to ensure seamless transfer of goods and services.
EXEMPTIONS FROM TCS
American MNC Uber has launched a new initiative in partnership with Maruti Suzuki and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) for creating livelihood opportunities for one million people by 2018. Maruti will facilitate training of drivers in tie up with NSDC and Uber will facilitate funding of vehicles.
AMAZON-KJO TO TANGO TOGETHER Amazon has signed a long-term licensing deal with director-producer Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions to stream both new and old titles on Amazon Prime Video, when it launches the services in India later this year.
INDIA RANKS 112TH IN ECONOMIC FREEDOM India is placed at 112th spot among 159 countries covered by the World Economic Freedom (WEF) Index released by the India's Centre for Civil Society in collaboration with Canada's Fraser Institute. Hong Kong topped the index followed by Singapore and New Zealand.
AIRCEL MERGES WITH RCOM In the biggest consolidation deal in India's telecom sector, Reliance Communications and Aircel announced the merger of their wireless operations to create a combined entity with assets worth Rs 65,000 crore, fourth largest in Indian telecom sector.
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has exempted the government departments, embassies, consulates and UN bodies from the levy of 1% tax collection at source (TCS) on cash purchases of above Rs 2 lakh. 1% TCS is applicable on purchase of goods and services in cash exceeding Rs 2 lakh.
COMMITTEE FOR E-COMMERCE SECTOR With a view to effectively regulate the fast-growing ecommerce industry in the country, government has decided to set up a committee to look into all issues related to this sector. The committee will be headed by the NITI Aayog CEO Mr. Amitabh Kant.
NEW TRAIN SERVICE FOR AGARTALA For the first time, a rail service has been launched for Agartala, capital of Tripura. A new train named Tripura Sundari Express started the weekly service from New Delhi to Agartala, coverin g a distance of 2480 kms via Guwahati in 47 hours.
‘ASIAN PAINTS’ IS MOST INNOVATIVE At number 18, Asian Paints is the highest-ranked Indian company on Forbes's list of 'The World's 100 Most Innovative Companies'. List that includes four more Indian companies is topped by the Tesla Motors of USA that manufactures energy storage devices.
Flipkart has become first Indian e-commerce company in the country to cross the milestone of 100million registered users. The ADB has approved a $ 631 million loan to develop the proposed Vishakhapatnam- Chennai industrial corridor, along the coastline. The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) completed 60 years of its service to the nation on Sep 1. South Korea's LG Electronics Inc has tied-up with Amazon.com Inc for sale of smart-home services. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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ADB has granted $ 100 million loan to strengthen key
INDIA 3RD IN TECH START-UPs As per a study conducted by the business body ASSOCHAM, India is home to the 3rd largest number of technology-driven start-ups in the world, with the US and the UK occupying the top two positions.
Maruti Suzuki has launched its first light commercial
vehicle (LCV) named Super Carry.
JULY 2016 JNU PORT STARTS RFID TRACKING
irrigation and drainage system in the Cauvery delta in Tamil Nadu. The World Bank has announced $ 1 billion support for India’s ambitious solar energy generation plans. The retail prices of non-urea fertilisers including DAP have been slashed by up to Rs 5,00 per quintal following a drop in global prices of raw materials. India’s first Green Rail Corridor has been started on the Rameswaram-Manamadurai stretch in Tamil Nadu. It ensures zero toilet discharge on rail tracks. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation has joined hands with State Bank of India to promote booking of rail tickets through banking channels.
BANKING & FINANCE SEPTEMBER 2016 Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Mumbai has become the first port in India to start RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag based tracking of containers. This will facilitate importers and exporters in easy and quick tracking of their goods in transit.
ONLY 7 INDIAN COMPANIES IN TOP 500
3 PROFESSIONALS JOIN MPC The Cabinet has decided to include statistician Chetan Ghate, economist Pami Dua and management expert Ravindra Dholakia as outside expert members of the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
ROBOTS TO WORK IN ICICI BANK
In the latest Fortune 500 `list of the world's biggest corporations in terms of revenue, there are only seven Indian companies. Top most Indian company is Indian Oil Corporation at 161st rank with revenue of $54.7 billion. The list is topped by the retail giant Walmart with revenue of $482,130 million.
RAILWAYS TO GET HI-TEC EYES Railways plan to install TRI-NETRA (three eyes) vision system on locomotives for enhancing the driver’s vision in inclement weather. It will be made up of highresolution optical video camera, high sensitivity infrared video camera and a radar-based terrain mapping system. The Bombay Stock Exchange has introduced 'Paperless SIP' that would allow mutual fund investors to make transactions through various modes of payments. Govt allows oil companies to raise the price of kerosene by 25 paise a litre each month for 10 months to cut the subsidy burden, beginning from July 1, 2016. Nirma, the Ahmadabad-based detergents and chemicals giant has agreed to acquire Lafarge India’s cement assets for about $1.4 billion (Rs.9,400 crore). Bangladesh and India have signed a mega deal for the construction of a 1,320 megawatt Maitree Super Thermal Power Project at Rampal, Bangladesh. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
ICICI Bank has become first bank in India to employ software robots to perform tasks like generating customer IDs, updating addresses and mobile numbers, resolving ATM-related queries. These robots are handling over one million transactions daily in more than 200 business process functions.
Canada’s British Columbia province has become the first foreign government denominated masala bonds.
to
issue
of
rupee-
AUGUST 2016 INFLATION TARGET FIXED AT 4 % In consultation with RBI, the Government has notified 4 per cent inflation target for the next five years. There is provision for variation of 2 per cent above or below this target. This will form the basis for the new interest rate setting and formulation of monetary policy.
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NOD FOR ‘ON TAP’ BANK LICENCES
SBI APPROVES MERGER OF ASSOCIATES The State Bank of India Board has approved merger of its five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with itself. The five subsidiaries of the SBI are - State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Hyderabad and State Bank of Patiala. After merger bank’s balance sheet will jump to Rs 37 trillion or over $555 billion, making it one of the top 50 global financial giants, with 22,500 branches and 58,000 ATMs serving a customer base of over 50 crore.
Committee headed by Ratan P Watal set up to RBI has announced guidelines for 'on tap' universal banking licence regime. It excludes large industrial houses from the purview though they can invest up to 10 per cent in new banks. New bank should have Rs. 500 crore as initial capital. Applicants should have a past record of sound financials, credentials, integrity and a minimum 10 years of successful track record. These banks will have to comply with the priority sector lending targets and the board of the bank should have a majority of independent directors. “On tap” license refers to license on demand, i.e. applicants can apply any time for a bank license.
PORTAL LAUNCHED FOR DEPOSITORS RBI has launched a web portal named ‘Sachet’ to curb illegal collection of deposits by providing information at the state level about the entities authorized by the RBI to collect deposits from the public.
suggest steps to promote card payments through incentives like tax rebates and cash back schemes. RBI is encouraging banks to issue masala bonds (rupee-denominated bonds overseas) for their capital requirements and for financing of infrastructure. RBI has asked banks to provide loans to women selfhelp groups in rural areas at 7 per cent per annum. RBI Governor Raghuram G Rajan announced the 3rd bi-monthly monetary policy statement on August 9. No change in any policy rate was announced. In one of the largest bancassurance partnerships in India, LIC has tied up with Axis Bank to sell its insurance policies through bank branches. The RBI has formed a committee headed by Tarun Ramadorai, Professor in University of Oxford, to review various facets of household finance in India.
JULY 2016 FREE EXCHANGE OF SOILED NOTES
RBI TRANSFERS Rs 65,876 CR TO GOVT The Reserve Bank has decided to transfer its surplus profit of Rs 65,876 crore to the central government. This surplus is generated through RBI's investment activities, primarily in other sovereign bonds like that of the US T-bills.
NOW CASH PAYMENTS THROUGH APP National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to simplify electronic cash transfer process with 21 participating banks. Cash payments could be done using your cell phone. Net banking can be done without IFSC Code, bank name or account details. The new app can be downloaded from Google Play Store.
SBI & ICICI RENAMED AS D-SIB The Reserve Bank of India has retained the ‘too big to fail’ tag for the state-owned SBI and private lender ICICI Bank for the second year in a row, calling them domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs) for 2016, requiring higher level of supervision. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
The RBI has asked banks to exchange up to 20 pieces of soiled currency notes, up to a maximum value of Rs 5,000, free of charge. Banks may recover reasonable service charges for exchanging notes beyond these limits.
3% INTEREST SUB-VENTION ON FARM LOANS Farmers repaying their bank loan in time will get shortterm crop loans of up to Rs 3 lakh at a subsidised interest rate of 4 per cent in 2016-17, against the normal rate of 7 per cent. The 3 per cent difference will be provided as the interest sub-vention to the banks by the government.
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SBI TIES UP WITH IIT FOR START UPS
RBI has imposed a penalty of five crore rupees on Bank of Baroda for the lapses in the 6,100-crore rupees scam that was unearthed last year. RBI has constituted a Working Group to study the entire gamut of regulatory issues relating to financial technology and digital banking in India. Reliance Industries has signed an agreement with State Bank of India to start the proposed Payment Bank. World Bank to provide Rs 4200 crore to the State Bank of India for financing of grid connected rooftop solar photovoltaic projects in India.
State Bank of India has signed a MoU with the Indian Institute of Technology Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), its technology business incubator, to promote innovation by startups in the financial sector.
COMMITTEE TO EMPOWER MONETARY POLICY Govt has cleared the formation of a six-member Monetary Policy Committee to bring in “value and transparency to monetary policy decisions”. The committee will comprise three members from RBI, including the Governor, who will be the ex-officio chairperson, a Deputy Governor and another one officer of the central bank. The other three members will be appointed by the government. They will be the experts in the field of economics or banking or finance or monetary policy.
DEFENCE, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY SEPTEMBER 2016 ARMY LAUNCHES OPERATION ‘CALM DOWN’ In view of the continuing turbulence in the Kashmir Valley, the Army has moved an entire brigade into South Kashmir as part of operation ‘Calm Down’ to clear it of militants and protesters.
INDIA SIGNS MAJOR DEFENCE PACT WITH USA
FRESH CAPITAL FOR 13 PSBs The Ministry of Finance has announced capital infusion of Rs 22,915 crore towards the recapitalisation of 13 public sector banks during 2016-17 to provide liquidity support for lending operations as also to enable banks to raise funds from the market.
ONLY RBI TO ACCEPT PRE-2005 NOTES The Reserve Bank has announced that from July 1 onwards pre-2005 banknotes will be accepted only at its select branches as majority of the old series banknotes have been withdrawn. The pre-2005 banknotes are being withdrawn because of fewer security features in them compared to banknotes printed after 2005.
SBI LAUNCHES SOCIAL MEDIA BANKING State Bank of India has launched a social media banking platform called 'SBI Mingle' which will enable the Facebook and Twitter user customers to use a host of banking services on their social media accounts. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
In a major boost to bilateral strategic ties, India and the USA have signed the crucial 'Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement' (LEMOA) that will enable their militaries to use each other's assets and bases for repair and replenishment of supplies, making joint operations more efficient.
MORMUGAO DESTROYER JOINS INDIAN NAVY An indigenously built stealth warship (destroyer) named Mormugao, equipped with a range of high-tech missiles was handed over to Indian Navy for formal testing of equipments and weaponry.
EMBRAER DEAL PUT UNDER LENS The Defence Ministry has ordered an enquiry into the purchase of Embraer aircraft from Brazil. The DRDO had signed a $208-million deal with Embraer for purchase of three ERJ-145 aircraft for a project to build indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems for the Air Force.
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The Indo-US Joint Military Training Exercise, Yudh
Abhyas - 2016 was held in mountains of Ranikhet, Uttarakhand. The 8th Indo-Russia joint military exercise ‘Indra 2016’ was flagged off in Vladivostok (Russia). Indra has been a biannual exercise since 2003. India will pay about Rs. 58,000 crore to France for procuring 36 off-the-shelf Dassault Rafale twinengine advance fighter jets. INS Tihayu, a new Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC) has joined the Indian Navy. Indian and Kazakhstan Armies conducted a joint exercise 'Prabal Dostyk – 16' in the Karaganda region of Kazakhstan. The indigenously built offshore patrol vessel, ICGS Sarathi was inducted into the Indian Coast Guard at Panaji, Goa.
ISRO PUTS INSAT-3DR IN ORBIT
LIGO LAB IN HINGOLI, MAHARASHTRA
Maharashtra's Hingoli district has been chosen for carrying out experiments on the ambitious LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) project that proved existence of gravitational waves, a major breakthrough in science. It would be third such laboratory in the world and the first outside the United States.
The world’s first driverless bus (electric) service has started in Lyon, France with two busses, each carrying 15 passengers. Google has launched ‘Allo’, the highly anticipated smart instant messaging mobile app for Android and iOS users. China has launched its second space station the Tiangong 2 into space atop a Long March 7 rocket.
The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully placed INSAT-3DR advanced weather satellite in the geosynchronous orbit on Sep 8 onboard its GSLV- Mk-II rocket. The mission named ‘F05’ was carried out by using indigenously developed cryogenic engine, for the first time. The satellite is equipped with modern instruments to study weather patterns and to help in the surface-level search and rescue operations. A cryogenic engine uses liquefied Hydrogen and Oxygen at very low temperature as fuel.
SCATSAT-1 PLACED INTO ORBIT
AUGUST 2016 ISRO TESTS SCRAMJET ENGINE ISRO scripted history on August 28 when it successfully test-fired its futuristic Scramjet Rocket Engine that will help to design air-breathing engines. After US, Russia and European Space Agency, India is the fourth country to achieve this fete. Super Sonic Combustion Ramjet (Scramjet) uses hydrogen as fuel and takes in oxygen from the atmosphere as oxidizer, thereby cutting the weight and heavy cost of Oxygen tank. It reduces the weight of the launch vehicle by more than half, enabling it to carry heavier payloads into orbit.
In a first, ISRO's PSLV C-35 rocket launched a total of eight satellites, into two different orbits. The 371 kg SCATSAT-1, a satellite for weather-related studies, was placed in the polar sun synchronous orbit at an altitude of 730 kms. The other seven satellites included PRATHAM and PISAT, built by IIT-Bombay and PES University, Bangalore respectively. IIT GUWAHATI GETS SUPER FAST COMPUTER
The fastest and most powerful computer in northeastern, eastern and southern regions was launched in IIT Guwahati. Named PARAM-ISHAN, the super computer has a speed of 250 Teraflops and three hundred tera bites capacity. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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WORLD's FIRST QUANTUM SATELLITE
ARMY GETS ITS OWN BOFORS GUN The Jabalpur-based Gun Carriage Factory has handed over three indigenously developed 155 mm ‘Dhanush’ artillery guns for trial to the Army. It has a strike range of 38 kms. The gun has been developed following transfer of technology from the Bofors of Sweden.
India successfully test-fired the medium range
China has launched the world's first quantum satellite named Quantum Experiments at Space Scaler (QUESS) satellite, nick named Micius,after a 5th century BC Chinese philosopher. The satellite will help establish hack-proof communications between space and the ground.
‘DIVYANG YODHA’ MISSION BY BSF A para cycling expedition named ‘divyang yodha’ was organised by the BSF under the Prime Minister Sugam Bharat Mission. It covered 583 kms from Manali in Himachal Pradesh to highest road in world at Khardungla in Laddakh, J&K. The two week long Indo - Thailand Military Exercise ‘MAITREE’ concluded on July 29 at Krabi, Thailand.
EARTH LIKE PLANET DISCOVERED Astronomers have discovered an earth like planet named ‘Proxima b’ that is orbiting star Proxima Centauri, the sun’s closest star neighbour. Indications are that it is in the habitable zone with possibility of life. China successfully launched a new high-resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite named Gaofen-3 from its Long March 4C rocket. China has successfully launched its first mobile telecommunication satellite named Tiantong on its Long March-3B carrier rocket.
surface-to-air missile (MR-SAM) – Barak-8, developed jointly with Israel, from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) near Chandipur, off Odisha coast. In a major milestone in the military aviation in the country, the first squadron of home-grown Light Combat Aircraft Tejas became operational in the India Air Force at Bengaluru. INS Tarasa, an indigenously built Water Jet Fast Attack Craft was inducted in Indian Navy. It is named after an island in the Andaman and Nicobar. Indian Navy launched country’s largest ever search operation named ‘Operation Talash’ over the sea to trace the missing AN-32 aircraft of the Air Force. India has signed a one-billion dollar deal with Boeing of USA for four long-range maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft, Poseidon-8I. Indian Navy has started INS Karma, a dedicated base for Marine Commandos (MARCOS) in Vishakhapatnam. It is a Special Operation Force of Navy. Armed forces of 26 nations from around the world, including India, took part in the Exercise RIMPAC 2016, held near Hawaiian Islands, USA. China has built its largest ever transport aircraft Y20 Kunpeng, nicknamed “chubby girl”,to transport cargo and troops over long distances in diverse weather conditions. China has made the world’s largest amphibious aircraft, AG-600, to fight forest fires and perform marine missions. It can go up to 4500 kms without refueling and can carry up to 53.5 tons of load.
CHINA BUILDS WORLD’S LARGEST TELESCOPE
JULY 2016 NAVY GETS THE POWER OF ‘VARUNASTRA’ Indian Navy crossed another milestone in its fire power as it inducted indigenously-built heavyweight antisubmarine torpedo Varunastra. Only seven more countries have such capability. It is capable of targeting quiet and stealthy submarines in intense counter-measure environment.
DEFENCE COMMUNICATION NETWORK Defence Minister launched India's first Integrated Defence Communication Network. The network provides online connectivity to all the 111 establishments of the Army, the Air Force, the Navy and the Special Forces Command to share situational awareness for a faster decision-making process. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
The world's largest radio telescope has been built by China in Pingtang County in the south-western China. It has reflector of the size of 30 football fields, with a diameter of 500 meters, aptly named Five-hundredmeter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST). The project will help to better understand the origin of the universe and boost the global hunt for extraterrestrial life (aliens).
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JUNO SUCCEEDS IN ORBITING JUPITER
INTERNATIONAL SEPTEMBER 2016 NATIONS PLEDGE TO FIGHT SUPERBUGS The 193 member countries of the United Nations have signed a landmark declaration to make the world free from drug-resistant infections or superbugs. The international commitment could prevent 700,000 deaths a year, say experts.
NASA achieved a big breakthrough on July 5 when it succeeded in putting the solar powered 1,600 kg spacecraft Juno in the orbit of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. The maneuvering was conducted some 870 million kilometers away from the earth. Juno is a spinning, robotic probe as wide as a basketball court. It will circle Jupiter 37 times for 20 months, diving down to about 4,500 kilometers above the planet's dense clouds. It will help scientists better understand the planet's origin, structure and atmosphere.
JUNE WAS THE HOTTEST MONTH National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USA in its 137 years of record keeping has found that the June 2016 combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces was 0.90 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average, hottest recorded till date.
Of the total 10,135 bird species in the world, about 12 per cent of them, 1263 are found in India. This has been confirmed in a scientific study conducted by a group of ornithologists (bird watchers) in India. Social media giant Face Book has successfully tested its solar-powered craft Aquila that will be used to beam internet to remote parts of the world. Google has announced that the next version of Android, 7.o, codenamed “N”, will be called Nougat. China has successfully launched its second Shijian-16 series satellite for space research and experiments.
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
G-20 SUMMIT HELD AT HANGZHOU
Leaders from the world's top economies in G20 summit at Hangzhou, China pledged to continue to work for a globally fair and modern international tax system, curbing cross border financial foster growth and refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies.
FRENCH COURT RULES AGAINST BURKINI France’s constitutional court has ruled against the ban on Burkini, the full-body swim wear used by some Muslim women to maintain their modesty while enjoying their time on beach. However, in a recent poll,64 percent of the French expressed their opposition to women wearing Burkinis on the beach and a good number of towns have imposed a ban on Burkini.
BRAZIL OUSTS PRESIDENT ROUSSEFF Brazil's Senate voted to oust President Dilma Rousseff ending the episode of massive corruption scandal and brutal economic crisis that rocked Brazil. Michel Temer was sworn in as the new President of Brazil. Rousseff, country's first female president was accused of illegally using money from state banks to bankroll public spending. World Health Organisation has declared Sri Lanka ‘free’ from Malaria as no case of this deadly disease has been reported in the country for last three and a half years due to strict control on mosquitoes. The United Nations Security Council has decided to discuss the latest ballistic missile launches by North Korea as it is a violation of the UN Security Council resolutions. The European Union has ordered Apple Inc of USA to pay a record 13 billion Euros as recovery of tax amount as the very liberal tax arrangements made by Ireland in favour of Apple were considered illegal. World Health Organization (WHO) has said that 9 out of 10 people globally are breathing poor quality air. 92% of the world's population lives in places where air quality levels exceed WHO limits.
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The 28th ASEAN Summit was held on Sep 6-7 in
The 7th South Asian Association for Regional
Vientiane, capital of Laos. Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a group of 10 South east Asian nations.
Cooperation (SAARC) Interior Ministers' conference was held in Islamabad, Pakistan. Pakistan will host the 19th SAARC Summit in Islamabad on November 9 and 10 this year.
AUGUST 2016
JULY 2016
DAWN OF PEACE IN COLOMBIA
FAILED COUP ATTEMPT IN TURKEY Turkey witnessed a failed coup attempt on July 15 by a faction of its Armed Forces to overthrow the government. Loyal forces and the public lead by the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan thwarted the attempt, terming the attempt as an incident of treason. Around 300 persons were killed and several hundred wounded seriously in the aftermath.
4 NEW MEMBERS IN UNSC People of Colombia saw the dawn of a new peaceful era after almost 50 years of conflict with local gorillas group FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) when the government reached a final peace deal with FARC. More than 220,000 people were killed in the conflict, tens of thousands disappeared and millions fled their homes because of the violence.
Ethiopia, Bolivia, Sweden and Kazakhstan have been elected by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) as the non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for a period of two years beginning Jan 1, 2017.
IMO JOINS UNO
UNIQUE GLASS BRIDGE IN CHINA World’s highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge was opened to visitors in Avatar Mountains in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province of China. The 430 meter long bridge stands 300 meter above ground and has 99 panes of three-layered transparent glass.
EARTHQUAKE ROCKS CENTRAL ITALY Around 250 people were killed and 400 wounded in a strong earthquake of 6.1 magnitude that struck central Italy past midnight of August 24, levelling buildings in several hill towns as residents slept. Worst affected by the quake were the tiny towns of Amatrice and Accumoli in Rieti province.
ENJOY ‘PANDA TRAIN’ IN CHINA China has unveiled a panda-themed subway train that sets a new standard for adorable design i n p u b l i c transportation. Both, interior as well as exterior of train have been decorated with artistic Panda pictures. Poles in the coaches are painted to resemble bamboo and even the individual handles over the seats have been sculpted into the outline of a Panda’s head. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
The UN General Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution to treat the ‘International Organisation for Migration’ – IOM, as a related organisation of UNO. The 65 years old IOM assisted over 20 million migrants in 2015.
WORLD COURT RULES AGAINST CHINA The Permanent Court of Arbitration, the tribunal based in The Hague, has ruled that there was no evidence that China had historic rights to the waters of South China Sea or resources that fell within its "nine-dash line", and was violating the Philippine's sovereign rights with its operations there. The case was brought before the tribunal by Philippines.
SHORTEST AND TALLEST IN WORLD A survey done in 200 countries to study the average height of persons has found that shortest women are found in Guatemala, with an average height 150 cms while shortest men are from East Timor – 160 cms. Tallest men are from Netherlands – 182.9 cms and tallest women are from Latvia at 167.6 cms average height.
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AMAZON IS THE SMARTEST COMPANY E-commerce giant Amazon has been ranked number one in the annual list of the world’s 50 smartest companies of 2016 compiled by the MIT, USA on the basis of use of innovative technology for an effective business model.
According to a survey of millions of airline passengers conducted by UK based research firm Skytrax to select the best airline, Emirates, the Dubai based airline has been selected as best. The 2-day long NATO Summit was held in Warsaw, Poland. Heads of nations of 28 member countries took part in this biennial summit. Finance Ministers from the Group of 20 major economies met in Chengdu, China for a two day summit.
PERSONS IN NEWS SEPTEMBER 2016 MUKESH AMBANI: As per Forbes’ list of richest Indians, he was ranked at top for a ninth year in a row with a net worth to $22.7 billion, while Sun Pharma’s Dilip Shanghvi was ranked a distant second with a wealth of $16.9 billion. PRIYANKA CHOPRA: As per the Forbes magazine's annual list of best-paid television actresses in the world, she has been ranked at 8th place in the world, with earnings of $10 million. LOPAMUDRA RAUT: Finished the second runner-up at Miss United Continents 2016. ANKIT KWATRA: He has been selected for the inaugural class of U.N. Young Leaders for Sustainable Development Goals for his initiative on eliminating hunger. He runs an NGO ‘Feeding India’, which redistributes excess food procured from various events among the needy. ARUNDHATI BHATTACHARYA: In the list of the 50 most powerful women in world compiled by the US magazine Fortune, SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya has been placed at number two while ICICI Bank head Chanda Kochhar is on the fifth spot. J.P. RAJKHOWA: Arunachal Pradesh Governor was dismissed by the President Pranab Mukherjee, after it became apparent that he was not going to quit as desired by the Centre. Mr. Rajkhowa’s conduct had come in for adverse criticism from the Supreme Court for advancing an Assembly session without advice from the Cabinet. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
SUSHIL MUHNOT: In an unprecedented move, the Chairman and Managing Director of Bank of Maharashtra was removed by the government with immediate effect. He was under the scanner for misuse of powers. MOTHER BECOMES ‘SAINT’: Mother Teresa, the founder of a Roman Catholic religious congregation called Missionaries of Charity, was declared a saint at the canonization ceremony at St Peter’s Square in Vatican City by the Pope Francis, religious head of Roman Catholics. Nobel Prize-winning nun, died at the age of 87 in 1997.
AUGUST 2016 OM SWAROOP GOWDA: A six-year-old boy from Karnataka has entered the Guinness Book of World Records for covering longest distance by limbo skating under cars, covering a distance of 65.28 meters under 36 cars. PUSHPA KAMAL DAHAL ‘PRACHANDA’: 61 year old radical leader of Nepal was elected as Prime Minster by the Parliament. A former Maoist rebel chief, he led a decade-long insurgency that toppled the Hindu monarchy in 2008. LUKE AIKINS: 42 years old American professional skydiver became the first man in the world history to dive from mid-tropospheric altitude, around 25,000 feet (7.6 km) without a parachute and land safely on a 100x100 feet net on land. J.K. ROWLING: Renowned novelist of the Harry Potter series has confirmed that the eighth installment in the series, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, will be the last story in the saga. There would be no more new adventures for Harry Potter in future.
JULY 2016 RADHIKA MENON: The first woman captain of Indian Merchant Navy was in news as she became the first woman in the world to receive the Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea from the International Maritime Organisation for saving the lives of seven fishermen.
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IROM SHARMILA CHANU: Famous as ‘Iron Lady of Manipur’, she was in news as she decided to end on August 9 her 15 year old hunger strike in protest of AF(SP)A in Manipur to contest state elections, instead. In 2000, when she embarked on her hunger strike, she also had taken a vow to neither enter her house nor meet her mother till the government repealed the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. K P OLI: Nepalese Prime Minister stepped down from his post before facing a vote of trust in the Parliament. It is reported that he lost the support of the ally parties. DONALD TRUMP: The billionaire businessman from USA has been officially declared as the Republican party’s candidate for US President elections to be held in November this year. DAVID CAMERON: Prime Minister of United Kingdom resigned from his post after he lost the campaign to ‘remain’ with European Union. JIM YONG KIM: President of the World Bank Group was in India for a two day official visit. FEDOR KONYUKHOV: 64 years old Russian adventurer has set a world record for circumnavigating the globe solo in a hot air balloon in a time of just over 11 days, covering over 34,000 kms.
APPOINTMENTS SEPTEMBER 2016 ARUN GOYAL: Appointed Additional Secretary in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council. SANJIV SINGH: New Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOC).
AUGUST 2016 NEW GOVERNORS APPOINTED Banwarilal Purohit: Governor of Assam VP Singh Badnore: Governor of Punjab Najma A. Heptulla: Governor of Manipur Jagdish Mukhi: Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands VIJAY RUPANI: Selected as the new Chief Minister of Gujarat Dr. URJIT R PATEL: New Governor of the Reserve Bank of India BHASKAR KHULBE: Senior IAS officer has been appointed as Secretary to Prime Minister RANI SINGH NAIR: Appointed new Chairperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes ANANT MAHESHWARI: Appointed as the President of India operations of global software giant Microsoft. TAKEHIKO NAKAO: (of Japan) Re-elected as the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a period of 5 years, from November, 2016. PUSHPA KAMAL DAHAL ‘PRACHANDA’: Elected as the new Prime Minister of Nepal JIM YONG KIM: Re-appointed as the President of the World Bank, USA. YOUSSEF CHAHED: Appointed as the new Prime Minister of Tunisia
JULY 2016 N S VISHWANATHAN: Appointed Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India in place of H R Khan who retired on July 3.
NAVTEJ SARNA: Appointed as Ambassador to the USA
AJAY BHUSHAN PANDEY: Appointed as the chief executive officer of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)
ALKA SIROHI: Appointed as the Chairperson of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) by the President of India.
PEMA KHANDU: Sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, after the Supreme Court verdict on restoration of earlier CM, Nabam Tuki.
AISHWARYAA DHANUSH: Appointed as the Advocate for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in India by the UN Women. VIRAT KOHLI: Punjab National Bank has appointed Indian test skipper as its brand ambassador.
RAKESH KUMAR CHATURVEDI: Appointed as the new Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education, CBSE THERESA MAY: Elected as the new Prime Minister of United Kingdom
BAKYTZHAN SAGINTAEV: Appointed as the new Prime Minister of Kazakhstan
MALCOLM TURNBULL: Minister of Australia.
ALI BONGO: Re-elected as the President of Gabon, Africa
GUDNI JOHANNESSON: Elected as the new President of Iceland.
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
Re-elected as the Prime
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AUGUST 2016 25th
AWARDS & HONOURS SEPTEMBER 2016 LEMELSON–MIT PRIZE: Ramesh Raskar, an Indianorigin scientist has won this prestigious prize worth $500,000 for his groundbreaking work in radical imaging solutions. MIT = Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA HERITAGE HEROES AWARD: Indian ecologist and conservation activist Bibhuti Lahkar became the first Asian to be awarded the prestigious award given by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Kaale Varke”, short story collection by Canada-based writer Jarnail Singh has been selected for Dhahan Prize for Punjabi Literature 2016. Dhahan Prize promotes Punjabi literature on a global scale by awarding $25,000 (around Rs15 lakh) annually to the best book of fiction published in either Gurmukhi or Shahmukhi scripts, along with two additional second prizes of $5,000 CDN (around Rs3 lakh). The two second prizes were given to “Tassi Dharti” (Thirsty Land), a novel by Zahid Hassan and “Us Pal”, a short-story collection by Simran Dhaliwal.
'Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur’: (Knight of the National Order of the French Legion of Honour), awarded to Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CMD of Biocon for her outstanding contribution to research in Biosciences. GOLDEN LION: Award for the Best Film at the Venice Film Festival won by a film from Philippine, Ang Babaeng Humayo (The Woman Who Left). Kannada film Thithi won the best film award at the BRICS Film Festival held in New Delhi. JACKIE CHAN: 62 years old martial arts expert and actor from Hong Kong has been selected for the Lifetime Achievement Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, USA. JESSE OWENS OLYMPIC SPIRIT AWARD-2016: will be posthumously bestowed to Olympic champion Muhammad Ali, who passed away on June 3, 2016. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
VYAS SAMMAN 2015: Hindi scholar and writer Sunita Jain for her poetry collection "Kshama". This award is given for outstanding work in Hindi literature. Ashok Chakra: The highest peace time gallantry award was conferred posthumously upon Havildar Hangpan Dada of Assam Regiment, who killed four intruding terrorists before laying down his life at the height of 13,000 feet in the harsh and icy Himalayan range of North Kashmir on May 26, 2016. RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL SADBHAVANA AWARD: Shubha Mudgal, well-known Hindustani classical vocalist for her outstanding contribution towards the promotion of communal harmony, peace and goodwill. The award is given by the Indian National Congress party and carries a cash award of 10 lakh rupees. KAMAL HAASAN selected by the Govt of France for the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres (Knight in the National Order Arts and letters) for his contribution in promotion of art and culture. Madhya Pradesh won the National Tourism Award for best comprehensive development of tourism.
JULY 2016 RAMON MAGSAYSAY AWARD FOR 2016: Six Asians selected for the prestigious awards for social work. Two of them are Indians: Bezwada Wilson, from Karnataka, a prolific campaigner for eradication of manual scavenging in India, T.M. Krishna, Carnatic singer from Chennai, for promoting peace and harmony through music. 51st Jnanpith Award: conferred on renowned Gujarati writer, poet and critic, Dr. Raghuveer Chaudhari. Gourmand World Cookbook Award for 2015-16: won by Nimi Sunilkumar, cookbook author and food blogger, for her book “4 o’clock Temptations of Kerala”. ADITYA PURI: CEO and MD of the HDFC Bank has been ranked as the best banking CEO in Asia by the investor community.
BOOKS & AUTHORS SEPTEMBER 2016 Citizen and Society by Hamid Ansari (Vice President of India) Selection Day by Aravind Adiga. Six Machine, an autobiography of Chris Gayle, explosive batsman from West Indies Perilous Interventions: The Security Council and the Politics of Chaos by Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s former ambassador to UNO
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AUGUST 2016 My Olympic Journey by Digvijay Singh Deo and Amit Bose. The Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by Neena Gopal Me, The Jokerman by Khushwant Singh (late), a compilation of his essays. Grassroots Innovation by Prof. Anil K. Gupta of IIM Ahmedabad Jihadi Jane by Tabish Khair Ace Against Odds by Sania Mirza, an autobiography by star tennis champion
JULY 2016
OBITUARY SEPTEMBER 2016 REOTI SARAN SHARMA: The renowned Hindi and Urdu writer, playwright and television personality, died in New Delhi. He was 92 years. He penned memorable television serials like Phir Wahi Talaash and The Great Maratha. MOHAMMAD SHAFI QURESHI: Veteran Congress leader and former Governor of Madhya Pradesh passed away at the age of 87.
The Phoenix Moment by Praful Bidwai.
ARNOLD PALMER: One of the greatest golfers ever, died at 87 in Pittsburgh, USA. From 1958 to 1964, he was the charismatic face of professional golf and one of its dominant players.
Myth Breaker by Seema Singh, a book about the life of Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, bio-tech queen of India, CMD of Biocon.
EDWARD ALBEE: One of the best known playwrights of America, three time winner of Pulitzer Prize, famous for works like "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "A Delicate Balance," died at the age of 88.
Who Moved My Interest Rates by Former Reserve Bank of India Governor, D Subbarao
The Scout by Shirish Thorat, Sachin Waze
AUGUST 2016
The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Carefree Days: Many Roles, Many Lives Nevile
by Pran
Half-Lion: How PV Narasimha Rao Transformed India by Vinay Sitapati The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable by Amitav Ghosh Courage & Commitment: An Autobiography by Margaret Alva, senior Congress leader, former Governor of Uttarakhand, Rajasthan The Wars of Reconstruction by Doughlas R.Egerton
AKHLAQ Ur RAHMAN (AR) KIDWAI: Former Governor of States including Bihar, West Bengal and Haryana, passed away at the age of 96. Decorated with Padma Vibhushan, he was Chairman of UPSC and Chancellor of the Aligarh University. GURDIAL SINGH: World famous prominent Punjabi writer, novelist and short story writer and Jnanpith awardee passed away at Bathinda, Punjab. He was 83. His famous works include ‘Anne Ghore Da Daan’ and ‘Marhi Da Deeva’ PRAMUKH SWAMI MAHARAJ: Head of Boachasanvasi Akshar Purushottam Sanstha (BAPS), founder of Akshardham Temples world over, passed away at Sarangpur in Gujarat at the age of 95. The spiritual leader created and consecrated 1,100 mandirs and huge cultural complexes like Swaminarayan Akshardham in Gandhinagar and New Delhi to portray the cultural and spiritual heritage of India. KALIKHO PUL: 47 year old former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh and rebel Congress leader, who quit as the Chief Minister in mid July, 2016 as per Supreme Court ruling, committed suicide at his official residence in Itanagar.
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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MACHHLI: The longest known surviving tigress in the wild, star tigress of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, died at the old age of 19 years. Famous as the Queen of Ranthambore, she is believed to be the most photographed tigress in the wild.
PLACES IN NEWS
HANIF MUHAMMAD: Pakistan’s legendary former captain and batsman, who held the record for the longest innings in Test cricket, passed away after a prolonged battle with lung cancer.
MYSURU: The city was declared the cleanest among those having 10 lakh plus population in a unique `Swachh Sarvekshan’, which looked at the level of cleanliness, sanitation and hygiene. Nearly 99% of households in Mysuru have toilets.
JULY 2016 MAHASWETA DEVI: Eminent Bengali litterateur and a social activist, Masiha for the welfare of tribals, Mahasweta Devi passed away at the age of 90. She was decorated with Jnanpith Award, Padam Vibhushan and honoured with Raman Magsaysay Award. She is best known for her iconic work "Hajaar Chaurasi Ki Maa". SYED HAIDER RAZA: One of India’s most eminent painters, the modernist, passed away aged 94 in Delhi. Honoured with highest civilian award of France, he spent most of his life in France. He excelled in rare geometrical patterns, usually with iconic ‘bindu’ (point) at the fulcrum of his artistic odyssey. He was decorated with Padma Bhushan in 2007 and with Padma Vibhushan in 2013.
SEPTEMBER 2016
MAJULI ISLAND: The tiny island in the River Brahmaputra in Assam has been declared as the largest river island in the world, toppling Marajo in Brazil, by Guinness World Records. The river island covers an area of around 880 sq km. SUPER TYPHOON MERANTI: Rated as one of the strongest typhoons of the year, it devastated parts of Taiwan with wind speeds of up to 370 kph on Sep 14. Next day it battered adjoining areas of China’s Fujian Province, causing widespread dislocation of people.
MOHAMMED SHAHID: One of the greatest names in Indian hockey, died due to severe liver condition and kidney failure. He was 56.
TYPHOON MEGI: Taiwan bore the brunt of Megi forcing thousands of evacuations, closure of schools and offices and flight disruptions.
MUBARAK BEGUM (SHAIKH): Legendary Bollywood playback singer and ghazal maestro passed away after prolonged illness in Mumbai, at the age of 80. She will always be remembered for her evergreen song "Kabhi tanhaiyon mein yoon hamari yaad ayegi" from the 1961 movie "Hamari Yaad Aayegi".
AUGUST 2016
LACHHU MAHARAJ: World famous Tabla player of Banaras Gharana passed away due to heart attack in Varanasi. He was 72 years old. WILLIAM H. MCNEILL: World renowned historian who wove the stories of civilizations in his book “The Rise of the West” and vivid account of epidemics in “Plagues and People,” died at age 98 in USA. ABDUL SATTAR EDHI: Noted Pakistani philanthropist, social activist, ascetic passed away in Karachi. He was 88 years old. ABBAS KIAROSTAMI: Iran’s renowned filmmaker, winner of several international awards, died at 76 fighting with cancer. ELIE WIESEL: The Holocaust survivor, writer and Nobel peace laureate (1986) who worked to keep alive the memory of Jews slaughtered during World War II, died aged 87 in Israel. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
KOKRAJHAR: Town in Assam was in news at least 14 persons were killed and 20 injured when militants allegedly belonging to the banned National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit faction) opened fire and hurled grenades at a weekly market near Kokrajhar town in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in western Assam. MAHAD: Over 50 people went missing after two staterun buses and a number of private vehicles were swept away in flooded Savitri river when a British-era bridge collapsed on the Mumbai-Goa Highway near Mahad in Raigad district, Maharashtra. Due to midnight time, the vehicles were unable to notice the ruptured bridge span and plunged into the raging floodwaters. QUETTA: In one of the deadliest militant attacks, a suicide bomber killed at least 70 people and wounded more than 100 in an attack on crowd of mourners gathered at the civil hospital in Quetta in south western Pakistan. Typhoon Nida: Squalls, heavy rain and rough seas battered Hong Kong as the Typhoon Nida landed on the Dapeng Peninsula, some 42 kms away from Hong Kong.
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JULY 2016 PETRAPOLE: Town in West Bengal on India and Bangladesh border was in news as a newly constructed modern integrated check-post was opened there. On the Bangladesh side the link town is Benapole. MAJULI: A big island in River Brahmaputra in Assam was in news as it has been up graded as a district, becoming the first island district in the country. TOKYO: In one of the worst mass-casualty attacks, nineteen disabled persons were stabbed to death and several other were wounded seriously in a care home for disabled persons, by a knife-wielding man apparently aggrieved at having been fired from his job. NICE: City in southern France was in news at least 84 people were crushed to death and over 200 seriously wounded when a heavy 25 tonne truck was driven rashly at a high speed mowing down the people attending Bastille Day celebrations on the beach. DALLAS: City in Texas, USA was in news as in a local racial crowd protest, snipers shot down five police officers and wounded another seven. The protest was against the killing of two black men a week ago by the police. DHAKA: Capital of Bangladesh was in news as a group of heavily armed terrorists barged into a posh city restaurant and took around 33 people hostage, mostly foreigners and brutally slained 20 of them. Army commandos stormed the restaurant and succeeded in killing six terrorists and rescuing 13 hostages. ISTANBUL: Suspected IS suicide attackers killed 41 persons and wounded scores of others at Europe’s third busiest airport - Istanbul Ataturk.
SPORTS WORLD SEPTEMBER 2016
Anjum Chopra became the first Indian woman cricketer to get the prestigious life membership of Melbourne Cricket Club, London, UK. Star raider Anup Kumar from Haryana will lead India in next month’s Kabaddi World Cup to be held in Ahmedabad. Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra clinched the mixed doubles title in the Brazil Open Grand Prix Badminton championship. Olympic silver medalist P V Sindhu has been appointed as the brand ambassador of the Central Reserve Police Force – CRPF and has been given the honorary rank of Commandant in CRPF. Velavan Senthilkumar: Indian squash player defeated Jordanian Mohammad Al-Sarraj to win the U-19 Asian Junior Individual squash championship title in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Ravichandran Ashwin: Indian off-spinner became the fastest Indian and second overall to take 200 wickets, reaching the milestone in his 37th Test at the Green Park in Kanpur. Abhinav Bindra, India's lone individual Olympic gold medallist, has officially announced his retirement from shooting. TENZING NORGAY ADVENTURE AWARD Harbhajan Singh Ritu Kishor Kedia and B. Rajkumar Tashi Malik, Nungshi Malik and Debasish Biswas
Mountaineeringwater and air adventure land adventure
INDIA BEAT NZ IN HISTORIC 500TH TEST India scored a mammoth 197-run win against New Zealand in their historic 500th cricket Test in Kanpur. Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who claimed 6 wickets in the innings, made his fifth 6-wicket haul. Ravinder Jadeja was declared Man of the Match.
Devendra Jhajharia broke his own world record to win gold in the men’s javelin throw in the Rio Paralympics achieving a throw of 63.97 mts. He is ranked third in world.
Duleep Trophy Cricket tournament: India Blue team defeated India Red to win the trophy in finals played Greater Noida, U P.
Deepa Malik created history by winning silver medal in Women's shotput at Rio Paralympics, becoming first Indian woman to win a medal in Paralympics games.
The Track Asia Cup cycling competition was held at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex velodrome in New Delhi. Hong Kong topped the medal tally while India stood second.
Mariyappan Thangavelu, para athlete from India created history by bagging the gold in high jump event at Rio paraolympics. Another Indian Varun Bhati won the bronze medal in the same event.
Durand Cup (football): Army Green won the Asia's oldest football tournament in New Delhi by beating Neroca FC.
Subhankar Pramanick, young Indian shooter clinched the gold medal in 50-metre rifle prone event at the ISSF Junior World Cup at Gabala in Azerbaijan. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
India is now placed at the148th spot in the world FIFA rankings where Argentina continues to rule at top, followed by Belgium and Germany.
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THE 15TH RIO 2016 PARALYMPIC GAMES 2016 (718 September) concluded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. China topped the medal tally with 239 medal, including 107 gold, followed by Britain with 147 medals. India secured only 4 medals – 2 gold and one each in silver and bronze. US OPEN TENNIS GRAND SLAM, NEW YORK Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland defeated the world number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Women’s title was lifted by Angelique Kerber of Germany by beating Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic Serena Williams, world number one in Tennis, has created history by setting a record of most number of Grand Slam matches wins – 307, by a woman in the Open era. Germany’s Nico Rosberg won the Italian Grand Prix F1 race at Monza, Italy and also the Belgian Grand Prix. England cricket team created a record by scoring the highest-ever 444 runs (for three) in ODI, playing against Pakistan at Nottingham, UK. Australia made a new world record of highest runs in a T-20 international, scoring 263 against Sri Lanka in Pallekele, Sri Lanka. Japan to host 2026 Asian Games Japan’s Aichi prefecture and its capital city Nagoya have been confirmed as co-hosts of the 2026 Asian Games. South Korea will be hosting the Winter Olympics at Pyeonchang in 2018, while Tokyo will host the 2020 Summer Olympics before the winter games go to Beijing in 2022.
AUGUST 2016 NATIONAL SPROTS AWARDS DECLARED (I) RAJIV GANDHI KHEL RANTA 2016, highest national award in sports, carries a medallion and cash award Rs. 7.5 lacs S. No. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Name of the awardee Ms. P.V. Sindhu Ms. Dipa Karmakar Shri Jitu Rai Ms. Sakshi Malik
Discipline Badminton Gymnastics Shooting Wrestling
(II) ARJUNA AWARDS 2016, carries a bronze statue of Arjuna and cash award Rs. 5 lacs. S. No. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Name of the awardee Shri Rajat Chauhan Ms. Lalita Babar Shri Sourav Kothari Shri Shiva Thapa
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
Discipline Archery Athletics Billiards & Snooker Boxing
5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.
Shri Ajinkya Rahane Shri Subrata Paul Ms. Rani Shri Raghunath V.R. Shri Gurpreet Singh Ms. Apurvi Chandela Shri Soumyajit Ghosh Ms. Vinesh Shri Amit Kumar Shri Sandeep Singh Mann Shri Virender Singh
Cricket Football Hockey Hockey Shooting Shooting Table Tennis Wrestling Wrestling Para-Athletics Wrestling (Deaf)
(II) DRONACHARYA AWARDS 2016, highest national award for coaches, carries a bronze statue of Dronacharya and cash award of Rs. 5 lacs S. No. 1 2 3. 4. 5. 6.
Name of the awardee Shri Nagapuri Ramesh Shri Sagar Mal Dhayal Shri Raj Kumar Sharma Shri Bishweshwar Nandi Shri S. Pradeep Kumar Shri Mahabir Singh
Discipline Athletics Boxing Cricket Gymnastics Swimming (Lifetime) Wrestling (Lifetime)
(IV) DHYAN CHAND AWARD 2015, Lifetime Achievement award in sports, carries a plaque and cash award of Rs. 5 lacs. S. No. 1 2 3
Name of the awardee Ms. Satti Geetha Shri Sylvanus Dung Dung Shri Rajendra Pralhad Shelke
Discipline Athletics Hockey Rowing
(V) TENZING NORGAY NATIONAL ADVENTURE SPORTS AWARD, carries a bronze statue and cash award Rs. 5 lacs. Sr. No. 1. 2.
Name of the awardee Tashi Malik Nungshi Malik
Discipline Mountaineering Mountaineering
Sania Mirza, India’s ace tennis player has once again topped the ATP Women’s Doubles Tennis rankings. Dipika Pallikal, India's top squash player won the Australian Open Squash women’s singles title in Melbourne. Pro Kabaddi League championship was won by the Patna Pirates defeating Jaipur Pink Panthers at Hyderabad, Telangana. The 2016 World Kabbdi Cup will be held in Ahmedabad, Gujarat from Oct 7 to 22, 2016. M S DHONI SET A WORLD RECORD for captaining India for the record 325th game, most by a player in history, across all three formats, to break Australian skipper Ricky Ponting's mark. He achieved the record playing against West Indies in Fort Lauderhill, Florida in USA.
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SPECIAL TASK FORCE FOR OLYMPICS Prime Minister has announced the setting up of a task force to prepare India’s athletes for the next three Olympics. Further, Ministry of Sports has set up a highlevel committee to find out the reasons behind India’s disappointing show at Rio.
CASH AWARDS FOR OLYMPIC MEDALISTS Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has announced a cash award of 50/30/20 lakh rupees for the gold/silver/bronze medal winning athlete in the Rio Olympics. Indian Railways has announced cash award of Rs 100/75/50 lakh for its athletes winning gold/silver/bronze in Rio Olympics. N. Ramachandran, President, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has been awarded the prestigious ‘Olympic Order’ for his outstanding efforts in promoting the Olympic movement. Narsingh Yadav, India’s big hope in wrestling was lost when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), situated in Lausanne, Switzerland, banned the wrestler for four years following an appeal by World Anti-Doping Agency.
RIO OLYMPICS – 2016 - HIGHLIGHTS The 16 days of sports extravaganza, 31st Summer Olympics, hosted by Brazilian City, Rio de Janeiro came to an end on August 21in the Maracana Stadium by ceremonial handing over of the Olympics flag to the officials of 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The games had nearly 11,000 participants from 205 countries, including a first-ever refugee team, featuring in 306 events of 42 sporting disciplines. In all 65 Olympic and 19 World Records were broken during the course of games. USA topped the medal tally with 121 medals comprising of 46 gold, 37 silver and 38 bronze. Great Britain followed with 67 medals (27+23+17) and China took third place with 70 medals (26+18+26). India could get only 2 medals, securing 67th rank. As many as 121 countries had to return emptyhanded as they failed to win even a single medal.
INDIAN SCENE Ace shuttler P V Sindhu from Telangana became the first ever Indian woman to win a silver medal in the Olympics. She lost the gold to the world number one Carolina Marin of Spain. Sakshi Malik, star wrestler from Haryana won India’s first medal in Rio Olympics. She defeated GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan to win the bronze in 58 kg freestyle wrestling, becoming the first ever Indian woman grappler to win an Olympic medal. Dipa Karmakar, star gymnast impressed with her 4th-place finish in the vault finals. Steeplechaser Lalita Babar also made the country proud by becoming the first Indian athlete in 32 years to enter the finals of an individual event in Olympics in track category.
INTERNATIONAL SCENE The United States won its 1,000th Olympic gold medal when the American women's 4x100 meter medley relay team won the gold at the Rio Games. Michael Phelps, the most amazing swimmer from USA, rewrote the history when he secured his 23rd gold by winning the 400-meter medley relay in Rio Olympics. Phelps finished a career that spanned five Olympics with 28 medals, 23 of them gold. No other athlete in any sport has more than nine gold medals. He became the first swimmer ever to win four consecutive Olympic golds in the same event - 200m individual medley in swimming. Usain Bolt, Jamaica's speedster retained his coveted title "Fastest man alive on the planet" by winning the 100m Final of Rio Olympics, securing the third successive Olympic Gold medal in the event, an unprecedented feat. He also achieved the record third successive gold in 200 meters and 400 X4 meter relay race, claiming 9 golds in 3 successive Olympics. Katie Ledecky, American swimmer, won four gold and silver at Rio, setting new world records in the 400m and 800m freestyle events. Simone Biles, artistic gymnast from USA won five medals - four gold and one bronze - from her first Olympic Games. Briton Mo Farah became first runner after 1976 to retain his gold in 5000m and 10,000m in two successive Olympics. Ashton Eaton of the USA became the first man to win back-to-back Olympic golds in decathlon. Jamaica's Elaine Thompson became the first woman to complete the sprint double in 28 years. South Korea completed a clean sweep of four gold medals in archery to continue their dominance. Of the 36 archery golds in nine Olympics, South Korea has won 23. Three nations won their first ever Olympic medal Fiji, Jordan and Kosovo.
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Sanjeev Rajput won the silver medal in men's 50-metre rifle 3 position event at the ISSF World Cup in Baku, Russia. Viraat Kohli, star Indian batsman became the first Indian test captain to score a double century in an overseas match in past 84 years. He scored 200 off 283 balls with 24 boundaries playing against West Indies in Antigua. Ravichandran Ashwin, Indian offspinner, has become the number one Test bowler after taking 7 wickets in the 1st Test against West Indies Naman Ojha, wicketkeeper-batsman has been named captain of the India A team for the four-nation One-day tournament in Australia, starting August 14. Lewis Hamilton of UK won the German Grand Prix at Hockenheimring, Germany. Novak Djokovic has won the ATP Toronto Masters defeating Kei Nishikori of Japan Cristiano Ronaldo, iconic star player of Real Madrid Football Club has won the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has agreed to add five new games in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The new games are Baseball-Softball, Karate, Skateboard, Climbing Sports and Surfing.
JULY 2016 NEERAJ CHOPRA scripted history by becoming the first Indian to hold a world record as he smashed the junior world record in javelin throw while securing the gold medal at the IAAF World Under-20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. DIPA KARMAKAR: Star Indian gymnast was named a ‘Gymnaste de Classe Mondaile’ (World class gymnast) by the International Gymnastics Federation. She also became the first-ever Indian gymnast to receive this honour. Rohit Khandelwal has become the first Indian to win the title of Mr. World at a grand ceremony at Southport in England. He received a whopping cash prize of 50,000 US dollars. Harika Dronavalli, India's Grand Master won the Fide Women’s Grand Prix Chess trophy in Chendu, China. Niranjan Mukundan, Bengaluru para swimmer won eight medals, including three golds, at the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports, U-23 World Games held in Prague, Czech Republic. He suffers from dysfunction of spinal cord. B Sai Praneet won the Canada Open Grand Prix Badminton tournament held in Calgary, Canada GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
Vijender Singh won the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title of boxing in Delhi by beating Kerry Hope of Australia. 73rd Senior National Squash Championship, Mumbai: Dipika Pallikal won the women's title while men’s title was won by Saurav Ghosal. India will be hosting the world’s first Mixed Martial Arts ‘Super Fight League’ from August 26 to October 1. P R Sreejesh, goalkeeper of the Indian Hockey team will captain the team in Olympics. Women’s team will be captained by Sushila Chanu. The 56th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships were hosted by Hyderabad. India made a big leap of 11 places to occupy 152nd spot in the latest world football rankings issued by FIFA.
OLYMPIANS FORM AN ASSOCIATION All sportspersons who have represented India in Olympics have got together to form The Olympians Association of India. Five-time Olympian, Luge champion Shiva Keshavan will serve as the association's first President.
SUPREME COURT REINS IN BCCI The Supreme Court delivered a historic judgment accepting most of the recommendations made by the Justice R M Lodha Committee on the functioning of BCCI. Major changes include an age cap of 70 years and a tenure cap of three terms of three years each. Also, ministers and serving bureaucrats have been barred from holding BCCI positions. Keni Harrison, American hurdler, broke a 28-year-old world record in the 100m hurdles, clocking 12.20 seconds at the London Anniversary Games. Chris Froome of Britain won the world’s most challenging cycle race, Tour de France after a threeweek rocky ride. The 23 day long race covers roughly 3500 kms in various terrains and stages.
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Lewis Hamilton of Britain won the Hungarian Grand Prix F 1 championship at Budapest, Hungary. He also won the British Grand Prix title of Formula One at the Silverstone Circuit in Silverstone, United Kingdom and the Austrian Grand Prix F1 Championship at Spielberg, Austria. Pakistan’s captain Misbah-ul-Haq became the oldest captain to score test hundred at the age of 42 years and 47 days, playing against England at Lord's.
WIMBLEDON TENNIS GRAND SLAM Men’s title – won by Britain's Andy Murray beating Milos Raonic of Canada Women’s title – won by Serena Williams of USA by beating Angelique Kerber of Germany Euro Cup Football Championship: Portugal lifted the cup at Saint-Denis in Paris beating France 1-0. This Portugal’s first major international victory in past 95 years. International Hockey Federation Champions Trophy (women) won by Argentina by defeating Netherlands in the final played in London.
RUSSIA FACES OLYMPICS BAN World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has called for a ban on all Russian competitors and officials at the upcoming Rio Olympics and other international sports as they were found guilty of state-run doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games and other events.
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
IOC TO LAUNCH ‘OLYMPIC CHANNEL’ The International Olympic Committee plans to launch the Olympic Channel on August 21st, after the Rio Olympics are over. The channel will be available online, worldwide via an app for Android and iOS devices, as well as on YouTube and social media - Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
DAYS & DATES SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 8: INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY This day is observed every year supported by UNESCO to emphasize the importance of literacy to individuals, society and communities. This year’s theme is, 'Reading the Past, Writing the Future'. SEPTEMBER 14: HINDI DIVAS OR RAJBHASHA DIVAS It is celebrated every year as on this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of the country adopted Hindi language as the official language of the Republic of India. SEPTEMBER 15: International Democracy Day Observed every year to raise public awareness about the democratic system. This year's theme is"Democracy and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development".
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SEPTEMBER 16: World Ozone Day To create awareness about dangerous associated with depletion of Ozone layer. SEPTEMBER 21: International Day of Peace Supported by the UNO, the day is dedicated to world peace, and specifically the absence of war and violence in world. Theme for this year is “The Sustainable Development Goals: Building Blocks for Peace”. SEPTEMBER 27: World Tourism Day Celebrated to foster global awareness about the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value. The theme this year was “Tourism for all - promoting universal accessibility”.
AUGUST August 7: National Handloom Day Observed every year to promote handloom industry and to honour weavers with Sant Kabir National Handloom Awards for their excellence. August 10: World Bio-Fuel Day It is observed globally to create awareness about non fossil-fuels (Green Fuels). On this day in 1893, Sir Rudalph Diesel (inventor of the diesel engine) for the first time successfully ran mechanical engine with Peanut Oil. DAUGHTERS DAY AUGUST 11 The Ministry of Women and Child Development has launched a social media campaign to observe 11th August as the Daughters Day as part of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao programme to check female foeticide, improve sex ratio and educate girls across the country. AUGUST 12: INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY Observed globally every year to raise awareness on issues that affect youth. The theme of this year’s IYD is “The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Production and Consumption.”
JULY JULY 01: NATIONAL DOCTORS’ DAY The day is observed to honour legendary physician, Bharat Ratna Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy whose birth and death anniversary falls on July 1.
JULY 15 - WORLD YOUTH SKILLS DAY Observed globally with UN support to raise awareness about the importance of investing in youth skills development. This year’s theme is Skills Development to Improve Youth Employment. JULY 26: KARGIL VIJAY DIWAS The day is observed every year in honour of the Kargil War Heroes. It was on this day in 1999 that the Indian Armed Forces, as part of Operation Vijay, recaptured Indian posts in Kargil which had been occupied by Pakistan's army. JULY 28: WORLD HEPATITIS DAY Supported by the WHO, this day is observed to raise awareness about viral hepatitis, and to call for access to treatment and better prevention programs. JULY 29: INTERNATIONAL TIGER DAY It is held annually on to give worldwide attention to the conservation of tigers. It is estimated that hardly 3,500 or so tigers are now left on earth. JULY 30: WORLD DAY AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS Supported by UNO, it is observed across the world for raising awareness about the plight of human trafficking victims, and promoting and protecting their rights. ALL THE NEWS ITEMS IN THIS MAGAZINE HAVE BEEN SOURCED FROM VARIOUS NEWS PAPERS AND GOVT. PRESS RELEASES.
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Bullet News (APRIL 2016 – JUNE 2016) For details visit – www.gyanm.in
NATIONAL NEWS JUNE 2016
As per the Global Retail Development Index (GRDI),
PM Narendra Modi visited Afghanistan, Qatar,
Switzerland, the US and Mexico to broaden cooperation and push for India's bid for Nuclear Suppliers Group. PM Modi was conferred with Afghanistan’s highest civilian honour. In Qatar, seven MoUs were signed for exchange of information and intelligence. India is now the 35th member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). This admission to the club will enable it to sell missile technology to other nations. MTCR is an anti-proliferation group of 34 nations designed to limit the spread of ballistic missiles and other unmanned systems. The US has welcomed PM Modi’s new vision of Indo-US ties (“Modi Doctrine”). It envisages a joint India-US effort for global peace, prosperity and stability. President Pranab Mukherjee visited Ghana, Ivory Coast and Namibia to boost trade ties. Ivory Coast awarded him its highest national honour. PM Modi visited Tashkent to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, which approved India and Pakistan for its full membership. Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari visited Morocco and Tunisia. Many MoUs were signed for mutual cooperation between the two countries. At the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting in Seoul, India failed to get the NSG membership as some countries objected to it as it has not signed the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
India has jumped 13 positions from last year to rank second, next to China. As per UNCTAD’s World Investment Report, India is the 10th largest receiver of FDI globally with $44 billion (2015) inflows. The US tops by attracting $380 billion. Global Slavery Index 2016 says that India has 18.4 million people in modern slavery, about 40% of the global slave population. General Prayut Chan-O-Cha, the Thai Prime Minister arrived for a three day visit to India with a high level delegation. India signed two agreements with Thailand for boosting cooperation in culture and educational sectors. India and the USA have signed an agreement for exchange of terrorist information, in the wake of terror attacks. A commemorative silver coin was released to mark the 300th martyrdom day of Sikh General Banda Singh Bahadur. As a goodwill gesture, the US has returned over 200 stolen cultural artifacts to India, valued at around $100 million. All India Radio celebrated its 80th birthday on June 8. On this day in 1936, the Indian State Broadcasting Service became All India Radio. Ex-Cabinet Secretary T S R Subramanian gave its report on New Education Policy to the HRD ministry. Champaran Satyagrah Express train has been started from Bapudham, Motihari (Bihar) to Anand Vihar, Delhi. Gandhiji started his first Satyagraha in April 1917 from Champaran to support the cause of Indigo growers of the region.
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An MoU was signed with Switzerland for cooperation in skill development and professional training. Mumbai is the most expensive city nationally and the 82nd most expensive globally, says the Mercer’s 2016 Cost of Living Survey. Globally, Hong Kong tops the list.
MAY 2016 The Indian Railways plans to conduct trial of its first
solar panel-powered train in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The world’s largest cargo aircraft, Ukraine’s Antonov AN -225 Mriya — or the Dream, made its first landing in India Census 2011 data shows that there are total 248.8 million households in the country of which 202.4 million are of Hindus, 31.2 million belong to Muslims, 6.3 million belong to Christians, 4.1 million of Sikhs and 1.9 million belong to Jains. As per 'The Geospatial Information Regulation Bill 2016', wrong depiction of the map of India could attract jail up to 7 years and/or fine up to Rs 100 crore. The Supreme Court has appointed a committee headed by former Chief Justice R M Lodha to review the functions of the Medical Council of India President Pranab Mukherjee visited China from May 24 to 27, starting his trip from the highly industrialised Chinese city Guangzhou. President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena arrived in New Delhi on May 13 for a two day visit. International Vichar Mahakumbh was held in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh from May 12 to 14. The H.R. Nagendra Committee on Yoga Education in Universities has recommended seven programmes for implementation in Indian universities. To mark the 155th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, India organized a cultural festival in Cairo, Egypt from May 8 to 12. A study by Assocham-KPMG shows that India is the fifth largest producer of e-waste, discarding roughly 18.5 lakh metric tonnes of electronic waste each year. Govt has granted status of ‘classical language’ to six languages - Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Sanskrit and Odia.
APRIL 2016
India has been ranked sixth among the world's TopTen largest manufacturing countries.
The Unique Identification Authority of India has
]
The First Maritime India Summit was held in Goregaon, Mumbai, from April 14 to 16 to focus on port based economic growth of the country. For the first time, United Nations observed the birth anniversary of Dr. B R Ambedkar on April 14 at its headquarters in New York. GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
generated over 100 crore Aadhaar numbers in a span of five-and-a-half years. India signed the Paris Climate Agreement at United Nations in New York along with 175 nations. President nominated the six personalities from different fields to the Rajya Sabha (House of Elders) following the recommendations of the government. As per a report from the security solutions firm Symantec, India ranks third among countries with high number of financial Trojan infections India has joined hands with Germany for the mission ‘Namami Gange’ by adopting strategies used for cleansing German rivers like Rhine and Danube. The Supreme Court has allowed the holding of the National Eligibility Entrance Test, NEET for medical courses across the country. The HRD ministry released National Institutional Ranking Framework for ranking the higher education institutions in the country. Top Management Institute: IIM Bangalore, followed by IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta Top Engineering Institute: IIT Chennai, followed by IIT Mumbai and IIT Kharagpur. Best University: The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore Top Pharmacy Institute: Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal World Bank has agreed to provide a $1.5 billion loan for the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). BRICS New Development Bank has started giving loans. India is among the first four countries to get a loan, receiving $ 250 million through Canara Bank A study of 180 countries by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders to study the functioning of journalists has placed India at a lowly 133rdplace. President Pranab Mukherjee went on a six-day trip to Papua New Guinea and New Zealand on April 27. Britain’s Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, visited India on a week’s goodwill tour. India and France have launched a programme with $1 trillion Potential Solar Programme under the International Solar Alliance (ISA). India, Afghanistan and Iran have agreed for joint work on development of Chabahar port in Iran. India and Mauritius have signed an MoU on cooperation in the field of traditional system of medicine and Homoeopathy. The first ever two day North East-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Business
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Summit was inaugurated in Centre in Imphal, Manipur. 3rd Asia Ministerial Conference on the Tiger Conservation was held in New Delhi on April 12. First National Tribal Carnival held in Delhi from April 29 to May 02, 2016 to showcase and promote various facets of tribal culture on a large scale. India and South Korea have signed a MoU for cooperation and mutual assistance in port related matters and their developments. India has signed an agreement with the Islamic Development Bank for a $100 million line of credit to facilitate exports to IDB's member countries. Govt has released a commemorative coin of Rs.200 and a circulation coin of Rs.10 to mark the 200th martyrdom day of Tatya Tope, a war hero of 1857 war of independence. A statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh will be installed in France's Saint-Tropez town in September this year.
Assam: Sarbananda Sonowal becomes the first BJP Chief Minister. Kerala: Pinarayi Vijayan of the CPI (M) led the left democratic front – LDF to become the Chief Minister. Puducherry: V. Narayanasamy of Congress elected as the new Chief Minister. Madhya Pradesh Tourism has won the award for the Best Indian Destination for Wildlife. The state has 25 wild life sanctuaries including nine National Parks. Rajasthan State Transport Corporation has launched 20 Nirbhaya buses with multiple safety measures to better protect women passengers.
APRIL 2016 Jharkhand govt launched the Bhimrao Ambedkar Awas Yojana for construction of houses for widows.
Any male person desiring to contest for Urban Local
NEWS FROM STATES JUNE 2016
Andhra Pradesh is the first State to have have a
telecom license. It will issue new phone numbers starting with ‘797’ series. Nagpur and Jinan, a Chinese city, have signed a 'sister cities' agreement for exchange of ideas and technology in various areas. Kerala Tourism won four awards at ‘FilmAT’, an international film festival on tourism, art and ecology in Poland. Sikkim is the first state to have an open government data portal for free usage of government data by general public. The Maharashtra government will celebrate the 21st of every month as Yoga Day in all educational institutions in the state. Odisha will be the first state to give social welfare benefits like pension, housing and food grains to transgender people. Lakshadweep has become first Union Territory in India to assure 24x7 power to its residents.
Bodies in Haryana will now have to be matriculate and have a functional toilet at home. Women and a SC candidate will be required to be at least 8th pass while SC women candidates have to be 5th pass. The Uttar Pradesh government has directed all the district magistrates for plantation of 5 crore trees at 6,500 sites in 24 hours on a date fixed in month of July under the ‘Green UP - Clean UP’ programme. World’s maiden white tiger safari was opened up at Mukundpur in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh. It is a rare breed of tiger, found only in India. Rajasthan has become the first state to pass land title bill to verify land documents with landowners with the state records. To promote the Swachh Bharat Mission, 20 ‘Namma’ toilets were established in Delhi. Bihar has become the fourth state in the country to ban sale and consumption of liquor. The other three states are Mizoram, Nagaland and Gujarat.
MAY 2016 5 STATES ELECT THEIR CHIEF MINISTER Tamil Nadu: Jayalalitha reelected leading the AIADMK - All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam. West Bengal: Mamta Banerjee reelected leading the Trinamool Congress. GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
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The European Investment Bank has agreed to give
TRAI’s mobile app will enable telecom subscribers
Euro 450 million (Rs. 3,300 crore) towards constructing a 23-km long Lucknow Metro rail line. Germany’s Development Bank KfW will provide loan assistance of 3750 crore rupees for the development of metro system for Nagpur city. Asian Development Bank has approved a project loan of $300 million for upgradation of over 400 km of major district roads in Uttar Pradesh.
to register complaints against pesky calls and SMSes by tele-marketers. The government has enhanced the retirement age of all doctors Central Health Service doctors to 65 years with immediate effect. Railway has started India's first timetabled freight train, named ‘Cargo Express’ from Delhi to Bengaluru. The government launched a pilot programme to run two-wheelers on Compressed Natural Gas to curb pollution. The government has exempted PF withdrawals of up to Rs. 50,000 from tax deduction at source. The government’s campaign ‘Swachh Yug’ will make the villages located along the Ganga free from open defecation. The government will raise a new Indian Reserve Police Battalion in Rajasthan named after Maharana Pratap. The government’s Rs. 10,000 crore 'Fund of Funds for Startups' will boost self-employment by supporting the ‘Startup India Action Plan’.
GOVT INITIATIVES JUNE 2016 PM Modi formally launched the ‘Smart City Project’
in Pune. These projects focus on solid waste management, water supply, sewage treatment and housing. The new National Civil Aviation Policy 2016 caps the airfares at Rs 2,500 for one-hour flights and Rs 1200 for flights up to 30 minutes. The HRD Ministry has launched Vidyanjali scheme to invite volunteers for public speaking, storytelling, acting sessions and other activities in government schools India’s first-ever NDM plan, based on the “Sendai Framework”, aims to make the country disasterresilient and reduce the loss of lives. All states will link the Aadhaar numbers with caste and domicile certificates of students in Class V/VIII to ensure that the SC/ST students get timely scholarships. The government has okayed District Level Advisory and Monitoring Committees of promote peoplecentric execution and monitoring of urban development schemes. The Public Provident Fund (PPF) subscribers can prematurely close their accounts after 5 years for due to needs like higher education or medical treatment. Three new passenger services -Janani Sewa for mothers, optional catering trains, and children’s menu have been launched. A GPS- based mobile app ‘Surya Mitra’ will facilitate maintenance of solar equipment and create better awareness of solar power and related issues. The Ministers can now approve non-plan expenditure up to Rs. 500 crore against the earlier Rs. 150 crore. Proposals exceeding 1000 crore will be sanctioned by the Union Cabinet. A new special tourist train Tiger Express has been launched to spread awareness on tiger conservation.
GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
MAY 2016 The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was
formally launched at Ballia, Uttar Pradesh. The scheme aims to provide LPG connections to 5 crore BPL families over the next three years. Ministry of HRD has launched the portal ‘Bharatavani’ - the largest online repository of dictionaries in India. Govt launched the LED bulbs distribution scheme UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All) at Bhopal for the state of M P and Maharashtra. Govt has decided to replace the five year plans with 15 year vision documents. The NITI Aayog will prepare a vision document for this purpose. It will be implemented after the 12th five year plan which is ending in March, 2017. HRD ministry has decided to launch ASMITA, an online student tracking system for 25 crore students of India from class I to XII. ASMITA is acronym for All School Monitoring Individual Tracing Analysis and shall be launched under Shala Asmita Yojana (SAY). N.K. Singh committee to review and give recommendations on the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management road map for the future. Govt to issue a Unique Business Identification Number – UBIN for budding entrepreneurs to start up their new businesses without any delay. The Lok Sabha has passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Bill 2016. The bill aims to improve conditions for ‘Ease of Doing Business’.
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Govt has approved the single emergency number
Govt has launched the Stand-up India scheme to
‘112’ to help people access directly emergency services like police, ambulance and fire fighting. A Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by J C Divakar Reddy, MP has been formed to tackle misleading advertising as well as to fix liability on endorsers/celebrities. The trial run of India's first ever Metro train equipped to run in the driverless mode was conducted in New Delhi on May 18 by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. Cabinet approved national policy on capital goods aimed at creating more than 2 crore new jobs and tripling the production of capital goods to Rs 7.5 lakh crore by 2025. The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities will now be known as 'Divyangjan' Sashaktikaran Vibhag in Hindi, dropping the word 'viklangjan' from its previous nomenclature. Govt has constituted the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority to strengthen the framework for safeguarding the interest of investors. The Income Tax department has launched an electronic grievance redressal system named ‘enivaran’ to fast track taxpayers’ complaints.. Government has selected 13 more cities for the smart cities mission. The list is topped by Lucknow. Already 20 cities have been selected for this mission. Moving towards environment friendly solutions, Prime Minister Modi launched e-rickshaws and solar powered boats in Varanasi. EPFO has decided to increase benefits under the Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance scheme from Rs 3.60 lakh to Rs 6 lakh.
give a push to financial inclusion programme. Under the scheme, 1.25 lakh bank branches will provide loans up to 1 crore rupees to SC/ST and women entrepreneurs. The Union Health Ministry launched third phase of universal vaccination programme Mission Indradhanush to cover 216 districts. Government has made it mandatory that mobile sold in India from Jan 1, 2017 must have an in-built panic button. Further, in-built GPS navigation system would be mandatory for all phones wef January 1, 2018. Govt has launched a tablet-based application ‘ANMOL’ that allows ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife) to enter and update data for the beneficiaries. Another web-based mechanism launched is ‘E-Rakt Kosh’ that interconnects all the Blood Banks of the State into a single network. To facilitate online trading of commodities in 21 markets from 8 states, an E-National Agriculture Market was launched on April 14. A portal for registration and allotment of International Standard Book Number was launched to facilitate publishers/authors to register for ISBN online. Union cabinet has approved India’s formal membership of the regional group Sawen. SAWEN (South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network) The government has launched a portal ‘The Indian IP Panorama’ which will act as a single window interface for information on intellectual property. Union Government notified the Scheduled Castes (SC) and the Scheduled Tribes (ST) (Prevention of Atrocities (PoA)) Amendment Rules, 2016. Govt has launched its first online interactive heritage portal Sahapedia to serve as one point resource for collaborative knowledge on the arts, culture and heritage of India. The Department of Disinvestment has been renamed as Department of Investment and Public Asset Management or 'Dipam' under the Finance Ministry. Railways to create a 1 lakh crore rupees ‘Rashtriya Rail Sanrakshan Kosh’ to strengthen safety measures on the rail network to prevent accidents. Govt has launched a Twitter Seva Service, a special Twitter cell to respond to queries from start-ups, exporters and importer, within 48 to 72 hours. The ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ programme has been extended to 61more districts with low Child Sex
APRIL 2016
The ‘Gram Uday Se Bharat Uday Abhiyan’ was
launched on April 14, the 125th Birth anniversary of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, 25 Ministries and Departments of the Union Government signed a MoU to join IMPacting Research Innovation and Technology initiative. Govt has launched the mobile application 'Vidyut Pravah' to empower common people to demand 24x7 power from the State. The Nizamuddin-Agra Gatimaan Express that started on April 5 is the first semi-high speed train in India. It will run at a speed of 160 kilometer per Govt has set up a committee headed by Ashok Dalwai, to suggest ways to double farm incomes by 2022.
GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
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Ratio across 11 States/UTs. Already there in 100 districts. Govt has decided to increase minimum wages of contract workers to Rs 10,000 taking into consideration the CPI and Dearness Allowance.
Govt plans to construct five lakh ponds under
Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana by next year. Govt has formed a committee headed by former Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta to suggest ways to improve protection along the Pakistan border. Union government plans to lay more emphasis on promoting Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE) tourism in India. Govt has launched a low cost micro solar device, Surya Jyoti, to light up homes without electricity and save millions of units of power. Govt has issued a new set of income tax return forms that require people with an income of Rs 50 lakh and above per annum to disclose their assets.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS JUNE 2016 As per the Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, the economy grew at 7.9% in the fourth quarter of 2015-16, taking the annual GDP growth to 7.6%. Per capita income rose by 7.4% to touch Rs 93,293 in 2015-16.
The Krishi Kalyan Cess of 0.5% on service tax has become effective. The consumers will have to pay an extra 50 paise per Rs 100 on all taxable services. The minimum support price (MSP) of pulses has been upped to Rs 425 a quintal for the 2016-17 season. Crop Rs/qtl hike Paddy– 1470 60 common Paddy–grade A 1510 60 Jowar 1625 55 Bajra 1330 55 Maize 1365 40 Cotton 3860 60 The MSP is the assured rate at which the government buys the grain from farmers. Paddy is the main crop grown in the kharif (summer) season. To boost employment and ease of doing business, the government has okayed 100% FDI in Aviation, Defence and e-commerce under the government approval route. ‘Rajasva Gyan Sangam’, a summit of the top brass of the CBDT and CBEC was held in New Delhi. A trial of light and fast Spanish train Talgo, with speed of up to 115 km/ hour, was conducted between Bareilly and Moradabad. Cash payments for goods and services of more than Rs 2 lakh except jewellery will attract 15% tax collected at source (TCS). For jewellery, the cut off is Rs. 5 lakh.
JUNE 2016
ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK LOANS Loan Granted Purpose amt to (in $ million) 120 Odisha to improve irrigation and water management infrastructure 100 Tamil to strengthen and improve Nadu water management in the Vennar sub-basin of Cauvery Delta 200 Jharkhand to upgrade 176-kms of rural roads 500 Bihar to build a 9.8 km long bridge (longest in India) across the Ganges River
The World Bank will provide a $ 9.2 million grant
The Japan International Cooperation Agency has
MAY 2016 The IMF has retained its growth forecast for India at 7.5% for the year 2016-17, largely driven by private consumption despite weak exports.
APRIL 2016 Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has stated that India will achieve growth of 10% by 2032 to become a $10-trillion economy, leading to no BPL population.
ECONOMY for the Efficient and Sustainable City Bus Service Project in Indian cities.
GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
loaned Rs. 1,548 crore loan to Tamil Nadu for improving healthcare services.
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Work on the 'Jal Marg Vikas' (NW-1) has started to
develop a 1620 km waterway between Allahabad and Haldia. A new weekly train will run from Kamakhya, Assam to Vaishno Devi Katra (J&K), linking the two pilgrimage centers. The Nuclear Power Corporation and US firm Westinghouse will begin the work on 6 nuclear reactors in India. India has become the world’s third-largest oil consumer, consuming 4.1 million bpd in 2015, after USA and China. Bpd= barrels per day To promote South Korean Investments in India, the two countries have launched a joint forum named ‘Korea Plus’.
APRIL 2016 Companies with a net worth of Rs 500 crore or
MAY 2016 The World Bank has approved $625 million loan to
India to support the rooftop solar power generation across the country. The Food Safety and Standards Association of India (FSSAI) has recommended banning Potassium Bromate as a food additive. President presented Niryat Shree and Niryat Bandhu Awards in New Delhi to honour exporters for their excellent business achievements. The govt has announced The Income Declaration Scheme, 2016 – ‘Dhan Wapsi’ scheme for declaring domestic black money, from June 1 till Sep 30. Individuals willing to declare their black money in the country will have to pay tax and a penalty, totalling 45 per cent. In terms of ‘crony capitalism’, India is ranked at ninth position with crony sector wealth accounting for 3.4 per cent of the GDP. India and Mauritius have signed a protocol amending the double tax avoidance arrangement between the two countries. MMTC has launched in collaboration with Swiss gold company Pamp, a new gold coin ‘Tola’ of 11.6639 grams on the occasion of ‘Akshya Tritya’, May 9. World Bank has agreed to provide $ 100 million loan to support ‘Karnataka Urban Water Supply Modernization project’. The Tata Group has made a foray into the ecommerce market through TataCLiQ.com to sell apparel, electronics and footwear, etc. India and Slovenia have signed a protocol to amend the double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) to include exchange of information to curb tax evasion.
GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
more will have to follow new Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) from April 1. Blackstone, the New York based MNC in investment and financial services has signed a deal to buy 60.5 % stake in Mphasis, a Bengaluru based IT company. As per a World Bank report, India remained the world's largest remittance recipient in 2015 attracting $69 billion, followed by China at $64 billion. India to invest $20 billion in new petrochemicals, fertiliser and liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Iran. The Shan-E-Punjab Express, country’s first train with CCTV cameras in all coaches, for safety of passengers, started from Delhi for Amritsar. The Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd. has become the number one coal producer in the country by producing a record 137.90 million tonne of coal in 2015-16. The East Coast Railway has become the largest Freight Loading Railway Zone in 2015-16 with handling of 173.49 million tonnes of freight. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has launched a new index Nifty Mid Smallcap 400 representing 150 midcap and 250 small cap companies. Govt. has extended safeguard duty of 20 per cent on steel imports till March 2018 to protect Indian industry from cheap China steel.
BANKING JUNE 2016 The Cabinet approved the setting up the India Post
Payments Bank (IPPB) as a Public Ltd Company. Its entire equity will be held by the Government of India. RBI’s ‘Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision-2018’ aims at best of class payment and settlement systems for a ‘less-cash’ India and access of mobile banking to even basic phone users. The RBI’s Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets, S4A, gives guidelines for handling high-value bad loans. Under it, a part of the debt will be converted into equity. The scheme will apply to projects with have outstanding loan of over 500 crore. Non-resident Indians (NRIs) can open National Pension Scheme (NPS) accounts online if they have Aadhaar Card or PAN card. Axis Bank raised $500 million after it launched India’s first internationally-listed certified green
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bond to finance climate change solutions. Green bonds raise funds exclusively for renewable or other clean energy projects. RBI data show that banking transactions through mobile apps have increased seven-fold in three years, between 2013 and 2016. RBI plans to circulate Rs.10 coins bearing Swami Chinmayananda’s portrait to commemorate his centenary.
MAY 2016
DEFENCE, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JUNE 2016 For the first time, three women fighter jet pilots
The DBS, Singapore's largest bank, has launched
India’s first mobile (phone) only bank named ‘digibank’. The Reserve Bank of India has instructed banks to shift from magnetic stripe based ATM and debit cards to EMV chip and Pin based cards for better security. The ICICI bank has become the first financial institution in the country to be selected by the BRICS’s New Development Bank. Union Bank of India has launched e-SBTR (Electronic Secured Bank Treasury Receipt), a single window facility for payment of both - stamp duty and registration fee for home purchase in Maharashtra Saudi Arabia based Islamic Development Bank has announced to open its first branch in India at Ahmadabad, Gujarat to offer interest free banking services as per the Muslim law – Shariat. UK based HSBC Holding Plc has decided to close its 24 branches in India, out of total 50. A commemorative coin of 100 rupees and a circulation coin of ten rupees have been released on the 475th birth anniversary of Maharana Pratap.
APRIL 2016 The RBI announced a 25 basis cut in its policy interest rate on April 5, lowering it to more than five-year low. The new repo rate now stands at 6.50 per cent. The reverse repo rate has been hiked by 25 basis points to 6%. The new Marginal Standing Facility and Bank Rate stand at 7%. Short-term working capital loans are set to get cheaper as banks start adopting the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) from 1 April. The new framework requires banks to set rates based on their marginal cost of funds rather than their average cost of funds. Airtel M Commerce Services Limited (AMSL), a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel has been granted the India’s first payments bank license by RBI. GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
Bhawana Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh - were commissioned in the Indian Air Force. The Defence Ministry has approved the purchase of 145 artillery guns, to be supplied by BAE Systems, USA. BrahMos Aerospace successfully tested the integration of supersonic cruise missile BRAHMOS on supersonic fighter aircraft Sukhoi-30. Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40 (HTT-40), basic trainer aircraft developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd made its inaugural flight successfully. The government has allowed the export of 'Akaash' missile to 'certain' friendly countries. Exercise Desert Eagle II was held between Indian Air Force and United Arab Emirates Air Force in Abu Dhabi. India has joined The Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation to prevent the spread of ballistic missiles. A joint military exercise ‘Malabar’ was held between the naval forces of India, Japan and the US in Japan. North Atlantic Treaty Organization members and partners launched the biggest joint military exercise Anaconda-16. Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s largest annual security meet in Singapore discussed the security issues in Asia-Pacific region. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) created a record by launching 20 satellites in one go, on its flagship Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C34. Researchers at Assam Agril. University have developed two rice varieties Ranjit Sub-1 and Bahadur Sub-1 that can be grown even in submerged conditions during floods. Chinese supercomputer Sunway TaihuLight has been declared as the world’s fastest supercomputer, achieving a speed of up to 93 petaflop / second. Microsoft has announced the acquisition of professional networking website LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. LinkedIn will retain its distinct identity postacquisition. A small rat Bramble Cay Melomys found only on an island off Australia is the first mammal to be declared extinct. China launched its 23rd satellite to support its navigation and positioning network- BeiDou Navigation Satellite System.
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Google has tied up with Tata Trust to launch
University of Cambridge researchers have built the
‘Internet Saathi’ programme to empower rural women to use Internet in daily life. US scientists have created the world's first microchip with 1,000 processors, thought to be the fastest one designed by a university lab. Asia’s largest technology trade show COMPUTEX started in Taipei, Taiwan.
world's smallest working engine. The device, powered by light, is just millionths of a millimeter in size. China successfully launched its remote sensing satellite ‘Yaogan-30’ into space atop a Long March 2D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
MAY 2016
APRIL 2016 The Army has raised a new Gorkha battalion-First
The ADMM-Plus (ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting
Plus) Exercise on Maritime Security and Counter Terrorism (Ex MS & CT) was held in Brunei. The Advance Air Defence (AAD) missile (supersonic interceptor missile) dubbed as Ashwin, was fired from the Adbul Kalam Island, off the Odisha coast. The Indian Navy bid farewell to the British Sea Harriers fighter aircrafts that served since 1983. They will be replaced by the MiG 29K/Kub fighters. Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha became the first Chief of Air Staff to fly the indigenously designed and produced Light Combat Aircraft Tejas in Bengaluru. Indian Army conducted its major military training exercise ‘Chakravyuh-II’ in Suratgarh, Rajasthan. INS Kalvari (sea tiger shark), the first of the six indigenous Scorpene-class submarines set out for sea trials off the Mumbai coast. India signed 4 MoUs for cooperation in defence sector with Oman in Muscat. The indigenously built Offshore Petrol Vessel ICGS Shaurya joined the Indian Coast guard at Vasco, Goa. ICGS = Indian Coast Guard Ship Indigenously built Fast Patrol Vessel ICGS Arush joined the Indian Coast Guard at Cochi, Kerala. The 27th edition of the India-Indonesian CORPAT (Coordinated Patrol) between their navies was held off the coast of Belawan, Indonesia. India’s first indigenously built fast attack waterjet craft INS Tarmugli was inducted in Indian Navy at Visakhapatnam. The Indian Navy has decided to decommission two of its warships – INS Veer and INS Nipat. India successfully tested its first-ever indigenously built space shuttle - the Re-Usable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator or RLV-TD. As per a global market research, Google Chrome, claiming 41.7 per cent of desktop browser share has become the top Internet browser. In the first global assessment of the world's flora by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (London), it is estimated that there are about 390,900 plants. In a rare astronomical phenomenon, planet Mercury was seen as a moving dot on the solar disc, from various places of India, on May 9.
GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
Gorkha Rifles (6/1GR), christened “Kanchi Paltan” comprising entirely of Indian Gorkhas. India has finalised the deal to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault Aviation of France for 7.89 billion euros (Rs. 59,000 crore). India has successfully tested a long range submarine-launched ballistic missile, codenamed K4, capable of striking targets upto 3,500 kilometres away. India’s first indigenous composite sonar dome, a ship’s underwater eyes and ears, was launched at Goa. Designed and produced by DRDO. India has become the world’s fourth largest spender on defence, following a 13.1% increase in its 201617 defence budget of Rs. 2,58,000 crore. 12 IAF aircrafts will took part in the prestigious 'Red Flag' air exercise alongside NATO forces from April 28 to May 13 in skies over Alaska. ICGS Shoor, an offshore patrol vessel was inducted in the Indian Coast Guard at it Mangalore base. The 11th Indo-Mongolia joint army training exercise, titled ‘Nomadic Elephant - 2016’ commenced on 25 April in Mongolia to share skills for handling Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism events. The 22nd Indo-Thai Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) was held from 19-27 April in the Andaman Sea. Missile Corvette INS Karmuk and Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft took part in this exercise. The Indian Army conducted its major war exercise named ‘Shatrujeet’ (winning the enemy) in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. The National Institute of Technology (NIT) Sikkim has developed india’s most powerful supercomputer named ‘Param Kanchenjunga’. Scientists of ISRO have developed the world's lightest ever synthetic material called ‘silica aerogel’ or ‘blue air’ or ‘frozen smoke’. It has an excellent thermal resistance and if used as filler in uniforms, it can save many lives at the Siachen Glacier. Asia's biggest telescope has been launched in India, by the Aryabhatta Research Institute of
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Observational Sciences (ARIES) with the assistance of Belgium. It is located at a height of 2,500 metres at Devasthal in Nainital district. The Airports Authority of India has signed an MoU with ISRO to provide scientific parameters for construction of airports across the country. India and the USA have signed an agreement for a new Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) project in India.
MAY 2016 Kenya set fire to 105 tonnes of elephant ivory and
INTERNATIONAL JUNE 2016 In the Global Peace Index, Syria has been named the
least peaceful country. Iceland is the world’s most peaceful country while India ranks 141. 77% Swiss voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal for a guaranteed basic income for all. The world’s longest rail tunnel, Gotthard Base Tunnel, was opened for trains. The British people voted to leave the European Union to, shattering the stability and the unity forged after World War II. PM David Cameron announced his stepping down. The 'Good Country' Index 2015 ranks Sweden as the world’s best country. India was placed at the 70th spot. Bangladesh is one of the first countries to get a loan from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. It will get $165 million for a power distribution system. The Malware Infection Index 2016 calls Pakistan a the location with the highest malware encounters. India ranks no. 8. WHO has recognised Thailand, Armenia, Belarus and Moldova for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Syphilis. The Forbes “100 Most Powerful Women” in the world list 2016 was topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The World Bank slashed its 2016 growth forecast for the world to 2.4%, citing poor growth in emerging market economies. Aircraft company Airbus unveiled the world's first 3D-printed aircraft THOR - Test of High-tech Objectives in Reality. The World Health Organization declared the end of Ebola virus transmission in Guinea, hit hard by the epidemic in 2014. Norway has become the first country in world to prohibit deforestation of rain forest to preserve the balance of ecosystem.
GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
more than one tonne of rhino horn, seized from smugglers and poachers. Heads of states from G-7 nations, USA, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and host Japan held their meet in the Japanese city of Ise Shima. Finance ministers and central bank governors meet of G-7 nations held in Sendai, Japan. A two day International Buddhist conference was held at the birth place of Lord Buddha, Lumbini, Nepal to celebrate his 2,560th birth anniversary. The first-ever World Humanitarian Summit was held in Istanbul from 23 to 24th May. The First World Conference on Tourism for Development was held in Beijing from May 18-21. Harmony of the Seas, world’s biggest-ever cruise ship, capable of carrying 8,000 passengers and crew, was unveiled in France. USA decided to fully lift its embargo on sales of lethal weapons to its one-time arch enemy, Vietnam, after a gap of over 32 years. Kenya to close world's biggest refugee camp in Dadaab, citing threat to internal security. USA has approved selection of animal ‘Bison’ as the first national mammal of the country. This is in addition to the present national symbol - Bald Eagle’. The European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to stop printing of the 500 euro banknote by the end of 2018 with a view to curb illicit activities. The International Bank Note Society has declared New Zealand’s five-dollar note as the Banknote of the Year for 2015 in a study of 40 notes from 20 countries.
APRIL 2016 A massive leak of 11.5 million documents from a law firm in Panama revealed how the world's super rich, politicians and celebrities hide their money in Panama. In a study of 50 cities conducted by the IT firm Dell ‘Future-Ready Economies Model’, city of San Jose in California, USA has been placed at top. Australian scientists have reported that over 90 per cent of the Great Barrier Reef has been affected by mass bleaching that is likely to destroy half the coral. The World Trade Organization has revised its 2016 global trade forecast downward by more than one percentage point to 2.8 per cent.
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Conference on zero was held at UNESCO
Venezuela has ordered a two-day working week for
headquarters in Paris, France to promote the knowledge of Maths for greater global good. The World Bank released the 2016 edition of the World Development Indicators (WDI). It includes 1400 indicators for over 200 economies to measure the 169 targets of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by UNO. American business magazine Forbes has ranked some of the biggest names in business as the 'Global Game Changers'. The list is topped by Marcs Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com, followed by Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com. The annual Spring Meeting of IMF & WB was held at Washington. Finance Ministers and Governors of Central Banks from G-20 nations attended the meet. Heads of about 53 countries took part in the 4th Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington, USA. Nauru, the tiny South Pacific island nation has become the 189th member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Summit of the foreign ministers of the G-7 countries was held at Hiroshima, Japan on April 11. Japan has become fourth country in world to successfully test its first stealth fighter jet – X 2, the other three being USA, Russia and China. The latest World Malaria Report from WHO says that Europe has become the world’s first region to wipe out malaria with zero cases reported last year. The 13th Islamic Summit Conference was held in Istanbul, Turkey. This year’s theme was Unity and Solidarity for Justice and Peace. The world’s first public dengue vaccination programme was launched in the Philippines. In UK, Britain's Royal Mail has launched a set of special postage stamps to mark the 400th death anniversary of William Shakespeare. Bangladesh’s top court has rejected a 28-year-old petition to remove Islam as official religion of the country, disappointing the activists who wanted the country to remain secular. UNICEF launched a series of animated films, called Unfairy Tales, to help frame positive perceptions towards the millions of refugees. A US grand jury has slapped a $ 940 million fine on Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tata America International Corp. in a trade secret case. British Petroleum has agreed to pay over $20 billion to the American government as damages over the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
public sector workers as a temporary measure to help it overcome a serious energy crisis.
GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
PERSONS IN NEWS JUNE 2016 NIKESH ARORA: One of the highest paid CEOs, who headed the SoftBank Group Corp., resigned abruptly. S. K. ROY: LIC Chairman resigned nearly two years ahead of completion of his term. Mr. Roy took charge as chairman in 2013. NITA AMBANI: The Reliance Foundation chairperson is the first Indian woman nominee to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). HILLARY CLINTON: Democrat candidate became the first woman to contest for the President’s post in the USA.
MAY 2016 UDAY KOTAK: Kotak Mahindra Bank Chief, is the only Indian in Forbes' 'Money Masters: The Most Powerful People in the Financial World' list of 40 persons. RISHI NAIR: A 6th grade Indian American student won the prestigious National Geographic Bee competition 2016 at Washington DC, USA. FATMA SAMOURA: The Senegalese UN diplomat was named as the first ever female Secretary General of the international football body, FIFA. DILMA ROUSSEFF: 68 years old Brazilian President was suspended on May 12 after several weeks of nationwide protests for her removal.
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CRAIG WRIGHT: The Australian entrepreneur has publicly identified himself as creator of virtual cash/currency – Bitcoin, under the fake name of Satoshi Nakamoto. LHAKPA SHERPA: A 42-year-old Nepalese woman of USA climbed Mount Everest for the seventh time on May 20, creating a record for the most summits of the world’s highest mountain by a woman.
PETER THOMSON: Permanent Representative of Fiji, was elected the President of the 71st UN General Assembly. PEDRO PABLO KUCZYNSKI: Elected the new President of Peru HANI Al MULQI: Jordan.
Appointed the Prime Minister of
MAY 2016
APRIL 2016 SACHIN TENDULKAR: The Ministry for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has named cricket icon as brand ambassador of the 'Skill India' campaign. P SUSHEELA MOHAN: Renowned playback singer has been recognized by the Guinness World Records for singing the most number of songs in Indian languages 17,695 solo, duet and chorus-backed songs in 12 Indian languages. NITA AMBANI: Reliance Foundation Chairperson has been named the most powerful businesswoman in Asia by Forbes, leading a list of 50 women leaders from the region that includes only eight from India. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: A host of celebrations were held in England and several other parts of the world to observe 400th death anniversary of legendary playwright. QUEEN ELIZABETH II: The world’s oldest-serving royal and the longest-reigning and longest-lived British monarch turned 90 on April 21.
APPOINTMENTS JUNE 2016 ASHOK LAVASA: Appointed the new Union Finance Secretary Ms SUPRIYA SAHU: Appointed the Director General of Doordarshan DIA MIRZA: Bollywood actress is the ambassador for Swachh Bharat Mission's youth-based 'Swachh Saathi' (student internship) programme. SUNIL MITTAL: Chairman of Bharti Enterprises (Airtel), elected Chairman of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). ANNE HATHAWAY: US actress and singer is global Goodwill Ambassador for United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
3 NEW CHIEF MINISTERS Sarbananda Sonowal: Assam, from BJP Pinarayi Vijayan: Kerala, from CPI (M) V. Narayanasamy: Puducherry, from Congress KIRAN BEDI: Appointed as the new Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Puducherry. VICE ADMIRAL SUNIL LANBA: Appointed as the next Chief of Indian Navy, in the rank of Admiral. S K BHAGAT: Appointed as Director General of the Railway Protection Force (RPF). S K SHARMA: Renowned scientist has been appointed the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL). ANURAG THAKUR: The BJP M P from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh was elected as the President of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI). SHASHANK MANOHAR: Former BCCI President, who resigned recently, was elected unopposed as the first independent Chairman of International Cricket Council, for two years. ATMA RAM NADKARNI: Appointed as the Additional Solicitor General in Supreme Court for a period of three years. BINALI YILDIRIM: Elected as the new Prime Minister of Turkey. Ms. TSAI ING-WEN: President of Taiwan
elected as the first women
BACIRO DJA: Appointed as the new Prime Minister of Guinea Bissau, a small country in Western Africa. RODRIGO DUTERTE: Elected as the New President of the Philippines. He is the Mayor of Davao City in Philippines. He is very popular and is known as ‘Digong’. ENDA KENNY: Re elected as the Prime Minister of Ireland
APRIL 2016 JUSTICE (retd.) PERMOD KOHLI: Appointed as the new Chairman of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).
GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
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C P GURNANI: Elected as the new Chairman of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) for 2016-17. MEHBOOBA MUFTI: Elected as the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir LOBSANG SANGAY: Re-elected as the Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharmsala, Himachal Pradesh.
GD BIRLA AWARD FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH: won by IIT-Kanpur professor Sanjay Mittal INDIA BIODIVERSITY AWARD: Won by the Pakke Tiger Reserve is in East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. ASIA NEW TALENT AWARDS: ‘Thithi’, a Kannada film won the best film award and best script writers award at the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival.
CLEMENT MOUAMBA: Appointed as the new Prime Minister of Republic of Congo.
INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD: won by Akhil Sharma for his novel 'family life'.
IDRISS DEBY: Elected for the 5th time as President of Chad, a country in Central Africa.
PEOPLE’s CHOICE PRIZE: Gold medal won by Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik at the world sand sculpting festival in Bulgaria.
BOUNNHANG VORACHIT: President of Laos
Elected
as
the
the new
THONGLOUN SISOULITH: Elected as the new Prime Minister of Laos VOLODYMYR GROYSMAN: Elected as the new Prime Minister of Ukraine SOORONBAI JEENBEKOV: New Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan. HASHIM THACI: Elected as the President of Kosovo, a small country in southeast Europe. SIGURDUR INGI JOHANNSSON: Elected as the new Prime Minister of Iceland NGUYEN XUAN PHUC: Elected as the new Prime Minister of Vietnam. TRAN DAI QUANG: Elected as the new President of Vietnam. FAUSTIN ARCHANGE TOUADERA: Elected as the new President of Central African Republic. Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr: Appointed as the new Prime Minister of Yemen
AWARDS & HONOURS JUNE 2016 INTERNATIONAL INDIAN FILM ACADEMY (IIFA) Awards, Madrid (Spain) Best Feature Film: Bajrangi Bhaijaan by Kabir Khan Best Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Bajirao Mastani Best Actor: Ranvir Singh for Bajirao Mastani Best Actress: Deepika Padukon for Piku
GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
FUKUOKA PRIZE: Awarded to renowned Indian music composer A. R. Rahman for outstanding contribution to showcasing South Asian traditional fusion music. SCHOLASTIC ASIAN BOOK AWARD: won by Aditi Krishnakumar for her manuscript “Love of Indian History".
MAY 2016 ‘ORDER OF THE RISING SUN, GOLD AND SILVER’: Former bureaucrat and parliamentarian N. K. Singh was selected for Japan’s highest civilian honour, for promoting economic, educational and cultural ties between India and Japan. MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE: South Korean author, Han Kang, has won the prestigious prize for her novel 'The Vegetarian'. The writer and her British translator Deborah Smith will share the $72,000 prize money. This prize is given every year for the best book translated in English and published in U K. MILLENNIUM TECHNOLOGY PRIZE: US engineer Frances Arnold has become first woman to win this prize for pioneering directed evolution. The award, given by the Technology Academy, Finland, carries a cash prize of Euro one million. Palme d'Or: Award for the best film at Cannes Film Festival won by the film ‘I, Daniel Blake’ by British director Ken Loach. PEN’s LITERARY SERVICE AWARD: Won by British author J.K. Rowling for her dedication to free speech and social justice. COMMONWEALTH SHORT STORY PRIZE: (for Asia region) won by Prashar Kulkarni for his story ‘Cow and Company’.
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“NORTH STAR": Highest civilian award of Mongolia conferred upon two noted Indian scholars - Lokesh Chandra and Mansura Haider for their contribution to Mongolian studies. SUDARSAN PATTNAIK: Renowned sand artist won the gold medal at the 9th Moscow Sand Sculpture Championship in Russia.
APRIL 2016 SARASWATI SAMMAAN: Prestigious prize for literature given to the Jammu-born poet and novelist Padma Sachdev for her autobiography ‘Chitt-Chete’ written in Dogri language. The award carries award money of 15 lakh rupees, a citation and a plaque. FBB FEMINA MISS INDIA WORLD 2016 Winner: Priyadarshini Chaterjee First runners-up: Sushruthi Krishna Second runners-up: Pankhuri Gidwani DADASAHEB PHALKE AWARD: won by renowned actor Manoj Bajpayee for the movie Aligarh. Please note that this is NOT the national award rather it is the regional award in Maharashtra, given by Dada Saheb Phalke Foundation. 'Officier de l Ordre national de la Legion d Honneur’: (Officer of the Legion of Honour), highest French civilian honour conferred upon Former Army Chief General (retd) J J Singh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred Saudi Arabia’s highest civilian honour- the king Abdulaziz Sash. The award is named after Abdulaziz Al Saud, the founder of the modern Saudi state.
OBITUARY
SURESH CHATWAL: Veteran TV and film actor passed away in Mumbai after a brief illness. MANOHAR AICH: India's first Mr. Universe (1952) passed away in Kolkata at the age of 104. He was famous as ‘Pocket Hercules’ due to his short height – 4’ 11”. RAZAK KHAN: Veteran comedy actor who worked in films like “Hera Pheri”, “Raja Hindustani” and “Baadshah” died in Mumbai. MUHAMMAD ALI: The three-time world heavyweight boxing champion, died in Phoenix, USA. Before accepting Islam, his name was Cassius Clay. VIKTOR KORCHNOI: Four-time Soviet chess champion, Grandmaster, died in Switzerland.
MAY 2016 BABA HARDEV SINGH: Spiritual leader and Head of Nirankari Mission was killed in a road accident in Montreal, Canada. He was 62. BALRAJ MADHOK: Former President of Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS) and veteran RSS leader died in Delhi. He was 96. TONY COZIER: Famous West Indian cricket writer, commentator / journalist passed away at the age of 75.
APRIL 2016 POORNIMABEN PAKVASA: Great social worker from Gujarat, known for her exceptional work towards educating tribal girls, passed away at the age of 103. SATYANAND MUNJAL: The co-founder of Hero Cycles group, a great philanthropist, passed away in Ludhiana, Punjab. He was 99. PRATYUSHA BANERJEE: TV actress, known for her role of Anandi in the popular serial “Balika Vadhu”, allegedly committed suicide at her Kandivali residence in Mumbai.
JUNE 2016
GUY HAMILTON: Veteran British movie director, who directed four hugely popular James Bond films, passed away at the age of 93.
NEIL O'BRIEN: An Anglo-Indian community icon and former Lok Sabha member, a pioneer in quizzes died in Kolkata.
ROGERS NELSON: Pop music superstar, popularly known as Prince in USA, died aged 57. He won seven Grammy Awards and earned 30 nominations.
MUDRARAKSHASA: Distinguished Hindi writer passed away at the age of 82 in Lucknow, following a prolonged illness.
VICTORIA WOOD: Popular comedian, singer and writer from BBC in United Kingdom, died at 62 after “a short but brave” battle with cancer.
INDER MALHOTRA: Veteran journalist passed away in Delhi. He was associated with ‘The Statesman’ and ‘The Times of India’. SULABHA DESHPANDE: Eminent actor and theatre personality passed away in Mumbai. She was 79. GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
DORIS ROBERTS: The popular TV actress from USA who delighted audiences as the meddling mother next door on the popular TV soap Everybody Loves Raymond, died at the age of 90.
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BILL CAMPBELL: Silicon Valley’s veteran adviser who mentored technology heavyweights like former Apple CEO late Steve Jobs and co-founder of Google, Larry Page, died at age 75. ZAHA HADID: Renowned Iraq-born British architect passed away due to heart attack. She was 65. She was world’s most famous female architect and was known for her neofuturistic designs which were her signature architectural style. IMRE KERTESZ: Hungarian author, 2002 Nobel Literature Prize winner, died aged 86 in Budapest, after a long illness.
PLACES IN NEWS JUNE 2016 PULGAON: The Central Ammunition Depot of Indian Army in Maharashtra saw a massive fire, which destroyed precious ammunition and claimed 16 lives. MAHASTHANGARH: The 3rd century BC archaeological site in Bangladesh, is the SARRC cultural capital for 2016-17. GUWAHATI: It is the first city in the country to have its own city animal - Gangetic River Dolphin as its mascot. MATHURA: The temple town was in news as a littleknown sect that had encroached upon public land clashed with the police, leaving 29 dead. ORLANDO: US city was in news due to mass shooting by a solo gunman, who killed 50 persons in a gay night club. PARIS: Torrential rain caused heavy flooding in Paris. Floods forced thousands to evacuate homes and claimed several lives.
MAY 2016 CYCLONE ROANU: A strong cyclone lashed the coastal areas of Andhra and Odisha causing heavy rains coupled with gusty surface winds affecting the normal life seriously. FORT MCMURRAY: City in state of Alberta in Canada was in news as it suffered one of the worst wildfires, torching over 1,600 homes and other buildings and forcing more than 80,000 residents to flee.
APRIL 2016 UJJAIN: The month-long Simhastha Kumbh mela, one of the largest congregations of Hindus, began in Ujjain on April 22 on the banks of Kshipra River. LATUR: City and district in Marathwada region of Maharashtra was in news as it faced severe water crisis, especially in the villages. KOLLAM: In the worst-ever pyrotechnics tragedy to strike Kerala, 110 persons were killed and close to 400 injured, when a huge dump of firecrackers stored for celebrations, exploded near the Puttingal Devi Temple near Kollam, causing extensive damage to nearby buildings. KUMAMOTO: Town in south-western island of Kyushu in Japan was devastated by several rounds of earthquake tremors leading to death of over 41 persons and injuring hundreds of others. Around two lakh persons were affected in the severe earthquake. PEDERNALES: City in Manabí Province in Ecuador was destroyed in a severe 7.8 magnitude earth quake. Reportedly, around 654 persons were killed and several hundreds were injured. Coastal city of Manta was also very badly affected.
SPORTS WORLD JUNE 2016 Indian Shuttler Saina Nehwal won the Australian Open Super Series Badminton tournament by defeating Chinese Sun Yu. Grand Master Harika Dronavalli won the best women's player award in the Eurasian Blitz chess tournament in Kazakhstan. Anil Kumble: Former spinner has been selected as the new coach of Indian Cricket Team for one year. Tintu Luka won a silver medal in 800 metres in the Josef Odlozil Memorial Athletics Meet in Prague, Czech Republic. GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
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Seema Punia won a gold medal in women’s discus throw at the Pat Youngs Throwers Classic, securing her quota in Rio Olympics. The Indian recurve team of Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das won the silver medal at the Archery World Cup in Antalya, Turkey. Dinesh and Tarkeshwari Rathod became the first Indian couple to climb the Mount Everest. Ceat T20 Player of the Year - 2016: Star batsman Virat Kohli Ceat Lifetime Achievement Award: Former Indian Captain, Dilip Vengsarkar. Hero Hockey Champions Trophy Tournament: Australia defeated India 3-1 in the final played in London. India won the three-match One-Day International (ODI) cricket series against Zimbabwe 3-0. Indian men's 4x400m relay team created a new national record at the International Sprint and Relay Teams Cup by clocking 3:02:17 minutes. Indian women’s 4x400m relay quartet of won the gold medal at the PTS athletics Grand Prix in Samorin, Slovakia. IXth Indian Premier League: Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore to clinch their maiden title. Indian Olympic Association (IOA) chose shooter Abhinav Bindra as the flag-bearer of India at the Rio Games’ opening ceremony. The junior men's hockey World Cup will be hosted by Lucknow from the 8th of December this year. Rahul Johri: Appointed chief executive officer of Board of Control for Cricket in India on the recommendations of the Lodha Committee. N Ramachandran, President of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was awarded the Olympic Order by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). All India Football Federation plans to launch ‘Mission 11 Million’ with FIFA to engage more than 11 million children in football-related activities. Novak Djokovic: World number one tennis player became the first tennis player to cross the $100 million prize-money mark in his career. Cristiano Ronaldo: Star footballer from is the first athlete from a team sport in 20 years to top the Forbes annual list of the World's 100 Highest Paid Athletes. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) of Mercedes team won the Formula 1 Canada Grand Prix title in Canada and also the Monaco Grand Prix. GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
Nico Rosberg won the European Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan. England captain Alastair Cook became the first English cricketer and the youngest one to reach the 10,000 runs milestone in Test cricket. Copa America Football Championship: won by Chile by defeating Argentina. After the defeat, the Argentine star player Lionel Messy announced his retirement. Latest FIFA rankings have placed Argentina at top, followed by Belgium and Colombia at 2nd and 3rd rank, respectively.
FRENCH OPEN Men’s singles: won by Novak Djokovic of Serbia by beating Britain's Andy Murray Women’s singles: Garbine Muguruza of Spain defeated Serena Williams of USA to clinch her maiden French Open title. Mixed doubles: won by Leander Paes with Swiss partner Martina Hingis The Rio 2016 Olympic organizing committee released the official slogan for the Olympic Games - “A new world”. A cheerful white tiger cub ‘Soohorang’ was selected the official mascot for South Korea’s 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Euro 2016: Europe's biggest football extravaganza began in Stade de France, Saint Denis (France) on June 10. Wimbledon Tennis Championships begin in London on June 27. This is the 130th edition of the third Grand Slam of the season.
MAY 2016 Amit Kumar Saroha, Indian para athlete from Haryana won the gold medal in men's club throw (F-51) at the French Open Athletics Championship in Paris. Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam has been selected to captain Indian women's hockey team for a four-nation tournament in Darwin, Australia. India's ace cueist Pankaj Advani has created history in Abu Dhabi by clinching the Asian 6-Red Snooker title, becoming the first in the world to hold both world and continental titles in 6-red snooker at the same time. Garima Chaudhary won gold medal at the 2016 Commonwealth Judo Championship finals at Port Elizabeth in South Africa. Indian boxer Sonia Lather won a silver medal at the AIBA Women's World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan.
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Sprinter Dutee Chand bagged two gold medals by winning the women's 100m and 200m race at the Taiwan Open Athletics Championships. The Indian women’s 4x100m relay team broke the 18year-old national record, though they stood fourth at the IAAF World Challenge in Beijing. Indian women's squash team won the Silver medal in the Asian Team squash Championships at Taipei,China, losing gold to Malaysia.
Eric Dusingizimana: Captain of cricket team of Rwanda has set a new Guinness world record by batting out a straight 51 hours, the longest individual net session, beating the record set last year by India's Virag Mane, who had batted a straight 50 hours. Max Verstappen: 18 year old F1 driver from Netherlands representing the Red Bull team has become the youngest formula 1 winner as he won the title in Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, Spain.
Indian shooters claimed three gold medals and a bronze in the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany.
Thomas Cup: Denmark won the men’s badminton title, overcoming record champion Indonesia in the final played in Kunshan, China.
Federation Cup: Football, Mohun Bagan clinched the title for the 14th time by defeating Aizawal FC in the Final played in Guwahati.
Uber Cup: (women badminton), China claimed the cup 14th time by routing South Korea in Kunshan, China.
IOA APPOINTS 4 GOODWILL AMBASSODORS The Indian Olympic Association has appointed four Goodwill Ambassadors for Rio Olympics. They are Renowned music composer A R Rahman, Bollywood actor Salman Khan, Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra and Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. India and Japan have agreed for mutual exchange of sports persons, coaches, experts and administrators to improve the standard of the sports between the two nations. Nico Rosberg, the Formula One champion from Germany, won his seventh race in a row at the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi, Russia.
GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
French Open, Second Tennis Grand Slam –started in Roland Garros in Paris on May 22. This is the only grand slam played on clay court. Italian Open Tennis Championship: Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic to win Men's Singles title. 7th Asian Youth Championships: Indian boxers bagged three silver and one bronze medal in the games held in Kazakhstan. Madrid Open Tennis: Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeated Andy Murray of Briton to win the finals. Women’s title was won by Simona Halep defeating Dominika Cibulkova World Snooker Championship title was won by Mark Selby of England by defeating China’s Ding Junhui in finals played at Sheffield, UK.
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Asia Badminton Championships at Wuhan, China: Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei defeated the world No. 1 Chen Long of China in the finals. Tobago batsman Iraq Thomas created a record by scoring 21-ball century in the Tobago Cricket Association’s T20 tournament at Louis D'or, Tobago (West Indies) The International Cricket Council has suspended the Cricket Association of Nepal due to a ‘vacuum of cricket leadership’ in the country.
APRIL 2016 CARIBBEANS WON THE T-20 IN STYLE The West Indies lifted the World T-20 title in both the men's and women's section. Men’s team defeated England and women’s team routed the Australian team. The finals were played at Kolkata's Eden Gardens. Virat Kohli was named as the ‘Player of the Tournament’ M C Mary Kom: Indian woman boxer was named one of the eight ambassadors for the upcoming World Championships by the International Boxing Association (AIBA). Dipa Karmakar, 22 year old girl from Agartala, Tripura created history by becoming the first Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympics and to win the gold in vaults event at the test event of the Rio Games in Brazil. She performed the Produnova vault — the extremely difficult and most dangerous form that involves a front handspring on the horse and two front somersaults.
Government has decided to merge the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan with the ‘Khelo India’ programme. Britain's Anthony Joshua won the IBF world heavyweight title by stopping American champion Charles Martin in London, becoming the first boxer in history to hold the Olympic super-heavyweight crown (2012) and a version of the world heavyweight title simultaneously. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes driver of Germany won the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir, Baharin and also the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai. Danny Willett of UK won the US Masters Golf Championship for the year 2016 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, USA.
LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS AWARDS Best Sportsman of the year: Novak Djokovic, Serbia Best Sportswoman of the year: Serena Williams, USA Both of them won three grand slams in Tennis in 2015 Best Disabled Sportsperson: Paralympic swimmer Daniel Dias of Brazil Best Sports team: New Zealand's Rugby World Cupwinning team Laureus World Sports Awards, known as the Oscars of Sports, honour the notable sporting personalities and their achievements of the previous year. Asian Nations Cup Chess tournament won by the Indian men’s team in Abu Dhabi
Deepika Kumari equalled the world record in women's recurve event at the Archery World Cup in Shanghai, China.
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup: Australia beats India to win the prestigious Hockey Tournament held in Ipoh, Malaysia.
India's star batsman Virat Kohli has maintained his number one position in the ICC T20 batsmen rankings and team India is also ranked at top.
Singapore Open Badminton Championship: Men’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia Women’s - Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, world no 1.
Asian Kho-Kho championship: both, men’s and women’s title were won by India by defeating respective teams from Bangladesh at Indore, Madhya Pradesh. National Badminton Championship: Men’s title won by Samir Verma and women’s title won by P C Thulasi in Chandigarh.
Malaysian Open Badminton title won by Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia against world number one Chen Long of China in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. MIAMI OPEN (tennis) IN FLORIDA, USA Men’s title: Novak Djokovic (Serbia) won by beating Japan's Kei Nishikori Women’s title: Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) won by routing Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.
The Commonwealth Judo Congress has allotted the 2018 Commonwealth Judo Championships to India. The games will be held in Jaipur.
SPORTSPERSONS TO GET Rs ONE LAKH PM Union Sports Ministry has decided to provide one lakh rupees per month as out of pocket allowance to the sports persons under the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme in their preparation for the Olympics and Paralympics Games at Rio de Janeiro. GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
BARCELONA OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP Rafael Nadal of Spain won the title defeating Kei Nishikori of Japan in the finals played in Barcelona, Spain. Monte Carlo Masters: Rafael Nadal Spain of won the title defeating Gael Monfils of France.
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BOOKS & AUTHORS Zindaginama Favourite Ghost Stories From Around The World Old History New Geography: Bifurcating Andhra Pradesh A Life in Diplomacy The Age of Genius: The Seventeenth Century and the Birth of the Modern Mind by The Spy The Unseen Indira Gandhi Muslims Against Partition The Invention of Nature Vanishing Shangri La The Drowned Detective Blood on my Hands: Confessions of Staged Encounters The Outside Lands A Man Called Ove Me Before You An Economist in the Real World Swimmer Among the Stars Mercedes-Benz - Winning Friends in Wild Places Safeguarding India The Making of India: The Untold Story of British Enterprise Advantage India — From Challenge to Opportunity A State in Denial The Kiss of Life The Mountain of Shiva
Krishna Sobti Ruskin Bond. Jairam Ramesh
M K Rasgotra AC Grayling
Paulo Coelho Dr. K P Mathur Shamsul Islam. Andrea Wulf K N Raghavan. Neil Jordan, Kishalay Bhattacharjee
Hannah Kohler Fredrik Backman Jojo Moyes Kaushik Basu, Chief Economist at World Bank Kanishk Tharoor
East of Suez Buddhist Biology Standing Guard—A Year in Opposition Our Impossible Love The Girl on the Train Life Mantras Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography Fixed: Cash and Corruption in Cricket GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
Adil Jal Darukhanawala Ruskin Bond. NN Vohra. Kartar Lalvani
APJ Abdul Kalam and Srijan Pal Singh. B G Verghese Imraan Hashmi Dr Karan Singh. He is a member of Rajya Sabha. Alice Perrin David P. Barash P Chidambaram. Durjoy Dutta Paula Hawkins Subrata Roy Sahara Pramod Kapoor Shantanu Guha Ray
Indigo —Selected Stories A Handbook for My Lover Who Was Shivaji An Economist In The Real World Bullets and Bylines Lal Bahadur Shastri: Netritva ke Sutra Dial D for Don — Inside Stories of CBI Case Missions Ancestral Affairs Why We Love the Way We Do The Bestseller She Wrote In Other Words Nathuram Godse - The Story of an Assassin Transendence – a book
Satyajit Ray Rosalyn D’Mello. Govind Pansare Kaushik Basu Shyam Bhatia, noted journalist Anil Shastri and Pawan Chowdhary Neeraj Kumar, former Police Commissioner of Delhi Keki Daruwalla. Preeti Shenoy Ravi Subramanian Jhumpa Lahiri Anup Sardesai
Former President APJ Abdul Kalam based on his spiritual experiences with Pramukh Swami Maharaj. ‘Azad Bachpan ki Aur’ Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace prize winner The Turbulent Years – Pranab Mukherjee, 1980-1996 President of India India’s Foreign Policy Muchkund Dubey, a former Indian Foreign Secretary The Z Factor: My Journey as an autobiography of the Wrong Man at the Right Subhash Chandra, media Time moughal, founder of Zee TV. Maru Bharat Saru Jain Acharya Bharat (My India Noble Ratnasundersuriswarji India) written Maharaj. This is the 300th book written by Maharaj ji. Go Set a Watchman, the Harper Lee, topped the US second novel bestseller list in 2015, selling 1.6 million copies. A God in Ruins Kate Atkinson - The book won the novel-of-the-year prize at Britain's Costa Book Awards 2015. Anything But Khamosh' – biography of Shatrughan Sinha written
Bharathi S Pradhan.
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GENERAL AWARENESS – OCTOBER 2016
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Latest MCQs ON CURRENT AFFAIRS SEPTEMBER GK TEST – 01 1.
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In the context of recently concluded Rio Olympics, pick the odd one out. A. Bosnia B. Kosovo C. Jordan D. Refugee Team E. Fiji The Scramjet launched by the Indian space Research Organization is special in the sense that it A. Can travel without using any fuel B. Doesn’t need to carry heavy fuel as it can use atmospheric oxygen for combustion C. Can be launched from anywhere D. Can be re-used any number of times E. None of these The minimum rate of interest payable on a Fixed Deposit in a bank in India, is A. 7 % B. 6% C. 4% D. There is no such minimum rate fixed E. 8 % Which debt instrument is issued by the Reserve Bank to meet short-term expenses of the government? A. Treasury bills B. G-Secs C. LAF borrowings D. Dated Securities E. Commercial Papers The government had recently launched an IDS. What does the acronym IDS stand for? A. International Doping System B. Indian Development Scheme C. Indian Declaration System D. Integrated Development Scheme E. Income Declaration Scheme Which of the following financial markets facilitates issue of new securities? A. Secondary Market B. Spot Market C. Derivative Market D. Forex Market E. Primary Market Pick the odd one out.
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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A. Fleet Street B. Mint Street C. Dalal Street D. Wall Street E. All the above have a certain commonality Examine the following news headline published recently in major newspapers and supply the missing words: Govt Constitutes Special Panel for ……. A. Overhauling National Sports Policy B. Beti Bachao, Beti Khilao Campaign C. Improving government employees’ work performance D. Better Women Participation in Workforce E. Preparation for Olympics This country saw prolonged fighting between the FARC rebels and the governmentsponsored forces, resulting in lakhs of lost lives, displacement and disappearances. However, recently, a peace accord was given a final shape, marking the dawn of peace in the troubled region. Most likely, the country referred to above is A. Burundi B. Colombia C. Syria D. Sudan E. Combodia Which of the following is NOT related to the climate change phenomenon? A. Emission trading B. CoP21 C. Carbon ratio D. International Solar Alliance (ISA) E. Kyoto Protocol Cross-selling in banking refers to A. Selling different banking products to an existing bank customer B. Selling a banking product to different members of the same household C. Selling a banking product to an altogether new customer D. Cold calling a customer in order to sell a new banking product E. Selling banking products to a group of customers jointly
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Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code deals with A. Juvenile delinquents B. Sexual offences against children C. Homosexuality D. Assembly at a public place E. Attempt to commit suicide The EBIDTA margins refer to A. A company’s net profits B. A company’s gross profits C. A company’s distributable dividend D. A company’s debt-to-equity ratio E. None of these The Durand Cup is associated with A. Football B. Cricket C. Basketball D. Hockey E. Tennis Pick the odd one out. A. Margin money B. Loan To Value Ratio C. Nomination D. Sub-standard assets E. Hypothecation Which new interface has been launched by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for next-generation mobile banking? A. Unique Payments Interface B. Unified Payments Interface C. Universal Payments Interface D. Unicellular Payments Interface E. Union Payments Interface The Olive Ridley turtles, which face the risk of extinction, mate annually on the A. Malabar islands B. Kerala coast C. Andaman islands D. Odisha coast E. Andhra coast Chit Chette is a literary creation, which grabbed headlines recently for A. Its winning the Saraswati Samman for its authoress B. Its winning the Jnanpeeth Samman for its authoress C. A legal case filed against it in the apex court D. A recently released movie based on this book E. Getting banned The Scorpene submarine, sensitive data of which was found leaked recently, belongs to A. India B. Brazil C. Japan D. Pakistan E. The USA The Bantus are a tribe in A. China B. New Zealand
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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C. Europe D. South India E. Africa Who among the following is most likely to have an Escrow Account with a bank? A. Unemployed graduate B. Housewife C. Corporate borrower D. Minor child E. Poor farmer The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna is designed to help A. BPL families have their own houses B. BPL women get free LPG connections C. Poor people get electricity for free D. BPL families get LED bulb free of cost E. Light up the streets in slums Pick the odd man out. A. Financial Inclusion: Nachiket More Committee B. NABARD: Shivaraman Committee C. Urban Cooperative Banks: Malegam Committee D. New Banking Policy: Narsimhan Committee E. Lead Bank scheme: Gadgil Group Mormugaon of the Indian Navy is A. a submarine B. missile C. stealth destroyer D. a naval ship E. patrol vessel Blue-chip stocks A. belong to large, stable companies and have a regular dividend payment record B. belong to young, fast-growing companies C. are those which form the sensitive share index D. trade at a low market price E. None of these Pick the odd one out. A. NIM B. POCSO C. EPS D. P/E E. CASA A bank’s marketing costs tend to be the lowest in case of A. Online marketing B. Direct marketing C. Tele-marketing D. Group marketing E. Niche marketing Who has been sworn in as the new President of Brazil after Dilma Roussef’s ouster? A. Jose Alencar B. Michel Temer C. Jose Eduardo Cardozo D. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva E. Sanchez Temer The government has recently approved a PRS scheme for foreign investors. What does “PRS” stand for? A. Permanent Residuary Status
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B. Permanent Repatriate Status C. Professional Residency Status D. Permanent Residency Status E. Permanent Residency Scheme Which one gives the correct ascending order of the years of establishment of these financial institutions? A. IDBI, HDFC, SIDBI, NABARD B. NABARD, SIDBI, HDFC, IDBI C. IDBI, HDFC, NABARD, SIDBI D. SIDBI, IDBI, HDFC, NABARD E. None of these Canonization refers to the process of A. Installing one’s statue in a church B. Declaring someone a saint C. Following the practices of the Vatican Church D. Inducting someone into the fold of Christianity E. Declaring someone a pure person The novel “One Indian Girl” has been authored by A. Kiran Desai B. Jhumpa Lahiri C. Chetan Bhagat D.Amitav Ghosh E. Ravinder Singh The Jio 4G service was launched recently by Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Ind. What does the letter G in 4G refer to? A. General B. Geographical C. Gravity D. Geosynchronous E. Generation The phenomenon of Climate Change is popularly called A. Carbon Trading B. Agent Orange C. Ozone Hole Effect D. Carbon Bombing E. Greenhouse Effect Nirmal Hriday and Sparsh refer to A. A project for the welfare of handicapped people B. Social welfare projects of the government C. The books authored by Mother Teresa D. The relief centres set up by Mother Teresa in Kolkata E. None of these The Saka Samvat began in A.78 BC B. 78 AD C. 58 BC D. 319 AD E. 326 BC Which one of the following is NOT a banking term? A. Fee Income B. Third Party Products C. Merchant Banking D. Spread E. Pre-closure
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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What is the expanded form of the term FEMA? A. Foreign Exchange Management Act B. Foreign Exchange and Money Agency C. Foreign Exchange Management Agency D. Foreign Economies Management Agency E. Free Economic Exchange Management Which one refers to the Paper Gold of International Monetary Fund? A. Cold money B. Hot money C. Special Drawing Rights D. Line of Credit E. None of these Which one is the first state to distribute 2 crore LED lamps under the UJALA scheme? A. Kerala B. Chhattisgarh C. Madhya Pradesh D. Uttar Pradesh E. Gujarat Currently, the biggest tax collections of the government come from A. Corporate tax B. Income tax C. Service tax D. VAT E. Excise duty Examine the following statements labeled A and B. Assertion (A): The west-flowing rivers in India typically do not form a delta in their lower course. Reasoning (R): Due to a steep gradient and fast speed, the west-flowing rivers form a broad water called estuary, upon entering the sea. A. Both A and R are correct and R correctly explains A. B. Both A and R are correct but R does not correctly explain A. C. A is correct but R is wrong. D. R is correct but A is wrong. E. Both A and R are wrong The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India normally has a tenure of A. 2 years B. 4 years C. 5 years D. 3 years E. There is no fixed term Find the mismatched pair. A. Indira Nooyi: PepsiCo B. Chanda Kochhar: ICICI Bank C. Shikha Sharma: Axis Bank D. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw: Biocon E. Renu Karnad: State Bank of India The Chameli Devi Jain Prize is related to A. Sports B. Scientific research C. Journalism D. Peace
56
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
E. Popularization of science Section 80 G of the Income Tax law deals with A. equity-linked savings schemes B. home loan repayments C. life insurance policies D. medical insurance E. donations to approved institutions Pick the odd man out. A. Rashmi Bansal B. Amish Tripathi C. Ram Chandra Guha D. Amitav Ghosh E. Preeti Shenoy Ponzi schemes in India are banned by the Reserve Bank as per A. Money Circulation Schemes Act B. Negotiable Instruments Act C. RBI Act D. Chit Fund Companies Act E. Banking Regulation Act Pava guns will replace the use of ……… by the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir. A. Pellet guns B. Tear gas shells C. Bullets D. Water cannons E. Taser guns Which of the following government schemes is meant to conserve heritage cities in India? A. JYOTI B. PRASAD C. DIVYA D. HRIDAY E. AMRUT
4.
5.
6.
7.
SEPTEMBER GK TEST – 02 1.
2.
3.
The mutual funds in India are regulated by the A. Reserve Bank of India B. Securities Exchange Board of India C. Association of Mutual Funds in India D. Asset Management Company E. Finance Ministry Which place in Jammu and Kashmir saw a terrorist attack, which led to the death of 18 jawans of the Indian army? A. Uri B. Baltal C. Patnitop D. Pulwama E. Srinagar In banking, window-dressing is done to A. Make the branch premises look more appealing B. Improve the facilities enjoyed by the customers C. Both A and B D. Overstate the profits/receivables and understate the losses/ liabilities
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
8.
9.
10.
E. None of these American seeds and agro-chemicals gaint Monsanto was in news due to A. A Food and Drugs Administration order, prohibiting it from carrying out its business B. A major law suit, which it has lost in the US Supreme Court C. Its merger with AG Bayer, a German company D. The ban on cultivation of its GM Mustard seed in India over environmental concerns E. None of these The apex industry body, which represents the IT-ITeS industry before the government, is A. NASSCOM B. CII C. MAIT D. ITIII E. EPCI In which country was a ceasefire implemented recently after an agreement between the USA and Russia? A. Syria B. Burundi C. Iraq D. Ecuador E. Ethiopia Which of the following does NOT give any tax rebate under the Indian income tax laws? A. Repayment towards a home loan B. New Pension Scheme C. Equity Linked Savings Scheme D. Medical insurance policies E. Repayment of principal component on an education loan On which of these global indices is India’s rank the highest (among these ranks)? A. Purchasing Power Parity B. Human Development Index C. Global Terrorism Index D. Ease of Doing Business E. Corruption Perception Index Pick the odd one out. A. Half Lion: PV Narsimha Rao B. Why We Like the Way We Do: Preeti Shenoy C. Go Set A Watchman: Harper Lee D. Making India Awesome: Chetan Bhagat E. Turning Points in My Life: Shobhaa De Pick out the set of CORRECT statements: 1. The Rajya Sabha enjoys practically no powers as regards a Money Bill sent to it by Lok Sabha. 2. A Joint Sitting of Parliament is called by the Prime Minister to resolve a deadlock over a bill.
57
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
3. A Money Bill requires the previous approval of the President before its introduction in Lok Sabha. A. 2, 3 B. 1, 3 C. None of these statements is correct D. 1, 2 E. All these statements are correct The Silent Valley National Park is located in A. Chhatisgarh B. Kerala C. Puducherry D. Tamil Nadu E. Goa The Five Year Plans in India are monitored, reviewed and finalized by the A. National Development Council B. Finance Ministry C. NITI Aayog D. Reserve Bank of India E. Union Cabinet Which two Indian players shone at the Paralympic Games held in Brazil recently? 1. Devender Jhajhria 2. Deepa Malik 3. Deepa Karmakar 4. Major Baldeep Singh Choose the set of correct statements: A. 1, 2, 3 B. 1, 3 C. 2, 3 D. 1, 2 E. All of them Match the following pairs. 1. Kalinga Prize P. Peace, Disarmament and Development 2. Fundamental Prize Q. Theoretical Physics 3. Indira Gandhi International Award R. Journalism 4. RP Goenka Prize S. Popularization of science 5. Magasasay Award T. Community leadership A. 1 -S, 2-Q, 3-P, 4-R, 5-T B. 1 -T, 2-Q, 3-P, 4-R, 5-S C. 1 -P, 2-S, 3-P, 4-R, 5-T D. 1 -S, 2-P, 3-Q, 4-R, 5-T E. 1 -S, 2-T, 3-P, 4-R, 5-Q Which of the following sanctuaries is famous for its elephants? A. Sariska B. Dachigam C. Bharatpur D. Manas E. Periyar The International Day of Peace and NonViolence this year was/ will be observed on A. October 2 B. October 24
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
C. March 15 D. January 30 E. June 5 Select the RIGHT statement. A. There is no limit on the no. of withdrawals using cheques in a savings bank account B. There is no limit on the no. of withdrawals using cheques in a current account C. The interest payable on a fixed deposit is more than that on a recurring deposit in a given bank. D. Under the interest rate subvention schemes, the interest rate cut is offered by the lending bank, and not by the government E. All these statements are correct In India, the Administered Pricing Regime is still prevalent in case of A. Petrol B. Diesel C. LPG D. Kerosene E. Both C and D Examine the following statements labeled A and B: Assertion (A): The Great Barrier Reef near Australia offers the maximum biological diversity of marine organisms on the earth. Reasoning (R): Plentiful rainfall, humidity, sunlight and appropriate temperature facilitate the growth of a variety of animals and plants. A. Both A and R are correct and R correctly explains A. B. Both A and R are correct but R does not correctly explain A. C. A is correct but R is wrong. D. R is correct but A is wrong. E. Both A and R are wrong The higher the provisioning made by a bank, the ________ . A. more positive is the impact on its profits. B. more negative is the impact on its profits. C. Provisioning has no link with a bank’s profits D. more negative is the impact on its credit rating E. more positive is the impact on its own cost of funds Which of the following is/are among the latest initiatives of the RBI in the context of banking in India? 1. Policy on Islamic Banking 2. Policy on Differentiated Banks 3. Policy on On-Tap Bank Licensing for Universal Banking A. 1, 3 B. 1, 2 C. 2 only D. 2, 3
58
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
E. 1, 2, 3 Who has been chosen as the mascot of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan by PM Narendra Modi? A. Kala Devi B. Bhanwari Devi C. Dana Manjhi D. Kunwar Bai E. Kunwar Manjhi Project Indradhanush refers to A. Inclusive policies for women in the workforce B. Policy initiatives to give the transgenders a more dignified life C. Inclusive policies for the physically challenged D. Identifying promising sportspersons and training them for Olympics E. Compulsory vaccination against seven preventable diseases among children In the acronym MTCR, the letter C refers to A. Central B. Credit C. Circulation D. Control E. None of these A post dated cheque A. Will not be honoured before the date mentioned on the cheque B. Has to be honoured before the date mentioned on the cheque C. Needs to be referred to the RBI D. Needs to be referred to a court of law E. Has to be encashed immediately and the amount put into the beneficiary’s account. Which of the following is an example of economic terrorism? A. Excessive industrial output B. Excessive imports C. Devaluation of currency D. Infiltration of fake currency E. Hiking workers’ wages irrationally Edward Albee, who passed away recently, was related to A. Journalism B. Science C. Sports D. Writing of drama E. Painting The Hindi Divas was celebrated on A. September 5 B. September 14 C. September 16 D. September 8 E. None of these Which stock exchange has become the first one in India to file an Initial Public Offer (IPO) with SEBI? A. National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX)
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
B. Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) C. Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) D. National Stock Exchange (NSE) E. Delhi Stock Exchange The book “Six Machine” is the autobiography of A. Yuvraj Singh B. Chris Gayle C. Virender Sehwag D. AB de Villiers E. Kapil Dev The Internet of Things (IoT), on which an India Congress-2016 was started in Bengaluru refers to A. inter-networking of physical devices, vehicles, buildings and other items embedded with electronics, software and network connectivity to enable them to collect and exchange data. B. inter-networking of physical devices for use in defence. C. buildings with sensors to enable the collection of data. D. inter-networking of cars and other vehicles enable them to collect and exchange data. E. None of these The exports of which item/s constitutes an Invisible Export? A. Services B. Prohibited goods C. Unrecorded goods D. Smuggled goods E. Labourers Which type of forests occupies the highest percentage of area in India? A. Tropical deciduous B. Savanna and desert vegetation C. Equatorial evergreen D. Tropical Rainforests E. Deciduous forests The first Laser Interferometer GravitationalWave Observatory (LIGO) laboratory in India will be set up in A. Uttar Pradesh B. Maharashtra C. Andhra Pradesh D. Tamil Nadu E. Kerala The acronym WADA refers to A. World Anti-Doping Agency B. World Anti-Dowry Act C. World Anti-Dowry Agency D. World Anti-Drug Agency E. World Action on Doping Activities Which one of the following is NOT a banking term? A. Unscheduled bank B. Net Interest Income C. PIN D. Spread E. Pre-payment penalty
59
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
Which bank has launched robotics software for the first time in India to handle some of its operations? A. IDBI Bank B. ICICI Bank C. Yes Bank D. State Bank of India E. Reserve Bank of India Which two telecom companies are a single corporate entity now? A. RCom, Vodafone B. RCom, Aircel C. Aircel, Orange D. Aircel, Airtel E. RCom, Orange The acronym CSR is used in the context of A. Corporate profits B. Print media readership C. Internet readership D. Television audiences E. Rate of return on capital employed by the banks The terms call and put options are often used in the context of A. Telecom B. Banking C. Mutual funds D. Computing E. Stock markets The atmospheric layer responsible for weather phenomenon is the A. Exosphere B. Troposphere C. Mesosphere D. Stratosphere E. Ionosphere As per the RBI directives, the interest payable on savings bank accounts is calculated on a A. Weekly basis B. Daily basis C. Monthly basis D. Yearly basis E. Quarterly basis The Turbulent Years is an autobiography authored by A. AB Vajpayee B. Pranab Mukherjee C. LK Advani D. Sonia Gandhi E. Amit Shah Devender Jhajhria of India plays which sport? A. Javelin Throw B. Weightlifting C. 100 metre race D. High Jump E. Swimming The Central Board of Direct Taxes has begun a special service called _______for taxpayers’ complaints regarding tax returns, PAN and tax refunds etc. A. IT-Sol B. E-Nivaran C. E-Sahayta D. E-Nidaan E. E-Sol Martin Crowe, who died recently, was a star cricketer from A. New Zealand B. Australia C. South Africa D. West Indies E. England The missile testing range of the Defence Research and Development Organization is located in
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
48.
49.
50.
A. Karnataka B. Andhra Pradesh C. Kerala D. Odisha E. West Bengal The acronym FRBM is related to A. Financial management of companies B. Fiscal consolidation policies C. Distribution of finances between the centre and the states D. Violations of foreign exchange norms E. The rules regarding inflation targeting fixed by the RBI India is NOT a member of which international grouping? A. OPEC B. ASEAN C. BRICS D. SAARC E. Both A and B India is often labeled the world capital of this lifestyle disease due to the fact that Indians are genetically predisposed to it, apart from having a sedentary lifestyle. Doctors often recommend regular exercise, weight loss and diet control to avoid it. Which commonly found disease is being talked about in the preceding lines? A. Obesity B. Diabetes C. Cardiac attack D. Hypertension E. Cancer SEPTEMBER GK TEST - 01
Q. 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46
A. A E A B C B B B A E
Q. 2 7 12 17 22 27 32 37 42 47
A. B A C D B A C C A C
Q. 3 8 13 18 23 28 33 38 43 48
A. D E C A C B E A D A
Q. 4 9 14 19 24 29 34 39 44 49
A. A B A A C D E C E A
Q. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
A. E C C E A C D E C D
A. C E A B D C B A A E
Q. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
A. A B E B A B A E B B
SEPTEMBER GK TEST - 2 Q. 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46
A. B A B A E D A A B A
Q. 2 7 12 17 22 27 32 37 42 47
A. A E A B D D A B B D
Q. 3 8 13 18 23 28 33 38 43 48
A. D A D E E B D B B B
Q. 4 9 14 19 24 29 34 39 44 49
60
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
61
IBPS PO - PRE EXAM (MODEL TEST PAPER) QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE Directions (Q. 1 – 15): What will come in place of question mark (?) in the following questions? 1) [(3024 189 )1/2 + (684 19)2] = (?)2 + 459 a) -27 b) -29 c) 31 d) 841 e) 108
5 2) 4.4 times of 30% of 216 = ? 16 a) 81.9 b) 83.7 c) 87.3 d) 89.1 e) None of these 3) (0.0729 0.1)3 (0.081 x 10)5 x (0.3 x 3)5 = (0.9)?+3 a) 1 b) 2 c) 4 d) 7 5) None of these 4) (√? % of √ x 5) = 149.8 – 112 a) 18 b) 18 c) 324 d) 24 e) None of these 5) (27)2 x 6 9 + (7)3 + 71 = (?)3 – 431 a) 11 b) (13)3 c) 13 d) (11)2 e) None of these Directions (Q. 6 – 10): In the following questions, three equations numbered, I, II and III are given. You have to solve all the equations either together or separately, or two together and one separately, or by any other method and give answer a) If x < y = z b) If x < z c) If x < y > z d) If x = y > z e) If x = y = z or if none of the above relationship can be established 6) I. 7x + 6y + 4z = 122 GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
II. 4x + 5y + 3z = 88 III. 9x +2y + z = 78 7) I. 7x + 6y = 110 II. 4x + 3y = 59 III. x + z = 15 8) I. x = 36 129614 1 2
II. 2y + 3z = 33 III. 6y + 5z = 71 9) I. 8x + 7y = 135 II. 5x + 6y = 99 III.9y + 8z = 121 10) I. (x + y)3 = 1331 II. x – y + z = 0 III. xy = 28 Directions (Q. 11 – 15) : What will come in place of question mark (?) in the following number series? 11) 17 19 33 a) 64 c) 67 e) None of these
(?)
129 b) 73 d) 72
12) 35 256 451 a) 680 c) 633 e) None of these
620
763 b) 893 d) 880
13) 18 139 868 a) 1042 c) 942 e) None of these
917
(?) 1051 b) 1036 d) 996
14) 2890 a) 1684
1162
874 730 b) 1738
(?)
227
(?)
658
62
c) 1784 e) None of these 15) 14 1004 a) 1267.5 c) 1324.5 e) None of these
d) 1672
1202
1251.5 1268 b) 1276.25 d) 1367.25
(?)
Directions (Q. 16 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 20): Study the following information carefully to answer the questions that follow: There are two trains, Train A and Train B. Both trains have four different types of coaches, viz General, Sleeper, First class and AC. In Train A, there are total 700 passengers. Train B has thirty percent more passengers than Train A. Twenty per cent of the passengers of Trains A are in General Coach. One fourth of the total number of passengers of Train A are in AC coach. Twenty three percent of the passengers of Train A are in sleeper Coach. Remaining passengers of Train A are in First Class Coach. The total number of passengers in AC Coach in both the trains together is 480. Thirty percent of the number of passengers of Train B are in Sleeper Coach. Ten percent of the total passengers of Train B are in First Class Coach. The remaining passengers of Train B are in General Coach. 16) What is the ratio of the number of passengers in First Class Coach of Train A to the number of passengers in Sleeper Coach of Train B? a) 13 : 7 b) 7 : 13 c) 32 : 39 d) Data inadequate e) None of these YEAR
17) What is the total number of passengers in the General Coach of Train A and AC coach of Train B together? a) 449 b) 459 c) 435 d) 445 e) None of these 18) What is the difference between the number of passengers in the AC Coach of Train A and the total number of passengers in Sleeper and First Class Coach together of Train B? a) 199 b) 178 c) 187 d) 179 e) None of these 19) The total number of passengers in General Coaches of both the trains together is approximately what percentage of the total number of passengers in Train B? a) 35 b) 42 c) 46 d) 38 e) 31 20) If the cost per ticket of First Class Coach is Rs. 450, what will be the total amount generated from First Class Coach of train A? a) Rs. 1,00,080 b) Rs. 1,08,000 c) Rs. 1,00,800 d) Rs. 10,800 e) None of these Directions (Q. 21-25): Study the table carefully to answer the question that follow. Number of animals in grasslands of four different countries in five different years. COUNTRY
South Africa
China
Sri Lanka
England
Tiger
Lion
Bear
Tiger
Lion
Bear
Tiger
Lion
Bear
Tiger
Lion
Bear
1990
145
156
250
320
346
436
280
468
255
423
342
234
1995
134
165
354
445
256
542
354
354
343
368
136
345
2000
120
135
324
583
325
454
433
345
545
354
267
456
2005
110
184
285
466
475
322
343
324
546
562
235
567
2010
160
224
264
411
535
534
535
532
453
349
345
324
21) What is the average of the number of tigers in the grassland of Sri Lanka over all the years together? a) 386 b) 389 c) 369 d) 276 e) None of these GENERAL AWARENESS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; NOVEMBER 2016
22) What is the difference between the total number of lions and bears in the grassland of England in the year 2005 and the number of tigers in the grassland of South Africa in the year 1995?
63
a) 597 c) 677 e) None of these
b) 558 d) 668
23) The total number of animals together in the grassland of china in the year 1990 is approximately what percent of the total number of bears in the grassland of Sri Lanka over all the years together? a) 44% b) 56% c) 41% d) 47% e) 51% 24) If 35 percent of the total number of animals in the grassland of China in the year 2010 died due to an epidemic, how many animals remained in the grass land of China in the year 2010? a) 976 b) 952 c) 986 d) 962 e) None of these 25) What is three-fourths of the total number of lions in the grasslands of all the four countries in the year 2000? a) 848 b) 868 c) 804 d) 824 e) None of these 26) Sushant spent 18% of the monthly salary on buying electronic goods and 32% of the monthly salary on repair work in his house. Out of the remaining amount he invested 42% in fixed deposits. If he was left with Rs. 12,325, how much is his annual salary? a) Rs. 5,18,000 b) Rs. 5,02,600 c) Rs. 5,15,600 d) Rs. 5,00,200 e) Rs. 5,10,000
1 12 11 e) 11 12
c) 15
d) 19
1 11
29) Ashish has Rs. 10 notes and Rs. 20 notes only. If the number of Rs. 20 notes is twice the number of Rs. 10 notes and the total amount he has is Rs. 3,250, what is the total number of notes that he has? a) 180 b) 174 c) 195 d) 145 e) 165 ANS. C 30) Vessel A contains 36 litres of mixture of milk and water and vessel B contains 80 litres of mixture of milk and water. The respective ratio of milk and water in vessel A is 3 : 2 and the respective ratio of milk and water in the vessel B is 7 : 3. If 18 litres of mixture is taken out from vessel B and added to vessel A, how many litres of water will be there in vessel A? a) 21.4 b) 19.8 c) 17.6 d) 20.4 e) 18.8 Directions: (31-35): Study the following graph carefully and answer the questions given below: Consumption of paneer, chicken and mutton (in kg) in various hotels in the year 2014
27) When 2/5 of a number is added to 169, it becomes thrice of itself. What is the number? a) 50 b) 90 c) 45 d) 65 e) 80 28) A alone can finish a piece of work in 42 days. B is 20% more efficient than A. In how many days A and B working together can finish the same piece of work? (in days) 5 5 a) 11 b) 13 12 12
GENERAL AWARENESS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; NOVEMBER 2016
31)
What is the average consumption of Mutton in all the hotels together? a) 440 kg b) 420 kg c) 430 kg d) 400 kg e) 450 kg
64
32)
What is the ratio of the amount of Paneer, Chicken and Mutton consumed in Hotel B to that consumed in Hotel D? a) 26 : 47 b) 21 : 26 c) 26 : 21 d) None of these e) 21 : 47
33)
The amount of Chicken consumed in Hotel B is approximately what per cent of the amount of Paneer consumed in all the hotels together? a) 27% b) 28% c) 30% d) 35% e) 25%
34)
What is the average amount of Paneer, Chicken and Mutton consumed in all the hotels? a) 1300 kg b) 1240 kg c) 1100 kg d) 1340 kg e) 1245 kg
35)
(ii) Punto and Innova are parked immediately next to each other. Neither is parked next to Figo or Santro. (iii) Civic is parked in such a manner that its driver when seated in the parked car would face South. Civic is parked third to the left of Polo. (iv) City is parked in such a manner that it faces Ferrari. Ferrari is parked second to the left of Landrover. Landrover faces North and is not parked next to Figo. (v) Swift is parked third to the right of Ferrari and faces Innova. (Note Left and right parking directions are with reference to the driver as if the driver is seated in the car.) 36)
How many cars are parked between Santro and Civic? a) One b) Two c) Three d) Four e) Both cars are parked in different rows
37)
Polo is related to Ferrari in the same way as Innova is related to Accord. To which of the following is City related to, following the same pattern? a) Mercedes b) Innova c) Santro d) Punto e) Landrover
38)
Which of the following cars are parked at extreme ends of the rows? a) Landrover, Punto b) Innova, Polo c) Polo, Accord d) Landrover, Innova e) Ferrari, Swift
39)
Which of the following cars faces Polo? a) Mercedes b) Civic c) Landrover d) Punto e) Accord Which of the following is true regarding Figo? a) A driver seated in the parked Figo would face North b) Swift is parked second to the right of the car facing Figo. c) Punto and Ferrari are parked immediately next to Figo d) Mercedes and Accord are parked at the extreme ends of the row in which Figo is parked e) None is true
What is the ratio of the amount of Paneer consumed in Hotel B and C to that of Mutton consumed in Hotel D and E together? a) 19 : 16 b) 19 : 35 c) 16 : 19 d) 16 : 35 e) 35 : 19
REASONING ABILITY Directions (Q. Nos. 36 to 40): Study the following information to answer the given questions. Twelve cars viz Mercedes, Swift, Santro, Accord, Innova, Polo, Punto, Figo, Civic, City, Ferrari and Landrover are parked in two parallel rows containing six cars each, in such a way that there is an equal distance between adjacent cars. The cars parked in row – 1 are parked in such a manner that the driver seated in the cars would face the South. In row – 2, cars are parked in such a manner that the drivers seated in these cars would face the North. Therefore, in the given parking arrangement each car parked in a row faces another car of the other row. (i) Mercedes being a big car must be parked at one of the extreme ends. Mercedes is parked second to the left of Santro. Santro faces Figo. GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
40)
65
Directions (Q. Nos. 41 to 46): Study the following information carefully to answer the given questions. Eight people are sitting in two parallel rows containing four people each, in such a way that there is an equal distance between adjacent persons. In row – 1 A, B, C and D seated and all of them are facing South. In row – 2 E, F, G and H are seated and all of them are facing North. Therefore, in the given sitting arrangement each member seated in a row faces another member of the other row. Each one of them also has different profession, viz. Engineer, Doctor, Teacher, Pilot, Businessman, Banker, Lawyer and Builder but not necessarily in the same order. B sits second to right of the Builder. G faces the immediate neighbour of the Builder. Only one person sits between G and the Pilot. Two persons sit between H and the Lawyer. D faces the immediate neighbour of the Pilot. Only one person sits between the Teacher and C. Teacher does not sit at any of the extreme ends. Immediate neighbour of D faces the Doctor. E faces the Engineer. F is not the Banker. 41)
Who amongst the following sit at extreme ends of the rows? a) B and the Pilot b) C and the Builder c) The Builder and G d) G and the Engineer e) A, G
42)
Who amongst the following is the Banker? a) A b) B c) C d) E e) G
43)
Who is/are seated between the Lawyer and the Doctor? a) Pilot only b) G and the Businessman c) F, E d) Businessman and the Banker e) No one Who amongst the following faces the Businessman? a) A b) Doctor c) F d) Teacher e) Builder Which of the following is true regarding G? a) D faces G b) The pilot is an immediate neighbour of G c) G faces the person who is second to left of the Banker
44)
45)
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
d) G is the Doctor e) G sits at one of the extreme ends of the line 46)
F is related to Builder in the same way as H is related to Banker based on the given arrangement. To who amongst the following is G related to, following the same pattern? a) Businessman b) Teacher c) Lawyer d) Engineer e) Pilot
Directions (Qs. 47– 48): P, Q, R, S, T went on a picnic. P is the son of Q but Q is not the father of P. R is the son of S, who is the brother of P. T is the wife of S. 47)
How is P related of S? a) Nephew b) Brother c) Father d) None of these e) Can't be determined
48)
How many males are present in this group? a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 d) 4 e) None of these
Directions (Q. 49 - 53): In these questions, the relationship between different elements is shown in the statements. The statements are followed by two conclusions. Give answer: a) if only conclusion I is true. b) if only conclusion II is true. c) if either conclusion I or II is true. d) if neither conclusion I nor II is true. e) if both conclusion I and II are true. 49)
Statements: T < R U; L > U K; Conclusions: I. K R II. L > R a) if only conclusion I is true. b) if only conclusion II is true. c) if either conclusion I or II is true. d) if neither conclusion I nor II is true. e) if both conclusion I and II are true.
50)
Statements: H = I R; M R < S Conclusions: I. M = I II. M > I a) if only conclusion I is true. b) if only conclusion II is true. c) if either conclusion I or II is true. d) if neither conclusion I nor II is true.
PR
66
e) if both conclusion I and II are true. 51)
Statements: D > H N; S > I H Conclusions: I. N S II. I < D a) if only conclusion I is true. b) if only conclusion II is true. c) if either conclusion I or II is true. d) if neither conclusion I nor II is true. e) if both conclusion I and II are true.
52)
Statements: P O < I; P > Y > M Conclusions: I. Y I II. O > M a) if only conclusion I is true. b) if only conclusion II is true. c) if either conclusion I or II is true. d) if neither conclusion I nor II is true. e) if both conclusion I and II are true.
53)
Statements: A B > C F; Z < C D < E Conclusions: I. A > Z II. F < E a) if only conclusion I is true. b) if only conclusion II is true. c) if either conclusion I or II is true. d) if neither conclusion I nor II is true. e) if both conclusion I and II are true.
54)
55)
Statements: Some carpets are books. All books are pens Some pens are cartons. All cartons are notebooks. Conclusions: I. Some cartons are carpets II. Some cartons are books III. Some pens are carpets. IV. Some notebooks are pens. a) Only I and II follow b) Only II and III follow c) Only III and IV follow d) Only I and III follow e) None of these Statements: Some paints are bottles Some bottles are brands Some brands are colours All colours are erasers. Conclusions: I. Some paints are brands II. Some erasers are bottles
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
III. Some erasers are brands IV. Some bottles are colours a) None follows b) Only III follows c) Only II and IV follow d) Only IV follows e) Only I, II and III follow 56)
Statements: Some boxes are triangles All spheres are triangles All Circles are boxes. All triangles are quadrilaterals. Conclusions: I. Some quadrilaterals are boxes. II. Some quadrilaterals are triangles III. Some triangles are spheres. IV. No Circle is quadrilateral. a) Only I follows b) Only II follows c) Only I, II and III follow d) Only III follows e) All follow
57)
Statements: All plastics are trees. Some trees are buildings Some buildings are windows Some windows are papers. Conclusions: I. Some papers are plastics II. Some buildings are papers III. No paper is tree IV. Some trees are windows. a) Only I follows b) Only II follows c) Only I and IV follow d) Only III follows e) None follows
58)
Statements: All rings are phones. All phones are spoons. Some phones are files All files are covers Conclusions: I. Some files are rings II. Some covers are spoons. III. Some spoons are phones IV. Some rings are covers a) Only II and IV follow b) Only I, II and III follow
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c) Only I and II follow d) Only II and III follow e) None follows Directions: (59-63): Study the following information to answer the given questions. Seven people P, Q, R, S, T, U, and V stay in a building that has seven floors. Only one person stays on one floor. The ground floor is numbered 1, the floor above it, number 2 and so on and the top most floor is numbered 7, V stays on the ground floor, T stays on an odd numbered floor. Q stays on a floor immediately below T floor. There is a gap of two floors between P's and T's houses. R stays on a floor immediately above S’s stays on any floor which is below the floor on which T stays. 59) Who amongst the following stays on the topmost floor? a) P b) T c) R d) S e) None of these 60)
Who amongst the following stays on the fourth floor? a) Q b) U c) S d) R e) None of these
61)
Who amongst the following stays on the floor which is exactly between the floor on which P stays and the floor on which Q stays? a) U b) R c) T d) S e) None of these
62)
63)
Which of the following is true as per the information provided? a) P stays on the floor which is immediately above the floor on which U stays. b) U stays on the floor which is immediately below the floor on which R stays. c) T stays on the fifth floor. d) R stays on the third floor. e) None is true. How many floors are there between the floors on which V stays and the floor on which S stays? a) Three b) None c) More than three d) One e) Two
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
64)
In a row of 29 boys, Rajendra is at seventeenth position from the left and while Harendra is seventeenth from the right end. How many boys are there between Rajendra and Harendra? a) 6 b) 3 c) 5 d) Cannot be determined e) None of these
65)
Forty boys are standing in a row facing the North. Raghu is 11th from the left and Rajiv is 31st from the right end of the row. How far away will Laxman, who is third to the right of Raghu in the row, be from Rajiv? a) 3rd b) 4th th c) 5 d) None of these e) Can't be determined
Directions (66-70): Study the information and answer the given question. In a certain code language 'prepare for your exam’ is written as, xn nt oz wl' 'hard work for prepare’ is written as, 'nt ml oz tk' 'prepare your studies well' is written as, 'sd jk nt xn' 'work well best results’ is written as, 'ds lu jk ml' 66)
What is the code for 'best‘ in the given code language? a) lu b) ml c) sd d) ds e) Either ds or lu
67)
In the given code language 'nt’ is the code of which word? a) prepare b) your c) hard d) work e) exam
68)
What may be the code for 'exams are hard' in the given code language? a) wl ml tk b) zr tk ko c) wl xn tk d) tk zr wl e) ke wl xn
69)
What is the code for 'studies for' in the given Code language? a) ds sd b) jk sd c) jk xn d) oz jc e) oz sd
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70)
What is the code for 'well' in the given code language? a) xn b) nt c) wl d) jk e) ml
75)
ENGLISH LANGUAGE Directions: Each question below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Choose the set of words for each blank that best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole. 71)
Most of the ______ that sprang up near the logging camps were ______ affairs, thrown together in a hurry because people needed to live on the job. a) houses, protracted b) homes, unobtrusive c) huts, nomadic d) settlements, ramshackle e) tents, banal
72)
The possum is _______ the venom of snakes in the rattlesnake subfamily and thus views the reptiles not as _____ enemies but as a food source. a) defenseless against, natural b) vulnerable, mortal c) impervious to, lethal d) conscious of, potential e) sensitive to, deadly
73)
74)
Mr. X’s former editors remember him as a _______ man whose _______ and exhaustive reporting was worth the trouble. a) congenial, wearisome b) domineering, supercilious c) meticulous, research-based d) diligent, garbled e) sensitive to, deadly The number of vultures has ______ because the encroachments of humans on their territory have caused them to _______ their customary breeding places. a) dwindled, shun b) diminished, locate c) increased, accept d) multiplied, alter e) progressed, flee
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
That Jennifer’s newest film is No. 1 at the box office this week is a testament to the star’s _______ power and not to the reviews, which were ______ at best. a) staying, average b) drawing, modest c) star, superb d) unique, indifferent e) ongoing, sarcastic
Directions: In the following passage there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage, against each five words are suggested. One of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case. A National Horticulture Mission is proposed to be launched with a goal to (76) horticulture production by 2021 – 22. States have been (77) to join (78) with the Centre in launching this mission and establish a State Level Cooperative Society for promoting horticulture. Farmers will be (79) to (80) into oilseeds through promotion of superior seed-technology and through an (81) policy of price support. A model law on (82) of agricultural produce has been circulated and so far, ten States have (83) legal or (84) action for ‘direct marketing’ and ‘contract farming’ arrangements in line with the model law. The Budget urged all the States to (85) the model law at an early date. 76) a) double b) sell off c) channelize d) market e) mobilize 77)
a) noticed c) found e) reported
b) dedicated d) invited
78)
a) along c) hands e) them
b) products d) themselves
79)
a) granted c) empowered e) paid
b) authorized d) encouraged
80)
a) involve c) look e) diversity
b) invest d) turn
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81)
a) exact c) independent e) expensive
b) appropriate d) encouraging
82)
a) marketing c) distribution e) harvesting
b) investment d) storage
a) prohibited c) precipitated e) initiated
b) enforced d) speculated
84)
a) informal c) penal e) legitimate
b) administrative d) conforming
85)
a) clarify c) enact e) interpret
b) elaborate d) explain
83)
Directions : Rearrange the following six sentences (A), (B), (C), (D), (E) and (F) in the proper sequence to form a meaningful paragraph and then answer the questions given below. A. The history of mankind is full of such fighting between communities, nations and people. B. From the primitive weapons of warfare, man has advanced to the modern nuclear weapons. C. Ever since the dawn of civilization, man has been fighting with man. D. A modern war is scientific in character, but the effect is the same, wiping human existence from the earth. E. The only difference now seems to be in the efficiency of the instruments use to kill each other. 86)
Which of the following should be the FIRST sentence? a) A b) B c) C d) D e) E
87)
Which of the following should be the SECOND sentence? a) A b) B c) C d) D e) E
88)
Which of the following should be the THIRD sentence? a) A b) B c) C d) D e) E
GENERAL AWARENESS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; NOVEMBER 2016
89)
Which of the following should be the FOURTH sentence? a) A b) B c) C d) D e) E
90)
Which of the following should be the FIFTH (LAST) sentence? a) A b) B c) C d) D e) E
Directions : Which of the phrases (a), (b), (c) and (d) given below each sentence should replace the word/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. 91)
The US Secretary of state made it clear that time running out for diplomacy over Iranâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nuclear programme and said that the talks aimed at preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon would resume in April. a) runs out b) was running out c) ran out d) run e) No correction required
92)
While the war of the generals rage on, somewhere in small town India, wonderful things are happening, quietly but minus fanfare. a) rage b) raging c) rages on d) raged on e) No correction required
93)
According to WWF, the small island nation of Samoa was the first in switch off its lights for the Earth Hour. a) first to switch of b) the first to switch off c) the first of switch off d) first in switch of e) No correction required
94)
The campaign is significant because not just the youths are directly appealing to the world but because their efforts challenge the chimera of normalcy in the area. a) not just because b) just not because c) not just d) because just e) No correction required
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95)
Directions: Read the passage carefully and then answer questions 96 to 100 based on what is stated as implied in the passage. Alzheimer’s disease impairs a person’s ability to recall memories, both distant and as recent as a few hours before. Although there is no cure yet for the illness, there may be hope for a cure with a protein called nerve growth factor. The protein is produced by nerve cells in the same region of the brain where Alzheimer’s occurs. Based on this relationship, scientists from the University of Lund in Sweden and the University of California at San Diego designed an experiment to test whether doses of nerve growth factors could service the effects of memory loss caused by Alzheimer’s. Using a group of rats with impaired memory, the scientist gave half of the rats doses of nerve growth factor while giving the other half a blood protein as a placebo, thus creating a control group. At the end of the four-week test, the rats given the nerve growth factor performed equally on rats with normal memory abilities. While experiments do not show that nerve growth factor can stop the general process of deterioration caused by Alzheimer’s, they do show potential as a means to slowing the process significantly. 96)
According to the passage, where is the nerve growth factor produced in the body? a) In the pituitary gland b) In nerve cells in brain c) in red blood cells in the circulatory system d) In nerve cells in the special column e) None of these
97)
The word impairs is most similar to which of the following? a) affects b) destroys c) enhances d) diminishes e) Improve
98)
b) The experiments did show some benefits derived from new growth factors. c) The experiment did not show any significant benefits from nerve growth factor. d) More work needs to be done to understand the effects of nerve growth centre. e) None of these
The doctor’s association has threatened to go on indefinite strike support of their teachers. a) on supporting to b) to supporting c) for support d) in support of e) No correction required
Which of the following can be inferred from the passage? a) Alzheimer’s disease is deadly.
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
99)
The passage most closely resembles which of the following patterns of organization? a) Chronological b) Statement and illustration c) Alphabetical order d) Sequential e) None of the above
100)
Which of the following is closet in meaning to the word deterioration? a) depression b) deduction c) decline d) disconnection e) Submit
ANSWER KEY Q. 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 76 81 86 91 96
A. B A C C B E B E A B B C A E D A B C B B
Q. 2 7 12 17 22 27 32 37 42 47 52 57 62 67 72 77 82 87 92 97
A. D C D D D D C C C B B E D A C D A A C D
Q. 3 8 13 18 23 28 33 38 43 48 53 58 63 68 73 78 83 88 93 98
A. A E A E E D A C E C E D B D C C E B B B
Q. 4 9 14 19 24 29 34 39 44 49 54 59 64 69 74 79 84 89 94 99
A. E E B B D C B A E E C B B E A D B D A B
Q. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100
A. A E B C C B C B D C B E B D B B C E D C
EXPLANATIONS 1. b)
(16)1/2 + (36)2 = ?2 + 459 or, ?2 = 4 + 1296 – 459 = 841 or, ? = ± 29
2. d)
5 30 216 16 100 5 = 4.4 64.8 89.1 16 4.4
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3. a)
4. e)
(0.729)3 (0.81)5 x (0.9)5 = (0.9)?+3 or, [(0.9)3]3 [(0.9)2]5 x (0.9)5 = (0.9)?+3 or, (0.9)9 (0.9)10 x (0.9)5 = (0.9)?+3 or, (0.9)9-10+5 = (0.9)?+3 or, (0.9)4 = (0.9)?+3 ?=1
? 100 42 5 37.8 or,
? % of 210 37.8
11.c)
37.8 100 ? % 210
+2
18% ? %
12.d) 35
= 3.24 5. a)
6. a)
7.c)
8.e)
9.e)
10.e)
or x + y = 11 … (i) (x + y)2 = 121 (x – y)2 + 4xy = 121 x – y = 3 … (ii) [value of xy from eqn (iii)] From eqn (i) and (ii), x = 7, y = 4 Put the value of x and y in the eqn x–y+z=0 7–y+z=0 3+z=0 z = –3 17 19 33 67 129
256
221 ?3
(729 x 6 9) + 343 + 71 + 431 = or, 486 + 343 + 71 + 431 = ?3 or, ?3 = 1331 = (11)3 or, ? = 11 7x + 6y + 4z = 122……(i) 4x + 5y + 3z = 88…….(ii) 9x + 2y + z = 78……..(iii) From (i) and (ii), 5x – 2y = 14…….(iv) From (ii) and (iii), 23x + y = 146…….(v) From (iv) and (v), x = 6, y = 8 putting the value of x and y in eqn (i), we get z =8 x<y=z 7x + 6y = 110 …(i) 4x + 3y = 59 …(ii) x + z = 15 …(iii) from eqn (i) and (ii), x = 8, y = 9 put the value of x in eqn (iii) then, z = 7 x<y>z x = (62 )1/ 2 (64 )1/ 4 x = 6 6 6...(i) 2y + 3z = 33 …(ii) 6y + 5z = 71 …(ii) From eqn (ii) and (iii), Y = 6 and z = 7 x = y< z 8x + 7y = 135 …(i) 5x + 6y = 99 …(ii) 9y + 8z = 121 ….(iii) From eqn (i) and (ii) X = 9 and y = 9 Putting the value of y in eqn (iii) Z=5 x = y > z (x + y)3 = 1331
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
+2+12 +14+20 451 195
-26 13.a)
18
112 14.b)
2890
15.b)
16-20):
16.c
14
169 -26
868
-26
917
1042
72
53
1738
1162
874
576 1004
880
143 117
93
1152
62+36
620 763
-26
139
34+28
227
288 1202
1051 32
730
144
638
72
1251.5 1268 1276.25
+990 +9905 +1984 +49.53 +16.5 2 Train A (700) Train B (910) Gen coaches 140 241 Sleeper coaches 161 273 First class 224 91 AC coaches 175 305 17.d 18.e 19.b 20.c
21.b)
1945 389 5
22.d)
23.e) 1102100 51.44%
2142 24.d) 1480 x 65 962 25.c) 1072 x 3 804 100 4 12325 26. (e) 29 = 12325 100 = 100 29
Annually salary = 42500 12 = 510000 100%
E.G = 18%
House 32%
Timed depots 42% of 50
50% = Pension
58% of 50 = 12325
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(41 - 46):
2 x + 169 = 3x 5 5 x = 169 = 65 13 28. (d) A B Eff. 5 6 Total work = 42 5
27.(d)
42 5 1 = 19 11 11 Rs. 20 : 2 10 1 + 20 2 = 50
Time taken by A + B =
29. (c) Notes value Rs. 10 Qty. 1 Total Amount 50 = 3250 3250 3= 3 = 195 50 ( Total no. of nodes in ratio = 1 + 2 = 3)
(47 - 48):
47) b): Brother
30. (b)
48) c): 3 Vessel 36 M 3
:
Vessel B 80 W 2
21.6
14.4
5= 36
M 7 56
:
W 3 24
After added 18 of mixture B in vessel A.
10 = 80 10 = 18 1 = 1.8
(49 - 53): 49) e): T<R≤U≤K ˄ P L 1) K ≥ R 2) L > R 50) c): either (i) or (ii) H=I≤R<S
Total water in vessel A = 14.4 + 1.8 3 = 19.8 31.
(b)
200 450 500 400 550 5
32.
(c)
550 300 450 300 350 400
33.
(a)
300 100 500 550 250 300 450
34.
(b) (500+450+200550+300+450+250+45 0+500+300+350+400+450+500+550) 15
35.
(c)
M 1) M = I 2) M > I x
x
51) b): D>H≥N I ˄ S 1) N ≤ S 2) I < D
x
52) b): M<Y<P≤O<I
550 250 400 550
(36 - 40):
1) Y ≤ I 2) O > M
x
53) e): Z ˄ A≥B>C≥F D ˄ E
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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1) A > Z 2) F < E
54) c):
1) x 2) x 3) 4)
(59 - 63): 7–T 6–Q 5–U 4–P 3–R 2–S 1–V 64) b):
55) b):
1) x 2) x 3) 4) x
Harender position from Left = Total + 1 – position from right = 29 + 1 – 17 = 13 left = 3 boys are there between Rajendra & Harendra i.e. 14L, 15L, 16L 65)
56) c): Laxman position from Right = Total + 1 – position from left of Laxman = 40 + 1 – 14 = 27 Right 4 position away. 1) 2) 3) 4) X 57) e):
1) x 2) x 3) x 4) x 58) d):
(66 - 70): Prpare for your exam Hard work for prepare Prepare your studies well Work well best results
xn nt oz wl nt ml oz tk sd jk nt xn ds lu jk ml
Well – jk Work – ml Best/results = Either ds or lu Prepare = nt For = oz Your = xn Exam = wl Studies = sd Hard = tk 66) e): best = either ds or lu 67) a): nt = prepare 68) d): exams are hard = wl tk zr 69) e): studies for = sd oz
1) x 2) 3) 4) x GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
70) d): well – jk
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Latest G.K. Bytes SEPTEMBER – 2016 1)
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India and the USA have signed the crucial LEMOA that will enable their militaries to use each other's assets and bases for repair and replenishment of supplies. What is the full form of LEMOA: Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement Who has been appointed as the brand ambassador of the Central Reserve Police Force: PV Sindhu The European Union has ordered _______of USA to pay a record 13 billion Euros as recovery of tax amount: Apple Inc Who has been appointed as the advocate for gender equality and women empowerment in India by UN Women: Aishwaryaa Dhanush ____________ won the Belgium Grand Prix Formula 1 Race: Nico Rosberg, Germany RBI in its annual report has projected India’s growth rate for the year 2016-17 at: 7.6% Mohammad Shafi Qureshi who, passed away recently was a__________: Former Governor of Madhya Pradesh Name the first women President of Brazil who has been removed by Brazil’s senate on charges of massive corruption: Dilma Rousseff ________ has been sworn in as the new President of Brazil: Michel Temer Supreme Court struck down the acquisition of nearly 1,000 acres of land in 2006 by the West Bengal government. Which project was stated to come up there: Tata Motors Nano Car Project France’s constitutional court has ruled against the ban on Burkini. What is Burkini: The full-body swim wear used by some Muslim women The two day “BRICS Convention on Tourism” was held at: Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh) Khajuraho is famous for: exquisite erotic sculptures that are etched on the temple walls President of Egypt paid a three days visit to India where countries signed a number of agreements. Name of the President of Egypt: Abdel Fattah AlSisi As per the recent data released by the Central Statistics Office, India’s economy grew at ______ per cent in the April to June quarter of the current fiscal: 7.1
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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The growth of Indian economy from April to June 2016 was slowest in last six quarters mainly on accent of subdued performance in: Mining, Construction and Agriculture Summer Paralympics games were held in Sept. at which place: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Which status will be granted to foreign investors who bring in atleast Rupees 10 crore investment to facilitate business operations in the country: Permanent Residency Status Which other condition apart from investment is stipulated for foreign investors to be eligible for Permanent Residency Status : The investment should also result in generating employment to at least 20 resident Indians every financial year. The Permanent Residency Status once given will be applicable for a period of ______ years: 10 All foreign investors are eligible for Permanent Residency Status, except : Persons from Pakistan During PM Modi’s visit to Vietnam, apart from 12 cooperation agreements India offered _______ million Defence Line of Credit: US$500 The G-20 summit of head of the governments took place at: Hangzhou (China) Which issues were raised by PM Modi at the annual G-20 summit: Concrete measures to check terror financing and crack down on tax evasion Name the President of Vietnam: Tran Dai Quang The currency of Vietnam is: Vietnamese Dong What is India’s rank in World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index 2016: 35th How many components World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index: 6 Kiran Mazumdar Shaw was awarded 'Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur’ (Knight of the National Order of the French Legion of Honour), for her outstanding contribution in the field of: Biosciences Who has been selected for life time achievement Oscar by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, USA: Jackie Chan Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra clinched the mixed doubles title in _____________: The Brazil Open Grand Prix Badminton championship Which tennis star has created history by setting a
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record of most of number of grand slam matches wins: Serena Williams How many grand slam wins have been recorded by Serena Williams: 307 At which summit of world’s top economies, leaders pledged to work for a globally fair and modern international tax system and refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies: G-20 summit at Hangzhou, China 28th ASEAN Summit was held at __________, capital of ________: Vientiane, Laos How many countries are member of ASEAN: 10 What is the status of India in ASEAN: India is not a member (because ASEAN as a group of South East Asian Nations while India is South Asian Country) ASEAN summit is followed by East Asia Summit. How many countries are member of East Asia: 18 UN security council has decided to discuss which action of the government of North Korea: Launch of Ballistic Missile Why did the security council discuss the launch of ballistic missile by North Korea: North Korea is barred by UN resolutions from development nuclear and ballistic missile technology Dhahan Prize for promotion for Punjabi language has been awarded to ________ for his work _________: Jarnail Singh, Kaale Varke Supreme Court has directed the central government to constitute ________ to monitor water flow of River Cauvery: Cauvery Water Management Board (CWMB) Who is the author of the book “Perilous Interventions: The Security Council and the Politics of Chaos”: Hardeep Singh Puri Which island has been declared as the largest river island in the world: Majuli island, Assam The Majuli island is situated in the river: Brahmaputra Which is the first river island districts in India: Majuli On what occasion was a commemorative stamp released by India Post to honour Mother Teresa: Canonisation (grant of sainthood) to Mother Teresa Name the foreign province to become first foreign government to issue rupee denominated Masala Bonds: British Columbia (Canada) Which Indian sports person who has the distinction of winning the gold medal and has announced his retirement: Abhinav Bindra (Shooting) Which first Asian ecologist is to be awarded the “prestigious Heritage Heros Award” given by International Union for Conservation Of Nature: Bibhuti Lahkar, India With regard to FIRs (First Information Report)
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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Supreme Court has directed all states and UTs to upload them within _______ hours of registration: 24 Indian film _________ won the best film award at the BRICS Film Festival held in New Delhi: Thithi The government of India has launched a new programme called NIDHI for nurturing ideas and innovation into successful startups. What is the full form of NIDHI: National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations Which neighbouring country of India has been declared by World Health Organization (WHO) as free of malaria: Sri Lanka No case of malaria has been reported in Sri Lanka for the last: Three and a half years Who is the Director General of WHO: Dr. Margret Chan The headquarters of WHO is located at which place: Geneva (Switzerland) Asia’s biggest digital library dedicated to the memory of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, was opened at National Institute of Technology: Silchar, Assam Which pan-Indian helpline has been launched for getting updates on power outages: Urja Mitra What is the dedicated phone number for Urja Mitra: 14401 How many trains will be covered under flexi fare system: 3 (Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto) What is flexi fare system: Passengers will have to pay between 10-50 per cent more under a dynamic surge pricing system International Literacy Day is observed on which date: September 8 What is the theme of International Literacy Day 2016: Reading the past, writing the future At which place was Mother Teresa declared a saint at the canonisation ceremony: Saint Peters Square in Vatican Which order was setup by Mother Teresa in India: Missionaries of Charity Which campaign has been launched by the government of India for promoting use of gas: Gas4India The UN Charter, the seminal treaty of the United Nations, has now been translated into Sanskrit by: The Lucknow-based Akhila Bharatiya Sanskrit Parishad. The “Prabal Dostyk-2016” exercise was conducted between the armies of India and ________: Kazakhstan Name the advance weather satellite placed in Geosynchronous orbit by ISRO: INSAT-3DR INSAT-3DR was launched using ______ rocket: GSLV-Mk-II The launch of INSAT-3DR weather satellite has been designated as__________: Mission ‘F05’
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What is special about Mission F05: The event marks the first time indigenous cryogenic engine was used on an operational GSLV flight Which state has been adjust the cleanest state in India: Sikkim The first bank to employ software robots to perform various jobs is: ICICI Bank Name the player who won the US Men’s open lawn tennis tournament: Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland Stanislas Wawrinka defeated __________ to claim the US open titles: Novak Djokovic Who lifted US women’s open title: Angelique Kerber, Germany Who has surged past Serena Williams to become the number one ranked player in Women’s Lawn Tennis: Angelique Kerber ____________ para athlete from India created history by bagging the gold in high jump event at Rio Paralympics: Mariyappan Thangavelu, "Six Machine" is an autobiography of which cricket legend: Chris Gayle (West Indies) Which districts has been chosen for carrying out experiments on the ambitious LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) project that proved existence of gravitational waves, a major breakthrough in science: Hingoli, Maharashtra __________ won the Asia’s oldest football tournament known as Durand Cup: Army Green As per 2016 Swachh Survekshan’ (Cleanliness Index) for rural India to select the cleanest district, ______, Himachal Pradesh (hilly) and________, Maharashtra (plaines) were declared as the cleanest districts in India: Mandi, Sindhudurg ________became the first Indian woman cricketer to get the prestigious life membership of Melbourne Cricket Club, London, UK: Anjum Chopra Name the governor who has been dismissed by the President after he refused to quit: J.P. Rajkhowa of Arunachal Pradesh After the passage of GST bill the union cabinet has approved formation of GST council to make recommendations on: Tax rate and items to be covered The GST council will be headed by: Finance Minister of India Which Indian movement created history by winning silver medal in women’s shot-put event in Rio Paralympics: Deepa Malik The government has launched toll free number _________to register postal complaints: 1924 Golden Lion award for best film is awarded at _________ film festival: Venice Which film got Golden Lion award 2016: Ang
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Babeng Humayo (The Woman Who Left) The world’s first driverless bus (electric) service has started in__________, France with two busses, each carrying 15 passengers: Lyon India’s ___________broke his own world record to win gold in the men’s javelin throw in the Rio Paralympics achieving a throw of 63.97 mts. He is ranked third in world: Devendra Jhajharia Hindi Rajbhasha Diwas is held every year on: September 14 September 14 is celebrated as Rajbhasha Diwas as: Constituent Assembly of the country adopted Hindi as the official language of India in 1949 on this day The President of Afghanistan visited India on a two day visit. What is the name of the President: Ashraf Ghani What amount has been pledged by India for development projects in Afghanistan: one billion dollar Which is the main festival of the state of Kerala: Onam The Track Asia Cup cycling competition was held at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex velodrome in New Delhi. Which country topped the medal tally: Hong Kong Which Indian lady figures at no. 2 rank in the 50 most powerful women in the world compiled by US magazine Fortune: Arundhati Bhattacharya (SBI Chairman) The newly elected Prime Minister of Nepal recently made his first bilateral visit after assuming office for the 2nd time to India. What is his name: Mr. Pushp Kamal Dahal Mr. Pushp Kamal Dahal is popularly known as: Prachanda Taiwan was recently struck by super typhoons: Malakas, Meranti and Megi The summit of the Non Aligned countries was held at ____________: Margarita Islands, Venezuela India was represented at the NAM summit by: Mr. Hamid Ansari-Vice President of India International Democracy Day is observed every year on ______to raise public awareness about democratic system: September 15 The theme of International Democracy Day 2016 is: Democracy and the 2030 agenda for sustainable development Duleep trophy tournament was won by _____ team defeating India Red: India Blue Name the country which occupies first place in FIFA ranking: Argentina India’s rank in the World Football FIFA ranking is: 148th Which two telecom companies have announced merger of their wireless operations to create an
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entity worth 65000 crore: Reliance Communication and Aircel __________, an Indian-origin scientist has won this prestigious prize Lemelson–MIT Prize worth $500,000: Ramesh Raskar Which Indian actress has been ranked at 8th place in the world by the Forbes magazine: Priyanka Chopra _________ the writer of famous works like "Who is Afraid of Virginia Wolf" died recently: Adward Albee World Bank has agreed to provide _____ crore support to Assam for betterment of in land waterways: 1000 Uber has joined hands with which Indian car maker to create livelihood opportunities for one million people by 2018: Maruti India has been declared free from a highly contagious disease called: Avian Influenza (H5N1) Avian Influenza is also known by the other name of ________: Bird flu Which Indian shooter got the gold medal in 50 metre rifle prone event at ISSF Junior World Cup: Subhankar Pramanick A novel Selection Day written by Arvind Adiga was released recently. His first novel got Man Booker Award. Name that novel: The White Tiger (in 2008) For the first time four women dancers have made their way into traditional tiger dance of Kerala. This dance is known as________: Pulikkali Punjab National Bank has appointed ______ as its brand ambassador: Virat Kohli Name the second space station launched by China: Tiangong 2 Who has been appointed as the new chairperson of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC): Alka Sarohi At which place militants killed 18 soldiers and wounded soldiers in the army base camp: Uri, J & K Cabinet has approved the merger of railway budget with the general budget. This will end the practice of presenting separate budget for railways. It was presented separately for the first time in the year: 1924 Which other change has been approved by the cabinet with the regard to the date of presentation of budget: Date has been advanced from last day of February to 1st of the month The government has removed the distinction between ______ and _____ expenditure from the next year budget: Plan and Non-plan With the removal of distinction between plan and non-plan distinction the expenses will be
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
classified as: Revenue and Capital expenditure 131) What is the rationale of advancing the budget presentation by one month: It means that budget exercise will be over by March 31st and tax proposals can be effected right from April 1, i.e. beginning of the financial year 132) How many more cities have been added to the list of smart cities: 27 133) With the inclusion of 27 cities to the list to be developed as smart cities, the total number of cities selected so far is: 60 134) How much funding will be provided for the development of each city selected to the developed as a smart city: Rs. 200 crore in the first year and Rs. 100 crore for the next three years 135) Among the 159 countries India’s rank in World Economic Freedom Index is: 112th 136) Which country tops the list of world Economic Freedom Index: Hong Kong 137) International Day of Peace is celebrated on September 21st every year and is dedicated to: Absence of war and violence in the world 138) The theme for International Day of Peace this year is: Building blocks for peace 139) Name the fastest and the most powerful computer launched in the north eastern, eastern and southern regions: PARAM-ISHAN at IIT Guwahati 140) Which country topped the medal tally in the 15th Paralympics games at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: China 141) How many medals were secured by India at the Paralympics games 2016: 4 (2 gold, 2 silver) 142) Which service has been launched by railways to provide wheelchair cum porter service for differently abled, elderly and ailing passengers at major railway stations: Yatri Mitra Seva 143) A loan of ________ US$ has been approved by ADB for Vishakhapatnam – Chennai industrial corridor: 631 million 144) How many India universities are ranked among top 200 universities of the world: Nil 145) According to the Time Higher Education World University rankings 2016 which institute is ranked at the top: University of Oxford, UK 146) Which Indian university is within the striking distance of making it to the top 200: Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 147) Which Indian company has the highest brand value: HDFC Bank 148) Who will captain the Indian Kabaddi team at the Kabaddi World Cup to be held at Ahmedabad: Anup Kumar, Haryana 149) Which movie has been chosen as India’s official entry for best Foreign Language film at the 89th
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Academy Awards (Oscars) to be held in 2017: Visaranai Navtej Sarna has been appointed as Ambassador to which country: USA The first annual assessment of UNO’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) on health performance has ranked India _____ among 188 countries, citing various challenges, including mortality rates, malaria hygiene and air pollution: 143rd 500th test match by the Indian cricket team was played at__________: Kanpur against New Zealand Who is the richest Indian according to the Forbes list: Mukesh Ambani Who is the second richest Indian: Dilip Shangvi of Sun Pharma Which e-tailor (e-commerce company) has crossed the milestone of 100 million registered users: Flipkart The name of Race Course Road, which houses Prime Minister’s official residents has been changed to______: Lok Kalyan Marg Which lawn tennis player clinched his first ATP Tour title by defeating US open winner Stanislaw Wawrinka: Alexander Zverev, Germany 2026 Asian Games will be held at: Nagoya, Aichi Nagoya is capital of Japan’s: Aichi Prefecture (Prefecture stands for province) The winter Olympics 2018 will be held at which place: Pyeongchang (South Korea) Indian squash player _________ won the under 19 Asian Junior individual squash championship: Velavan Senthilkumar Arnold Palmer who expired recently was a famous: Golf player ISRO successfully launched __________ satellite along with seven co-satellites: SCATSAT-I SCATSAT-I satellite was launched on using _______ launch vehicle: PSLV-C35 PSLV-C35 was _______ consecutive successful mission of PSLV: 36th Out of the seven co-passenger satellite on PSLVC35, two satellites named ________ and ________ have been built by IIT Mumbai and PES University: Pratham, PISAT SCATSAT-I satellite will provide which services to the nation: Weather forecasting Which two Indians are part of a total of 17 global citizens who have been recognized for their outstanding contribution and leadership to achieve Sustainable Development Goals: Ankit Kwatara and Trisha Shetty Trisha Shetty has been recognized for her work on platform named “SheSays”: To educate rehabilitate and empower women to take direct action against sexual assault in India Ankit Kwatara who has been selected to be apart
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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of 17 global citizen has been recognized for founding organization called “Feeding India” to address which issues: Hunger and Food Waste The government has notified that Bharat stage (BS)-VI emission standards will be applicable from: April 1st, 2020 World Tourism Day is observed on September 27 and the theme for this year is: Tourism for all – Promoting universal accessibility GST council has fixed the annual turnover exemption limit at _____: 20 lacs/year In case of north east states the annual turnover limit for exemption will be _____: Rs. 10 lacs Up to which annual turnover will the state have the jurisdiction over the assess: 1.5 crore Who has been declared as the Men of the Match for 500th test held at Kanpur: Ravindra Jadeja Which Indian off spinner and the second overall to take 200 wickets: Ravichandran Ashwin India will purchase 36 Rafael fighter aircraft from France for a total sum of Rs. 58000 crore. The cabinet has decided to appoint three academicians in RBIs monetary policy committee: Chetan Ghate, Pami Dua and Ravindra Dholakia Which mobile application has been launched by Google for instant massaging for Android and iOS users: Allo President of India released a book “Citizen and Society” written by: Hamid Ansari – VP India The 8th joint military exercise between India and Russia was held at Vladivostok. The exercise is called: Indra 2016 With joint military exercise between India and US named Yudh Abhyas-2016 is being held at: Ranikhet, Uttarakhand Which state has become the first to adopt the central govt. Street Lighting National Programme by replacing 5 lacs conventional street lights with LED bulbs across the state: Rajasthan Name the girl who finished second runners up at Miss United Continents 2016: Lopamudra Raut The first ever Jesse Owens Olympics spirit award 2016 has been awarded to: Late. Muhammad Ali (Boxer) India is reconsidering its decision to grant MFN status to Pakistan. What is the full form of MFN: Most Favoured Nation The govt. of India has decided to review Indus Water Treaty concerning sharing of river water between India and Pakistan. Under the treaty waters of which rivers are allocated to Pakistan: Chenab, Jhelum and Indus India has announced that it is going to rectify Paris Climate Change agreement on which date: October 02, 2016
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190) According to World Health Organization (WHO) what per cent of people breath poor quality air: 90%
AUGUST – 2016 191) Lachhu Maharaj who passed away recently was a prominent personality in which field: Tabla Player 192) A new train named 'Tripura Sundari Express' was started recently between which two centres: Agartala and New Delhi 193) ___________ has been appointed new Chairperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes: Rani Singh Nair 194) J.K. Rowling, the world famous novelist is associated with which novel series: Harry Potter 195) For what reasons Ms. Rowling was in news recently: She announced to discontinue Harry Potter Novel 196) District Infrastructure Scheme Advisory Committees (DISHA) have been formed for what purpose: For monitoring 28 main Centrally Sponsored Schemes 197) Who will head the DISHA at the district level: Local Lok Sabha Member 198) What is the name of two week long Indo Thailand Military Exercise concluded on July 29: Maitree 199) Bilateral military exercise Maitree was conducted in which country: Thailand 200) Which country recently suffered wide spread devastation due to Typhoon Nida: Hong Kong 201) Jihadi Jane is novel written by: Tabish Khair 202) What is the title of the Autobiography of Sania Mirza: Ace Against Odds 203) Which railway station has won the National Tourism Award 2014-15: Sawai Madhopur 204) Sawai Madhopur railway station is located in which state: Rajasthan 205) Sawai Madhopur railway station is the gateway to which famous tourist destination: Ranthambore National Park 206) Ranthambore National Park is famous for which animal: Tiger 207) Pro-Kabaddi League championship was won by which team: Patna Pirates 208) __________ of UK won the German Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton 209) UNO celebrates which day on July 30, for raising awareness about the plight of human trafficking victims: World Day Against Trafficking In Persons 210) RBI has announced guidelines for which mode of licensing for universal banking licence regime: On tap 211) What is meant by 'On tap' licensing: Issuing GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
Licence on demand, any time 212) Which country recently faced severe job crisis due to falling oil prices: Saudi Arabia 213) Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has been elected as the new Prime Minister of which country: Nepal 214) In which national park 21 one-horned rhinos lost their lives due to floods: Kaziranga National Park 215) Kaziranga National Park is located in which state: Assam 216) By which number amendment of the constitution GST bill has been passed: 122nd 217) The GST bill after being passed by the Parliament, need to be ratified by at least _____ per cent of the states Assemblies to become a law: 50% (15 states) 218) Name two taxes that will be replaced by the GST: Central Excise, VAT, Service Tax 219) The 7th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Interior Ministers' conference was held in_____________ , Pakistan: Islamabad 220) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has agreed to add five new games in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Name any two of them: Baseball, Karate 221) ____________ has become the first state in the country to approve sewage and wastewater policy: Rajasthan 222) Anant Maheshwari has been appointed country head of which global software giant: Microsoft 223) Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award has been won by which person: Shubha Mudgal 224) Shubha Mudgal is a prominent personality of which field: Hindustani classical vocalist 225) Which organization awards the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award: Indian National Congress Party 226) ___________won the National Tourism Award for best comprehensive development of tourism: Madhya Pradesh 227) What is the title of the book which is the compilation of essays by late Khushwant Singh: Me, The Jokerman 228) RBI has launched a web portal named ‘Sachet’ for what purpose: To curb illegal collection of deposits from public 229) In which place in Assam, 14 persons were killed and over 20 injured in a militant attack: Kokrajhar 230) Vijay Rupani has been selected as the new Chief Minister of which state: Gujarat 231) In consultation with RBI, the Government has notified ____ per cent inflation target: Four
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232) The four per cent inflation target has been fixed for next _________ years: Five 233) In terms of the growth in the industry and service sectors in Indian states in past 10 years, _________has emerged as the top state: Uttarakhand 234) Government has launched a nation-wide programme MAA for promoting optimal breastfeeding practices. What is the full form of MAA: Mothersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Absolute Affection 235) _________appointed as the new Prime Minister of Tunisia: Youssef Chahed 236) Who has formed a committee headed by Tarun Ramadorai to review various facets of household finance in India: RBI 237) Which automobile company has launched its first light commercial vehicle (LCV) named Super Carry: Maruti Suzuki 238) ____________ has been appointed as Secretary to Prime Minister: Bhaskar Khulbe 239) Public sector life insurance giant LIC has joined hands with which bank to sell its policies: Axis Bank
GENERAL AWARENESS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; NOVEMBER 2016
240) A panda-themed subway train has become highly popular in which country: China 241) Which state assembly recently passed a resolution to change its name: West Bengal 242) Name the former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh who recently committed suicide: Kalikho Pul 243) Which country launched its first mobile telecommunication satellite named Tiantong: China 244) National Handloom Day is observed on which date: August 7 245) National Handloom Awards have been named after which famous saint: Saint Kabir 246) Which state rescued about 1051 missing children by launching "Operation Muskaan": Odisha 247) Name the star Indian wrestler who has been banned for four years on charges of doping: Narsingh Yadav 248) Union Cabinet has approved the extension of maternity leave for women from 12 weeks to _____________ weeks: 26
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249) Government has formed a committee headed by Mr. Amitabh Kant to review the regulation of which sector: E-commerce 250) Who is Mr. Amitabh Kant: CEO of Niti Aayog 251) Takehiko Nakao has been re-elected as the President of which global financial giant: Asian Development Bank 252) Which ministry has launched a social media campaign to observe 11th August as the Daughters Day: Ministry of Women and Child Development 253) Which important international day is observed on August 12: International Youth Day 254) A first-of-its-kind touch and feel garden of various herbal and aromatic plants has been opened for the visually impaired people in which state: Kerala 255) Name the Pakistan’s legendary former captain and batsman who passed away recently: Hanif Muhammad 256) Name the swimmer who won for the first time ever, four consecutive Olympic golds in the same event - 200m individual medley in swimming: Michael Phelps, USA 257) Which Indian organization transferred its surplus profit of Rs. 65,876 crore to the central government: RBI 258) Name the highest peace time gallantry award in India: Ashok Chakra 259) Name the war hero decorated with Ashok Chakra in August 2016: Havildar Hangpan Dada 260) Pramukh Swami Maharaj, a noted religious leader who passed away recently was associated with which temple movement: Akshardham Temples 261) The Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi is a book written by which author: Neena Gopal 262) Which ministry has decided to discontinue the practice of presenting its annual budget separately: Railways 263) The BSF organized an expedition named 'Divyang Yodha' in which field: Para cycling 264) The first ever BIO-CNG project in India was inaugurated in which place: Pune 265) Usain Bolt, the fastest man on earth won three gold medals successively in 3 Olympics, 9 in all, in which 3 events: 100m, 200m and 400x4 m relay 266) Usain Bolt represents which country: Jamaica 267) Which country crossed the 1000 Olympic gold medal mark at Rio: USA 268) Michael Phelps, the sports person with highest ever number of Olympic gold medals, has won how many of them: 23 269) Name the India's top squash player who won the Australian Open Squash women’s singles title in GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
Melbourne: Dipika Pallikal 270) Which two states have entered in to a serious dispute over the issue of sharing of waters of river Mahanadi: Odisha and Chhattisgarh 271) Which Indian music master recently performed at the iconic UN General Assembly hall: A R Rahman 272) As per the Global Innovation Index, India has improved its ranking to ______ this year from 81 in 2015: 66 273) Which country has launched the world's first quantum satellite named Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS): China 274) Government has approved which new method for online authentication of KYC for new mobile connections: Using Aadhar Card 275) Name the noted author whose famous works include ‘Anne Ghore Da Daan’ and ‘Marhi Da Deeva’: Gurdial Singh 276) India has provided $ 1 million grant to Zimbabwe for what purpose: To fight the drought disaster in the country 277) Sh Banwarilal Purohit has been appointed as the Governor of which state: Assam 278) Who has been appointed as the new Governor of Punjab: V P Singh Badnore 279) Name the Rajya Sabha MP who has been appointed as the governor of Manipur: Najma A. Heptulla 280) Sakshi Malik, the sole Olympic bronze medal winner from India, achieved this fete in which event of wrestling: 58 kg freestyle 281) SBI has decided to merge five of its associate banks and one more bank with its self. Name this other bank: Bharatiya Mahila Bank 282) Which international sports body banned star wrestler Narsingh Yadav for four years for doping charges: Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) 283) Govt has launched the ‘TARANG’ Mobile App for what purpose: To enhance transparency in power transmission sector 284) Ace shuttler P V Sindhu became the first ever Indian woman to win a Silver medal in the Olympics. She lost the gold to which player: Carolina Marin, Spain 285) The Medical Council of India (MCI) launched the Digital Mission Mode Project (DMMP) for what purpose: To monitor online attendance of faculty members in about 439 medical colleges 286) Dr. Urjit R Patel, the new governor of RBI was holding which post before this appointemnt: Deputy Governor RBI 287) Minority community members of which country have been allowed issuance of Aadhar card in India: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh 288) In which country world's highest and longest
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glass bottomed bridge has been opened: China 289) Vyas Samman is given for excellence in which field: Hindi Literature 290) Who has been honoured with Vyas Samman in August, 2016: Sunita Jain, for her poetry book "Kshama" 291) Which global e-commerce giant has started a charity drive in India to collect textbooks and educational material from public for distributing the same to the poor: Alibaba group 292) Tourism ministry has decided to make which person as its brand ambassador for the Incredible India campaign: Narendra Modi 293) Which film actor has been honoured by the French government with Chevalier de l'Orde des Arts et Lettres: Kamal Haasan 294) ___________ has started a special Bangla service named Moitree Service, for listeners in Bangladesh: Kolkata Akashvani Kendra 295) How many sports persons have been selected this year for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: Four 296) Name the four winners of Khel Ratna Award for 2016: Olympic Medalists P V Sindhu and Sakshi Malik & shooter Jitu Rai and gymnast Dipa Karmakar 297) Which awards are given by the government to the sports coaches for their excellence: Dronacharya Award 298) India celebrates National Sports Day on which date: 29th August 299) Why national sports day is celebrated on 29th August: It is the birthday of Major Dhyan Chand, wizard of Hockey 300) Dhyan Chand awards are given for what achievement in sports: Life Time Achievement 301) Arjuna Awards are given for what purpose: Excellence in sports in national and international level in past four years 302) The 2016 Kabaddi World Cup will be held in which place: Ahmedabad, Gujarat 303) ________ has become first Indian state to launch the DNA Index System for DNA profiling of criminals: Andhra Pradesh 304) Which Indian tennis player has once again topped the ATP Women’s Doubles Tennis rankings: Sania Mirza 305) Govt. has announced to grant compensation of Rs. _________ lac to the civilian victims of cross border firing along the Indo-Pak border: Five 306) _________ has been re-appointed as the President of the World Bank, USA: Jim Yong Kim 307) The Union Cabinet has cleared the draft Surrogacy Bill 2016 for what purpose: Proper regulation of surrogacy in the country GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
308) Which country has announced to commemorate the joyous Hindu festival of Diwali with the launch of Forever stamp: USA 309) Name the former Governor of States including Bihar, West Bengal and Haryana who passed away in August: Akhlaq Ur Rahman (AR) Kidwai 310) Govt has launched Accessible E-Library 'Sugamya Pustakalaya' for which special category of persons: Print-disabled people 311) National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched the UPI app for what purpose: for easy electronic cash transfer through mobile 312) What is the full form of UPI: Unified Payments Interface 313) RBI has asked banks to provide loans to women self-help groups in rural areas at ____ per cent per annum: 7 314) Government plans to avoid use of pellet guns in J&K due to their damaging lethal effect and replace the same with which new ammunition: Pava shells 315) What is the full form of Pava: Pelargonic Acid Vanillylamide 316) Which country has entered to a peace deal with FARC gorillas to end 50 years of conflict: Colombia 317) RBI is encouraging banks to issue masala bonds for their capital requirements and for financing infrastructure. What are masala bonds: Rupeedenominated bonds issued overseas 318) Goldman Sachs has projected that Indian economy is expected to clock _____ growth in the current fiscal: 7.9% 319) RBI has given the status of D-SIB to how many banks for 2016-17: Two 320) Name the two D-SIBs declared by RBI for 201617: SBI and ICICI Bank 321) What is the full form of D-SIB: Domestic Systemically Important Bank 322) Name the president of Myanmar who came to India on a four-day visit in August: U Htin Kyaw 323) Astronomers have discovered an earth like planet named ‘Proxima b’ that is orbiting ________ star: Proxima Centauri 324) The 19th SAARC Summit will be held in ______ on November 9 and 10: Islamabad 325) Name the star player of Real Madrid Football Club who won the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award: Cristiano Ronaldo 326) First BRICS film festival will be held in ________ from Sept. 2 to 6: New Delhi 327) As per Forbes's list of 'The World's 100 Most Innovative Companies', __________ is the most innovative company in India: Asian Paints
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328) As per Forbes's list of 'The World's 100 Most Innovative Companies', __________ is the most innovative company in world: Tesla Motors, USA 329) Ministry of Women and Child Development has launched POCSO e-box for what purpose: An online platform for reporting of child sexual abuse 330) What is the full form of POCSO: Protection of Children from Sexual Offences 331) Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017 will be held in __________ in Jan, 2017: Bengaluru 332) ISRO successfully test-fired its futuristic ______ Rocket Engine in August: Scramjet 333) What is the specialty of the Scramjet engine: It takes in oxygen from the atmosphere 334) What is the full form of Scramjet: Super Sonic Combustion Ramjet 335) Prime Minister has announced the setting up of a task force for Olympics for what specific purpose: To prepare India’s athletes for the next three Olympics 336) Which state has deployed drones to check rampant lane-cutting and over-speeding on state's main expressway: Maharashtra 337) In World Risk Index to assess ability of countries in handling natural disasters, India has been placed at ____ ranks: 77th 338) Playing against which country, Mr. Dhoni made the world record for leading the team for record 325th time: West Indies 339) This record breaking match was played in which country: USA 340) Finance Ministry has set up a committee headed by former Finance Secretary Ratan Watal for what purpose: To suggest steps to promote card payments
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________ has been appointed Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India in place of H R Khan: N S Vishwanathan How many Deputy Governors are there in the RBI: 4 Of the four Deputy Governors in the RBI, how many are selected from the RBI cadres itself: 2 The first squadron of home-grown Light Combat Aircraft named ___________ became operational in the India Air Force: Tejas As per RBI guidelines, pre-2005 bank notes will now be accepted only at _________ branches w.e.f. July 01, 2016: RBI India recently tested Barak-8, MR-SAM missiles. Write the full form of MR-SAM: Medium Range Surface to Air Missile Name the famous airport of Turkey which suffered a ghastly terrorist attack claiming over
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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40 lives: Istanbul Ataturk What is the name of the recent book written by Pulitzer prize winner Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee: The Gene The World Bank announced $ 1 billion support for India’s ambitious _________energy generation plans: Solar Name the President of the World Bank Group who was in India for a two day official visit: Jim Yong Kim Central govt has announced an overall increase of 23.5 per cent in salaries of over one crore government employees and pensioners in terms of which pay commission recommendation: 7th The 7th Pay Commission was headed by _____________: Justice A K Mathur The pay commission is setup at an interval of ______ years: 10 Govt has cleared the formation of a six-member Monetary Policy Committee for what purpose: To bring in “value and transparency to monetary policy decisions” Who has been designated as the head of the proposed monetary policy committee: RBI Governor State Bank of India has launched a social media banking platform called 'SBI Mingle' for what purpose: To enable the Facebook and Twitter user customers do banking through their social media accounts Govt has launched the National Green Highways Mission for what purpose: For undertaking plantation drive on 1,500 kilometers of National Highways Govt. has made it mandatory to set aside ________ per cent of the total project cost of any National Highway contract for plantation purpose: One In the World Bank Group's bi-annual Logistics Performance Index, India jumped to _____ position from 54th in 2014: 35th Which country won the International Hockey Federation Champions Trophy at London: Argentina The Human Capital Index released by the World Economic Forum placed India at which rank: 105th The 56th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships were hosted by which city: Hyderabad Which Indian state has decided to provide education loan up to Rs. 10 lakh at 1% interest rate to poor students: Odisha Gudni Johannesson has been elected as the new President of which European country: Iceland Sanjeev Rajput is a champion player of which
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sports: Shooting Which state launched a joint exercise-Jalrahat with armed forces: Assam What is the purpose of the Jalrahat exercise: To efficiently coordinate the rescue operations during the floods What is the name of the India’s first island district: Majuli Island Majuli is located in which state and river: Assam, Brahmaputra Indian Navy recently acquired technological advanced antisubmarine torpedo. What is its name: Varunastra Which country launched Shijian-16 series satellite for space research and experiments: China The Union Cabinet has approved setting up of a Payments Bank with 650 branches to begin with by which of its department: India Post Railways has launched an online portal named ‘Nivaran’ for what purpose: To address the grievances of railway employees Which bank has signed a MoU with the World Bank for financing of grid connected rooftop solar photovoltaic projects in India: State Bank of India Which company has been ranked number one in the annual list of the world’s 50 smartest companies of 2016 compiled by the MIT, USA: Amazon National Doctors’ Day is observed on which date: July 01 India observes National Doctor’s Day in the honour of which legendary physician: Bharat Ratna Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy Which Indian state attracted highest number of domestic tourists in 2015: Tamil Nadu Which ministry has launched a teacher education portal ‘Prashikshak’, for District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs): HRD Ministry Name the African country that has been elected as a new non permanent member of the UN Security Council: Ethiopia How many non-permanent members are there in the UN Security Council: Ten A non permanent member of the UN Security Council is elected for how much period: 24 months The World Bank has approved a $ 63 million support for the project Tejaswini for what purpose: For socioeconomic empowerment of adolescent girls The World Bank has approved the Tejaswini project for which state: Jharkhand
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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Government has launched which programme for providing free health check-up and treatment for the pregnant women: Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan India's first Integrated Defence Communication Network (DCN) is aimed at coordinating which Indian Forces: Army, Air Force, Navy and Special Forces Command Armed forces of 26 nations, including India, took part in the Exercise RIMPAC 2016, held at which place: Near Hawaiian Islands, USA Name the Indian who won the Canada Open Grand Prix Badminton tournament: B Sai Praneet _________ won the Austrian Grand Prix F1 Championship: Lewis Hamilton Switzerland’s central bank has stated that India’s share in its foreign deposits is hardly 0.1%. Name this bank: Swiss National Bank Reliance Industries Limited has signed an agreement with which bank to start its Payment Bank: State Bank of India Which country recently completed construction of the world’s largest telescope: China Name the para swimmer who won eight medals, including three golds, at the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports: Niranjan Mukundan Country's first commercial dispute resolution centre and a commercial court was inaugurated in which city: Raipur, Chhattisgarh World’s first Mixed Martial Arts ‘Super Fight League’ will be hosted by which country from August 26 to October 01, 2016: India NASA achieved a big breakthrough on July 5 when it succeeded for the first time in putting a space craft in the orbit of Jupiter. Name this space craft: Juno The world famous Rath Yatra is held in which city of India: Puri, Odisha Which city hosted the Woodpecker Environment and Wildlife Film Festival: Shimla Govt. has announced ______ per cent subvention on crop loans up to Rs. 3 lacs, if they are paid in time: Three Myth Breaker by Seema Singh is a book written about the life of which Indian corporate: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw Who is Kiran Mazumdar Shaw: CMD of Biocon India, India’s largest bio pharma company Abbas Kiarostami, renowned filmmaker and winner of several awards died recently. He was from which country: Iran All sportspersons who have represented India in Olympics have got together to form an association. Can you name it: The Olympians
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Association of India Five-time Olympian, Shiva Keshavan has been made the first President of the Olympians Association of India. He is associated with which sports: Luge Which national port has started for the first time in India, RFID tag based tracking of containers: Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Mumbai What is the full form of RFID: Radio Frequency Identification In the recent re-shuffle of the Council of Ministers, how many new ministers were inducted in the government: 19 Who administers oath of office and secrecy to the union ministers: President What is the total number of ministers in the India’s council of ministers: 78 At which international airport of India a huge wooden charkha has been installed: Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi What is the name of the Google’s latest android version 7.0: Nougat The Networked Readiness Index ranks countries in terms of their readiness for transition to a digitised economy. What is India’s rank in this index: 91st Which country has built its largest ever transport aircraft Y-20 Kunpeng: China Which star Indian gymnast was named a ‘Gymnaste de Classe Mondaile’ (World class gymnast) by the International Gymnastics Federation: Dipa Karmakar Which Indian state has proposed a 14.5% ‘fat tax’ on junk food like burgers, pizzas, sandwiches, etc: Kerala Dallas, a city in Texas, USA was in news for what reasons: Killing of five police officers by the rioters A new online portal - kvk.icar.gov.in has been launched for what purpose: To provide district specific agriculture related information to the farmers through the 645 Krishi Vigyan Kendras Govt has decided to undertake a clean-up initiative at _____ iconic heritage, spiritual and cultural sites under the Swachh Bharat Mission: 100 Which country won the Euro Cup Football Championship for the first time after having played the game for past 95 years: Portugal Which country hosted the Euro Cup Football Championship: France Name the tennis grand slam which is hosted by London: Wimbledon Name the winner of the Wimbledon’s men’s title: Andy Murray
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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Women’s title at the Wimbledon was won by which player: Serena Williams The Phoenix Moment is a book written by which author: Praful Bidwai Radhika Menon who won the award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea is the first women captain of which force: Indian Merchant Navy With which country India signed a mega deal for the construction of a 1,320 MW Maitree Super Thermal Power Project: Bangladesh Name the Indian corporate which acquired the Lafarge India’s cement assets for about $1.4 billion: Nirma Group The Permanent Court of Arbitration which ruled against China in case of South China Sea, is located at which place: The Hague, Netherlands Which country had challenged the China’s claim over the South China Sea: Philippines Indian Navy has started its new marine commando unit - INS Karma at which place: Vishakhapatnam INS Karma is a dedicated base for Marcos. What is its full form: Marine Commandos What was the name of rescue operation launched by Indian Govt. to evacuate Indian’s from the war tons South Sudan: Operation Sankat Mochan Name the special cargo aircrafts that were used in operation Sankat Mochan: C-17 Globemaster In which Indian state, congress govt. was reinstated after a direction from the Supreme Court: Arunachal Pradesh Government has decided to raise the price of kerosene by ___ paise a litre each month for 10 months to cut the subsidy burden: 25 Name the Prime Minister of United Kingdom who resigned from his post after he lost the campaign to ‘remain’ with European Union: David Cameron _________ has been elected as the new Prime Minister of United Kingdom: Ms. Theresa May Dr. Raghuveer Chaudhari who has been decorated with the Jnanpith Award is a renowned writer of which language: Gujarati Aditya Puri has been ranked as the best banking CEO in Asia by the investor community. He is chief of which bank: HDFC Bank Who Moved My Interest Rates is a book written by D. Subbarao. Who is he: Former Governor of RBI Rakesh Kumar Chaturvedi has been appointed as the new Chairman of which national educational organization: The Central Board of Secondary Education, CBSE
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Banks have been asked to exchange up to 20 pieces of soiled notes up to what maximum amount: Rs. 5000 Name the India's Grand Master who won the Fide Women’s Grand Prix Chess trophy in Chendu, China: Harika Dronavalli India made a big leap of 11 places to occupy _______ spot in the latest world football rankings issued by FIFA: 152nd The Union Cabinet has approved the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) with an outlay of Rs.12000 crore for what purpose: To impart skilling to one crore people over the next 4 years Which Indian Stock Exchange has introduced 'Paperless SIP' for facilitating online investments: Bombay Stock Exchange In a global survey of airlines, The Emirates has been declared as the best. It belongs to which country: UAE, United Arab Emirates ADB has granted $ 100 million loan to strengthen key irrigation and drainage system in the _________delta in Tamil Nadu: Cauvery Which country recently witnessed a failed coup attempt to overthrow the elected govt.: Turkey The Capital Complex of which Indian city has been selected in the UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites: Chandigarh Name the state whose national park has been selected in the UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites: Sikkim What is the name of the autobiography by Margaret Alva, former Governor of Uttarakhand, Rajasthan: Courage & Commitment The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared India free from Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus and Yaws. What is Yaws: An infection of the skin and bones Name the batsman who became the oldest captain to score test hundred at the age of 42 years and 47 days: Misbah-ul-Haq ________ has been sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh: Pema Khandu What is the name of the Indian artillery gun developed as per technical support from the Bofors of Sweden: Dhanush Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal are the current national champions of which sports: Squash ________ has become first state in India to set up Happiness Department in the state: Madhya Pradesh What is the name of the proposed hi-tech vision system that railway plans to install on locomotives for enhancing the driver’s vision in
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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inclement weather: Trinetra Name the legendary Bollywood playback singer and ghazal maestro who passed away after prolonged illness in Mumbai: Mubarak Begum Sports persons from which country have been prohibited by WADA to participate in Rio Olympics: Russia What is the full form of WADA: World AntiDoping Agency Brazil is hosting the Rio Olympics. Name its capital: Brasilia What is the currency of Brazil: Brazilian Real What is the name of the mascot of the Rio Olympics: Vinicius The mascot Venicius represents which animal: None, it is a blend of animals native to Brazil What is the official slogan of the Rio Olympics: A New World What is the approximate weight of the Olympic medals: 500 grams Symbolic beginning of the Olympic Games is done by lighting a torch with the help of sun rays. This ceremony is held in which place: Olympia, Greece What is the logo of Olympic games: Set of five interlaced rings What is the colour of the Olympics flag: White The Olympic motto is made up of three Latin words – Citius, Altius, Fortius. What do they mean: Faster, Higher, Stronger The Ministry of Finance has announced capital infusion of Rs 22,915 crore towards the recapitalization of which public sector units: 13 banks The National Green Tribunal has directed which state to cancel the registration of all dieselpowered vehicles that are more than 10 years old: Delhi The Supreme Court delivered a historic judgment accepting most of the recommendations made by the Justice __________Committee on the functioning of BCCI: R M Lodha Rohit Khandelwal has become the first Indian to win the title of __________: Mr. World The first paperless e-court of India was inaugurated in _________High Court: Hyderabad Malcolm Turnbull has been re-elected as the Prime Minister of which country: Australia The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable is a book written by which author: Amitav Ghosh National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USA has declared which month in 2016 as the hottest month till date: June
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The Union Cabinet has approved the incorporation of Sagarmala Development Company for what purpose: For promoting port-led economic development in India _________appointed as the chief executive officer of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI): Ajay Bhushan Pandey In the latest Fortune 500 list of the world's biggest corporations in terms of revenue, how many Indian companies are there: Seven In terms of revenue earned, which is the largest Indian company: Indian Oil Corporation ______ is the world’s largest company in terms of revenue earned: Walmart At which place in West Bengal a new modern integrated check-post was opened on Bangladesh border: Petrapole Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp. has joined hands with which Bank to promote booking of rail tickets: State Bank of India Name the Indian batsman who became the first Indian test captain to score a double century in an overseas match in past 84 years: Viraat Kohli Foundation stone was laid recently for starting a new All India Institute of Medical Sciences at which place: Gorakhpur Sustainable Development Goals is an agenda prescribed by which global organization: UNO UNO has prescribed how many Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030: 17 India’s first Green Rail Corridor has been started in which state: Tamil Nadu What is the salient feature of the green rail corridor: Zero toilet discharge on rail tracks Indian Navy launched country’s largest ever search operation code named ‘Operation Talash’ for what purpose: To trace the missing AN-32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force Syed Haider Raza, one of India’s most eminent painters died recently. He spent most part of his life in which foreign country: France K P Oli, Nepalese Prime Minister was in news recently for what reasons: He resigned from his post Chris Froome of Britain won the world’s most challenging cycle race. Can you name this event: Tour de France Who won the Hungarian Grand Prix F 1 championship at Budapest, Hungary: Lewis Hamilton Neeraj Chopra scripted history by becoming the first Indian to hold a world record as he smashed the junior world record in which sports: Javelin throw As per the Global Retirement Index, ______ is the
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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world's worst country for retirees: India As per the Global Retirement Index ______ is the best country in the world for retired people: Switzerland With a view to provide a legal framework to the mission for cleansing of river Ganga, which ministry proposes to formulate Ganga Act: Ministry of Water Resources Social media giant Facebook has successfully tested its solar-powered craft Aquila for what purpose: To beam internet to remote parts of the world Kargil Vijay Diwas is celebrated on which date: July 26 World’s largest amphibious aircraft, AG-600 has been developed by which country: China IRCTC has offered a travel accident cover of _____ lakh rupees to passengers booking tickets through its portal: 10 Irom Sharmila Chanu, famous as ‘Iron Lady of Manipur’, was in news for what reasons: She decided to end on August 9 her 15 year old hunger strike in protest of AF(SP)A in Manipur What is the full form of AF(SP)A: Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 Ramon Magsaysay Award is given for what purpose: for extra ordinary good work for some social cause Magsaysay Award is given by which country: Philippines How many Magsaysay Awards are given every year: Six Name the Carnatic singer from Chennai who has been given Magsaysay Award for promoting peace and harmony through music: T. M. Krishna Mr. Bezwada Wilson has been honoured with Magsaysay Award for what purpose: For his dedicated efforts for eradication of manual scavenging in India As per the new Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016, children below 14 have been permitted to work in which type of industry: Home based work in family owned businesses As per a global survey, _________ is home to tallest men and ___________ to tallest women: Netherlands, Latvia Government has approved 1,600 crore rupees for which state for skill development initiative 'Himayat': J & K As per a scientific study, roughly ____ per cent of total bird species in the world are found in India: 12 Keni Harrison, American athlete broke a 28-
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year old world record in which event: 100 m hurdles As per recent ICC rankings, _________ has been declared as the top test bowler: Ravichandran Ashwin India has signed a one-billion dollar deal to buy Poseidon 81. What is this: Long-range maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft From which country and company India is buying four Poseidon 81 aircraft: USA, Boeing Which organization has decided to launch an exclusive channel dedicated to sports, named Olympic channel: The International Olympic Committee The Union Cabinet has approved establishment of an All India Institute of Medical Sciences AIIMS at which place in Punjab: Bathinda New AIIMS are being established in various states under which central programme: Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana International Tiger Day is observed on which date: July 29 The UN General Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution to treat the IMO as a related organization. What is IMO: International Organization for Migration Where in India for the first time, a zoo has received Humboldt Penguins: Mumbai Name the eminent Bengali writer and social worker, winner of Jnanpith Award and Magsaysay Award, who passed away recently: Mahasweta Devi
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_______________________ is the capital of Morocco: Rabat ________ is same in Morocco as Mumbai, financial capital of India: Marrakech Recently Finance Ministry has hiked financial powers of Ministers to sanction expenditures up to Rs. _________ crore: 500 Muslims Against Partition is a book written by which author: Shamsul Islam Name the England captain who became the first English cricketer and also the youngest one to reach the 10,000 runs milestone in Test cricket: Alastair Cook Name the high speed train which was tested in India for speed up to 115 kph between Bareilly and Moradabad in UP: Talgo The proposed high speed Talgo train is being provided by which country: Spain Name the team that won the 9th Indian Premier League: Sunrisers Hyderabad For what reasons Gotthard Base Tunnel was in
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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news recently: It is the world's longest rail tunnel open for operations Gotthard Base Tunnel has been opened in which country: Switzerland Seema Punia won a gold medal in the women’s __________ at the Pat Youngs Throwers Classic in California, USA: Discus Throw Railways have started a new weekly train from____________, Assam to Vaishno Devi Katra (J&K), linking the two very prominent pilgrimage centers: Kamakhya The T S R Subramanian committee has submitted its report on which issue to the Ministry of HRD: The New Education Policy Aditi Krishnakumar won which award for her manuscript “Love of Indian History": Scholastic Asian Book Award Govt. has levied which new cess of 0.5 per cent on the service tax: Krishi Kalyan Cess According to the report by New World Wealth, India has been ranked _______ in the list of top 10 wealthiest countries in the world: Seventh According to the report by New World Wealth, ____________ is the richest country in the world: USA Retirement age of doctors in the Govt. service has been hiked to ______ years: 65 Govt. has levied 1% TCS on cash purchases of more than Rs. 2 lacs. What is TCS: Tax Collected at Source Data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that the economy grew at an accelerated pace of _______in the fourth quarter of 2015-16: 7.9% Which Indian authority has launched a mobile application for telecom subscribers to register their complaints against pesky calls and SMSs: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Recently the govt. hiked the Minimum Support Price - MSP of which season crops: Kharif (Summer crops) ________ is the main crop of the Kharif season: Paddy Which daal (Pulse) has been given the highest MSP of Rs. 5225 per qtl: Moong Govt. has approved setting up of a bank by the Department of Posts. What is its name: India Post Payments Bank The government has exempted PF withdrawals of up to Rs. __________ from tax deduction at source: 50,000 The Japan International Cooperation Agency has granted a loan of Rs. 1,548 crore to ____________ for improving the quality of urban healthcare services: Tamil Nadu
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Ashok Lavasa has been appointed as the new Union ________ Secretary: Finance Fukuoka Prize is given in which country: Japan Name the Indian Music composer who has been honoured with Fukuoka Prize: A R Rahman ___________ has been declared the Ceat T20 Player of the Year - 2016: Virat Kohali India has joined The Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation for what purpose: For preventing the spread of ballistic missiles Name the author of the book "The Unseen Indira Gandhi": Dr. K P Mathur __________ has been appointed first ever chief executive officer (CEO) of the BCCI: Rahul Johri The â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sendai Framework" is related with which activity: Disaster Management
GENERAL AWARENESS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; NOVEMBER 2016
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June 1 is observed as the World ____ Day across the globe: Milk Which UN organisation promotes the World Milk Day: Food and Agriculture Organisation Which country honoured our Prime Minister by the Amir Amanullah Khan Award: Afghanistan What was the original name of the world famous boxer Muhammad Ali: Cassius Clay Name the veteran Indian tennis star who won the mixed doubles in the French Open with Swiss partner Martina Hingis: Leander Paes According to the 'Good Country' Index 2015 __________ is the world's best country: Sweden According to the 'Good Country' Index 2015, India has been placed at which rank: 70th Name the first Indian woman to be nominated to the International Olympic Committee: Nita Ambani
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According to the Global Slavery Index 2016 of 167 countries, _______ has largest number of people in modern slavery: India Which country will be hosting 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics: South Korea ‘Soohorang’, the official mascot for 2018 winter Olympics represents which animal: White Tiger cub Latest FIFA rankings have placed which country on top: Argentina The Pakke Tiger Reserve that won the India Biodiversity Award is in which state: Arunachal Pradesh Manohar Aich, A prominent sports person famous as the 'Pocket Hercules' was associated with which sports: Body Building Why Mr. Manohar Aich was famous as the 'Pocket Hercules': Because of his short height Men's title in French Open was won by which player: Novak Djokovic Garbine Muguruza who won the women's title in French Open, is from which country: Spain Name the special tourist train launched to spread awareness among people regarding tiger conservation: Tiger Express Name the first Indian state to grant social benefits to transgender: Odisha Which global aircraft company has unveiled the world's first 3D-printed aircraft THOR: Airbus World environment day is observed on which date: June 05 In terms of retail development, in a world study, India has been placed at which rank: 02nd Which Indian city has adopted Gangetic River Dolphin as its mascot: Guwahati Name the Indian sand artist who won gold medal at the world championship festival of sand sculpting in Bulgaria: Sudarsan Pattnaik Shangri-La Dialogue is the Asia's largest annual summit on what issue: Security Scenario in Asia-Pacific region In which country 77 per cent voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to introduce a guaranteed basic income for all: Switzerland N Ramachandran, the President of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was in news for what reasons: He was awarded Olympic Order by the IOC Tintu Luka won a silver medal in which event in the Athletics Meet in Prague: 800 mts race Name the lady who became first woman to lead a major American political party for President’s post in the 240 years of democracy in USA:
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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Hillary Clinton India has been admitted as the 35th member of the elite 34 nations MTCR Group. What is MTCR: Missile Technology Control Regime India will get what major benefit by joining MTCR group: India can now buy and sell missile technology to other nations Government has launched a campaign ‘Swachh Yug’ to make villages located along which river free from open defecation: Ganga Who has been named the ambassador for Swachh Bharat Mission's youth-based 'Swachh Saathi' (student internship) programme: Dia Mirza Exercise Desert Eagle II was held between Indian Air Force and which other country's Air Force: United Arab Emirates Which Indian broadcasting organization celebrated completion of 80 years of its existence on June 8: All India Radio The World Bank has projected a growth rate of _______ per cent for the world in 2016: 2.4 The Forbes “100 Most Powerful Women” in the world list 2016 has been topped by which lady: German Chancellor Angela Merkel India has surpassed which country to become the world’s third-largest oil consumer: Japan Government has launched a GPS based mobile app named ‘Surya Mitra’ for what purpose: To facilitate repair and maintenance of solar equipments World Oceans Day is observed on which date: June 08 What is the theme of this year's World Oceans Day: Healthy Oceans, Healthy Planet As per the Global Peace Index 2016 _____ is the most peaceful country: Iceland As per the Global Peace Index 2016, what is India's rank: 141st Champaran Satyagrah Express train has been started from _________ to Anand Vihar, Delhi: Bapudham, Motihari (Bihar) Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has been elected new President of which South American country: Peru Which French city is hosting Europe's biggest football extravaganza, Euro 2016: Saint Denis Who has been named highest paid sports person in the Forbes annual list of the World's 100 Highest Paid Athletes: Cristiano Ronaldo What was the name of the biggest ever joint military exercise held recently by NATO members: Anaconda-16 Ranjit Sub-1 and Bahadur Sub-1 are the names of new variety of which item: Two new rice
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varieties A joint military exercise named ___________was held between the naval forces of India, Japan and the USA: Malabar The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has chosen ___________ as the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent at the Rio Games’ opening ceremony: Abhinav Bindra US administration has given what name to the Prime Minister Modi’s vision of Indo-US ties for promoting peace, prosperity and stability from Asia to Africa, from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific: Modi Doctrine Which index is used in India to measure the level of industrial production: Index of Industrial Production - IIP Which award was won by Akhil Sharma for his novel 'family life': International Dublin Literary Award Internet search giant Google has tied up with Tata Trusts to launch which programme to empower rural women: Internet Saathi Which Indian bank raised $500 million at the London Stock Exchange after it launched India’s first internationally-listed certified green bonds: Axis Bank China launched its 23rd satellite BeiDou Navigation Satellite System for what purpose: Strengthening of GPS Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal recently won which international title: Australian Open Super Series ___________has become the first state in India to have an open government data portal to facilitate free usage of govt data by general public: Sikkim Which is the first country in world to prohibit deforestation of rain forest to preserve the balance of ecosystem: Norway International Labour Organisation observes June 12, as which global day: The World Day Against Child Labour RBI has announced the S4A scheme to handle the high value bad loans. What is the full form of S4A: Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets Microsoft has announced to acquire which professional networking website for $26.2 billion: LinkedIn World Blood Donor Day is observed on which date: June 14 What is the theme of this year's World Blood Donor Day: Blood connects us all Which Indian organization recently launched three service initiatives, namely- a Janani Sewa for mothers, optional catering and a children’s
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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menu: Indian Railways Peter Thomson, Permanent Representative of Fiji, was elected as the President of which important UN forum: UN General Assembly Government has approved the National Civil Aviation Policy 2016, capping fares at Rs _______ for one-hour flights: 2,500 In the context of National Civil Aviation Policy, what is meant by 5/20 rule: Only airlines with 5 years of domestic flying and minimum 20 aircrafts, will be allowed to fly international SBI has announced merger of its ___________ subsidiaries with itself: Five 'Jal Marg Vikas' (National Waterway-1) project is for developing a 1620 km thorough waterway between ________ in Uttar Pradesh and __________in West Bengal: Allahabad, Haldia Bramble Cay Melomys found only on a single island off Australia is the world's first mammal to be declared as extinct. What type of animal it is: Small rodent (Rat) Which country has launched the world’s biggest nuclear icebreaker ship 22220 Arktika: Russia Railway has started India's first timetabled freight train, named ___________ from Delhi to Bengaluru: Cargo Express’ HRD Ministry has launched Vidyanjali scheme for govt. schools for what purpose: For participation of volunteers from public for teaching Who is Anne Hathaway who has been appointed as global Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women: Famous US actress and singer Government has allowed which category of persons to open National Pension Scheme (NPS) accounts online if they have Aadhaar Card or PAN card: Non Resident Indians (NRIs) Hero Hockey Champions Trophy Tournament was held at which place: London In the finals of Hero Hockey Champions Trophy Tournament, which country won the cup by defeating India: Australia The book 'The Spy' is written by which famous author: Paulo Coelho 'A Life in Diplomacy' is a book written by M K Rasgotra. Who is he: Former Foreign Secretary of India 'Old History New Geography' is a book written about bifurcation of which Indian state: Andhra Pradesh Government has approved 100 per cent FDI in which three sectors under the government approval route: Aviation, Defence and E-
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commerce Which UN organization supports the observation of the World Refugee Day on June 20: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Name the first State that has obtained a telecom license from the Telecom Ministry: Andhra Pradesh Ms Supriya Sahu has been appointed as the Director General of which national organization: Doordarshan The Government has taken a considered decision to allow export of _______ missile systems to 'certain' countries that have friendly relationship with India: Akaash Main function of International Yoga Day on June 21 was held in which city in India: Chandigarh Govt. has allowed premature closure of PPF accounts after how many years: Five Who has written the book titled "Favourite Ghost Stories From Around The World": Ruskin Bond In a recent study of super computers, which country has been declared to have fastest super computer: China Scientists from which country created the world's first microchip that has 1,000 processors: USA Name the Kannada film that won the best film award and best script writers award at the Asia New Talent Awards in the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival: Thithi ISRO created a record on June 22 by launching 20 satellites in one go. How many of them were foreign satellites: 17 Prime Minister Modi visited___________, Uzbekistan to attend the two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: Tashkent The central government has sanctioned Rs. ____________ crore 'Fund of Funds for Startups' to boost self-employment in the country: 10,000 Name the famous Sikh General of yore on whose 300th martyrdom day a special commemorative silver coin has been released: Banda Singh Bahadur As per the World Investment Report 2016 by the UNCTAD, what is India's rank in attracting FDI: 10th As per UNCTAD report, which country received highest amount of FDI in 2015: USA Which Indian city has signed a sister city agreement with the Chinese city Jinan: Nagpur All India Football Federation plans to launch ‘Mission 11 Million’ in 30 Indian cities with the support of FIFA for what purpose: To
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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engage more than 11 million children in football-related activities The United Public Service Day is observed on June 23 for highlighting role of which segment of society: Public Servants World Hydrography Day is observed on June 21 to commemorate establishment of which international organization, some 95 years ago on this day: International Hydrographic Organization The plenary meeting of the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group, NSG was held in which place: Seoul Which country objected to India's membership to NSG: China What was China's objection to India's membership to NSG: India has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, NPT RBI has released the ‘Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision-2018’ for what purpose: To promote mobile banking services Name the former spinner who has been selected as the new coach of Indian Cricket Team for one year: Anil Kumble Prime Minister Modi formally launched the ‘Smart City Project’ from which city: Pune BrahMos Aerospace successfully tested the integration of BrahMos missile with which fighter aircraft: Sukhoi - 30 ADB to grant $500 million loan to build a 9.8 km long bridge (longest in India) across the _______ River in, Bihar: Ganges RBI data shows that banking transactions through mobile apps have increased _________fold in three years, between 2013 and 2016: Seven Grand Master Harika Dronavalli won the best women's player award in the Eurasian Blitz _______ tournament in Kazakhstan: Chess Sanjay Mittal, Professor in IIT - Kanpur won which award for scientific research: G D Birla Award Government has launched a pilot programme to run two-wheelers on which gas in New Delhi to curb air pollution: Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) IIFA award for the best feature film was claimed by which movie: Bajrangi Bhaijaan Deepika Padukon got the IIFA award for best actress for which film: Piku Ministry of Defence has approved the purchase of 145 artillery guns from which global arms supplier: The BAE systems of USA The BAE systems of USA shall be producing The 155 MM, M777 ultra light howitzer guns in
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India in collaboration with which Indian company: Mahindra Defence Systems Name the 3rd century BC archaeological site in Bogra, Bangladesh that has been declared as the SARRC cultural capital for the year 2016-17: Mahasthangarh Why the International Olympic Day is celebrated every year on June 23: First modern Olympic Games were held on this day in 1894 at Sorbonne in Paris Copa America Football Championship is hosted by which country: USA
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Argentina was defeated by which country in the finals of Copa America Football Championship: Chile
687)
Wimbledon Tennis Championships are hosted by which city: London
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MAY – 2016 688)
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_________re-elected as the Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharmsala, Himachal Pradesh: Lobsang Sangay Railways has decided to create a 1 lakh crore rupees Rashtriya Rail Sanrakshan Kosh (RRSK) for what purpose: To strengthen safety measures on the rail network to prevent accidents ________appointed as Director General of the Railway Protection Force (RPF): S K Bhagat The International Cricket Council has suspended which country from its membership: Nepal A Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by J C Divakar Reddy, MP has been formed for what purpose: To tackle misleading advertising as well as to fix liability on endorsers/celebrities Which foreign bank has launched India’s first mobile only bank named ‘digibank’: DBS Bank, Singapore North Star is the highest civilian award of which country: Mongolia Name the author of the book ‘Blood on my Hands: Confessions of Staged Encounters’: Kishalay Bhattacharjee The International Bank Note Society has declared which country’s five-dollar note as the Banknote of the Year for 2015: New Zealand Batsman Iraq Thomas created a record by scoring 21-ball century. He is from which country: Tobago Lee Chong Wei, winner of Asia Badminton Championship, is from which country: Malaysia What is the full form of the acronym UJALA: Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All Which UN organization promotes the
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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observance of International Labour Day: International Labour Organization (ILO) Govt has launched Ujjwala scheme for what purpose: For distribution of LPG connection to BPL families Govt has granted status of ‘classical language’ to how many languages: Five Which are the five languages that recently have been given the status of Classical Language: Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia Malayalam is spoken in which state of India: Kerala Telugu is spoken in which state of India: Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Which UN organization supports the propagation of World Press Freedom Day: UNESCO World Snooker Championship title was won by Mark Selby. He is from which country: England The Supreme Court has appointed a threemember panel headed by former Chief Justice of India RM Lodha to review the functions of which apex professional body: Medical council of India The European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to stop printing of the _____ euro banknote by the end of 2018 with a view to curb illicit activities: 500 Scientists of which university have built the world's smallest working engine: University of Cambridge Who has been appointed as the next Chief of Indian Navy: Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba Chief of the Indian Navy is appointed in which rank: Admiral What is the purpose of the proposed Geospatial Information Regulation Bill 2016:To punish the wrong depiction of the map of India What is the main objective of recently passed Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Bill 2016: To promote conditions for ‘Ease of Doing Business’ Name the public sector trading giant that recently launched a new gold coin named ‘Tola’: MMTC Which Indian bank has been selected by the New Development Bank as its partner for operations in India: ICICI Bank ‘Cow and Company’, a story by Prashar Kulkarni won which international award: Commonwealth Short Story Prize Enda Kenny has been re elected as the Prime Minister of which country: Ireland The H.R. Nagendra Committee has been appointed by the govt. for which purpose: For
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Yoga Education in Universities In a rare astronomical phenomenon on May 09, which planet was seen as a dot moving on the solar disc: Mercury As per a recent global study, India was ranked _____ in terms of ‘crony capitalism’: 9th Which country tops in promotion of ‘crony capitalism’: Russia The Drowned Detective is a book written by which author: Neil Jordan According to Royal Botanic Gardens, world has over 390,900 plant species. Where is this garden: London Govt has approved the single emergency number______ to help people access directly emergency services like police, ambulance and fire fighting: 112 What is the full form of the acronym UBIN: Unique Business Identification Number What is the purpose of issuing UBIN: To expedite establishment of new startups Which national day is observed on April 11: National Technology Day Which country elected a dashing flamboyant Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as its President: Philippines Which Indian state has won the award for the Best Indian Destination for Wildlife: Madhya Pradesh Govt of America has approved selection of animal ________ as the first national mammal of the country: Bison The RBI has released ‘Draft Guidelines for on tap Licensing of which type of banks recently: Universal Banks in the Private Sector In a global study by WHO of the cities with worst air pollution, four of the five worst polluted cities are in which country: India Shashank Manohar has been elected as the first independent Chairman of which international cricket body: ICC-International Cricket Council Who is the only Indian in Forbes' 'Money Masters: The Most Powerful People in the Financial World' list of 40 persons: Uday Kotak Who is Uday Kotak: Chief of Kotak Mahindra Bank Baba Hardev Singh, a spiritual leader who died in a car accident, was the head of which sect: Nirankari Mission Name the world’s biggest – ever cruise ship, recently launched in France: Harmony of the Seas Govt has decided to replace the five year plans with which new concept: 15 year vision
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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document Country is going through the 12th five year plan. When will it come to an end: 31st March, 2017 Govt. has recently approved the National IPR Policy. What is IPR: Intellectual Property Rights Max Verstappen, winner of the Spanish Grand Prix F1 Championship was in news for what reasons: He is the youngest (18 years) winner of F1 championship Name the India’s indigenously developed supersonic interceptor missile, capable of destroying any incoming hostile ballistic missile: Ashwin Eric Dusingizimana, captain of cricket team of Rwanda has set a new Guinness world record for what achievement: Batting continuously for 51 hours Man Booker International Prize is given for which achievement: For the best book translated in English and published in U K Name the winner of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize: Han Kang, South Korea Which novel has been selected for the 2016 Man Booker International Prize: The Vegetarian The World Bank has approved $625 million loan to India to support the rooftop solar power generation. This loan will be disbursed through which Indian bank: State Bank of India As per the Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index' prepared by global firm E & Y, India has been placed at which rank: 03rd The World’s largest Single Rooftop Solar Power Plant has been established is in which city in Punjab: Dera Beas (Amritsar ) Govt. has formed NK Singh committee for review of FRBM road map. What is full form of FRBM: Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Name the British author who won the PEN’s Literary Service Award: J. K. Rowling The acronym PEN stands for what: Poets, Essayists and Novelists Under the Dhan Wapsi scheme for declaration of domestic black money, how much tax and penalty is payable: 45% What was India’s rank in the Asian team squash women championship: Second Name the electronic grievance redressal system recently launched by the Income Tax Department: e-nivaran Ms. Tsai Ing-wen has been elected as the first women President of which country: Taiwan Which three countries have joined hands to develop the Chabahar port: India, Iran and
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Afghanistan Lhakpa Sherpa, the 42 year old mountaineer created which new record: Climbing Mount Everest by a Lady for maximum number of times – 7 Federation Cup is associated with which sports in India: Football Federation Cup 2016 was won by which team: Mohun Bagan What is the popular name of the French Open, second tennis grand slam: Roland Garros Thomas Cup and Uber Cup are associated with which sports: Badminton, Men and Women, respectively Name the country that won the Thomas Cup: Denmark Name the country that won the Uber Cup: China In which Indian city the trial run of India's first ever Metro train equipped to run in the driverless mode was conducted: New Delhi Government has constituted the IEPF Authority to strengthen the framework for safeguarding the interest of investors. What is the full form of IEPF: Investor Education and Protection Fund India successfully tested its firstever indigenously built space shuttle – RLV – TD on May 23. Write full form of RLV-TD: ReUsable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator Who has been elected as the new President of Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI): Anurag Thakur ______ has been Appointed as the new Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Puducherry: Kiran Bedi Palme d’Or is the prize for the best film at which famous film festival: Cannes, France Which film won the Palme d’Or for 2016: I, Daniel Blake World Bank Group has launched the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF) for what purpose: To protect and support poorest countries against deadly pandemics like Ebola, Zika Govt. has decided to replace the word ‘Viklangjan’ for disabled persons with which new word: Divyangjan Millennium Technology Prize is given in which country: Finland Heads of state of G-7 nations held their annual summit at which place in Japan: Ise Shima ____ has been elected as the new and the first BJP Chief Minister of Assam: Sarbananda Sonowal
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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Pinarayi Vijayan has been elected as the Chief Minister of which state: Kerala Recently FSSAI has recommended banning the use of which chemical in the making of bread: Potassium Bromate What is the name given to the India’s new GPS system: NAVIC What is the full form of the acronym Navic: Navigation with Indian Constellation Employee Provident Fund Organization has decided to increase benefits under the Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) scheme from Rs 3.60 lakh to _____rupees: Six lakh The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has decided to launch an online system ASMITA for what purpose: Student tracking system programme What is the full form of ASMITA: All School Monitoring Individual Tracing Analysis Name the new multilingual portal launched by the ministry of HRD: Bharatavani Which Saudi Arabia based bank has offered to open Islamic banking branch in India: Islamic Development Bank First bank branch offering Islamic banking is proposed to be opened by a foreign bank in which city: Ahmadabad Rishi Nair, a 6th grade Indian American student won which prestigious competition in USA: National Geographic Bee competition Which type of bank borrowers have been prohibited by SEBI from making public issue of shares: Willful defaulter The 148-year-old Tata Group has made a foray into which new field recently by the name TataCLiQ.com: E-commerce The RBI has instructed banks to shift from magnetic stripe based ATM and debit cards to which type of cards: EMV chip and Pin based cards
APRIL – 2016 792)
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A massive leak of 11.5 million documents from a law firm in which country revealed how the world's current rich people, politicians and celebrities hide their money: Panama Where in India World’s maiden white tiger safari was opened up: Mukundpur, Madhya Pradesh ____________elected as the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir: Mehbooba Mufti India has been ranked ______ among the world's Top-Ten largest manufacturing countries: Sixth In terms of manufacturing level, which country
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is ranked no. one in world: China Name the cricketer who was named as Player of the tournament in the world T-20: Virat Kohli Who is Dr. Karan Singh, author of the book 'The Mountain of Shiva': He is a member of Rajya Sabha Where in India the Army has raised a new Gorkha battalion comprising entirely of Gorkha troops of Indian domicile: Sabathu, Himachal Pradesh The government has launched a portal ‘The Indian IP Panorama’ to act as a single window interface for providing information on which subject: Intellectual property maters This portal is a customised version of IP Panorama Multimedia toolkit, developed by WIPO. What is WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organization The government has issued a new set of income tax return (ITR) forms that require people with an income of Rs. ______lakh and above per annum to disclose their assets: 50 lakh Which stock exchange has launched a new index Nifty MidSmallcap 400 representing 150 midcap and 250 small cap companies: National Stock Exchange The Airports Authority of India has signed an MoU with ________ to provide scientific parameters for construction of airports across the country: ISRO Name the new interest mechanism that requires banks to set rates based on their marginal cost of funds rather than their average cost of funds: marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) India has become the world’s _______ largest spender on defence, following a 13.1% increase in its 2016-17 defence budget: Fourth Which country is the largest spender on defence in world: USA Zaha Hadid, renowned Iraq-born British __________ passed away due to heart attack: Architect Name the campaign that was launched on April 14 to strengthen Panchayati Raj in villages, empowerment of women and upliftment of farmers: Gram Uday Se Bharat Uday Abhiyan As per a global study, India ranks third among countries with high number of financial Trojan infections. What is Trojan infection: Transactions where cybercriminals defraud customers of online banking services UNICEF launched a series of animated films, called Unfairy Tales to create awareness about which group of people: Refugees P Susheela Mohan, renowned playback singer
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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has been recognized by the Guinness World Records for which achievement: For singing the most number of songs in Indian languages - 17,695 Where in India Asia's biggest telescope has been launched: Devasthal, Nanital The European Investment Bank has agreed to give Euro 450 million towards constructing the metro rail line in which Indian city: Lucknow Name the India's first semi high speed train launched on April 5: The Nizamuddin-Agra Gatimaan Express Which country conferred its highest civilian honour- the king Abdulaziz Sash on the Prime Minister Modi: Saudi Arabia Govt has launched the mobile application 'Vidyut Pravah' for what purpose: for information on 24x7 power from The States The HRD ministry released first-of-its-kind NIRF for ranking the higher education institutions. What is NIRF: National Institutional Ranking Framework As per NIRF _______ has been declared as the no. 1 management institute in the country: IIM Bangalore The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore has been placed at No. 1 in which category by NIRF: Best University As per NIRF rankings, which is the top engineering institute of India: IIT Chennai With which country India signed an agreement for a new Laser Interferometer GravitationalWave Observatory (LIGO) project in India: USA India’s first indigenous composite sonar dome was launched at Goa. What is its function: It acts as ship’s underwater eyes and ears Companies with a net worth of Rs. 500 crore or more will have to follow new Ind AS from April 1. What is Ind AS: Indian Accounting Standards World Bank has agreed to provide a $1.5 billion loan for implementation of which national level mission: Swachh Bharat Mission Which bank has launched 'NO Queue' Mobile app to save its customers time to avail banking services: State Bank of India Under Stand-up India scheme banks have been asked to provide loans up to _____ crore rupees to SC/ST and women entrepreneurs: One The loans under Stand-up India may be provided without collateral. What is collateral: No need to offer land or building or any other security Britain's Royal Mail has launched a set of special postage stamps to mark the 400th death anniversary of which great playwright: William
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Shakespeare Bihar has become the _________ state in the country to ban sale and consumption of liquor: Fourth In one of the largest environmental settlement in the US history, which oil and gas company has been asked to pay over $20 billion towards damages: British Petroleum The world’s first public dengue vaccination programme was launched recently in which country: Philippines World Health Day is observed on which date: April 07 World Health day this year shall be focusing on control of with disease: Diabetes Nguyen Xuan Phuc has been elected as the new Prime Minister of which country: Vietnam Name the team that won the Asian Nations Cup Chess tournament: India Govt has constituted a high-level committee headed by former Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta for what purpose: to suggest ways to strengthen the border protection along the border with Pakistan Govt has launched a low cost micro solar device, Surya Jyoti for what purpose: To meet lighting needs in areas without electricity International conference on zero was hosted by which European city: Paris According to Arvind Panagariya India is close to achieving 8% GDP growth on the back of satisfactory progress in infrastructure development. Who is he: Vice Chairman at Niti Aayog, India Name the lady who has been named the most powerful businesswoman in Asia by Forbes Magazine: Nita Ambani Which global body has revised its 2016 global trade forecast downward by more than one percentage point to 2.8 per cent: WTO-World Trade Organization Who has been elected as the new Chairman of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) for 2016-17: C P Gurnani Mission Indradhanush covers how many vaccine preventable diseases: Seven Name the country’s first train with CCTV cameras in all coaches: Shan-E-Punjab Express Hindus in north India observed April 8 as the beginning of their traditional new year. Can you name the year: Vikram Samvat 2073 In Andhra and Karnataka, April 8 was observed as ________ festival: Ugadi In which Indian state April 8 was observed as
GENERAL AWARENESS – NOVEMBER 2016
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Gudi Padwa: Maharashtra The first ever two day North East-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Business Summit was hosted by which city: Imphal, Manipur Name the author of the book 'A State in Denial': B G Verghese Govt has launched a tablet-based application ‘ANMOL’ that allows ANMs to enter and update data for the beneficiaries. What is ANM: Auxiliary Nurse Midwife Govt plans to construct five lakh irrigation ponds under which scheme: Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana "Advantage India - From Challenge to Opportunity" is a book written by one of the exPresidents of India. Can you name him: APJ Abdul Kalam Name the winner of the FBB Femina Miss India World 2016 contest: Priyadarshini Chaterjee In the abbreviation FBB Miss India World, FBB stands for what: Fashion at Big Bazaar A portal was launched in New Delhi for for registration and allotment of ISBN. What is the full form of ISBN: International Standard Book Number __________ has become the first state to pass land title bill for verification of land records: Rajasthan A statue of which Indian Maharaja will be installed in France's Saint-Tropez town in September this year: Maharaja Ranjit Singh Who has been named as the brand ambassador of the Skill India Campaign: Sachin Tendulkar Why World Homoeopathy Day is observed on 10th April: It is the birthday of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, a German Physician who developed system of Homoeopathy Saraswati Sammaan is given for excellence in literature in which language: Any language recognized by Indian constitution Poet and novelist Padma Sachdev won Saraswati Sammaan for her autobiography ‘Chitt-Chete’ written in which language: Dogri Union government plans to lay more emphasis on promoting MICE tourism in India. What is MICE: Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events Which European country has offered to help in ‘Namami Gange’ project for cleaning of Ganges like their rivers Rhine and Danube: Germany As per a recent World Bank report, which country received largest amount of inward remittances in 2015: India A study of 50 nations for investment and deployment of Information and
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Communications Technology has placed which country at top: USA India has successfully tested its K-4 ballistic missile. What is the launch pad of this missile: Submarine India has decided to become a formal member of the regional group SAWEN for what purpose: For combating wildlife crime and illegal trade What is the full form of SAWEN: South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network Airtel M Commerce Services Limited (AMSL) has been granted the India’s first _________ bank license by RBI: Payment Which National Institute of Technology in India has developed the fastest super computer 'Param Kanchenjunga': Sikkim The recently launched E-National Agriculture Market covers agriculture markets from how many states: Eight Which tiny South Pacific island nation has become the 189th member of the IMF and the World Bank: Nauru Which Indian bank got the first loan of $ 250 million from the newly established BRICS New Development Bank: Canara Bank The annual Spring Meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank was held at which city in USA: Washington DC World Hemophilia Day is observed on April 17. Hemophilia is what type of ailment: Nonclotting of blood Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is associated with which sports: Hockey City of Ipoh hosted the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in which country: Malaysia What was the rank of India in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup: Second Which country won the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup by beating India: Australia Name the gymnastic feat preformed by Dipa Karmakar as it is one of the extremely difficult and most dangerous form: Produnova vault Name the Indian who has been ranked third in the Forbes list of top 30 Global Game Changers: Rahul Bhatia of Inter Globe Enterprises Govt has released a Commemorative Coin of 200 rupees and a Circulation Coin of 10 rupees to mark the 200th Martyrdom Day of Tatya Tope. Who was he: A war hero of 1857 war of Independence ________ has been declared the Laureus Best Sportsman of the year: Novak Djokovic, Serbia
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