Downloaded 346 times
![c) a perfect square of an integer
d) irrational
141) If (1+sinα) (1+sinβ) (1+sinγ) = (1 – sinα) (1–
sinβ) (1–sinγ), then each side is equal to
a) ±cosαcosβcosγ
b) ±sinαsinβsinγ
c) ±sinαcosβcosγ
d) ±sinαsinβcosγ
142) One of the four angles of a rhombus is 60°. If
the length of each side of the rhombus is, 8 cm, then
the length of the longer diagonal is
a) 8 3 cm
b) 8 cm
c) 4 3 cm
d)
8
3
cm
143) If the arcs of square length in two circles
subtend angles of 60° and 75° at their centres the
ratio of their radii is
a) 3 : 4
b) 4 : 5
c) 5 : 4
d) 3 : 5
146) The maximum number of students got the
marks in the in the interval of
a) 10 – 20
b) 20 – 30
c) 30 – 40
d) 40 – 50
147) The least number of students got the marks in
the interval
a) 40 – 50
b) 20 – 30
c) 10 – 20
d) 0 – 10
148) The ratio of the students obtaining marks in the
first and the last interval is
a) 5 : 4
b) 6 : 5
c) 4 : 5
d) 3 : 4
149) The difference in the amount estimated by the
family on interior decoration and architect’s fees is
a) Rs. 10000
b) Rs. 9500
c) Rs. 7200
d) Rs. 9600
150)
144)
Miscellane
ous , 54
Technolog
y , 54
Defence, 7
2
Study the above bar graph showing the production
of food grains (in million tons).
What is the ratio between the maximum production
and the minimum production during the given
period?
a) 1 : 2
b) 2 : 3
c) 3 : 4
d) 5 : 2
Study the following Histogram and answer following
question nos. 145 to 149.
Industry
, 18
Education,
90
(above values in degree)
In a certain country, allocations to various sectors of
the yearly budget per Rs. 1000 crores are
represented by this pie-diagram. The expenditure (in
Rs.) on Agriculture is
a) 250 crores
b) 150 crores
c) 300 crores
d) 200 crores
ENGLISH COMPREHENSION
Directions (151 – 152): There are four different
words out of which one is correctly spelt. Find the
correctly spelt word and indicate it by blackening the
appropriate oval [•] in the Answer Sheet.
151) a) humorous
b) humourous
c) humorus
d) humourus
152) a) narcisism
c) narcisim
145) The total number of students involved in the
data is
a) 33
b) 32
c) 43
d) 42
Agriculture
, 72
b) narcissism
d) narsisism
Directions (153-162): You have two brief passages
with 5 questions in each passage. Read the passages
carefully and choose the best answer to each
question out of the four alternatives and mark it by
blackening the appropriate oval [•] in the Answer
Sheet.
GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014
57](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/febgyanmgkmagazine-140127052235-phpapp02/85/Feb-gyanm-gk-magazine-59-320.jpg)
![PASSAGE I
(QUESTION NOS. 153 – 157)
Pidgins are languages that are not acquired as mother
tongues and that are used for a restricted set of
communicative functions. They are formed from a mixture
of languages and have a limited vocabulary and a simplified
grammar. Pidgins serve as a means of communication
between speakers of mutually unintelligible languages and
may become essential, in multilingual areas. A creole
develops from a pidgin when the pidgin becomes the
mother tongue of the community. To cope with the
consequent expansion of communication functions the
vocabulary is increased and the grammar becomes more
complex. Where a creole and the standard variety of English
coexist, as in the Caribbean, there is a continuum from the
most extreme form of creole to the form that is closest to
the standard language. Linguists mark off the relative
positions on the creole continuum as the ‘basilect’ (the
furthest from the standard language), the ‘mesolect’, and
the ‘acrolet’. In such situations, most creole speakers can
vary their speech along the continuum and many are also
competent in the standard English of their country.
153) A pidgin develops in a situation when
a) Different and mutually unintelligible languages exist side
by side
b) A creole becomes the mother tongue of a linguistic
community
c) A language with restricted vocabulary undergoes an
expansion in grammar and vocabulary
d) Two similar languages are mixed to create a new
language
154) According to the given passage a pidgin
becomes a creole when
a) It ceases to be a means of communication
b) It becomes the mother tongue for a new generation of
speakers
c) Its vocabulary undergoes some kind of change
d) Two or more languages are mixed with an existing pidgin
155) According to the passage, a creole continuum is
a) A linguistic term for the mixture of more than two
languages
b) A scale which measures the linguistic competence of the
speaker
c) A scale in which the proximity of the creole to the
standard language is measured
d) A record of the continuous history of a creole
156) According to the passage ‘basilect’ means
a) An impure form of a creole
b) A form of creole which is furthest from the standard
language
c) A form of creole which has an extended vocabulary
d) A form of creole which is very close to the standard
language
157) Find out a word in the passage which is
opposite in meaning to the word – ‘Simplified’
a) Complex
b) Expansion
c) Restricted
d) Consequent
PASSAGE II
(QS. NO. 158 – 162)
There were four of us – George, and William Samuel Harris,
and myself, and Montmorency. We were sitting in my room,
smoking and talking about how bad we were – bad from a
medical point of view I mean, of course.
We were all feeling seedy, and we were getting quite
nervous about it. Harris said he felt such extraordinary fits
of giddiness come over him at times, that he hardly knew
what he was doing; and then George said that he had fits of
giddiness too, and hardly knew what he was doing. With
me, it was my liver that was out of order. I knew it was my
liver that was out of order, because I had just been reading
a patent liver-pill circular, in which were detailed the various
symptoms by which a man could tell when his liver was out
of order. I had them all.
It is a most extraordinary thing, but I never read a patent
medicine advertisement without being impelled to the
conclusion that I am suffering from the particular disease
therein dealt with in its most virulent form. The diagnosis
seems in every case to correspond exactly with all the
sensations that I have ever felt.
158) The four felt down and out because
a) the room was too smoky
b) they could never read a patent medicine advertisement
c) they thought they were ill
d) they had experienced a most extraordinary thing
159) Whenever the speaker read a liver pill circular
a) he suffered from an extraordinary surge of giddiness
b) he felt sure that he had a liver disorder
c) he felt the urge to smoke
d) All of the above
160) The author of the above passage seems to be
suffering from
a) fits of morbid depression without real cause
b) an abnormal anxiety about his health
c) melancholia
d) an unnecessarily dark, gloomy and pessimistic attitude to
life
161) Harris was troubled by
a) a symptom of vertigo b) garrulity
c) tribulation
d) frailty
162) The word which is closest in meaning to
‘virulent’ is
a) fantastic
b) vital
c) viral
d) hostile
Directions (163 – 167): Some parts of the sentences
have errors and some have none. Find out which part
of the sentence has an error and blacken the oval [•]
corresponding to the appropriate letter (A, B, C). If a
sentence is free from error, blacken the oval
corresponding to (D) in the Answer Sheet.
163) I whistled thrice (a)/ with full might and raise my
arms (b) / towards the sky. (c) / No error (d)
164) Science and religion (a) / are both necessary for man
and for their (b) / outer and inner self respectively. (c) / No
error (d)
GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014
58](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/febgyanmgkmagazine-140127052235-phpapp02/85/Feb-gyanm-gk-magazine-60-320.jpg)
![165) At certain seasons, (a) / some areas on Mars (b)/ is
subject to strong winds. (c)/ No error (d)
166) As an artist (a) / Raju is as good, (b)/ if not better
than Ramesh. (c)/ No error (d)
167) The scientists (a) / could not hardly (b) /complete all
the experiments. (c)/ No error (d)
Directions (168-172): Sentences are given with
blanks to be filled in with an appropriate word(s).
Four alternatives are suggested for each question.
Choose the correct alternative out of the four and
indicate it by blackening the appropriate oval [•] in
the Answer Sheet.
168) Google is one of the most popular search
engines, it is _______ by the internet users.
a) utilized
b) effected
c) examined
d) flabbergasted
169) Raj was tired of Puja’s _______ approach, so
he asked her to make her final decision by that
evening.
a) silly-wily
b) dilly-dally
c) wasting
d) dilly-nally
170) Ria is __________ at speaking languages. It is
difficult to ___________ only one puppy for animal
shelter.
a) adept, adapt
b) adapt, adapt
c) adept, adopt
d) adapt, adopt
171) School days are considered to be the best years
of your life. When my __________ year in school
began, I began to think of those past enjoyable days
and of my future also.
a) penultimate
b) absolute
c) integral
d) termination
172) Being _______, the judge gave a favourable
verdict.
a) sagacious
b) pugnacious
c) malicious
d) tenacious
Directions (173 – 175): Out of the four alternatives,
choose the one which best expresses the meaning of
the given word and mark it in the Answer Sheet.
173) Garrulous
a) talkative
c) vocative
b) sedative
d) positive
174) Tinsel
a) tinkle
c) tin
b) decoration
d) colourful
175) Labyrinth
a) meandering
c) pacing
b) rotating
d) wriggling
Directions (176 – 178): Choose the word opposite in
meaning to the given word and mark it in the
Answer Sheet.
176) Cordial
a) fast
c) friendly
b) heartfelt
d) hostile
177) Instinctive
a) innate
c) inherent
b) rational
d) inborn
178) Venial
a) minor
c) unpardonable
b) pardonable
d) clean
Directions (179 – 183): Four alternatives are given
for the Idiom/Phrase underlined in the sentence.
Choose the alternative which best expresses the
meaning of the Idiom/Phrase and mark it in the
Answer Sheet.
179) Hard work pays in the long run.
a) always
b) over a period of time
c) indefinitely
d) never
180) I felt a fish out of water among the lawyers.
a) special
b) happy
c) uncomfortable
d) proud
181) The Cauvery water issue led to apple of discord
between the two Governments.
a) cause of anger
b) cause of hatred
c) cause of quarrel
d) cause of animosity
182) The construction remains unfinished and the
workers have let the grass grow under their feet.
a) grown grass all over the lawn
b) gone on a luxury tour
c) delayed doing the work
d) demanded more benefits
183) The police smelt the rat behind the death of the
girl.
a) got very much confused
b) identified the cause of death
c) suspected that something is fishy
d) jumped to the conclusion
Directions (184 – 193): A sentence/ part of the
sentence is underlined. Below are given alternatives
to the underlined sentence/part of the sentence at
(A), (B) and (C) which may improve the sentence.
Choose the correct alternative. In case no
improvement is needed, your answer is (D).
184) The disparity of the GDP between the rich and
poor has broadened in the last some decades.
a) have widened in the last some decades
b) has widened in the last few decades
c) have broadened in the last few decades
d) No improvement
185) How, is beyond my understanding, the boy
could fall into the ditch.
a) How the boy could fall into the ditch is beyond my
understanding
b) Beyond my understanding is how the boy could fall into
the ditch
c) How could the boy fall into the ditch is beyond my
understanding
d) No improvement
GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014
59](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/febgyanmgkmagazine-140127052235-phpapp02/85/Feb-gyanm-gk-magazine-61-320.jpg)
![186) The pioneer spacecraft went beyond Pluto.
a) made its way past
b) went across
c) went after
d) No improvement
196) An excessively morbid desire to steal
a) stealomania
b) kleptomania
c) cleftomania
d) keptomania
187) The firm buys frozen seafood in bulk, packs it
into smaller pouches and then they sell them to the
local grocery stores.
a) it sells them
b) sell them
c) they sell the pouches d) No improvement
197) Prohibited by law or treaty from being imported
or exported
a) contraband
b) smuggled
c) counterfeit
d) forged
188) The learners are intended to read the sources
at home.
a) are meant
b) are suggested
c) are expected
d) No improvement
189) Fuji’s invention of supercomputer will be
enable to make Japan supersede America in
computer technology.
a) will make Japan
b) will enable Japan
c) can make Japan
d) No improvement
190) I could never repay the debt I owe to my place
of study.
a) Alma Mater
b) Motherland
c) Place of worship
d) No improvement
191) She cries all the time.
a) mostly everytime
b) day in and day out
c) pretty frequently
d) No improvement
192) For a week last month, the team’s 20 players
were stranded because the Government-issued
passport is not up to international standards.
a) Government-issued passports were not up to
international standards
b) Government-issued passports are not up to international
standards
c) The passports issued by the government were not up to
international standards
d) No improvement
193) Since July 2008, our customers will be able to
use the ATM network of BBY Bank, the bank that was
acquired by us during that year.
a) have been able to use
b) were using
c) will have been able to use
d) No improvement
Directions (194 – 200): Out of the four alternatives,
choose the one which can be substituted for the
given words/sentence and indicate it by blackening
the appropriate oval [•] in the Answer Sheet.
194) One who is unaffected or indifferent to joy,
pain, pleasure or grief
a) Tolerant
b) Resigned
c) Passive
d) Stoic
195) A person who is greatly respected because of
wisdom
a) veracious
b) vulnerable
c) venerable
d) verger
198) Intentional destruction of racial groups
a) regicide
b) genocide
c) homicide
d) fratricide
199) A person in a vehicle or on horseback escorting
another vehicle
a) Navigator
b) Escort
c) Outrider
d) Security
200) A person specially interested in the study of
coins and medals.
a) medallist
b) coinist
c) numismatist
d) numerist
ANSWER KEY
Q.
A.
Q.
A.
Q.
A.
Q.
A.
Q.
A.
1
C
2
D
3
C
4
A
5
B
6
D
7
D
8
B
9
D
10
D
11
B
12
C
13
D
14
B
15
D
16
D
17
A
18
D
19
A
20
A
21
A
22
B
23
D
24
D
25
D
26
B
27
D
28
D
29
D
30
B
31
B
32
B
33
B
34
C
35
B
36
D
37
D
38
B
39
B
40
D
41
D
42
D
43
C
44
B
45
C
46
B
47
C
48
D
49
C
50
C
51
C
52
D
53
A
54
A
55
C
56
B
57
C
58
B
59
B
60
D
61
A
62
B
63
C
64
D
65
D
66
C
67
D
68
D
69
B
70
B
71
D
72
D
73
A
74
A
75
A
GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014
60](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/febgyanmgkmagazine-140127052235-phpapp02/85/Feb-gyanm-gk-magazine-62-320.jpg)
More Related Content
Feb gyanm gk magazine
- 1.
- 2. General Awareness FEBRUAR 2014 RY Yea2014 ar: Vol. 2, Issue 08 2 A PUBLICAITON O GYANM EDUC OF CATION & TRAINING IN NSTITUTE PVT. LTD. L SCO 13-14-15, 2ND FLO OOR, SEC 34-A, CH HANDIGARH CON NTENTS NA ONA N WS ATIO AL NEW DE ECEMBE 2013 ER SEC CTION – A CURRENT A AFFAIRS From Octo ober to December SEC CTION – B 1-21 BULLET N NEWS From July to S September 22-31 SEC CTION – C SSC (CGL) P Previous Papers – 201 (Two) 13 Interview S Special PARLIAMEN PASSES LOKPAL B P NT S BILL 32-60 43-46 SEC CTION – E BA ANKING MCQs + LATEST s GK BYT TES 61-87 FIGURES TO REMEMB BER REP RATE PO 7.75% 7 REV VERSE REPO RAT TE 6.75% 6 MA ARGINAL STANDI ING FAC CILITY RATE STA ATUTORY LIQUIDITY RAT TIO CAS RESERVE RAT SH TIO 8.75% 8 BAN RATE NK 8.75% 8 BAS RATE(s) SE (of various banks) After two years of debate, a s A series of fasts u unto death by s social activist A Anna Hazare, th Lokpal Bil finally was cleared by the Parliamen opening the way for he ll nt, establishment o the anti-corr e of ruption watchd that will ha in its purvi dog ave iew even the office of the Prime Minister. The developm o ment signals an end to 45-yea n ar-old run of th controversia Bill initiated in 1968 by form Prime Mini he al mer ister Indira Gan ndhi. 23% 4.00% 4 INDIA WINS THE DEAL AT WTO ME I S EET 9.70% – 9 10.25 % INDIA RANK IN A’S N Glo obal Peace Index x 141st Pre Freedom 2013 ess 140th th Eco onomic Freedom 2012 119 Glo obal Competitiven ness Index 60th Cor rruption Perception Index 94th Glo obal Hunger Inde 2013 ex 63rd Foo Security od 66th Human Development Index 2013 136th Glo obal Business Con nfidence Index 2nd ICT Performance In T ndex 69th Ind dia’s Rank in IMF F 8th Con nsumer confidence 4th Human Capital Inde ex 78 In a major vict tory for India, the 9th Ministerial Confere , ence of WTO held in Bali, Indonesia agree to allow cou ed untries to prov vide subsidy on staple food c n crops without any a threat of punitive action, a concession that salvaged the current rou of world und tr rade talks from the brink of collapse. The pact is estim m e mated to add $ 1 trillion to global trade an add 21millio jobs across the world. Th agreement has ensured g nd on he th millions of poor farmer will feel sec hat rs cure that the MSP being g given by the government will not be called into question i g internationally The T World Trad Organizatio (WTO) deals with the glob rules of tra between de on ls obal ade nations. Its ma function is t ensure that trade flows as smoothly, pre n ain to t s edictably and freely as possib Director Ge fr ble. eneral: Roberto Azevado; Me to embers: 159 INDIAN RIG I GHTS UPHEL ON KISHE LD ENGANGA The Internation Court of Ar T nal rbitration (ICA) has upheld In ) ndia’s right to divert water fr rom the Kishenganga river f power generation in Jam for mmu and Kashmir with the condition that I c India must also release a min o nimum of 9 cum mecs of water i into the river below the Kishenganga Hydr Electric Proj b ro ject (KHEP) at all times to m t maintain the environment do e ownstream. JAPANESE R J ROYALTY VIS SITS INDIA th st Glo obal Gender Gap Index 101 Wo Prosperity In orld ndex 106th Japanese Emp peror Akihito and Empress Michiko visited India for a landmark w v r week-long trip, some 53 years after they visited this co y y ountry as Crow Prince wn and a Princess. 2 GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014
- 3. MM SLIPS D MR DOWNTO 17 78 The maternal mo ortality ratio (MMR) — num mber of women n wh die of pregnancy-related ca ho auses per 1,00 0,000 live births s — has come dow to 178 in 20 wn 010-12, from 2 in 2007-09. 212 Kerala has the lo owest MMR at 66 while Assam tops the list t wit MMR of 328. th LE ESSER SLUM DWELLERS IN 2012 M S The latest National Sample Survey Organ nization (NSSO) ) rep port shows tha the number of slum house at eholds in urban n are is coming d eas down. The surv vey, conducted between July d y and December 2 d 2012, projected total slum d d dwellings at 88 8 lak compared to 1.3 crore hou kh, o useholds in 201 11. FA IN NUMB ALL BER OF HOM MELESS PEO OPLE UNE EMPLOYMEN CROSSES 13% NT S The Labour Mini istry report on 'Youth e employmentmployment sc cenario, 2012-13’ has rev vealed that unem unem mployment rate in the country during 2 2012-13 was estim mated to be 13. per cent for the age group 15-29. .3 Film 'Liar's Dice, directe by Geetu Mohandas, F ted u selected in the competition c s e category at the prestigious he Sundance Film Festival in USA S m SA. The Sankirta T tana — ritual singing, dru l umming and dancing of Man d nipur has been added to UNE n ESCO's list of "intangible her ritage". India and Sa Marino, a tiny country within Italy, I an signed a Tax I s Information Ex xchange Agree ement (TIEA) for f exchange o banking and ownership info of d formation Govt has clear a services and investme deal with G red s ent 10-member As 1 sean group as part of Com s mprehensive Economic Coo E ooperation Ag greement (CEC ECA). Double Taxatio Avoidance A D on Agreement-DTA signed AA with w Macedon a small co nia, ountry north of Greece. Nu umber of home eless people across the country has come a e dow by 8.8 per cent, from abo 19.4 lakh in 2001 to 17.7 wn out 7 lak in 2011, s kh says latest Ce ensus 2011 d data. Though h homeless in rura areas declin al ned by 28.4 pe cent, it was er s cou untered by 20.5 per cent increas se in urban areas. NO OVEMBE 2013 ER ‘BHA ARAT RATNA FOR SACH A’ HIN AND PR ROF RAO Ce ensus defines h homeless house eholds as those which do not se ot live in buildings or census hou e uses but live i the open or in roa adside, on pav vements, in hum me-pipes, unde flyovers and der d sta aircases, or in places of worship, man ndaps, railway y pla atforms, etc. IN NDIA RANKS 69TH IN EN S NERGY USAG GE The Global Energ Architecture Performance Index Reportgy e 2014 prepared b World Econo by omic Forum ha placed India as a at 69th position i the ranking of economies o the basis of in on f the ability to d eir deliver secure, affordable and sustainable , e ene ergy. Norway t topped the Inde rankings, fo ex ollowed by New w Zea aland and Fran nce. IN NDIA 98TH FO DOING BUSINESS OR B Ind has been ra dia anked 98th in the Forbes list of world's best t t cou untries for do oing business. Ireland topped the list, . , followed by New Zealand and Hong Kong. H Th best countrie for business was determin by grading he ies s ned g 14 nations on 11 different factors -- pr 45 n t property rights, s, inn novation, tax xes, technolo ogy, corrupti tion, freedom m (pe ersonal, trade and mone e etary), red t tape, investor or pro otection an nd stock market performance. IN NDIA RANKS 94TH IN CO S ORRUPTION Ind has been ranked among the world's highly corrupt dia g t nat tions at the 94 spot (same as in 2012) in a global list of 4th f 177 countries compiled by Transparency Inte 7 ernational. The e list ranks Denmark and New Ze t ealand as the cleanest, while e Somalia emerged as the most corrupt. d c nent scientist P Prof C.N.R. Ra and cricket icon Sachin ao Emin Rame Tendulkar have been aw esh warded the hig ghest civilian awar of India - Th Bharat Ratna rd he a. Prof C.N.R. Rao is an emin f. o nent scientist and a well recog gnized interna ational author rity on solid state and mate erials chemistry He has publ y. lished over 1,4 400 research pape and 45 book ers ks. Sach R Tendulk - a living legend in cricket who has hin kar inspir millions ac red cross the globe Playing for l e. last 24 years from the young a age of 16 yea ars, Tendulkar has played cricke across the w et world and won laurels for our country. He r has b been a true am mbassador of In ndia in the worl of sports. ld Bh harat Ratna i awarded in recognition of exceptional is f ser ervice/performa ance of the hig ghest order in any field of hu uman endeavou The recom ur. mmendations fo the award for are made by the Prime Ministe himself to th President. e e er he No formal recom o mmendations fo this are nec or cessary. The nu umber of annua awards is re al estricted to a maximum of thr in a particu year. The awardee rece ree ular e eives a Sanad (ce ertificate) signe by the Presi ed ident and a me edallion. The Aw ward does not c carry any mone netary grant. 2 GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014
- 4. E C NOTIN FA AVOUR OF OPINION PO O OLLS Ele ection Commiss sion has asked the government to enact a d law banning the r w release of resu of election related opinion ults n polls after the notification of elections has been made. f s Barring BJP, all m major political parties had wr ritten to EC for r ban on opinion po n olls. UK PM VISITS INDIA K S David Cameron, Prime Minister of UK met Prime Minister anmohan Singh at New Delh h hi, Ma on his way to Co olombo to atten nd Heads Commonwealth of overnment Mee eting. Focus of Go the e meeting on o was strengthening the trade ties. e IN NDIA IS TOP INVESTMENT CHOICE P A s survey of 1,60 senior exec 00 cutives across more than 70 0 cou untries by glob professional services firm Ernst & Young bal g (EY shows that India has jum Y) mped ahead of China and the e US as the most attractive inve S estment destina ation, followed d by Brazil, while C China is at third place. FIRST ICP OP PENS ON BAN NGLADESH BORDER Ind dia’s second in nternational st tandard multi-u use Integrated d Check Post (ICP) and the first along the Bang ) gladesh border r has been opened to people at Akhaurah in Tripura. The s d t e firs such ICP is at Attari in Punjab along the Pakistan st s g n border. RE ETREAT CER REMONY ON BANGLA BO ORDER The first joint ret treat ceremony of the Border Security Force y e (BS and the Bo SF) order Guard Bangladesh (BGB was held on B) n No 6 at Petrop ov pole-Benapole in West Beng gal’s North 24 4 Par rganas district and Jessore district of Bangla adesh. NO MORE IND O DO-B.DESH PASSPORT Pursuant to the s signing of the Revised Travel Arrangements R s (RT TA) with Bang gladesh, Govt. has decided to discontinue e issuance of India-Bangladesh Passport (IBP) with effect t fro November 1 2013. om 15, WHAT IS IBP : The India-Ba WH angladesh Passp sport (IBP) was s int troduced as a s special travel document in A d August, 1972 to o fac cilitate travel b between India and Banglade only. Over a esh er the years, the C e Central Govern rnment delegat ted powers to o Sta Governmen of Assam, Arunachal Prad ate nts adesh, Manipur, r, Me eghalaya, Mizo oram, Nagaland Tripura & W d, West Bengal to o iss IBPs. sue FINANCIAL AI FROM JA ID APAN Jap pan will provid an assistanc of Rs 1,958 crore to India de ce a for campus deve r elopment at IIT Hyderabad (1129cr) and d inv vestment promo otion in Tamil Nadu (829cr). JA AILED PERSO ONS CAN CO ONTEST ELECTIONS Taking note of th amendment made to the Representation he t n of the People Ac treating per ct rsons in lawfu custody in a ul crim minal case as a voter, the Supreme C s Court has also o allo owed persons in jail to cont test elections, going back on n the July 10 judg eir gment. DEF FENCE AGRE EEMENT WIT VIETNAM TH M India has extended a 100 millio dollar line of credit to a d on Vietn nam for defenc purchases a ce and also signe eight key ed agree ements to assist Vietnam in modernisation and training of its defence and s s security forces. AGR REEMENT WITH VIETNA FOR PRIS AM SONERS India and Vietnam have signed an agreement to facilitate a t trans sfer of sentenc ced prisoners languishing in jails in the n two countries. T The agreement will enable prisoners to t spend their remaining sentence in their own cou d n untry. UNI ICEF CAMPAI IGN AGAINST OPEN DEFEC T CATION In an effort to raise awareness ag n e gainst open de efecation and relate health issu ed ues, UNICEF has launched a nationwide socia media campaign named ‘Take the P al Poo to Loo’. According to UNICE around 626 million people in India are EF, 6 e ed in force to defecate i the open. S C RULES AGAI INST FREQU UENT TRANS SFERS In a path-breaking verdict, the S Supreme Court has sought t an en to frequent transfers of ci servants an suggested nd ivil nd a fixe tenure to in ed nsulate them f from political interference. It ask govt. to is ked ssue necessary directions for this purpose within three months s. IND FARES P DIA POORLY IN ‘PROSPERIT TY’ In th 'Prosperity I he Index' ranking of 142 countr ries compiled by L London-based Legatum Instit tute, India slip pped by five place to 106th spo way below neighbouring Bangladesh, es ot, Nepa and Sri Lanka, largely due to poor 'safety and al secur rity' environme ent. Norway tops the list, followed by Switz zerland. The Index eval luates nations in eight ns categ gories, including education, h ng health, economy safety and my, secur rity. IND RANKS 1 TH IN ‘DO DIA 134 OING BUSIN NESS’ As p the World Bank’s report 'Ease of Doi per t ing Business 2014 India ranked 134th in the lis of 189 econo 4’ st omies, below neigh hbouring countries China (9 96), Nepal (10 05), Pakistan (110) and Bangla ) adesh (130). The list is topped by Singa apore. The ra ranking is done on the basi of various ne is param meters such a ease of sta as tarting a busin ness, getting vario permits an permissions getting loan tax rules ous nd s, ns, and t trade regulatio etc. ons 44th Interna 4 ational Film Festival of I India (IFFI) 2013 was held in Goa from November 2 th to 30th. 2 ld m 20 Japan was the country in focu for this festi J e cus tival. India has contr I tributed over US 11 million to various UN SD bodies for deve b elopment activi vities for the yea 2014. ear India declared free from H5N Avian Influen (bird flu) I d N1 enza as a no cases ha been report in the last 3 months. ave rted India and B I Belgium have agreed to strengthen, ve promote and d p develop renewa able energy coo operation India to provid Rs 100 crore as a grant t Bhutan for I de es to their Economic Stimulus Plan (ESP). t c n World Agricu W ulture Forum Congress 201 and Agri13 Tech Trade Fai held at Hyde T air erabad, Nov. 4-7. 3 GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014
- 5. OCTOB BER 2013 3 PM VISITSR M RUSSIA; ME EETS PUTIN N Prime Minister visited Russia to hold bilateral talks. The two countries a's stressed on India role as ember of a permanent me nited Nations Security Un Council, Shangha Coopeai tion and a per rmanent memb of the Nuclear Suppliers ber s rat Gro oup. Russian President Vlad dimer Putin assured India of f building unit 3 a and 4 at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power r ant and ear rly delivery of aircraft carrier ‘INS S Pla Vik karamaditya’. IN NDIA CHINA SIGN BORD A DER AGREEM MENT Ind and China have signed a key border defence pact dia r t called the Border Defence Coo operation Agre eement (BDCA) ) to avoid face o offs between the two arm mies along the e dis sputed Line o Actual Co of ontrol. Besides nine other s, r agr reements were signed by th Chinese Prime Minister L e he Li Keq qiang during In ndian Prime Minister’s visit to China. o PR RESIDENT V VISITS TURK KEY Pre esident Pranab Mukherjee visited Turkey where he was b s con nferred the 'Do octorate, Honor Causa, in Po ris olitical Science' by the Istanbul University for his achieveme ents in political life and contribu e utions to gov vernance and democracy in n Ind dia. RIME MINIS STER ATTENDS ASEAN S SUMMIT PR Prime Ministe Manmohan er Singh visits Brunei s to o att tend ASEAN Summit, as India gears up t ink a Free to e Tra ade Agreemen with the grouping within next three nt g e mo onths. He also attended East Asia Summit on October 10 o t 0 in Brunei at Daru ussalam. India is not a mem a mber of ASEAN N but has ‘observer status in it an is member o EAS. ut r’ nd of AN NSARI LECTURES AT OX XFORD Vic President Ha ce amid Ansari vis sited Latin Ame erican countries s Per and Cuba t strengthen India's relatio ru to ons with them. He also delivered a lecture on Citizenship and identity at the e d C e Ox xford centre for Islamic studie in London. r es IN NDIA MOVES UP ON HUN S NGER SCOR RE Recently released Global Hunge Index shows that India has d er s s imp proved its ranking from 65 in 2012 to 63 in 2013. The i e sco for the cou ore untry improved to 21.3 from 22.9 in 2012. d m Ind continued t trail behind Pakistan and Bangladesh on dia to n the index. e IN NDIA IMPRO OVES ITS HU UNGER RECO ORD Lat test report fro om UN agenc cies shows th hat number of f peo ople who suff ffered from ch hronic hunger in India has s dro opped by 6.5 p cent to 21 per 1.38 crore during 2011-13 as s com mpared to 22.8 crore in 200 86 08-10. PA ANJAB UNIV VERSITY ‘BE EST’ IN INDI IA Pan njab University Chandigarh, has beaten all 15 Indian y, n Ins stitutes of Technology (IITs on researc impact and s) ch d intern national outloo to emerge a the country's top-ranked ok as highe er educationa institution in the Tim al mes Higher Education's Top 40 World Univ 00 versity Ranking published gs recen ntly. IND RANKS 7 TH IN HCI DIA 78 India has been plac at a low 78 slot on a global Human a ced 8th Capit tal Index, wh hich ranks co ountries on th basis of he econo omic potential of their labou force, while Switzerland ur e has t topped the rank king. KHU URSHID VIS SITS SRI LAN NKA Exter rnal Affairs Min nister Salman Khurshid visite Sri Lanka ed for tw days to ho talks on ke issues, inclu wo old ey uding Indian fishermen languishing in jails the and implem ere mentation of amendment to constitution f devolution o powers to o for of 13th a the p provinces. RAILWAY STAT TION AFTER KOMAGATA MARU A Govt has decided to rename t the Budge Bu udge railway statio on Kolkata’s outskirts from where the Br on s m ritish forcibly tried to send back Indian passe k engers of Kom magata Maru ship to Punjab to prevent them from consolid dating at the heigh of the Ghadar movement as “Komagata Maru Budge ht Budg station” to sa ge alute the marty of Septemb 29, 1914. yrs ber CBS TO FOLLO ‘OPEN BO SE OW OOK’ SYSTE EM The Central Board of Seconda d ary Education (CBSE) will duce Open Text Based As ssessment (OT TBA) system introd from next acad demic session for 9th and 11th n will ed s classes. Students w be informe four months in advance aterial on whic the examina ch ations will be about the study ma trengthening conducted. The new system aims at st ents' analytical and theoretica skills. al stude 7 CO OUNTRIES S SUPPORT NA ALANDA UNIVERSITY India has signed agreements w a with seven cou untries, who pledg ged their com mmitment to the ambitio ous Nalanda Unive ersity project. These agree ements are ke to India's ey plans to establish Nalanda Un s h niversity in B Bihar as an instit tution of interna ational repute. S C ORDERS 3 P PER CENT RES SERVATION FOR DISA ABLED The Supreme Cour has directed rt d the C Centre, the St tates and the e Union Territories, and public n c secto undertaking to reserve or gs e three per cent of their jobs for e r the disabled under a law to o ensure they get equal l oppo ortunity and pro otect their right ts. IND DIA-MYANMA AR-THAILAN HIGHWA ND AY The p proposed highw - from Mo way oreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Th hailand, via Mya anmar is expec cted to be oper rational soon to en nsure smoother and faster mo r ovement of goo between ods these regions. India is also deve e eloping the Ka aladan MultiModa Transit Tran al nsport Project linking Kolka port with t ata Sittw port in Myan we nmar by sea an later on link nd king Sittwe to Mizor ram via Kaladan river and roa transport. ad 4 GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014
- 6. IN NDIA FARES POORLYIN GENDER G N GAP Ind has been ra dia anked 101 out of 136 countries on a Global Ge ender Gap In ndex compiled by Geneva d a-based World d Eco onomic Forum. The index ran the countrie on the basis . nks es s of division of reso ources and opp portunities betw ween men and d wo omen in areas o economy, ed of ducation, politic and health. cs 65 MN LIVE IN SLUMS 5 N Lat test Census da shows that over 65 millio people lived ata t on d in slums in 2011 1. The censu designated slums in three us e typ - notified, r pes recognised and identified. Maharashtra has d s the highest slum population at 11 million followed by e m n, y Andhra Pradesh ( (10mn). What Wh is a slum The census defines a slum as “residentia m: d m al are eas where dw wellings are unfit for huma habitation” u man bec ecause they ar dilapidated, cramped, poo re orly ventilated, d, unc nclean, or “any combination of these fact y tors which are e det etrimental to the safety and health”. he he IN NDIA HIGH O CYBER CRIME LIST ON C The 2013 Norton Report by Symantec says that India is n S s s am mong the wor rld’s top five countries with the highest t number of incide ences of cyber crime such a ransomware r as e (11 per cent), id 1 dentity theft (1 per cent) and phishing (9 11 9 per cent). r President P Pranab Mukhe herjee visits Be elgium and had d a meeting w with their Prim Minister El Di Rupo at me Elio Brussels. World Ban to provide $360 mill nk de llion loan for or modernisatio of irrigation and drainag systems in on on ge n Uttar Prades sh. India and I Israel have agreed to set u a joint fund a up d to promote research an developme e nd ent in various s sectors. Union Fina ance Ministe and RBI g er governor visit it USA to atte end the annua meeting of the IMF and al f d the World Ba at Washing ank gton. 15th Mumb film festiv held from October 17 to bai val o 24 at Mumba bai. NO OVEMBE 2013 ER DEN NMARK TO R RESTORE HE ERITAGE BUILDINGS The National Museum of Denmar has offered to renovate rk and preserve a total of 116 herit tage buildings, constructed in the 18th and 19t centuries, lo e th ocated on the banks of the river Hooghly in W West Bengal. There was a large Danish settle ement at Seram mpore on the b banks of the H Hooghly from 1755 to 1845 befor the arrival of the British in India. 5 re f MOR NREGA D RE DAYS IN ODI ISHA In the recently one and flood dcyclo affec cted districts o of Ganja am, Puri, Mayu urbhanj and d Balas sore in Odisha a, Gove ernment ha as agree to increase ed man-days unde er Maha atma Gandh hi Natio onal Rural Emp ployment Guara antee Scheme (MGNREGS) to 15 from existing norm of 100 days. 50 g WB AND ADB TO SUPPORT ODISHA O T World Bank and the Asian Develo d opment Bank h have assured a fina ancial assistanc of $ 313 mn to Odisha gov ce n vernment for resto oration and reh habilitation activities in cyclon Phailin hit ne areas s. AFSPA EXTENDED IN NE ST TATES Govt has extended the Armed Fo d orces (Special Powers) Act in As ssam and in the border areas of Arunachal Pradesh and e s Megh halaya for six m more months w Nov 4, con wef nsidering the curre situation in these states. ent Sikkim decla S ared as the be region to visit in 2014 est in i the Best in T Travel list 2014 by the global travel guide 4 l Lonely Planet. L The Hornbill Festival held in Kohima, Nagaland to T l ld celebrate and p c promote rich tr ribal culture of Nagaland. f NEWS FROM STA N S M ATES DECEMB D BER 2013 3 Krishna Kanta Handiqui: State Ope a : en University y (KK KHSOU), the o only State Open University in the Northeast, n , has been conf s ferred the international ‘ ‘Excellence in n Ins stitutional Achievement’ awar for 2011-2013 by Canadard bas Commonw sed wealth of Learni (COL). ing Arunachal Prad desh: is fast turning into a producer of f larg cardamom, a sought-after spice. ge r Va asundhara Ra aje: Chief Minis ster, Rajasthan Arv vind Kejriwal 7th Chief Min l: nister of New D Delhi Sh hivraj Singh C Chouhan: Chie Minister, Ma ef adhya Pradesh Dr Raman Sing r. gh: Chief Minis ster, Chattisgar rh Pu Lalthanhawla: Chief Minis u ster, Mizoram 5 GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014
- 7. GOV NMEN VERN NT IN NITIAT ES TIVE DECEMB D BER2013 3 CO ONSTITUTIO ONAL STATU FOR JAC US Govt has agreed to o constitutional grant d status to the proposed Judicia Appointments al s Commissio on (JAC) for r appointme ent and d transfer of judges to o that its s ensure on e compositio cannot be altered through an n legislation. ordinary Acc cording to the proposal, Artic 124 A of th Constitution cle he n will define the co omposition of JAC while Art ticle 124 B will fine its function ns. def NA ATIONAL CA ANCER INST TITUTE IN HARYANA The Centre has c cleared a propo osal for setting up of National at of Cancer Institute a Badhsa village in Jhajjar o Haryana at a cos of Rs 2035 c st crore. Ca ancer is emerg ging as a maj public hea jor alth concern in n Ind where 11 lakh new case are diagnos every year dia, ses sed ar and the mort nd rtality rate is 5.5 lakh per year. h CE ENTRE LAUN NCHES ANTI NAXAL OPE I ERATION A f four day anti-Naxal operatio involving cl on lose to 40,000 0 sec curity personn nel was launc ched on 26th December in n Chhattisgarh, Jha arkhand, Maharashtra and other states with h at M ons an aim to strike a the root of Maoist formatio and cadres. This is for the first time that both central an state forces b nd s ve o ush s hav launched a coordinated operation to flu out Naxals fro their interior hotbeds. om DI ISABILITIES BILL PASS S SED BY THE CABINET The Union Cabine has approve the Rights o Persons with et ed of h Dis sabilities Bill, raising the re eservation for Persons with h Dis sabilities (PWD from three at present to five per cent. D) The disabled w will get the benefit at all government t edu ucational institutions and jobs s. NR REGA SUPPO ORT FOR TO OILETS / HO OUSES Eve NREGA job cardholder who plans to b ery b w build a toilet in n his house will ge a contributio of Rs 10,000 from NREGA s et on A fun nds. Further, they will also get wages fo constructing o or g the own house if it is being bu under Indir Awaas Yojna eir uilt ra a or any other such govt housing project. h CA ABINET PAS SSES TELANG GANA BILL The Union Cabinet has clear red a parliame entary Bill for r cre eation of Telangana state. Th country’s 29 state would he 9th d be carved out of 10 distrcit of Andhra Pradesh. The ts e rea amaining 13 districts will continue in t the bifurcated d Andhra Pradesh. The Bill has now been s s sent to Andhra a Pra adesh Assembly to obtain the view. y eir Govt has launc G nched e-inclusio project to m on make people e-literate, aim e ming to make at least one individual in every househo e-literate. e old NO OVEMBE 2013 ER DEV COMMITTE TO REVIE NREGA W V EE EW WAGES Minis stry of rural development has appoint ted a new comm mittee chaired by S Mahendra Dev, Vice-C Chancellor of the I Indira Gandhi Institute of D Development R Research, to prepa a fresh in are ndex that would lead to mo generous ore wage revisions und the Mahat e der tma Gandhi Na ational Rural Employment Guara antee Act (Nre ega). Wages under the s flagship scheme are based on the CPI-agricultu labourers e ure (CPI-AL) measure, which has a ba year of 198 ase 86-87 and is, there efore, considere as outdated ed d NCIP MADE COMPULSORY FOR STATES Centr has directe the state g re ed governments to implement o the n new National Crop Insuranc Programme (NCIP) for ce e comp pulsory coverag of all the lo ge oanee farmers. The NCIP, also known as Ras shtriya Fasal B Bima Karyakram has been m, formulated by me erging the Pilot Weather Based Crop Insur rance Scheme Pilot Modif e, fied National Agricultural Insur rance Scheme, Pilot Coconut Palm Insurance Scheme. TIONAL INST TITUTE OF D DISASTER R RESPONSE NAT Govt. has decided t establish Na to ational Institute of Disaster e htra on the outskirts of Response (NIDR) in Maharash ptee, district N Nagpur to train the personne of National n el Kamp Disas ster Response Force, central and state forc and units ces from foreign countr ries. RAS SHTRIYA UC CHCHATAR S SHIKSHA AB BHIYAN The Cabinet Comm mittee on Economic Affairs h approved has chchatar Shiks sha Abhiyan (RUSA), a the Rashtriya Uc rally Sponsored Scheme (CS for reforming the state d SS) Centr run higher educat tion system b improving the quality, by ntity and distrib bution of Unive ersities and col lleges across quan the c country. Prasar Bharat to launch a separate TV channel P ti “Prabha” specia for Arunachal Pradesh an Sikkim. “ ally nd OCTOBE 2013 O ER NAT TIONAL FINA ANCIAL REP PORTING AU UTHORITY Movin ahead with implementat ng h tion of the ne company ew law, the governm ment has issu ued draft rules for the propo osed National Financial Rep porting Author rity (NFRA). The NFRA will hav powers to lay down acc ve counting and audit ting policies an standards f adoption by companies nd for y and e ensuring their c compliance too o. SER RICULTURE C COVERED UNDER MNRE EGA Con nsidering the shortage of skilled labour in sericulture n (rea aring of silk w worms), Govt has agreed to in s ntegrate the workers in this sector with the employment guarantee e t sch heme - MNREGA A. 6 GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014
- 8. MS FOR WHE SP EATRAISED TO Rs.1400/QTL D The minimum s support price (MSP) for wh heat has been n inc creased by Rs 5 per quintal to Rs 1,400 for 2013-14 crop 50 p yea ar/ marketing year beginn ning April 2014. The msp p app proved for othe Rabi crops are as under: er a Rs. per quintal Wheat Masur Mustard Rs. 1400 Rs. 2950 Rs. 3050 Barley Safflower Gram Rs. 1100 Rs. 3000 Rs. 3100 PO OST OFFICES ON CBS PL S LATFORM Go overnment is b bringing all pos offices across the country st y under the core banking solut tion system t cover more to e ople of rural areas with AA ADHAAR seede accounts to ed o peo help them avail the benefits of various sche o emes including g d n EGA through d direct benefits s old age pension and MGNRE tra ansfer. GR REEN ENERG CORRIDO GY ORS The governmen plans to set up w nt wind and solar r far rms in Rajastha and Tamil Nadu in the firs phase of the an N st e Rs 43,000-crore G Green Energy Corridors Proje that aims to C ect o add 30,000 MW t the national grid by 2020. d to GO OVT PASSES BILL FOR UIDAI S U The Union Cabine has approve the Nationa Identification et ed al n Authority of Indi Bill. Once approved by P ia a Parliament, the e law will provide s w statutory status to the Unique Identification s e n Authority of India (UIDAI), which function under the w ns e Pla anning Commis ssion. LP CONNECT PG TION PORTA ABILITY STA ARTS Go has launche the 5 kg LP cylinder at c ovt ed PG cash and carry y bas which will be available without much documentation sis w n has ssle at petrol pump outle ets. Govt has also allowed d portability of LPG connections from one dealer/company to G o other. ano CE ELLPHONES FOR MGNREGA WORKE ERS Ne et-enabled cellp phones could soon be provide to 2.5 crore s ed e peo ople under the MGNREGA sc e cheme, selecting one person n per family. The cellphone will cost Rs. 300. A recharge of r f Rs 30 per month will be provide for free for t ed two years. EC CONOM IN MIC NDICAT TORS DE ECEMBE 2013 ER GDP GROWS BY 4.8% IN 2ND QR P Y The economy grew at a faster p w pace of 4.8 per cent in the r secon quarter (en nd nding Septemb 30th), prim ber marily due to impro oved performa ance of agriculture driven b a bumper by mons soon and exp ports. The country’s gross domestic produ (GDP) had expanded by 4 per cent in the previous uct 4.4 April-June quarter o this fiscal an 5.2 per cent in the Julyof nd t Septe ember quarter last fiscal. RBI PUTS GDP G GROWTH AT 5 PER CEN T NT The Reserve Bank has estimat k ted that India economy a's would grow about 5 per cent in FY 2013-14 while the d t 4, curre account de ent eficit would be below 3 per c cent of GDP. The e economy expa anded 4.8 per c cent in the sec cond quarter of 20 013-14, pulling up GDP growth in the first ha to 4.6 per alf cent. The economy has to grow 5 per cent in the second 5.4 n half to clock 5 per cent growth in the full fin r nancial year. UN L LOWERS GR ROWTH RAT TO 4.8 PE CENT TE ER The United Nations has lowered India’s econo d omic growth forec cast for 2013 to 4.8 per cent from 6.1 per cent proje ected earlier. The World Economic Sit tuation and Prosp pects 2014 rep port by UNO h warned th emerging has hat mark kets should be prepared to d deal with the impact of US Federal Reserve’s q quantitative eas sing programm me. Asian Developme ent Bank ha projected that India is as likely to record 4.7% growth in F 14 which will improve to y % FY 5.7% next year. % PLG COMM LIKE TO LOWE GROWTH RATE G EY ER H Cons sidering the l lower-than-exp pected growth of Indian h econo omy, Planning Commission is of the view t s that the 12th Plan's growth target could be lo s owered to aro ound 7.5 per cent from 8 per cen fixed current nt tly. During the first year of e the 1 12th Plan, India economy gr a's rew by only 5 p cent, the per slowe in a decade. In the first half (April-Se est t eptember) of 2013 3-14, the econo omy grew by ju 4.6 per cent ust t. IND DUSTRIAL PR RODUCTION SHRINKS BY 1.8% N Indus strial produc ction contr racted by 1.8 per cent in October this year mainly due to e poor performance of e the manufactu uring secto or. Growth in Octob ber last year was 8.4 per cent. The manu ufacturing se ector, which constitutes over h 75 p per cent of the index declined b 2 x, by per c cent as again a nst grow of 9.9 per c wth cent in last Octo ober. 7 GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014
- 9. CO ORE SECTOR SLIPSBY 0.6% R 0 Dashing hopes o recovery, the output of eig core sector of e ght r dustries contra acted by 0.6% in October due to poor % r ind sho owing by coal, oil and gas se ectors. The de ecline in output t of eight core sect industries — coal, crude o natural gas, tor oil, , finery products fertilisers, steel, cement, electricity — s, s , ref follows a robust 8 growth in September. 8% S TR RADE DEFIC SHRINKS BELOW $1 CIT S 10BN Ind dia’s exports s slipped to $24.61 billion in N November from m $27 7.27 billion in October. The government’s stringent gold d imp port curbs rest tricted overall imports during the month to g o $33 3.83 billion, lo owest in last two-and-a-half year. As a res sult, the trade d deficit narrowe to $9.22 billi ed ion. Fo oreign exchange reserves declined fo the second or d con nsecutive week to $295.50 billion, down by $12.6 million, k b y , in t week ende December 20 the ed 0. in m manufacturing and investme ent as well as negative busin ness confidenc High headline inflation, an elevated ce. curre ent account d deficit, and r rising pressur on fiscal re balan nces from the depreciation of the rupee are the factors f e that c could impede t country's growth. the IMF PULLS IND F DIA’s GROWT RATE TO 3.8% TH O In th World Econo he omic Outlook r report, the IMF has further F cut I India’s growth projection fo 2013-14 to 3.8% from h or earlie 5.6% projec er cted in July. “G Growth in India has slowed a down more than an n nticipated and the country m must maintain fiscal and monetar credibility in order to pre l ry n event capital outflo ows”, the report said. IND DIA’S HOUSE EHOLD WEA ALTH RISES BY 7.4% According A to the Credit Suisse Global W Wealth Report 2013, after North America (1 11.9 per cent) and Europe (7 7.7 per cent), India has witnessed the highest rise w in n household wealth re egistering 7.4 per cent 4 growth to $ $3.6 trillion NOVEMB N BER 2013 3 NC CAER LOWERS GROWTH RATE H Think tank Natio onal Council of Applied Economic Research f h CAER) has low wered country's growth rate to 4.8-5.3 per s r (NC cen range in th current fisc due to slowdown in key nt he cal y ma anufacturing an services sectors. nd durin 2012-13. ng OE ECD PUTS IN NDIA’S GRO OWTH AT 3.4 4% Par ris-based Orga anisation for Economic Co-operation and d De evelopment (OECD) has said Indian econo d omy will grow w jus 3.4% in the current finan st e ncial year. Th These estimates s are based on ma e arket prices, an are not stric comparable nd ctly e wit India's offici statistics th measure ec ith cial hat conomic output ut at factor costs. S& WARNS I &P INDIA OF LO OWER RATING Considering a ma arked slowdow in India’s re growth and wn eal d its effect on the government's debt dynamics and ability to s o imp plement reform global ratin agency Stan ms, ng ndard & Poor's s has warned of a likely down s ngrade in 201 if the new 14 w gov vernment fails to reverse Ind dia's low growth. However, it t con nfirmed India’ current cred rating at B ’s dit BBB-/A-3, with h neg gative outlook. . OCTOB BER 2013 3 F M EXPECTS GROWTH AT 5.5% T The Finance Ministry expects that the econo t omic growth in n the current fiscal is likely to improve to 5.5 p cent from 5 e per per cent last yea on back of likely pick up in agricultural r ar out tput on accoun of good mon nt nsoon rains. AS SSOCHAM PU UTS GROWT RATE AT 5.8% TH A report from Assocham says that due to a agr ricultural outpu leading to robust rural de ut emand mu ultiplier effect on services and manufac cturing, eco onomy is expec cted to grow at 5.8 per cent in the a t fisc cal. DE ECEMBE 2013 ER IND TO BECO DIA OME 3RD LAR RGEST ECON NOMY healthy y and its s India's s current t WORLD BANK PULLS DOW GROWT TO 4.7% K WN TH The World Bank sharply lowe k ered its foreca for India's ast s eco onomic growth to 4.7 percen from 6.1 per h nt rcent projected d in April for the current fiscal ye ear, citing a sh harp slowdown n India is likely to ove a ertake Japan in 2028 to beco n ome the third large economy in the world afte China and United States, est er accor rding to Lond don-based eco onomic consul ltancy CEBR (Cent for Econom tre mics and Busine Research). In the 2013 ess leagu table, India is at the 11th place with a GDP of USD ue h 1.7 b billion. and it w claim 3rd sp with GDP o USD 6,560 will pot of billion by 2028. n DIANS ARE C CONFIDENT OF THEIR E ECONOMY IND According to a stu udy by global research firm Ipsos, has m ranke India as th seventh mo economically confident ed he ost country in the wo orld. Indians feel confident about their econo omy due to prospects of healthy farm output and narro owing current account deficit. The su urvey of 24 countries is topped by Saudi Arabia, followed b Germany, d by Swed and Canada. den The T Asian Deve velopment Bank (ADB) has ag k greed to lend $176 million t extend the first metro t $ to e train line in Jaipur. J NO OVEMBE 2013 ER WEF JOINS HAN F NDS WITH C CII The W World Econom Forum has joined hand with the mic ds Confe ederation of Indian Industry (CII) to join y ntly organise the India Economic Summit as we as other indu ell ustry specific proje ects in India in coming years. 8 GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014
- 10. FO OUR TAX HAV VENSTO SHAR TAX INFOR RE RMATION In a big boost in the fight against black money, four k r ove erseas territor ries - Liechten nstein, Isle of Man, British f h Vir rgin Islands a and Cayman Islands -where Indians are I e e sus spected to hav stashed illic funds, have agreed to do ve cit e o aw with bankin secrecy way by allowing automatic tax way ng ys x info ormation excha ange with India a. India has a allowed Bangla adesh to impo motorcycles ort s through the land route as against sea ro oute at present, t, he on to reduce the transportatio costs. OCTOB BER 2013 3 BA ANGALORE B BEST BUSIN NESS DESTIN NATION Acc cording to a recent surve by Global Initiative for ey r Restructuring En nvironment and Management (GIREM) and d t d DT TZ, Bangalore is the best business desti b ination in the e cou untry, leaving behind bigger cities like Mum mbai, Delhi and d Chennai, on the basis of ava e ailability of se everal business s fac cilitating factors s. Ms KOCHHAR TOPS IN IN s. R NDIAN BUSINESS Fou Indian busin ur nesswomen led by ICICI Ban CEO Chanda d nk a Kochhar have ma to Fortune magazine's glo ade obal list of toph 50 women busine leaders. Kochhar secure a proud 4th ess K ed ran nk, followed by National Stock Exchan chief Chitra nge a Ramkrishna at 1 17th, Axis Bank's CEO Shik kha Sharma at t 32nd and HSBC's chief Naina Lal Kidwai at 42 s L 2nd place. This s list is topped by B t Brazilian energy giant Petrobr CEO, Maria gy bras' a Da Gracas Foste as er. TA ATAs ENTER AVIATION SECTOR R Ind dia’s leading in ndustrial house has entered in to aviation e n sec ctor by joining hands with Singapore Airlines. The new g w com mpany will be n named 'Tata SI Airlines Limi IA ited'. UN PANEL STO N OPS POSCO PROJECT A UN Human Rights panel ha asked South Korean steel as h gia Posco to im ant mmediately halt the $12-billion mega portto-steel plant p project in Od disha as it may lead to o dis splacement of t thousands of people and disr p ruption in their r live elihoods. GO OVT APPROV VES JET ETI IHAD DEAL The Union Cabin has approv net ved the bigges ever foreign st n inv vestment in Ind dia's aviation sector - Jet Airw ways' proposed d sale of 24 per cent equity to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad d Air rways, the national airline of United Arab E Emirates, for Rs s 2,0 crore. 058 mega awatts each in Sri Lanka's north-eastern district of s n Trinc comalee. COA MINING T GO FOR PPP MODE AL TO The g government plans to invite b bids from privat players to te kickstart coal minin in a public ng c-private partne ership (PPP) mode in the country, effectively ending the m e y monopoly of public sector behem moth Coal Ind dia. The idea is to ensure that t there is fair co ompetition in th coal market as there will he be m multiple produce of coal to m ers meet the growing domestic dema and. IND TO RECE DIA EIVE $ 71 BN IN REMITT N TANCES A rec cent forecast fr rom World Ban says that re nk emittances to developing countrie are likely to swell by 6.3 p cent this es o per year to $414 billion with one third of it going to India and n, China For India, $71 billion in remittances is nearly triple a. what it received fro foreign direc investment l t om ct last year. DIA AVOUR WIT MNCs TH IND FINDS FA According to an ana alysis by McKin nsey Global Institute, India hosts about 158 large global compa a t anies having reven nue of USD 1 billion or more making the country the e, 11th most favour red destinatio for setting up of a on g inational corporation headqua arters. multi Asian Developme Bank (ADB has tied up a number ent B) p of cr redit facilities for India as under: s • $100 million lo $ oan to Meghalaya to improv education ve skills. s • $ 700 million loans to accelerate inv n vestment in infrastructure i • $500 million lo $ oan to build a transmission system for n solar and wind energy in wes s stern India • $400 million package for a water an sanitation $ nd programme in eastern India. p Reliance Ind R dustries Ltd has becom the first d. me company in th country to a c he achieve sales o more than of Rs R 1,00,000 cro in a quarte rore er. Australian Tr A rade Commiss ssion and YES Bank have S signed a MoU to raise the p s productivity an exports of nd India’s food an agricultural s I nd sector. The T new Comp panies Law req equires compan nies to spend at a least 2 per c cent of its net profits on Corp t rporate Social Responsibility ( R (CSR) activities s. PO OWER PACT WITH BANG GLADESH Ind has agreed to start a tra dia d ansmission line for exporting e g 500 MW of electr 0 ricity from Wes Bengal to Bangladesh. The st e two countries also agreed to promote 1,3 o o 320-MW Maitri the ermal power p project in Bang gladesh to be developed by y Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Comp a pany, a joint t ven nture between NTPC and Ban ngladesh Powe Development er t Board. PO OWER PROJECTS DEAL WITH SRI L LANKA Ind finalised $5 dia 512-million joint venture deal with Sri Lanka a for the construction of two coa fired power p r al projects of 250 0 9 GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014
- 11. BANK B KING & FINA ANCE E DECEMB D BER2013 3 BA ANK BUSINE ESS SHOWS GOOD GRO OWTH Bank deposits gr rew 17 per ce year-on-yea to Rs.75.24 ent ar 4 trillion on Decem mber 13, 2013, from Rs.64.31 trillion in the 1 e sam period last year, due to higher mobilisa me h ation, driven by y the RBI’s special swap window for Foreign Currency None l w Resident (Banks) or FCNR (B) deposits. Ad ) dvances during g the same time increased by 14.9 per cent to Rs. 57.01 e t 1 trillion from Rs. 4 49.61 last year. CU URRENCY ARR RANGEMENT WITH NEPAL L Ne epal and India h have agreed in principle to allow circulation n n of Rs.500 and R Rs.1,000 deno omination India bank notes an s wit thin Nepalese territory, endin a ban in place for over a ng dec cade. Doha Bank became the first Qatari ba to get the k ank e license from RBI to start operations in I m o India, with first st umbai. branch in Mu M3 money s supply rose by annualised 1 b 15.1 percent as s on Decembe 13 to Rs 92.0 trillion. er 06 Govt approv oved the enh hancement of the bilatera f al currency sw swap arrange ement betwee the RBI and en d Bank of Japa to $ 50 bil pan illion, up from $ 15 billion at present. NOVEMB N BER 2013 3 BH HARTIYA MA AHILA BANK STARTS K On the 96t birthday of th f late Indira Gandhi, Prime e Minister Manmohan Singh h inaugurated the first t branch of t the first allwoman ban - ‘Bhartiya nk a Mahila Bank in Mumbai. k’ He eaded by Usha Ananthasubra amaniam, the bank will have e init corpus of R 1,000 crore with seven bra tial Rs w anches in major r citi ies to start w with. The bank will have un k nique products s des signed for wo omen and dev vote special at ttention to the e fun nding needs of over 60 lakh self-help groups. The bank f h k will also cater to limited number of male custo r omers. LO OAN TO WOM MEN SHGs @ 7% The Reserve Ba ank has direct ted public sector banks to o pro ovide credit to women self help groups a a rate of 7 o at per rcent per ann num so as to get the bene of interest efit t sub bvention scheme under the Swarnaj jayanti Gram m Sw warozgar Yojana (Aajeevika) scheme. a s ‘M MEDIUM’ UNITS UNDER PRIORITY S SECTOR The Reserve Bank has allowed banks to treat loans given to o me edium manufac cturing enterpr rises after Nov. 13 as priority y sec ctor advance, in its efforts to provide enh t hanced liquidity y sup pport to the m medium and small enterprises. A medium s m ma anufacturing e enterprise is on where the investment in ne n pla and machin ant inery is more than Rs.5 crore but does not th e ot exc xceed Rs.10 cro ore. BAN NKS MAY PA MONTHLY INTEREST AY Y As all commercial b banks are now on core bankin platforms, ng RBI h decided to give banks the option to pay interest on has y savin deposits an term deposi at intervals shorter than ngs nd its quart terly intervals i.e. monthly or fortnight y tly intervals. Prese ently, banks ar not allowed to pay interes on savings re d st and t term deposits a less than qua at uarterly interval ls. RBI SIGNS MOU WITH AUS U STRALIA-NZ LAND Z The Reserve Bank has signed co ooperation agreement with centr banks of Au ral ustralia and Ne Zealand for exchange of ew inform mation. The M MoUs provide a formal, yet legally nonbinding, channel f for information exchange b n between the Centr Banks of tw countries. ral wo TAK KEOVER ALLO OWED TO FO OREIGN BANKS The Reserve Bank has permitted wholly-owne subsidiary d ed S) banks to acqui domestic private sector ire (WOS of foreign b bank as well as se up branches anywhere in the country. ks et s It als allowed fore so eign bank subs sidiary to list on local stock excha anges. Howev ver, foreign bank subsidiary will not be y allow to hold mo than 74 per cent equity in the private wed ore n bank they may acq ks quire. NRI REMITTANCES UP BY 2 I 27% Betw ween January a and September this year, rem r mittances by non-r resident Indian (NRIs) saw a 27 per cent ju ns ump at $ 6.5 billion (Rs 39,991.9 crore in prese valuations) as against 7 n 9 ent per c cent growth during the same period last yea ar. ‘M-P PESA’ FROM VODAFONE AND ICICI M E I Telec com major V Vodafone India and ICICI Bank have a launc ched mobile m money transfer and payment service 'Mr t Pesa' in Assam and other North Eastern states. Using their ' d 'M-Pe esa' account, customers, a their conve at enience, can depo and withdra cash from d osit aw designated out tlets, transfer mone to any mobile phone / ban account in th country. ey nk he BAN NKS TO CHARGE FOR SM ON USAG BASIS MS GE The RBI has asked banks to charge customers for trans saction SMS alerts on the b basis of usage instead of e, prese practice of imposing a f ent f fixed fee, to ensure equity and f deal to customers. fair BAN NKS ASKED T USE ‘AAD TO DHAAR’ FOR CARDS R In o order to ensu ure security in card- base payment ed trans sactions taking place at point of sale (PoS) terminals or t at AT TMs, the Reserv Bank has ad ve dvised banks th they may hat adop Aadhaar as a pt additional authentication or m move to EMV (Euro pay MasterCa Visa) chip and pin technology. Banks o ard will h have to issue ch hip-based cards by November 30. MON NEY SUPPLY CROSSES 9 TRILLION Y 90 Mone supply (M3) level in India rose 13.8 per cent in the ey ) a r two weeks to Nov 15, slower t v. than 13.4 per cent a year earlie Money supply was 90.74 trillion rupees ($1.45 er. trillio as of Nov. 1 2013. on) 15, The T Reserve B Bank has direct all regiona rural banks ted al to t follow the m minimum 9% c capital adequa rule from acy this t year, mark king the end of their transitory phase. f ry GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014 10
- 12. OCTOB BER 2013 3 MS CUTTO 8 SF 8.75%; REPO HIKED TO 7.75% O On October 29, 2013, in its second quarterly review of n f mo onetary policy, RBI reduced the interest rate on the , d t e ma arginal standing facility (MSF) by 25 basis points to 8.75 5 per cent. Earlier RBI had red r r, duced this rat by 50 basis te s points to 9%, and extended the lending pe t eriod to seven n day and 14 day instead of the current pra ys ys, t actice of just a day RBI also in y. ncreased the policy repo rat by 25 basis p te s points from 7.5 per cent to 7. .75 per cent w with immediate e effect. Consequ uently Reverse Repo Rate now stands e e s cha anged at 6.5 pe cent and Ba Rate chang to 8.75%. er ank ged BAN NKS NPA LEV SHOOTS UP VEL S Refle ecting deterior ration in econ nomic activities, net nonperfo orming assets ( (NPA) of all banks have incre eased to 1.68 per c cent of the tota loan at the end of 2012-13, from 1.28 al per c cent at the en of 2011-12, according to the Reserve nd , Bank of India. k DEFE ENCE, SCIEN NCE &T TECHN NOLOG GY DE ECEMBE 2013 ER GO OVT TO PRO OVIDE 14K CR. FOR BAN EQUITY C NK ‘TEJ JAS’ JOINS I INDIAN AIR FORCE R NA ABARD TO P PROMOTE WAREHOUSIN W NG After more than thr decades of work, India’s indigenously r ree f built Light Combat Aircraft Tejas has finally be s een inducted into the Indian Air Forc n ce on Dece ember 20. The single-seat, single-engine, lightweight, high-agility supersonic fighter aircraft has s speed of Mach 1.6 (1350 h km/h hr). It will repla the recentl retired MiG-2 aircraft. ace ly 21 The Finance Ministry has decide to pump in Rs 2,000 crore ed e India and Rs 1,800 crore eac in IDBI Bank ch k in State Bank of I d k s e and Central Bank of India as part of the Rs 14,000 crore cap pital infusion p plan for the current fiscal. T This money has s bee given to e en enhance equity capital to en y nable banks to o me Basel III ca eet apital requireme ents. National Bank fo Agriculture and Rural Dev or velopment has s lau unched a NABA ARD Warehou using Scheme (NWS) with a cor rpus of Rs 5,0 000 crore to advance loans to Public and a d Priv vate sector fo creation of storage infra or f astructure like e con nnstruction of Warehouses, Silos, cold st tores and cold d cha infrastructu ain ure. NP LAUNCH PCI HES AADHAA BASED P AR PAYMENTS National Payments Corporation of India has launched d Aadhaar-based re emittances for bank account holders. Now w you can send m u money to any individual th y hrough mobile e ban nking by merely entering e the e recipient's s Aadhaar number. The transfers can be done using the most . s t bas phones thr sic rough SMS for small amoun or through nts h mo obile banking apps for amoun over Rs 5,00 nts 00. RT TGS- 2013 G GUIDELINES INTRODUC S CED RB has introduc BI ced new real time gross sett tlement (RTGS) ) guidelines 2013 t further impr to rove the count try’s most used d rem mittance system The new RT m. TGS system will have features s suc as a facility to accept fut ch y ture value date transactions ed s and options to pr d rocess multi-currency transact tions. BA ANKS ALLOW WED TO RAI ISE FOREIGN FUNDS N The Reserve Ban has allowed banks to raise funds from nk d m glo obal multilatera institutions until Nov. 30 provided the al 0 e mo oney raised is for general ba anking purpose and not for es r cap pital enhancem ment. NO TAX ON RE O EVERSE MORTGAGE AN NNUITY To make the rev verse mortgage facility more attractive for e r sen nior citizens, the governme ent has decided to exempt t annuity installment earned by mortgager. m In reverse mortg gage, the borro rower mortgage his property es y wit the bank a ith and receives the agreed lo t oan amount in n mo onthly installme ments. The loa is repaid us an sually after the e dea of borrowe from the sale proceeds of the mortgaged eath er le d pro operty. AGN NI-III TEST FIRED India test-fired its nuclear-capable Agni-III ballistic missile with a strike range of more than 3,000 km as p part of a user trial b the Army fro Wheeler Island off Odisha coast by om a IND READY T LAUNCH GSAT -14 DIA TO India is ready to launch its Geo-synchrono a o ous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GS SLV-D5) at 4.18 p.m. on Janu 8 uary 5, 2014. D5 s stands for the 5th developme ental flight. It will put into orbit a communicat tion satellite called GSAT-14. Indian Air Forc has bid farew to MiG-21 FL – its first I ce ewell 1 supersonic com s mbat jet aircra that served it for over aft d five f decades. India has signe a mega con I ned ontract of $1.01 billion with 1 USA for six ad U dditional C-130 "Super Herc 0J cules" jumbo military cargo aircrafts. IAF already ha six such m o AF as aircraft. a India offers to train Sri Lanka Navy officers I an rs. CEN NTRE FOR EA ARTH SCIEN NCE STUDIES S The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal fo the Union d or Minis stry of Earth Sc ciences to take over the Cen e ntre for Earth Scien nce Studies (C CESS), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The centr will carry out multidisciplinary research in the frontier re n areas of solid ear s rth science an provide se nd ervices on a natio onwide scale. CHINA LANDS V VEHICLE ON MOON N China for the first time, success a, sfully landed a lunar probe Chan ng'e-3 on the M Moon — the fi irst country to do so since 1976 A lunar prob carrying the “Jade Rabbi or Yu Tu 6. be it” rover landed in the Bay of Rainb r e bows, or Sinus Iridum, on s the M Moon’s surface 12 days af e, fter the Chang g’e-3 probe. China is the third co a ountry to do so after America and Russia. o a GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014 11
- 13. TR RACES OF W WATERON MARS M A US space agency rover ram mbling on the dry surface of f Ma has for the first time disco ars overed evidence of what used d to be a freshwat lake. Thou ter ugh no water is present now, s , yet the condition were right for the lake for microbial life, t ns r , per rhaps 3.6 billio years ago. on NE USERS UP BY 20% ET P Dri iven by growth in Internet us h sage through m mobile phones, , tot Net subscrib base in the country incre tal ber e eased by 20.38 8 per cent to re r each 198.39 million in quarter ending g September 30th. T Total telecom subscriber base at the end of s e f e , n the quarter was 903.09 million, out of which 873.36 million we mobile subs ere scribers. NOVEMB N BER 2013 3 IN VIKRAMA NS ADITYA JOIN INDIAN NAVY NS succe essfully at the Pokhran test range in Raja asthan. The 290-k range Brah km hMos flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach and carrie a convention warhead of up to 300 kg. The missile es nal f can b launched fro multiple pla be om atforms includin land, sea, ng sub-s and air. sea GATI MISSIL LE: Name of t new tactica surface-tothe al PRAG surfa missile bas ace sed on the Pra ahaar missile, w with a range of 60 0-170 kms. India plans to of ffer it to friendly countries. President pres Pr esented the prestigious Presidential Standards to tw squadrons of Indian Air Force - 220 St wo Squadron and 3 Squadron at Halwara, Punj Sq 32 t jab. In ndia successful test-fired its nuclear weap lly s pons-capable, su urface-to-surfa Agni-1 miss for its full r ace sile range of 700 km from Wheele Island, off th Odisha coas er the st. Pakistan succes Pa essfully test-fire its surface to surface red e missile - Hatf IX (Nasr) with a range of 60 km m X m. ISRO LAUNCHES ‘MANGALYAA SUCCESS O AN’ SFULLY India first interpla a’s anetary spacec craft under ISRO’s Rs 430 crore Mars Orbite Mission (Ma e er angalyaan) wa launched as succe essfully on boa PSLV- C25 from the Sat ard 5 tish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, AP, o Nov. 5. Th spacecraft on he will travel around 7 million km t reach near M 780 to Mars by Sep. 2014 to carry out scientific exp 4 t periments and search for d evide ence of life on t red planet. the ISTR RAC TAKES OVER THE ‘MOM’ The long-awaite USD 2.3 billion aircraf carrier INS ed ft S kramaditya wa inducted into the Ind as dian Navy in n Vik Sev verodvinsk, Ru ussia on 16th Nov. The mam N mmoth 44,500ton nne warship w commission was ned by Defenc Minister A K ce Antony at the Sev vmash Shipyar Russia. A re rd, e-fitted version n of a Russian ship formerly cal p, lled Admiral Go orshkov, it will be based at nava base INS Kad al damba at Karwar, Karnataka. Monit toring and na avigation of th spacecraft under Mars he Orbit ter Mission w will be done by the Bang galore-based track king centre, IS STRAC (ISRO Telemetry, T Tracking and Comm mand Network ISTRAC wil now be the nerve centre k). ll of the mission and communicate w the spacec e with craft, correct its c course and co ommand it th hroughout the life of the space ecraft. Ind dia’s first aircra carrier was INS Vikrant, procured from raft s m Eng ngland. It was d decommissione on 31st Janu ed uary, 1997 and d con onverted into a naval museum at Mumbai. m Ind dia’s second ai ircraft named INS Virat was procured from I m Eng ngland and is cu urrently in serv vice. Ind is now mak dia king another ai ircraft carrier in indigenously by y the name INS Vik e krant. It tested waters recent d tly. HINI ROCKE LAUNCHE BY VSSC ET ED ROH Vikra Sarabhai S am Space Centre ( (earlier known as Thumba Equa atorial Rocket Launching-TE ERL Station) at Thumba, Keral la, celebrated its golden jubilee on N Nov. 21 by launc ching the Rohin Sounding Ro ni ocket. ‘DHANUSH’ TE ESTED SUCC CESSFULLY Ind successfully test-fired its nuclear-capa dia y s able surface to o sur rface ballistic missile Dhanush from a n naval ship off f Od disha coast. It has a range of 250 kilometer f rs. IN NDO US JOIN NAVAL EX NT XCERCISE The Indian and US navies con nducted their a annual Malabar r join exercises in the Bay of Be nt n engal, off the coast of Tamil Nadu, from Nov. 5 to 11 Nov. The exercis will include . ses e er rations from aircraft carriers, , gun-firing, fighte combat oper mbating terror rism and maritime interdiction operations s com exe ercises. BR RAHMOS TES STED BY INDIAN ARMY Y The Indian Army tested an ad y dvanced versio of BrahMos on s sup personic cruis se missile sy ystem (block III variant) ) GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014 12
- 14. BI IRD RINGIN STATIONAT KULLU NG Him machal Pradesh has set up western Himalaya’s first Bird w d Rin nging Station at Salropa in the pres stigious Great t Him malayan Natio onal Park in Kullu. Birds are put on a K me etallic ring hav ving a unique number and B n Bombay Natura al His story Society (B (BNHS) stamp to identify and establish their t d ir spe pecies. CL LICK PHOTO WITH THE SPEED OF LIGHT OS F An inexpensive multi-purpose 'nano-came era' that can n ope erate at the sp peed of light ha been develo as oped by a team m of researchers Massachusetts Institute of Tec I chnology, USA. The $ 500 came could be used in medica imaging and era al d col llision-avoidanc detectors for cars and several other ce f r purposes. WORLD’S FAS STEST SUPER COMPUTE R ER Tia anhe-2, a supe ercomputer de eveloped by Ch hina’s National Un niversity of Def fense Technolo ogy, Guangzho retained its ou, s pos sition as the w world’s fastest system with a p s performance of f 33.86 petaflop/s (quadrillions of calculations p second) on o per n the Linpack benchmark. e AOGAN XIX’ – A remote-s sensing satellite launched by y ‘YA China on board i carrier rock its ket Long Marc 4C from the ch e unch center in n north China's Shanxi Province S e. lau ‘M MAVEN’ – NA ASA’s MISSIO TO MAR ON RS NA has launched its latest orbiter to Mars – ASA –‘MAVEN’ (Mars s Atm mosphere and Volatile Evolut tion) to hunt f clues about for t wh the Red Plan lost much of its atmosph hy net here. MAVEN is s the first spacecra devoted to exploring and understanding e aft g the Martian uppe atmosphere. e er CA ARBON DIOX XIDE LEVEL HIT RECO LS ORD HIGH In an annual r report on gre eenhouse gase es, the World d eteorological Or rganization (W WMO) said that concentrations s Me of carbon dioxid (CO2) grew more rapid reaching a de w dly cord high in 20 012, compared to average rise over the past e t rec dec cade. As a result, the warming effect on the climate has s inc creased by almo a third sinc 1990. ost ce AT LAUNCHED FOR ‘BIT TM TCOINS’ The world's first publicly access sible ATM mach hine which can n change digital currency - bitcoins - fo any official l or exc cur rrency has bee launched in Canada jointly by two firms en y s Bitcoiniacs and R Robocoin. OCTOB BER 2013 3 NA AVY GETS TR RAINER JET ‘HAWK’ T The first home-m made Hawk MK 132 aircraft by Hindustan t n Aeronautics Limit has been in ted nducted in Indian Navy. The e Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer is a dual seat multi-purpose s e airc craft powered by a single Rolls Royce Adour Mk.871 d 1 eng gine. IN SUNAYNA JOINS IND NS A DIAN NAVY Sec cond indigeno ously built Na aval Offshore Patrol Vessel (NO OPV) class of s ship – INS Sun nayna recently commissioned d in Indian Navy. It is equipp ped with lates surveillance st e equ uipments and weapons and capable of carrying d g helico opters also. T The first NOP is named INS Saryu, PV comm missioned in Ja anuary 2013. IND RUSSIA CONDUCT ‘I DIA INDRA-2013 3’ The first ever Ind dia-Russia joint military exer t rcise ‘INDRA 2013 began on Oct 3’ tober 19 at the Mahajan field firing range e d near the Indo-Pak border in the Thar Desert Under the k e t. drills, a joint command will plan and carry o an anti, out terrorist operation involving the d destruction of i illegal armed forma ations. IND TO JOIN HANDS WITH CHINESE ARMY DIA E India and China w hold joint m a will military exercis ‘Hand in ses Hand 2013’ from N d November 4 in Chengdu region in South n west China. During the war g games, the tw sides will wo pract tice counter insurgency and counter terrorism mano oeuvres as per the UN manda ate. PRIT THVI – II TE ESTED SUCC CESSFULLY Nucle weapons c ear capable surface e-to-surface missile PrithviII wa successfully test-fired for a range of 300 km by the as Strategic Forces Co ommand (SFC) from Chandipu in Odisha. ur 360 VIEW OF M MONUMENTS FROM GOO S OGLE Archa aeological Surv of India has joined hands with Google vey s India for an end a deavour to create 360- de egree online pano oramic imagery 00 "nationally-important of 10 monu uments" in th country lik Taj Mahal, Humayun's he ke Tomb Khajuraho and the Ajanta-Ellora caves, etc. The b, Goog will use its 'Street View T gle Trekker' techno ology for the first t time in India fo this project. or FAR RTHEST GALA AXY DISCOV VERED Scien ntists, including one of India g an-origin, have discovered e the m most distant galaxy ever — Z8-GND-5296. Because of . its d distance we g get a glimpse of conditions when the s Unive erse was only about 700 m y million years o – only 5 old perce ent of its cur rrent age of 13.8 billion y years. The resea archers estimat the galaxy’s distance to be roughly 30 te s e billion light years aw n way. NAS SA’s ‘JUNO’ TO PASS BY EARTH Y NASA A's spacecraf ft Juno is makin a quick pass by Earth to ng get g gravity boost to slingshot itself towards Jupite The Juno er. space ecraft was launched toward Jupiter on August 5, n 2011. Juno will arrive at Jupiter on Ju 4, 2016. uly SUN POISED FO MAGNETIC FLIP N OR A spe ecial event called ‘magnetic pole flip’ is ab bout to occur in ne two to three months in ou sun. The ma ext e ur agnetic poles of the sun — which are like the e h ends of a giant bar magnet t — ar about to flip that is, the p re p, polar north will become the polar south and vic versa. The change is per r ce riodic, taking place once every 11 years or so. e 1 The event will hav impact on e ve earth’s magne field and etic can pose a threat to s satellite operati tions, telecomm munications, ai traffic on po routes and power grids ir olar d in co ountries at high latitudes. h GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014 13
- 15. INTE I ERNA ATION L NAL DECEMB D BER 2013 3 JO ORDANENTE ERS UN SECURITY COUNCIL Jor rdan has been elected as a non-permane member of n ent f the UN Security Council for fi e illing a seat th fell vacant hat t aft Saudi Arabia declined to jo the Council to protest the ter a oin e wo body’s failu to end the Syrian and Isr orld ure raeli-Palestinian n con nflicts. YU UAN REPLAC CES EURO IN POPULARI N ITY China’s Yuan currency, also called Renminb – RMB, has c bi s ove ertaken the E Euro to beco ome the seco ond-most used d cur rrency in trade and finance in world. M e Market share of f Yuan usage grew to 8.66 per cent in Octob w r ber, still much h beh hind the leadin currency US dollar which has a share of ng S f 81.08 per cent. CO OLDEST PLA ACE ON EART –93.2C TH: Ar remote region in East Antarct tica has set a new record for r the coldest place on earth, wit temperature dipping to a e e th es bone-chilling minus 93.2 deg grees Celsius. The coldest . t per rmanently inh habited place on Earth is northeastern s n Sib beria, where te emperatures in the towns o Verkhoyansk n of k and Oimekon dro d opped to a bone e-chilling -67.8 C in 1933. 8 NOVEMB N BER 2013 3 IR RAN AGREES WITH WES ON NUCL S ST LEAR ISSUE Aft prolonged n ter negotiations, Ir has agreed to curb some ran d e of its nuclear act tivities as per a deal signed a Geneva with at h the P5+1 group (the U.S, the U.K., France, Russia, China e a and Germany). T d The deal will last for six mo l onths, opening g wa for a perman ay nent agreemen nt. TH DEAL: Iran agreed to ha enrichment of Uranium to HE n alt t o me edium-grade (2 20%) purity, (w which can be fu further enriched d to weapons-grad level relativ de vely easily), an give better and er acc ccess to UN insp spectors. In return, the mai sanctions on r in n oil and banking t l that have cripp pled the Iranian economy wil n ll be lifted, leading to the eventu normalisati of relations e g tual tion s bet etween Iran and the U.S. for the first time since the 1979 nd 9 Isla lamic revolution n. (Unit Nations Fra ted amework Conve ention on Clima Change). ate The conference ha two parts – COP-19 (Co as onference of Partie and CMP-9 (COP Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto es) Proto ocol). No majo decisions co or ould be taken at this meet due t lack of concu to urrence of the participating co ountries. RUS SSIAN PRESIDENT IS NO 1 IN WOR O. RLD Russ sian Presiden Vladimir P nt Putin takes t the top spot on Fo Forbes’ ranking of “The World’’s Most Powerfu People” as ul he c continues to solidify contr rol over Russ sia and the intern national stage. President B Barack Obam slipped to ma secon place, from the numbe one spot, followed by nd m er Gene Secretary, Communist Party of China Xi Jinping. eral i ‘APP PLE’ IS THE TOPMOST B BRAND IT giant Apple has topped the 'W World's Most Valuable Brand List' compiled by 'F Forbes' magaz zine with a bra and value of $104 billion follo 4.3 owed by Micro osoft, Coca-Cola, IBM and Goog among the top five. gle, FIRS EUROPE - ASIA RAIL LINK ST L The w world's deepes underwater railway tunnel was opened st unde the Bosph er horus strait, Turkey, conn necting two continents – Asia and Europe, by rail for the first time. Almo a mile of the 8.5-mile (1 ost 13.6km) tunnel linking two parts of Turkey's la s argest city, Ist tanbul, is imm mersed under 56 m metres (184ft) of water. T The project is named The Marm maray link, by c combining the Sea of Marmar with "ray," ra mean ning rail in Turk kish. BRICS Intern B national Comp mpetition Conf ference held in i New Delhi to discuss vario issues and c ous challenges in competition en c nforcement in B BRICS countries es. The 13th mee T eting of the C Council of Mini isters of the Indian Ocean R Associatio for Regional Cooperation I Rim on l (IOR-ARC) was held on Nove ( s ember 1 in Pert Australia. th, US U Congress in Washington celebrated it first ever n its Diwali festival amidst chanti D ing of Vedic m mantras by a Hindu priest an lighting of th traditional " H nd the "diyas". The T Regional Pravasi Bha l artiya Divas w organized was in i Sydney, Aus ustralia by the High Commiss sion of India and a the Ministr of Overseas Indian Affairs. try Global Islami Economic S G mic Summit held a Dubai at CO OMMONWEA ALTH MEET HELD AT CO H OLOMBO nd 22n Commonw wealth Heads of Governm ment Meeting g (CH HOGM) 2013 w held at Colombo, Sri Lank (15-17 Nov) was ka ) wit the participa th ation of 67 lead ders from the C Commonwealth h nat tions. The Sum mmit was inaugurated by Pri ince Charles of f England as the r representative of Queen Eliza abeth, Head of f or 13 h Commonwealth. The theme for CHOGM 2013 was “Growth wit Equity; Inclu ith lusive Developm ment”. Shri Ma anmohan Singh h Pri ime Minister of India did not participate in th Summit. f p the WA ARSAW CLI IMATE MEET 2013 T The Warsaw Clim mate Change Co onference 2013 concluded on 3 n No 23 at War ov. rsaw, Poland under the aeg of UNFCCC u gis C GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014 14
- 16. OCTOB BER 2013 3 US GOVTFACES ‘SHUT DO S OWN’ The US governm ment ordered a shut down for the first time e nce s an emocrats failed d sin 1995-96 as the Republica and the De to reach an agreement on spen nding and budg mainly due get e ces h orms, which is s to their differenc over the healthcare refo macare. Several government a agencies asked d popular as Obam eir of g thout pay from m the thousands o workers to go on leave wit Oc ctober 1, leadin to closure of hundreds o public parks ng of s and monuments a d across the country. Th catastrophic debt default was however averted in the he c e nic of time as on 16th Octob the Congr ck ober ress agreed to o inc crease the curre debt ceiling of $ 16.7 trill rent g lion. UN TEAM DES N STROYS SYR CHEM. W RIA WEAPONS Fol llowing a UN resolution, expe erts have started the process s of destroying Syr ria's chemical weapons arsen w nal. The team m fac ces the massiv task of des ve stroying an es stimated 1,000 0 ton nnes of the nerve agent sa arin, mustard gas and other r ban nned arms at d dozens of sites in Syria by mid d-2014. NO MORE SEC O CRET BANKI ING IN SWIT TZERLAND Sw witzerland has b become 58th co ountry to sign t Multilateral the Convention on Mutual Admin nistrative Assis stance in Tax x Ma atters, promot ted by the Organisation for Economic c Cooperation and Development (OECD). Th means that t his t Sw witzerland will n more follow its banking sec no crecy laws. CH HINA LAUNC CHES ‘GREEN FENCE’ N The China has la aunched “Green Fence” camp paign aimed at t enf forcing standards for waste imports to avo unusable or oid r unsafe/dangerous consignmen nts. The cou untry rejected d hundreds of cont tainers of wast that were co te ontaminated or r tha improperly m at mixed different types of scrap p. WORLD TOILE SUMMIT HELD IN IN ET NDONESIA Lac of public t ck toilets and op pen defecation were among n g issues highlighted at the World Toilet Summ that opened d d mit d in Surakarta, Indonesia on Wednesday. W W Worldwide, 2.5 5 bill lion people hav no access to toilets and se ve o ewage systems. On million child ne dren die each year from diar y rrhea alone, as s ma as from AID measles an malaria com any DS, nd mbined. HU UNGER SITU UATION GET BETTER: UNO TS A n new report fro the UNO – ‘State of Food Insecurity in om n the World, 2013 says that about 842 million people, or e 3’ r rou ughly one in ei ight, suffered from chronic hunger in 2011f 13, down from 8 million peo , 868 ople in 2010-12 Most of the 2. e wo orld's undernourished people are still to be found in e o n Southern Asia, c closely followed by sub-Saha d aran Africa and d Eas stern Asia, the report said. 5th South A Asian Confere rence on Sani itation held at Kathmandu, Nepal to prom omote hygienic practices and c d e i n enhance the quality of life in South Asian countries. The report defines ‘chron hunger’ as “not getting nic g enough food to lead active and healthy l d e life.” Continued d economic gro rowth in develo oping countries has improved s d incomes and access to food d d. Two day in nternational Rhino confere R rence held at Bandar Lamp pung, Indonesi ia. PE ONS I NE ERSO IN EWS DE ECEMBE 2013 ER DEVYANI KHOBRAGAD DE: Deputy Consul Gene eral in Indian consulate in New York w was in news as she was arrested on visa fraud c charges and humiliated unreasonably by hand cuffing and conducting b body search, violating provisions of o Vienna convention providing diplomatic immunity to diplomats. GEN BIKRAM SIN NGH: Indian A Army Chief was in news as s he h has been hono oured with the Legion of M e Merit, a US milita award, given for exceptionally meritori ary ious conduct in t the performa ance of ou utstanding se ervices and achie evements. JAYA ANT DASGUP PTA: India’s Am mbassador and Permanent d Repre esentative to th WTO in Gen he neva. zine has nam med him its POPE FRANCIS: Time magaz "Pers son of the Ye ear," less tha nine mont an ths after he became pontiff – S Supreme Head of Roman Cat tholics of the world He won th award for the speed wit which he d. he th succe eeded in esta ablishing the church as s servant and comf forter of hurting people in an often harsh w world - above the doctrinal polic ce, work so important to his recent ecessors. prede SHNIKOV: De esigner of fa abled AK-47 MIKHAIL KALAS matic rifle, died on Dec. 23 in Russia. The name AK-47 d n autom stand for "Kalashnikov's Automatic" and the year it was ds desig gned, 1947. Also called the " "Kalashnikov", the rifle and its va ariants are the weapons of c choice for doze of armies ens and g guerrilla groups around the w s world. NO OVEMBE 2013 ER SACH HIN TENDUL LKAR: Cricket icon has been named the n regio onal brand ambassador by the UNICEF to promote its Total Sanitation Campaign in In l ndia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bang gladesh and Ne epal SONIA GANDHI: Congress Pres sident has bee ranked as en the third most influ uential woman in the world as per the list comp piled by the Forbes magazine She is 21st o the overall e. on list. The two wom men ahead of h are German Chancellor her Ange Merkel-5th, Brazilian Pres ela sident Dilma R Rousseff-20th RATA TATA: No AN oted Indian Ind dustrialist has b been elected as a Board memb ber of East W West Centre, a prominent Amer rican think tan and researc organisation established nk ch n by th US Congress he s. CHANDA KOCHHAR: ICICI Bank MD & CE has been EO name as the mos powerful bu ed st usinesswoman in India for the t third consecuti ive year in the list of 50 most powerful e busin nesswomen ra anking for 201 by Fortune magazine. 13 e Shikh Sharma o Axis Bank and Aruna Jayanthi of ha of Capg gemini India we placed at th second and third place. ere he GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014 15
- 17. MU UKESH AMBA ANI: RelianceIndustries chie continued to ef o be India's wealthiest for sixth year in a row, w a networth with h of $21 billion, f followed by steel magnet L Lakshmi Mittal ($1 16bn) as per th Forbes maga he azine's India Rich List 2013. AZ ZIM PREMJI: IT tycoon ha been ranke as the most as ed t gen nerous Indian with a donati ion of Rs 8,00 crore in the 00 e yea ending M ar March 31, 20 013 by the Hurun India a Philanthropy List 2013 publish t hed by the C China’s leading g ma agazine mougal ‘Huran Repor Inc. rt APP POINTM MENT TS DE ECEMBE 2013 ER J N CHOUDHUR RY: Director G General, Natio onal Security Guard (NSG) ARVIND RANJAN Director G N: General, Centra Industrial al Security Force (CISF). SUSH HMA SINGH: Chief Info ormation Comm missioner at Centr Information Commission ral n ALALA YOUSA AFZAI: The Pa akistani teenag shot by the ger e MA Taliban for cham mpioning girls' rights to edu ucation was in n ws has been sele ected by Mex xico for 2013 3 new as she h Int ternational Priz for Equality and Non-Dis ze y scrimination to o rec cognize Malala efforts for "the protection of human a's n rights". SUM BOSE: Union Finance Sec MIT cretary MA ALIA AND MA ALALA: US Pre esident Barack Obama's elder r dau ughter Malia a and Pakistani girls' education activist Malala g a Yousafzai have b been named am mong the 16 m most influential tee of 2013 by the Time magazine. ens SHIV VRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN: Prade esh OCTOB BER 2013 3 SH HYAM BENEGA AL: Veteran director has be d een nominated d to head the acco omplished jury for the Seven Asia Pacific nth c Scr reen Awards (A APSA) to be he in Brisbane, Australia. eld RA ASHID MASO OOD: Rajya Sabha MP of the Congress s bec came the first MP to be dis t squalified after the Supreme r e Court ruled that MPs/MLAs will lose their sea immediately ats y if t they are convic cted of offence that carry a prison term of es f mo than two ye ore ears. AL ZEIDAN: P LI Prime Minister of Libya was in news as he e wa kidnapped b some unkno as by own armed me from a hotel en in T Tripoli, where he was staying However, he was released g. d als a few hours later. so RO OBERTO AZEV VEDO: Direct tor General of World Trade f e Org ganisation – W WTO visited India. C. V. WIGNESW WARAN: Sri Lanka’s first elected Tamil i f n r Chief Minister of the Northern Province in the first ever ovincial election held after clearance of LT ns c TTE from North h pro Sri Lanka. His party Tamil Natio onal Alliance se ecured 30 seats s out of 38. t ITHY PANH: Acclaimed Cam mbodian directo received the or e RI Asi ian Filmmake of the Ye er ear award a the Busan at n Int ternational Film Festival in So m outh Korea. S. JA AISHANKAR: India’s new Am mbassador to U USA ARVIND KEJRIWA 7th Chief M AL: Minister of New Delhi w VASU UNDHARA RA AJE: Chief Mini ister, Rajasthan n Chief Minister, Madhya DR. RAMAN SING GH: Chief Minister, Chattisgarh PU L LALTHANHAW WLA: Chief Min nister,Mizoram VK D DUGGAL: Gove ernor of Manipu ur C. V. R. RAJENDR RAN: Chairma and Managing Director, an Andh Bank hra MOH HAN V TANK KSALE: Chief Executive, In ndian Banks' Assoc ciation (IBA) ABDUL BASIT: Pa akistan’s High C Commissioner t India. to NO OVEMBE 2013 ER AIR MARSHAL A ARUP RAHA: Air Chief Marshal of the an India Air Force SIDH HARTH BIRL LA: President Federation t, Cham mbers of Comm merce & Industr (Ficci) ry AJIT PRAKASH SHAH: T Comm mission of India. of Indian Cha airman of the 20th Law e ABDULLA YAMEE EN: Presiden of the Maldives, from nt Progr ressive Party of Maldives (PPM M). IMOMALI RAKHM MON: Presiden of Tajikistan nt LT. G GEN. RAHEEL SHARIF: Chief of Pakistan army L OCTOBE 2013 O ER USHA ANANTHAS SUBRAMANIA AN: First CEO of the first O all wo omen bank – B Bhartiya Mahila Bank. B AS SHOK: CMD of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) f MUL LATU TESHOM ME: President o Ethiopia of ILHA ALIYEV: P AM President of Az zerbaijan IBNE ABBAS: Pak E kistan’s High Co ommissioner to India o RANJAN MATHA AI: India's High Commissio oner to the ed Unite Kingdom JANE YELLEN: ET Chairperson of the Fede n eral Reserve Syste of USA. It is equivalent o RBI in India She is the em t of a. first w women to head Federal Rese d erve. GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014 16
- 18. AWAR A RDS & HONO OURS DECEMB D BER2013 3 BA ANKER OF TH YEAR-201 HE 13: Aditya P Puri, Managing g Dir rector, HDFC B Bank. The awa is given by the financial ard dai Business Sta ily andard Da ayawati Modi Stree Shakt Samman: Rashmi Singh, i ti , Exe ecutive Directo of the Nation Mission for Empowerment or nal t of Women Str ree Shakti Sc cience Samm man: Jata S Ty yagi, professor r at AIIMS MI ISS INTERNA ATIONAL 2013: Bea Rose Santiago, of e f Philippines, in Tokyo MI ISS EARTH 2013: Mu untinlupa, Philip ppines Alyz Henrich of Venezuela in z n NOVEMB N BER 2013 3 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarm P mament and d De evelopment for 2013: Angela Merkel, German n Chancellor for the work done by her for prom e motion of global eco onomic stability her commitment to universal peace and y, d dis sarmament an her leader nd rship role in strengthening g pro oductive and m mutually benef ficial relations w with India and d oth developing countries. her GO OLDEN ELEPH HANT AWARD D 18t Internationa Children's Fi th al ilm Festival co oncluded on 20 0 No ovember 2013 in Hyderabad. A Dutch Film named 3 d Kauwboy, directe by Boudew ed wijn Koole wo the Golden on n ephant Award for best film in the 'Inte m ernational Live e Ele Act tion' category. Th Order of th Rising Sun, Gold and Sil he he , lver Star: Dr. Sreedharan, former Manag . ging Director o Delhi Metro of o Rail Corporation for his succes ssful implementation of Delhi Me etro Project. Th award is conferred by the govt of Japan. he . olden Gatewa of India’: Best film awa at the 15th ay ard h ‘Go Mu umbai Film Fes stival, won by the Mexican film 'La Jaula De t e Oro (The Golden Cage) directed by Diego Que o' n d emada-Diaz OCTOBE 2013 O ER Indir Gandhi Aw ra ward for Nat tional Integra ation: M.S. Swam minathan, Em minent agricult ture scientist. The prize carrie a cash award of Rs. 5 lac. es . MAN BOOKER P N PRIZE 2013: Eleanor Catt ton for her novel, The Luminar ries. The 28-y year old autho from New or Zeala is the youn and ngest ever winn of this prize ner e. SAKH HAROV Huma Rights Pr an rize: Malala Yo ousafzai, the teena age activist for girl’s education. The prize is given by e the E European Parlia ament. BOOKS & A B AUTHO ORS DE ECEMBE 2013 ER Prop phet of Love b Farrukh Dho by ondy From a Minister’s Journal by F S Aijazuddin m s India Military C a’s Conflicts and D Diplomacy by VP Malik y Doct Sleep by S tor Stephen King India at Risk a k: Mistakes, Misconcep , ption and Misa adventures o Security P of Policy by Jas swant Singh Baro ons of Bank king: Glimpses of Indian Banking Histo by Bakhtiy K Dadabhoy ory yar y NO OVEMBE 2013 ER Goat Days by Beny t yamin Book of Destructi k ion by Anand ( Sachidanan (P. ndan) Chro onicle of a Corpse Bearer b Cyrus Mistry by y The Good Lord B Bird by James Mc Bride, winner of The s Natio onal Book Awar rd-2013, USA. The Wildings by N Nilanjana Roy The Shadow of th Crescent M he Moon by Fatim Bhutto ma dhi-A Spiritua Biography by Arvind Shar al rma Gand OCTOBE 2013 O ER The Luminaries b Eleanor Catto by on My B Brief History: A Memoir by S Stephen Hawking The Map and the Territory by A Alan Greenspan My Journey: Tra ansforming D Dreams into Action by A.P.J. Kalam The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon n Gu uru Debapras sad Award: Geeta Chandran, renowned d Bharatnatyam ex xponent for he outstanding contribution in er n the field of dance e e SO OUL OF INDI AWARD: Ashok Amritra producer of IA aj, f 109 Hollywood f 9 films, for his outstanding ac o chievements in n the film industry. e HR RIDAYNATH MANGESHK KAR AWARD D: Bac chchan for his contribution to the film indus o stry. Amitabh h MI ISS UNIVERS 2013: Gab SE briela Isler from Venezuela in m n Mo oscow, Russia MI ISS ASIA PAC CIFIC 2013: Srishti Rana, In ndia, at Busan, , South Korea. GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014 17
- 19. OBITU Y O UARY DECEMB D BER 2013 3 NELSONMAN NDELA: South h Africa’s first e elected African n president (1994-99) and a global anti-apartheid icon n who got Sout Africa freed th d from the clu utches of its s European (wh hite) rulers in n 1994 throug gh a public c election. He s served over 27 7 years (1962-1990) in prison. Was honoured with ‘Bharat d t Ratna’ in 1990 for espousing 0 g Gandhian values and with h Noble Peace P Prize in 1994. Mr Mandela is p r popularly called ‘Madiba’ as a sign of both d h spect and affe ection. Madiba was the nam of the first ba me st res Ch of the Them clan to wh Mr Mandela belongs. hief mbu hich la FA AROOQ SHEIK KH: Veteran ac ctor of Hindi Ci inema SIS RAM OLA: U Union Labour and Employmen Minister a nt NOVEMB N BER 2013 3 RA AJENDRA YAD DAV: Eminent Hindi short st t tory writer and d nov velist; editor of literary magazine ‘Hans’ f K P SAXENA: N Noted Hindi satirist and Padma Shri awardee a e TA ARLA DALAL: Noted food writer and celeb w brity chef from m Mu umbai, Padma Shri awardee wrote over 100 cookery e, r y boo oks RE ESHMA: Legen ndary Pakistani folk singer wh mesmerised ho d mu usic lovers wi ith soulful ren ndition of son ngs like Lamb bi Jud and Dama D dai Dam Mast Kala andar. FR REDERICK SA ANGER: Britis biochemist, the “father of sh f gen nomics” and the only person to win the N n Nobel Prize for r Chemistry twice – 1958 for his work related to insulin and s d 198 for his work on DNA seque 80 k encing. OCTOB BER 2013 3 MA ANNA DEY: The "king of melody", Go olden Voice of f Bengal, legendary playback sing of Indian ci y ger inema. RA AVURI BHARA ADHWAJA: Eminent Telugu novelist, short t sto writer, poet critic and 2012 Jnanpith awa winner ory t ard R. HARIA: Freed dom fighter, e Minister and ex d DR MOHAN DH De eputy Chairman of the Plannin Commission. n ng TO OM CLANCY: One of the most wid t dely read and d influential military novelist of hi time in USA, known for his y is , s bes seller thrille - The Hunt for Red Octo st ers t ober and Patriot ot Ga ames. AL LVARO MUTIS A noted Co S: olombian poet essayist and t, d nov velist from Me exico, influent tial throughout the Spanisht spe eaking world. PLAC P CES IN NEW N WS DE ECEMBE 2013 ER ENGLAND: Gales a rain caused heavy damag in UK and and ge disruption to transp port and the p power network More than k. 6,000 UK homes re 0 emain without electricity - w t with some of those who have bee cut off since Christmas Ev expressing e en e ve ange at the situatio er on. NO OVEMBE 2013 ER MOU UNT SINABUN NG: name of the volcano t that erupted violen ntly in Karo in western Ind donesia, spew wing volcanic ash u to 8 km into the air, forcing thousands to flee. up o o HAIY YAN: A cate egory-5 super typhoon, th strongest he typho oon in the w world this yea and possibl the most ar ly powe erful ever to hit land smashed into the Philip t d ppines on 8th Nov. killing over 5,000 and forcing more th han 125,000 peop to flee, caus ple sing unprecede ented destructi in a wide ion area. . OCTOBE 2013 O ER PHAILIN: Name of the cyclone that hit the c e coastal areas of Andhra and Od disha. The coastal district of Ganjam, which was hit ha h ardest by Cyclone is believ ved to have suffe ered a loss of at least Rs 3,000 crore as the cyclone depri ived lakhs of pe eople, including fishermen their livelihood g besid damaging o des over 2.4 lakh houses. Howe wever, due to excellent pr o reparations do one by the Natio onal Disaster Response Force (NDR r RF), Indian Metro rological Depar rtment (IMD) and local ad dministration, dama ages were redu uced to bare m minimum. ANGARH, DA ATIA: The place in Madhya Pradesh was RATA in ne ews as a grues some stampede took place th e here claiming over 120 lives an injuring another 100 persons. The nd mours that the river bridge stampede was triggered by rum which the devotees were crossing to reach a n h s g nearby Durga temp was about to collapse. ple, BHAK KRA DAM- one of the highe gravity dam in world, est ms locate on river Satluj at Bhakra ed village in Bilaspur district of e r Himac chal Pradesh, completes 50 years of its dedication to nation n. AL-M MAKTOUM IN NTERNATIONA World’s lar AL: rgest airport, locate in Dubai, c ed commenced operations. It has annual t capac city of handlin 160 million passengers an 12 million ng nd tonne of cargo. es LAMPEDUSA: An island near I n Italy was in news as over 300 persons drown ned there afte a boat with up to 500 er h Africa asylum see an ekers caught fire and sank off Italian k shore It is one of the main entr points into t European es. f ry the Union for asylum-seekers crossing from North A n Africa or the easte Mediterrane ern ean. GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014 18
- 20. SPOR S RTS WOR RLD DECEMB D BER2013 3 Th Indian Kabaddi player beat Pakista to win the he rs an e fou urth edition of the World Cup Kabaddi tour p rnament at the e Gu Nanak Stadium in Ludhian In Women’s category too, uru na. s , Ind dian team lifted the cup beati New Zealan d ing nd Ma ahesh Manga aonkar becam the first Indian squash me h pla ayer to win the IMET Op pen, the PSA World Tour A r Challenger 5 even in Bratislava capital of Slo nt, a, ovakia. Ta arundeep Rai and Atanu Das, Indian ar D rchers won the e silv and bronze medal respec ver e ctively, in the men's recurve e sec ction at the Ind door Archery World Cup in Sin W ngapore. P V Sindhu, In ndian ace shu uttler won the Macau Open e n Gra Prix Gold t and title beating Canada's Michelle Li in Macau. e Ga aganjeet Bhu ullar lifted the $750,000 In e ndonesia Open n Go Cup held in J olf Jakarta, Indone esia. Ho osting rights for FIFA World Cup-201 (Under-17) 17 ) hav been award to India. ve ded TO OUR de INDIA LISTED BY UCI A U The Tour de India 2013, the world's biggest cycling event, w , has been listed in the interna s ational calendar of the UCI I (Un nion Cycliste In nternationale). The races took place on Dec c 15, 17 and 22 in Mumbai, Jaipur and Delhi, respectively. , The event was won by Mohd. Nor Umardi of M N Malayasia erala emerges as champio in 29th Junior National s on Ke Ath hletics Champio onships held in Bangalore. n 57 7th National Shooting Ch hampionship held at New w De elhi. Olympic silver medalist Vijay Kumar of Army won t n gold in men's 2 25m rapid fire pistol event. Man Singh of f Punjab won the g gold in the me en's skeet even while Andhra nt a Pra adesh shooter Rashmi Ratho topped in w ore women's skeet t eve ent. Samresh Jung won th ‘Champion of Champions’ h he title in pistol even nt. eepika Kuma and Tarundeep Rai w ar were the top p De rec curve archers in women and men categor at the 34th d ry h Senior National A Archery champ pionship held a Jamshedpur, at , arkhand. Jha PV Sindhu and K Srikanth clinched the women's and V d h d me en's titles res spectively at the 78th Se enior National Bad dminton Cham mpionships held at New Delhi. Ka apil Dev sele ected for the Col CK Na e ayudu Lifetime e Ach hievement awa for the year 2013 by BCCI ard I. Ra avichandran Ashwin: Ind dian spinner t receive the to e Polly Umrigar Aw ward from the BCCI for bein India’s best ng t international crick keter of the yea 2012-13. ar Mahendra Singh Dhoni won th ICC LG Peo he ople's Choice Awar – 2013 for th best crickete rd he er. ques Kallis: S South African a all-rounder has announced s Jacq his r retirement from test and fi m irst-class crick ket after the secon Test against India in Durb nd t ban, South Afric ca. NO OVEMBE 2013 ER ‘GOD OF CRICK D KET’ BIDS GO OODBYE Legendary cricket star Sachin t n Rame esh Tendulkar finally bade e goodbye to intern national cricke et on Nov 16 after pla aying his 200th h and final Test at Wankhede e stadium against West Indies s, scorin 74 runs, ending his 24 ng 4 years reign on crick s ket. He w caught by Darren Sammy was y on a ball by Narsin ngh Deonarine e. India team won t an the test by inn nings and 126 runs to seal the s series 2-0, pres senting Tendul lkar with a per rfect farewell gift. Sachin is the w world’s highest run getter in t t test matches 921 26. - 15,9 as well as in ODIs- 18,42 POS STAL STAMP ON SACHIN P N A spe ecial stamp wi the portrait of the sporti ith t ing icon was released by the Ind dian Postal Dep partment on No ovember 14 day Sachin played his 200t and also h last Test th his the d matc ch. VIRA KOHLI: India's batting star became the fastest AT batsm man in world to score 5000 runs in one-day intern nationals (ODI) when he scored 86 against West Indies t in the first ODI in K e Kochi. Kohli ac chieved the fea in just 120 at matc ches and 114 innings. In te erms of inning Kohli has gs, equalled the record of Sir Viv Ric d chards of West Indies, who t also achieved the f feat in 114 innings way back in 1987 but k it was Viv's 126th m match. ROH SHARMA: The Indian B HIT Batsman create history by ed scorin highest ev sixes – 16 in an ODI w ng ver 6 while playing again Australia at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. He nst t y also became the th hird batsman in world to sco a double ore centu (209 off 1 ury 158b with 12x4 16x6) in an ODI, after 4, n Sachin and Sehw wag. The match witnessed 38 sixes, d eclips sing the previo best of 31 in a game be ous etween India and N New Zealand at Christchurch in 2009. as d RAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN: ha been placed at the top liance ICC Player Rankings for Test allposition in the Rel ders. round THVI SHAW: The 15 year old, a IX stand dard student PRIT of Riz Springfield High School, M zvi Mumbai create history by ed scorin record 546 runs playing in Harris Sh ng 6 g hield Cricket tourn nament in Azad Maidan, Mum d mbai. He scor red 546 runs in 36 minutes from 330 balls, wit 85 fours and five sixes. 67 m th d HEEN SIDHU: Olympian sho NA ooter created history by becoming first Indian women to win air pistol gold in the ISSF World Cup Fin in Munich, G nal Germany. GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014 19
- 21. Junior National ArcheryChampionship held at Kokrajhar, Assam. India has been awarded the hosting of 2018 men's Hockey World Cup. MAGNUS CARLSEN: the 23 year old chess prodigy from Norway was crowned as World Champion at the World Chess Championship match at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, as he defeated the five-time title-holder Viswanathan Anand. SEBASTIAN VETTEL: Red Bull's German Driver has matched Michael Schumacher's record of 13 victories in a year and equalled the nine consecutive wins of Alberto Ascari. Vettel achieved the remarkable feat by winning the Formula One's season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix. Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Jamaican sprint duo have been named as the IAAF’s male and female World Athletes of the Year for 2013. The 27-year-old Bolt also won the award in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012. Jason Day of Australia lifted the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf held in Melbourne, Australia. Nepal and UAE have qualified for the first time to take part in the ICC T20 championship 2014 to be held in Bangladesh. Romania claimed top position in medal tally at the Ashihara Sabaki World Karate Championship held at Bucharest, Romania. Serbia's Novak Djokovic won the Paris Masters Tennis tournament beating David Ferrer of Spain Novak Djokovic won the ATP World Tour Finals in London beating Rafael Nadal. Serena Williams won the WTA Tour Championship title beating Li Na of China at Istanbul, Turkey. WTA – Womens Tennis Association Serena Williams declared ‘Player of the Year’ for 2013 by the WTA Veteran athlete Ajmer Singh won gold medal in hammer throw (+75 years category) in the 20th World Master Athletics Championship held at Porto Alegre, Brazil, from October 15-28. Peter Gilchrist from Singapore defeated Dave Causier to win the World Billiards Championship at Leeds, England. Asian Archery Championship held in Taipei, China won by South Korea. Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship held at Penang, Malaysia. The Hockey World Cup- 2014 will be held from May 31 to June 15, 2014 at The Hague, Netherlands OCTOBER 2013 Sachin Tendulkar reached the coveted landmark of 50,000 runs across all formats of cricket. He achieved the feat at Feroze Shah Kotla stadium, New Delhi playing for Mumbai Indians against Trinidad & Tobago in Champions League Twenty20. He has announced his final retirement from first class cricket. Mumbai Indians created history by becoming the first team to win the Champions League (cricket) twice, beating Rajasthan Royals in the finals played at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi. Bhavina Hashmukhbhai Patel became the first Indian to win a silver medal at the 2013 ITTF Asian Table Tennis championship held in Beijing, China. Virat Kohli scored the fastest ever century by an Indian batsman in ODI, off 52 balls, playing against Australia at Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur. Sanjeev Rajput: won the gold in men’s 50-metre free rifle prone event in the Asian Air Gun shooting championship in Tehran, Iran. Mohit Mayur and Prerna Bhambri win the men’s and women’s title, respectively, in Fenesta National tennis championship held at New Delhi. Rohan Bopanna along with French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin, won the men’s doubles title at the Japan Open Tennis held at Tokyo, Japan. Indian Open Snooker Tournament: Ding Junhui of China won the title beating Aditya Mehta in the finals held at New Delhi. Duleep trophy (cricket): South zone and North zone were declared joint winners of the in the final played at Kochi, Kerala. Terry Walsh: Ace hockey player from Australia appointed as the chief coach of Indian men's hockey team CHINA OPEN TENNIS CUP Novak Djokovic of Serbia beat Rafael Nadal of Spain to win the China Open Tennis Cup held at Beijing, China. Women’s singles title was won by Serena Williams, defeating Jelena Jankovic. Sania Mirza alongwith Cara Black won the women’s doubles title. Afghanistan has qualified for the 11th ICC Cricket World Cup for the first time. Total 14 teams will compete for the cup to be hosted jointly by Australia and New Zealand. Sebastian Vettel: The Red Bull driver from Germany won the fourth successive Formula one championship of this season at the Buddh International Circuit, Noida, UP. Vladimir Klitschko of Ukraine won the world heavyweight boxing title beating Russian Alexander Povetkin at the final bout held at Moscow, Russia. Sohag Gazi: Allrounder from Bangladesh became the first cricketer in 136 year old history of cricket to score a century and claim a hat-trick in the same Test. He achieved the feat while playing against New Zealand at Chitagong, Bangladesh. He scored unbeaten 101 and claimed six wickets for 77 runs. The World Boxing Championships held in Almaty, Kazakhstan GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 20
- 22. ABBREVIATIONS LGBT: Lesbian, Gay,Bisexual and Transgender DGMO: Director General of Military Opeations NSSO: National Sample Survey Organization A K 47: Automatic (rifle by) Kalashnikov, 1947 BMD: Ballistic Missile Defence CCEA: Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs CCI: Competition Commission of India CCS: Cabinet Committee on Security CERN: European Council for Nuclear Research (FrenchConseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire) CPSU: Central Public Sector Undertaking CTT: Light Emitting Diode LCD: Liquid Crystal Display MMTC: Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation MNC: Multi National Cooperation MPCE: Monthly Per Capita Expenditure NCTC: National Counter Terrorism Center NFSM: National Food Security Mission NIA: National Investigation Agency NMDC: National Mineral Development Corporation NOFHC: Non-Operative Financial Holding Company (for opening new bank) M3 Broad Money OECD: Organisation for Development Economic Cooperation and OFS: Offer For Sale (a company selling its shares) PISA: Programme for International Student Assessment RCEP: Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership SARDP: Special Accelerated Road Development Programme SFIO: Thin Film Transistor USSD: Unstructured Supplementary Service Data WIFS: Weekly Iron and Folic acid Supplement WIFS: Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplement 04th December 06th December 09th December 10th December 16th December 23rd December 24th December 25th December NOVEMBER 01st November 09th November 11th November 16th November 17th November 18th November 19th November 21st November 25th November 26th November Ajab Gazab Duniya EAGLE VIDEO RECORDS ITS JOURNEY A young sea eagle stole a video camera that was surveying crocodiles in Western Australia and inadvertently recorded its 110-km-long eventful journey in high definition. The footage revealed by wildlife rangers shows the juvenile eagle scooping up the video recorder and taking to the sky. A new report by the international watchdog Global Financial Integrity (GFI) has revealed that in 2011, over Rs 4 lakh crore worth of black money was illegally taken out of India,. This was 24 percent more than the previous year. MAKING CAR – A CHILDS PLAY - REALLY WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organization DAYS & DATES JANUARY National Youth Day World Laughter Day Army Day Desh Prem Divas Indian Republic Day Martyr’s Day 01st December 02nd December 03rd December FOUR TRILLION RUPEES FLY OUT OF INDIA Serious Fraud Investigation Office TFT: World AIDS Day International Day for abolition of Slavery International Day of Disabled Persons World Conservation Day Navy Day Armed Forces Day National Immunization Day Human Rights Day Vijay Divas Kisan Day National Consumer Day X-Max Day Formation Day for Andhra Pradesh Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab States Legal Services Day National Education Day UN’s International Day for Tolerance National Day for the Deaf Territorial Army Day National Integration Day World Fisheries Day Flag Day National Law Day Commodity Transaction Tax LED: DECEMBER An Australian man and a Romanian teenager have built a real car with 500,000 Lego bricks. The life-sized two-seater car has a top speed of 30 km per hour (20 mph) and is powered by four orbital engines with 256 pistons - all made of Lego - that run on compressed air. PRESERVING SON’S ASHES AS DIOMOND th 12 January 13th January 15th January 23rd January 26th January 30th January An Italian father had his dead son eternally preserved by getting the 20-year-old's ashes transformed into a diamond. The father had his son's body exhumed and cremated before sending the ashes to Switzerland so they could be compressed into the gemstone. ALL THE NEWS ITEMS IN THIS MAGAZINE HAVE BEEN SOURCED FROM VARIOUS NEWS PAPERS AND GOVT. PRESS RELEASES GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 21
- 23. (July – September2013) For details please visit our website: www.gyanm.in NATIONAL NEWS SEPTEMBER 2013 Prime Minister visited U.S.A. to address the 66th session of UN General Assembly. India and USA have agreed to undertake joint development and production of military hardware, involving transfer of high-end technology from America. Supreme Court has ruled that the voter has the right to negative voting by rejecting all the candidates in fray by exercising the option of None of the Above (NOTA). As per the annual Global Competitiveness Report 201314, India has slipped to 60th position in terms of its competitiveness globally. A new global corruption risk index ranked India as the 69th most graft-prone nation out of 197 countries The National Green Tribunal has banned digging of earth without prior environment clearance across the country for making bricks and roads Government has notified the landmark National Food Security Act 2013, giving a legal right on highly subsidised foodgrains to 67 per cent of the country's population. The third edition of the Sustainable Mountain Development Summit, SMDS-III was held at Kohima, Nagaland. A commemorative stamp has been released in the memory of freedom fighter and veteran journalist, founder of news paper ‘Punjab Kesari’ - Lala Jagat Narain. The Rajya Sabha passed a Bill to create a Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) which will replace the collegium system of appointing judges to higher courts. World's largest solar power plant to generate 4,000 mw from sunlight is being set up near the Sambhar lake in Rajasthan. Raghuram Rajan panel has developed a 'Multi Dimensional Index (MDI)' for identifying backwardness of states and devolving funds for their development. The MDI ranks Odisha as India’s most backward state, followed by Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Government has approved three highway projects in Assam under Special Accelerated Road Development programme. The first North East Festival was held at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi 'THE GOOD ROAD': Gyan Correa's National awardwinning Gujarati film nominated for 2014 Oscar Awards in USA. India's population estimated at 123 crore as of March 1, 2012, which includes 27 crore BPL people India signed the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with the Baltic country Latvia Asian Development Bank to provide $400 million to improve water and sanitation system in Kolkata. AUGUST 2013 Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi Prime Minister visited India. The World Bank and ADB to provide $ 400 million for reconstruction and rehabilitation of disaster-hit Uttarakhand. Filing of RTI applications for all central government ministries and departments has been made online with launch of website www.rtionline.gov.in India has bypassed Japan to become the world’s third largest Internet user after China and the United States The government has decided to extend Tourist Visa on Arrival facility at four more airports of the country Trivandrum, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kochi. JULY 2013 The Supreme Court ruled that a person, who is in jail or in police custody, cannot contest election to legislative bodies as he/she ceases the right to cast vote. Supreme Court has ruled that MPs, MLAs and MLCs would automatically lose their membership if sentenced to jail for more than 2 years by the trial court. Joe Biden, US Vice President came to India for a four day visit to discuss matters on trade, energy, climate, defence and regional cooperation. The Nalanda University in Bihar and its academic staff will get privileges and immunities required for efficient functioning and recruit talent from across the world. GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 22
- 24. Outdoor air pollutionalone in urban areas claims 1.09 lakh lives of adults, costing about Rs 3.75 lakh crores annually. India is slated to achieve 80% literacy rate in the next two years against 74 per cent as per the 2011 Census. India has ranked 66th in innovation capacity and efficiency in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2013. The first direct flight service between India and Vietnam will begin by November this year. The President of India revoked President’s rule proclamation in the state of Jharkhand on July13, under Article 356 of the Constitution. Asia’s first engineering college for the blind is proposed to be set up near Hyderabad. In yet another first, the country's largest prison Tihar Jail, Delhi has now got its very own FM radio station. India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives have entered into a tripartite agreement on maritime cooperation to ‘secure’ sea routes in the Indian Ocean region. India and Tanzania have signed agreements on bilateral cooperation in several sectors including agriculture, health and education, mines and minerals. NEWS FROM STATES SEPTEMBER 2013 Bihar govt has asked Gram Sabhas to observe ‘Bitiya Janmotsav’ (celebration of birth of girl children) to spread awareness about gender issues. Tripura has emerged as most literate state in India with 94.65 per cent literacy against Kerala’s 93.91 per cent. AUGUST 2013 The Assam govt. has decided to provide free cycles to girl students of class 9 and 10 in all govt. schools. JULY 2013 Andhra Pradesh continues to be the most popular destination among domestic tourists, followed by Maharashtra. Karnataka govt. to supply rice to nearly one crore poor families across the state at Re 1 a kg. Himachal Pradesh declared the first “smoke-free” State in the country GOVT INITIATIVES SEPTEMBER 2013 Parliament passed the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill, 2011, to create a regulator for the sector and allow 26 per cent FDI. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) became the first regulator in the world to start an insurance repository system. Horticulture Mission for North East and Himalayan States (HMNEH) and National Bamboo Mission (NBM) have been merged with National Horticultural Mission (NHM). Govt has notified that the controversial General Anti Avoidance Rules will come into effect from April 1, 2016. Govt has set up the Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation, engage with corporates for help to counter Naxal influence. The Lok Sabha passed the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011, which seeks to replace the colonial-era Land Acquisition Act, 1894. AUGUST 2013 Parliament has passed the new Companies Act 2013 with following highlights: • A single person can now start a company, to be called One Person Company (OPC) • Maximum number of persons permitted to form a private limited company raised to 200, from 50 at present. • The limit of the maximum number of companies in which a person may be appointed as auditor fixed at 20. • Companies with market capitalisation of more than Rs. 500 crore to spend 2 per cent of their annual net profits on corporate social responsibility (CSR), such as social work or charity. National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme to provide skill training to at least one person from each rural household that completes 100 days of work under NREGP The government has set up a Tax Administration Reform Commission under Parthasarathy Shome, to review the application of tax policies and tax laws National Monsoon Mission launched for an improved prediction of monsoon rainfall. JULY 2013 Parthasarathi Shome committee to interact with industry groups on tax-related issues or disputes. Govt. has released the National Cyber Security Policy 2013 to safeguard both physical and business assets of the country. Telecom Commission has approved raising of foreign direct investment limit in the telecom sector from 74% to 100% Govt. to cover 339 of around 620 districts by March next year by a system under which govt. services can be accessed through instruments like mobile phones. Family income ceiling under SC/ST scholarship scheme raised from Rs two lakh to Rs 4.50 lakh per annum from this fiscal. Govt has approved setting up of the first-ever National Aviation University of the country at Rae Bareli (UP) GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 23
- 25. Country's first ‘onlyfor women’ university to set up at Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, named ‘Indira Gandhi National University for Women’. AUGUST 2013 AREA NORMS REVISED FOR SEZ’s Type of SEZ ECONOMIC INDICATORS SEPTEMBER 2013 According to the Central Statistical Office (CSO), India's economy grew at 4.4% in the first quarter of the current fiscal, its slowest pace in over four years Fitch Ratings cut India's growth forecast for the current financial year to 4.8 per cent, saying weak demand is a large drag on the economy. Share of agriculture and allied sectors in India's GDP has declined to 13.7 per cent in 2012-13 J P Morgan has cut the country's GDP growth forecast to 4.1 per cent for the fiscal year ending March 2014. Global financial giant Goldman Sachs has cut India's GDP growth rate forecast to 4% from 6% earlier for the current financial year. AUGUST 2013 The share of exports in GDP has dipped marginally to 17.3 per cent in 2012-13 as against 17.6% in 2011-12 JULY 2013 Japanese brokerage firm Nomura has reduced the country's GDP forecast for this fiscal to 5% from 5.6 earlier ECONOMY SEPTEMBER 2013 Sikkim has recorded steepest fall - 22% in poverty level in the country, reaching to 8.19% between 200405 and 2011-12, on account of increase in per capita consumption Govt. has finalised the timeline for implementation of the mega Amritsar-Delhi-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (ADKIC) to push the infrastructure development. As per recent RBI data, Odisha emerged as the hottest investment destination for new projects attracting 27% share of all-India investments. ADB to grant Rs. 2,100 crore to Karnataka to develop and upgrade eight city clusters around Bangalore India to invest USD 4.3 billion in World Bank bonds to help the country secure additional funding from the multilateral agency for infrastructure projects. The Finance Ministry has taken over commodity futures markets regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) from the Consumers Affairs Ministry. Earlier area in hectares Multi-product SEZ's 1000 Single product SEZ's 100 Multi-services SEZ’s 100 SEZ only for electronics hardware, agro based food processing, biotechnology, handicrafts Revised area in hectares 500 50 50 10 RBI has increased the ceiling for FDI in Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) from 49% to 74% The government has approved setting up of 12 mega food parks in the 12th Plan to boost the food processing sector. Production target for food grains set at 259 million tonnes for the year 2013-14. The state of Uttar Pradesh has highest production target of nearly 490 MT Nagpur orange, tribal Warli art of Maharashtra, Dharmavaram saris of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala’s Kaipad rice have been grante Geographical Indications The Union Cabinet has cleared the proposal for sale of 10 percent government stake in Indian Oil Corporation The textiles exports target for 2013-14 has been raised to $ 43 billion, from $ 32 billion in the last year. JULY 2013 As per Planning Commission data, poverty ratio in the country has declined to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12 from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05 on account of increase in per capita consumption. Revised poverty line says that the persons whose per day consumption of goods and services is less than Rs 33.33 in cities and Rs 27.20 in villages are in BPL category. National Stock Exchange (NSE), Mumbai, has been ranked as the world's largest bourse in terms of volumes in equity trades, in June, registering 11.2 crore trades. South Korea's steel giant Posco has decided to shelve its plan to build a Rs 32,000-crore steel plant in Gadag, Karnataka due to unavailability of a captive mine. Steelmaker Arcelor Mittal has scrapped its $12-billion (Rs. 72000crore) steel plant in Keonjhar district of Odisha over inordinate delays. FDI limits raised: Telecom - 100%, Insurance, Multibrand retail- 49%, Filing of income tax returns made mandatory for those earning up to Rs.5 lakh in salary. Export-Import Bank of India (Exim) has extended credit of $ 19.50 million to the Vietnam government Supreme Court has ruled that ownership of minerals vests with owner of land and not with the Govt as there is no law in the country which declares state as owner. GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 24
- 26. BANKING SEPTEMBER 2013 Dr. RaghuramGovind Rajan took over as the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on September 04. RBI has directed banks to stop zero per cent or discounted interest rate schemes as they tend to befool the consumers into believing that bank funding comes for free. RBI had notified eKYC as an 'officially valid document' under anti-money laundering laws. RBI has allowed banks to open branches, including in Tier 1 centres (cities with population of one lakh and above), without its prior permission. Reserve Bank has directed that gold jewellery accepted as security will have to be valued at the average of the closing price of 22 carat gold for the preceding 30 days RBI has asked banks to close accounts of those customers who use their credit or debit card for online forex trading transactions as such these are prohibited. Reserve Bank has allowed to carry Indian currency up to Rs. 10,000 per person, outside India or to bring into India (other than to Nepal and Bhutan) The Reserve Bank has allowed cash withdrawals of up to Rs 1,000 a day from point of sale terminals, through prepaid cards, including gift cards issued by banks. The Reserve Bank has decided to subsidise the hedging costs of foreign currency swaps for banks offering deposits to overseas non-resident Indians (NRIs) Bimal Jalan Committee set up by RBI to screen the 26 applications received for new bank licenses. Urjit Patel Committee formed to strengthen the framework of monetary policy to avoid friction between the RBI and the Finance Ministry. AUGUST 2013 RBI has extended the deadline for clearing non CTS cheques till 31st December, 2013. The Reserve Bank has asked banks to not to scribble or write on any part of the banknotes. Govt has confirmed that Aadhaar card is a valid and complete proof for complying with know your customer (KYC) norms for opening a bank account. RBI increased the interest subvention on pre and post shipment export credit to 3% from August 1, 2013. RBI imposed penalties of Rs. 50 lakhs to two crore on Allahabad Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Corporation Bank, Dena Bank, IDBI Bank and Indian Bank for violating KYC norms. State Bank of India plans to deploy over 1.25 lakh point-of-sale (PoS) terminals in the next 18 months at various merchant outlets and counters at branches Reserve Bank transferred over Rs 33,000 crore to the Govt as its surplus profit for the year 2012-13. JULY 2013 RBI imposed a total fine of Rs.49.5 crore on 22 banks for violating anti-money laundering and KYC rules. Tata Sons, IDFC, Reliance Capital, Aditya Birla Group and India Post are among the 26 entities seeking licence for new bank. Tata Communications Payment Solutions launched country's first network of White Label ATMs called 'Indicash' SBI has launched a co-branded pre-paid card with UAE Exchange, called the 'State Bank Xpress Money Card', that provides banking services to inward remittance receivers. The Supreme Court has ruled that in case of issuance of cheque from joint accounts, only the person who signs the cheque can be prosecuted in a cheque bouncing case RBI has advised banks that they should not accept fresh PDCs for EMIs at locations where Electronic Clearance Service (ECS) is available. RBI has notified that banks should engage only those telemarketers who are registered in terms of the guidelines issued by TRAI. , from time to time, for all their promotional/ Public sector banks have been asked to set up ATMs in all branches by March, 2014 to enable customers in rural pockets to do banking round-the-clock. RBI has advised that it will compensate banks 25 per cent of the losses if they report counterfeit bank notes of Rs 100 and above to RBI or police authorities. DEFENCE, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY SEPTEMBER 2013 India and Nepal began Joint military exercises "Exercise Surya Kiran-V" in general combat and mountain warfare in Pithoragarh, Uttrakhand. India tested Agni-V nuclear- capable surface to surface long-range ballistic missile with a strike range of more than 5000 kms. India’s advanced multi-band communication satellite GSAT-7, launched from Kourou, French Guiana to be used exclusively for defence forces. India has been granted 'Authorising Nation' status under the international Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement Samudra Ratnakar-the Rs.600-crore research vessel acquired by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) Google Inc has launched its latest algorithm "Hummingbird” to match the queries in long sentences with that of documents on the Internet. NASA has launched an unmanned spacecraft The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer or Ladee that aims at unlocking the mysteries of Moon's GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 25
- 27. atmosphere. Voyager 1 spacecraftof US space agency NASA, launched some 36years ago, has become the first manmade object to venture into interstellar space. Global IT giant Microsoft of USA has taken over the mobile phone business of Nokia Corporation of Finland in a deal of about $ 7.17 billion. AUGUST 2013 India has activated the atomic reactor on its first indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant, making it operational. India test-fired its nuclear-weapon capable Prithvi-II missile with a strike range of 350 kms. INS Vikrant, India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier launched in waters at Cochin Shipyard Limited. The US has accepted India’s request to supply 145 state-of-the-art 155mm towed Howitzers guns INS Sindhurakshak, Indian submarine that sank due to two massive explosions, killing all the 18 mariners. JULY 2013 Government to create a ‘Mountain Strike Crops’ along the China border at a cost of around Rs. 65,000 crore. The Indian Navy takes delivery of the INS Trikand, last of the three Krivak class stealth frigates built by Russia India’s first dedicated navigation satellite, the IRNSS1A, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, launched successfully. India successfully launched its advanced meteorological spacecraft INSAT-3D by a European rocket from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana. Iris - Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph: a satellite launched by NASA to study a region of the sun that will improve space weather prediction. World’s largest telescope - Square Kilometre Array (SKA) starts in Australia. China launched three satellites - Chuangxin-3, Shiyan-7 and Shijian-15 for scientific experiments on space maintenance technologies. INTERNATIONAL SEPTEMBER 2013 The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group has decided to create a $100-billion Currency Reserve Fund (CRF). Afghanistan has decided to reserve a special seat for Sikh / Hindu Afghan nationals in the Lower House of Parliament - Wolesi Jirga, in the next 2015 elections. Japan started switching off its last operating nuclear reactor for an inspection, with no date scheduled for a restart amid strong public hostility towards atomic power. A joint meeting of ministers of finance and ministers of labour from G20 member states was held in St. Petersburg, Russia. AUGUST 2013 Over 1300 men, women and children were killed in Syria in the world's most lethal chemical weapons attack since the 1980s. The Washington Post, the 80 year old iconic newspaper of USA has been sold for $250 million to Jeffrey P. Bezos, founder of Amazon.com JULY 2013 US govt. celebrated 100 years of Sikhs’ achievements in America as they first arrived in July 1913. Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi was ousted on July 4 and put under detention by the army. The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or otherwise Print Disabled adopted by 150 countries at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Diplomatic Conference hosted by Morocco in Marrakesh Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation Economic and Business Conference held at Mauritius Britain suffered its first prolonged heat wave in seven years after experiencing its hottest day of the year on July 17 at 32.2°Celsius in southwest London. Meeting of Finance Ministers and central bank Governors from the G-20 group of advanced and emerging nations held at Moscow, Russia on July 20. Afghanistan and India have signed MoUs for implementing 60 projects in ten Afghan provinces under the Small Development Projects scheme. PERSONS IN NEWS SEPTEMBER 2013 BO XILAI: A former powerful member of China’s Politburo was in news as he was awarded life imprisonment by the court of a northeastern Chinese province as he was found guilty on all charges of bribery, graft and abuse of power. NINA DAVULURI: Twenty-four-year-old Indian-origin beauty, winner of Miss New York title, became the first non American origin contestant to win the prestigious Miss America pageant, after wooing the judges with a Bollywood fusion dance. JHUMPA LAHIRI: Indian-American author from New York was in news as she made it to this year's Man Booker Prize shortlist for her new novel 'The Lowland', an intimate portrayal of two brothers set in the Kolkata of 1960s. The novel has also been nominated for US National Book Award 2013. ZUBIN MEHTA: World renowned music maestro conducted the Bavarian State Orchestra during the Ehasas-e-Kashmir concert at Shalimar Garden, Srinagar (J&K). GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 26
- 28. AUGUST 2013 BASHAR ALASSAD: President of Syria was in news as he was alleged to have used chemical weapons against civilians near capital city of Damascus, killing over 1300 persons, mostly children in their sleep. The incident invited strong protests from the UNO and several other countries of world. JULY 2013 GEORGE ALEXANDER LOUIS: Name of the Britain’s new prince, son of Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton. The third-in-line to the British throne will be known as “His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge.” HEMANT SOREN: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader swornin as ninth Chief Minister of Jharkhand ABDUL RAHIM RATHER: Jammu & Kashmir Finance Minister has been elected as the new Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST. M. S. RAGHAVAN: Chairman and Managing Director, IDBI Bank SUDHIR KUMAR JAIN: Chairman and Managing Director, Syndicate Bank Dr K K PAUL: Governor of Meghalaya VIRENDRA KATARIA: Lt. Governor of Puducherry NAJEEB JUNG: Lt Governor of Delhi APPOINTMENTS SEPTEMBER 2013 LT GEN AK SINGH (RETD): Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar SHRINIWAS D PATIL: Governor of Sikkim MS. DEEPAK SANDHU: Chief Information Commissioner (First women to head Central Information Commission) SUJATHA SINGH: Union Foreign Secretary JUSTICE SHIVA KIRTI SINGH: of India JUSTICE P. SATHASIVAM: India (40th) Judge, Supreme Court JUSTICE C. NAGAPPAN: Judge, Supreme Court of India DINESH K. SARRAF: Chairman and Managing Director, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). RAJEEV RISHI: Chairman and Managing Director of Central Bank of India. ANGELA MERKEL: Chancellor (Prime Minister) of Germany (third time), from Christian Democratic Union Party ERNA SOLBERG: Prime Minister of Norway TONY ABBOTT: Conservative party) Prime Minister of Australia (from AUGUST 2013 RAGHURAM G RAJAN: Governor, Reserve Bank of India DILIP TRIVEDI: Director General, Central Reserve Police Force IBRAHIM BOUBACAR KEITA: President of Mali HASSAN ROUHANI: President of Iran JULY 2013 SHARAD KUMAR: Director General, National Investigation Agency (NIA) RANA KAPOOR: President of Assocham; he is CEO of Yes Bank. R. CHANDRASHEKHAR: President, National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) ANIL GOSWAMI: Union Home Secretary Chief Justice of MAMNOON HUSSAIN: 12th President of Pakistan HAZEM EL-BEBLAWI: Prime Minister of Egypt AWARDS & HONOURS SEPTEMBER 2013 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development-2012: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia. She is the first democratically elected women Head of State of any African country. She was honoured for serving as an example and an inspiration for ensuring the return of peace, democracy, development, security and order in Liberia and for her strong interest in the consolidation and improvement of ties between both the nations. MOORTIDEVI AWARD-2012: Haraprasad Das, eminent Oriya writer, for 'Vamsha, a poetic recreation of the Mahabharata in contemporary idiom. GERMAN BANK PRIZE FOR RBI GUV Raghuram G Rajan, Governor, Reserve Bank of India has been awarded the Fifth Deutsche Bank Prize for Financial Economics 2013, in recognition of his ground-breaking research work which influenced financial and macroeconomic policies around the world. CLINTON GLOBAL CITIZENS AWARDS: Bunker Roy and Malala Yousafzai. Roy is the founder of the Barefoot College, which has been providing solutions to problems in rural communities for more than 40years. GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 27
- 29. MEGAN YOUNG: MissWorld 2013, of Philippines, at Bali, Indonesia. PUNJABI FILM 'QISSA' directed by Anup Singh has won Best Asian Film Award at the 38th Toronto International Film Festival in Canada. ABHINAV TIWARI'S "OASS", a movie on human trafficking, was named the best film at the Ladakh International Film Festival. BOOKER PRIZE GOES GLOBAL The Man Booker Prize, described as the “the most important and influential award for literary fiction in the English speaking world” will now be open from 2014 to writers in English from any part of the world provided their books have been published in the United Kingdom. Thus far the Booker Prize was for literary fiction by authors only from the Commonwealth, the Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe. AUGUST 2013 RAJIV GANDHI KHEL RATNA AWARD: Ronjan Sodhi, two-time world champion in double trap shooting. Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavna Award: Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship: Shailendra Kumar Mandal JULY 2013 TAGORE AWARD FOR CULTURAL HARMONY, 2013: Zubin Mehta, internationally noted master of western classical music, known for his Philharmonic Orchestra. ‘BARFI’ SWEEPS IIFA AWARDS: The film directed by Anurag Basu bagged IIFA awards for best film, best director, best actor, best story and music awards at a grand ceremony held at Macau. limelight for her books narrating her experiences in Kabul (read ‘with Taliban’) after marrying an Afghan money lender. RAY DOLBY: An inventor and audio pioneer from USA who founded Dolby Laboratories, known for Dolby Stereo Sound systems and 50 other patents in his name. DAVID FROST: Veteran British journalist and broadcaster, who won fame around the world for his TV interviews with the former U.S. President, Richard Nixon and several other statesmen of the world. KEN NORTON: Former world heavyweight boxing champion, considered one of the greatest fighter of his era, was best known for beating Muhammad Ali in 1973. AUGUST 2013 DESH PREM AZAD: First cricket coach to receive prestigious Dronacharya award. Known for producing cricket stars like Kapil Dev, Ashok Malhotra, Yograj Singh and Chetan Sharma. JULY 2013 PRAN: Legendary actor, loved and feared in equal measure by moviegoers for his roles in Bollywood hits like 'Milan', 'Madhumati' and 'Zanjeer'. Full name Pran Krishan Sikand, he was recently decorated with ‘Dada Saheb Phalke Award’. ARUN NEHRU: Former Union Minister KHURSHED ALAM KHAN: Veteran Congress leader and former Union Foreign Minister AMAR G. BOSE: The Indo-American visionary entrepreneur and acoustics pioneer, famous for making high-quality Bose audio systems and speakers. LOKMANYA TILAK AWARD-2013: E. Sreedharan (Metro Man) for his outstanding contribution to society. DOUGLAS C. ENGELBART: Inventor of the computer mouse and a computer visionary RAMON MAGSAYSAY AWARD: Habiba Sarobi, first and only woman Governor of the Afghan province of Bamyan, was recognised for promoting education, women’s rights. OTTAVIO QUATTROCCHI: Controversial Italian businessman, a key figure in the Bofors payoffs scandal. RAMNATH GOENKA Excellence in Journalism Award: Vidya Subrahmaniam, Associate Editor of The Hindu, for the Best Commentary and Interpretative Writing for 2010. PLACES IN NEWS PREM BHATIA AWARD FOR 2013: (for excellence in journalism) Shalini Singh and Jaideep Hardikar OBITUARY SEPTEMBER 2013 ROMESH BHANDARI: Former UP Governor and exForeign Secretary of India SEPTEMBER 2013 KAESONG: North and South Korea have agreed to reopen their joint industrial park at Kaesong, five months after it was shut during soaring military tensions. Located 10 kilometers inside North Korea, it was established in 2004 as a rare symbol of inter-Korean cooperation. AWARAN: A district in Balochistan province of Pakistan was the epicentre of a severe earthquake of 7.7 magnitude that caused widespread devastation, claiming hundreds of lives. SUSHMITA BANERJEE: Noted Bengali author who was killed in Afghanistan by militants. She had come into the GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 28
- 30. ST. PETERSBURG: Thesecond biggest city in Russia was the venue for meeting of Heads of nations of G-20 group of countries. DAOCHENG YADING AIRPORT: World's highest-altitude civilian airport, located 4,411 meters above sea level in Daocheng county in Sichuan province neighbouring Tibet, has started its operations. SUPER TYPHOON USAGI: the most powerful storm of the year brought torrential rain and strong winds to the Philippines and Taiwan on Sep. 21, causing widespread devastation before moving towards Hong Kong. AUGUST 2013 NIYAMGIRI HILLS: Area in district Rayagada in Odisha was in news as all the 12 gram sabhas there unanimously decided to not to allow bauxite mining for Vedanta Aluminum, a multi crore FDI project. KHIRSARA: A village, 85 km from Bhuj town, Gujarat was in news as a large numbers of artifacts belonging to Harrappan era were discovered from there. JULY 2013 Greco-Roman category of the senior World Wrestling Championships held at Budapest, Hungary. Swaran Singh (Punjab) wins gold medal in Asian Rowing Championship held at Luan, China Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi won the bronze medal in the World Junior Chess Championship held in Kocaeli, Turkey. Durand Cup Football Tournament: Kolkata giants Mohammedan Sporting created history by winning the prestigious cup after a gap of 73 years, defeating ONGC 2-1 in the final played at Ambedkar Stadium, New Delhi. S. Sreesanth and Ankeet Chavan have been banned for life from playing official cricket by the Disciplinary Committee of the BCCI for their involvement in spot-fixing during certain matches of the Indian Premier League this summer. WRESTLING BACK IN OLYMPICS: After a seven-month exile, wrestling has been welcomed back into the Olympic programme defeating baseball/softball and squash for a spot in the 2020 Summer Games to be held in Tokyo. THOMAS BACH: Elected President of International Olympic Committee (IOC), from Germany. He is an ex Olympic champion of fencing. PARADIP PORT: in Odisha has been conferred the ‘Major Port of the Year’ award in recognition of its excellent performance in 2012-13. CHUMAR: Place in Laddakh area of Jammu & Kashmir on China Border was in news as Chinese troops intruded in Indian Territory in this area KUDANKULAM: Nuclear Power Plant in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu attained first criticality (trial production) on July 13, setting the stage for its commissioning TAHRIR SQUARE: Place in Cairo, capital of Egypt was in news as thousands of people massed at the iconic Tahrir Square - the epicentre of pro-democracy protests in 2011. SPORTS WORLD SEPTEMBER 2013 India wins Under-21 Sultan of Johor Cup Hockey tournament held at Johar Bahru, Malaysia, beating Malaysia National Junior Athletics Championship held at Kochi, Kerala. India lost Asia Cup Hockey final at Ipoh, Malaysia, just by one goal to South Korea, scoring 3 goals against 4 by South Korea. However, India has qualified for the 2014 Hockey World Cup to be held at The Hague, Netherlands. Amit Kumar, ace wrestler from India, won silver medal and Bajrang won the bronze at the World Wrestling Championships at Budapest, Hungary. 2020 Olympic Games to be held at Tokyo, Japan. 1964 Olympics were also held at Tokyo. 2016 Olympics are to be held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Japan beats Korea to win the Eighth Women’s Hockey Asia Cup held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. India won bronze in this championship. Wilson Kipsang of Kenya set a new world record of 2 hours 3 minutes 23 seconds at the Berlin Marathon, slashing earlier world record by 15 seconds Rafael Nadal (Spain) defeated world number one Novak Djokovic (Serbia) to win the US Open men's singles title at Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York, USA. Serena Williams (USA) beats Victoria Azarenka, of Belarus, to win the women's singles final of the 2013 U.S. Open tennis tournament, in New York, USA. Leander Paes. alongwith his Czech partner Radek Stepanek, won the US Open 2013 men’s doubles crown. Afghanistan beats India to win SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) Football Championship held at Kathmandu, Nepal. Gareth Bale, the ace footballer from UK created a new record by becoming the expensive most player in the history of football. He has been contracted by the Spanish club Real Madrid for an exorbitant sum of 100 million Euros (Rs.872.6 crore). Sandeep Tulsi Yadav: The Indian Grappler created history by winning India’s first-ever wrestling medal in the Diana Nyad, the 64 year old US lady swimmer created a world record of longest distance swimming by completing a GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 29
- 31. historic 110-mile (177kms) swim between Havana, Cuba and Key West, Florida, in 52 hr. 54 min. 18.6 sec, without the protection of a shark cage. The BWF Japan Open tournament held in Tokyo. Super Series Badminton Sebastiaan Bowier: 23-year-old Dutch cyclist has pedalled his way to a world record, hitting a speed of more than 133.78 kph in a desert track in USA. AUGUST 2013 Indian women's recurve team (archery) won the gold medal in the World Cup Archery (Stage IV) at Wroclaw, Poland, beating the South Korean team. Indian girls created history by winning country's first ever bronze medal in the junior women hockey World Cup as they pipped England at Monchengladbach, Germany. Sardara Singh selected as Captain of Indian Hockey team International Association of Athletics Federations WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2013, MOSCOW, RUSSIA. Usain Bolt, the iconic sprinter from Jamaica, equaled the world record of winning eight gold medals at international level, as he secured three golds the World Athletics Championships in Moscow, Russia. The only three other athletes to achieve this fete are track stars from USA - Allyson Felix, Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson. Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce: First women sprinter (from Jamaica) to win both individual 100 meter / 200 meter and 4 x 100 m relay Mo Farah(UK): He won the gold in 500 meter and 10,000 meter race Yelena Isinbayeva: The Russian pole vaulter won fthe world championship for the third time. P V Sindhu, India's rising shuttler made history by becoming the first Indian woman singles player to win a medal at the World Badminton Championships by winning the bronze medal after beating Shixian Wang of China at Guangzhou, China Lin Dan (China) won the men’s singles title at the World Badminton Championship held at Guangzhou, China. Women’s singles title was won by Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand. Aditya Mehta became the first Indian to win the quadrennial World Games Snooker Gold Medal at Cali, Columbia, defeating China’s Liang Wenbo. Parvez Rasool: First player from Jammu and Kashmir to be named in the Indian cricket team India won the Tri-nation ODI cricket series after defeating Sri Lanka in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Venkat Rahul Ragala: India's weightlifter clinched a gold medal in the 77 kg category in Asian Youth Games held at Nanjing, China. World Youth (Under-16) Chess Olympiad: India won the title beating Iran in finals held at Chongqing, China Lt Col. Sudhakar Jayant of Indian Army won gold medal at the IWF World Masters wightlifting championships, held in Turin, Italy. Indian cricket team continues to top in ODI format since February this year. India beat Nepal to lift the South Asian Football Federation Under-16 Championship title at Kathmandu. The International Sepak Takraw Super Series 2013 held at New Delhi. The Lusofonia Games held in Goa in Oct - Nov 2013. These are the Portuguese Commonwealth Games Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul and Spiti district has set a national record by organizing Half Marathon of 21 kilometers at the height of 10050 feet at Keylong. The race was won by Baljinder Singh from Punjab. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been appointed the brand ambassador to promote world’s largest football league Barclays English Premier League football in India. 40th National Women's Premier Chess Championship held at Kolkata. JULY 2013 Grand Master Parimarjan Negi won the Continental Chess Association Open title, defeating Bindi Cheng in Washington, USA. Vikas Gowda: Ace discus thrower clinched the first gold for India in the 20th Asian Athletics Championships in Pune. Shiva Thapa became the youngest pugilist (boxer) to clinch a gold medal in the 56 kg category at the Asian Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan. Lajja Goswami won the silver medal in women's 50-metre Rifle 3 Position event at the ISSF World Cup in Granada, Spain. Devendra Jhajharia created history by becoming the first differently-abled Indian to win gold in javelin throw at the IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France. (IPC International Paralympics Committee). Francisco Garcia of Spain has been appointed head coach of the Indian senior women's basketball team. 5th National Fencing Federation Cup held at Patiala, Punjab. Men’s trophy lifted by Services team and women’s by Punjab. GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 30
- 32. Powered by DeepikaKumari's gold and bronze medal performances on the concluding day, India finished fourth in the Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Medellin, Colombia. Noughts and Crosses Cobalt Blue Our Moon Has Blood Clots Malorie Blackman Sachin Kundalkar Rahul Pandita The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that India will host the World T20 Cup competition in 2016 and World Test Championship 2021, both for the first time, and the 50-over World Cup for the fourth time in 2023. The Childhood of Jesus Faith & Freedom: Gandhi in History The Orphan Master's Son The Girl With No Name J.M. Coetzee Mushirul Hasan Andy Murray of UK defeated top seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia to lift men’s Wimbledon trophy Marion Bartoli of France beats Sabine Lisicki of Germany to lift women’s Wimbledon trophy Inbee Park of South Korea wins the Women’s US Open Golf Cup at New York. Christopher Froom: UK Cyclist UK won the famous ‘Tour de France’, the cross country cycle race held in France. FIFA Confederations Cup: Janeiro, Brazil. Brazil beats Spain at Rio de ICC Cricket World Cup - 2015 to be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand from 14th Feb to 29th Mar, 2015. BOOKS AND AUTHORS BOOK AUTHOR Never Go Back Lee Child The Husband’s Secret Liane Moriarty The Racketeer The Path To Power Cell Phone Nation Legacy What Young India Wants Aziz’s Notebook Walking with Lions: Tales from a Diplomatic Past Wild Oath of the Vayuputras Difficult Pleasures Adam Johnson Marina Chapman. It is an incredible true story of a child raised by monkeys Margaret Thatcher Robin Jeffrey & Assa Doron Sudha Menon Chetan Bhagat Chowra Makaremi Natwar Singh Cheryl Strayed Amish Tripathi Anjum Hasan Bitter Wormwood Easterine Kire Em and The Big Hoom Jerry Pinto The Extras Kiran The Sanjay Story Vinod Mehta Uprising 2011 Kiran Bedi Fallen Angel Sandipan Deb An Uncertain Glory Amartya Sen The World Until Yesterday Jared Diamond John Grisham How to get filthy rich in rising Asia Mohsin Hamid Harvest Jim Crace 11/22/63 Stephen King Backlash Lynda La Plante Joyland Stephen King The Communist Cookbook Sharmishta Roy Chowdhury For The Grains K V Thomas Punjab: A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten Indian Tax Administration: A Dialogue Rajmohan Gandhi Return of the King William Dalrymple The City of Devi Manil Suri Matters of Discretion: An Autobiography I K Gujral Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Parthasarthi Shome J. K. Rowling. Famous film company Warner Brothers are making a film on this book. Best Kept Secret Jeffrey Archer A Better India, A Better World N.R. Narayana Murthy A Shot at History - My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold: Autobiography Abhinav Bindra Making Peace with the Earth Vandana Shiva Cuckoo’s Calling JK Rowling (under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith) The Kashmir Dispute: 1947-2012 You’re Hired AG Noorani Ad katha: The story of Indian Advertising Anand Halve and Anita Sarkar Sandeep Goyal Dirty Wars Jeremy Scahill Bad Monkey Carl Hiaasen The New Digital Age Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen May We Be Forgiven A M Homes A Delicate Truth John le Carre Revolution from Above Dipankar Gupta GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 31
- 33. SSC ( GLER I) S C (CG TIER – I (PRE EVIOUS PAP S PER – I I) GENE ERAL INT TELLIGEN NCE rections (1-6 In each of the followin questions, 6): f ng , Dir fin the relate word / number from the given nd ed m n alt ternatives. ette : : Comp puter : ? 1) Video : Casse b) Fl loppy a) Files d) Adit c) Bits ar momanometer r 2) Glucometer : Blood Suga :: Sphygm :? a) Earthquake b) Blood Pressure c) Atompsheric Pressure d) Specific Gravity Psychology : : Plant : ? 3) Behaviour : P b) Botany a) Plant d) Physiology c) Zoology a 4) Mitochondria : Energy : : DNA : ? R b) Reproduction a) Inheritance d) Im mmunity c) Locomotion age : : Ocean : ? 5) Desert : Mira W b) Whale a) E1-Nino d) Hail c) Blizard 315 : ? 6) 525 : 25 : : 3 a) 10 c) 5 b) 15 d) 25 rections (7-1 12): In each of the followin questions, o ng , Dir fin the odd w nd word / numbe / letters / number pair er r fro the given alternatives. om . 21.4 4.13 ctions (13-1 14): In the following question, e Direc arrange the giv ven words in a meaningful and ending order and select th option ind he dicating the asce corre order. ect 13) 1. Venus ars 3. Ma 5. Jupiter a) 4, 2, 1, 3, 5 c) 4, 1, 2, 3, 5 2. Eart th 4. Mercury 14) 1. Pages brary 3. Lib 5. Ca atalogue a) 2,5,4,3,1 4,2,5,3 c) 1,4 2. Book rack 4. Books b) 4, 2 1, 5, 3 2, d) 4, 1 2, 5, 3 1, b) 1,5, ,4,3,2 d) 1,2, ,4,5,3 15) Which one set of lett ters when s sequentially place at the ga ed aps in the g given letter s series shall complete it? babc_ab_b_b bcb_b ab_b a) c b c a a b) c a b a c c) a b c b a d) a c a c a iven, with on term missing. Choose ne 16) A series is gi the c correct altern native from th given ones he s. ABEF IJMN, ? F, a) QR RVU b) QRU UV c) QR RVW d) QSV VU ctions (17-21): In the fo ollowing ques stions, find Direc the m missing numb from the given respon ber nses. 0, 17) 0 6, 24, 60, ?, 210 a) 11 17 c) 12 20 7) a) 3/7 c) 4/13 b) 7/ /2 d) 13 3/16 8) a) Marine c) Navigation b) Ocean O d) Se ea 9) a) ZYX c) NML b) FE ED d) GHI G a) 6 c) 9 0) 10 a) XZY c) PRQ b) MON M d) EA AC 19) 11 a) 1-5 1) c) 5-65 b) 4-20 d) 7-35 2) 12 a) 46-10 c) 20-38 b) 42 2-33 d) 91-12 18) 49 4 25 10 2 3 4 5 a) 35 and 49 c) 21 and 42 1 20) 2 24 20 9 b) 119 d) 153 3 81 8 49 4 16 ? 64 9 36 11 b) 4 d) 16 14 21 2 ? 28 21 28 35 35 ? and b) 28 a 42 d) 49 a 28 and 3 39 3 30 3 4 ? 40 GE ENERAL AWARENE ESS – FEBRUARY 2 2014 32
- 34. a) 44 c) 50 b)49 d) 56 c) + and ÷ d) – and ÷ 2 6 5 ? b) 68 d) 104 32) ‘B’ stands for addition, ‘G’ stands for subtraction, ‘E’ stands for multiplication, ‘C’ stands for division, ‘D’ stands for equal to, ‘A’ stands for greater than, ‘F’ stands for less than. In each of the four alternatives, only one expression is correct according to the letter symbol. Identify that expression. a) 15 C 3 B 2 A 6 E 2 b) 15 B 2 G 5 A 4 G 4 c) 15 C 3 B 2 A 6 B 1 d) 15 B 3 D 4 E 6 22) x goes 15 metres North, then turns right and walks 20 metres, then again turns right and walks 10 metres then again turns right and walks 20 metres. How many metres is he from his original position? a) 5 m b) 10 m c) 15 m d) 20 m 33) Identify the symbols to be inserted to make the expression correct. 24 ∆ 4 ∆ 5 ∆ 4 a) x + x b) = x + c) x + = d) + = x 21) 7 4 2 39 3 9 1 65 a) 91 c) 56 23) A watch reads 7.30. If the minute hand points West, then in which direction will the hour hand point? a) North b) North East c) North West d) South East Directions (24-26): In the following questions, from the given alternative words, select the word which cannot be formed using the letters of the given word: 24) PENULTIMATE a) PEANUT c) ELIMINATE b) MINUTE d) LIME-TEA 25) PROCRASTINATE a) PATTERN c) PRINTED b) TRACTOR d) PAINTER 26) ADOLESCENT a) ENCLOSE c) SECRET b) DONATE d) LEAST 27) If SPANK is coded as PSNAK, then THROW is coded as a) HTWOR b) HTWRO c) HTROW d) HTORW 28) If ANCIENT is coded as 2516859 and NATURE is coded as 529048, the TRAIN will be coded as a) 94285 b) 92456 c) 94265 d) 94168 29) If BLUE is written as EUBL, then BULB is written as a) BLUB b) BBUL c) BBLU d) BLBU 30) 40% of 1620 + 30% of 960 = ? % of 5200 a) 12 b) 24 c) 16 d) 18 31) Which of the following interchange of signs would make the given equation correct? 2 x 3 + 6 – 12 ÷ 4 = 17 a) x and + b) + and – 34) 6 boys A, B, C, D, E, F are sitting in a row facing West. D is between A and C. B is just right of C but left of F. E is not at the right end. Who is at the right end? a) C b) F c) D d) B 35) Y is in the East of X which is in the North of Z. If P is in the South of Z, then in which direction of Y is P? a) North b) East c) South-East d) South-West 36) Kate walks 4 km towards South. She then turns towards her left and walks 8 km more. After that she turns left again and walks another 8 km. Here, she meets her friend coming from the opposite direction and they both stop here. Which direction would she be facing? a) North b) South c) East d) West Directions (37-38): In the following questions, two statements are given followed by two / four conclusions I, II, III and IV. You have to consider the two statements to be true even if they seem to be at variance from commonly known facts. You have to decide which of the given conclusions, if any, follow from the given statements. 37) Statements: I. Some birds are clouds. II. Horse is a bird. Conclusions: I. Some clouds are birds. II. Horse is not a cloud. a) Conclusion I follows. b) Conclusion II follows. c) Either conclusion I or II follows. d) Neither conclusion I nor II follows. 38) Statements: a) Ravi has five pens. b) No one else in the class has five pens. Conclusions: I. All students in the class have pens. II. All students in the class have five pens each. GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 33
- 35. III. Some ofthe students have more than five pens. IV. Only one student in the class has exactly five pens. a) Only conclusion I follows. b) Only conclusion III follows. c) Only conclusion II follows. d) Only conclusion IV follows. 39) Three positions of a dice are given. Find out which number is found opposite the number 2 in the given cube. a) 6 c) 3 40) b) 5 d) 1 In the following figure Ο In the above figure, the circle stands for employed, the square stands for social worker, the triangle stands for illiterate and the rectangle stands for truthful. Study the figure and answer the questions which region represents literate, employed people who are neither truthful nor social worker. a) 11 b) 4 c) 9 d) 10 43) Identify the answer figures from which the pieces given in question figure have been cut. represents hardworking. ∆ represents sincere and represents intelligent. Find out the hardworking who are intelligent but not sincere. Directions (44-45): In the following questions, which answer figure will complete the pattern in the question figure? 44) a) 1 c) 3 b) 2 d) 4 41) The above diagram shows the survey on a sample of 1000 persons with reference to their knowledge of English, Hindi and Marathi. How many knew only Hindi? a) 85 b) 175 c) 78 d) 200 45) 42) 46) From the given answer figures, select the one in which the question figure is hidden / embedded. GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 34
- 36. matrices given below.The columns and rows of Matrix I are numbered from 0 to 4 and that of Matrix II are numbered from 5 to 9. A letter from these matrices can be represented first by its row and next by its column, e.g., ‘A’ can be represented by 00, 12 etc. and ‘P’ can be represented by 56, 76 etc. Similarly, you have to identify the set for the word ‘PARROT’. 0 0 3 4 C D E C A B D A E B D C 3 B A D C E 4 A D C B E 5 6 8 9 5 O P Q R T 6 P O T Q R 7 O P R Q T 8 P O Q R T 9 48) From the answer figures, find out the figure which is the exact mirror image of the question figure, when the mirror is place on the line ‘MN’? B 1 E 2 47) A piece of paper is folded and cut as shown below in the question figures. From the given answer figures, indicate how it will appear when opened. A MATRIX I 2 1 O Q P R T MATRIX II 7 a) 56, 00, 77, 88, 86, 99 c) 65, 30, 77, 98, 90, 99 b) 85, 20, 58, 77, 87, 79 d) 66, 40, 76, 77, 86, 99 GENERAL AWARENESS 49) How many triangles are there in the given figure? 51) The principle of maximum social advantage is the basic principal of a) Micro Economics b) Macro Economics c) Fiscal Economics d) Environmental Economics 52) Which Five Year Plan is not correct among the following? a) First 1951 – 56 b) Second 1956 – 61 c) Third 1961 – 66 d) Fourth 1966 – 71 a) 7 c) 8 b) 10 d) 9 50) A word is represented by only one set of numbers as given in any one of the alternatives. The sets of numbers given in the alternatives are represented by two classes of alphabets as in two 53) The ordinary and maximum tolerance limit of sound by human being is a) 50 db to 70 db (decibel) b) 60 db to 80 db (decibel) c) 65 db to 75 db (decibel) d) 70 db to 85 db (decibel) 54) An economic, theory is a / an a) Axion b) Proposition GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 35
- 37. c) Hypothesis d) Testedhypothesis 55) Indian Special Economic Rules amendment came in the year a) 2000 b) 2002 c) 2004 d) 2006 56) Provisions of the citizenship Constitution, became applicable in a) 1950 b) 1949 c) 1951 d) 1952 in Indian 68) Where is the shore based steel plant located? a) Tuticorin b) Salem c) Vishakhapatnam d) Mangalore 69) Which two of the following are connected by the North South corridor? a) Srinagar and Kanyakumari b) Mumbai and Chennai c) Amritsar and Kolkata d) Hyderabad and Bhopal 57) Who gave the title of “Sardar” to Ballabh Bhai Patel? a) Mahatma Gandhi b) Vinoba Bhave c) Women of Bardoli d) Peasants of Gujarat 70) The pollutants which move downward with percolating ground water are called a) Leachates b) Pollutates c) Earthites d) Percolates 58) According to Marx, the source of value is a) Capital b) Land c) Labour d) None of the above 71) Lungs are located in the a) abdominal cavity b) pericardial cavity c) peritoneal cavity d) pleural cavity 59) The national Emergency in India declared by the President of India due to the external aggression or armed revolt through a) Article – 352 b) Article – 356 c) Article – 360 d) Article – 368 60) The Community Development Programme was launched in the year a) 1950 b) 1952 c) 1951 d) 1953 72) Which one of the following is the ideal food for newborn babies? a) Water b) Sugar c) Honey d) Milk 73) Transcription means the synthesis of a) Lipids b) Protein c) DNA d) RNA 61) What Satyagraha was held at Nagpur in 1923? a) Salt Satyagraha b) Individual Satyagraha c) Ryots Satyagraha d) Flag Satyagraha 74) Hydrochloric acid is secreted by the cells lining the a) Oral cavity b) Stomach c) Ileum d) Colon 62) Which one of the following is not a sect of Buddhism? a) Mahayana b) Hinayana c) Digambar d) Theravad 75) Emulsification is a) breaking fats into small globules b) digestion of fats c) absorption of fats d) storage of fats 63) Who was the viceroy when Delhi became the capital of British India? a) Lord Curzon b) Lord Minto c) Lord Hardinge d) Lord Waveli 76) Taxonomy is a science that deals with a) Morphology b) Anatomy c) Classification d) Economic uses 64) Who established the Indian Civil Liberties Union in 1936? a) Subhash Chandra Bose b) Bal Gangadhar Tilak c) Jawahar Lal Nehru d) Rajendra Prasad 65) Which of the following was established first? a) Banaras Hindu University b) University of Bombay c) Aligarh Muslim University d) University of Allahabad 66) “Yosemite” is a a) River c) Waterfall 67) The first launched in a) 1972 c) 1977 Indian 78) The dimension MLT-2 corresponds to a) force b) work done c) acceleration d) velocity b) Peak d) Dam Satellite b) 1975 d) 1979 Aryabhatta 77) Which one of the following is responsible for the working of Newton’s colour disc experiment? a) Formation of pure spectra b) Formation of impure spectra c) Persistence of vision d) Principle of complementary colour was 79) Who is the founder of quantum theory of radiation? a) Einstein b) Bohr c) Plank d) S. N. Bose 80) Fiber optics cable used in communication, works on the principle of GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 36
- 38. a) regular reflectionof light b) diffuse reflection of light c) refraction of light d) total internal reflection of light 81) Which was the first electronic computer constructed at the Moore School of Engineering? a) EOVAC b) ONIVAC c) ENIAC d) EDSAC 82) Which among the following standard protocols is the most widely used by the internet? a) HTTP b) TCP / IP c) SMTP d) SLIP 83) The outer skin most of the crustaceans are made up of a carbohydrate. This carbohydrate is a) cellulose b) galactose c) chitin d) starch 84) Rutherford’s scattering experiment proved the presence of a) atoms in all matter b) electrons in atoms c) neutrons in atoms d) nucleus in atoms 85) When a metal is heated in a flame, the electrons absorb energy and jump to higher energy state. On coming back to the lower energy state, they emit light, which we can observe in a) Raman spectra b) Absorption spectra c) Emission spectra d) Fluorescence 86) Blood pressure may be increased by the excessive secretion of a) Thyroxine b) Testosterone c) Estradiol d) Estrol 87) Trie concept of “Green House Gases” was postulated by a) Joseph Furier b) Abdul Kalam c) M.S. Swaminathan d) Richael Carlson 88) “Bhopal gas tragedy” 1984 is related to a) Aluminium Phosphide b) Methyl bromide c) Methyl isocyanate d) Carbon dioxide 89) The Particulate Matter (PM-10) exhaled from the polluted atmosphere is often filtered out during the process of a) Coughing b) Sneezing c) A and B d) Urination 90) Sarus crane is the state bird of a) Rajasthan b) Uttar Pradesh c) Madhya Pradesh d) West Bengal 91) The Tongario volcano erupted on November 21, 2012 is in a) Australia b) Indonesia c) Papua New Guinea d) New Zealand 92) The Daocheng Yading Airport is located in a) Thailand b) Philippines c) China d) Tibet 93) BCCI named the “Indian Cricketer of the year 2011-12” to honour a) Sunil Gavaskar b) VVS Laxman c) Virat Kohli d) Yuvraj 94) “Martyr’s Day” is marked on a) January 1 b) January 15 c) January 30 d) January 9 95) Who won the World Carrom Championship 2012? a) Rashmi Kumari b) Mirabai Chanu c) Nishantha Fernando d) Nuthaki Priyanka 96) The animal who can consume more salt among the following is a) Sheep b) Camel c) Donkey d) Dog 97) Which of the following is only domestic Airport? a) Dabolin Airport, Goa b) Srinagar Airport c) Devi Ahilayabai Holkar Airport d) None of the above 98) Tick the correct option with regards to the contribution towards GDP (Gross Domestic Product) form Agriculture a) During 1950-51 (GDP 51-88%) and 2011-12 (GDP 1401%) b) During 1950-51 (GDP 11-00%) and 2011-12 (GDP 25%) c) During 1990-91 (GDP 29-53%) and 2011-12 (GDP 6677%) d) During 1980- 81 (GDP 35-69%) and 2011-12 (GDP 2069%) 99) Second India-Africa Forum Summit – 2011 was held in a) Eretrea b) Ethiopia c) Sudan d) Nigeria 100) Where did Aurangzeb die? a) Pune b) Aurangabad c) Ahmad Nagar d) Mumbai QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE 101) The difference of a number consisting of two digits from the number formed by interchanging the digits is always divisible by a) 10 b) 9 c) 11 d) 6 102) The number 323 has a) three prime factors b) five prime factors c) two prime factors d) no prime factor 103) A tyre has 2 punctures. The first puncture alone would have made the tyre flat in 9 minutes and the second alone would have done it in 6 minutes. If air leaks out at a constant rate, how long does it take both the punctures together to make it flat? GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 37
- 39. 1 minutes 2 3 c) 3 minutes 5 a)1 1 minutes 2 1 d) 4 minutes 4 b) 3 104) If 8 men or 12 boys can do a piece of work in 16 days, the number of days required to complete the work by 20 men and 6 boys is 1 3 1 c) 8 3 a) 5 1 3 1 d) 7 3 b) 6 105) A and B together can do a piece of work in 12 days which B and C together can do in 16 days. After A has been working at it for 5 days and B for 7 days, C finishes it in 13 days. In how many days B could finish the work? a) 48 days b) 24 days c) 16 days d) 12 days 106) Three circles of radius a, b, c touch each other externally. The area of the triangle formed by joining their centres is a) (a + b + c)abc c) ab + bc + ca b) (a + b + c) ab + bc + ca d) None of the above 107) If a metallic cone of radius 30 cm and height 45 cm is melted and recast into metallic spheres of radius 5 cm, find the number of spheres. a) 81 b) 41 c) 80 d) 40 108) Chords AB and CD of a circle intersect at E and are perpendicular to each other. Segments AE, EB and ED are of lengths 2 cm, 6 cm and 3 cm respectively. Then the length of the diameter of the circle in cm is a) 65 c) 65 1 65 2 65 d) 2 b) 109) For every set of 19 kites sold, a vendor gives 1 kite extra, free of cost. In order to give a discount of 10%, the number of extra kites he should give in a sale of 27 kites to the nearest integer is a) 3 b) 6 c) 7 d) 8 110) A ruby stone was bought for Rs. 1600 at Jaipur. A sum of Rs. 2400 was spent on making a ring with the ruby stone. It was advertised for sale at Bombay for Rs. 7800. If a discount of 10% was given, then the % profit made was a) 55% b) 68.5% c) 75.5% d) 80% 111) A shopkeeper buys an article for Rs. 450. He marks it at 20% above the cost price. Find the percentage discount given by him if he sells the article for Rs. 496.80. a) 8% b) 9% c) 10% d) 12% 112) The area of a circle is proportional to the square of its radius. A small circle of radius 3 cm is drawn within a larger circle of radius 5 cm. find the ratio of the area of the annular zone to the area of the larger circle. (Area of the annular zone is the difference between the area of the larger circle and that of the smaller circle). a) 9 : 16 b) 9 : 25 c) 16 : 25 d) 16 : 27 113) A man invested 1 1 of his capital at 7%, at 8% 3 4 and the remainder at 10%. If his annual income is Rs. 561, the capital is a) Rs. 5400 b) Rs. 6000 c) Rs. 6600 d) Rs. 7200 114) The average age of Ram and his two children is 17 years and the average age of Ram’s wife and the same children is 16 years. If the age of Ram is 33 years, the age of his wife is (in years): a) 31 b) 32 c) 35 d) 30 115) A man’s pension on retirement from service is equal to half the average salary during last 3 years of his service. His salary from 1-1-1983 is Rs. 380 per month with increment of Rs. 40 due on 1-10-83, 1-10-84 and 1-10-85, if he retires on 1-1-86, what pension does he draw? a) Rs. 205 b) Rs. 215 c) Rs. 225 d) Rs. 230 116) A person bought 76 cows and sold 20 cows at 15% profit, 40 cows at 19% profit and remaining 16 cows at 25% profit and got a profit of Rs. 6570 as a whole. The cost price of each cow is a) Rs. 450 b) Rs. 425 c) Rs. 420 d) Rs. 400 117) One side of the square is increased by 30%. To maintain the same area, the other side will have to be decreased by a) 23 1 % 13 c) 30% b) 76 12 % 13 d) 15% 118) Ram travelled 1200 km by air which formed 2/5 of his trip. He travelled one-third of the trip by car and the rest by train. The distance (in km) travelled by train was a) 480 b) 800 c) 1600 d) 1800 GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 38
- 40. 119) A policemangoes after a thief who has 100 metres start, if the policeman runs a kilometer in 8 min, and the thief a km in 10 min, the distance covered by thief before he is over-powered is a) 350 m b) 400 m c) 320 m d) 420 m 120) A man borrows Rs. 21000 at 10% compound interest. How much he has to pay equally at the end of each year, to settle his loan in two years? a) Rs. 12000 b) Rs. 12100 c) Rs. 12200 d) Rs. 12300 121) If 4+3 3 = A + B , then B – A is 7+4 3 a) –13 b) 2 13 c) 13 d) 3 3 − 7 122) If the expression x2 + x + 1 is written in the 2 ⎛ form ⎜ x + ⎝ a) ± c) ± 1 3 2 3 2 1 d) ± 2 b) ± 3 123) a2 + 1⎞ ⎟ + q 2 , then the possible values of q are 2⎠ a2 If 1 a 2 – 4a – 1 = 0, then value of b) 30 d) 40 3 3 a + a 2 + b 3 + a − a 2 + b 3 , then x3 + 3bx is equal to a) 0 c) 2a 2 b) a d) 1 2 125) If x – y = 80 and x – y = 8, then the average of x and y is a) 2 b) 3 c) 4 d) 5 126) If 1 3 3 4 + 2 +1 = a3 4 + b3 2 + c and a, b, c are rational numbers, then a + b + c is equal to a) 0 b) 1 c) 2 d) 3 127) 1 1+2 a) a – b c) 1 a −b + 45 c 2 + 20 a 2 1 a) 3 3 c) 4 1 1+2 b−a is b) b – a d) 0 is equal to 2 5 1 d) 4 b) 129) Two circles with centres P and Q intersect at B and C. A, D are points on the circles with centres P and Q respectively such that A, C, D are collinear. If ∠APB = 130°, and ∠BQD = x°, then the value of x is a) 65 b) 130 c) 195 d) 135 130) C1 and C2 are two concentric circles with centres at O. Their radii are 12 cm and 3 cm. respectively. B and C are the points of contact of two tangents drawn to C2 from a point A lying on the circle C1. Then the area of the quadrilateral ABOC is a) 9 15 sq. cm. 2 b) 12 15 sq. cm. c) 9 15 sq. cm. d) 6 15 sq. cm. ∠ABC = x°, ∠BID=y° and ∠BOD = z°, then a) 3 c) 2 a) 25 c) 35 124) If x = 18c 2 − 7 a 2 131) I and O are respectively the in-centre and circumcentre of a triangle ABC. The line AI produced intersects the circumcricle of ∆ ABC at the point D. If 3 is a + 3a − 128) If a/b = 4/5 and b/c = 15/16, then z+x = y b) 1 d) 4 132) Rana drove 8 miles due west, then 6 miles due north, then 3 miles due east and then 6 more miles due north. The distance between his initial and final position is a) 13 miles b) 17 miles c) 19 miles d) 21 miles 133) ABCD is a parallelogram, BC is produced to Q such that BC = CQ. Then a) area (∆ BCP) = area (∆ DPQ) b) area (∆ BCP) > area (∆ DPQ) c) area (∆ BCP) < area (∆ DPQ) d) area (∆ BCP) + area (∆ DPQ) = (area (∆BCD) 134) In ∆ ABC and ∆ DEF, AB = DE and BC = EF. Then one can infer that ∆ ABC ≅ ∆DEF, when a) ∠BAC = ∠EDF b) ∠ACB = ∠EDF c) ∠ACB = ∠DFE d) ∠ABC = ∠DEF 135) The length of the common chord of two circles of radii 30 cm and 40 cm whose centres are 50 cm apart, is (in cm) a) 12 b) 24 c) 36 d) 48 GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 39
- 41. 136) Two chordsAB, CD of a circle with centre O intersect each other at P. ∠ADP = 23° and ∠APC = 70°, then the ∠BCD is a) 45° b) 47° c) 57° d) 67° 137) If the interior angles of a five sided polygon are in the ratio of 2 : 3 : 3 : 5 : 5, then the measure of the smallest angle is a) 20° b) 30° c) 60° d) 90° 138) If secθ + tanθ = 3 (0° ≤ θ ≤ 90°), then tan 3θ is a) undefined b) c) considered as infinity d) 1 3 The above bar graph show the marks obtained by a student in an examination. What is the average marks obtained by the student? a) 55 b) 56 c) 57 d) 58 145) 3 139) If sin (60° - θ) = cos (Ψ - 30°), then the value of tan (Ψ - θ) is (assume that θ and Ψ are both positive acute angles with θ < 60° and Ψ > 30°). a) c) 1 b) 0 3 3 d) 1 140) The value of (1+cot θ - cosec θ) (1 + tan θ + sec θ) is equal to a) 1 b) 2 c) 0 d) –1 141) If tan θ + cot θ = 2, then the value of tannθ +cotnθ (0° < θ < 90°, n is an integer) is a) 2 b) 2n c) 2n d) 2n+1 142) A pole stands vertically, inside a scalene triangular park ABC. If the angle of elevation of the top of the pole from each corner of the park is same, then in ∆ ABC, the foot of the pole is at the a) centroid b) circumcentre c) incentre d) orthocentre 143) If b) x + y x−y 2 Directions (146-148): The Pie Chart shows the expenditure of a country on various sports during a particular year. Study the graph and answer the questions. sin θ cos θ = , then sin θ - cos θ is equal to x y a) x – y c) Study the bar graph carefully and answer the following question. Which type of family is the most common? a) 2 members b) 3 members c) 4 members d) 5 members x +y 2 d) y−x x2 + y2 144) 146) If the total amount spent on cricket and hockey together is Rs. 80,000, the total amount spent on sports is a) Rs. 100000 b) Rs. 200000 c) Rs. 250000 d) Rs. 300000 GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 40
- 42. 147) How muchper cent more is spent on Hockey than that on Golf? a) 27% b) 35% c) 37.5% d) 75% 148) How much per cent less is spent on football than that on cricket? 2 % 9 1 c) 33 % 3 a) 22 b) 27% c) 37 1 % 2 Directions (149-150): Study the following graph and answer the questions. 154) The teacher made the boys (a) / to do the sum (b) / all over again. (c) / No error (d) 155) Many overseas students (a) / attend colleges (b) / in the Great Britain. (c)/ No error (d) Directions (156-160): In the following questions, each sentence is given with blank to be filled in with an appropriate and suitable word(s). Four alternatives are suggested for each question. Choose the correct alternative out of the four alternatives. 156) Student-parking should be ________; students should not be charged to buy parking stickers. a) fined b) free c) costly d) cheap 157) If you have roses growing in your garden, you can make a lovely _____ of flowers at home. a) bouqutte b) bucquete c) bouquete d) bouquet 158) The _______ of the middle school is a woman of ________. a) Principles, Principal b) Principals, Principal c) Principal, Principle d) Principle, Principals 149) Find the percentage decrease in income from 2001 to 2002. a) 50 b) 33 c) 37 1 2 d) Data inadequate 150) If the income shows positive growth in every year throughout the period (2000 – 2005), then in how many years the expenditure shows a positive growth? a) 5 b) 3 c) 4 d) 2 ENGLISH LANGUAGE Directions (151-155): In the following questions, some of the sentences have errors and some have none. Find out which part of a sentence has an error. The number of that part is your answer. If there is no error, you answer is (d) i.e., No error. 151) In India (a) / working woman lead a life of dual responsibilities (b) / if they are married and have a family. (c) No error (d) 152) Greatly to our surprise (a) / we find the ringleader (b) / was lame. (c) No error (d) 159) With the changing times, most of the students have become business – like they are _______ and want to take only those courses which they find rewarding. a) idealistic b) pragmatic c) enthusiastic d) partial 160) 1. John’s at _______ institute studying French. 2. They’re building ______ school at the end of our street. 3. Do they live in _______ United Kingdom or somewhere else? a) a, the, an b) the, a, an c) an, a, the d) the, an, a Directions (161-163): In the following questions, out of the four alternatives, choose the one which best expresses the meaning of the given word. 161) Parsimony a) expenditure c) bribery b) bankruptcy d) miserliness 162) Tribulation a) palpitation c) weakness b) suffering d) stimulation 163) The Prime Minister goes on the ramparts of the Red Fort to hoist the National flag. a) rompway b) staircase c) parapet d) scaffold 153) They have (a) / played a game (b) last week. (c) No error (d) GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 41
- 43. Directions (164-166): Inthe following questions, choose the word opposite in meaning to the given word. a) along c) on b) towards d) No improvement 173) Twenty kms are not a great distance in these days of fast moving vehicles. a) is not a great distance b) are not too great a distance c) aren’t proving a great distance d) No improvement 164) Lunacy a) sanity c) sensibility b) stupidity d) insanity 165) Obtuse a) sharp-witted c) timid b) transparent d) blunt 166) Inadvertently a) secretly c) completely 174) I adapted a new method to solve the problem. a) I have been adopted b) I adopted c) I was adapted d) No improvement b) accidentally d) deliberately 175) Hoping not to be disturbed, I sat down in my easy chair to read the book, I won as a prize. a) I had won as a prize b) I have won as prize c) I had to win as a prize d) No improvement 176) If you are living near a market place you should be ready to bear the disturbance caused by traffic. a) to bear upon b) to bear with c) to bear away d) No improvement Directions (167-171): In the following questions, four alternatives are given for the Idiom/ Phrase printed in bold in the sentence. Choose the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the Idiom / Phrase. 167) What egged you on to become a social worker? a) urged b) dampened c) hindered d) discouraged 168) Many politicians in India are not fit to hold a candle to Mahatma Gandhi. a) superior b) equal c) inferior d) indifferent 169) She must be paying through the nose for the face lift. a) paying less than necessary b) paying too much c) paying the right amount d) paying reluctantly 170) He is putting the cart before the horse by purchasing furniture before buying a house. a) doing a thing in the wrong way b) doing a thing in the right way c) committing a great crime d) doing things meticulously 171) Casting pearls before swine. a) speaking nice words and convincing them b) offering good things to undeserving people c) uplifting the needy for their welfare d) doing worthwhile things to unknown people Directions (172-181): In the following questions, a sentence / part of the sentence is printed in bold. Below are given alternatives to the bold sentence / part of the sentence at (a), (b) and (c) which may improve the sentence. Choose the correct alternative. In case no improvement is needed, your answer is (d). 172) It became clear that the strangers were heading into a serious disaster. 177) The more they earn, more they spend on luxury items. a) more they should spend b) the more they spend c) the more they ought to spend d) No improvement 178) You have come here with a view to insult me. a) to insulting me b) of insulting me c) for insulting me d) No improvement 179) A little rail-road engine was employed by a station yard for doing small pieces of work. a) was made by a station yard b) was used at the station yard c) was employed at the station yard d) No improvement 180) From an aesthetic point of view, the painting did not appeal to me. a) From the viewpoint of aesthetics, the painting did not appeal to me b) The painting had no aesthetic appeal to me c) From an aesthetic point of view, the painting had a little appeal to me d) No improvement 181) The child tossed in bed burning with fever. a) The child in bed, burning with fever tossed b) The child burning with fever, tossed in bed c) The child burning in bed tossed with fever d) No improvement Directions (182-188): In the following question, out of the four alternative, choose the one which can be substituted for the given words/ sentence. 182) An apartment building in which each apartment is owned separately by the people living in it, but also containing shared areas. a) condominium b) multiplex GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 42
- 44. c) duplex d) ca aravan 185)Not allowing the passage of light. ) g e a) ob blique b) opaque c) op ptique ulant d) opu 18 A group of three powerful people. 83) a) trio ritium b) tr d) tr riumvirate c) trivet 186) Science rega ) arding principles of classif fication. a) tax xidermy onomy b) taxo c) tox xicology d) clas ssicology 18 Operation of the body after death. 84) n a) post-mortem bituary b) ob d) mortuary m c) homage con ntinued on pag no. 52…. age SUCCE MANT S ESS M TRA For ntervie F In ew IN NTERVIEW is an interaction between two or more s e per rsons for a specific purpo ose. It is a face to face e interpersonal role situation in which the ‘int e terviewer’ asks s e g ons o the person ‘being interviewed’ specific questio in order to ass sess his/her suitability for admission, r recruitment or r pro omotion. Interv view “consists of dialogue be etween two or r mo persons.” ore MA AJOR OBJECT TIVES 1. Collectin ng additional information about candidat te Assessm ment of qualitat tive facts 2. Formatio of opinion about the candi on a idate 3. Assessm ment of communication skills 4. Evaluatio of overall pe on ersonality 5. the e IM MPORTANCE O INTERVIEW METHODS OF W 1. Best me ethod of getting first hand info g ormation For secu uring informatio from person at all levels on ns 2. Method of Psychological Study 3. tion of informat tion Verificat 4. AD DVANTAGES O INTERVIEW OF W 1. Possible to study ev vents that are not open to e o tion otherwise observat 2. Possible to study fac ctors like Attit tude, Feelings, , ns, Emotion Reactions 3. Information gathered is First Hand i DI ISADVANTAGES OF INTER RVIEW 1. wer ased Interview may be bia Too m much dependence on ‘o on the spot t 2. performance’ Specific knowledge may not be possible always m s 3. 10 MANTRAS ABO OUT INTERVIEW 10 QUALITIES T 0 THAT EMPLO OYER IS LOOK KING FOR ●P Positive Attitude ●G Good Communication skills ● ● ● ● Ability to work in a Team arity of thought t Cla Good/Attractive P Personality rong Work Ethic cs Str ● Motivation lev vel/Initiative ● Flexibility anizer ● Good orga ● Honesty / Integrity COMMON QUE ESTION AREA AS 10 C ● Past recor ● Str rong Work Ethic cs rd ● ● ● ● ● Kno owledge of sub bjects studied Abo your name out e Abo your area / state out Abo your hobbies out Abo your intere in Bank out est ● Banking te erminology ● General A Awareness ● Latest policy changes 10 G GENERAL AWA ARENESS POI INTS ● Rec cent political sc cenario ● Economy ● Bud dget ● Governme Schemes ent ● Int ternational Organizations ● Sports ● Sta ates of India wards ● Recent Aw ● Ban nking Terminol logy ● Internatio onal Events 10 S STEPS TO SUC CCESS ● Dre appropriate ess ely ● Ma aintain proper B Body Language e ● Pro oper entry & Sitting Posture ● Pro oper attitude du uring interview w ● Pro omptness in rep plies ● Lea ading the inter rviewer to the topics of your interest and know wledge ● Tim factor: - nei me ither too short not too long ● Wh to say when you do not know hat n ● How to handle co ontroversial que estions aving the room gracefully m ● Lea 10 P FALLS TO BE AVOIDED PIT D ● Nervousness ● Improper dress up or tion skills view session ● Poo communicat ● Dull interv ● Lac of knowledg ck ge ● Lack of en nthusiasm ● Ina ability to work i a team in ● Dishonest and bluff ty ● Agg gressive Temperament ● Casual approach GE ENERAL AWARENE ESS – FEBRUARY 2 2014 43
- 45. HOW TO PREPAREFOR INTERVIEW 1. Know what you have to offer: i) Knowledge ii) Ability iii) Communication skills 2. Know the employer: i) Know about the organization ii) Be familiar with the products iii) Values and culture of the organization iv) How do you meet all these 3. Know what to expect:- You should be well prepared for the kind of questions being asked in the interview. 4. Prepare and Practice: - Put yourself in the real time situation and practice each aspect of interview giving equal attention to Body Language, Communication and rehearsed replies. Rehearse with mock interviews. Take the help of an experienced person to improve your interview skills. In case any experienced person is not available take the help of any senior in the family. The key to selection is WELL DONE REHEARSALS. 5. Practice in front of a Mirror: The best way to prepare is to practice before mirror. You can observe yourself and find out the areas where you need to improve, particularly about your posture and body language. 6. Record your voice: These days cell phones have the facility to record voice and videos as well. Record the mock interview and check your performance in the interview for the desired voice qualities, tone, repetition of words etc. SOME Qs WHICH RANKLE YOU For ladies, they should not be dressed flashily. They may wear suit or even a Sari, if they are comfortable with it. But the dress should not be new and should be comfortable to wear. It should not be low neck as well. One can wear a shirt and trouser as well, but it should be buttoned properly. The blouse should neither be short nor the trouser be low. 3. WHAT DOCUMENTS ARE REQUIRED? Carry all original certificates with you when you go for an interview from 10th standard onwards. Also carry one set of attested copies. You should also carry other certificate/s, pertaining to your extra-curricular activities. All the documents / Certificates should be neatly filed in chronological order, so that you do not fumble during interview. 4. HOW TO SIT IN THE INTERVIEW? You must not slouch in the chair. Your back should be straight and firmly touch back of the chair. Your legs should not be wide open or crossed abnormally. Take control of your hand movements. You may clasp the hands or keep them on your thighs. If you are carrying a file with you, you should keep it in your lap. Never lean over the table. Generally there is a table between the interviewers & the interviewee. But you should also be prepared for a situation where there may not be any table. 5. HOW TO HANDLE CONTROVERSIAL Qs? Sometimes questions about controversial issues are asked not only to know the views of the candidate but also to find out whether the candidate has a balanced approach. You should be very careful while answering questions about which you may have very strong views. You should give balanced and mature answer not allowing your preferences to prejudice your reply. 1. HOW TO TACKLE VENUE PHOBIA? One must reach the venue at least half an hour in advance and should make arrangements to make up for any accidental delay in reaching the venue. The first time job seekers are generally scared of the place of interview. For one, they are not exposed to the corporate culture and are overawed by the big rooms and the office culture etc. This causes a lot of nervousness among them and must be overcome. Visit the venue at least a day before the interview or even earlier to overcome the complex. If you cannot make to the venue, visit any bank branch and ask for help from any employee. 2. HOW TO DRESS FOR INTERVIEW? You should be very careful about your dress. It must reflect your personality and be appropriate to your physique. Generally the boys / men should wear light colored shirt with dark trousers. The hair should be properly trimmed or beard properly tied ( for Sikhs) or shaved. The turban should be properly matched and should gel with the dress color. 6. WHAT TO DO WHEN ANSWER IS NOT KNOWN? If you do not know the answer to a question, instead of giving a wrong reply, the best way to tell the interviewer is, “Sorry Sir, I do not know the answer to this question”. However, if you have a vague idea, then instead of telling the interviewer that you do not know the answer, you can say, “Sir, I am not sure but I think the answer is _____”. By giving a wrong reply you are under estimating the interviewer. 7. HOW TO HANDLE INTERRUPTIONS? If the interviewer feels that you know the answer, he may interrupt you and move on to a new question. Similarly the interviewer may feel that you are on a wrong track he may not like to continue with the question and may like to check your knowledge or information in some other areas. 8. HOW MUCH TIME SHOULD I TAKE? There should not be a long pause between the question and your reply. Think for a while and understand the question GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 48
- 46. properly before answeringit. As long as you do not maintain silence for a long time the interviewer is not going to mind. In case you do not know the answer, you should be straight forward and reply as already mentioned above. 9. HOW LONG SHOULD BE THE REPLY? Your replies must not be in monosyllables like ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, etc. But your replies should not be very lengthy as well. Though the length of the reply is determined by the question, your reply should be short and simple. Normally, any reply should not stretch beyond two minutes and should not be less than 20 seconds. But you can always find out if the interviewer is asking for more information or if you are not convinced by the details given by you, ask “Do you want me to expand more on this? 10. WHAT SIGNALS THE END OF THE INTERVIEW When the interviewer says “Thank you Mr.”or “Wish you all the best”, it is a signal that the interview is over. Sometimes the interviewer may ask you whether you want to ask any question. This also is indication of the end of the interview. If you have any question to ask and you have been specifically asked as above, you can always put forward your question. But you should be very sure that your questions are sensible, and are above the organization you are to join. The question should not expose your ignorance but should express your inquisitiveness. So make sure that you have gone through the website of the organization and have already searched for the information you intend to seek. Never ask a question like, “What are my chances of selection?” or “How many marks did I score in the interview or in the written examination”. These kind of questions can go against you. REMEMBER! EACH QUESTION IS AN OPPORTUNITY Every person has unique knowledge and interests. Each question, gives you an opportunity to lead the interviewer to an area of your knowledge and interest. The idea is to talk about your strength and lead the interview to issues and areas of your interest. But do not try to ‘Gate crash and mould your answers so as to steer the interviewer’. (Steer the interview not the interviewer). If you are not comfortable with any question, you may frankly tell the interviewer about your inability. But do not keep doing the same for every other question. BE HONEST IN ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS? The question of being honest or dishonest comes into picture only when you are talking about, answering opinionbased questions or personality-related questions. If you sincerely have an opinion about some issue and believe in that, there is nothing wrong in expressing it frankly. If you have an opinion about some issue and think that it may not be appreciated by the interviewer, first ask yourself as to why you opine so. Think over that objectively. If you still want to stick to that opinion, go ahead and express it freely. If you can change your mind and opine differently, express that changed version. SOME TYPICAL INTERVIEW Qs Here are a few questions that are normally asked during interview. You should rehearse the answers to these questions. 1. QUESTIONS ABOUT YOURSELF Though it seems very easy but infect very deceptively. The interviewer may want to know how much you really know about yourself. He has accessed your bio-data and can ask relevant questions about your background. Your answer should cover your educational background briefly and your interest / hobbies. You may also talk about your achievements in academics and / or extra curricular activities. You need not go into your family history but restrict yourself to the areas which should be of interest to the organisation / interviewer Keep in mind that interviewer may frame his questions based on your response to this question. The response to the question ‘about yourself’ will depend on the response of the interviewer. If the interviewer is interested to know more about the family, you may be required to dwell on the issue. 2. MEANING OF YOUR NAME You must know the meaning of your name. In case it is related to some mythological character, try to understand the background of the word including the meaning of the words that form your name. Generally an uncommon name attracts the attention of the interviewer. 3. PERSONALITY RELATED QUESTIONS Sometimes the interviewee is asked to mention his/her “Strength & Weaknesses”. You should be very careful and be well prepared to answer this question. Keep a note of your achievements and the details thereof. Identify the qualities that helped you achieve the goal. You should mention these qualities without mentioning those moments. If the interviewer asks you more about it, then you can mention the moment when you achieved the goal with the help of these qualities. Normally the strength mentioned are:i) Discipline ii) Punctuality iii) Goal oriented approach iv) Hardworking nature v) Team player vi) Ability to convince Regarding weaknesses, never give a reply like, “I do not have any weakness”. Again recollect the moments when you GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 49
- 47. failed in anyventure and look for the reasons within your self. You should also mention what extra efforts you have made to overcome this weakness. The key to answering this question is the same as the last: Turn a negative into a positive. Don't try to come up with a character flaw or personal weakness. Instead, rephrase the question for yourself: "How do I want to improve to become better in my career?" Identify areas in which you want more training or guidance. 4. QUESTIONS ABOUT SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE You must be well prepared to answer the questions about your educational background and the subjects of your study. If you are a student of History you should know about Indian Ancient, Medieval, and Modern History. If you are a student of Engineering or Science you should know the basic concept you have learned during the course. 5. QUESTIONS ON HOBBIES Generally you are required to fill bio-data form where in complete information regarding your educational background, your extracurricular activities and hobbies is provided by you. So, this information about your hobbies / Extra Curricular Activities is already available with the interviewer. You should be very particular about giving information in the bio-data form, because you cannot know make any contradictory statement. Remember that whenever you express any activity that you say is your hobby then either you should be personally participating in it or may be interested in it. If neither is the case, then you should not mention it as your hobby. If you say chess is your hobby, then either you should be playing it or should have a keen interest in the game, know about the present and the past players, theoretical aspects of the game, etc. If you mention reading as your hobby the probable question will be, name of the authors or the name of the books, you have read in the recent past, the main characters of the book and analysis of the character etc. For the newspaper that you read daily, you should know the place from where it is published and its editor, etc. Apart from your personality and your subject knowledge, the interviewer is more interested to know more about attitude to the job you are about to join. So he may ask you inconvenient questions like, why do you want to join the bank. This question assumes more importance, if you have back ground other than commerce. You should be ready with the answer and should not be found wanting for the suitable reply. 7. WHY DO YOU WANT TO JOIN THE BANK? You should be well prepared to answer such a question specially if you are not from commerce or economics background. Never give a answer like, “It’s a government job”, or “Being a Government Job, it ensures job security” or “It pays is well”, or “My parents want me to join the Bank”. You should be very clear about your professional goal and convince him how your study is going to be relevant to Banking. If you are making a Midcourse change you must backup with solid reasons. It is not uncommon to change a line from science to commerce, engineering to banking. You should be ready with examples where persons from diverse background have made it to the top in the Banking. 8. WHY HAVE YOU CHOSEN CAREER IN BANKING? You should have clear idea of your scope for future promotion and career in the Bank you plan to join. You must know the hierarchy in the Banking and where do you see you self 5 years down the line. Normally, a person joins the Bank at Clerical Level or as a Probationary Officer. Clerical Level constitute the front desk officials and Probationary Officers are in the next hierarchy. 9. WHY DO YOU WANT TO JOIN THIS INSTITUTE? This is a common question asked in the most of the interviews. This is a very delegate question and to answer it you should study the other institutes other organizations working in the same field. Gather information about their activities and results and compare them with the results of this organization. This information will be very helpful in answering such a question. You can also be asked, how a particular hobby has helped you in achieving your goals. In case you do not have any particular interest or extracurricular activity, do not give the answer like, “I do not do anything.” Or “I just while away my time, watching television.” Instead you may list out areas of your interest like listening to music, making friends etc. 6. QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR ATTITUDE SOME COMMON INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Introduction • • • • • • Introduce yourself in one minute? Define yourself in one word? Describe yourself? Meaning of your name, who named you and why? Do you have any namesake? What is your father & his job profile? GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 50
- 48. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Your family background? Wheredo you come from? Tell me about your native place/city/state? For what is it famous for? What are your hobbies and interest? If you do not succeed this time, what will you do? What is your educational background? Tell me something about your achievements? Any extra curricular activity? Why do you want to join Banking sector? What qualities should one possess to be a Bank P.O.? Do you think you have these qualities? Who is the founder of this bank? When was this bank nationalized? What is the Current financial position of bank? Name the person who inspired you the most? How is your subject helpful in banking sector? Why is there a Gap in your studies? What are your strong and weak points? As a student of Science/Art/Commerce, why didn’t you go for higher studies? Newspapers and magazine which you prefer to read? Name the Editor of Newspaper? Why should we select you? Why do you want to be a P.O.? What is your Idea of life? What is the importance of hobby in our life? Have you cleared any exam earlier ? What will you do, if you don’t get finally selected,? What does your mother do or whether she is a house wife or in job? Where did you spend you childhood? Why don’t you join your family business? • • • • • Why have you switched over to Art stream from Science stream? These days the use of computer is increasing in the banking industry since you don’t’ have the knowledge of computers, how will you perform your jobs satisfactorily? You have done MCA then why don’t you go for Technical Post? What is the motto of your university? You had written in your Bio Data “N.A” What is this? 10 STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL INTERVIEW • Always arrive on time. • Introduce yourself in a courteous manner. • Collect information about the bank / company • Listen carefully before answering. • Use body language to show interest. • Maintain Good posture • Maintain good eye contact • Smile, nod, give nonverbal feedback to the interviewer. • Show energy and enthusiasm. • Thank the interviewer. Educational Background • • • • • • • • • • You passed B.Sc./B.Com/B.A. in the year 2007, what were you doing till now? There is a huge gap in between graduation and PG. why? Why is there a great variation in marks between class 10th, 12th & graduation? What is the use of your subject in this sector? What is the use of your subject in life? How you correlate your subjects with Banking? Why didn’t you continue your studies? Your subjects are related with IAS, PCS. Then why here? From which college/University you have completed your graduation? What are the specialties of the schools/colleges from where you have acquired education? GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 51
- 49. 187) A politicalleader appealing to popular desires and prejudices. a) dictator b) tyrant c) popularist d) demagogue 188) Enclosed in a small closed space. a) closophobia b) clusterophobia c) claustrophobia d) liftophobia Directions (189-190): In the following questions, four words are given in each question, out of which only one word is correctly spelt. Find the correctly spelt word as your answer. 189) a) conviance c) connivance b) connivanse d) conivence 190) a) maintennance c) maintenance b) manteinance d) mentenance Directions (191-200): In the following questions, you have a passage with 10 questions. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives. PASSAGE CYBER BOGEYS The cyber – world is ultimately ungovernable. This is alarming as well as convenient; sometimes, convenient because alarming. Some Indian politicians use this to great advantage. When there is an obvious failure in governance during a crisis they deflect attention from their own incompetence towards the ungovernable. So, having failed to prevent nervous citizens from fleeing their cities of work by assuring them of proper protection, some national leaders are now busy trying to prove to one another, and to panic-prone Indians, that a mischievous neighbour has been using the internet and social networking sites to spread dangerous rumours. And the Centre’s automatic reaction is to start blocking these sites and begin elaborate and potentially endless negotiations with Google, Twitter and Facebook about access to information. If this is the official idea of prompt action at a time of crisis among communities, then Indians have more reason to fear their protectors than the nebulous mischief-makers of the cyberworld. Wasting time gathering proof, blocking vaguely suspicious websites, hurling accusations across the border and worrying about bilateral relations are ways of keeping busy with inessentials because one does not quite know what to do about the essentials of a difficult situation. Besides, only a fifth of the 245 websites blocked by the Centre mention the people of the Northeast or the violence in Assam. And if a few morphed images and spurious texts can unsettle an entire nation, then there is something deeply wrong with the nation and with how it is being governed. This is what its leaders should be addressing immediately, rather than making a wrongheaded display of their powers of censorship. It is just as absurd, and part of the same syndrome to try to ban Twitter accounts that parody despatches from the Prime Minister’s Office. To describe such forms of humour and dissent as “misrepresenting” the PMO – as if Twitterers would take these parodies for genuine despatches from the PMO – makes the PMO look more ridiculous than its parodists manage to. With the precedent for such action set recently by the chief minister of West Bengal, this is yet another proof that what Bengal thinks today India will think tomorrow. Using the cyber-world for flexing the wrong muscles is essentially not funny. It might even prove to be quite dangerously distracting. 191) According to the passage cyber-world is a) beyond the imagination of people b) outside the purview of common people c) not to be governed d) ungovernable 192) The author is of the opinion that a) the centre should start negotiations with Google, Twitter and Facebook b) the centre should help the citizens evacuate their city c) the centre should not block the sites d) the centre should arrest the guilty 193) Which of the following is closest to the meaning of ‘nebulous’? a) confused b) vague c) iridescent d) glowing 194) The author’s seriousness regarding the situation can best be described in the following sentences. Pick the odd one out. a) Our leaders should display their powers of censorship when needed b) If this is the official idea of prompt action at a time of crisis among communities, then Indians have more reason to fear their protectors than the nebulous mischief-maker of the cyber-world c) The politicians deflect attention from their own incompetence d) If a few morphed images and spurious texts can unsettle an entire nation, then there is something deeply wrong with the nation 195) The word ‘spurious’ means a) genuine b) authentic c) substantial d) fake 196) The author warns as against a) not playing false with the citizens b) dangers inherent in the cyber-world c) not using the cyber-world judiciously d) not protecting the citizens from dangerous politicians 197) ‘Parody’ means a) twist c) ridicule b) jeopardize d) imitate 198) What is the opposite of ‘wrong headed’? a) silly b) sane c) insane d) insensible GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 52
- 50. 199) The passagesuggest different ways of keeping the public busy with ‘inessentials’. Pick the odd one out. a) By blocking websites which are vaguely suspicious b) By blaming neighbouring countries across the border c) By turning the attention of the people to violence in Assam d) By getting involved in a discourse on bilateral relations 200) The following is a list of statements made by the author of the above passage. Pick the odd one out. a) It is absurd to ban Twitter accounts that parody despatches from the Prime Minister’s Office b) ‘Twitterers’ take these parodies for genuine despatches from the PMO c) To describe such forms of humour as ‘misrepresenting’ the PMO makes the PMO look more ridiculous d) The precedent for such action was set recently by the chief minister of West Bengal Space For Rough Work ANSWER KEY Q. 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 76 81 86 91 96 101 106 111 116 121 126 131 136 141 146 151 156 161 166 171 176 181 186 191 196 A. B B C B A C A A D A C A D C D C C A D B B A A A C A A B A B B B D D B B B B D A Q. 2 7 12 17 22 27 32 37 42 47 52 57 62 67 72 77 82 87 92 97 102 107 112 117 122 127 132 137 142 147 152 157 162 167 172 177 182 187 192 197 A. B B D C A D B A C A D A C B D C B A D D C A C A B C A C B D A D B A B C A D C D Q. 3 8 13 18 23 28 33 38 43 48 53 58 63 68 73 78 83 88 93 98 103 108 113 118 123 128 133 138 143 148 153 158 163 168 173 178 183 188 193 198 A. B C C A C C B D B C B C C C D A C C C A C A C B B D A B C C A C C C A A D C B B Q. 4 9 14 19 24 29 34 39 44 49 54 59 64 69 74 79 84 89 94 99 104 109 114 119 124 129 134 139 144 149 154 159 164 169 174 179 184 189 194 199 A. A D C B C D B A D B B A C A B C D B C B A A D B C B D C B D B B A B B C A C A C GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 Q. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 145 150 155 160 165 170 175 180 185 190 195 200 A. A D A D C D D B A A D B B A A D C B C C A C B B D C D A B D C C A A A D B C D B 53
- 51. SSC ( GLER I) S C (CG TIER – I (PRE EVIOUS PAP S PER - II) GENE ERAL INT TELLIGEN NCE Dir rections: In questions no 1 and 2, which of the os. e fol llowing interc change of sig would ma gns ake the given n eq quation correc ct? 0 1) 10 + 10 ÷ 10 – 10 x 10 = 10 b) + and ÷ a) + and – d) ÷ and + c) + and x 2) (8 – 8) + 8 x 32 = 64 , b) –, ÷, + a) x, +, – d) +, ÷, x + c) +, ÷, + ands for ‘+’, ‘ stands for ‘B’ r 3) If ‘R’ stands for ‘–’, ‘A’ sta ’ nds for ‘x’, then what is the value of t f ‘÷’ and ‘C’ stan the given equ e uation? (BODMAS rule will not be e ap pplicable) 25 A 37 C 2 B 4 R 1 = ? 5 a) 32 b) 35 c) 30 7 d) 27 rections: In question no 4 to 9, select related os. d Dir let tter / word / number from the given al m lternatives. ow 4) Chisel : Sculptor : : Harro : ? b) Mason M a) Gardener d) Guard G c) Blacksmith llite : : Earth : ? 5) Moon : Satel b) Planet a) Sun R d) Round c) Solar system :: 6) BJCI : JBIC : CXDW : ? b) BCJU a) JCDU d) XCWD c) EVFU M 7) AB : NO : : LM : ? a) OL c) PK b) KP d) YZ Z K 8) AG : IO :: EK : ? a) LR c) PV M b) MS d) SY Y 32 9) 25 : 175 : : 3 : ? a) 150 c) 162 70 b) 17 d) 16 60 rections: In q question nos. 10 to 15, se elect the one e Dir wh hich is differe from the other three re ent o esponses. 21.4.20 2 013 10) a Shimla a) c) Oo oty b) Darj jeeling d) Agra a a) 11) a Foal c) Lamb b) Hen n d) Leve eret a) 12) a BADC c) VU UST b) XWZ ZY d) NMP PO a) 13) a DCFG c) JIL LM b) FEH HI d) HGJ JL a) 14) a (1, 0) c) (3, 8) , b) (2, 3) d) (4, 27) a) 15) a (96, 24) c) (81, 54) b) (39, 18) , d) (82, 64) , of would be a 16) Which one o the given responses w meaningful order of the following words in ending order? ? asce 1. Ac ccommodation ception 2. Perc 3. Sc cheme formatio on 4. Assimilation 5. Se ensation b) 5, 2 3, 4, 1 a) 1, 2, 3, 5, 4 2, d) 5, 2 4, 3, 1 2, c) 5, 1, 4, 2, 3 the given responses wo ould be a 17) Which of t r owing starting from the meaningful order of the follo er inne layer? 1. Hy ydrosphere 2. Atm mosphere 3. Bio osphere 4. Litho osphere a) 4, 1, 3, 2 b) 2, 4 3, 1 4, d) 1, 2 3, 4 2, c) 3, 1, 2, 4 ctions: In question nos. 18 to 21, a series is Direc given, with one term missin ng. Choose t the correct rnative from the given o ones that wil complete ll alter the s series. EJO, FKP, GLQ HMR, ? Q, 18) E a) AB BC F b) DEF c) MN NO d) INS 19) B O C N D M E ? ? a) L F c) K L b) O P d) E F , 20) 7, 2 = 59; 5, 3 = 28; 9, 1 = 810; 2, 1 = 13; 5, 4 =? 9 b) 9 a) 19 c) 20 0 9 d) 239 GEN NERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 20 014 49
- 52. 21) 120, 440,960, 1680, ? a) 2600 b) 3240 c) 3040 d) 2400 Directions: In question nos. 22 to 24, select the missing number from the given responses. 22) 81 4 36 108 64 9 16 96 a) 230 c) 120 23) 25 30 35 5 5 ? a) 5 c) 6 24) 24 2 5 53 a) 135 c) 347 51 4 7 211 16 49 25 ? b) 140 d) 410 5 6 5 b) 4 d) 7 67 6 5 ? b) 235 d) 407 25) G is fatter than H but not as fat as M. Q is also not as fat as M. Who is the most lean person in the group? a) Q b) H c) G d) Can’t be determined 26) A man walks 15 metres south. Then turning to his right he walks 15 metres. Then turning to his left, he walks 10 metres. Again turns to his left and walks 15 metres. How far is he from his initial position? a) 10 m b) 25 m c) 15 m d) 60 m 27) There are five buses M, N, O, P, Q in a row on a road. Bus M is standing at the front and Q is standing at the back end. Bus N stands between M and O. Bus P stands between O and Q. Which bus is in the middle of the five? a) M b) P c) N d) O Directions: In question nos. 28 to 30, from the given alternative words, select the word which cannot be formed using the letters of the given word. 28) DISTANCE a) DANCE c) SANE b) STAND d) TEASE 29) RESURRECTIONIST a) TOURIST b) NOISE c) SORCERER d) TENDER 30) COMMERCIALISM a) CROME b) LANCER c) MISER d) OSCAR 31) If DIVINE is coded as AFSFKB, then POWERFUL is coded as a) XLHOJVIM b) MLTBOCRI c) MLWBOCRI d) HLTBNCRI 32) If NOTE is written as PQVG, then TIME is written as a) VQOG b) VKOG c) VOKG d) VGKO 33) If SMART is coded as UKCPV, then WONDER is coded as a) YMPPRT b) YMPBGP c) YMPBFP d) YMBPPG 34) If ‘+’ stands for ‘multiplication’, ‘<’ stands for ‘division’, ÷’ stands for ‘subtraction’, ‘–’ stands for ‘addition’ and ‘x’ stands for ‘greater than’. Identify which expression is correct. a) 20 – 4 ÷ 4 + 8 < 2 x 26 b) 20 x 8 + 15 < 5 ÷ 9 – 8 c) 20 < 2 + 10 ÷ 4 – 6 x 100 d) 20 < 5 + 25 ÷ 10 – 2 x 96 35) One day, Nita left home and cycled 10 km southwards, turned right and cycled 5 km and turned right and cycled 10 km and turned left and cycled 10 km. How many kilometres will she have to cycle to reach her home straight? a) 10 km b) 15 km c) 20 km d) 25 km 36) Rajat moves from his office to the canteen straight at a distance of 12 metres. Then he turned left and walked for 2 metres. Then he turns left again and walks straight for 12 metres. How far is he from his office? a) 10 metres b) 12 metres c) 8 metres d) 2 metres Directions: In question nos. 37 and 38, two / four statements are given followed by two / four conclusions I, II, III and IV. You have to consider the statements to be true even if they seem to be at variance from commonly known facts. You have to decide which of the given conclusions, if any, follow from the given statements. 37) Statements: I. All apples are bananas. II. All bananas are sweet. Conclusions: I. Some apples are sweet. II. Some bananas are apples. a) Conclusion I follows. b) Conclusion II follows. c) Either conclusion I or II follows. d) Both conclusions I and II follow. 38) Statements: 1. All metals are silver. 2. All silver are diamond. 3. Some diamonds are gold. GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 50
- 53. 4. Some goldare marbles. Conclusions: I. Some gold are metals. II. All metals are diamond. III. Some silver are marble. IV. Some gold are silver. a) Only conclusion I follows. b) Only conclusion II follows. c) Only conclusion III follows. d) Only conclusion IV follows. In the above figure, the circle stands for employed, the square stands for social worker, the triangle stands for illiterate and the rectangle stands for truthful. Employed, truthful and illiterate social workers are indicated by which region? a) 5 b) 4 c) 2 d) 1 43) Find the missing number: 39) Which of the following cubes can be created by folding the given figure? a) 37 c) 47 b) 45 d) 57 44) 40) Two positions of a dice are given. Which number would be at the top when bottom is 2? a) 4 c) 5 b) 1 d) 6 41) Identify the response figure from which the question figure’s pieces have been cut. In the above diagram, parallelogram represents women, triangle represents the sub-inspectors of police and circle represents the graduates. Which numbered area represents women graduate subinspectors of police? a) 5 b) 3 c) 8 d) 13 Directions: In question nos. 45 and 46, which answer figure will complete the pattern in the question figure. 45) 46) 42) GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 51
- 54. 47) From thegiven answer figures, select the one in which the question figure is hidden / embedded. 0 A B C D E 1 D C B A E 2 B A D C E 3 D B C A E 4 C D A E B MATRIX II 48) A piece of paper is folded and punched as shown below in the question figures. From the given answer figures, indicate how it will appear when opened. 6 7 8 9 5 P Q R S T 6 Q S P R T 7 P T R S Q 8 Q S P R T 9 49) Which of the answer figures is exactly the mirror image of the given pattern of numbers when the mirror is held at MN? 5 T P S Q R a) 32, 00, 56, 10 c) 11, 33, 57, 22 b) 40, 21, 68, 44 d) 02, 42, 77, 20 GENERAL AWARENESS 51) Solids which conduct electricity at higher temperature but not at lower temperature are called a) super-conductor b) metallic-conductor c) semi-conductor d) insulator 52) Which one of the following has greatest mass? a) electron b) proton c) neutron d) hydrogen nucleus 50) A word is represented by only one set of numbers as given in any one of the alternatives. The sets of numbers given in the alternatives are represented by two classes of alphabets as in two matrices given below. The columns and rows of Matrix I are numbered from 0 to 4 and that of Matrix II are numbered from 5 to 9. A letter from these matrices can be represented first by its row and next by its column, e.g., ‘B’ can be represented by 01, 31 etc. and ‘P’ can be represented by 67, 75 etc. Similarly, you have to identify the set for the word ‘CARD’. MATRIX I 0 1 2 3 4 53) A television channel is characterized by a) frequency of transmitted signal b) velocity of transmitted signal c) physical dimension of television screen d) size of picture tube 54) The first computer mouse was built by a) Douglas Engelbart b) William English c) Oaniel Coogher d) Robert Zawacki 55) An organization’s profitability depends on a) Quality of data processed b) Quantity of data processed c) Speed of processing the data d) Both (a) and (c) 56) The density of water is 1 g/cc. This is strictly valid at a) 0°C b) 4°C c) 25°C d) 100°C GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 52
- 55. 57) The processof photosynthesis conversion of a) chemical energy into radiant energy b) chemical energy into mechanical energy c) solar energy into chemical energy d) mechanical energy into solar energy involves 58) A colloidal system in which a liquid is dispersed in a liquid is called a) gel b) emulsion c) sol d) precipitate 59) The antiseptic compound present in dettol is a) Iodine b) Enloroxylenol c) Biothional d) Cresol 60) As per the TRIPS Agreement – 1994, a good originating from a region with specific character / quality / reputation is covered / to be protected under the IPR as a) Patent b) Trademark c) Trade secret d) GI (Geographical Indicator) 61) Which of the following crop cultivation is banned by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India? a) Lathyrus (Khesari) b) Genetically modified brinjal c) Bt cotton for export d) Bt cotton for local use 62) Ice glacier’s melting is a common phenomenon linked to the rise in sea water level. The glaciers are predominantly present in a) Greenland b) Antarctica c) Himalayas d) Arctic 63) Who is known for establishing the “Anand Van”? a) Jubliant Buddha b) H. N. Bahuguna c) Baba Amte d) Motilal Nehru 64) The civilian Airport at highest altitude is in a) Tibet b) Nepal c) India d) China 65) Genomic (DNA) studies in camel have been completed recently by the scientists of a) South Africa b) India c) China d) Pakistan 66) International Simon Bolivar Prize was recently awarded to Aung San Suu Kyi by the government of a) Mauritius b) China c) Venezuela d) Cuba 67) BCCI conferred “Col. C. K. Naydu Lifetime Achievement Award” during 2012 to a) Sachin Tendulkar b) M.S. Dhoni c) VVS Laxman d) Sunil Gavaskar 68) Air quality depicting PM 2.5 is more hazardous to a) Archaeological Monuments b) National Parks c) Botanical Gardens d)Old Men and Women 69) Which of the following is not a fundamental right as per the Indian Constitution? a) Right to Education b) Right to Information c) Right to Speech d) Right to Life 70) Who is custodian of the Indian Constitution? a) President of India b) Chief Justice of India c) Prime Minister of India d) Chairman of Rajya Sabha 71) Piped Natural Gas (PNG) is used for a) Mining b) Welding c) Anaesthesia d) Cooking 72) Greenpark Stadium is in a) Bengaluru b) Dehradun c) Chandigarh d) Kanpur 73) Rowlatt Act 1919 was enacted during the period of a) Lord Chelmsford b) Lord William c) Lord Minto d) Lord Bentinck 74) Panchayati Raj System was implemented first in the pair of states a) Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan b) Assam and Bihar c) Arunachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh d) Punjab and Chandigarh 75) Human Environment Conference – 1972 was held at a) Stockholm b) Paris c) Geneva d) Australia 76) ‘Gold’ is mainly related to a) Local market b) National market c) International market d) Regional market 77) Bilateral monopoly refers to the market situation of a) two sellers, two buyers b) one seller and two buyers c) two sellers and one buyer d) one seller and one buyer 78) The economist who believed that unemployment is impossible and that market mechanism has a built in regulatory system to meet any ups and downs a) J. M. Keynes b) Ohlin c) J. B. Say d) Galbraith 79) Constituent Assembly of India was formulated on the recommendation of a) Wavel Plan b) Cripps Mission c) August Offer d) Cabinet Mission 80) Which of the following is an essential element of the state? a) Sovereignty b) Government c) Territory d) All these GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 53
- 56. 81) Which hasbecome a legal right under 44th Amendment? a) Right to Education b) Right to Property c) Right to Judicial Remedies d) Right to Work 82) By which Constitution Amendment Act, Right to Property ceased to remain a fundamental right? b) 42nd a) 44th rd d) 45th c) 43 c) Arson d) Ozone depletion 94) Which one of the following endocrine gland is situated in the neck? a) Pancreas b) Thyroid c) Pituitary d) Adrenals 95) The seat of intelligence is situated in the a) Cerebrum b) Cerebellum c) Medulla d) Thalamus 83) Who said “Truth is the ultimate reality and it is God”? a) Swamy Vivekananda b) Rabindra Nath Tagore c) M. K. Gandhi d) Radhakrishnan 96) What is the Normal Blood Volume in human adult? a) One litre b) Three litres c) Five litres d) Seven litres 84) Which of the following tribes is associated with the “Tana Bhagat” movement? a) Uraon b) Munda c) Santhal d) Konda dora 97) The fasting blood glucose level in adults in mg / 100 ml is a) 200 b) 160 c) 100 d) 60 85) Who founded the Naujawan Bharat Sabha? a) B. C. Pal b) G. Subramania Iyer c) Sardar Bagat Singh d) Rukmani Lakshmipath 98) Entomology is the study of a) Birds b) Insects c) Fossils d) Fungi 86) The Narendra Mandal or Chamber of Princes was inaugurated in 1921 by a) Lord Curzon b) Lord Wellesley c) Duke of Connaught d) Duke of Wellingdon 99) Exobiology is a science that deals with a) extinct forms b) life in other planets c) life in the outer space d) life in marine habitat 87) Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha together are known as a) Triratna b) Trivarga c) Trisarga d) Trimurti 88) Who was called Lichchavi Dauhitra? a) Chandragupta I b) Skandagupta c) Kumaragupta d) Samudragupta 89) Which hill station is called as the ‘Queen of the Satpuras’ a) Pachmarhi b) Nilgiri c) Mahenderagiri d) Cardamom 90) Which national highway connects Delhi and Kolkata via Mathura and Varanasi? a) NH4 b) NH2 c) NH10 d) NH6 91) The country where drip irrigation is more efficiently used is a) India b) Israel c) Sri Lanka d) England 92) Which of the following is an endangered species? a) Black buck b) Blue sheep c) Gangetic dolphin d) Mithun 93) Of the following man-made disasters, which is socially induced? a) Debris Avalanche b) Salt Water Intrusion 100) In radio – communication, the signals emitted by transmitting antenna are reflected on a) stratosphere b) ozonosphere c) ionosphere d) troposphere QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE 101) ABCD is a cyclic trapezium with AB || DC and AB diameter of the circle. If ∠CAB = 30° then ∠ADC is a) 60° b) 120° c) 150° d) 30° 102) ABC is a triangle. The bisectors of the internal angle ∠B and external angle ∠C intersect at D. If ∠BDC = 50°, then ∠A is a) 100° b) 90° c) 40° d) 60° 103) AB is the chord of a circle with centre O and DOC is a line segment originating from a point D on the circle and intersecting AB produced at C such that BC = OD. If ∠BCD = 20°, then ∠AOD = ? a) 20° b) 30° c) 40° d) 60° 104) In a circle of radius 17 cm, two parallel chords of lengths 30 cm and 16 cm are drawn. If both the chords are on the same side of the centre, then the distance between the chords is a) 9 cm b) 7 cm c) 23 cm d) 11 cm GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 54
- 57. 105) If sin(A – B) = ½ and cos (A + B) = ½ where A > B > 0 and A + B is an acute angle, then the value B is a) π / 6 b) π / 12 c) π / 4 d) π / 2 106) The fifth term of the sequence for which t1 = 1, t2 = 2 and tn+2 = tn + tn+1, is a) 5 b) 10 c) 6 d) 8 107) If (x + 7954 x 7956) be a square number, then the value of ‘x’ is a) 1 b) 16 c) 9 d) 4 108) A can do a piece of work in 12 days while B alone can do it in 15 days. With the help of C they can finish it in 5 days. If they are paid Rs. 960 for the whole work how much money A gets? a) Rs. 480 b) Rs. 240 c) Rs. 320 d) Rs. 400 109) Ronald and Elan are working on an Assignment. Ronals takes 6 hours to type 32 pages on a computer, while Elan takes 5 hours to type 40 pages. How much time will they take, working together on two different computers to type an assignment of 110 pages? a) 7 hrs. 30 min. b) 8 hrs. c) 8 hrs. 15 min. d) 8 hrs. 25 min. 114) The interest on a certain sum of money is Rs. 22 and the true discount on the same sum for the same time and at the same rate is Rs. 20, find the sum. a) Rs. 220 b) Rs. 200 c) Rs. 210 d) Rs. 212 115) A retailer purchased radiosets at the rate of Rs. 400 each from a wholesaler. He raised the price by 30% and then allowed a discount of 8% on each set. His profit will be a) 19% b) 78.4% c) 22% d) 19.6% 116) A reduction in the price of apples enables a person to purchase 3 apples for Rs. 1 instead of Rs. 1.25. What is the % of reduction in price (approximately) a) 20 b) 25 d) 33 c) 30 1 % 3 117) Rs. 700 is divided among A, B, C in such a way that the ratio of the amounts of A and B is 2 : 3 and that of B and C is 4 : 5. Find the amounts in Rs. Each received, in the order A, B, C. a) 150, 250, 300 b) 160, 240, 300 c) 150, 250, 290 d) 150, 240, 310 110) One man, 3 women and 4 boys can do a piece of work in 96 hours, 2 men and 8 boys can do it in 80 hours, 2 men and 3 women can do it in 120 hours. 5 men and 12 boys can do it in 118) The ratio of monthly incomes of A, B is 6 : 5 and their monthly expenditures are in the ratio 4 : 3. If each of them saves Rs. 400 per month, find the sum of their monthly income. a) 2300 b) 2400 c) 2200 d) 2500 1 hours 11 7 c) 43 hours 11 119) A and B have together three times what B and C have, while A, B, C together have thirty rupees more than that of A. If B has 5 times that of C, then A has a) Rs. 60 b) Rs. 65 c) Rs. 75 d) Rs. 45 a) 39 b) 42 7 hours 11 d) 44 hours 111) ABC is a right angled triangle, B being the right angle. Mid-points of BC and AC are respectively B’ and A’. The ratio of the area of the quadrilateral AA’B’B to the area of the triangle ABC is a) 1 : 2 b) 2 : 3 c) 3 : 4 d) None of the above 120) A cricket player after playing 10 tests scored 100 runs in the 11th test. As a result, the average of his runs is increased by 5. The present average of runs is a) 45 b) 40 c) 50 d) 55 112) A square ABCD is inscribed in a circle of unit radius. Semicircles are described on each side as a diameter. The area of the region bounded by the four semicircles and the circle is a) 1 sq. unit b) 2 sq. unit c) 1.5 sq. unit d) 2.5 sq. unit 121) A fruit seller buys some oranges at the rate of 4 for Rs. 10 and an equal number more at 5 for Rs. 10. He sells the whole lot at 9 for Rs. 20. What is his loss or gain per cent? 113) If the perimeter of a rectangle and a square are equal and the ratio of two adjacent sides of the rectangle is 1 : 2 then the ratio of area of the rectangle and that of the square is a) 1 : 1 b) 1 : 2 c) 2 : 3 d) 8 : 9 a) Loss per cent 1 19 19 % b) Gain per cent 1 % 81 81 c) No loss or no profit d) Loss per cent 2% 122) 15 litres of a mixture contains alcohol and water in the ratio 1 : 4. If 3 litres of water is mixed in it, the percentage of alcohol in the new mixture will be GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 55
- 58. 2 3 1 c) 18 2 b) 16 a)15 b) 17 123) A man rides at the rate of 18 km / hr, but stops for 6 mins. To change horses at the end of every 7th km. The time that he will take to cover a distance of 90 km is a) 6 hrs. b) 6 hrs. 12 min. c) 6 hrs. 18 min. d) 6 hrs. 24 min. 124) A man rows down a river 15 km in 3 hrs. with the stream and returns in 7 1 hrs. The rate at which 2 he rows in still water is a) 2.5 km/hr b) 1.5 km/hr c) 3.5 km/hr d) 4.5 km/hr 125) There is 100% increase to an amount in 8 years, at simple interest. Find the compound interest of Rs. 8000 after 2 years at the same rate of interest. a) Rs. 2500 b) Rs. 2000 c) Rs. 2250 d) Rs. 2125 126) If the number p is 5 more than q and the sum of the squares of p and q is 55, then the product of p and q is a) 10 b) –10 c) 15 d) –15 127) If a + 1 = 4 , then the value of a−2 2 ⎛ 1 ⎞ (a − 2) 2 + ⎜ ⎟ is ⎝a−2⎠ a) 0 c) –2 128) If a + b + c = 2s, then a2 + b2 + c 2 a) a2 + b2 + c2 c) 1 is equal to b) 0 d) 2 129) If xy (x + y) = 1 then the value of 1 x3y3 − x 3 − y 3 is a) 3 c) 1 b) –3 d) –1 3 3 3 130) If a – b – c = 0 then the value of a9 – b9 –c9 – 3a3b3c3 is a) 1 b) 2 c) 0 d) –1 131) The minimum value of (x – 2) (x – 9) is a) − 11 4 b) 49 4 49 4 132) If x + y + z = 6 and x2 + y2 + z2 = 20 then the value of x3 + y3 + z3 – 3xyz is a) 64 b) 70 c) 72 d) 76 133) The third proportional to ⎛x y⎞ ⎜ + ⎟ and ⎜y z⎟ ⎝ ⎠ a) xy c) 3 x2 + y2 xy b) xy d) 4 xy 134) In a triangle ABC, the side BC is extended up to D. Such that CD = AC, if ∠BAD = 109° and ∠ACB = 72° then the value of ∠ABC is a) 35° b) 60° c) 40° d) 45° 135) Two circles touch each other internally. Their radii are 2 cm and 3 cm. the biggest chord of the greater circle which is outside the inner circle is of length a) 2 2 cm b) 3 2 cm c) 2 3 cm d) 4 2 cm 136) ABCD is a cyclic quadrilateral. AB and DC are produced to meet at P. If ∠ADC = 70° and ∠DAB = 60°, then the ∠PBC + ∠PCB is a) 130° b) 150° c) 155° d) 180° 137) From a point P which is at a distance of 13 cm from centre O of a circle of radius 5 cm, in the same plane, a pair of tangents PQ and PR are drawn to the circle. Area of quadrilateral PQOR is b) 60 cm2 a) 65 cm2 2 d) 90 cm2 c) 30 cm b) 2 d) 4 (s − a) 2 + (s − b) 2 + (s − c ) 2 + s 2 d) − c) 0 138) A horse is tied to a post by a rope. If the horse moves along a circular path always keeping the rope stretched and describes 88 metres when it has traced out 72° at the centre, the length of the rope is (Take π = a) 70 m c) 80 m 22 ) 7 b) 75 m d) 65 m 139) Maximum value of (2 sinθ + 3cosθ) is a) 2 c) b) 15 13 d) 1 140) The value of 152 (sin 30° + 2 cos2 45° + 3sin 30° + 4cos2 45° + …. + 17sin 30° + 18 cos2 45°) is a) an integer but not a perfect square b) a rational number but not an integer GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 56
- 59. c) a perfectsquare of an integer d) irrational 141) If (1+sinα) (1+sinβ) (1+sinγ) = (1 – sinα) (1– sinβ) (1–sinγ), then each side is equal to a) ±cosαcosβcosγ b) ±sinαsinβsinγ c) ±sinαcosβcosγ d) ±sinαsinβcosγ 142) One of the four angles of a rhombus is 60°. If the length of each side of the rhombus is, 8 cm, then the length of the longer diagonal is a) 8 3 cm b) 8 cm c) 4 3 cm d) 8 3 cm 143) If the arcs of square length in two circles subtend angles of 60° and 75° at their centres the ratio of their radii is a) 3 : 4 b) 4 : 5 c) 5 : 4 d) 3 : 5 146) The maximum number of students got the marks in the in the interval of a) 10 – 20 b) 20 – 30 c) 30 – 40 d) 40 – 50 147) The least number of students got the marks in the interval a) 40 – 50 b) 20 – 30 c) 10 – 20 d) 0 – 10 148) The ratio of the students obtaining marks in the first and the last interval is a) 5 : 4 b) 6 : 5 c) 4 : 5 d) 3 : 4 149) The difference in the amount estimated by the family on interior decoration and architect’s fees is a) Rs. 10000 b) Rs. 9500 c) Rs. 7200 d) Rs. 9600 150) 144) Miscellane ous , 54 Technolog y , 54 Defence, 7 2 Study the above bar graph showing the production of food grains (in million tons). What is the ratio between the maximum production and the minimum production during the given period? a) 1 : 2 b) 2 : 3 c) 3 : 4 d) 5 : 2 Study the following Histogram and answer following question nos. 145 to 149. Industry , 18 Education, 90 (above values in degree) In a certain country, allocations to various sectors of the yearly budget per Rs. 1000 crores are represented by this pie-diagram. The expenditure (in Rs.) on Agriculture is a) 250 crores b) 150 crores c) 300 crores d) 200 crores ENGLISH COMPREHENSION Directions (151 – 152): There are four different words out of which one is correctly spelt. Find the correctly spelt word and indicate it by blackening the appropriate oval [•] in the Answer Sheet. 151) a) humorous b) humourous c) humorus d) humourus 152) a) narcisism c) narcisim 145) The total number of students involved in the data is a) 33 b) 32 c) 43 d) 42 Agriculture , 72 b) narcissism d) narsisism Directions (153-162): You have two brief passages with 5 questions in each passage. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives and mark it by blackening the appropriate oval [•] in the Answer Sheet. GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 57
- 60. PASSAGE I (QUESTION NOS.153 – 157) Pidgins are languages that are not acquired as mother tongues and that are used for a restricted set of communicative functions. They are formed from a mixture of languages and have a limited vocabulary and a simplified grammar. Pidgins serve as a means of communication between speakers of mutually unintelligible languages and may become essential, in multilingual areas. A creole develops from a pidgin when the pidgin becomes the mother tongue of the community. To cope with the consequent expansion of communication functions the vocabulary is increased and the grammar becomes more complex. Where a creole and the standard variety of English coexist, as in the Caribbean, there is a continuum from the most extreme form of creole to the form that is closest to the standard language. Linguists mark off the relative positions on the creole continuum as the ‘basilect’ (the furthest from the standard language), the ‘mesolect’, and the ‘acrolet’. In such situations, most creole speakers can vary their speech along the continuum and many are also competent in the standard English of their country. 153) A pidgin develops in a situation when a) Different and mutually unintelligible languages exist side by side b) A creole becomes the mother tongue of a linguistic community c) A language with restricted vocabulary undergoes an expansion in grammar and vocabulary d) Two similar languages are mixed to create a new language 154) According to the given passage a pidgin becomes a creole when a) It ceases to be a means of communication b) It becomes the mother tongue for a new generation of speakers c) Its vocabulary undergoes some kind of change d) Two or more languages are mixed with an existing pidgin 155) According to the passage, a creole continuum is a) A linguistic term for the mixture of more than two languages b) A scale which measures the linguistic competence of the speaker c) A scale in which the proximity of the creole to the standard language is measured d) A record of the continuous history of a creole 156) According to the passage ‘basilect’ means a) An impure form of a creole b) A form of creole which is furthest from the standard language c) A form of creole which has an extended vocabulary d) A form of creole which is very close to the standard language 157) Find out a word in the passage which is opposite in meaning to the word – ‘Simplified’ a) Complex b) Expansion c) Restricted d) Consequent PASSAGE II (QS. NO. 158 – 162) There were four of us – George, and William Samuel Harris, and myself, and Montmorency. We were sitting in my room, smoking and talking about how bad we were – bad from a medical point of view I mean, of course. We were all feeling seedy, and we were getting quite nervous about it. Harris said he felt such extraordinary fits of giddiness come over him at times, that he hardly knew what he was doing; and then George said that he had fits of giddiness too, and hardly knew what he was doing. With me, it was my liver that was out of order. I knew it was my liver that was out of order, because I had just been reading a patent liver-pill circular, in which were detailed the various symptoms by which a man could tell when his liver was out of order. I had them all. It is a most extraordinary thing, but I never read a patent medicine advertisement without being impelled to the conclusion that I am suffering from the particular disease therein dealt with in its most virulent form. The diagnosis seems in every case to correspond exactly with all the sensations that I have ever felt. 158) The four felt down and out because a) the room was too smoky b) they could never read a patent medicine advertisement c) they thought they were ill d) they had experienced a most extraordinary thing 159) Whenever the speaker read a liver pill circular a) he suffered from an extraordinary surge of giddiness b) he felt sure that he had a liver disorder c) he felt the urge to smoke d) All of the above 160) The author of the above passage seems to be suffering from a) fits of morbid depression without real cause b) an abnormal anxiety about his health c) melancholia d) an unnecessarily dark, gloomy and pessimistic attitude to life 161) Harris was troubled by a) a symptom of vertigo b) garrulity c) tribulation d) frailty 162) The word which is closest in meaning to ‘virulent’ is a) fantastic b) vital c) viral d) hostile Directions (163 – 167): Some parts of the sentences have errors and some have none. Find out which part of the sentence has an error and blacken the oval [•] corresponding to the appropriate letter (A, B, C). If a sentence is free from error, blacken the oval corresponding to (D) in the Answer Sheet. 163) I whistled thrice (a)/ with full might and raise my arms (b) / towards the sky. (c) / No error (d) 164) Science and religion (a) / are both necessary for man and for their (b) / outer and inner self respectively. (c) / No error (d) GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 58
- 61. 165) At certainseasons, (a) / some areas on Mars (b)/ is subject to strong winds. (c)/ No error (d) 166) As an artist (a) / Raju is as good, (b)/ if not better than Ramesh. (c)/ No error (d) 167) The scientists (a) / could not hardly (b) /complete all the experiments. (c)/ No error (d) Directions (168-172): Sentences are given with blanks to be filled in with an appropriate word(s). Four alternatives are suggested for each question. Choose the correct alternative out of the four and indicate it by blackening the appropriate oval [•] in the Answer Sheet. 168) Google is one of the most popular search engines, it is _______ by the internet users. a) utilized b) effected c) examined d) flabbergasted 169) Raj was tired of Puja’s _______ approach, so he asked her to make her final decision by that evening. a) silly-wily b) dilly-dally c) wasting d) dilly-nally 170) Ria is __________ at speaking languages. It is difficult to ___________ only one puppy for animal shelter. a) adept, adapt b) adapt, adapt c) adept, adopt d) adapt, adopt 171) School days are considered to be the best years of your life. When my __________ year in school began, I began to think of those past enjoyable days and of my future also. a) penultimate b) absolute c) integral d) termination 172) Being _______, the judge gave a favourable verdict. a) sagacious b) pugnacious c) malicious d) tenacious Directions (173 – 175): Out of the four alternatives, choose the one which best expresses the meaning of the given word and mark it in the Answer Sheet. 173) Garrulous a) talkative c) vocative b) sedative d) positive 174) Tinsel a) tinkle c) tin b) decoration d) colourful 175) Labyrinth a) meandering c) pacing b) rotating d) wriggling Directions (176 – 178): Choose the word opposite in meaning to the given word and mark it in the Answer Sheet. 176) Cordial a) fast c) friendly b) heartfelt d) hostile 177) Instinctive a) innate c) inherent b) rational d) inborn 178) Venial a) minor c) unpardonable b) pardonable d) clean Directions (179 – 183): Four alternatives are given for the Idiom/Phrase underlined in the sentence. Choose the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the Idiom/Phrase and mark it in the Answer Sheet. 179) Hard work pays in the long run. a) always b) over a period of time c) indefinitely d) never 180) I felt a fish out of water among the lawyers. a) special b) happy c) uncomfortable d) proud 181) The Cauvery water issue led to apple of discord between the two Governments. a) cause of anger b) cause of hatred c) cause of quarrel d) cause of animosity 182) The construction remains unfinished and the workers have let the grass grow under their feet. a) grown grass all over the lawn b) gone on a luxury tour c) delayed doing the work d) demanded more benefits 183) The police smelt the rat behind the death of the girl. a) got very much confused b) identified the cause of death c) suspected that something is fishy d) jumped to the conclusion Directions (184 – 193): A sentence/ part of the sentence is underlined. Below are given alternatives to the underlined sentence/part of the sentence at (A), (B) and (C) which may improve the sentence. Choose the correct alternative. In case no improvement is needed, your answer is (D). 184) The disparity of the GDP between the rich and poor has broadened in the last some decades. a) have widened in the last some decades b) has widened in the last few decades c) have broadened in the last few decades d) No improvement 185) How, is beyond my understanding, the boy could fall into the ditch. a) How the boy could fall into the ditch is beyond my understanding b) Beyond my understanding is how the boy could fall into the ditch c) How could the boy fall into the ditch is beyond my understanding d) No improvement GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 59
- 62. 186) The pioneerspacecraft went beyond Pluto. a) made its way past b) went across c) went after d) No improvement 196) An excessively morbid desire to steal a) stealomania b) kleptomania c) cleftomania d) keptomania 187) The firm buys frozen seafood in bulk, packs it into smaller pouches and then they sell them to the local grocery stores. a) it sells them b) sell them c) they sell the pouches d) No improvement 197) Prohibited by law or treaty from being imported or exported a) contraband b) smuggled c) counterfeit d) forged 188) The learners are intended to read the sources at home. a) are meant b) are suggested c) are expected d) No improvement 189) Fuji’s invention of supercomputer will be enable to make Japan supersede America in computer technology. a) will make Japan b) will enable Japan c) can make Japan d) No improvement 190) I could never repay the debt I owe to my place of study. a) Alma Mater b) Motherland c) Place of worship d) No improvement 191) She cries all the time. a) mostly everytime b) day in and day out c) pretty frequently d) No improvement 192) For a week last month, the team’s 20 players were stranded because the Government-issued passport is not up to international standards. a) Government-issued passports were not up to international standards b) Government-issued passports are not up to international standards c) The passports issued by the government were not up to international standards d) No improvement 193) Since July 2008, our customers will be able to use the ATM network of BBY Bank, the bank that was acquired by us during that year. a) have been able to use b) were using c) will have been able to use d) No improvement Directions (194 – 200): Out of the four alternatives, choose the one which can be substituted for the given words/sentence and indicate it by blackening the appropriate oval [•] in the Answer Sheet. 194) One who is unaffected or indifferent to joy, pain, pleasure or grief a) Tolerant b) Resigned c) Passive d) Stoic 195) A person who is greatly respected because of wisdom a) veracious b) vulnerable c) venerable d) verger 198) Intentional destruction of racial groups a) regicide b) genocide c) homicide d) fratricide 199) A person in a vehicle or on horseback escorting another vehicle a) Navigator b) Escort c) Outrider d) Security 200) A person specially interested in the study of coins and medals. a) medallist b) coinist c) numismatist d) numerist ANSWER KEY Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. 1 C 2 D 3 C 4 A 5 B 6 D 7 D 8 B 9 D 10 D 11 B 12 C 13 D 14 B 15 D 16 D 17 A 18 D 19 A 20 A 21 A 22 B 23 D 24 D 25 D 26 B 27 D 28 D 29 D 30 B 31 B 32 B 33 B 34 C 35 B 36 D 37 D 38 B 39 B 40 D 41 D 42 D 43 C 44 B 45 C 46 B 47 C 48 D 49 C 50 C 51 C 52 D 53 A 54 A 55 C 56 B 57 C 58 B 59 B 60 D 61 A 62 B 63 C 64 D 65 D 66 C 67 D 68 D 69 B 70 B 71 D 72 D 73 A 74 A 75 A GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 60
- 63.
- 64. Latest G.K .Bytes DECEMBER– 2013 1) As per the figures released by CSO, in GDP growth in 2nd quarter was ______ per cent: 4.8 2) Core sector is a part of index of industrial production. Its weightage in IIP is _____ per cent in IIP: 37.90 3) Gaganjeet Bhullar is top rank player of which sports: Golf 4) Name the Emperor and Empress of Japan who recently visited India: Akihito and Michiko 5) What is the name of the currency of Japan: Yen 7) Name the capital of Japan: Tokyo 8) India’s cricket team captain MS Dhoni has recently been honoured with which international award: ICC LG People’s Choice Award 2013 In corruption ranking of countries by the international watchdog Transparency International, India has been ranked at which place: 94th 20) Nelson Mandela, the iconic statesman from South Africa passed away recently. He was called _________ out of love and affection: Madiba 21) Mandela was known for his anti-apartheid struggle. What is the meaning of apartheid: Observing racial discrimination 22) Why Mr. Mandela was honoured with India’s highest civilian award – Bharat Ratna: Because he followed Gandhian philosophy and values in his fight against apartheid 23) India has been ranked at ______ place in terms of doing business, by a survey done by Forbes magazine: 98th 24) 57th National Shooting championship was held at which place: New Delhi 25) The Sankirtana, a ritual form of singing, drumming and dancing has been included in UNESCO’s list of “intangible heritage”. It belongs to which state of India: Manipur 26) US dollar is the largest used currency in the world, having 81.08% share in international transactions. Which is the currency at the second place: Yuan-8.66% (China) 27) Yuan, the currency of China is also called ______: Renminbi 28) Name the country that has recently been elected as a non permanent member of the UN security council: Jordan 29) Name the country that has recently refused to join Security Council, despite being elected as a non permanent member: Saudi Arabia 30) Why Saudi Arabia did not accept the membership of UN Security Council: To protest the world body’s failure to end the Syrian and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts 31) Alyz Henrich has been _______2013: Earth 32) Miss Earth 2013 – Alyz Henrich is from which country: Venezuela Shinzo Abe is the Prime Minister of which country: Japan 6) 19) 9) Tour de India championship is organized in which sports: Cycling 10) Tour de India championship was won by Mohd. Nor Umradi. He is from which country: Malaysia 11) India has agreed to train naval officers of which country: Sri Lanka 12) Name the international event recently won by ace shuttler of India – P V Sindhu: Macau Open Grand Prix 13) 29th Junior National Athletics Championships was held in which place: Bangalore 14) Name the state which won 29th Junior National Athletics Championship: Kerala 15) Who has been named at Chief Executive of Indian Banks Association: Mohan V Tanksale 16) Are foreign banks allowed to become member of Indian Bank Association: Yes 17) Who has been named as the new Chief Information Commissioner: Sushma Singh 18) As per Right to Information Act, any person seeking information has to be provided the required information within ____ days: 30 crowned as Miss GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 63
- 65. 33) Tarundeep Rai andAtanu Das recently won silver and bronze medal respectively at which international sports event: Indoor Archery World Cup 34) Indoor Archery World Cup was held at which place: Singapore 35) Which country has been named as host for the FIFA World Cup-2017 (Under-17): India 36) Name the light combat air craft (LCA) that has been inducted in Indian Air Force: Tejas 37) Name the aircraft that has recently been retired from the Indian Air Force: Mig-21 38) Mr. Sumit Bose has been appointed to which important central government position: Finance Secretary 39) Who has been named as the “Person of the Year” by the international magazine Time: Pope Francis 40) Gen. Bikram Singh was recently honoured with Legion of Merit by which country: USA 42) Trade deficit of India came down to less than $10 billion in Nov. 2013. What was the single most important factor for this: Reduction in import of gold 43) Asian lending agency ADB has projected India’s growth at ______ percent for the year 2013-14: 4.7% 44) The prestigious international Sundance Film Festival is held in which country: USA 46) Name the bank from Qatar which has become the first bank from that country to open a branch in India: Doha Bank 47) In a recent international survey on ranking of economies on the basis of their efficiency in utilization of energy, India has been placed at _____ rank: 69th 53) Under Indira Awaas Yojana, a sum of Rs. ___________ is provided to BPL families in plain areas for constructing their house: 70,000 54) Under Indira Awaas Yojana, a sum of Rs. ___________ is provided to BPL families in hilly areas for constructing their house: 75,000 55) In which North-Eastern state cultivation of popular spice cardamom is picking up: Arunachal Pradesh 56) As per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill approved by the cabinet, the reservation for Persons with Disabilities (PWD) has been raised to ___ per cent from three at present: Five 57) C. V. R. Rajendran has been appointed Chairman and Managing Director of which bank: Andhra Bank 58) Name the country that succeeded in landing a lunar probe on moon recently, becoming first country to do so since 1976: China 59) Sis Ram Ola, who passed away recently, was a prominent ________: Politician, Union Labour and Employment Minister 60) Who has been elected as the new Chief Minister of Rajasthan: Vasundhara Raje 61) Pu Lalthanhawla has been elected as Chief Minister for the fourth time in which state: Mizoram 62) Name the person who has been elected as Banker of the Year 2013 by the financial daily Business Standard: Aditya Puri 63) Aditya Puri is the chief of which bank: HDFC Bank 64) 4th edition of Kabaddi World Cup was won by which country in Men’s category: India (beating Pakistan) 65) 4th edition of Kabaddi World Cup was won by which country in Women’s category: India (beating New Zealand) In which area scientists have recently discovered the coldest place on earth: East Antarctica 45) In what manner govt. has decided to link up two major welfare schemes – NREGA and Indira Awaas Yojana: Labour constructing their own house under IAY will get NREGA wages Who is Pope Francis: Supreme Head of Roman Catholics 41) 52) 48) What is the full of the abbreviation NSSO: National Sample Survey Office 49) The Reserve Bank has estimated that India's economy would grow about ______ per cent in FY 2013-14: Five 66) The finals of 4th edition of Kabaddi World Cup were played at which place: Ludhiana (Punjab) 50) As per latest census 2011 data, ______ percent Indian population has been categorized as homeless: 8.8 67) Mahesh Mangaonkar has become the first Indian player to win an International Title in which game: Squash 51) Govt. has decided to provide a monetary support of Rs. _______ to every NREGA job cardholder who plans to build a toilet in his house: 10,000 68) Name the shooter who won the ‘Champion of Champions’ title in pistol event in the final round in the 57th National Shooting Championships at New Delhi: Samresh Jung GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 64
- 66. 69) Name the internationalbeauty title won by Bea Rose Santiago of Philippines: Miss International 2013 70) Report from UNO has lowered India’s economic growth forecast for 2013 to ______per cent from 6.1 per cent projected earlier: 4.8 85) India has signed DTAA with Macedonia, a small country north of Greece, to prevent income tax evasion by entities in both the countries. What is the full form of DTAA: Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement 86) What is the range of Agni-III missile recently test fired by India: 3000 kms 87) The missile testing site of India – Integrated Test Range is located at which place: Wheeler Island, Near Chandipur, Distt Balasore, Odisha 71) Parliament has finally passed the Lokpal Bill. What is the objective of setting up of a Lokpal: Establishment of an anti-corruption watchdog that will have in its purview even the office of the Prime Minister 72) Recently India displayed its strong displeasure against the rough treatment met to one of its diplomat posted at US consulate. Name that diplomat: Devyani Khobragade 88) Name the organization which is responsible for developing and testing various missiles for Indian Army: DRDO – Defence Research & Development Organization 73) Name the international convention which guarantees diplomatic immunity to persons posted in various embassies / consulates: Vienna Convention 89) Who is the Head of DRDO: Shri Avinash Chander 90) Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai are the current national champions in women and men category respectively in which sport: Archery 91) 34th Senior National Archery championship were held at which place: Jamshedpur, Jharkhand 92) PV Sindhu and K Srikanth clinched the women's and men's National titles respectively in which sport: Badminton 93) 78th Senior National Badminton Championships was held at which place: New Delhi 94) In the 9th Ministerial Conference of WTO held in Bali, Indonesia, what was the major achievement for India: India will continue to support its farmers with MSP-Minimum Support Price 95) Recently govt. has launched a four day antiNaxal operation involving close to 40,000 security personnel in which states: Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra 74) Name the veteran cricket player selected for the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement award for the year 2013 by BCCI: Kapil Dev 75) Name the international financial institution that has agreed to lend $176 million to extend the first metro train line in Jaipur: Asian Development Bank 76) V. K. Duggal has been appointed as the new governor of which state: Manipur 77) Name the diplomat appointed as Pakistan’s new High Commissioner to India: Abdul Basit 78) Who has been appointed as the India’s new Ambassador to USA: S. Jaishankar 79) Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS) is located at which place in India: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 80) India and Pakistan had a dispute on the sharing of waters of which river that was settled in favour of India by the International Court of Arbitration : Kishan Ganga 96) Govt has agreed to grant constitutional status to the proposed JAC for appointment and transfer of judges. What is full form of JAC: Judicial Appointments Commission 81) Kishenganga Hydro Electric Project is located in which state: Jammu & Kashmir 97) India’s first National Cancer Institute is to be established in which state: Haryana 82) India and San Marino, a tiny country within Italy, signed the TIEA between them at Rome. Write the full form of TIEA: Tax Information Exchange Agreement 98) Name the South-African all rounder cricketer who has announced is retirement from Test and First Class cricket: Jacques Kallis 83) With which country government has approved the enhancement of the bilateral currency swap arrangement to $ 50 billion, up from $ 15 billion at present: Japan 99) As per recent data the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) — number of women who die of pregnancy-related causes per 1,00,000 live births — has come down to _______ in 2010-12, from 212 in 2007-09: 178 84) Govt. has cleared a services and investment deal with 10-member ASEAN group as part of CECA. What is the full form of CECA: Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement 100) In India which state has the lowest MMR of 66 per lac: Kerala 101) In India which state has the Highest MMR of 328 per lac: Assam GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 65
- 67. 102) India plans tolaunch its Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D5) at 4.18 p.m. on January 5, 2014. The letter D5 signifies what: Fifth Developmental Flight 120) Recently we read in the newspaper that an ATM has been launched for ‘Bitcoins’. What is the Bitcoins: It is a digital currency, popular worldwide 103) India plans to put into orbit its satellite GSAT-14 for what purpose: Communications 121) 104) J N Chaudhury has been appointed Chief of which paramilitary force: National Security Guard Ashok Amritraj, producer of 109 Hollywood films, for his outstanding achievements in the film industry has been honourd with which award: Soul of India Award 122) Who has been appointed as new Director General of Central Industrial Security Force: Arvind Ranjan Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award for 2013 has been given to film celebrity: Amitabh Bachchan 123) Name the new tactical surface-to-surface missile based on the Prahaar missile, with a range between 60-170 kms: Pragati Missile 124) In a recent global study of tourism, which Indian State has been named as best region to visit in 2014: Sikkim 125) The World Billiards Championship was held at ______, England: Leeds 126) Name the winner of World Championship 2013: Peter Gilchrist 127) Peter Gilchrist the world Champion of Billiards is from which country: Singapore 128) Sachin played his last match in domestic cricket at which place: Lahli, Haryana 129) In which tournament, Sachin played his last domestic test match: Ranji Trophy 130) The govt has recently approved an education promotion programme by the name RUSA. What is the full form RUSA: Rashtriya Uchchatar Siksha Abhiyan 131) What is the objective of starting the educational project RUSA: Improving quality and number of universities / colleges in country 132) With which country India has agreed to export motorcycles through the land route: Bangladesh 133) As per recent RBI guidelines banks have been allowed to pay interest on their deposit accounts at _______ intervals: Monthly / Fortnightly 134) Most of the banks recover a fixed fee from their customers for sending them SMS alerts for their transactions. What are the recent RBI guidelines in this regard: Charge to be recovered actual usage basis 135) As per Forbes ranking of The world’s most powerful people, _________ has been ranked as No. 1: Vladimir Putin 136) What position is held by Mr. Vladimir Putin: President, Russia 137) Recently first time a rail link was opened linking 105) 106) Who has been honoured with Polly Umrigar Award from the BCCI for being India’s best international cricketer of the year 2012-13: Ravichandran Ashwin 107) What is the official growth rate fixed by the planning commission for the 12th five year plan: 8% 108) In the first half (April-September) of the current fiscal FY2013-14, the economy grew by _______per cent: 4.6 109) India has signed a mega contract of $1.01 billion with which country for six additional C-130J "Super Hercules" jumbo military cargo aircrafts: USA 110) Farooq Sheikh who passed away recently was a prominent ___________: Film Actor NOVEMBER – 2013 111) Rajendra Yadav who passed away recently was from which field: Literature 112) Rajendra Yadav was a eminent short story writer and novelist of which language: Hindi 113) As per a recent study, India has been ranked ______ in terms of ‘Ease of Doing Business’: 134th 114) In terms of Ease of Doing Business _______ is no. 1 in the world: Singapore 115) The WTA Tour Championship title for 2013 was lifted by which player: Serena Williams 116) The full form of WTA in WTA Tour Championship is: Women’s Tennis Association 117) The WTA Tour Championship was held at which place: Istanbul, Turkey 118) As per Forbes magazine’s latest India Rich List, ________ has been named as India’s wealthiest person for the sixth year in a row: Mukesh Ambani 119) Mukesh Ambani is the corporate head of which industries: Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) Billiards GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 66
- 68. the two continents– Asia and Europe in which country: Turkey 138) In a list of most powerful persons of the world compiled by Forbes Magazine, ____ ____ has been named as most powerful women: Angela Markel (5th) Karate Championship: Romania 155) the Ashihara Sabaki World Karate Championship was held at which place: Bucharest, Romania 156) The Paris Masters Tennis tournament was won by ______ Djokovic: Novak 157) Tennis star Novak Djokovic is from which country: Serbia 158) To which country India has provided Rs. 100 crores as a grant for their Economic Stimulus Plan: Bhutan 159) World Agriculture Forum Congress 2013 and Agri-Tech Trade Fair was held at which place: Hyderabad (AP) 139) K P Saxena who passed away recently was a noted________: Hindi Satirist 140) Name the international beauty title won by Ms. Srishti Rana: Miss Asia Pacific 2013 141) In the 'Prosperity Index' ranking of 142 countries compiled by London-based Legatum Institute, India stood at ______ position: 106th 142) Name the legendry Pakistani female folk singer who passed away recently: Reshma 160) FIDE world chess championship, was held at which place: Chennai 143) The Hockey World Cup- 2014 will be held at which place: The Hague, Netherlands 161) 144) The first joint retreat ceremony of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) was held which place: Petropole border in district North 24 Parganas, West Bengal What is the full form of chess championship FIDE: World Chess Federation (Federation Internationale des Echecs) 146) Name the Indian batsman who created history by scoring world’s highest ever sixes – 16 in an ODI: Rohit Sharma With which country India has signed an agreement to facilitate transfer of sentenced prisoners languishing in jails in the two countries: Vietnam 147) The 13th meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) was held in: Perth, Australia 148) Sebastian Vettel, the reigning Formula One world champion from Germany created history by winning _______ formula races in one year: 9 149) Name the film that won the Golden Gateway of India award for the best film at the 15th Mumbai Film Festival: La Jaula De Oro (of Mexico) 150) Geeta Chandran who has been honourd with Guru Debaprasad Award is from which filed: Bharatnatyam 151) Name the UN agency which has taken up a nationwide social media campaign against open defecation in India: UNICEF 152) Name the social media campaign launched by UNICEF against open defecation in India: Take the Poo to Loo 153) As regard to service conditions of civil servants, what was the recent ruling of Supreme Court: They should not be transferred frequently 154) What is the full form of Agricultural mission NFSM: National Food Security Mission 163) What is the name of joint naval exercise recently held by navies of Indian and USA: Malabar 164) The naval exercise Malabar by Indian and US Navy was held at which place: Off the coast of Tamil Nadu in Bay of Bengal 165) Pakistan successfully tested its ______, Hatf IX (Nasr) having a range of 60 kms: Missile 166) The maneuvering and tracking of Mangalyaan is being done by ISTRAC. Write its full form: ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network 167) The satellite tracking centre ISTRAC is located at which place: Bangalore 168) India’s first interplanetary space craft – Mangalyaan was launched from which centre: Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota (AP) 169) Who is the Chief Radhakrishnan 170) Name the satellite launching vehicle that was used to launch Mangalyaan: PSLV-C25 171) The book “Gandhi A Spiritual Biography” has been written by: Arivnd Sharma 172) In which North Eastern states govt. has extended AFSPA for a further period of six months: Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. 173) What is the full form of AFSPA: Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 174) Tarla Dalal who passed away recently, was a noted ______ expert: Cookery 175) 145) 162) 44th International Film Festival of India was held Which country won the Ashihara Sabaki World of the ISRO: Dr. GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 K 67
- 69. at which place:Goa 176) ______ was the ‘country in focus for’ for the44th International Film Festival of India: Japan 177) India’s second international standard multi-use Integrated Check Post (ICP) and the first along the Bangladesh border was opened at which place: Akhaurah, Tripura 178) India’s second international standard multi-use Integrated Check Post (ICP) has been opened at Akhaurah in Tripura. The first ICP is located at which place: Attari, Punjab 179) India successfully test-fired its nuclear weaponscapable, surface-to-surface Agni-1 missile recently. What is its range: 700 kms 180) India’s first Bird Ringing Station has been setup at Salropa in the prestigious Great Himalayan National Park in Kullu. What is its purpose: To identify and establish species of various birds 181) Imomali Rakhmon has been elected as President of which country: Tajikistan 182) Name the lady who has been named as the most powerful businesswoman in India for the third consecutive year in the list of 50 most powerful businesswomen ranking for 2013 by Fortune magazine: Chanda Kochhar 183) Name the country that will host 2018 men’s Hockey World Cup: India 185) Name the super strong typhoon that caused wide spread devastation in Philippines, claiming over 12000 lives: Haiyan 186) The World Economic Forum has joined hands with ________ to jointly organise the India Economic Summit: Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) 187) RBI has signed cooperation agreement with central banks of which two countries: Australia and New Zealand 192) Name the TV channel that Prasar Bharti plans to launch specially for Aruanchal Pradesh and Sikkim: Prabha 193) The Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas was organized at which place by the High Commission of India: Sydney, Australia 194) National Education Day is celebrated on which date: 11th November 195) The birthday of first Education Minister of Independent India, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad is celebrated as what day: National Educational Day 196) India has declared itself free from _______as there has been no occurrence of the disease in the last three months: H5N1 Avian Influenza (bird flu) 197) ________won the ATP World Tour Finals in London beating Rafael Nadal: Novak Djokovic 198) South Asian Junior Athletics Championships were held at which place: Ranchi, Jharkhand 199) Name the country that secured top position in the South Asian Junior Athletics Championships: India 200) Hurun India Philanthropy List 2013 published by the China’s leading magazine mougal ‘Huran Report Inc has ranked IT tycoon ___________as the most generous Indian with a donation of Rs 8,000 crore in the year ending March 31, 2013: Azim Hashim Premji 201) Malia and Malala have been named among the 16 most influential teens of 2013 by the Time magazine. Who is Malia: Elder daughter of Barack Obama 202) Prof. C.N.R. Rao has been decorated with Bharat Ratna. He is from which field: Solid state and materials chemistry 203) What is the amount of cash reward that is given to the recipient of a Bharat Ratna: Nil 204) Recommendation for Bharat Ratna are made by which authority: Prime Minister 205) Who approves awardees for Bharat Ratna: President of India 206) Can Bharat Ratna be awarded to a non Indian also: Yes 207) What is the name of the second air craft carrier of India: INS Vikramaditya 208) The abbreviation INS stands for: Indian Naval Ship 209) What is the name of the original ship that has been transformed into INS Vikramaditya: Admiral Gorshkov What is the official position of the prominent corporate figure Ms. Chanda Kochhar: MD & CEO of ICICI Bank 184) held at which place: Munich, Germany 188) 189) 190) 191) Recently RBI issued what guidelines for foreign banks in the context of domestic private sector banks: Allowed them to take over private banks As per recent RBI guidelines foreign banks will not be allowed to hold more than ________ per cent equity in the private banks they may acquire: 74 Name the Olympian shooter who created history by becoming first Indian women to win air pistol gold in the ISSF World Cup: Heena Sidhu The ISSF World Cup Shooting Championship was GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 68
- 70. 210) INS Vikramaditya hasbeen procured by India from which country: Russia 226) Who has been named as World Athlete of the Year for 2013 in Men’s category: Usain Bolt 211) INS Vikramaditya is the second aircraft of the Indian Navy. What is the name of the first (existing) aircraft carrier of India: INS Viraat 227) World athlete of the year Usain Bolt is from which field of athletics: 100 and 200 m sprint 212) Name the aircraft carrier being built indigenously in India: INS Vikrant 228) World athlete of the year Usain Bolt is from which country: Jamaica 213) Name the first aircraft carrier acquired by Indian Navy which was decommissioned on 31st Jan, 1997: INS Vikrant 229) Who has been named as World Athlete of the Year for 2013 in women’s category: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce The INS Vikramaditya will be based at which naval base: INS Kadamba at Karwar, Karnataka 230) 214) World athlete of the year Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is from which field of athletics: 100 and 200 m sprint 215) UN’s International Day for Tolerance on which date: Nov 16 231) World athlete of the year Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is from which country: Jamaica 216) National think tank NCAER has lowered country's growth rate to 4.8-5.3 per cent range in the current fiscal. Write the full form of NCAER: National Council of Applied Economic Research 232) What was the theme of the 22nd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2013 held at Colombo, Sri Lanka: Growth with Equity; Inclusive Development 233) In the recently held CHOGM, India was represented by which statesman: Salman Khurshid, Minister of External Affairs 234) At which place the Indian Army tested an advanced version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system (block III variant) successfully: Pokhran, Rajasthan 235) BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile system. What is the meaning of supersonic: Objects flying with speed higher than speed of sound 236) Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2013 has been awarded to which person: Angela Merkel, German Chancellor 237) NASA has launched its latest orbiter to Mars – ‘MAVEN’ to hunt for clues about why the Red Planet lost much of its atmosphere. What is the full form of MAVEN: Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution 238) Centre has directed the state governments to implement the new National Crop Insurance Programme (NCIP) for compulsory coverage of which category of beneficiaries: Borrower Farmers 239) BRICS International Competition Conference was recently held at which place: New Delhi 240) Name the remote-sensing satellite launched by China: ‘YAOGAN XIX’ 241) Election commission has ask the government to enact a law demanding what from the government in the context of election related opinion polls: Banning the release of results of election related opinion polls, once the notification of elections has been made celebrated 217) Name the Prime Minister of UK who visited India recently for a short trip: David Cameron 218) Prime Minister of UK recently visited India only for a short time as he was on his way to _____: Colombo, Sri Lanka 219) Central govt. has increased man-days under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to 150 from existing norm of 100 days in which state: Odisha 220) Why govt. has increased man-days under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to 150 from existing norm of 100 days in Odisha: To provide relief from devastation caused by Phailin cyclone 221) World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have assured a financial assistance of $ 313 mn to Odisha government for what purpose: For restoration and rehabilitation activities in cyclone Phailin hit areas 222) Which country has promised to provide support of Rs. 1129 crore for campus development at IIT Hyderabad: Japan 223) Govt. has decided to establish National Institute of Disaster Response (NIDR) at which place: Kamptee, near Nagpur, Maharashtra 224) Telecom major Vodafone India and ICICI Bank have launched mobile money transfer and payment service _________in Assam and other North Eastern states: 'M-Pesa' 225) Name the new President of island country Maldives: Abdulla Yameen recently GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 69
- 71. 242) The Reserve Bankhas directed public sector banks to provide credit to women self help groups at a rate of ________ percent per annum: seven fastest batsman in world to score 5000 runs in one-day internationals (ODI): Virat Kohli 262) The National Book Award 2013 of USA has been given to the book _______ by James Mc Bride: The Good Lord Bird 243) What is the name of the first all women bank started in India: Bhartiya Mahlia Bank 263) 244) In which place Bhartiya Mahila Bank has opened its first branch: Mumbai Who is the author of the book, ‘Book of Destruction’: Anand 264) 245) Is the Bhartiya Mahila Bank allowed to recruit male staff members: Yes, on selected basis The famous book Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer has been authored by ________: Cyrus Mistry 265) 246) Is the Bhartiya Mahila Bank allowed to cater to male customers: Yes, on selected basis 247) Bhartiya Mahila Bank has been ask to devote special attention to which category of women customers: Self Help Groups What is the common factor in the mini territories of Liechtenstein, Isle of Man, British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands: All four are tax havens 266) 248) Why 19th November was selected as the day to inaugurate the Bhartiya Mahila Bank: It is birth anniversary of late Indira Gandhi Name the 23 year old chess prodigy from Norway who was crowned as World Champion at the World Chess Championship at Chennai: Magnus Carlsen 267) Name the West Indies cricketer who marked an end to the glorious career of Master Blaster Sachin: Darren Sammy 268) The last ball to be faced by Sachin marking end of his 24 years of cricketing career was bowled by ______ of West Indies: Narsingh Deonarine 269) A survey of 1,600 senior executives across more than 70 countries by global professional services firm Ernst & Young (EY) placed ______ as the first choice of global investors: India 270) Who has been appointed as Chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India: Ajit Prakash Shah 249) Name the first chairperson of the Bhartiya Mahila Bank: Usha Ananthasubramaniam 250) To which country India has extended a 100 million dollar line of credit for defence purchases: Vietnam 251) The Golden Elephant Award is given for what purpose: Best Children Film 252) The Golden Elephant Award is given on what occasion: at International Children's Film Festival th 253) The 18 International Children's Film Festival was held at which place: Hyderabad 254) Name the film that won the Golden Elephant Award: Dutch Film Kauwboy 271) The Warsaw Climate Change Conference 2013 was held at which place: Warsaw, Poland 255) What is the recent ruling of Supreme Court with regard to contesting of elections by the persons in jail: They are eligible to contest elections 272) 256) Name the fifteen year old cricket star who created history by scoring a record 546 runs playing in Mumbai: Prithvi Shaw The Climate Change Conferences are organized by UNFCCC. The abbreviation UNFCCC stands for: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 273) 257) Frederick Sanger who passed away recently was the only person to win the noble prize for ________ two times, in 1958 and in 1980: Chemistry ___________won the Asian Championship held in Taipei, China: Korea 274) Which country recently agreed to curb its nuclear programme in lieu of lifting of economic sanctions against it: Iran 258) India’s only Equatorial Rocket Launching station is located at which place: Thumba, Kerala 275) 259) What is the name of the India’s only Equatorial Rocket Launching station: Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Which country has offered to renovate and preserve a total of 116 heritage buildings, constructed in the 18th and 19th centuries, located on the banks of the river Hooghly in West Bengal: Denmark 260) Why Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thumba was in news recently: It celebrated its golden jubilee 276) A high power group of six super powers negotiated a deal with Iran for what purpose: To restrict the nuclear programme of Iran 261) Name the India's batting star who became the 277) Mount Sina Bung, a volcano that erupted very violently causing dislocation of thousands of Archery South GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 70
- 72. people, is inwhich country: Indonesia adequacy rule from this year itself: 9% 278) Which country has decided to award International Prize for Equality and NonDiscrimination 2013 to Malala Yousafzai: Mexico 296) With which country India has agreed to strengthen, promote and develop renewable energy cooperation: Belgium 279) Global Islamic Economic Summit held at which place: Dubai, UAE 297) 280) Which country hosted the 20th World Master Athletics Championship: Brazil Jason Day lifted the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf held in Melbourne, Australia. He is from which country: Australia 298) 281) Which corporate brand has been ranked No. 1 in the 'World's Most Valuable Brand List' compiled by 'Forbes' magazine: Apple The Hornbill Festival to promote tribal culture is held in which state: Nagaland 299) The ICC T20 championship 2014 will be held which country: Bangladesh 282) 4th World Cup Kabaddi will be held in which state: Punjab 300) 283) Name the country where Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship was held recently: Malaysia Which Indian IT giant agreed to pay a record $34 million fine to settle a visa row in the USA: Infosys 284) Who has been elected as President, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci): Sidharth Birla 285) Name the new Chief of Pakistan Army: Lt. Gen. Raheel Sharif 286) Junior National Archery Championship was held at _________Assam: Kokrajhar 287) OCTOBER – 2013 301) In which country thousands of government servants were asked to go on leave without pay temporarily as the government had no funds to pay their salary: USA 302) Mahendra Dev Committee has been appointed for what purpose: To review the scale of NREGA wages One of the main factors behind the recent ‘Shut Down’ crisis in USA was the popular health care programmes of the government. What is the popular name for this programme: Obamacare 303) 288) RBI has allowed which category of manufacturing units to be covered under priority sector lending: Medium Name the diplomat who has been appointed High Commissioner of India in United Kingdom: Ranjan Mathai 304) The International Day of “Older Person” is celebrated on which day: October 1 289) On what basis business units are classified into Micro, Small and Medium categories: On the basis of investment made in plant & machinery / equipment 305) In the recently compiled “Global Human Capital Index”, what is India’s rank: 78th 306) India’s minister of external affairs visited ______ to impress upon early implementation of 13th amendment to constitution: Sri Lanka 307) In the neighbouring country Sri Lanka, what is the context of 13th amendment to their constitution: Devolution of powers to the provinces 308) The 2013 meet of CHOGM is to be held at which place: Colombo, Sri Lanka 309) What is the Commonwealth Meeting 310) The summit of CHOGM is held every _____ years: Two 311) How many countries are the member of The Commonwealth: 53 312) Headquarter of The Commonwealth is located at: London, UK 313) _________ is designated as head Commonwealth: British Monarch 290) Name the Act that lays down various rules and regulations for classification of business units into micro small and medium enterprises: MSMED Act 2006 291) What is the full form of MSMED: Micro Small & Medium Enterprises Development Act 292) Sachin Tendulkar has been selected by UNICEF as the brand ambassador for Asian region for what purpose: To promote its Total Sanitation Campaign 293) As Brand Ambassador of UNICEF for Total Sanitation Campaign, Sachin Tendulkar will campaign in which countries: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal 294) The coveted title of Miss Universe 2013 has been won by Gabriela Isler. She is from which country: Venezuela 295) The Reserve Bank has directed all regional rural banks to follow the minimum _______capital full form Heads of of CHOGM: Government of the GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 71
- 73. 314) Name the middleAsian country visited by Indian President recently: Turkey 315) Name the capital of Turkey: Ankara 316) country: Serbia 333) Women’s singles title in the China Open Tennis Cup was won by: Serena Williams Which Turkish University honoured Indian President with honorary ‘doctorate’ in Political Science: Istanbul University 334) Name the Indian tennis star who alongwith Cara 317) Currency of Turkey is ________: Turkish Lira 335) 318) In a recent survey of top 400 universities in world, _________ has been ranked as No. 1 university in India: Panjab University As per the estimates of the Finance Ministry and that of RBI, growth rate of India’s economy during current fiscal is expected to be around ______ per cent: 5.5% 319) Election commission has given the option to the voters not to vote for any candidate, if they decide so. This option has been named as: None of the above (NOTA) 336) Name the international financial agency that has pulled down projection for India’s growth rate to 3.8 percent for the year 2013-14: IMF 337) Vladimir Klitschko who won the world heavyweight boxing title at Moscow, Russia is from which country: Ukraine 338) Name the allrounder from Bangladesh who became the first cricketer in 136 year old history of cricket to score a century and claim a hat-trick in the same Test: Sohag Gazi 339) Name the first MP whose Parliamentary seat was declared vacant following his conviction for more than two years, as a result of recent ruling of Supreme Court to this effect: Rashid Masood 340) Name the space craft launched by NASA on a mission to Jupiter: Juno 341) RBI has increase the borrowing period under MSF from one day at present to _______ days: 7 to 14 days 342) Indian Prime Minister visited Brunei recently for attending which International summit: ASEAN and East Asia Summit 343) The recent meeting of ASEAN and East Asia Summit was held at _________, Brunei: Darussalam 344) Out of ASEAN and East Asia Summit, India is member of which organization: East Asia Summit 345) The 9th WTO Ministerial Conference will be held at __________, Indonesia: Bali 346) What is the full form of ASEAN: Association of South East Asian Nations 347) Name the Director General of World Trade Organisation – WTO who visited India recently: Roberto Azevedo 348) Asian Development Bank has provided $100 mn loan to which State to improve education and skills: Meghalaya 349) With which country India finalised $512-million joint venture deal for the construction of two coal fired power projects of 250 megawatts each: Sri Lanka 320) Two day international Rhino conference was held at: Bandar Lampung, Indonesia 321) Lampedusa an island near ______ was in news as over 300 persons drowned there after a boat, with up to 500 African asylum seekers, caught fire and sank: Italy 322) Rohan Bopanna along with French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin, won the men’s doubles title at_____________ held at Tokyo, Japan: Japan Open Tennis 323) Name the team that won the Champions League Cricket recently: Mumbai Indians 324) The final match of the Champions League, Cricket was held at _________ stadium in Delhi: Feroz Shah Kotla 325) Name the veteran Indian film director who has been nominated to head the accomplished jury for the Seventh Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA): Shyam Benegal 326) The Seventh Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) to be held in_______: Brisbane, Australia 327) “The Busan International Film Festival” is held in which country: South Korea 328) Name the acclaimed Cambodian director who received the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea: Rithy Panh 329) Which international with Archaeological 360- degree online nationally-important IT giant has joined hands Survey of India to provide panoramic imagery of 100 monuments: Google 330) Name the Sri Lanka’s first elected Tamil Chief Minister of the Northern Province in the first ever provincial elections held after clearance of LTTE from North Sri Lanka: C. V. WIGNESWARAN 331) The China Open Tennis Cup Men’s Singles has been lifted by _______: Novak Djokovic 332) The tennis star Novak Djokovic hails from which Black won the women’s doubles title of China Open: Sania Mirza GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 72
- 74. 350) The annual meetingof IMF and the World Bank was recently held at: Washington, USA 369) Ilham Aliyev has been elected as President of which country: Azerbaijan 351) Name the first women chairperson of the Federal Reserve System of USA: Janet Yellen 370) 352) Name the Central Bank in United Kingdom: Bank of England What is the popular full form of the scientific research organization CERN: European Council for European Research 371) 353) Name the Bank that facilitates and promotes research for improvement in banking services all over the world. Bank for International Settlements Mulatu Teshome has been elected president of which country: Ethiopia 372) 354) The Headquarter of Bank for International Settlement is located at ________, Switzerland: Basel Sachin Tendulkar reached the coveted landmark of 50,000 runs across all formats of cricket at which stadium: Feroze Shah Kotla stadium, New Delhi 373) 355) What is the purpose of the proposed Rs. 43,000 crore Green Energy Corridor Project: Setting up of wind and solar power plants India has signed agreements with ______ countries, who pledged their commitment to the ambitious Nalanda University project: Seven 374) 356) Prime Minister of which country was in news due to his sudden abduction and subsequent release also: Libya The prestigious International Nalanda University is located is which place: Rajgir, Distt Nalanda, Bihar 375) 357) What is the officially name of the ISRO’s project for sending a satellite to planet Mars: Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) Name the Nobel laureate who has been designated to head the Nalanda University as its Chancellor: Prof. Amartya Sen 376) In the Global Hunger Index India has been ranked at ________ place: 63rd 358) Tom Clancy, one of the most widely read and influential military novelist of his time, passed away recently. He was from which country: USA 377) Which district of Odisha was hardest hit by the recent cyclone Phailin: Ganjam 359) World Toilet Summit was recently held in which country: Indonesia 378) 360) Name the new High Commissioner of Pakistan to India: Ibne Abbas 361) Name the campaign launched by China aimed at enforcing standards for waste imports to avoid unusable or unsafe/dangerous consignments: Green Fence Authorities worldover have appreciated the excellent preparations done by the NDRF and IMD for minimizing the possible damage from the cyclone Phailin: What is the full form of NDRF and IMD: National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indian Metrological Department (IMD) 379) Govt. has decided to bring all post offices across the country on CBS platform to cover larger number of people, particularly in rural areas for banking services. What is CBS: Core Banking Solution 380) Name the place in distt. Datia of Madhya Pradesh which witnessed a gruesome stampede killing over 120 persons: Rattangarh 381) The World Boxing Championships was held in which place: Almaty, Kazakhstan 382) Name the freedom fighter, ex Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission who passed away recently: Dr. Mohan Dharia 383) M.S. Swaminathan, Eminent agriculture scientist has been honoured with which prestigious prize for his work for national integration: Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration 384) Malala Yousafzai, the teenage activist for girl’s education has been honoured with Sakharov Human Rights Prize. The prize is given by which organization: European Parliament 385) Name the renowned scientist who has written 362) Which country has qualified for the first time to play in the 11th ICC Cricket World Cup: Afghanistan 363) The 11th ICC Cricket World Cup is to be hosted jointly by which two countries: Australia & New Zealand 364) What is the full form of ICC: International Cricket Council 365) What is the range of Nuclear weapons capable surface-to-surface missile Prithvi-II: 300 kms 366) The missile testing range of India is named as: Integrated Test Range 367) The missile testing range of India is located at which place: Wheeler Island, Near Chandipur, Odisha 368) Recently Supreme Court ordered ___ per cent reservation in govt. jobs for disables person: Three GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 73
- 75. the book MyBrief History: A Memoir : Stephen Hawking winner who passed away recently: Ravuri Bharadhwaja 386) Under which loan scheme the receipt of annuity amount has been exempted from income tax: Reverse Mortgage Scheme 403) The Indian Open Snooker Tournament – 2013 title was won by _________ of China: Ding Junhui 387) Who are the likely beneficiaries under the reverse mortgage loan scheme: Property Owning Senior Citizens 404) The Indian Open Snooker Tournament – 2013 was held at which place: New Delhi 388) Government has increased MSP of wheat by Rs. 50 to Rs. ______ per quintal: 1400 405) 389) Name the CEO of ICICI bank who has been ranked as top women business leader of India: Ms. Chanda Kochhar Name the first ever India-Russia joint military exercise that began on October 19 at the Mahajan field firing range in Rajasthan near the Indo-Pak border: Indra 2013 406) 390) Name the remittance system for which RBI has issued new revised guidelines: RTGS What is the objective of recently conducted Indo-Russian joint military exercise: for improving anti-terrorist operations 407) 391) Government has decided to include skilled labour in sericulture under the MNREGA Scheme. What is sericulture: Rearing of silk worms Name the latest National Tennis champions in men’s & women’s category: Mohit Mayur and Prerna Bhambri 408) With which country India recently signed a border defence pact: China 409) What is the officially name of the border defence pact signed between India and China: Border Defence Co-operation Agreement 410) What is the official designation of the Prime Minister of China: Premier 411) What is the name of the Premier of China: Li Keqiang 412) Which mega steel company has been asked by a UN Human Rights panel to stop the work at its Odisha plant as it may lead to displacement of thousands of people and disruption in their livelihoods: Posco 413) The Union Cabinet has approved the biggest ever foreign investment in India's aviation sector - Jet Airways' proposed sale of its 24 per cent equity to ___________airline: Etihad Airways 414) The Etihad Airways is the national airline of which country: United Arab Emirates 415) To which country India has agreed to start a power transmission line to export 500 million megawatt of electricity: Bangladesh 416) Name the Indian power cooperate which has joined hands with Bangladesh power development board to form Bangladesh – India Friendship Power Company to promote 1,320MW Maitri thermal power project in Bangladesh: National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) 392) NPCI has launched Aadhaar-based remittances for bank account holders. What is the full form of NPCI: National Payments Corporation of India 393) What is the main objective of NPCI: To promote various forms of electronic banking in India 394) Which city has been voted as countries top business destination in terms of infrastructure, human capital, city culture and basic quality of living: Bangalore 395) Indian Prime Minister recently visited Russia and met their President. What is the name of Russian President: Vladimer Putin 396) South zone and North zone were declared joint winners of the in the final of Duleep trophy played at Kochi, Kerala. It is from which sports: Cricket 397) Which big hydel project of India is celebrated its Golden Jubilee: Bhakra Dam, Punjab 398) 5th South Asian Conference on Sanitation held at which place: Kathmandu, Nepal 399) Name the first Indian to win a silver medal at the 2013 ITTF Asian Table Tennis championship held in Beijing, China: Bhavina Hashmukhbhai Patel 400) Name the player who scored the fastest ever century by an Indian batsman in ODI, off 52 balls, playing against Australia at Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur: Virat Kohli 417) Man Booker Prize 2013 has been awarded to ________for her novel, The Luminaries. Eleanor Catton UNO recently passed a regulation to destroy huge amounts of chemical in which country: Syria 418) Which railway station near Kolkata has been renamed as Komagata Maru station to salute the martyrs of September 29, 1914, who arrived 401) 402) Name the eminent Telugu novelist, short story writer, poet critic and 2012 Jnanpith award GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 74
- 76. there by theship of the same name: Budge Budge 419) __________has become the first company in the country to achieve sales of more than Rs 1,00,000 crore in a quarter: Reliance Industries Ltd. 420) Terry Walsh has been appointed chief coach of which national men’s sports team: Hockey 422) India and China will hold joint military exercises from November 4 in _______ region in South west China: Chengdu 424) What is the objective of the proposed Indo-China joint military exercise: To practice counter insurgency and counter terrorism manoeuvres The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2013 has been awarded to how many scientists: Three 436) The three scientists – Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel have been given Nobel prize in Chemistry for 2013 for research in which field: for developing computer models that predict complex chemical reactions that can be used for tasks like creating new drugs 437) Nobel prize for Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for which achievement: For breakthroughs in understanding how key substances are moved around within a cell 438) The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2013 has been awarded to author Alice Munro for which field of literature: Contemporary short stories 439) Nobel Laureate for 2013 literature Nobel Prize – Alice Munro is from which country: Canada 440) What is the formal official name for the Economics Nobel Prize: The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences The new chief coach of men’s national hockey team – Terry Walsh is from which country: Australia 423) 435) INS Sunayna, the indigenously built warship is which type of ship: Naval offshore Patrol Vessel (NOVP) 421) Particle’ 425) Which corporate has been allowed by government to start a new domestic airline jointly with Singapore Airlines: Tata Group 441) 426) What is the name of proposed new domestic airline started jointly by Tata and Singapore airlines: 'Tata SIA Airlines Limited' The Nobel Prize for economics for 2013 has been awarded for what purpose: For research in empirical analysis of asset prices 442) 427) Government has decided to contribute a sum of Rs. ______ crore towards capital infusion in public sector banks: 14,000 The Nobel Peace Prize – 2013 has been awarded to which organization: Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) 443) 428) For what purpose government is contributing Rs. 14,000 crore in capital of public sector banks: To enable banks to meet Basel III capital requirements Currently, OPCW is in news for handling which international assignment: Destruction of dumps of chemical weapons in Syria as per UN mandate 444) The headquarters of Nobel Peace prize winning organization – OPCW is located at which place: The Hague, Netherland 445) Why the Nobel prizes are delivered on a fix day – December 10 every year: It is the death anniversary of Alfred Nobel 446) All Nobel Prizes except the peace prize are presented at _____, Sweden: Stockholm 447) The Nobel Prize for Peace is presented at _______, Norway: Oslo 448) The Nobel Prize for Peace is not decided in Sweden, instead, it is decided by an expert committee of _________: Parliament of Norway India has been ranked __________ out of 136 countries on a Global Gender Gap Index compiled by Geneva-based World Economic Forum: 101st According to a recent survey by Global Initiative for Restructuring Environment and Management (GIREM) and DTZ, _______ is the best business destination in the country: Bangalore 429) Name the two Latin American Countries visited by the Vice President Hamid Ansari: Peru & Cuba 430) Sanjeev Rajput won the gold in which event in the Asian Air Gun shooting championship in Tehran, Iran: Men’s 50-metre free rifle event 431) Bru community which has settled in large number of refugee camps in Tripura and Assam, belongs to which state: Mizoram 432) Air Costa is the new regional airline started in which part of the country: Andhra Pradesh 433) Name the Indian scientist in whose name the ‘God Particle’ has been named as Higgs Boson: Satyendra Nath Bose 449) 434) The Nobel prize – 2013 for physics has been given to François Englert, Belgium and Peter W. Higgs, UK for which achievement: for the outstanding research for discovery of ‘God 450) GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 75
- 77. 451) Name the FormulaOne champion who has won four successive titles in the current season: Sebastian Vettal Sebastian Vettal, the formula one world champion is from which country: Germany India’s only Formula One Racing Track Buddha International Circuit is located at which place: Noida, UP World’s largest airport Al-Maktoum International is located at which place: Dubai, UAE Which financial institution proposes to launch a special loan scheme for creation of storage infrastructure like construction of Warehouses, Silos, cold storages and cold chain infrastructure: NABARD 453) 454) 455) 456) 457) 458) 459) 460) 461) 462) 463) 464) 465) 466) 467) Govt. plans to start National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) for what purpose: As a watchdog for the accounting and auditing policies and standards for adoption by companies. With which bank Australian Trade Commission has signed a MoU to raise the productivity and exports of India’s food and agricultural sector: Yes Bank To which state World Bank has provided $360 million loan for modernisation of irrigation and drainage systems: Uttar Pradesh India is planning a cross country highway with which two other countries: Myanmar and Thailand The trilateral highway with Myanmar and Thailand will start from ________ in Manipur, India : Moreh The trilateral highway with Myanmar and Thailand will end at ______ in Thailand: Mae Sot Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project will link Kolkata port with Sittwe port in which country: Myanmar In the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, Kaladan is the name of a _______ in Mizoram: River The World Agricultural Congress and Trade Fair to be held at ______: Hyderabad Supreme Court ruled that MPs/MLAs will lose their seats immediately if they are convicted of offences that carry a prison term of more than ______years: Two The 2013 Norton Report by Symantec says that India is among the world’s top ______ countries with the highest number of incidences of cyber crime: Five Indian Navy has recently inducted Hawk MK 132 aircraft. It is what type of aircraft: Advanced Jet Trainer SEPTEMBER– 2013 The book Communist Cookbook has written by: Sharmishta Roy Chowdhury 469) Who is the author of the book ‘Punjab: A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten: Rajmohan Gandhi 470) The GDP growth rate for the quarter ending June 30th was pegged at _______: 4.4% 471) The Asia Cup Hockey was held at which place: Ipoh, Malaysia 472) 2014 Hockey World Cup will be held at which place: The Hague, Netherlands 473) Name the country who won the Asia Cup Hockey by defeating India: South Korea 474) 452) 468) As per the Land Acquisition Bill passed by Lok Sabha, govt. has to pay compensation upto ______ times of market value for acquiring land in rural areas: four 475) As per the Land Acquisition Bill passed by Lok Sabha, govt. has to pay compensation upto ______ times of market value for acquiring land in urban areas: two 476) G-20 group of countries held a meeting of their Heads at which place: St. Petersburg, Russia 477) Name the ace footballer from UK who created a new record by becoming the expensive most player in the history of football: Gareth Bale 478) Noted footballer Gareth Bale has been contracted by which Club for a sum of 100 million Euros: Real Madrid, Spain 479) Diana Nyad, the 64 year old lady swimmer from USA created a world record for what: for longest distance swimming – 110 mile (177 kms) 480) Haraprasad Das, eminent Oriya writer, has been honoured with which prestigious award for his book ‘Vamsha’: Moortidevi Award - 2012 481) Name the country who won SAFF football championship by beating India: Afghanistan 482) What is the full form of SAFF: South Asia Football Federation) 483) The SAFF football championship was recently held at which place: Kathmandu, Nepal 484) As per new companies law, the corporates are required to spend _______ % of their profits towards CSR activities: Two 485) Write the full form of CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility 486) India recently launched multi band communication satellite GSAT-7 for what purpose: Data gathering for defence forces 487) The GSAT- 7 satellite was launched from which GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 76
- 78. place: Kourou, FrenchGuiana (An overseas territory of France, at joining Brazil) 488) The GSAT-7 satellite was launched in a _____ Orbit, about 36000 kms above Earth’s surface: Geosynchronous 489) Name the book on tax administration written by noted economist Parthasarthi Shome, Advisor to the Finance Minister: Indian Tax Administration: A Dialogue 490) Dr. Raghuram Rajan, the new governor of RBI was holding which position before this: Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance 491) As per the PFRDA bill, 2011, government has permitted FDI upto _____% in the pension sector: 26 492) Write the full form PFRDA: Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority 493) Name the tennis star who won US Open men’s singles title: Rafael Nadal 494) Noted tennis star Rafael Nadal is from which country: Spain 495) recently been taken over by _________ Ministry: Finance 508) Govt. has approved setting up of the Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation, a partnership between government, corporate India, academics and civil society, with a contribution of Rs 500 crore for what purpose: To engage corporates for help to counter Naxal influence 509) RBI has setup Bimal Jalan Committee for what purpose: To scrutinize the applications for new bank licences 510) Name the head of the committee formed to strengthen the framework of monetary policy to avoid friction between the RBI and the Finance Ministry: Urjit Patel Committee 511) Who has been elected as President of International Olympics Committee: Thomas Bach 512) Famous sports person Novak Djokovic is from which game: Tennis India’s trade deficit narrowed to $10.9 billion in August from $12.26 billion in July. What does it represents: The amount by which exports are short of imports 513) 496) Tennis star Novak Djokovic hails from which country: Serbia Which is the single largest item contributing to the import bill of India: Petroleum 514) 497) Name the tennis star who won US Open women’s singles title: Serena Williams As per the RBI guidelines, cash withdrawals of up to Rs. _________ a day from point of sale terminals are allowed: 1,000 498) Noted tennis star Serena Williams from which country: USA 515) Which type of banking transactions can be carried out using plastic money: Debit / Credit card transactions 499) Name the prestigious sports event recently won by tennis star Leander Paes: US Open 2013 men’s doubles crown 516) What is the popular name for the total money supply – M3 in the country: Broad Money 500) Name the world renowned music maestro who conducted the Bavarian State Orchestra in J & K: Zubin Mehta 517) What is the priority sector lending target fixed by the government for foreign banks in India: 40%; if the branches are less than 20, then 32% 501) The musical concert conducted by Jubin Mehta at Shalimar Garden, Srinagar (J&K) was named as____________: Ehasas-e-Kashmir 518) 502) Tony Abbott has been elected as new Prime Minister of which country: Australia If an Indian bank in private sector fails to achieve priority sector lending targets, what will be the penal action: It will have to deposit the short fall amount in Rural Infrastructure Development Fund 503) With which country India has enlarged its currency swap arrangement from $15 billion at present to $ 50 billion: Japan 519) The government has approved a proposal to invest USD 4.3 billion in which international financial institution: World Bank 504) India has been ranked at _____ place in terms of its global competitiveness in 2013: 60th 520) Eighth Women’s Hockey Asia Cup was recently held at which place: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 505) _________has emerged as most literate state in India with 94.65 per cent literacy, compared with Kerala’s 93.91 per cent: Tripura 521) Which big industrial country has decided to say ‘good bye’ to nuclear power: Japan 522) 506) Share of agriculture in India’s GDP is about ____%: 13.7 Name the spacecraft that has become the first man-made object to venture into interstellar space: Voyager-1 507) Control of Forward Markets Commission has 523) Name the wrestler who won silver medal at the GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 77
- 79. World Wrestling Championship:Amit Kumar 524) Name the wrestler who won bronze medal in free style wrestling in the World Wrestling Championship: Bajrang 525) 526) by which two countries: Australia and New Zealand 543) World Wrestling Championship were held at which place: Budapest, Hungary Govt. has recently relaxed certain pre conditions in case of FDI in which field: Multi Brand Retail 544) Name the hockey player who will captain the Indian Women’s Hockey team in Asia Cup: Ritu Rani With which country India has an arrangement to pay in Indian rupees for its import of crude oil: Iran 545) Name the veteran British journalist and broadcaster, famous for his TV interviews of various Heads of States, who passed away recently: David Frost 527) Name the Indian origin girl who was crown as Miss America recently: Nina Davuluri 528) Jhumpa Lahri, a Noted Novelist of Indian origin is settled in which country: USA (New York) 546) How many industries are there in the core sector within Index of Industrial Production (IIP): Eight 529) Which city has been named to host 2020 Olympic Games: Tokyo 547) 530) The 2016 Olympics are to be held at which place: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Which country has agreed to contribute 41% share in the creation of a $100-billion Currency Reserve Fund (CRF) by BRICS: China 548) 531) Name the recently tested nuclear capable surface to surface long-range ballistic missile which has a strike range of more than 5000 kms: Agni-V Name the new Chief Information Commissioner of India: Ms. Deepak Sandhu 549) Which state has decided to observe Bitia Janamostava to promote awareness for protection of girl child: Bihar 532) From which place India conducts its missile tests: Wheeler Island off Odisha coast 550) Name the noted Bengali author who was killed in Afghanistan by Taliban: Sushmita Banerjee 533) NASA has launched an unmanned spacecraft Ladee for what purpose: To explore the surface of moon 551) The mobile phone business of Nokia Corporation of Finland has been taken over by which multinational company: Microsoft 534) Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia has recently been honured with which prestigious Indian Award: Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development-2012 552) A robot astronaut called ________developed by Toyota Company of Japan, has made history by becoming the first robot ever to speak in space: Kirobo 535) The first ever North East Festival to showcase eight states of North East India, their customs, heritage, traditions, music, dances, tourism will be held at which place: New Delhi 553) As per recent RBI guidelines, Indians travelling abroad can carry Indian currency of up to Rs.__________ per person: 10,000 536) Reserve Bank has directed that gold jewellery accepted as security will have to be valued at the average of the closing price of 22 carat gold for the preceding _______ days: 30 554) Which organization of USA has announced that it will not cut down its USD 85 billion a month stimulus programme, spreading cheers among the financial markets around the world: Federal Reserve System (popular name Fed) 537) Durand Cup is associated with which sports: Football 555) 538) Durand Cup for 2013 was won by _____ ________ after a gap of 73 years: Mohammedan Sporting, Kolkata Which state in India has recorded the lowest proportion of 3.66 % of poor living below poverty line in urban areas: Sikkim 556) Which state in India has the lowest proportion – 5.09%, of the poor living below poverty line: Goa 557) India has recorded the largest increase in its UHNI club among the BRICS nations in the last one year, with a total of 7,850 super rich people in the country. What is the full form of UHNI: Ultra-High Networth Individual 558) Recent RBI guidelines have asked banks to close accounts of those customers who use their credit or debit cards for ________ transactions: 539) Durand Cup Football tournament was held at which place: New Delhi 540) Dinesh K. Sarraf has been appointed head of which Maharatna company: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation 541) With a view to boost exports, government has raised interest subvention on export loans to _______ percent: Three 542) 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup will be hosted jointly GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 78
- 80. Online Forex 559) As perthe food security Act notified recently, ________ % of country’s population will be covered under food guarantee: 67 560) Which state in India emerged as the hottest investment destination for new projects: Odisha 561) World largest solar power plant is being setup in India at which place: Sambar Lake, Rajasthan 562) Govt has finalised the timeline for implementation of the mega ADKIC project to promote industrial activity in north India. What is the full form of ADKIC: Amritsar-DelhiKolkata Industrial Corridor Corpus Fund for what purpose: For empowerment and protection of women 563) 564) For which part of India govt. has approved Rs. 2,130 crore expenditure under Special Accelerated Road Development Programme (SARDP): North East Region RBI has allowed banks to open branches, including in Tier 1 centres without its prior permission. Which city come under tier 1: Centres cities with population of one lakh and above 575) Name the first programme started from Nirbhaya Fund, aimed at helping the women who need special protection measures, such as women in prostitution or widowed women: Shubh 576) Ray Dolby, an inventor and audio pioneer from USA, founder of Dolby Laboratories, passed away recently. He is known for which product: Dolby Stereo Sound System 577) Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has become the first regulator in the world to start an ___________system: Insurance Repository 578) With which country recently signed the DTAA agreement: Latvia 579) Name the international literary prize that has now been made open to English authors from all over the world: The Man Booker Prize 580) President of which country recently cancelled its official visit to USA to protest against the spying excesses of National Security Agency of USA: Dilma Rousseff of Brazil 581) Which country has recently started Direct Banking, offering banking services not through branches but through various other means like internet, mobiles and ATMs: China 582) Name the former world heavyweight boxing champion, considered one of the greatest fighter of his era, who passed away recently: Ken Norton 583) The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs is planning to rope in celebrities as brand ambassadors for the five minority communities. Name these five communities: Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhist and Parsis 584) Name the organization that has acquired the Rs. 600 crore research vessel named Samudra Ratnakar: Geological Survey of India 565) The Reserve Bank has advised banks to allot a different product code in their core banking solution to which type of accounts: Accounts which are dormant or inoperative for over two years 566) Which film will represent India in the Best Foreign Film category at 2014 Oscar Awards in USA: The Good Road 567) Govt. has submitted in Supreme Court that it intends to go ahead with Sethusamudram Project. It is located in which area of India: Rocky terrain between India and Sri Lanka in the Gulf of Mannar 568) What is the geographical name Sethusamudram: Adam’s Bridge 569) At which place is the World's highest-altitude civilian airport, located 4,411 meters above sea level: Daocheng, Near Tibet, China 585) Super Typhoon Usagi has caused widespread damage in which part of the world: Philippines and Taiwan Who has been elected as Chancellor of Germany for the third time in a row: Angela Markel (Ms) 586) India has been granted ‘authorizing nation’ status for certifying which type of products: Electronics and IT Products 587) Sandeep Tulsi Yadav created history by winning India’s first ever wrestling medal in _________category at World Wrestling Championships: Greco-Roman 588) Name the Indian who has been honoured with Clinton Global Citizen Award: Bunker Roy 589) RBI has directed banks to stop ________loans schemes as they tend to befool the consumers into believing that bank funding come for free: 570) th for the 571) Who has been elected as the 12 Pakistan: Mamnoon Hussain 572) Recently India post released a commemorative stamp in the memory of freedom fighter and veteran journalist Lala Jagat Narain. Name the news paper founded by him: Punjab Kesari 573) Kaesong industrial park was the matter of dispute between which two countries: North and South Korea 574) President of Govt. has started a Rs. 1000 crore Nirbhaya GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 79
- 81. zero per cent 610) RBIGovernor Dr. Raghuram G Rajan has recently been honoured for his ground breaking research work by which German Bank: Deutsche Bank 611) A panel headed by Raghuram Rajan has recommended a new methodology based on a ________for devolving funds for development of states: 'Multi Dimensional Index (MDI)'. 612) As per Raghuram Rajan report on allocation of funds for development of states, which are the three development categories of the states: Least, Relatively and Less developed 590) With which country India conducted a joint military exercise in general combat and mountain warfare: Nepal 591) Indo-nepal joint military exercise was recently held at which place: Pithoragarh, Uttrakhand 592) Erna Solberg has been elected as Prime Minister of which country: Norway 593) Sultan of Johor Cup Hockey tournament was held at Johar Bahru in which country: Malaysia 594) National Junior Athletics Championship held at_________, Kerala: Kochi 613) 595) In which country a legislative decree has been passed for reserving one seat in their parliament for persons of Sikh/Hindu religion: Afghanistan A panel headed by Raghuram Rajan has identified which state of India as least developed: Odisha, followed by Bihar 614) 596) Wolesi Jirga is the equivalent of Indian Lok Sabha in which country: Afghanistan A panel headed by Raghuram Rajan has identified which state of India as most developed: Goa, followed by Kerala 597) A severe earthquake of 7.7 magnitude that caused widespread devastation in _______ district of Balochistan, Pakistan: Awaran 615) 598) Name the author of the book “Never Go Back”: Lee Child Supreme Court has ruled that for a vibrant democracy the voter has the right to negative voting by rejecting all the candidates in fray by exercising the option of _________in EVMs and ballot papers: None of the Above (NOTA) 599) The sustainable mountain development summit was held at which place: Kohima, Nagaland 616) For which metro city ADB has offered a $ 400 million loan to improve water and sanitation system: Kolkata 600) The picture, The Good Road, that has been nominated from India to Oscars, has been made in which language: Gujarati 617) NASA’s unmanned rover – Curiosity has recently discovered traces of water in the soil cover of which planet: Mars 601) Name the film that won the Best Asian Film Award at the 38th Toronto International Film Festival in Canada: Qissa, A Punjabi Film 618) Miss Philippines _______ has been selected as Miss World 2013: Megan Young 602) Govt has notified ________ as the new date for implementing GAAR: April 1, 2016 619) What is the name of latest search algorithm launched by google: Hummingbird 603) What is the full form of GAAR: General Anti Avoidance Rules 620) In a recent ruling of National Green Tribunal, digging of ________ has been banned across the country: Soil (Earth) 604) GAAR form an internal part of which law: Income Tax Act 621) India has been ranked at ______ place in terms of corruption risk: 69th 605) Grand Master Vidit Gujrathi who won the bronze medal at an international event, is from which game: Chess 622) 606) The 18th International Children's Film Festival (ICFFI)will be held at which place: Hyderabad ‘Patan Patola’ which recently got the GI tag from the Geographical Indication (GI) Registry, Chennai, is a popular type of _____ from Gujarat: Double-sided saree 623) 607) The Golden Elephant award for best film is given at which film festival: International Children's Film Festival Which state in India has offered highest price for sugarcane procurement at Rs. 301 per quintal: Haryana 608) Name the movie that won the best film award at the Ladakh International Film Festival: “OASS” 609) Horticulture Mission for North East and Himalayan States (HMNEH) and National Bamboo Mission (NBM) have been merged with which other major national mission: National Horticultural Mission (NHM). AUGUST – 2013 624) Govt. has announced to continue a subvention of _________on crop loans upto Rs. 3 lacs, if they are paid in time: 3% 625) In which public sector oil company, government has decided to disinvest 10% of its stake: GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 80
- 82. Indian Oil Corporation andrehabilitation in the disaster-hit areas in Uttarakhand 626) The South Asian Football Federation under 16 championship held at Kathmandu was won by which country: India 644) 627) Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan has recently been decorated with which prestigious award: Rajiv Gandhi National Sadhbhavna Award Which country has agreed to supply 145 stateof-the art 155 mm towed Howitzer guns to India: USA 645) 628) The oranges grown in Nagpur area have been granted GI Tag. What is the full form of GI: Geographical Indication Name the Indian shuttler who became the first Indian woman singles player to win a medal (bronze) at the World Badminton Championship: PV Sindhu 646) 629) What is the government target for disinvestment during the year 2013-14: Rs. 40,000 crore World Badminton Championships were held at which place: Guangzhou, China 647) 630) Name the women pole vaulter who has won the World Athletics Championship thrice: Yelena Isinbayeva Men’s singles title at World Badminton Championship was won by: Lin Dan, China 648) 631) The World Athletics Championships 2013 was held at: Moscow, Russia Women’s singles title at World Badminton Championship was won by: Ratchanok Intanon, Thailand 649) 632) Hassan Rouhani has been elected as ______ of Iran: President Lt. Col. Sudhakar Jayant of Indian Army won gold medal in which sport at the international level: Weight lifting 633) Which country recently temporarily closed 19 of its diplomatic missions in the Middle East and North Africa as a precaution against terrorist attack: USA 650) Where in India was a half marathon of 21 kms was organized, for the first time at an height of 10,050 feet: Keylong, Himachal Pradesh 651) Name the India’s first nuclear submarine whose atomic reactor was activated recently: INS Arihant 652) The shortfall of total inflow of foreign currency compared to total out flow of foreign currency in a country is known as _________: Current Account Deficit 653) If our total exports are less than our total imports, the balance of trade in this situation is _________: Negative 654) Who is the first women sprinter to win both individual 100 m / 200 m and 4 x 100 m relay in World Athletics Championships: Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce (Jamaica) 655) India’s fiscal deficit stood at 2.63 trillion rupees ($43.57 billion) in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. What is its link with the govt. borrowing: It represents the amount of govt. borrowing 656) Why government has hiked import duty on refined gold bars for a third time in eight months to 10 percent from the earlier 8 percent: To control the outflow of foreign currency 657) Latest RBI data shows that gross NPA of public sector banks have increased to 1.76 lakhs crore as on 30th June. What is the name of first stage of NPA Account: Substandard 634) In which sports did Indian girls recently create history by winning country’s first ever bronze medal in that sport: Hockey 635) India recently launched National Monsoon Mission. What is its objective: Improved prediction of monsoon rainfall 636) In which format of cricket India has been ranked as no. 1 in the world: ODI (One Day International) 637) Name the sports man who became first Indian to win World Games snooker gold medal: Aditya Mehta 638) Raghuram G Rajan has been appointed to which important position: Governor, RBI 639) Name the institution that recently imposed a ban on the mining of sand throughout the country: National Green Tribunal 640) Village Khirsara in Kutch, Gujarat was in news recently for what reason: Large number of Harrappan era artifacts were found there 641) Name the Indian IT company against which a human rights violation case has been filed in USA: Infosys 642) Name the iconic 80 years old newspaper of USA that was sold of recently: The Washington Post 658) The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have agreed to provide $ 400 million to India for what purpose: for reconstruction The govt. has setup production target for food grains at ______ million tonnes for the year 2013-14: 259 659) Name the Swiss trainer aircraft recently inducted 643) GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 81
- 83. in Indian Airforceto train its pilots: Pilatus PC7 660) Which two countries are having a border dispute over Gibraltar area in Mediterranean sea: Spain and UK 661) IAAF World Championship 2013 were held in which City: Moscow, Russia 662) Write the full form of abbreviation IAAF: International Association of Athletics Federations 663) Name the athlete who won largest number of gold medals (3) at IAAF World Championship 2013 at Moscow: Usain Bolt, Jamaica mining for Vedanta Aluminum, a multi crore FDI project: Niyamgiri Hills 677) Asian Youth Games were held at which place: Nanjing, China 678) Name the Indian weightlifter who clinched a gold medal in the 77 kg category in Asian Youth Games held at Nanjing, China: Venkat Rahul Ragala 679) Which bank plans to deploy over 1.25 lakh pointof-sale (PoS) terminals in the next 18 months to promote cashless transactions at merchant outlets: State Bank of India 680) Name the ratio which shows the proportion between total deposits and total loans of a bank or area: Credit Deposit Ratio 681) The Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority has permitted which type of institutions to act as insurance brokers with the objective of increasing insurance penetration in the country: Banks 682) If a bank becomes a insurance broker instead of a corporate agent, what difference it will make in the insurance selling options of the bank: as a broker they can sell insurance products of more than one company 664) Name the nuclear weapon capable missile recently test fired by India: Prithvi – II 665) What is the strike range of Prithvi – II missile: 350 kms 666) Name the India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, that was launched at Cochin Shipyard Limited on August 12: INS Vikrant 667) Name the India’s second aircraft career which is due to join navy by the end of this year: INS Vikramaditya 668) Name the only operational aircraft career with the Indian navy: INS Viraat 683) 669) Dilip Trivedi has been appointed as Director General of which paramilitary force: Central Reserve Police Force As per revised areas norms for multiproduct SEZ’s, the minimum area requirement has now been fixed at______: 500 hectares 684) SEZ’s only for electronics hardware, agro-based food processing, biotechnology, handicrafts can now be setup in an area of ________ hectares only: 10 685) Name the element based on which physicists have developed most precise clock of the world: Ytterbium 686) The Reserve Bank has imposed monetary penalties ranging from 50 lakhs to two crore on Allahabad Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Corporation Bank, Dena Bank, IDBI Bank and Indian Bank for which offence: Violation of KYC Norms 687) With a view to ensure free and fair elections, the Voter Verifiable Paper Trail (VVPAT) system will be used on trial basis for the first time in which state: Nagaland 688) Name the scheme wherein one youth from each rural household that completes 100 days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme will be eligible for skill training and job placement under the National Skill Development Scheme: National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme 689) The Union Cabinet cleared a proposal to scrap the collegium system of appointing judges to the 670) Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has been elected as President of which country: Mali 671) Name the Indian Navy’s kilo-class submarine that sank at the naval dockyard in Mumbai due to two massive explosions inside the submarine, killing all the 18 mariners: INS Sindhurakshak 672) Desh Prem Azad who passed away recently was a prominent coach of which sports: Cricket 673) At which place in Ladakh, J&K, Indian airforce landed its heavy lift transport plane–C-130 Super Hercules on the world’s highest air strip: Daulat Beg Oldie 674) The filing of RTI (Right to Information Act) applications for all central government ministries and departments has been made online with launch of website www.rtionline.gov.in. The prescribed fees can be paid through internet banking of which bank: SBI and its associate banks 675) Which state has decided to provide free cycles to girl students of class 9 and 10 in all govt and provincial schools: Assam 676) Which area in district Rayagada in Odisha was in news as all the 12 gram sabhas there unanimously decided to not to allow bauxite GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 82
- 84. Supreme Court andHigh Courts. What is the alternative suggested for this system: Judicial Appointments Commission 705) 40th National Women's Premier Championship was held at which Kolkata 690) RBI has increased the ceiling for FDI in asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) from 49% to__%: 74% 706) The government has set up a Tax Administration Reform Commission under___________, advisor to the Finance Minister: Parthasarathy Shome 691) What is the function of a asset reconstruction company: Recovery of banks bad loans 707) 692) The government has approved setting up of 12 mega food parks during the 12th Plan period (2012-17) with an allocation of Rs 1,714 crore. What is the purpose of setting up of a mega food park: Boosting the food processing industry What is the objective of setting up of the Tax Administration Reform Commission: to review the application of tax policies and tax laws in the country 708) Name the sports person who has been selected as the captain of Indian hockey team: Sardara Singh 709) Mr. Ronjan Sodhi has been honoured with which big award recently: Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 710) Name the highest recognition given by govt. in the field of sports: Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 711) What is the amount of cash reward given by under Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: Rs. 7.50 lakh 712) Arjuna Awards are given in which field: Sports 713) Name the cricketer who has been given Arjuna Award 2013: Virat Kohli 714) Mr. Gagan Jeet Bhullar has been given Arjuna Award for which sports: Golf 715) Name the women’s badminton champion recently honoured with Arjuna Award: Ms. P.V. Sindhu 716) Dronacharya Awards in sports are given for what purpose: Excellence in Coaching 717) Which Indian sports person has been appointed the brand ambassador to promote world’s largest football league Barclays English Premier League football in India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni Name the sports award given for life time achievement of a sports person: Dyanchand Award 718) 700) Name the Iraqi Prime Minister who visited India recently: Nouri al-Maliki What is the amount of cash reward given to Arjuna, Daronacharya and Dhyanchand awardees: Rs. 5 lakh 719) 701) Shailendra Kumar Mandal, Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at National Institute of Technology, Patna has been awarded the prestigious Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship. Name the sponsoring country for this fellowship: USA Rajya Sabha passed an amendment to which act for allowing persons in jail or in police custody to contest elections: Representation of the People Act 720) Name one main reason for recent sharp slump in the value of Rupee against Dollar: Higher demand of dollars for higher value of imports and shortage of dollars in international market 721) A number of artifacts belonging to Harrappan era were discovered from a place near Bhuj in Gujarat. What is the name of that place: Khirsara 722) On what basis planning commission decides the 693) The MPCE, which reflects purchasing power stands at Rs. 1287.17 for rural areas in 2011-12. What is the full form of MPCE: Monthly Per Capita Expenditure 694) What is the MPCE for urban areas for the period 2011-12: Rs. 2477.02 695) Name the two global credit rating agencies which have decided to maintain the ‘BBB’ rating for India: Fitch; Standard & Poor’s 696) As per RBI directives and recent government guidelines, the Adhaar Card is complete and valid proof for satisfying KYC norms for opening bank account subject to one condition. What is that condition: The current address of the person should be same as mentioned in the Adhaar Card 697) The Lusofonia Games will be held in which place in India: Goa 698) In Lusofonia games, sports persons and athletes from only ________ speaking countries take part: Portuguese 699) 702) As per a recent study India ranks _____ in terms of number of internet users: 3rd 703) Indian women's recurve team (archery) won the gold medal in which international event: The World Cup Archery (Stage IV) 704) The World Cup Archery championship was held at which place: Wroclaw, Poland Chess place: GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 83
- 85. cut off pointfor identifying BPL families: per capita consumption expenditure 723) 741) The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that India will host the World T20 Cup competition in _______ year: 2016 742) India has been granted permission to hold World Test Cricket Championship, for the first time in which year: 2021 743) K.K. Paul has been appointed governor of which state: Meghalaya 744) Government has set up an investment target of 1.15 lakh crore rupees for PPP projects in infrastructure sector in the next six months. What is the full form of PPP: Public Private Partnership 745) Virendra Kataria has been appointed Lt. Governor of which Union Territory: Puducherry 746) Name the Academician who has been appointed as Lt. Governor of Delhi: Najeeb Jung 747) Justice ______ has been appointed as 40th Chief Justice of India: P. Sathasivam 748) Douglas C. Engelbart who passed away recently was a renowned scientists in which field: Computers, Inventor of Mouse 749) Indian Navy recently took delivery of INS Trikand from which country: Russia 750) INS Trikand is what type of war ship: Stealth Frigate 751) Sriniwas D Patil has what linkage with the Sikkim State: He is the governor of Sikkim 752) The international Sepak Takraw Super Series 2013 was held at which place in India: New Delhi Name the IAS officer who has been appointed as the new Union Foreign Secretary: Sujatha Singh 753) What is the popular name for Sepak Takraw Sports: Kick Volleyball Anil Goswami has been appointed as the new ________ of India: Home Secretary 754) Lt. General A.K. Singh retired has been appointed as _______ of Andaman Nicobar Island: Lt. Governor 755) As per a recent ruling of the Supreme Court in the contest of cheque dishonor, Court has held that only ________ who has signed the cheque can be held liable for the dishonor: Drawer 756) Cheque bouncing due to insufficiency of funds in the account is a offence under section _____ of Negotiable Instruments Act: 138 757) India recently launched IRNSS-1A satellite from Sriharikota. What is the full form of IRNSS: Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System The latest poverty line declared by planning commission classifies a person in rural area below poverty line if his MPCE is below Rupees 816. What is the full form of MPCE: Monthly Per capita Consumption Expenditure 724) Persons having MPCE below Rupees _____ in urban areas are classified as living below poverty line: 1000 725) What is the approximate share of exports in the India’s GDP: 17% 726) Recently RBI increase the interest subvention on export loans to 3% from existing 2%. For what purpose it has been done: To promote exports and to earn more dollars 727) RBI has extended non – CTS cheques acceptance dead line to _______: 31st December, 2013 728) Abbreviation CTS Truncation System 729) CTS pertains to which activity of banking: Clearance of local / outstation cheques 730) In the cheque truncation system – 2010 guidelines, what has been truncated (cut short): Physical movement of cheques 731) What is the name of the proposed new all women bank: Bhartiya Mahila Bank 732) Recently government has allowed _____ more airports of the country to start tourist visa on arrival facility: Four 733) 734) Sen stands for: Cheque JULY– 2013 735) FIFA Confederations Cup is associated with which sport: Football 736) The last FIFA Confederations Cup was held in which country: Brazil 737) Name the team that was beaten by Brazil to win the FIFA Confederation Cup: Spain 738) Name the university that has been granted exemption from various taxes and restrictions on import / export of items: Nalanda University 739) Nalanda University is situated in which state: Bihar 758) 740) _________, the Nobel laureate is the Project Director of Nalanda University: Dr. Amartya What is the purpose of launching IRNSS: To develop a local GPS for India 759) What is the total number of satellites in the GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 84
- 86. proposed IRNSS project:Seven gold: Discus Throw 760) What is a number of industries covered in the core sector as part of index of industrial production: Eight 777) Name the first cricket player from Jammu & Kashmir to join Indian Cricket Team: Parvej Rasool 761) Write the full form of GSLV: Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle 778) 762) Name the place in Egypt which has been the epicentre of large scale prodemocracy protest: Tahrir Square Francisco Garcia has been appointed head coach of India’s senior women’s __________ team: Basketball 779) Inbee Park of South Korea is a famous sports person from which field: Golf 763) In which sector government raise the FDI limit from 74% to 100%: Telecom 780) ________ has been declared as the first smoke free state of India: Himachal Pradesh 764) 5th National Fencing Federation Cup competition was recently held at ___________, Punjab: Patiala 781) India has ranked _______ in the Innovation Index (GII) 2013: 66th 765) Marrakesh Treaty has recently been adopted by more than 150 countries for what purpose: To facilitate access of published work to blind / visually impaired persons 782) Yarnell Hill in Arizona, suffered wide spread wild fire spreading over 30 square miles. It is in which country: USA 783) Legendary actor and villain Pran passed away recently. Write his full name: Pran Krishan Sikand 784) Name the prestigious award that was conferred recently on veteran actor Pran: Dada Saheb Phalke Award 785) R. Chandrashekhar has been elected as President of NASSCOM. What is the full form of NASSCOM: National Association of Software and Services Companies 766) The city of Marrakesh where the recent conference of World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) was held is in which country: Morocco Global 767) Government has released National Cyber Security Policy – 2013 with what objective: To counter threats from various cyber incidents 768) Grand Master Parimarjan Negi is a noted sports person from which field: Chess 786) 769) 20th Asian Athletics Championship were held at _______, Maharashtra: Pune Hemant Soren has been sworn-in as 9th Chief Minister of _____ State: Jharkhand 787) 770) Arvind Mayaram Committee was setup for what purpose: To review foreign direct investment policy M.S. Raghavan has been appointed Chairman and Managing Director of _______ bank: IDBI Bank 788) Marion Bartoli of __________ won the women’s Wimbledon Trophy: France 789) The Wimbledon championship of tennis is held at which place: London (UK) 790) Name the winner of men’s singles Wimbledon Cup: Andy Murray 791) Andy Murray, the noted tennis player is from which country: UK (United Kingdom) 792) Name the film that won IIFA awards for best film, best director, best actor, best story and music: Barfi 793) World Population day is celebrated on which day: 11th July 794) What is the name of the first all women bank to be started by November 1: Bhartiya Mahila Bank 795) State Bank of India has launched a prepaid card, State Bank Xpress Money Card for what purpose: To facilitate inward remittances from UAE 796) Name the India’s youngest puglist who won a 771) As per the proposed Food Security Bill, what percentage of population has to be covered in rural areas: 75% 772) As per the proposed Food Security Bill, what percentage of population has to be covered in urban areas: 50% 773) The benefit of subsidized food grains under the proposed food security bill shall be available to which category of people: To be decided by each State, individually 774) The Indian Ocean Rim Association for regional cooperation economic and business conference was recently held at which place: Mauritius 775) Name the President of Egypt who was removed from office by the army due to widespread public protest against him: Mohammed Morsi 776) Vikas Gowda won the first gold medal for India in the 20th Asian Athletics Championship held at Pune. Name the game for which he won the GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 85
- 87. gold medal inboxing at Asian Championship held at Amman, Jordan: Shiva Thapa Aviation University of the country at _______ in Uttar Pradesh: Rae Bareli 797) Name the internationally renowned Buddhist temple town in Bihar that was in news as it was rocked by a series of terrorist bomb attacks: Bodhgaya 813) India’s first only for women university will be setup at Rae Bareli, UP. What is its name: Indira Gandhi National University for Women 798) RBI has advised banks that it will refund _____ percent of losses suffered by banks on account of receiving counterfeit notes of Rs. 100 and above if they report the matter to police: 25% 814) Name the country that recently passed, for the first time in its history, law that allows abortion in limited cases: Ireland 799) Name the company which has started first white label ATMs in India: Tata Communications Payment Solutions 815) 800) What is the name of white label ATMs launched by house of Tata’s: Indicash To help ST students avail professional education, the govt. has decided to increase the total family income ceiling under its scholarship scheme from Rs two lakh to Rs. _________lakh per annum from this fiscal: Rs 4.50 816) 801) A white label ATM is one which is licenced to and maintained by a ________: Non Banking Entity What do we call the amount that represents the short falls in earnings from exports and spending on imports: Trade Deficit 817) In the context of banking, which two items are represented in CD ratio: Credits (Loans) and Deposits 818) The Reserve Bank of India has advised banks to complete account opening process in all the districts which have started DBT scheme. What is the full form of DBT: Direct Benefit Transfer 819) In which state President rules has been revoked recently: Jharkhand 820) The RBI imposed a total fine of Rs. 49.5 crore on 22 banks for what offence: Violation of antimoney laundering and know-yourcustomer Norms 821) Supreme Court recently quashed the notification for National Eligibility Entrance Test. This is the common entrance test for which course: Medical Courses 822) Govt. has decided to raise a special Mountain Strike Corps for deployment at which place: Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China 823) What is the average national literacy rate in India as per 2011 census: 74% 824) Name the country which is celebrating 100 years of arrival of Sikhs in that country: USA 825) Which country has recently launched 3 satellites for scientific experiment on space maintenance technologies: China 826) Amar G. Bose the Indo-American visionary entrepreneur and acoustics pioneer passed away recently. He was famous for which products: High-Quality Bose Audio Systems and Speakers 802) 803) Which three countries have entered into a tripartite agreement on maritime cooperation to secure sea routes in the Indian Ocean region: India, Sri Lanka and Maldives As per a recent verdict of Supreme Court, MPs, MLAs and MLCs would automatically lose their membership if sentenced to jail for not less than ________years by the trial court: two 804) In a pathbreaking verdict, Supreme Court has debarred persons in jail or police custody from which activity: Contesting Elections 805) The prestigious Tagore award for Cultural Harmony for 2013 has been given to _____: Zubin Mehta 806) Zubin Mehta, winner of 2013 Tagore award is an internationally renowned person from which field: Music 807) Name the satellite launched by NASA to study the effects of sun on weather: IRIS 808) What is the full form of IRIS, the satellite launch by NASA to study sun: Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph 809) World’s largest telescope – Square Kilometer Array (SKA) has started its test run in which country: Australia 810) To strengthen their recovery efforts, banks have started ‘naming and shaming’ the guarantors too, besides the borrowers. What does it means: Banks will publish the photograph of defaulter borrower and their guarantor in the notice published in news paper 811) The bad loans or the loans where recovery is not proper are called ________ in banking parlance: Non Performing Assets (NPA) 827) Prem Bhatia award are given in which field: Journalism 812) Govt. has approved of the first-ever National 828) The steel plant scrapped by POSCO is located in GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 86
- 88. 829) 830) 831) 832) 833) 834) 835) 836) 837) 838) 839) 840) 841) 842) 843) 844) 845) 846) 847) which area: Gadag,Karnataka Corporate giant Arcelor Mittal announced cancelation of its Rs. 72000 crore steel plant in India. The plant was planned to be setup in which area: Keonjhar, Odisha Name the US Vice President who visited India recently: Joe Biden Which Indian state received largest number of domestic tourists in 2012: Andhra Pradesh Devendra Jhajharia created history by becoming the first differently-abled Indian to win gold in javelin throw at which international games: The IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France. (IPC International Paralympics Committee) RBI decided to provide support of Rs. 25000 crore to the banks for meeting liquidity requirements of which financial segment: Mutual Fund Which European country suffered its first heat wave after almost a gap of 7 years: Britain Name the famous city of USA that has filed for bankruptcy: Detroit The Detroit city of USA that filed for bankruptcy is famous for which product: Automobiles Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has advised that those earning up to Rs. _____lakh in salary a year will have to file IT returns this year: Five Name the new Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST: Abdul Rahim Rather Name the latest advanced meteorological spacecraft launched by India: INSAT-3D The INSAT-3D satellite was launched from the rocket of which country: France The book ‘The New Bihar’ has been written by: N.K. Singh and Lord Nicholas Stern Which Indian port has been given the ‘Major Port of the Year’ award: Paradip, Odisha Vidya Subrahmaniam, Associate Editor of The Hindu, has been given which award for the Best Commentary and Interpretative Writing for 2010: Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award Ramon Magsaysay Award are given for what purpose and in which country: for excellence in community services; Philippines As per the latest Planning Commission figures percentage of people living below poverty line in India in 2011-12 has come down to ______ percent: 21.9% As per recent Planning Commission figures, person spending less then Rs. _______ per day in rural areas are to be classified as below poverty line: Rs. 27.20 As per recent Planning Commission figures, person spending less then Rs. _______ per day 848) 849) 850) 851) 852) 853) 854) 855) 856) 857) 858) 859) 860) 861) 862) 863) 864) 865) in urban areas are to be classified as below poverty line: Rs. 33.33 Govt. has appointed a committee under chairmanship of _________ to devise the new methodology for fixing the poverty line: Dr. C. Rangarajan Fixation of poverty line at present is done as per the methodology suggested by _______: Late Suresh Tendulkar The Finance Ministry has constituted a forum headed by___________, adviser to the finance minister to interact with industry groups on a regular basis on tax-related issues or disputes: Parthasarathi Shome Name the country that planes to hold 7th Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas convention in November 2013: Australia Name the cycling champion who won the famous Tour de France, the cross country cycle race held in France: Christopher Froom, UK Which Indian stock exchange has been ranked no. 1 in the world in terms of volumes in equity trades: National Stock Exchange Last meeting of Finance Ministers and central bank Governors from the G20 group of advanced and emerging nations was held at which place: Moscow, Russia What is the latest directive from the finance minister to public sector banks in the context of ATMs: Install ATMs in all branches by March, 2014 Name the India’s multi barrel rocket launcher system which has been tested successfully recently: Pinaka The global tiger day is celebrated on which date: July, 29 Who has been elected as the new President of Pakistan: Mamnoon Hussain Manmoon Hussain is going to be the ______ President of Pakistan: 12th In its first quarter review of Monetary Policy review RBI has lowered the growth projection for the current fiscal from _________ to _______: 5.7 to 5.5 The new Director General of National Investigation Agency is: Sharad Kumar The bank rate has been aligned with which other financial benchmark: MSF Full form of MSF is: Marginal Standing Facility Which jail of India has now got its own FM Radio: Tihar Jail, Delhi ICC Cricket World Cup will be hosted by which two countries: Australia & New Zealand GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2014 87