Current Affairs June 2010 - III

·        Delhi is set to get the country's first commercial waste-to-power plant of 16 MW capacity that will convert one third of Capital's garbage into much-needed electricity for six lakh homes.

·        Finland has emerged as the most prosperous country in the world after an extensive survey conducted by the Legatum Prosperity Index, which claims to be the world's only global assessment of wealth and wellbeing. Switzerland, one of the world's most popular tourist spots, grabbed the second slot in the index. Among 104 countries, India is ranked at no. 45.

·        Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal continued her rampaging form as she completed a spectacular hat-trick of titles by clinching the Indonesia Open Super Series with a straight-game triumph over Japan's Sayaka Sato in Jakarta. This was Saina's third successive title, having won the Indian Open Grand Prix at home and the Singapore Open Super Series Tournament.

·        Russia launched the second of three stealth frigates for the Indian Navy under USD 1.6 billion deal inked in July 2006. The first of three Project 11356 (modified Krivak III) frigates, named the Teg (Sword), was launched in last November. The third frigate, Trikand (Bow) is due to be delivered in 2011-12. The new frigates, also known as Talwar class, will be armed with eight BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles. They will be also equipped with a 100-mm gun, a Shtil surface-to-air missile system, two Kashtan air-defence gun/missile systems, two twin 533-mm torpedo launchers, and an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) helicopter. Earlier, Russia's Baltiisky Zavod shipyard had built three stealth frigates of the same class - INS Talwar, INS Trishul and INS Tabar.

·        India extended the ban on import of milk and milk products from China for another six months, according to the foreign trade office.

·        The government restructured the existing 10-year-old village self-employment scheme on the recommendations of various committees to rectify shortcomings pointed out by studies. Under the new plan for the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), the scheme has been renamed as National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and it would aim at reducing poverty through promotion of diversified and gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities.

·        An innovative programme of Gujarat government aimed at easy governance has won a prestigious award instituted by the United Nations. The statewide Attention on Grievances with Application of Technology (SWAGAT) programme has won the United Nations Public Service Award (UNPSA).

·        A 15-year-old title drought came to an end as India won the Asia Cup cricket tournament after crushing defending champions Sri Lanka.

·        American John Isner outlasted Frenchman Mahut to win 6-4 3-6 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-3) 70-68 in the longest match in history, taking 11 hours and five minutes over three days.

·        The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has added island nation Tuvalu located in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Australia as its 187th member.

·        India's leading industrialist Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata Group, has been conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Law for his role in producing the world's cheapest car Nano.

·        Sachin Tendulkar will be conferred Indian Air Force's honorary rank of Group Captain and the star cricketer said he is proud to be associated with the "dynamic" IAF.

·        New Zealand has acquired the distinction of being the world's most peaceful nation for the second year running, according to the Global Peace Index.

·        The G8 summit has agreed to provide a further $5bn (£3.3bn) over five years towards improving the health of mothers and young children in the developing world.

·        The World Bank said its total lending to India will touch $9.3 billion for the fiscal ending June this year. The total expected lending this year includes $2.6 billion in interest-free credit and $6.7 billion in the form of a long-term, low interest loan.

·        Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily has announced National Litigation Policy to reduce pendency and delay in cases which Central Government is a party. The policy aims at reducing government litigation in courts so that the valuable court time is spent on resolving other pending cases so as to achieve the goal in national legal mission to reduce average pendency time from 15 years to 3 years.

·        Myanmar’s dissident political leader Aung San Suu Kyi has become the first recipient of the new Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Award for democracy instituted by the Pakistan People’s Party in the memory of the slain former premier.

·        The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has assured banks it will keep agriculture loans outside the base rate ambit. The base rate guidelines, issued in April, had barred lending below base rate, except for three categories: loans to banks’ own employees, loans against deposits and small-ticket borrowers under the differential interest rate (DRI) scheme. The addition of the fourth category means agriculture loans can also be priced below the base rate.

·        Freedom fighter and socialist leader Kanduri Charan Mallick died.3

·        India on Friday expressed confidence to achieve trade target of 30 billion dollars with Republic of Korea (ROK) by 2014.

Current Affairs June - II 2010

1.      The economy is likely to grow around 8.5 per cent in the current fiscal if the country gets a normal monsoon, Prime Minister's economic advisory council chairman C Rangarajan.

2.      Indians are the most eco-friendly people while Americans the least, according to a 17-nation survey on consumers' progress towards environmentally sustainable consumption patterns. India toped the Consumer Greendex, compiled by National Geographic which studied 17,000 consumers in 17 countries. The rankings are Indians, Brazilians, Chinese, Mexicans, Argentineans, Russians, Hungarians, South Koreans, Swedes, Spanish, Australian, German, Japanese, British, French, Canadians and Americans.(June CA Part-1)

3.      The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) announced its huge dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong, which could be the world's largest-ever initial public offering, says a media report. ABC, the biggest bank in China by customers, plans to sell as many as 22.24 billion A shares in its IPO in Shanghai and another 25.4 billion shares in Hong Kong.

4.      Israel will set up three centres of excellence to enhance productivity of fruits in Maharashtra. The west Asian nation is also mulling setting-up a post-harvest college.

5.      Tamil Nadu Government launched an eco tourism policy which would facilitate conservation and preservation of the state's natural resources.

6.      Justice Rao takes charge as chairperson of National Commission for Backward Classes.

7.      Yogesh Aggarwal Chairman & Managing Director of IDBI Bank has resigned following his appointment as the Chairman of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

8.      Former Infosys co-chair Nandan Nilekani will head a committee that will recommend to the finance ministry on how best to tap information technology for an effective tax administration and financial governance system.

9.      Russia said it will share the enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technology with India for production of nuclear fuel for atomic power plants in the country.

10. An Indian American science teacher is among the pedagogues nominated by US President Barack Obama as a recipient of the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Radhika Plakkot is among 103 Maths and Science teachers who have been selected for this prestigious award from across the country.

11. India's growth is expected to rise to nine percent in 2011 with South Asia poised to become the second-fastest growing region after East Asia & Pacific, says the latest World Bank update.

12. India has slipped to a low of 128 in the Global Peace Index ranking with the country along with Pakistan and Sri Lanka experiencing more incidents of internal conflicts, terrorism and human rights abuses. The only study to quantify global peacefulness, the GPI is produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).

13. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that the government is in the process of setting up 8 more income tax overseas units, including in the US and Britain, to facilitate exchange of tax related information. At present, the government has one such unit (ITOUs) each at the Indian mission in Singapore and Mauritius.

14. The French government says it's selling off 1,700 properties including chateaux, barracks and Parisian mansions, in part to cut the country's heavy debt.

15. The government has a cash balance of around Rs 48,000 crore with the Reserve Bank currently and will spend it gradually rather than at one go, three sources with direct knowledge of the issue told Reuters.

16. Surging prices notwithstanding, the government has hiked the minimum support price of pulses by up to Rs 700 to a maximum of Rs 3,170 a quintal but support for paddy has been increased by a meager Rs 50 a quintal. 

17. India win gold medal in World Cup archery. The Indian trio of Rahul Banerjee, Mangal Singh Champia and Jayanta Talukdar clinched the men's team recurve gold medal with a 218-214 win over the US in the final of the World Cup archery (Stage II) in Antalya, Turkey.

18. Russian Grandmaster Dmitry Kokarev drew his final match to emerge as the winner in the Mumbai Mayor's Cup International Open Chess tournament.

19. A British environmentalist (Roz Savage) has become the first woman to row alone across the Pacific Ocean, receiving a rock star welcome in Papua New Guinea after finishing a nearly 13,000-kilometre journey.

20. The US is home to about 1.6 million Indian origin people, making them the third-largest immigrant group in the country after Mexicans and Filipino, a Washington-based think tank has said.

21. The Cabinet approved the mid-term appraisal (MTA) of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-12), which scaled down the average growth target of the economy to 8.1 per cent from 9 per cent. The MTA will now be placed before the National Development Council (NDC), the highest policy making body in the country headed by the Prime Minister.

22. A global effort to ban cluster bombs has gained the signatures of 106 countries, but 70 more have yet to sign on with only weeks to go before the ban goes into effect on Aug 1. The United States is among those refusing to sign. The Pentagon considers cluster bombs to be a key part of its defence strategy.

23. China is to impose new age limits on mountaineers seeking to climb in Tibet, authorities said, after an American 13-year-old became the youngest person ever to scale Mount Everest.

24. Justice Rekha Manharlal Doshit and Justice M Yusuf Eqbal were appointed as Chief Justices of the Patna High Court and the Madras High Court respectively.

General Awareness Quiz 2010 - 70

1.      The Union ministry of information & broadcasting has constituted a committee to review existing television rating point system (TRP) in India. Who is the head of the committee?

a)Rajiv Mehrotra    b)Neeraja Choudhary    c)D S Mathur    d)Amit Mitra    e)none

2.      With which country India has signed an agreement for Rs 10,500 crore official development assistance (ODA)?

a)US     b)France      c)Japan    d)UK     e)Germany

3.      According to the Environmental Performance Index (EPI), India is the ____ most eco-friendly nation with the best pollution control measures and natural resource management?

a)88^th     b)123^rd      c)134^th     d)143^rd     e)none

4.      Who won the Saraswati Samman 2009 award?

a)Naiyer Masud     b)Lakshmi Nandan Bora     c)Jagannath Prasad Das    d)Surjit Paatar    e)none

5.      Girija Prasad Koirala has passed away. He was the former ______________?

a)President of Nepal

b)President of Bangladesh

c)Prime Minister of England

d)Prime Minister of Bangladesh

e)none(Prime Minister of Nepal)

6.      Which state in India is the largest producer of cotton?

a)Maharashtra     b)Haryana      c)Gujarat     d)Andhra Pradesh    e)none

7.      What is the slogan of Census 2011?

a)Our Country, Our Future

b)Our Census, Our Future

c)Our Country, Our Census

d)Our Country, Our Population

e)none

8.      Bhairon Singh Shekhawat has recently passed away. Who is he?

a)Former President of India

b)Former Vice President of India

c)Former Prime Minister of India

d)Both a & b

e)none

9.      The Fourteenth G-15 summit was held in _________?

a)Cuba     b)Indonesia     c)Egypt     d)Iran    e)Srilanka

10. In which party, popular South Indian actress Khushboo joined politics in may 2010?

a)Congress     b)DMK     c)MDMK    d)AIADMK     e)none

11. Government is planning to provide education loans at _____ percent interest rate to help students from weaker sections of society to pursue higher studies?

a)1%     b)2%     c)3%      d)4%    e)none

12. Deandra Dottin scored the first century in a 2010 women's Twenty20 World Cup held in West Indies. He plays for which country?

a)West Indies    b)England     c)South Africa    d)New Zealand    e)none

13. World Press Freedom day is observed on?

a)April 3^rd    b)May 3^rd     c)June 3^rd     d)July 3^rd     e)none

14. Which state in India to launch country’s first mobile lok adalat to reach specifically rural poor to settle litigations at their doorstep without any cost to them?

a)Kerala    b)Gujarat     c)Tamilnadu     d)Maharashtra    e)Andhra Pradesh

15. Which Indian state had become the first state in the entire Asian sub-continent to pay for the procurement of plastic waste?

a)Andhra Pradesh     b)Uttar Pradesh     c)Himachal Pradesh    d)Arunachal Pradesh    e)none

16. According to a list compiled by the Forbes magazine, which Indian city has been named among the world's top ten billionaire cities?

a)Delhi     b)Bangalore      c)Pune     d)Mumbai    e)none

17. Which of the following has become India's First state to be declared as "Smoke Free State" on World No Tobacco day?

a)Uttaranchal      b)Kerala     c)Gujarat     d)Assam    e)Sikkim

18. Who among the following is India’s highest individual taxpayer?

a)Asim Ghosh    b)Mukhesh Ambani     c)Analjit Singh     d)Indrani Patnaik    e)none

19. How many teams are participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup?

a)8     b)12     c)16     d)24    e)32

20. India announced a target of constructing _____km of road per day in the country in order to fill in the road infrastructure deficit.

a)20km     b)30km     c)15km     d)10km    e)none

Current Affairs May 2010 - II

·        Defending champions India and South Korea were declared joint winners of the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey tournament as the summit clash between the two teams was called off due to rain.

·        State-owned SAIL is mulling over setting up a steel project, at an estimated cost of Rs 60,000 crore, in Jharkhand.(Go for Current Affairs - I)

·        India's top industrialist and Chairman of the Tata Group, Ratan Tata has received the 2010 CIF Chanchlani Global Indian Award for his outstanding global leadership, vision and professional excellence.

·        The UPA government has received seven points out of ten for its performance from India Inc from a majority of the 500 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), surveyed by industry chamber Assocham.

·        Dr Ratan Kumar Sinha, closely associated with the design and development of India's first thorium-based Advanced Heavy Water Reactor, will be the new Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Sinha will take over from Dr S Banerjee, who had been holding the post of BARC director and Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC).

·        Aravane Rezai defeated Venus Williams to win Madrid title 2010.

·        Reliance Industries said it has entered into an agreement with Russia's leading petrochemical firm, SIBUR to form a joint venture in India to produce butyl rubber.

·        The government will consider a proposal for setting up the country's first financial services sector special economic zone (SEZ). Diversified corporate entity GMR Group has submitted a proposal to the Centre for setting up this international financial services-focussed SEZ in Hyderabad.

·        India and Russia will hold a joint military drill nicknamed Indra-2010 with the involvement of more than 150 Russian servicemen from the motorised mountain infantry brigade.

·        Haryana will soon have a large scale biogas plant and bottling facility for use in cooking, transport and fertilisers.

·        Chief Minister Narendra Modi claimed that Gujarat has merged as the number one state in agriculture growth in the country. According to him, two factors have helped the state in agriculture sector, irrigation through check dams and canals, and use of technology in the farm sector.

·        Australian schoolgirl sailor Jessica Watson sailed into history, becoming the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo, non-stop and without help.

·        In a bid to ward off fresh UN sanctions being pushed by the US, Iran announced it would ship 1,200 kgs of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in a nuclear fuel swap deal. Under the new deal, brokered by Brazil and Turkey, Iran will ship 1,200 kgs of uranium enriched to low levels to Turkey to trade it for fuel rods containing uranium enriched to higher levels.

·        Defence Minister A.K. Antony left for Oman on a two-day visit to reinforce India's bilateral security ties in the Gulf region where other major powers, including China, have deepened their strategic military cooperation.

·        National Dinosaur Fossil Park would be set up in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh where more than 100 dinosaur eggs, estimated to be more than 6.5 crore (65 million) years old.

·        Rima Fakih who belongs to Michigan, was crowned the new Miss USA 2010.

·        UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Christiana Figueres of Costa Rica to be the next head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

·        The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved immediate disbursement of USD 1.3 billion of financial assistance to Pakistan, as it noted that the country's vulnerability remains high.

·        Filmmaker Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury's National-award-winning film 'Antaheen' has been selected as the only Indian entry for competition in 13th Shanghai International Film Festival.

·        Underworld don and India's most wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim, mastermind of the 1993 Mumbai bombings, figures third on the Forbes' Most Wanted list which has been topped by Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden. The list, carried in the latest edition of the Forbes magazine, also has Mexico's most powerful drug trafficker Joaquin Guzman in no.2.

Latest Current Affairs Quiz - 2010

1.      Which of the following is the World’s fastest Supercomputer?

a)Jaguar     b)Roadrunner     c)Nebulae    d)Kraken XT5   e)none

2.      A/c to the latest notifications of Reserve Bank of India, how much amount of cash can Indians carry while travelling abroad?

a)$2000      b)$3000     c)$4000     d)$5000     e)none

3.      Who is the head of the 18 member high-level expert committee to suggest measures for efficient management of public expenditure?

a)C Rangarajan       b)Manmohan Singh     c)Deepak Parekh     d)Sam Pitroda    e)none

4.      Sunil Chhetri is associated to which of the following sport?

a)Cricket    b)Chess     c)Football    d)Badminton    e)none

5.      With which country India signed an agreement to establish a hotline between prime ministers of the two countries?

a)Pakistan    b)UK    c)Russia    d)Nepal    e)China

6.      Which country is the largest exporter of Cotton in 2009?

a)US    b)India     c)China    d)Brazil    e)none

7.      CryoSat 2, a satellite that will monitor variations in the extent and thickness of polar ice, launched by which country?

a)US     b)Japan    c)Europe    d)India    e)none

8.      With which country India has signed an agreement to boost cooperation in the education sector?

a)Maldives    b)Malaysia     c)Japan    d)Australia    e)none

9.      Which Srilankan cricketer has won a seat in parliament general elections?

a)Dharmasena      b)Sanath Jayasurya     c)Chaminda Vaas     d)M Jayawardene   e)none

10. Which of the following MP resigned in the wake of IPL controversy?

a)Sharad Pawar     b)Supriya Sule     c)Shashi Tharoor     d)M S Gill    e)none

11. The first of the new class of offshore patrol vessel indigenously designed and commissioned into Indian Coast Guard?

a)ICGS Vikram    b)ICGS Vishwast     c)ICGS Samar   d)ICGS Sankalp   e)none

12. After United States and Republic of Korea decided to eliminate travel restrictions based on HIV status, recently which of the following country done the same?

a)India      b)Australia      c)Malaysia     d)China    e)none

13. Reliance Industries has found a fourth oil discovery in the Cambay basin. Cambay basin is in which state?

a)Andhra Pradesh     b)Gujarat      c)Rajasthan     d)Maharashtra    e)none

14. With which Indian company Renault and Nissan are developing an ultra low cost car to take on Tata Nano?

a)Mahindra & Mahindra     b)TVS      c)Bajaj      d)Maruti Suzuki    e)none

15. New Moore or Purbasha island near the Bay of Bengal has been completely submerged into the sea. This island was claimed by both India and ___________?

a)Bhutan   b)Srilanka     c)Myanmar     d)Bangladesh   e)Maldives

16. The Tsunami Early Warning System (TEWS) has won the Platinum Icon award for innovative use of technology in Web Ratna Awards, 2009. It is developed by ___________?

a)Infosys     b)HP     c)Wipro     d)TCS    e)none

17. The first Non-Latin web address launched in which of the following language?

a)Tamil    b)Thai    c)Mandarin     d)Urdu    e)Arab

18. What is the maximum limit that foreign investors can hold in state-run banks?

a)10%    b)15%     c)20%    d)30%    e)49%

19. What is the full form of ECB in banking?

a)External Commercial Borrowings

b)Electronic Commercial Borrowings

c)Export Commercial Borrowings

d)Enterprise Commercial Borrowings

e)none

20. Veselin Topalov, a famous player associated with which of the following sport?

a)Badminton    b)Chess     c)Tennis     d)Football    e)none