Gyanm General Awareness issue March 2015

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2015 1

GENERAL AWARENESS

MARCH 2015 Vol. 3, Issue 09

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

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

CONTENTS

CURRENT AFFAIRS

NOV 2014 TO JAN 2015 1-34

BULLET NEWS AUGUST TO OCTOBER 2014 35-47

PEDAGOGY SPECIAL 48-60

SSC MODEL TEST PAPER 61-73

LATEST GK BULLETS 74-99

FIGURES TO REMEMBER

REPO RATE (15.1.2015) 7.75%

REVERSE REPO RATE 6.75%

MARGINAL STANDING FACILITY RATE

8.75%

STATUTORY LIQUIDITY RATIO 22%

CASH RESERVE RATIO 4.00% BANK RATE 8.75%

BASE RATE(s) (of various banks)

9.80% – 10.25 %

INDIA’S RANK IN

Talent Competitiveness 78th

Travel and Tourism Index 65th

Corruption Perceptions Index 85th

The Web Index 2014 48th

Global Terrorism Index 2014 6th

Global Slavery Index 2014 1st

Gender Gap Index 114th

Ease of Doing Business (World Bank) 142nd Global Hunger Index 2013 55th

Global Competitiveness 71st

Human Development Index 135th

Global Innovation Index 76th

Economic Confidence Index 01st

Choice for FDI 143rd

Press Freedom Index 2014 78th

Social Progress Index 102nd World Press Freedom Index 140th

Environment Performance Index 155th

NATIONAL NEWS

JANUARY 2015

Obama Charms India

Barrack Obama became the first U.S. President to be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day and the first U.S. President to visit India twice during his tenure.

The two leaders agreed to operationalise the civil nuclear deal, resolving the key hurdles pertaining to the liability of suppliers of nuclear reactors in the event of an accident and the tracking of fuel supplied by the US.

Obama announced new initiatives worth $ 4 billion aimed at boosting trade and investment ties as well as jobs in India through a new Indian Diaspora Investment Initiative.

For the first time in the history of India’s Republic Day, all-women contingent from the three defence forces-Army, Air Force and Navy, marched down in the parade.

India and the US signed MoUs for formulating action plans for development of smart cities in Allahabad, Ajmer and Visakhapatnam.

15 NRIS HONOURED AT PBD 15 persons were conferred with Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award including Microsoft CEO Satyanarayan Nadella and Guyana President Donald Rabindernauth Ramaotar at the three day Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas, Jan 7 to 9, held at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

COINS AND STAMPS RELEASED IN PBD Coins and stamps showing in the same frame pictures of a young Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and another of his transformation into Mahatma Gandhi were here released on Jan 8 at Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas to commemorate the centenary year of his return to India from South Africa in 1915. The coins are in the denomination of Rs 100 and Rs 10, while stamps are of the value of Rs. 25 & Rs. 5.

TIGERS’ POPULATION UP BY 38.4% Across India, the mean figure for tiger numbers increased from 1,706 in 2010 to 2,226 in 2014, registering an impressive growth of 30.48 per cent. With 406 tigers, Karnataka tops the list, followed by Uttrakhand – 340 and Madhya Pradesh – 308.


INDIA TO HELP NEPAL FOR FIGHTING GOITRE India will provide Rs 6.90 crore support to Nepal for fighting against the Iodine Deficiency Disorder Control Programme (IDDCP) for goitre control across the country. Goitre is an enlarged thyroid gland found in neck. ASIA’s BIGGEST LITERARY EVENT AT JAIPUR ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, Asia’s biggest literary event was held at Jaipur from 21st to 25th Jan 2015. Over 2.45 lakh persons took part in the festival. More than 300 authors from over 50 countries attended the festival. DSC Prize for Literature: The $50,000 prize won by Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri for her book, The Lowland. Poet Arunadhathi Subramaniam was declared as the winner of inaugural Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for poetry for her work “When God is a Traveler”. H S BRAHMA IS THE NEW CEC Former bureaucrat Hari Shankar Brahma has been appointed as the next Chief Election Commissioner of India. The present incumbent, V S Sampath turned 65 on Jan 15, the upper age limit under the Constitution for holding the post. Mr. Brahma too is completing 65 years on April 19. CEC has a tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. He is appointed by the President, on recommendations of the Union Government. He enjoys the same official status, salary and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme Court and High court. NATIONAL YOUTH FESTIVAL AT GUWAHATI The 19th National Youth Festival began in Guwahati on Jan 8. The theme this year is, 'Youth for Clean, Green and Progressive India'. A mascot performing Sattriya dance and named as Baandhav has been designed for the festival. INDIA 78TH IN TERMS OF SKILLED LABOUR In a list of 93 countries compiled by INSEAD business school, India has been ranked 78th globally in terms of talent competitiveness of its human capital, indicating acute shortage of skilled workforce. Switzerland has topped the list, followed by Singapore.

SUPREME COURT ENDS SRINI’s GAME The Supreme Court has barred N Srinivasan, the controversial businessman and cricket official, from contesting the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) election until he gives up his commercial interest in the IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

India will provide 60 million dollars Line of Credit to Guyana for its road infrastructure projects. Guyana is a small republic on northern border of Brazil.

Tshering Tobgay, Prime Minister of Bhutan came to India on a weeklong visit.

The 13th Pune International Film Festival has held at Pune in Maharashtra from January 8 to 15. The theme of the festival was “War against War".

102nd Indian Science Congress was held at Mumbai University, Maharashtra.

Two commemorative coins of Rs 100 and five were released in the honour of Tata Group founder Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata's to mark his 175th birth anniversary.

January 12 is observed as National Youth Day on the birth anniversary of social reformer, philosopher and thinker Swami Vivekananda.

India signed an agreement on transfer of prisoners who are completing their sentence, with Hong Kong

Germany has agreed to partner with India in developing three smart cities. A six-member joint committee has been set up to identify the cities in next three months.

The first Border Haat (market) along Tripura-Bangladesh frontier was opened at Srinagar (Tripura) - Purba Madhugram (Feni, Bangladesh).

Indian Railways to run an additional weekly trip of Maitree Express train between Kolkata and Dhaka.

DECEMBER 2014

BHARAT RATNA FOR VAJPAYEE AND MALVIYA Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Late Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya will be honoured with Bharat Ratna-country's highest civilian award. The announcement was made in a press communique issued by the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Dec 24 on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. Atal Bihari Vajpayee is an Indian statesman who was the first Prime Minister from outside Congress to serve a full five-year term from 1998 to 2004. A parliamentarian for over four decades, Mr. Vajpayee was elected to the Lok Sabha nine times, and twice to the Rajya Sabha. He completed 90 years on 25th December. He is the seventh Prime Minister to receive the award. Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya was an Indian educationist and politician well known for his role in Indian freedom struggle. He was the President of the Indian National Congress in 1909 and 1918. He is most remembered as the founder of Banaras Hindu University, the largest residential university in Asia. 25 Dec marks his 153rd birthday. He is the 12th person to be named posthumously for Bharat Ratna. PUTIN OPENS ECONOMIC DOORS FOR INDIA Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi to attend the 15th India-Russia annual summit on Dec 11. He addressed the World Diamond Congress held at

Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. Russian diamond mining giant ALROSA agreed to

supply diamonds worth $2.1 billion in the next three years to 12 Indian companies.

Russia's atomic firm Rosatom agreed to supply 12 nuclear energy reactors to India over next 20 years,


Russian oil major Rosneft signed a 10-year crude supply deal with India’s Essar Oil.

The two countries agreed to enhance the bilateral trade from current $10 billion to $30 billion by 2025.

The two leaders unveiled the ‘Druzhba (friendship in Russian)-Dosti' vision to strengthen the bilateral partnership over the next decade

GANDHINAGAR TO HOST 13TH PBD 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas will be held from 7th to 9th January at Gandhinagar in Gujarat. It will celebrate 100 years of Mahatama Gandhi's return from South Africa to India on 9th January, 1914. This year’s theme is ‘Apna Bharat, Apna Gaurav’ INDIA 65TH IN WORLD IN TOURISM World Economic Forum (WEF) released the 2013 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index. The index assesses 140 nations for their efforts made to develop the travel and tourism sector. India has been placed at 65th position in the index topped by Switzerland. INDIA PLACED 85TH IN CORRUPTION INDEX As per the Corruption Perceptions Index – 2014 released by the Transparency International, India stands at 85th position among 175 countries, (scoring 38 marks) as against 94th last year. India shares its position with Sri Lanka. Denmark retained its position as the least corrupt country with a score of 92 while North Korea and Somalia shared the last place, scoring just eight. JUNE 21 IS INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY On Dec 17, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution to declare June 21 as International Yoga Day, recognising the ancient Indian science's "holistic approach to health and well-being." Indian Prime Miniser Mr. Modi had made the proposal during his address to the UNGA on 27th of September this year.

Why June 21? It marks the beginning of summer solstice in Northern Hemisphere and is the longest day of the year receiving highest amount of solar energy. 28000 CRORE SUPPORT FOR NORTH EAST Focusing on improving connectivity to the north-east, Central govt plans to provide Rs 28,000 crore for laying new railway lines in the region and develop the "untapped" tourism potential of the area. Besides, Rs 5000 crore each will be provided for extending 2G mobile coverage and for improvement of power system in northeastern region. INDIA TOPS IN OUTFLOW OF BLACK MONEY As per the Global Financial Integrity, India figures among the top three countries that witnessed highest outflow of black money in 2012 with about 94.76 billion US dollars or nearly 6 lakh crore rupees going out of the Country.

INDIA FARES 48TH ON INTERNET UTILISATION The Web Index 2014 released by World Wide Web Foundation to measure the internet's contribution to social, economic and political progress in the world has placed Denmark on top followed by Finland and Norway. India stands at 48th rank. The birthday of the former Prime Minister Atal Behari

Vajpayee on the 25th of December will be observed as National Good Governance Day.

Mahaparinirwan Diwas observed on 6 December 2014, death anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar.

The Times Higher Education (THE) Rankings 2015 of UK has placed Bangalore-based IISc at No. 25 in the overall 100, topped by China's Peking University.

India’s most prestigious Indian classical music function – The Tansen Sangeet Samaroh held at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.

The first Arabic translation of the Indian Constitution launched by the Arab League in Cairo, Egypt.

Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid arrived in Kolkata on a two-day visit to West Bengal.

NOVEMBER 2014 PM VISITS MYANMAR, AUSTRALIA AND FIJI On Nov 11, Prime Minister Narendra Modi left India for a ten day foreign visit, starting from Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar where he attended the ASEAN-India Summit on 12th Nov. He attended the 7th East Asian Summit there on Nov 13.

On the sidelines of the summits, he met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Malaysian PM Najib Razak, Russian Premier Dmitry Medvedev, Thai PM Gen Prayut Chan-o-Cha. He also met Myanmar’s opposition leader and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

ASEAN is a group of 10 countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Brunei with headquarters at Jakarta, Indonesia. Next ASEAN summit is to be held in Cambodia, March, 2015. East Asia Summit is an extended version of ASEAN in which eight more countries are members – India, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, USA and South Korea.

NOV 14: Modi reached Brisbane, Australia to attend Heads of Nations meet of G-20 nations on 15th-16th Nov.

NOV 17: Modi addressed Indian diaspora at Allphones Arena, Sydney. Mr. Modi assured life time visa to PIO and OCI card holders. PIO–Persons of Indian Origin OCI–Overseas Citizens of India

NOV 18: Modi addressed the Australian Parliament at Canberra, first Indian Prime Minister to do so. Later in day he visited Melbourne where Australian PM hosted a dinner for him at the 116 year old Melbourne Cricket Ground.

India and Australia signed five pacts on social security, transfer of sentenced prisoners, combating narcotics trade, tourism, and arts and culture. Prime Minister: Tony Abbott Capital: Canberra Monarch: Queen Elizabeth Nick name: Aussie, Oz


NOV 19: Modi arrives in Fiji. He addressed their Parliament, becoming first foreign dignitary to do so. He announced a $75 million line of credit for a power plant and upgrading the sugar industry.

Fiji Prime Minister: Frank Bainimarama Capital: Suva

NOV 20: Mr. Modi flied back to India.

MODI WOOS SAARC NATIONS The two-day 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit was held at Kathmandu from 26th Nov to 27th Nov, with an agenda to improve connectivity among member states for

boosting trade, collectively fighting the poverty and illiteracy. The eight members signed the SAARC Framework on Energy (Electricity) Cooperation to facilitate inter country trading of electricity.

Theme: 'Deeper Regional Integration for Peace and Prosperity'

New Chairman of SAARC: Mr. Sushil Koirala, Prime Minister of Nepal

FIVE PROPOSALS BY INDIA AT SAARC: 1. SAARC Business traveller card for all member countries 2. Easy visa for medical treatment visits 3. Online courses and e library for South Asian students 4. To provide five – in – one vaccine for children and support for polio free all countries 5. To provide funds for TB-HIV laboratory

The SAARC has eight members: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka with permanent headquarters at Kathmandu, Nepal. The 19th SAARC summit will be held in 2016 in Islamabad, Pakistan.

RUSSIAN DEPUTY PM VISITS INDIA Dmitry Rogozin, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia visited India to attend 20th session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation at New Delhi.

SAINTHOOD FOR TWO NATIVE INDIANS In a canonisation ceremony presided over by Pope Francis II in the Vatican on Nov 23, Sainthood was granted to two Indians - Father Kuriakose Elias Chavara, popularly known as Chavara Achen, and Sister Euphrasia, popularly known as Evuprasiamma. Both of them hail from the Syro Malabar Catholic Church, Kerala. The only other native Indian to get sainthood - Sister Alphonsa (2008) is also from this church.

NGOs TO WORK AGAINST OPEN DEFECATION Three global organisations on 24 November 2014 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to end open defecation in India. The agreement is for three years. These three organisations are the World Toilet Organisation (WTO), WASTE and the Financial Inclusion Improves Sanitation and Health (FINISH).

INDIA 6TH WORST HIT BY TERRORISM

Institute for Economics and Peace, Sydney released Global Terrorism Index 2014. The Index provides ranks for 162 countries in terms of impact of terrorism. Iraq continues to be worst affected where 6362 lives were lost in 2013 due to terrorism. India is 6th worst affected nation.

INDIA TOPS IN HUMAN SLAVERY NUMBERS With over 14.2 million in India being involved in forced labour and being victims of trafficking-for sexual exploitation and forced marriage, the country is home to the largest number – about 40 per cent of the people trapped in modern slavery. As per the Global Slavery Index 2014, published by the Walk Free Foundation in Perth, Australia, around 35.8 million people are enslaved across the world. President Pranab Mukherjee visited Bhutan on a

two-day visit - 7-8 Nov. He is the first Indian head of state to visit to the country in 26 years.

6th World Ayurveda Congress held in New Delhi from 6 to 9 November 2014. This year’s theme was “Health Challenges and Ayurveda”.

A latest UN report says that, India has the world’s largest youth population with 356 million 10-24-year-olds, followed by China.

Public Service Broadcasting Day observed on 12th Nov to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi's first and only visit to All India Radio.

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA) and US Export-Import (Exim) Bank signed an MoU for cooperation on clean energy investment.

The 45th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) began in Goa on November 20. China is the focus country of this festival.

Children's Film Society of India organised the first edition of the National Children's Film Festival from 14 to 16 Nov at New Delhi.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) hosted the India Economic Summit in New Delhi from Nov 4 to 6.

Prasar Bharti announced to re-launch DD National with new tagline Doordarshan National – Desh Ka Apna Channel.

India and Bhutan signed an MoU on 7th Nov. for the establishment of Nalanda University in Bihar to develop the institution as an international centre of excellence.

Sushma Swaraj: External Affairs Minister visits Dubai on Nov. 10.

India and Republic of Korea signed a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate technical cooperation in Railway sector between the two countries.

First Commonwealth Science Congress was held in Bengaluru on 25th November.


NEWS FROM STATES JANUARY 2015

PUNJAB BANS SALE OF LOOSE CIGARETTES The Punjab state has banned the sale of loose cigarettes (as single sticks) and loose tobacco, becoming the first State to do so. Ban has been issued as the sale is in violation of Section 7 of the COTPA (Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products, Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution Act, 2003). Since loose cigarettes are affordable and do not carry a pictorial or a written warning, these will not be permitted to be sold.

J&K BEST IN e-INITIATIVE Jammu and Kashmir has been selected, for the first time, for National e-Governance Award 2014-15 for the best district- level initiative in the country, for the project e-Panchayat, launched in 2013-14 ASSAM ONLY PLACE TO GROW ‘PURPLE TEA’ According to a senior scientist and tea expert according to Tocklai Tea Research Institute, Jorhat, Assam can emerge as the only place in the world after Kenya to become a producer of health-rich medicinal purple tea. Currently, Kenya is the only country that produces unique purple tea which fetches three to four times the price of black tea. Amitabh Bachchan appointed as the brand

Ambassador for health sector in Andhra Pradesh. Hampi Utsav Jan 9 – 11, a mega cultural festival of

dance, drama, art and music held at Hampi, the erstwhile seat of the Vijayanagar Empire in Karnataka.

Governor’s rule imposed in J&K as political parties failed to muster the requisite number in the 87-member Assembly for staking claim to form the government.

Voting for all 70 Delhi Assembly seats will be held on February 7 and counting of votes will be done on February 10

Haryana has appointed yoga guru Ramdev as the state's brand ambassador to promote yoga and ayurveda in a big way.

DECEMBER 2014

WORLD’s LARGEST HUMAN FLAG India set a new world record on Dec 7 for forming the largest human flag, when over fifty thousand volunteers formed the Indian Tricolour, at YMCA Grounds in Chennai, beating the previous record held by the Sports Club of Lahore where 28,957 people formed the flag of Pakistan.

DIAL 161 FOR 4000 SERVICES IN KARNATAKA On Dec 8, Karnataka launched “Mobile one” e-governance initiative to enable public to access 4000 government and a few private services on their mobile phones just by dialing 161. They can pay electricity, water and BSNL telephone bills through their phones. Farmers can know about monsoon, market rates and subsidies. The young aspirants can know about job offers in private sector. On Nov 29, Meghalaya got its first rail link when PM

Modi flagged off a train from Maligaon, Guwahati to Mendipathar in Meghalaya, a distance of 131 kms.

Andhra govt signed a MoU with Singapore for the development of its new capital that is set to come up near Vijawayada region.

The New Year festival of Tibetans known as Losar festival is celebrated mainly in Lahaul Distt. It denotes the start of winter session in the valley.

Maharashtra to observe the year 2015 as “Year of Digitised and Time-Bound Services” to standardise, simplify and deliver the services electronically.

Arunachal Pradesh won the Krishi Karman Award for the year 2013-14 for showing exemplary agri-performance in 14 different categories.

Manipur to set up a Cultural University to promote its rich cultural heritage, like Russia’s Moscow State Art and Cultural University.

Militants of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit) gunned down over 80 persons on Dec 23 in Sonitpur and Kokrajhar districts of Assam.

NOVEMBER 2014 FIR KIOSKS SET UP AT BENGALURU The Bengaluru City Police has set up a kiosk that lets anyone file an FIR at any time, irrespective of where an incident such as theft or accident may have occurred. The kiosk, equipped with HD audio-video and a touch screen, will enable citizens to speak to a police officer and also sign, print and scan documents.

LUCKNOW - AGRA EXPRESSWAY The proposed 302 km long Lucknow - Agra Expressway in UP would be the country’s longest access controlled six lane expressway. It would be 110 meters wide and would cut down travel time from Lucknow to Agra from existing eight hours to less than four hours. Madhya Pradesh has been chosen for union

government’s Best State Award for Empowerment of Disabled for year 2014.

The Karnataka Government aims at construction of 10 lakh toilets by 2018 and make the state completely free from open defecation.

Assam State Zoo in Guwahati has become the first zoo in the world to house the critically endangered pig Pygmy Hog.

Kerala has decided to cull about 2,00,000 poultry birds as a precautionary measure against the H5NI avian influenza virus.


GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES

JANUARY 2015 SCHEME LAUNCHED TO SAVE GIRL CHILD Prime Minister launched the nationwide 'Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao' (save girl child, educate her) campaign from Panipat in Haryana on Jan 22 to counter the adverse sex ratio in the country. Noted film actress

Madhuri Dixit was roped in as the brand ambassador of the campaign.

A special savings scheme by the name ‘Sukanya Samriddhi Account’ was also launched to encourage special savings for girl child.

SUKANYA SAMRIDDHI ACCOUNT Account can be opened in the name of a girl child of up

to 10-year-old. After attaining the age of 10 years, the account holder

can herself operate the account. Accounts can be opened in name of girl child in banks

and post offices, Interest payment at 9.1 per cent per annum. Deposits can be made for 14 years from the date of

opening of the account. Half of the fund can be withdrawn for her higher

education and marriage after she attains 18 years of age.

The scheme would mature on completion of 21 years from the date of opening of the account.

The account can be transferred anywhere in India Minimum deposit of Rs. 1000 and thereafter any

amount in multiple of Rs. 100 can be deposited. Amount deposited in the scheme is eligible for income

tax rebate. For one time, a girl child who has attained the age of

10 years prior to one year from the date of introduction of this scheme is also eligible under the scheme.

A maximum of Rs. 1,50,000 can be deposited in a financial year.

The account can be opened in any post office or authorized branches of commercial banks across the country by producing birth certificate of the girl child.

To meet the requirement of higher education expenses of the account holder girl child, partial withdrawal of 50 % of the balance would be allowed after the girl child has attained the age of 18 years.

The amount can be deposited in cash, cheque or demand draft.

SCHEMES LAUNCHED FOR SC ENTREPRENEURS In a bid to promote entrepreneurship among the Scheduled Castes (SCs), the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment launched two schemes on Jan 16 as under: 1. Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes, with an initial capital of Rs.200 crore to provide financial assistance up to Rs.15 crore for up to six years to SC entrepreneurs. IFCI Ltd. will act as Nodal Agency to operate this fund. 2. Green Business Scheme to provide loans up to Rs.1 lakh at concessional rate of interest to SCs for running e-rickshaw, solar pumps and other solar energy-powered implements. NITI AAYOG IN, PLANNING COMMISSION OUT On Jan 1, the government announced that the Planning Commission has been restructured and rechristened as the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog. It will be a multi-tiered structure headed by Prime Minister with a governing council comprising of the chief ministers of all states and lieutenant governors of union territories. ‘PRICE STABILISATION FUND’ LAUNCHED Govt plans to set up a ‘Price Stabilisation Fund’ (PSF), with a corpus of Rs 500 crore, to check price volatility through procurement of selected perishable horticulture produce, maintenance of buffer stocks and their regulated release into the market. To begin with, interventions would be supported for onions and potatoes only and other commodities may be added later on. HRIDAY SCHEME LAUNCHED The government has launched a Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) to preserve and rejuvenate the rich cultural heritage of the country. In the initial phase, 12 heritage cities have been identified which will be rejuvenated and developed. ON-LINE TRACKING OF TOILET USAGE Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has said that people would be mobilised to check and verify the use of toilets in the rural areas and they can post photos or upload data of non use or misuse of toilets through mobile phones, tablets or I-Pads onto a website in real time. Shortage of toilets costs the country more than $50 billion a year, mostly through premature deaths and hygiene-related diseases, according to a World Bank study. NORMS RELAXED FOR SEZs Aiming to revitalise SEZs, the government has permitted dual-use of non-processing areas in special economic zones, allowing developers to set up social infrastructure like schools, hospitals and hotels which can be accessed by people within and outside these conclaves.


N I T I A A Y O G

(National Institution for Transforming India)

The Planning Commission was set up by the government in March 1950 with the declared objective to promote a rapid rise in the standard of living of the people by efficient exploitation of the resources of the country, increasing production and offering opportunities to all for employment in the service of the community. However, from being a under-developed economy in 1947, India has now emerged a powerful economic giant being the third largest economy in the world on the basis of Purchasing Power Parity. The government has felt the need for a change in the organisational set up to take the economy to a next level of development and meet the aspirations of the people. Shortcomings observed with the system of Planning Commission India is a multi cultural country with distinct languages, faiths and cultural ecosystems. The government feels that the time has come for a paradigm shift in the manner the policies are planned and implemented; taking in to account the view points of the states as the major stakeholder in the process of planning. The earlier approach of one size fits all came for a sharp criticism depriving the states of formulating policies for their area based on local requirements. Further, the exercise in planning that was being followed by the erstwhile Planning Commission hardly had any relevance for the present day market economy. There was conflict between the ‘planning framework’ and the role of ‘market’. The role of public sector which were the prime movers of economy in the initial stages of development were now incapable of meeting the demands of the emerging economy. With the public sector getting edged out with the private capital playing a crucial role in the development, the role of Planning Commission was more ‘obstructive’ than ‘objective’. The new body is expected to assist in policy making to enable the private capital and the entrepreneur to reach its full potential. The NITI Aayog will reorient its policies keeping in view the following challenges being faced by the Indian Economy: 1. Leveraging of India’s demographic dividend i.e. making the best use of young population of the nation for development and realisation of their potential through education, skill development, elimination of gender bias, and employment. 2. Rather than emphasising reduction of poverty, the new mantra will be-Elimination of poverty, and the chance for every Indian to live a life of dignity and self-respect. 3. Reddressal of inequalities based on gender bias, caste and economic disparities. 4. Integrate villages institutionally into the development process. 5. Policy support to more than 50 million small businesses, which are a major source of employment creation. 6. Safeguarding of our environmental and ecological assets.

STRUCTURE OF NITI AAYOG The NITI Aayog will comprise the following: a. Chairperson: Prime Minister of India b. Governing Council: Comprising the Chief Ministers of all the States and Lt. Governors of Union Territories c. Regional Councils: will be formed to address specific issues and contingencies impacting more than one state or a region. d. Experts, specialists and practitioners with relevant domain knowledge as special invitees nominated by the Prime Minister

Full-time organizational framework will comprise of: i. Chairperson: Prime Minster ii. Vice Chairperson : To be appointed by the Prime Minister iii. Members: Full-time iv. Part-time members: Maximum of two from leading universities research organizations and other relevant institutions in an ex-officio capacity. Part time members will be on a rotational basis. iv. Ex Officio members: Maximum of 4 members of the Union Council of Ministers to be nominated by the Prime Minister. v. Chief Executive Officer: To be appointed by the Prime Minister for a fixed tenure, in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India. vi. Secretariat as deemed necessary. (Note: for actual office holders please see APPOINTMENTS section on page 24) Shortcomings foreseen in the process: i. Will it continue to work in the same way as the previous Planning Commission was working?

ii. Distribution of Funds: This body is unlikely to allocate funds or devise five-year and annual plans as was being done by the Planning Commission. There is also a question mark on its other key role regarding allocation of resources to state governments.

The earlier plan allocation to states was being done through the Gadgil-Mukherjee formula. It will have to be worked out under the new dispensation. The Gadgil-Mukherjee formula has relevance because it ensured well-to-do states had to spare resources and money for the less prosperous ones.

The success of this organisation will depend on the following factors: i. Trust and cooperation it receives here from the different ministries and the departments, it will be working with.

ii. Cooperation it receives from the states

The first Aayog has onerous task of shaping the destiny of the nation and making it an important new ‘institution’ in the federal polity obligated with the objective of transforming India from a developing economy to the next level of development.


FACILITY TO LODGE FIR IN TRAIN Under a new initiative by North Central Railway, rail passengers will now be able to lodge an FIR in the train itself. Earlier the passenger had to cut short his visit and register the FIR at the nearest Government Railway Police (GRP) station.

HELPLINE LAUNCHED FOR DRUG ADDICTS Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched a toll-free helpline (1800-11-0031) to assist the alcoholic and drug-dependent persons. Initially, the helpline will operate from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm from Monday to Saturday and will be upgraded later on to a 24x7 helpline.

GREEN INDIA MISSION LAUNCHED Govt launched 'Green India Mission' for undertaking eco-friendly development of the rural areas. To begin with 18 villages in Seraikela forest division in Jharkhand have been selected. DOMESTIC EFFICIENT LIGHTING PROGRAMME Prime Minister launched a scheme for LED (light emitting diodes) bulb distribution under Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP) in Delhi on 5th January. The LED bulbs will be supplied at an initial payment of Rs 10 each and recovery of Rs 10 each for 12 months from their electricity bill. The programme shall be launched all over the country. SPECIAL PHABLET LAUNCHED FOR FARMERS ICRISAT launched a customised low-cost combination of phone and tablet computer ‘greenphablet’ for small farmers. The device is powered by GreenSIM and is dust- and shatter-proof, readable under bright sunlight; operates from -20°C to +60°C. ICRISAT: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. HQ: Hyderbad, Telangana ‘HIMMAT’- MOBILE APP FOR WOMEN India's first integrated mobile application for women safety called ‘Himmat' was launched in Delhi on Jan 1. The app can alert the police in the hour of need by either shaking the phone or pressing the power button twice. It is directly linked to the Police Control Room and allows police to locate the victim, with updation every ten seconds. CHANDIGARH COULD BE FIRST ‘SMART CITY’ Finance Minister has indicated that the first Indian smart city to be created probably could be Chandigarh. Smart cities would be built in a way so that they have uninterrupted power, water, proper sanitation, efficient management of solid waste, decongestion of roads, last mile connectivity and effective use of ICT. Several countries like Japan, Germany, Sweden, Singapore, Israel, UK, US, Hong Kong and the Netherlands besides MNCs have shown interest in building smart cities in India.

PRESIDENT APPROVES JUDICIAL COMMISSION President gave his assent to the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, nearly ending the two-decade-old collegium system for appointment of judges of the Supreme Court and 24 high courts. The commission will be headed by the Chief Justice and will have five other members - two senior-most judges of the SC, the Law Minister and two eminent persons. DBTL LAUNCHED IN 622 DISTRICTS The Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL) scheme, now called ‘Pratyaksh Hanstantarit Labh’ (PAHAL), launched in 622 districts wef Jan 1, 2015. Finally, the scheme will cover over 15.3 crore consumers across 676 districts of the country. INDIA’s 1st CNG TRAIN STARTS FROM REWARI Country’s first compressed natural gas (CNG) - powered train was flagged from Rewari, Haryana on Jan 13. The dual-fuel CNG Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) will run between Rewari and Rohtak everyday and would help in reducing the operating cost of locomotives by over 50%.

India’s first International Institute of Music will be set up in Kerala by a trust headed by Sarod Maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his family.

Department of Disability Affairs has been renamed as Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Viklangjan Sashaktikaran Vibhag).

President signed the Citizenship Ordinance to merge Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) schemes and to grant life-long Indian visa to PIOs.

DECEMBER 2014 NATIONAL MISSION FOR TEACHERS Prime Minister launched a Rs 900-crore scheme "Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching" at Benaras Hindu University, Varanasi on Dec 25 aimed at creating an environment for producing high quality teachers.

MISSION INDRADHANUSH FOR VACCINATION Government has launched Mission Indradhanush to cover all those children by 2020 who are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated against seven vaccine preventable diseases - Diphtheria, Whooping Cough, Tetanus, Polio, Tuberculosis, Measles and Hepatitis B.

GRAHAK SUVIDHA KENDRAS FOR CONSUMERS Government has decided to set-up Grahak Suvidha Kendras (Consumer care centres) to provide counseling to consumers in redressal of their grievances and assist them in registering their complaints in the appropriate consumer forums. The Centres will also be authorized to take up complaints with private companies and service providers on behalf of the government.


ORDINANCE FOR 49% FDI IN INSURANCE On Dec 24, Union Cabinet approved promulgation of the ordinance on Insurance Bill to raise foreign investment cap in the insurance sector from 26 to 49 per cent. It re-promulgated the ordinance to allow resumption of coal block allocation. It also opened the medical devices sector to foreign investment by allowing 100 per cent FDI in these.

GST - ONE NATION, ONE TAX, ONE MARKET After many hiccups, a nationwide goods and service tax (GST) seems to be inching towards becoming a reality

WHAT HAPPENED? The Union Cabinet on Dec 17 cleared the Constitution Amendment (122nd) Bill on Goods and Services Tax (GST), and presented the bill in Lok sabha on Dec. 19.

WHAT NEXT? Parliament will have to pass it by a two-third majority

and at least half of state Assemblies It will likely take up the Bill in the Budget session that

begins in February 2015. Govt plans to roll out GST by April 1, 2016

WHAT WILL GST DO? It will offer a single-shot solution by subsuming a group

of local levies into one system State impose different taxes with varying rates on the

same products For instance, a car’s price will vary among states

because of different rates of taxes such as VAT, octroi and road tax

GST will remove all these, virtually making India a single market

Alcohol and tobacco will remain outside GST GST will empower states to collect service taxes States and the Centre will collect identical rates of taxes If 16% is the GST on a good across the country, the

states and the Centre will get 8% each by the name CGST and SGST rates

TAX RATES The GST rates on goods have not been specified in the

Bill A GST council headed by the union finance minister and

represented by state FMs will decide on the rates

WHAT ABOUT ENTRY TAX? States will be allowed to collect an inter-state tax, for

upto 2 years, an additional tax of 1%

COMPENSATION? States feared that GST’s implementation will rob them of fiscal powers and erode revenues The Constitution Amendment Bill offers a compensation

package for 5 years In the first three years, the Centre will reimburse 100%

of the revenue loss, 75% in the 4th year and 50% in the fifth year

PETRO PRODUCTS Petro products will be within GST, but “zero-rated” to

begin with States and the Centre will continue to collect sales tax /

VAT as is the case now

COMMITTING SUICIDE IS NO MORE A CRIME The government has decided to repeal Section 309 from the Indian Penal Code, claiming support of 18 states and 4 Union Territories for decriminalizing attempt to commit suicide. The step was taken on the recommendation of the Law Commission of India. Section 309 of IPC makes the act of suicide punishable with jail term of up to one year and fine.

‘SUSHASAN EXPRESS’ TO HONOUR VAJPAYEE To honour former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a new train - The Sushaasan (good governance) Express launched on Dec 25, from Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), the birth place of Mr. Vajpayee, to Gonda in Uttar Pradesh. Govt has decided to pay 8.75 per cent interest on

provident fund deposits of Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for the year 2014-15.

Justice G P Mathur committee set up to examine the possibility of forming a Special Investigation Team for re investigation of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases.

NOVEMBER 2014 NEW SCHEMES ON NATIONAL EDUCATION DAY National Education Day was observed on Nov 11 on the 125th birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, independent India’s first Education Minister. The HRD Ministry launched new initiatives to promote the education system of the country.

Unnat Bharat Abhiyaan launched to enable higher educational institutions like IITs and NITs to work with the people of rural India by evolving appropriate solutions for accelerating sustainable growth.

‘Know Your College’ portal launched to enable students view details of courses, labs, faculty, library, hostels available etc. of all the colleges, for selecting the right college for their higher education.

Skill Assessment Matrix for Vocational Advancement of Youth (SAMVAY) launched to facilitate students to switch between education and jobs. It will help such students to resume studies who left formal education for a job.

Two scholarship schemes launched for technical education, Saksham for specially-abled needy and meritorious students and Pragati for girls pursuing technical education at college level.

GOVT TO SET UP 'SWACHH BHARAT KOSH' The government has launched a fund that will be utilised to build toilets in schools, rural and urban areas to achieve the objective of cleanliness across the country. The Kosh will be set up by the Ministry of Finance and will be managed by a Governing Council headed by Expenditure Secretary.

Gyanm Opens A Centre in SRI GANGANAGAR 7 H BLOCK, NEAR DR. BHARAT MAYYER

Contact: 8560000589 Your Best Bet For Career Building


‘MANAS’ LAUNCHED FOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT Union Ministry of Minorities Affairs launched the Maulana Azad National Academy for Skills (MANAS) on 125th birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad to impart training to youths in health and security sector. NEW CITIZENSHIP NORMS FOR REFUGEES Govt has relaxed Indian citizenship norms for Hindu and Sikh refugees from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Refugees, who have entered India prior to 31 December 2009, can now apply for the Indian citizenship. BSNL LAUNCHES MOBILE SECURITY SERVICES The BSNL has launched mobile security value added service that will allow its customers to track location of their lost mobile phones. Through this application, the user will also be able to remotely lock device, erase data in the lost mobile.

Govt. launched National Bal Swachhta Mission as part of ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ in New Delhi on Nov 15 to improve over all cleanliness amongst school children.

Udaan programme launched to assist girl students in preparing them for the IIT-JEE while studying in classes XI and XII.

Govt approves "Integrated Power Development Scheme" for strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution network of electricity in the urban areas.

India has launched the tourist visa on arrival facility enabled by electronic travel authorization for 43 countries for boosting the tourist inflow.

Govt has decided to lay an exclusive submarine cable network for Andaman & Nicobar Islands from Chennai to facilitate high speed internet/browsing in the islands.

The Central Government has allocated five thousand crore rupees under AYUSH Mission for promoting traditional methods of treatment in the country.

The Delhi Transport Corporation has started a Delhi-Kathmandu bus service from Nov. 26.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS JANUARY 2015

INDIA SET TO GROW BETTER THAN CHINA

As per Global Economics Prospects Report published by the World Bank, India is set to clock a 7% rise in GDP in 2017 compared with 6.9% for bigger rival China. “India will recover to 6.4% in the current calendar year itself on the back of higher export growth and bolstered investor confidence with the election of a reform-minded government at the Centre”, said the report.

INDIA TO GROW BY 6.5% - MORGAN STANLEY A report by global financial giant Morgan Stanley says that Indian economy is on its way to grow by 6.5 per cent as the government's reforms agenda is on track and the pace is accelerating too.

INDIAN ECONOMY SET TO GROW AT 6.4% Speaking at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said that the Indian economy was likely to grow at 6.4 per cent in the current year and accelerate further in the next year in view of the economic measures being taken by the present government. A report by the IMF says that India is expected to grow

at 6.3 per cent this year and 6.5 per cent in 2016 by when it is likely to cross China's projected growth rate.

A United Nations report says that India will see gradual growth acceleration with its GDP expected to reach 5.9 per cent this year and 6.3 per cent in 2016.

India's GDP growth has averaged 6.5 per cent over the last 25 years, while in the last two years it averaged 4.9% alongside very high inflation till recently.

FISCAL DEFICIT TO BE CUT TO 3.6% OF GDP The Expenditure Management Commission, headed by Bimal Jalan, has recommended to the government that it should cut fiscal deficit to 3.6 per cent of the GDP during 2015-16. The recommendations are as per the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003. FDI IN INDIA UP BY 14 PER CENT As per the 'Global Investment Trade Monitor' report released by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), India's FDI increased by 26 per cent in 2014 to an estimated 35 billion US dollar with maximum growth in the service sector, despite the decline in global Foreign Direct Investment inflows. TRADE DEFICIT SINKS BELOW $10 BILLION India’s trade deficit declined to 10-month low of $9.4 billion in December mainly on account of falling imports due to slump in crude prices, though exports too have come down. Imports declined by 4.8 per to $34.8 billion during Dec. month while exports too fell by 3.8% to $25.4 bn. FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES SWELL India's foreign exchange reserves touched an all time high of 322.135 billion US Dollars for the week ended January 16 due to strong FII inflows and reduction in import burden due to a record fall in oil prices. IIP JUMPS TO 5 MONTHS HIGH OF 3.8% Industrial production as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), grew at a 5-month high of 3.8% in November due to improvement in manufacturing and mining sectors and better off take of capital goods.


NEW CPI FOR BETTER PROJECTION For presenting a more accurate and realistic price situation, government plans to release by next month a new series of Consumer Price Index (CPI) with 2012 as base year for computing retail inflation rate. Figures for January 2015 will be compiled on revised base and will be released on February 12. Growth of 8 core sector industries rose to a 5 month

high of 6.7 per cent in November due to better output in coal, refinery products, electricity and cement.

As per a Labour Bureau survey, unemployment rate in the country rose to 4.9 per cent in 2013-14, mainly on account of increase in joblessness in rural areas.

DECEMBER 2014 GDP GROWTH LIKELY TO BE 5.5 %

According to the Mid-year economic analysis tabled in Parliament by the Finance Ministry, the GDP growth in the current fiscal is expected to be

around 5.5 per cent as against 4.7 per cent last year on back of improving macro-economic situation. The review said that speedier environmental clearances, reforming land and labour laws will also be critical for the growth of the economy. GDP GROWTH SLIPS TO 5.3 PER CENT Data released by the Central Statistics Office on Nov 28 showed that the economy slowed in the quarter ending Sep 30, growing at 5.3 per cent as against 5.7 per cent in the April-June quarter. Poor manufacturing performance which nearly came to a grinding halt, growing just 0.1 per cent, was the main factor for slow growth. UN REPORT PUTS INDIA’S GROWTH AT 5.4 % The UN World Economic Situation and Prospects 2015 report says that India is likely to make progress in implementing economic policy reforms and help in providing support to business and consumer confidence. India is estimated to record a 5.4 percent economic growth this year and may improve to 5.9 per cent next year and to 6.3 per cent in 2016. MOODY’S PROJECTS INDIA’S GROWTH @6% Global rating agency Moody’s has projected that Indian economy is expected to pick up pace in 2015 and grow in the range of 5 to 6 per cent, helped by strong domestic demand. The country, it said, has benefited from a strong domestic demand base and diversified export markets that give protection from the effects of a slowing Chinese economy and muted growth in the Euro zone and Japan. The ADB says that India is on track to achieve 5.5%

growth rate in 2014-15 as declining oil prices present a golden opportunity for many beneficial reforms.

NOVEMBER 2014 NCAER LOWERS GDP GROWTH RATE TO 5 % Country’s economic think-tank-The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has lowered India's GDP growth forecast to 5 per cent in 2014-15 on weak economical fundamentals and uncertainties in growth prospects. In its earlier projection it had suggested a growth rate of 5.7 per cent in 2014-15. OECD PUTS GROWTH RATE @ 5.4% Paris-based think tank Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD has projected 5.4 percent growth for the Indian economy this year as global recovery continues at a moderate pace. INDIA MAY GROW BY 5.6% - FITCH According to international rating agency Fitch, India's economic growth is expected to pick up to 5.6 per cent in the current fiscal on account of structural reforms being rolled-out by the government.

ECONOMY & INDUSTRY JANUARY 2015

‘MAKE IN INDIA’ IS BIG HIT ONLINE

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion-led Make In India (MII) initiative has become the largest and fastest growing government initiative ever on digital platform. Within three months of its launch, the initiative has already touched over 2.1 Billion global impressions on social media and reached an overall fan base of over 3 Million on its Facebook page. Make In India initiative focuses on attracting businesses to invest and manufacture in India. DUTY FREE IMPORTS FROM AFGHANISTAN India has allowed duty free access to Afghanistan’s export products in Indian markets under the Agreement of South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA). The export consignments will be allowed through the Integrated Check Post at Attari in Amritsar, Punjab. INFOSYS TO INVEST $ 250 MILLION Leading IT company - Infosys has assured Indian government that they will spend USD 250 million to fund innovations in software and services in India. The assurance was made by company CEO Vishal Sikka during his meeting with the Prime Minister.


IMPORT OF MOBILES RESTRICTED Government has prohibited imports of all kind of mobile handsets with fake or duplicate Unique Identity Numbers. The decision will help the security agencies to track callers using different SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards. ‘PK’ CREATES BOX OFFICE RECORDS

According to a report on Boxofficeindia.com, the

film PK recorded a sale of Rs. 500 crore gross worldwide within two weeks of its release, there by becoming first ever Indian movie to have such huge collection in this period.

OFFICE SPACE COST HIGHEST IN NEW DELHI Connaught Place in the National Capital has become the world’s sixth costliest office destination, with an annual occupancy cost of around $ 160 per square feet, says a report of global property consultant CBRE. (London is the costliest, followed by Hong Kong and Beijing.) NEW FERTILIZERS COMPANY FORMED National Fertilizers Limited (NFL), Engineers India Limited (EIL) and Fertilizer Corporation of India (FCIL) on 14 January 2015 signed an agreement to form a Joint Venture Company (JVC) Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited in Karimnagar district of Telengana. NEW NAME FOR IRDA Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has been renamed as ‘Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India’ after the promulgation of Insurance Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014.

European Union has decided to lift a seven-month-long ban on the import of mangoes from India.

Sun Edison Inc, USA and India’s Adani Group will invest Rs.25,000 crore in setting up one of the world’s largest solar photovoltaic manufacturing facilities in Gujarat.

ADB to give $ 75 million loan and $1.8 million grant to Karnataka for Integrated Urban Water Management Investment Program

India and Israel have signed a joint agreement to implement the third phase of the agriculture cooperation project for next three years, 2015-18.

To boost the jute sector, govt has approved mandatory packaging of sugar and food grains in jute material to minimum extent of up to 90 per cent of production.

To meet the fiscal deficit, the government sold 10 per cent stake in state owned Coal India Ltd to raise about Rs 24,000 crore.

Union Cabinet approved the hike of government stake in Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) Ltd. to 51 percent from around 48 percent at present.

DECEMBER 2014

RURAL HOMES – LOW ASSETS, HIGH DEBTS Findings of the 70th round of National Sample Survey's All India Debt and Investment Survey show that households in rural areas hold assets worth over Rs 10 lakh on average, less than half the holdings by those in cities. Further, about 31 per cent of the rural households and 22 per cent of the urban households reported debt (cash loan) outstanding as on June 30, 2012. The average amount of debt (AOD) for a rural household was Rs 32,522 and that for an urban household was Rs 84,625. FINANCE COMMISSION SUBMITS REPORT The 14th Finance Commission, headed by former Reserve Bank of India, RBI governor Y V Reddy, submitted its report to the President's office on Dec 11. The panel has given its views on the devolution of tax receipts from the Centre to the states from 1st April 2015 to 31st March 2020. WORLD BANK LOAN FOR EDFC India has inked a US $1100 million IBRD Direct Lending pact with the World Bank for phase two of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC). EDFC is a 1849 kms long broad gauge railway freight corridor, starting from Ludhaina in Punjab to Dankuni near Kolkata in West Bengal. IFRS TO BE APPLICABLE FROM APRIL 1, 2015 The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has advised that the new International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) shall be applicable for large companies that can voluntarily start adopting them in the next fiscal year starting April 1, 2015, after which the rules will become compulsory. GOVT GETS 1715 CRORE FROM SAIL Union government mopped up around 1715 crore rupees with the sale of 5 percent stake in SAIL at a floor price of 83 rupees per share, increasing the public share to 25 per cent. As per the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules of SEBI, minimum public shareholding in listed state-owned firms should be 25 percent and this must be achieved by 21 August 2017. CREDIT GUARANTEE FUND FOR FACTORING The Union Cabinet has cleared a proposal for setting up of a 500 crore rupees Credit Guarantee Fund for Factoring for MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises).

Factoring is a financing arrangement for suppliers by making pre-payments against invoices. It facilitates collection of receivables and provides liquidity to MSMEs Government has asked PSUs to ensure that they

procure 20% of their requirements from the products manufactured by MSMEs,, wef April 01, 2015.

Snapdeal.com has announced the launch of ‘Agri Store’, offering online products like seeds, fertilizer and irrigation tools, among others, to farmers.

World Bank will lend Rs 475 crore ($75 million) to the Andhra Pradesh Government for implementing a rural growth project.


Government has fixed an export target of $340 billion for the current fiscal. Actual exports last year were $312.6 billion.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will extend $200 million loan to Punjab to improve the state's fiscal situation.

India Germany sign loan pact for euro 625 million for the Green Energy Corridors project under the Indo-German bilateral development cooperation.

The World Bank has approved $130 million credit for the Nepal Grid Solar and Energy Efficiency Project to minimize energy shortages in Nepal.

NOVEMBER 2014 KISAN VIKAS PATRA RE-LAUNCHED The Government re-launched Kisan Vikas Patra scheme on Nov 18 to encourage the habit of small savings among the citizens. The KVPs will be available in denominations of Rs. 1000, 5000, 10,000 and 50,000 with no upper limit for investment and the invested amount will become double in 100 months. KVP investors are exempted from KYC norms.

MSP FOR RABI CROPS FOR 2014-15 SEASON CROP Rs./Qtl CROP Rs./Qtl Wheat 1450 Gram 3175 Barley 1150 Rapeseed/ Musturd 3100 Masur dal 3075 Safflower 3050

FDI NORMS RELAXED FOR CONSTRUCTION

The Union Government has decided on 29th October, to relax FDI norms in the construction sector, allowing 100 per cent of foreign funds in building projects. The minimum floor area requirement has been reduced

to 20,000 sq mts from the earlier 50,000 sq mts. The minimum capital requirement has been cut down

to $5 million from earlier $10 million.

BSE MARKET CAP HITS 100 TRILLION MARK The market capitaliastion of all listed companies on the Bombay Stock Exchange, Asia's oldest stock exchange, hit a record Rs 100 trillion (lakh crore) mark on Nov 28.

This is good news for investors because the doubling of market cap in five years has also led to doubling of investors' wealth during the period. NEW SEBI NORMS ON ‘INSIDER TRAINING’ SEBI has approved new insider trading rules to replace the two-decade old law seen as inadequate to curb trading violations. The term “insider” will now include persons connected on the basis of being in any contractual, fiduciary or employment relationship that allows such people access to unpublished price sensitive information (UPSI).

SHELL INDIA WINS 18,000 CRORE TAX CASE The Bombay High Court quashed the IT department’s Rs 18,000-crore rupees tax order against oil major Shell India. Shell India had issued 870 million shares to its parent company Shell Gas BV, Netherlands in March 2009 at Rs 10 per share. However, the Income Tax department contended that the shares were grossly undervalued and it valued them at Rs 180 per share. The difference was added to the income of the company.

BIS MARK FOR 15 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS To curb the inflow of sub-standard items in the country, the government has come out with a notification which lays down the mandatory standards (BIS marks) for 15 electronic products, including mobile phones, power banks and LED lamps.

TIEA SIGNED WITH St. KITTS & NEVIS To help in its efforts to crack down on suspected black money stashed abroad, India signed Tax Information Exchange Agreement – TIEA with Saint Kitts & Nevis, a two-island Carribean country, perceived as a safe haven for offshore funds. Exporters and SEZ units asked to realise and repatriate

overseas sales proceeds in nine months, as against 12-month earlier, from the date of shipment.

Suzlon Energy installed the world’s tallest 120 meters high hybrid wind generator turbine in Asia’s biggest wind energy park in Kutch, Gujarat.

India signs a USD 200 million loan agreement with the World Bank to finance the setting up of technology centres to help MSMEs enhance their productivity.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $350-million loan assistance for upgradation of district roads in Madhya Pradesh.

BANKING & FINANCE

JANUARY 2015 RBI LOWERS REPO RATE TO 7.75% The Reserve Bank of India on 15th January, 2015 cut down repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.75 percent from 8 percent, with immediate effect, yielding to growing signs of slowing inflation and a flagging recovery. RBI has announced this rate cut ahead of its next monetary policy on February 3. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 6.75 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 8.75 per cent with immediate effect. This cut in repo rate is likely to reduce interest rate on various bank loans.

NEW GUIDELINES FOR BASE RATE The Reserve Bank of India has asked banks to notify the Base Rate, or the minimum lending rate, at least once in every three months, based on the cost of funds; a move seen as a demand on bankers to pass on the changes in the policy rate to borrowers. At present, the review of the Base Rate does not have a fixed schedule. Further, banks have been allowed to review the Base Rate methodology after three years instead of the current periodicity of five years.


PMJDY CREATES WORLD RECORD Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has emerged as the largest financial inclusion initiative in the world with 11.5 crore bank accounts opened under the scheme and has entered the Guinness Book of World Records. The scheme covered 99.74 per cent of the households that were

outside the banking system. ‘GYAN SANGAM’ – BANKERS’ SUMMIT AT PUNE India's top PSU bankers and select policy makers gathered in Pune for a two-day (Jan 2-3) retreat - 'Gyan Sangam’ for a brainstorming session to give a facelift to PSU banks. Bankers made presentations on their agenda for reforms with the focus on promotion of financial inclusion. RBI CLARIFIES ON SMALL BANKS The Reserve Bank has clarified that business houses with assets above Rs 1,000 crore and having finance companies will not be eligible to apply for a small bank license. Further, if the existing non-banking finance companies apply for the small bank, they will have to fold their operations into the small bank. SMALL RRBs EXEMPTED FROM FATCA The Reserve Bank has advised that Regional Rural Banks with assets less than $175 million need not register with the US Internal Revenue System under FATCA- Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. FATCA is a US law whereby foreign financial institutions across the world have to report to the US IRS of any transaction of clients who could be subjected to American tax laws. RBI TO SHARE INFO WITH US FEDRAL The RBI has signed an information sharing agreement with US banking regulators for better coordination in supervising financial institutions. RBI concluded an agreement on Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Office of the Comptroller of Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, all from USA. RBI TO SHARE INFORMATION WITH BRAZIL The Reserve Bank of India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding on “Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information” with Banco Central do Brasil, central bank of Brazil. BANKS ALLOWED AS INSURANCE BROKERS Seeking to increase insurance penetration in the country, the Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks to act as brokers for insurers, set up their own subsidiaries and also undertake referral services for multiple companies.

TRANSPARENCY IN LOANS RBI has asked banks to display on their website the total fees and charges applicable on various types of loans and should be disclosed to individual borrower also at the time of processing of loan.

NABARD JOINS HANDS WITH IIM, A’BAD Nabard has signed an MoU with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, to set up a Chair to encourage research in climate change, rural livelihood and financial inclusion, among others. The chair is expected to offer inputs on issues confronting agriculture marketing and suggest innovative models to make farming a more profitable proposition for the country's farmers.

ICICI BANK LAUNCHES CONTACTLESS CARDS ICICI Bank has launched the country’s first contactless debit and credit cards that use the near-field communication (NFC) technology, enabling customer to make payments by just waving the card near merchant terminals instead of swiping the same. The new technology provides customers improved convenience of speed and security as the card remains with customer.

KOTAK LAUNCHES JIFI SAVER ACCOUNT Kotak Mahindra Bank has launched Jifi Saver, a social savings bank account which can be seamlessly managed via Twitter and Facebook, offering almost all the features of a regular savings account.

NEW KYC NORMS FOR NBFCs Keeping in view the practical difficulties faced in frequent renewal of KYC norms, RBI has notified relaxed KYC time norms as under: • For high-risk accounts – at least every 2 years • For medium risk accounts - at least every 8 years • For low risk accounts – at least every 10 years Earlier, NBFCs were required to renew KYC norms every two years for high and medium risk accounts and every five years for low risk accounts.

ATMs ALLOWED TO POST OFFICEES The government has allowed certain eligible branches of Post Offices to issue ATM cards for their Savings bank accounts and also to issue account statements instead of giving out passbooks.

BANK LOANS / DEPOSITS MOVE UP Latest RBI data shows that the outstanding bank loans rose by 10.7 per cent to 63.91 trillion rupees in the two weeks up to January 9, compared to previous years during the same period, deposits grew by 11.9 per cent to Rs.84.16 trillion.

GYANM COLLEGE OF COMPETITIONS Opens a Centre in BATHINDA

GALI NO. 1 A, AJIT ROAD 07696225975

Your Best Friend for Career Building


Yes Bank signed an agreement with U.S. govt’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation for $220 million loan for on-lending to micro, small and medium enterprises.

Reserve Bank and the European Central Bank (ECB) have signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the area of central banking.

RBI has allowed Indians to carry high value notes of Rs 500 /1000 while travelling to Nepal and Bhutan with a cap of Rs 25,000 on the total amount.

Government has decided to separate the post of Chairman and Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, CEO in public sector banks.

DECEMBER 2014 CHARTER OF CUSTOMER RIGHTS

The Reserve Bank released a charter of customer rights on Dec.3 that lays down five basic rights that bank customers enjoy. This will also simplify the process for common man as now he can simply flash this charter and demand that the rights be met. Here are the rights of customers as notified by the RBI. Right to Fair Treatment: No discrimination on basis

of gender, age, religion, caste and physical ability Right to Transparency, Fair and Honest

Dealing: Contracts or agreements between financial service provider and customer should be transparent and easy to understand

Right to Suitability: Products offered should be appropriate to the needs of the customer

Right to Privacy: Customers' personal information to be kept confidential. No unwarranted communication, electronic or otherwise, to be sent

Right to Grievance Redressal and Compen-sation: Banks accountable for products offered (including third party products like insurance, mutual funds) and to facilitate easy grievance redressal.

RBI DEFINES ‘NON COOPERATIVE BORROWER’ The Reserve Bank of India on Dec 22 issued a new set of norms defining non-cooperative borrowers (NCB). A NCB is one “ who does not engage constructively with his lender by defaulting in timely repayment of dues while having ability to pay, thwarting lenders' efforts for recovery of their dues by not providing necessary information sought, denying access to assets financed or collateral securities, obstructing sale of securities".

RRB AUTHORISED CAPITAL HIKED TO 2000 CR A bill to raise the authorised capital of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to Rs 2,000 crore (from Rs 5 crore at present) and enable them to mop up funds from the capital market was passed by the Lok Sabha on Dec 22. However, government participation combined with sponsoring bank’s share will not be allowed to come below 51 per cent. PMJDY ACCOUNTS ARE FOR ALL Government has clarified that persons already having bank account need not open a fresh one to avail benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). They will have to apply for a RuPay card in the existing account to get benefit of accidental insurance and other benefits. BANKS ALLOWED TO HAVE PUBLIC ISSUE The Union Cabinet allowed state-run banks to raise equity capital from the market subject to the condition that government stake should not fall below 52%. The proposal is part of the government plan to cut banks' dependence on the budget for capital. INTEREST SUBVENTION ON FARM LOANS Government has approved the continuation of interest subvention for short-term crop loans up to Rs 3 lakh to farmers. This means that banks will charge only 7 per cent per annum. Further, additional interest subvention of 3 per cent per annum will be given to those farmers who repay on time that is within one year of disbursement of their short-term crop loans.

RTGS TIMINGS INCREASED To promote electronic payments, the Reserve Bank of India has increased the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) business hours to 12 hours from 8 am to 8 pm on weekdays and from 8 am to 3.30 pm on Saturday. The new timings will come into effect from 29 December, 2014.

SBI LAUNCHES TWO NEW INDICES The State Bank of India has launched two indices namely the SBI Monthly Composite Index and the SBI Yearly Composite Index that will primarily track manufacturing activity and offer forward-looking economic trends. The index will help policy makers and market participants to identify turning points in the manufacturing cycles in advance and adjust their investment plans or strategy.

NORMS RELAXED FOR PPIs RBI has doubled the limit for pre-paid payment instruments (PPI) to Rs 1 lakh from Rs 50,000 at present. Further, the maximum validity of gift cards has been enhanced from one year to three years. The move would help in achieving the objective of limiting cash transactions in the system.

RBI STARTS BHARAT BILL PAYMENT SYSTEM The Reserve Bank has released the final guidelines for the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), which will help consumers pay multiple bills like electricity, telephone and school fees at a single point of transaction. The National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) has been appointed as the nodal body for the system.


HDFC BANK LAUNCHES MOBILE BANKING HDFC Bank launched in Varanasi, UP, its mobile banking initiative - 'Bank Aap Ki Muththi Mein' that works on both smartphones as well as the basic phones that support Internet browsing, to offer round-the-clock banking facility.

INDIANS NOT KEEN TO OPERATE ACCOUNTS According to a nation-wide survey on financial behaviour, India has the highest account dormancy rate even more than countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Only 48 per cent of Indian adults have bank accounts and nearly half of them lie dormant, says a report. The deadline for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes,

including 500 and 1,000 rupees, has been extended by six months till June 30, 2015.

Yes Bank has raised $200 million loan from Asian Development Bank for onward lending to small farm households and rural women self help groups (SHGs).

RBI has imposed penalty of Rs. 5 million and 2.5 million, respectively, on ICICI bank and Bank of Baroda for violation of KYC norms.

Money supply rose by Rs 31,400 crore to Rs 101,950 crore ($1.61 trillion) in the fortnight to December 12, growing by 10.2 per cent on year on year basis.

NOVEMBER 2014 GUIDELINES FOR PAYMENT/ SMALL BANKS The Reserve Bank on Nov 27 released the guidelines for ‘payment banks’ and ‘small banks’. Payments banks can receive deposits and remittances, but cannot lend; focusing on migrant labour and low income households. Small banks will lend to “unserved and under-served sections”, including small business units, small and marginal farmers, and micro and small industries.

PAYMENTS BANKS SMALL FINANCE BANKS OBJECTIVE

Provide small savings accounts and payments / remittance services to migrant labour workforce and low-income households

Financial inclusion and supply of credit to small business units and farmers through high-technology and low-cost operations

ELIGIBLE PROMOTERS Individuals or professionals with necessary experience and eligibility, existing NBFCs, corporate banking correspondents, mobile companies, supermarket chains, real estate co-ops and corporate entities

Resident individuals or professionals with 10 years of experience in banking and finance, companies and societies owned and controlled by residents, existing NBFSc, microfinance institutions and local area banks owned and controlled by residents

SCOPE OF ACTIVITIES Accept deposits but customer balance should not exceed Rs. 1 lakh

Basic services of accepting deposits and lending

Cannot give loans, Can issue debit card, not credit cards

No restriction on the area of operations

Can distribute non-risk simple financial products such as mutual funds and insurance products

At least 50% of its loan portfolio should constitute loans and advances of up to Rs. 25 lakh

NRIs will not be allowed to open accounts

Capital Requirement and Promoter’s contribution Minimum paid-up equity capital of Rs. 100 crore / initially 40%; to be gradually brought down to 26% within 12 years from date of commencement

10 CR ACCOUNTS UNDER PMJDY BY 26-01-15 Govt has revised the target for opening of accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, PMJDY, to 10 crore accounts by 26th January, 2015. The earlier target was pegged at 7.5 crore accounts. NEW RULES FOR MINIMUM BALANCE The Reserve Bank of India has asked banks to inform their customers about fall in the minimum balance well in advance, and said that penal charges should be levied only to the extent of shortfall in such balances by way of a percentage of the shortfall. The guidelines will come into effect from April 1st, 2015.

ING VYSYA MERGES WITH KOTAK MAHINDRA In an all stock amalgamation, ING Vysya Bank decided to merge itself with Kotak Mahindra Bank, creating the fourth largest private sector bank in the country. After the merger, all Vysya Bank branches and employees will become Kotak branches and employees.

NEW NOF NORMS FOR NBFCs RBI has notified new norms for NBFCs that manage funds worth Rs 500 crore and accept public deposits. The net own funds – NOF requirements for NBFCs has been raised from Rs.25 lakh at present to Rs.1 crore by March, 2016, and to further to Rs.2 crore by 2017.

KERALA & GOA ACHIEVE PMJDY TARGETS Kerala and Goa have become the first states in the country to have bank accounts for all households in the state under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY). Further, the Union Territories of Chandigarh, Puducherry and Lakshadweep have also aceived the target. SMS ALERTS FOR CHEQUE TRANSACTIONS RBI has made it mandatory for banks to send SMS alerts to both payer and drawer in cheque transactions as soon as the cheque is received for clearing. This has been done to curb the cheque-related fraud cases. RBI BANS FOREIGN FUNDING Reserve Bank has banned domestic firms from raising foreign funds above the permitted levels and from extending guarantees for them to meet domestic funding needs. Violators will face penal action under the Foreign Exchange Management Act -FEMA.


SEBI ALLOWS SHARIA FUNDS The SEBI has allowed the State Bank of India and three mutual funds to launch Sharia funds. Sharia-compliant funds invest in companies that follow Islamic rules. Charging and receiving interest is considered usury and is not allowed under Islamic law known as Sharia. India's stock exchanges have between 600 and 700 companies that are Sharia-compliant.

BANKS ASKED TO FINANCE JLGs RBI has asked banks to give liberal loans to landless farmers to meet the govt’s target of financing five lakh Joint Liability Groups- JLGs in 2014-15. The banks would also have to provide regular progress reports to NABARD in this regard. The foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) has

allowed HDFC Bank to increase foreign investment in the bank to 74 per cent.

Country's oldest and largest foreign bank, Standard Chartered Bank, opened its 100th branch in Nakatia, Bareily (UP)

DEFENCE, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

JANUARY 2015 LCA TEJAS INDUCTED IN AIR FORCE

The first of the indigenously-built Light Combat Aircraft, LCA Tejas was handed over to the Indian Air Force on Jan 17 at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru. The project was sanctioned 32 years ago in 1983 to replace the ageing MiG-21s in Indian Air Force's combat fleet but has missed several deadlines due to several reasons. The project costed exchequer over Rs 17,000 crores. HAL plans to make 20 aircrafts by 2017-2018, to make the first squadron of the aircraft.

DRDO TAPS GEOTHERMAL ENERGY Country’s first geothermal heating plant was launched successfully by the Snow and Avalanche Studies Establishment of DRDO at its Manali (HP) campus. The plant taps the heat differential above and below the Earth’s surface to achieve the desired temperature. It is a renewable, non-polluting and constant source of energy.

FIRST DISTT WITH BROAD BAND NETWORK On Jan 12, Idukki district in Kerala became the first district in the country to have all its gram panchayats connected through National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) - hi-speed rural broadband network

MICROSOFT LAUNCHES CORTANA FOR PCs Global IT giant Microsoft has announced that its new operating system - Windows 10 will also bring its voice-controlled assistant Cortana to PCs. Till now, Cortana was available in Windows Phone handsets only. Global IT giant - Apple Inc recorded highest quarterly profit of $18 billion in quarter ending December 2014. It was the largest profit ever made by a public company in the corporate history worldwide. INDIA TO JOIN NEUTRINO CLUB India is on way to join the global high-end scientific Neutrino Club as the govt has approved a project for experiments in high energy physics. The project to be set up near Pottipuram village Theni districts of Tamil Nadu will have a world-class underground laboratory to study fundamental issues in science. MOST POWERFUL ANTIBIOTIC DISCOVERED Scientists have discovered a powerful new antibiotic – Teixobactin which can kill an array of germs without the bugs easily becoming resistant to it, a potential weapon against a range of diseases. The discovery is a rare—and much-needed—breakthrough after almost thirty years in the quest for new antibiotics to overcome the problem of growing resistance to existing drugs. NEW VACCINE FOR BLUE TONGUE DISEASE Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL), the wholly-owned subsidiary of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Hyderabad, has launched a vaccine ‘Raksha-Blu’ for countering fir the first time the viral blue tongue disease among sheep, goats, camels and cattle. The year 2014 was the hottest on record, with global

average temperature increasing about 0.8 degrees Celsius since 1880, according to US scientists.

India’s Mars Orbiter programme team has won the 2015 Space Pioneer Award from the US based National Space Society (NSS).

DECEMBER 2014

DRDO has successfully tested Panchi, wheeled version of the unmanned aerial vehicle Nishant. It can take off from and land on small airstrips.

India tested successfully its nuclear-capable strategic ballistic missile Agni-IV, with a strike range of 4,000 km, from a test range off the Odisha coast.

For the first time, India exported a war ship to a foreign country. The ship is CGS Barracuda offshore patrol vessel, purchased by Mauritius.

India has tested a 1,000 kg indigenously-developed glide bomb, which successfully hit a target 100 kms away, off the Odisha coast.

The indigenous nuclear-powered submarine, INS Arihant, for the first time sailed out for sea-trials on Dec 16, from its base at Visakhapatnam.

INS Circars, the oldest naval establishment on the Eastern seaboard in Visakhapatnam celebrated its Platinum Jubilee on Dec 12.


Sikorsky of the United States has been selected for supply of 16 multirole helicopters for the Indian Navy in a contract worth Rs. 6,000 crore.

Russia successfully test fired its Angara-A5 rocket from Plesetsk in northern Russia on 23 December.

NATO forces formally ended their role in Afghanistan, after 13 years of conflict that left the country in the grip of worsening insurgent violence.

GSLV MARK III LAUNCHED SUCCESSFULLY

On Dec 18, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched from Sriharikota its heaviest rocket till date - the 630-tonne three-stage rocket GSLV Mark III which is capable of carrying satellites weighing up to four tonne. It carried CARE (Crew module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment) as its payload which is an Indian-made unmanned crew module. This marks the beginning of what could be India's initiation into the ambitious human space flight programme.

ISRO LAUNCHES GSAT 16 India’s communication satellite GSAT 16 was launched successfully from Kourou in French Guiana on Dec. 7. The satellite was placed in the geostationary orbit of about 36000 kms. It has 48 transponders that will be used for television, telephone and internet applications.

INDIA PARTY TO WORLDs LARGEST TELESCOPE India has joined the elite group of countries including United States, China and Japan to build the largest telescope in the world. The next-generation 30-meter telescope, which is being built at Mount Mauna Kea on an island in Hawaii at a height of 4,050 meter, is expected to give a major boost to the field of astrophysics and understanding different facets of the Universe.

STEEP RISE IN CARBON EMISSIONS Global carbon-dioxide emissions from burning of fossil fuels and production of cement reached a high of 35.3 billion tonnes in 2013. China, the United States and the European Union remain the top three emitters of carbon dioxide, accounting for 29, 15 and 11 per cent, respectively, of the world’s total.

KEPLER DISCOVERS ‘SUPER EARTH’ NASA’s planet-hunting spacecraft – Kepler has discovered a ‘super-Earth’ located 180 light-years from Earth - HIP 116454b, which is 2.5 times the diameter of Earth and follows a close, nine-day orbit around a star that is smaller and cooler than our Sun, making the planet too hot for life as we know it.

CURIOSITY DISCOVERS METHANE ON MARS Nasa's Curiosity rover has detected methane on Mars, a gas that could hint at past or present life on the planet. Presence of Methane on the Red Planet is bit strange because here on Earth, 95 per cent of the gas comes from microbial organisms.

JAPAN LAUNCHES ASTEROID EXPLORER On Dec 03, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched its second-generation asteroid explorer Hayabusa 2 from Tanegashima Space Center. It will explore one of the C-type asteroids called 1999 JU3 in space, retrieve materials and bring them to Earth.

NASA LAUNCHES RETURNABLE SPACECRAFT On December 5, NASA launched Orion spacecraft atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral for a four-hour test flight, after which it safely splashed down in to Pacific Ocean. Orion will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to space, may be as far as Mars, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel, and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities.

WORLD’s MOST ABUNDANT MINERAL FOUND American geologists have named the earth’s most abundant mineral as ‘Bridgmanite’. It makes up about 70 percent of the earth’s lower mantle and 38 percent of the total volume of the earth. It is made up of high-density magnesium iron silicate. The lower mantle, which starts at 670 km under the crust, is difficult to access for samples. The International Ocean Discovery Program has

analysed life in the deepest ever marine drilling expedition- microbes living 2,400 meters beneath the seabed off Japan.

International journal Science has declared the European space mission spacecraft Rosetta as the most important scientific Breakthrough of the Year 2014.

NOVEMBER 2014 PRITHVI-II/DHANUSH TESTED SUCCESSFULLY The Strategic Forces Command of the Army test-fired the Prithvi-II missile on 14th Nov from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Odisha. Naval version of this missile – Dhanush was also tested. Having a range of 350 kms, this was the first missile developed by the DRDO, inducted in Indian army in 2003.

ISRAEL TESTS LR-SAM FOR INDIA The long-range surface-to-air missile (LR-SAM) system with a range of 70 kms, being developed jointly by DRDO and Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI), was tested successfully for the first time in Israel on 10th Nov. It is capable of tracking and destroying incoming hostile aircrafts, drones and missiles.

ARMY WINS ‘CAMBRIAN PATROL’ IN UK The Indian Army’s team of eight Garhwalis won the rigorous endurance competition – Cambrain Patrol held in Wales, UK. It was forty-eight hours without rest patrol across marshy lands, swamps and rivers in biting cold, conducted from October 23-25 where 119 international teams participated.


DRDO successfully test-fired on Nov 9 its nuclear capable ballistic missile – Agni-II having a strike range of 2,000 km and beyond.

Tejas (PV-6): India’s first indigenous Light Combat Aircraft’s two-seater trainer jet version made its maiden flight on Nov 8.

Indian Air force tested its medium range surface-to-air anti-aircraft missile Akash with a strike range of 25 km.

In a freak accident, a Torpedo Recovery Vessel of Indian Navy sunk off the Visakhapatnam coast during a naval exercise due to a probable split in its base.

Mithra Shakthi: Three week Joint military exercise between Indian and Sri Lankan military forces in Sri Lanka in Nov 2014

Hand in Hand 2014: 4th Joint anti terrorism military exercise by Indian and Chinese forces held in Pune at Aundh Military Station from Nov – 17.

FIRST EVER MAN MADE LANDING ON COMET Rosetta – the spacecraft of European Space Agency secured a place in history on 12th Nov when it succeeded in landing its mechanical device called the Philae probe on a comet named- 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko, some 500 million kms away from Earth.

Comets hold vital clues about the original materials that went into building the solar system more than 4.5 billion years ago. If the mission is successful, it will provide an opportunity to sample and study a comet directly. ALTERNATIVE TO ANTIBIOTIC DEVELOPED Scientists for the first time have developed antibiotic-free drug named Staphefekt as an alternative to antibiotics to fight against the antibiotics-resistant superbugs such as MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). India’s Mars mission Mangalyaan, developed by ISRO,

has been listed among the 25 best innovations of 2014 by the Time magazine.

A study by the Internet & Mobile Association of India shows that Mumbai has the largest number -(16.4 million, of internet users in India, followed by Delhi.

INTERNATIONAL

JANUARY 2015 MILITANTS ATTACK FRENCH OFFICE: KILL 12

Three alleged ISIS militants shot dead at least 12 persons, including two police officers on Jan 7 at the Paris offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, for publishing cartoons lampooning Muslim leaders and the Prophet Mohammad. The attackers included two brothers — Cherif Kouachi (32) and Said Kouachi (34) who were later killed an encounter. Millions of people around the world expressed their solidarity with the slain French journalists by using the hash tag #Je Suis Charlie which means I am Charlie (on Twitter.) U.N CALLS FOR CEASEFIRE IN YEMEN UN Security Council has called for lasting ceasefire and dialogue to end the political and security crisis in Yemen. Recently, the Houthi rebels seized the Presidential palace in the capital Sanaa. They are opposed to Yemen’s division in six regions and want that the country should be divided into only two regions. President Mansour Hadi, Prime Minister Khaled Bahah and his cabinet resigned as the President agreed to the demands of the rebels. WEF MEET HELD AT DAVOS The World Economic Forum's five-day annual jamboree of the global elite started on Jan 20 at Davos, Switzerland. More than 2,500 political and business leaders, including Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Piyush Goyal and more than 100 industry leaders from India attended the summit. 1% OWN MORE THAN REST OF THE WORLD A study by Oxfam shows that the wealthiest 1% will soon own more than the rest of the world's population by 2016. Currently, 85 billionaires have the same wealth as the bottom half of the world’s population. DEADLIEST EVER MASSACRE BY BOKO HARAM Boko Haram, extremists opposed to western-style education and secular governance in Nigeria, carried out a multi-day attack in the northeast of Nigeria, focusing on the town of Baga, killing over 2,000 persons and compelling several thousand more to flee from their houses. The militants razed an estimated 16 towns around Baga.


EL CAPITAN ROCK CONQUERED IN USA Two Americans - Kevin Jorgerson and Tommy Cladwell have become first persons to conquer the 914 meters high, almost vertical granite rock - El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California, USA, with only harnesses and ropes to stop them falling. They reached the top on Jan 15, in about 20 days and slept in tents suspended from the mountain face. BRITAIN LAUNCHES ‘GREAT COLLABORATIONS’ Encouraged by the India’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, the United Kingdom announced 'Great Collaborations’ - a campaign to forge collaborations with Indian companies. The campaign aims to cover areas that benefit both the countries across a range of sectors such as energy, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, financial service and infrastructure. WORLD’S LARGEST LED LIGHTING A dazzling show of New Year’s Eve gala using 70,000 LED bulbs around the world’s tallest building Burj Khalifa in Dubai broke the Guinness World Record of the ‘Largest LED-Illuminated Facade’. The illumination around Burj Khalifa spanned 32,467 square metres. DUBAI MAKES A 5.5 KM, 256 KG GOLD CHAIN Dubai has set yet another Guinness World Record with the world’s longest hand-made 22 carat gold chain measuring 5.522 kilometres, weighing 256 kg. Named The Dubai Celebration Chain, it has been made to mark the 20th anniversary of the Dubai Shopping Festival AirlineRatings.com, safety and product rating website,

has announced Quantas, the national airline of Australia as the safest airline for 2015, from the 449 airlines.

Australia has launched an Online Visa Pilot Programme to make it easier for Indian business and tourism visitors to apply online visa for travelling Australia.

The biggest cultural festival of the Mahayana sect of Buddhism in Nepal - Tamu Lhochhar, observed to mark the New Year, celebrated in Kathmandu.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, who will be 89 in April this year, is now the world's oldest monarch following the death of King Abdullah (90) of Saudi Arabia.

Lithuania becomes 19th country to adopt Euro as its currency wef Jan 1, 2015.

DECEMBER 2014 US SIGNS ARMS TRADE TREATY A treaty laying down international rules for the $85 billion global arms trade came into force from Dec 24, after being signed by the USA - world's largest arms producer and exporter. The treaty aims at cutting off weapons supplies to human rights violators worldwide. USA BREAKS ICE WITH CUBA In a historic decision, USA has announced a series of steps aimed at normalising relations with communist-ruled Cuba with which it had severed diplomatic ties decades ago. The steps being taken include instructions to re-establish the US Embassy in Cuba’s capital Havana, relaxing of trade & travel restrictions; review of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.

TALIBAN COMMIT GRUESOME MASSACRE At least 132 students and nine staff members were killed on Dec 16 after Tehrik-e-Taliban gunmen broke into a school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar and opened fire in the bloodiest massacre the country has seen for years. END OF ‘OCCUPY CENTRAL’ DEMONSTRATIONS Hong Kong police forcefully ended the more than two month old street demonstration - Occupy Central. For over two months, thousands of protesters had been demanding open nominations in the next election for chief executive in 2017. RUSSIA SUFFERS ECONOMIC SET BACK Russia's economy is in deep trouble. Crippled by sanctions and stung by slumping oil prices, the nation's currency has lost half its value against the US dollar since June. Because of the volatility of the rouble, many foreign businesses are finding it impossible to operate in Russia. WEB INDEX PUTS INDIA BEHIND CHINA India ranks behind China and other BRICS nations in a comprehensive index aimed at measuring the Internet’s contribution to social, economic and political progress. Though China is notorious for its great Internet firewall, the nation is far ahead of India when it comes to translating the power of the Internet into economic potential, says the Web Index released by the World Wide Web Foundation WORLD ECONOMY SET TO GROW BY 3.1% According to the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2015 report by UNO, the global economy will grow by more than 3 percent in 2015 and 2016. However the growth will be uneven in some regions. The UN is forecasting 3.1 percent economic growth in 2015 and 3.3% growth in 2016. TIME ‘PERSON OF THE YEAR’–EBOLA FIGHTERS The countless doctors, nurses and caregivers at the forefront of battling one of the worst ever outbreaks of the deadly Ebola virus, have been collectively named as Time magazine's 2014 'Person of the Year'. World Health Organi-sation has said that of over 18000 reported cases of Ebola since December, 2013, nearly 6,400 people have died by Dec 10 with Siera Leone being worst hit country.

2014 WORST YEAR FOR CHILDREN The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that 2014 has been “devastating” for some 15 million children caught up in violent conflicts around the world in places like the Central African Republic, Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and occupied Palestine.


UNFCCC MEET HELD AT LIMA

The world’s nations gathered in Lima, capital of Peru on Dec 1 for the 12-day ‘ Lima Climate Change Conference’ under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to push for a deal to roll back carbon emissions threatening future generations. On Dec 14, negotiators adopted a compromise draft for national pledges to cut global carbon emissions, to be adopted at December 2015 convention in Paris. The deal — dubbed the Lima Call for Climate Action — paves the way for what is envisioned as the historic agreement in environmental history. This is the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties and the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol

World AIDS Day observed on December 01. The theme for this year is, 'Focus, Partner, Achieve: An AIDS-free Generation'. HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection AIDS: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; (advanced stage of HIV infection)

Singapore launched a new National Day song in Tamil to celebrate its 50 years of independence. Tamil is 4th official language of Singapore.

United Nations General Assembly on 5 December 2014 declared 2015 as the International Year of Soils

Bhutan became 181st member of Multilateral Invest-ment Guarantee Agency– a branch of the World Bank Group.

An Airbus A320-200 of Air Asia flight QZ8501 with 162 persons aboard disappeared on Dec 28 on way from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore.

Ukraine has decided to join North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), signaling its movement away from Russia, towards western powers.

Latvia will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2015. The Presidency changes every six months.

An Italian Ship - Norman Atlantic, carrying 478 passengers caught fire in mid sea, near Italian port Ancona. Rescue teams could save 471passengers.

Malaysia’s worst flooding in decades forced some 1,18,000 people to flee to safer places. Kelantan, in north east Malaysia, was worst-affected area.

A 444.5-kg British man, believed to be the fattest in the world, has died from pneumonia following a lengthy battle with his weight.

NOVEMBER 2014

WTO APPROVES TFA AND INDIA’s STAND Ending months-long deadlock, the WTO has approved a trade facilitation agreement (TFA) while agreeing to India's demand for continuing the peace clause till a permanent solution is found to the food stockpiling issue, crucial for continuing food security scheme. The decision was taken at Geneva meet of WTO's General Council on Nov 27. WTO also accepted India's demand for extending the peace clause till a permanent solution is found for its food stockpiling issue. Under the peace clause, a WTO member gets immunity against penalty for breaching the food subsidy cap. As per the WTO norms, a developing nation can provide food subsidy of upto 10 percent of the total farm output.

WORLD BANK REPORT ON GLOBAL WARMING The World Bank on 23 November 2014 released a report on the impact of global warming titled “Turn Down the Heat: Confronting the New Climate Normal.” The report focuses on the specific regional impacts of warming.

WORLD LONGEST TRAIN JOURNEY An 82-wagon cargo train started on Nov 25 from the Chinese city of Yiwu for Madrid, Spain on the world’s longest rail journey, covering 10,000 kms, following the ancient Silk Route. It will cover five other countries — Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and France — before completing its mammoth 21-day journey in the Spanish capital.

UN RESOLUTION ON CHILD MARRIAGES The United Nations has adopted the first-ever resolution calling on governments to stop child marriages. About 15 million girls worldwide become child brides each year and more than 700 mn women are married before the age–18.

IMMIGRATION REFORMS IN USA In a landmark decision that could benefit around 2.5 lakh Indians seeking the Green Card, US President has announced sweeping immigration reforms that will save almost five million illegal immigrants from deportation, particularly those who hold H-1B visa.

OVER $9 BN PLEDGED FOR CLIMATE FUND Thirty nations meet on 20th Nov in Berlin has pledged $9.3 billion for a fund to help developing countries cut emissions and prepare for climate change to avoid global warming. The South Korea-based Green Climate Fund (GCF) aims to help developing nations invest in clean energy and green technology and build up defences against rising seas and worsening storms, floods and droughts.

UN WORLD TOILET DAY – NOV 19 The United Nations has dedicated November 19th for promoting World Toilet Day to bring into limelight the plight of all those people who do not have access to a toilet - despite this being their basic right. The theme for this year's UN World Toilet Day is "Equality, Dignity and the Link Between Gender-Based Violence and Sanitation".


G20 TO ACT ON TAX THEFT /CLIMATE CHANGE Leaders from the G20 group of nations resolved to boost flagging global growth, tackle climate change and crack down on tax avoidance. The group leaders promised to modernise global tax rules and begin automatic exchange of tax information by 2018-end. USA committed $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund. Japan also pledged $1.5 Billion for the same. Turkey will host 2015 G20 summit and the 2016 summit will be hosted by China. US AGREES TO INDIAN FOOD STOCKING India has reached an agreement with the United States on public stockpiling of food in terms of Bali Package, paving the way for the implementation of a global Trade Facilitation Agreement that has been stalled for months.

India had asked WTO to amend the norms for calculating agri subsidies so that the country could continue to procure foodgrains from farmers at minimum support price and sell them to poor at cheaper rates without violating the WTO norms. CHINA USA AGREE TO CUT EMISSIONS China and the United States have agreed on a timetable to limit emission of greenhouse gases — ending a 20-year discord between them on how to combat climate change. The U.S. agreed to reduce by 2025 its emission of greenhouse gases by 26 per cent to 28 per cent below its 2005 level. China agreed to raise the share of non-fossil fuels to 20 per cent by 2030. The two countries are the largest producers of CO2 gasses in the world. IMF DECLARES CHINA AS NO 1 ECONOMY As per recent reports from IMF, in October 2014, China overtook the US to become the world’s largest economy in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). China’s GDP stood at $ 17.6 trillion, 16.48 percent of the World GDP, followed by USA at $ 17.4 trillion. India stood at the third place with $ 7.3 trillion size. ‘VAPE’ IS THE WORD OF 2014 'Vape' - the act of smoking from an electronic cigarette - has been chosen by Oxford Dictionaries as its international word of the year for 2014 after use of the term more than doubled over the last year. Thousands of Greeks took to the streets of Athens to

hold a nationwide strike to protest against the government’s austerity drive involving job cuts.

Japan's economy shrank for the second consecutive quarter, marking a technical recession in the world's third largest economy.

Sweden has become the first European Union (EU) country to officially recognise the State of Palestine.

WHO released first ever ‘Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality - Household Fuel Combustion’ to promote use of clean fuels at household level.

22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit was held in Beijing, China from 9th November 2014 to 11th November 2014.

Czech Republic celebrated the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Velvet Revolution that toppled communism and led to dawn of democracy in 1989.

General council meeting of WTO held at GENEVA on 27th November, 2014

International Buddhist Conference held in Lumbini, Nepal, Nov 15-16.

PERSONS IN NEWS JANUARY 2015

POOJA THAKUR: A Wing Commander from Indian Air Force became the first woman to lead the ceremonial tri-service guard of honour inspected by U.S. President Barack Obama at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Jan. 25, 2015. VIKRAM CHANDRA: Indian origin Novelist was named among the finalists for prestigious National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Awards of USA for his non-fiction work Geek Sublime: The Beauty of Code, the Code of Beauty. MS. LEELA SAMSON: She resigned as Chairperson of Central Board of Film Certification, CBFC to protest the clearance of the controversial film Messenger of God by the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT). BHAKTI SHARMA: India's 24 year old open water swimmer has set a world record by swimming 2.25 kms in 52 minutes in one degree temperature in the Antarctic Ocean. She is the first Asian girl and youngest in the world to have achieved this feat. AVINASH CHANDER: Secretary, Defence Research and Development cum Director General, DRDO and Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister was in news as he was removed by the govt., 15 months before his contract was to end. NARENDRA MODI, REKHA: Our Prime Minister and veteran bollywood actress, both were crowned ‘hottest vegetarian celebrities’ by animal rights organisation PETA India for making plant-based foods more popular than ever in 2014. YINGLUCK SHINAWATRA: Former Premier of Thailand was impeached on Jan 23 for corruption charges. Country’s first woman Premier and the sister of former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, suffers an automatic five-year ban from politics.

DECEMBER 2014 DR. K. RADHAKRISHNAN: Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been selected as one of the top ten scientists in 2014 chosen by the prestigious science journal of UK-Nature. PRIME MINISTER MODI: has been rated as the world’s top policy maker, according to a new report of Harvard’s prestigious Kennedy School of Government.


PAWAN CHAMLING: Sikkim Chief Minister, on 12 December 2014 became longest serving Chief Minister of India as he completed his 20 years in the office. The record for longest tenure as Chief Minister is held by Jyoti Basu, CM of West Bengal for 23 years, 4 months. TASHI MALIK AND NUNGSHI MALIK: The twin sisters from Dehradun scaled Mount Vinson, Antarctica’s highest mountain at 4,892 metres to become the world’s first twins and siblings to climb the highest peaks on the seven continents. SARITA DEVI: The International Boxing Association (AIBA) banned Indian boxer for one year for refusing to accept the Asian Games bronze medal. VIVEK MURTHY: The 37 year old Indian origin doctor has been confirmed as the youngest ever Surgeon General of the United States MAHINDA RAJAPAKSA: Sri Lanka President visited India to offer prayers at the famous hill temple of Lord Venkateswara in Andhra Pradesh

NOVEMBER 2014 NARENDRA MODI: joined the Forbes list of the world's most powerful people at 15th rank. The list is topped by the Russian President Vladimir Putin, followed by Barack Obama. Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani scored 36th rank. ARUNDHATI BHATTACHARYA: The Chairperson of country's largest bank- SBI, was named as the most-powerful business woman in India by Fortune Magazine. She was followed by ICICI Bank's Chanda Kochhar and Shikha Sharma of Axis Bank. E. SREEDHARAN: Ministry of Railways has appointed Father of Delhi Metro – ‘Metroman’ head of the committee to suggest a "proper system and procedure to ensure proper accountability and transparency" at General Manager level and other functionaries level for taking all commercial decisions.

GEN. DALBIR SINGH SUHAG: Indian Army Chief was

conferred the title of honorary rank of General of Nepal Army by the Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav.

FARHAN AKHTAR: Bollywood actor-director became the first man in the history of “UN Women” to be appointed as its Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia. He will advocate for gender equality and women's empowerment.

REUBEN PAUL: An eight-year old Indian-origin child prodigy was in news as he delivered the keynote address at the Ground Zero Summit on cyber security held in New Delhi.

NIKKI HALEY: Governor of South Caorlina state, USA, the youngest of current US Governors (42) was in news as she visited Punjab and promised South Carolina’s support to Punjab in setting up aerospace, pharma, tourism and agro-processing industries.

MALALA YOUSAFZAI: Pakistani teenage rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner was in news for donating $50,000 to help rebuild UN schools in Gaza that have been damaged during the recent fight with Israel. CHUCK HAGEL: U.S. Defense Secretary was in news as he resigned from his post. BARACK OBAMA: US President will be the Chief Guest at India's 2015 Republic Day celebrations. This will be the first time a US President will attend the function. VLADIMIR PUTIN: Russian President was in news as he walked out of the G20 summit in Australia, after he faced scorn and scepticism from Western leaders over Russia’s interference in Ukraine. ROBERT O’NEILL: An ex-Navy SEAL was in news as he has been unmasked as the man who pumped three shots to the head of elusive Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden during a top-secret raid on May 2, 2011 at his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. SAIRA BLAIR: Eighteen-year-old girl from West Virginia University was in news as she secured a landslide victory by securing 63 percent votes for a seat in the state legislature house of West Virginia, USA, becoming the youngest person ever to achieve this feat.

A P P O I N T M E N T S JANUARY 2015

APPOINTMENTS IN NITI AAYOG The following appointments have been made by the Prime Minister to the various positions in the Aayog Chairman: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Vice-Chairman: Arvind Panagariya (Economist) CEO: Sindhushree Khullar

Full Time Members: Bibek Debroy, Economist Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Former Secretary Defence R&D

Ex-officio members: Rajnath Singh, Union Minister Arun Jaitley, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh, Union Minister

Special Invitees: Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot, Union Minister Smt. Smriti Irani, Union Minister

PAHLAJ NIHALANI: Chairman, Central Board of Film Certification, CBFC. He is a noted film producer from Mumbai.

A S KIRAN KUMAR: Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation- ISRO and Secretary of the Department of Space, Govt of India AZIZ QURESHI: Governor of Mizoram (transferred from Uttrakhand).


K K PAUL: Governor of Uttarakhand (shifted from Meghalaya), with additional charge of Manipur K N TRIPATHI: Governor of West Bengal will take additional charge as the Governor of Meghalaya KALYAN SINGH: Governor of Himachal Pradesh (Additional Charge); He is Governor of Rajasthan KAPTAN SINGH SOLANKI: Governor of Punjab (Additional Charge); He is Governor of Haryana S. JAISHANKAR: Union Foreign Secretary MALINI PARTHASARATHY: veteran journalist appointed the Editor of The Hindu, the first woman editor of the century-old newspaper H S BRAHMA: Chief Election Commissioner ATUL KHARE: Under-Secretary-General, Department of Field Support (DFS) in UNO R KOTEESWARAN: MD & CEO, Indian Overseas Bank ANIMESH CHAUHAN: MD & CEO, Oriental Bank of Commerce KISHORE KUMAR SANSI: MD & CEO, Vijaya Bank P SRINIVAS: MD & CEO, United Bank of India LEE WAN KOO: New Prime Minister of South Korea SALMAN BIN ABDULAZIZ AL SAUD: New king of Saudi Arabia ALEXIS TSIPRAS: Prime Minister of Greece, from the anti-austerity Syriza party KOLINDA GRABAR-KITAROVIC: First women President of Croatia MAITHRIPALA SIRISENA: 6th President of Sri Lanka, from Sri Lanka Freedom Party - SLFP MODIBO KEITA: Prime Minister of Mali, a West African country

DECEMBER 2014

RAGHUBAR DAS (BJP): New Chief Minister of Jharkhand

JYOTSNA SURI: President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).

RAJINDER KHANNA: Chief of Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW),

PRAKASH MISHRA: Director General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

DINESHWAR SHARMA: Director, Intelligence Bureau

ANIL Kr. SINHA: Director, Central Bureau of Investigation

KLAUS IOHANNIS: President of Romania

BEJI CAID ESSEBSI: President of Tunisia

ANEROOD JUGNAUTH: Prime Minister of Mauritius

TABARE VAZQUEZ: President of Uruguay

SHINZO ABE: Re elected as Prime Minister of Japan

ASHTON CARTER: US Defence Secretary

NOVEMBER 2014

LIST OF CABINET MINISTERS AS ON 30.11.2014 Person Name Position 1 NARENDRA MODI

Head of the Government

Prime Minister, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy; Department of Space; all important policy issues and all other portfolios not allocated to any Minister

2 Rajnath Singh Home Affairs

3 Sushma Swaraj External Affairs, Overseas Indian Affairs

4 Arun Jaitley Finance, Corporate Affairs, Information & Broadcasting

5 Manohar Parrikar Defence

6 Radha Mohan Singh Agriculture

7 J.P. Nadda Health and Family Welfare

8 M. Venkaiah Naidu Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Parliamentary Affairs

9 Nitin Jairam Gadkari Road Transport and Highways, Shipping

10 Suresh Prabhu Railways

11 Uma Bharati Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation

12 Dr. Najma A. Heptulla

Minority Affairs

13 Chaudhary Birender Singh

Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Drinking Water and Sanitation

14 Ramvilas Paswan Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

15 Kalraj Mishra Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

16 Maneka Sanjay Gandhi

Women and Child Development

17 Ananthkumar Chemicals and Fertilizers

18 Ravi Shankar Prasad Communications and Information Technology

19 AG Raju Pusapati Civil Aviation

20 Anant Geete Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises

21 Harsimrat Kaur Badal

Food Processing Industries

22 Narendra Singh Tomar

Mines, Steel, Labour and Employment

23 Jual Oram Tribal Affairs

24 Sadananda Gowda Law and Justice

25 Thaawar Chand Gehlot

Social Justice and Empowerment

26 Smriti Zubin Irani Human Resource Development

27 Dr. Harsh Vardhan Science & Technology / Earth Science


DEEPAK GUPTA: Chairman of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) JUSTICE C K PRASAD: Chairman, Press Council of India HASMUKH ADHIA: Union Financial Services Secretary G S SANDHU: Chairman of National Chemical Weapon Convention. LAXMIKANT PARSEKAR: Chief Minister, Goa ANITA KAPUR:Chairperson, Central Board of Direct Taxes. KLAUS WARREN LOHANNIS: President of Romania, first non Romanian (German) to become President

AWARDS & HONOURS

JANUARY 2015 PADMA AWARDS 2015 ANNOUNCED Padma Awards, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri are given by Govt. of India for exceptional and distinguished service in any field excluding service rendered by Government servants. They are announced every year on the eve of Republic Day, i.e. 25th January. Maximum number does not exceed 120, excluding award for foreigners and posthumous awards. They do not carry any cash award. PADMA VIBHUSHAN – 2015 (9)

S. No.

Name of the Awardee

Discipline State/Domicile

1. Lal Krishna Advani Public Affairs – Politician

Gujarat

2. Amitabh Bachchan Art - Cinema Maharashtra

3. Prakash Singh Badal Public Affairs Punjab

4. Dr. D V Heggade Social Work Karnataka

5. Dilip Kumar Art - Cinema Maharashtra

6. Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya

Others - Hindu Scholar

Uttar Pradesh

7. M. R. Srinivasan Science and Engineering -

Nuclear Scientist

Tamil Nadu

8. K. K. Venugopal Public Affairs - Constitutional

Lawyer

Delhi

9. Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan

Trade and Industry

France/UK

PADMA BHUSHAN 2015 (19) S. No

Name of the Awardee

Discipline State/ Domicile

1. Shri Jahnu Barua Art – Films Assam 2. Dr. Subhash C.

Kashyap Public Affairs - Constitutional Expert

Delhi

3. Harish Salve Public Affairs – Advocate

Delhi

4. Rajat Sharma Media (India TV) Delhi 5. Manjul Bhargava

(NRI/PIO) Science & Engg, Mathematician

USA

6. Bill Gates Social Work USA 7. Melinda Gates Social Work USA PADMA SHRI – 2015 (75)

S. No.

Name of the Awardee

Discipline State/Domicile

1. Mithali Raj Sports – Cricket

Telengana

2. P.V. Sindhu Sports – Badminton

Telengana

3. Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Art – Films Maharashtra

4. Prasoon Joshi Art – Films Maharashtra

5. Tarak Mehta Art – TV Gujarat

6. Jean-Claude Carriere

Literature and Education

France

7. Late Pran Kumar Sharma alias Pran

Art – Cartoonist

Delhi

ASHOK CHAKRA: The highest peacetime military honour awardaed posthumously to Major Mukund Varadarajan and Naik Neeraj Kumar Singh, the two Army personnel who laid down their lives combating militants in Kashmir Valley. DSC Prize for Literature: The $50,000 prize won by Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri for her book, The Lowland at the Jaipur Literature Festival Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for poetry won by Arunadhathi Subramaniam for her work When God is a Traveller, at the Jaipur Literature Festival SOCIAL MEDIA PERSON of the Year Award 2015: Amitabh Bachchan, conferred by the Internet and Mobile Association of India "GOVERNOR OF THE YEAR": Raghuram Rajan, Governor, RBI was selected by the British magazine ‘Central Banking’ for this award at the global level. ‘AWARD FOR THE BEST BANK’: bagged by the Canara Bank at the "MSME Banking Excellence Awards-2014" at Bengaluru.


72ND GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS 2015 Announced at Beverly Hills, California, USA Best Motion Picture-Drama: Boyhood Best Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything Best Actress: Julianne Moore, Still Alice MISS UNIVERSE 2015: Paulina Vega of Columbia at Miami, USA. Martin Luther King Jr. Award: Frank Islam, an eminent Indian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist for his contribution to the promotion of the civil rights in USA. Giraffe Hero Award 2015: Renowned Indian RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal was conferred with the by a US-based NGO The Giraffe Heroes Project. FIFA Ballon d'Or Award- 2014: Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, earning the title of world's best football player for the third time.

DECEMBER 2014 THE GOLDEN PEACOCK: Award for the best film at the 45th International Film Festival of India, Goa won by the Russian film ‘Leviathan’ directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev. The award carries a cash prize of 40 lakh rupees.

Wong Kar Wai: The Chinese filmmaker was conferred the lifetime achievement award at IFFI.

Swiss Ambassador's Award: Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro for inspirational and socially responsible leadership.

Niryat Shree and Niryat Bandhu Awards for 2010-11 given at Delhi for outstanding performance in exports. Canara Bank won the Niryat Bandhu Silver Trophy, Banks

Yash Chopra Memorial Award: Amitabh Bachchan

Miss Universal Peace & Humanity 2014: Ruhi Singh of India at Beirut, Lebanon.

Miss Intercontinental 2014: Wang Patraporn, from Thailand at Magdeburg, Germany.

Miss World 2014: Rolene Strauss, from South Africa at London

Olof Palme Human Rights Prize: Xu Youyu, Chinese pro-democracy activist. It is an annual prize worth USD 75,000 granted by the Swedish labour movement.

Confucius Peace Prize: Fidel Castro, Former Cuban leader. It is known as China's version of the Nobel Prize.

Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry 2014: Noted Pakistan-born poetess Imtiaz Dharker for her poetry collection ‘Over the Moon’. This award is given by British Queen.

Turner Prize: Duncan Campbell, film artist from UK for a video that reflects on African art. It is a popular UK prize for art work.

NOVEMBER 2014 INDIRA GANDHI PRIZE for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2014: Indian Space Research Organisation – ISRO for its contribution in strengthening international cooperation in peaceful use of outer space.

GANDHIAN PHILOSOPHY and Public Service Broadcasting Award 2014: Won by Radio Kashmir, Jammu for its programme Jeevan Rekha.

CENTENARY AWARD for Indian Film Personality of the Year: Rajinikanth, super star of south cinema was conferred this honour at the 45th International Film Festival of India, in Goa.

Sumitra Charat Ram Award 2014: Pandit Jasraj, veteran classical vocalist for Lifetime Achievement.

INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S PEACE PRIZE: Neha Gupta (18), an Indian-American from Philadelphia, won the prestigious prize for her work to help orphans in India and other vulnerable children. She became the first ever American to be awarded the prize in The Hague, Netherlands.

IIM- JRD TATA AWARD for Excellence in Corporate leadership: C S Verma, Chairman, SAIL

THE IPI INDIA AWARD for Excellence in Journalism, 2014, awarded jointly to Hindustan Times and The Week for “outstanding journalistic work” during 2013.

IPI – International Press Institute, Vienna (Austria)

WORLD’S CHILDREN PRIZE: Malala Yousafzai in Sweden

THE GRAND CORDON of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers: One of Japan’s top national awards, conferred on Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his contribution to Indo-Japan ties. He is first Indian to receive this honour.

SYDNEY PEACE PRIZE 2014: Julian Burnside, Human rights advocate and barrister from Australia.

SAKHAROV PRIZE for Human Rights: Denis Mukwege from Congo for treating victims of gang rape

BOOKS & AUTHORS JANUARY 2015

'Neither a Hawk nor a Dove' by Khurshid M Kasuri, Pakistan's Ex-Foreign Minister The Red Sari by Javier Moro; the book is the story of Sonia Gandhi, originally written in Spanish. The Indian Parliament – A Critical Appraisal: Sudha Pai and Avinash Kumar The Fault in Our Stars by John Green At Home in India: The Muslim Saga by Salman Khurshid The Tunnel of Time by R. K. Laxman (autobiography)


DECEMBER 2014 Vande Bharatam by Pandit Prabodh Kumar Mishra.

How Modi Won It by Harish Khare

The Last Illusion by Porochista Khakpour

Adultery by Paulo Coelho

Life is What You Make it by Preeti Shenoy

In God’s Hands by Desmond Tutu Templeton prize winner

Family Life by Akhil Sharma. The book has been selected by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten Best Books of 2014.

Born Again on the Mountain by Arunima Sinha, the first Indian female amputee to climb Mount Everest.

2014: The Election That Changed India by Rajdeep Sardesai

Next China-India War - World's First Water War – 2029 by Gen. Sundarajan Padmanabhan, former Indian Army Chief

NOVEMBER 2014 Your Dreams are Mine Now by Ravinder Singh

7 Secretes of the Goddess by Dev Dutt Pattnaik

The Dramatic Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years by Pranab Mukherjee, President of India

The Scatter Here is Too Great by Bilal Tanweer of Lahore won the 2014 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize.

Truth Always Prevails by Sadruddin Hashwani

The Rich by John Kampfner

OBITUARY

JANUARY 2015 R K LAXMAN: Full name Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Iyer Laxman, legendary cartoonist, creator of the iconic "The Common Man" published regularly for several years in The Times of India, Padma Vibhushan awardee, died at the age of 94 years. He was also honoured with the Magsaysay Award. Capturing the entire gamut of idiosyncrasies of Indian politicians in an innocuous newspaper box with his cartoons, he immortalised the passive, hapless common man with an uncanny perception and sarcasm in a daily commentary on his life that brought smiles to millions for over five decades.

He wrote his autobiography titled ‘The Tunnel of Time’.

B G VERGHESE: Eminent journalist, a Ramon Magsaysay award winner and former editor of the Hindustan Times and The Indian Express RAJNI KOTHARI: Noted political scientist, founder of The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies JASWANT SINGH RAJPUT : Two-time gold medal winning hockey Olympian SUBASH GHISING: Former chief of Gorkha National Liberation Front, who gave birth to the Gorkhaland movement SAIYID HAMID: Noted Muslim academician, educationist, reformist and author. He was Chancellor of Jamia Hamdard University, ex-Chancellor Jamia Millia Islamia and former Vice Chancellor Aligarh Muslim University ABDULLAH BIN ABDULAZIZ: King of Saudi Arabia

DECEMBER 2014

K. BALACHANDER: Eminent South Indian filmmaker and Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner from Chennai. He wrote, directed and produced more than 100 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi. He was the man behind the success of superstars Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan.

V.R. KRISHNA IYER: Legendary jurist, a Supreme Court judge, and post-retirement, a human rights activist, known for his landmark judgments and for the environmental struggles.

DEVEN VERMA: Bollywood comedy actor, winner of Filmfare Best Comedian Award for his roles in films Chori Mera Kaam, Chor Ke Ghar Chor and Angoor.

A R ANTULAY: Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and former Union Minister, veteran Congress leader

CHUNIBHAI VAIDYA: A veteran Gandhian and freedom fighter from Ahmadabad, Gujarat.

JARBOM GAMLIN: Former C M of Arunachal Pradesh

JOE COCKER: Legendary rock singer from Colorado, USA

DAVID JOHN RYALL: Veteran British actor

NOVEMBER 2014 RAVI CHOPRA: Veteran film director from Bollywood,

famous for his tele serial – Mahabharat and movie – Baghban.

SADASHIV AMRAPURKAR: Mumbai Cinema actor, winner of two Filmfare awards.

MURLI DEORA: Eminent Congress leader from Maharashtra and former Union Petroleum Minister SITARA DEVI: Eminent Kathak danseuse, Padma sri awardee. Kathak is a prominent classical dance form of Uttar Pradesh.


P D JAMES: Noted English crime thriller novelist from UK. Popular as “Queen of Crime” and known for the fictitious character of poet-cum-detective - Adam Dalgliesh created by her.

PHILLIP HUGHES: Australian star batsman was in news as he suffered a fatal hit on his neck by a short-pitched bouncer thrown by Sean Abbott, in a domestic match in Sydney, leading to his death after three days, on Nov 27.

KEN TAKAKURA: Noted Japanese film actor

WARREN ANDERSON: Former Union Carbide chief, wanted in India in connection with the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, died at 92 in New York – Sep 29.

PLACES IN NEWS JANUARY 2015

PERIYAR TIGER RESERVE: Sanctuary in Kerala won the National Tiger Conservation Authority award for encouraging local public participation in managing the reserve.

MALIHABAD: Area of Lucknow was in news as around 50 lives were lost there due to a hooch tragedy that occurred in its nearby villages. Hooch is a type of local liquor, usually of inferior quality.

BAGA: A town in north east Nigeria was in news as the Islamic militant group Boko Haram executed over 2000 persons there and in adjoining villages.

CHENYI SQUARE: Place in Shanghai's Huangpu district was in news as a stampede broke out there during New Year celebrations, killing over 35 persons and injuring some 40 persons.

DECEMBER 2014 CHINTAGUFA, SUKMA: Place was in news as Naxalites killed 14 CRPF personnel, including two officers, and injured an equal number in the second attack on the force in 10 days in the same area in the Naxal hotbed of Sukma district in Chhattisgarh. TYPHOON HAGUPIT: hit the eastern Philippines creating misery for millions following a barrage of deadly disasters.

NOVEMBER 2014 JAYAPUR: A village near Varanasi was in news as it was adopted for development by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi under ‘Sansad Gram Yojna’. HAMPI: Place in Karnataka was in news as some 20 drawings of the Harappan (Sindhu) era in Gondi dialect were discovered there at a nearby hilltop. PENDARI: A village on the outskirts of Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh was in news as over 14 women died due to faulty sterlisation operations performed on them at a government medical camp organised there.

LIPULEKH PASS: The mountain pass in Dharchula, Uttrakhand was in news as border trade worth over Rs 3 crore took place between India and China this year through this pass.

WAGAH: The small town on Indo-Pak border, famous for its ceremonial beating retreat, was in news as a horrific suicide attack took place there on Nov 2, killing over 61 persons and injuring another around 100 persons, who had come there for attending the flag lowering ceremony.

FERGUSON: A small town in Missouri State of USA was in news as it suffered violent racial riots. The riots sparked after a grand jury cleared a white police officer in the fatal August 9 shooting of an unarmed black teenager. Protests were also staged in New York, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, Oakland, California, and Washington DC.

BERLIN WALL: Massive public celebrations were held in Germany to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 to stop people fleeing the communist East. Its fall in 1989 became a powerful symbol of the end of the Cold War.

CATALONIA: A small but prosperous region in north eastern Spain was in news as it voted in a symbolic ballot on Nov 9 on the issue – “whether to break away from Spain or not” to emerge as an independent state.

WORLD TRADE CENTER, NY: The 104-story, $3.9 billion skyscraper at Manhattan, New York, the tallest in America, was inaugurated on Nov 03, almost thirteen years after the 9/11 terrorist attack that destroyed the original towers.

SPORTS WORLD

JANUARY 2015 AWARD MONEY RAISED FOR SPORTS MEDALS The Sports Ministry revised its ‘Scheme of Special Awards’ to medal winners in international events by increasing the award money in Olympic and Paralympics Games (summer and winter) from Rs 50 lakh to 75 lakh for gold, Rs 30 lakh to 50 lakh for silver and Rs 20 lakh to 30 lakh for bronze.

Sania Mirza along with her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands won doubles title at the Sydney International Tennis Tournament.

Anirban Lahiri, Indian professional golfer voted as the 2014 Players’ Player of the year in Asian Tour.

National Billiards Championship: Pankaj Advani won the national title in Kolkata beating Dhruv Sitwala. Arantxa Sanchis won the women’s title.

Senior National Snooker Championship: Pankaj Advani won the title defeating Varun Madan at Kolkata. Amee Kamani won the women’s title. Youth National Weightlifting Championship: Jimjang Deru of Arunachal Pradesh created national record by lifting 238 kilograms under the 56 kilograms category in Yamuna Nagar, Haryana.


Bengaluru FC won the Federation Cup football title at Margao, Goa, beating Dempo Sports Club 76th Table Tennis National Championship: Petroleum Sports Promotion Board team won both - men's and women's titles at Puducherry. The 79th Senior National Badminton Championship held in Vijayawada from January 29 to February 5. The 35th National Games to be held in Kerala Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland won the ATP Chennai Open Tennis Singles title beating Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Mahendra Singh Dhoni Indian cricket captain has decided to retire from Test cricket, citing strain of playing all formats. He would prefer to concentrate on ODI and T20 formats. India will host the 2016 Twenty 20 World Cup from 11th of March to 3rd of April 2016. Stephen Constantine appointed head coach of Indian men's football team. O P JAISHA: Indian runner broke the 19-year-old national record of women marathon at the 12th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon in Mumbai, clocking a time of 2:37:29. Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal has won the FIFA Ballon d'Or award for 2014, earning the title of world's best football player for a third time. Brett Lee: Australian cricketer, rated as third fastest bowler in world, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after a 20-year career. AB de Villiers, South Africa's cricket captain hit the fastest century in one-day internationals cricket history, 31 balls to 100 against the West Indies in Johannesburg, South Africa. He scored 149 runs off 44 balls (16x6 and 9x4) Roger Federer of Switzerland reached the 1,000 ATP Tour wins milestone as he won the Brisbane International title on Jan 11, defeating Canada's Milos Raonic at Brisbane, Australia. He becomes the third man, after Jimmy Connors (1253) and Ivan Lendl (1071), to secure 1,000 ATP wins. ATP: Association of Tennis Professionals Sean Abbott, the Australian bowler has been named Australia's young cricketer of the year, winning the Sir Bradman Award. He is the same bowler whose delivery led to the death of Phillip Hughes.

DECEMBER 2014 Blind Cricket World Cup: India lifted the Cup on Dec 7 after defeating Pakistan in Cape Town, South Africa.

P V Sindhu: Won the Macau Grand Prix Gold trophy at Macau, China, beating Kim Hyo Min of Korea

Viswanathan Anand won his maiden London Classic title after defeating British Grandmaster Michael Adams

Ankita Raina won ITF singles tennis title defeating British Katy Dunne in Pune, Mahrashtra. She is the first Indian to win this title in past 14 years.

M S Dhoni broke the world record for most number of stumpings in international cricket after he claimed his 134th victim – Mitchell Johnson of Australia at Melbourne, Australia.

Baichung Bhutia: Former Indian football captain conferred with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Hall of Fame Award in Manila, Philippines.

Sachin Tendulkar has been named as the brand ambassador for ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

Arjun Atwal has won the Inaugural edition of Dubai Open Golf Championship.

Pragyan Ojha, The left-arm spinner has been banned by BCCI from bowling in competitive matches as his bowling action was found illegal, flexing elbow beyond 15 degrees.

India beats Turkey to win the World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad at Gyor in Hungary.

17th Asian Luge Championships: Shiva Keshavan won Silver Medal at the Spiral Olympic Sliding Centre in Nagano, Japan.

Indian Super League football tournament: Atletico de Kolkata won the championship beating Kerala Blasters.

Champions Trophy: Germany beats Pakistan to win the hockey trophy at Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Deodhar Trophy: East zone beats West zone to lift cricket trophy in Mumbai.

58th National Shooting Championships held in Pune, Maharashtra

‘VINICIUS’ & ‘TOM’ – MASCOTS FOR RIO OLYMPICS Brazil has declared ‘Vinicius’ as the mascot for the Rio 2016 Olympics to be held at Rio de Janeiro. Vinicius is a yellow feline animal similar to cat and represents Brazil’s rich fauna and wildlife. The mascot for 2016 Paralympics Games is Tom, a blue and green figure with leaves that cover its head and presents country’s diverse and rich flora.

International Tennis Federation (ITF) has declared following as the “Player of the Year 2014” Men’s: Novak Djokovic from Serbia Women’s: Serena Williams from USA Opening ceremony for the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2015 shall be held at Melbourne, Australia on Feb 14, 2015. Hillel Oscar: An international umpire and former captain of Israel's national cricket team died on Nov 30 after being hit in the jaw by a ball at Ashdod, Israel.


NOVEMBER 2014

ROHIT SHARMA made history by scoring the highest individual score of 264 runs (173b, 33x4, 9x6) in the world history of ODIs, playing against Sri Lanka in Kolkata’s Eden Garden Stadium on Nov 13. He became the only batsman in world to score two

double centuries in ODI format. His previous best of 209 was against Australia in 2013

in Bengaluru. He also created a world record for most fours-33 in a

single innings. M S Dhoni was named as the captain of ICC ODI Team of

the Year 2014.

C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for 2014: Former Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar. The Award is given by BCCI.

Polly Umrigar Award 2013-14: Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar for being India’s best international cricketer of the year, given by BCCI.

ICC’s LG People's Choice Award 2014: Indian fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar

VIRAT KOHLI: Star batsman became the quickest cricketer to reach 6,000 runs in ODIs, beating legendary West Indian Vivian Richards’ record. He scored this feat during India’s third ODI against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad. ABHINAV BINDRA: India’s ace shooter became the first Indian to be elected as Chairman of International Shooting Sport Federation's (ISSF) Athletes Committee.

Sachin Tendulkar was inducted into the Bradman Hall of Fame on 5th October at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia.

Ms Deborah, a tribal girl from Andaman and Nicobar Islands has created history in National Level by winning four Gold Medals in the Track Asia Cup Cycling Championship 2014 held at New Delhi.

54th National Open Athletics Championships held at New Delhi. Tintu Luka was adjudged the best female athlete and Ankit Sharma was named the best male athlete.

South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women's Championship: India wins beating Nepal in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Indian cricket team won 5-match ODI series in a whitewash against Sri Lanka, winning all the five matches.

Saina Nehwal and K Srikanth clinched the women's and men's singles title (Badminton) of the China Open Super Series Premier in Fuzhou, China, on 15th Nov.

Duleep Trophy: Central Zone lifts the cricket cup after beating South Zone at New Delhi.

43rd Handball National Championship (women’s): Punjab beats Haryana to win the tournament at Mastuana Sahib, Punjab.

127th Durand Cup: Salgaocar FC won the prestigious Football championship in Goa, defeating Pune FC. World Kabaddi League: United Singhs won the finals beating Khalsa Warriors at Mohali, Punjab.

68th Sr. National Aquatic Championship held at Kolkata. Terry Walsh quits as the Head Coach of the National Hockey team.

Mitchell Johnson: Australia’s fast bowler won the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Sir Garfield Sobers trophy for the Cricketer of the Year award for 2014.

AB de Villiers: South Africa’s batsman was voted the ODI player of 2014.

Sarah Taylor: England’s wicketkeeper was named women’s player of 2014.

Lionel Messi: FC Barcelona superstar became the all-time highest scorer in La Liga history by scoring 253 goals, playing against Sevilla in Spain.

Lewis Hamilton of UK won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as well as the Formula 1 racing championship title of the year becoming the first British double world champion since Jackie Stewart in 1971.

Magnus Carlsen of Norway has retained his World Chess Championship title defeating five-time champion Viswanathan Anand in the 11th game at Sochi, Russia on Nov 23.

Novak Djokovic (Serbia) won the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Nov 16 at London. Switzerland won their first ever Davis Cup Tennis title at Lille, France, beating France.

World Women's Boxing Championships held in Jiju, South Korea. S Sarjubala and Saweety won the silver medals for India.

World Tour Golf Championship held at Jumeirah Golf states in Dubai is won by Henrik Stenson from Sweden.

2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships to be hosted by Doha, Qatar. 2015 and 2017 games will be hosted by Beijing and London, respectively.

Africa Cup of Nations 2015 - The 16 nation Football tournament will be hosted by Equatorial Guinea.

Seaways IBSF World Snooker Championship held at Bengaluru.

Lee Chong Wei: World number one in Badminton has been suspended by The Badminton World Federation due to an apparent anti-doping regulation violation.

INDIAN HIGHLIGHTS

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

Jitu Rai, shooter won India's 1st gold in the 50m event.


MC Mary Kom became the first Indian woman boxer to clinch a gold medal at the Asian Games after beating Kazakhstan's Zhaina Shekerbekova in the flyweight (48-51kg) category.

India won the Hockey gold medal beating Pakistan

Indian Kabaddi Teams, both men and women, beat Iran’s teams to win the Gold.

Varsha Gautam and Aishwarya Nedunchezhiyan made history by becoming the first Indian women to win a sailing medal – Bronze in Dinghy event at the Asian Games.

Khushbir Kaur won the country’s first-ever silver in the women’s 20 kms race walk in Asiad. With an aim to increase India`s medal tally in 2016 and 2020 Olympics, the Sports Ministry has decided to start a "Target Olympic Podium Scheme" The Indian Super League (ISL) heralded a new dawn for football in India on 12 October, at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. Sharath Gayakwad, the para-swimmer made history at the Asian Para-Games in Incheon, South Korea, by winning six medals Anirban Lahiri won the Venetian Macau Open Golf Cup.

Pankaj Advani won World Billiards Point Format Championship at Leeds, United Kingdom, beating Peter Gilchrist of Singapore. He also won the World title in time format beating Robin Wilson of UK.

World junior Chess title 2014: Lu Shanglei of China defeated Aleksander Indjic of Serbia to win the title in Pune, Maharashtra.

35th Senior National Archery Championship held in New Delhi, won by Punjab.

Champions League Twenty 20: Chennai Super Kings won the trophy by defeating Kolkata Knight Riders at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.

The multi-sport Paralympic Games 2015 will be held in India in February 2015.

4th Sultan of Johor Cup (hockey) for under 21 won by India beating Great Britain at Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

James Tull: A club cricketer in Australia created history by scoring a triple ton – 341 runs - with 25 sixes and 34 fours

Shanghai Rolex Masters (Tennis) – 2014 won by Roger Federer (Switzerland) beating Gilles Simon (France) in Shanghai, China.

KOHEI UCHIMURA: Japan’s gymnast won his fifth straight all-around world title at the Gymnastics World Championships in Nanning, China.

ATP CHINA OPEN Tennis Cup 2014, Beijing

Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beats Tomas Berdych (Czech) to win men’s singles title.

Maria Sharapova (Russia) beats Petra Kvitova(Czech) to win women’s singles title

Serena Williams (USA) beat Simona Halep (Romania) to lift the WTA Finals cup at Singapore.

Sania Mirza and Cara Black (Zimbabwe) won the WTA finals women's doubles tennis title at Singapore.

DAYS AND DATES

JANUARY National Youth Day( B’day of Swami Vivekanand) 12th January

Army Day 15th January

Desh Prem Divas (B’day of Neta ji Subash Chandra Bose)

23rd January

National Girl Child Day ( Day Indira Gandhi became PM of India )

24th January

National Voters Day ( Establishment of Election Commission)

25th January

International Customs Day 26th January

Martyrs' Day ( Death of Mahatma Gandhi) 30th January

FEBRUARY World Cancer Day 04th February

World Radio Day 13th February

Valentine’s Day 14th February

Arunachal Pradesh Foundation Day 20th February

Central Excise Day 24th February

National Science Day 28th February

MARCH World Wildlife Day 03rd March

International Women’s Day 08th March

No Smoking Day 13th March

World Disabled Day 15th March

St. Patricks Day 17th March

World Sparrow Day 20th March

World Poetry Day 21st March

World Water Day 22nd March

World Meteorological Day 23rd March

World Stage Artists Day 27th March

World Earth Hour (8:30 pm to 9:30 pm) 29th March

Financial Year Ending 31st March

ALL THE NEWS ITEMS IN THIS MAGAZINE HAVE BEEN SOURCED FROM VARIOUS NEWS PAPERS AND GOVT. PRESS RELEASES


WHY THE PRICE OF OIL IS DROPPING SO FAST ?

The oil industry, with its history of booms and busts, appears to be in the early stages of its latest downturn. The price of oil has plunged in recent months, reaching its lowest point in more than five years. Q: Why is the price of oil dropping so fast now? A: This a complicated question, but it boils down to the simple economics of supply and demand. US domestic production has nearly doubled over the last six years, pushing out oil imports that need to find another home. Saudi, Nigerian and Algerian oil that once found a home in the United States is suddenly competing for Asian markets, and the producers are forced to drop prices. On the demand side, the economies of Europe and developing countries are weakening and vehicles are becoming more energy-efficient. So demand for fuel is lagging a bit. Q: Who benefits from the price drop? A: Obviously, car owners are the largest group of beneficiaries. Diesel, heating oil and natural gas prices have also fallen sharply, benefitting the commercial / industrial users and of course, farming community. Falling transportation costs will have a trickle down impact on prices of day to day use goods, benefitting the common man. Q: Who loses? A: For starters, oil-producing countries and states. Venezuela, Iran, Nigeria, Ecuador, Brazil and Russia are likely to suffer economic and perhaps even political turbulence. Persian Gulf states left with thin surpluses, are likely to invest less money around the world, and may cut aid to countries like Egypt. In the United States, Alaska, North Dakota, Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana will face economic

challenges. Some smaller oil companies that are heavily in debt may go out of business, straining some banks that lend to these companies. Q: What happened to OPEC? A: The price of oil, as with other commodities, goes up and down. And in the past the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, known as OPEC, has frequently cut production to firm up prices. Iran, Venezuela and Algeria are pressing the cartel to do so again, but Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other gulf allies are refusing to cut. At the same time, Iraq is actually pumping more. Saudi officials have said that if they cut production and prices go up, they will lose market share and merely benefit their competitors. They say they are willing to see oil prices go much lower, but some oil analysts think they are merely bluffing. Q: Is there a conspiracy to bring the price of oil down? A: There are a number of conspiracy theories floating around. Even some oil executives are quietly noting that the Saudis want to hurt Russia and Iran, and so does the United States - motivation enough for the two oil-producing nations to force down prices. Dropping oil prices in the 1980s did help bring down the Soviet Union, after all. But there is no evidence to support the conspiracy theories, and Saudi Arabia and the United States rarely coordinate smoothly. And the Obama administration is hardly in a position to coordinate the drilling of hundreds of oil companies seeking profits and answering to their shareholders. Q: When are oil prices likely to recover? A: Not anytime soon. Oil production is still increasing in the United States and some other countries. Many Wall Street banks are predicting that the oil price could fall as low as $40 a barrel in the coming months. But production is likely to begin declining in the second half of the year, and then crude prices will also begin to recover. The history of oil is a history of booms and busts followed by more of the same.

Modified from Article in Economic Times, Jan 13, 2015


(August 2014– October 2014)

For details please visit our website: www.gyanm.in

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

OCTOBER 2014 President Pranab Mukherjee became the first ever

Indian head of state to visit Norway. He also visited Finland.

Nguyen Tan Dung, Vietnam Prime Minister came on a two-day visit to India.

India ranks 55th on the Global Hunger Index 2014, up from 63rd in 2013, better than Pakistan and Bangladesh that ranked 57.

Commemoration of the historic Komagata Maru incident on 29th September. A set of commemorative coins of denominations of Rs 100 and Rs 5 was released to mark the occasion.

The work order for 'Statue of Unity' — the world's tallest statue (182 mts) of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel has been issued to Larsen and Toubro (L&T).

India has signed the Minamata Convention on Mercury to control and reduce emissions from the power plants.

Union Ministry of Culture launched a year – long birth centenary celebrations of Ghazal and Thumri singer Begum Akhtar (07-10-1914).

Areas around Visakhapatnam on Andhra coast were severely lashed by the super cyclone Hudhud, causing widespread destruction.

The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index – 2014 has ranked India’s retirement system lowest among the 25 countries surveyed.

India has performed poorly in removing gender-based disparities, ranking 114 out of 142 countries in World Economic Forum's 2014 Gender Gap Index.

India has been placed at 142nd rank among 189 countries in the latest World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” report.

John Baird, Canada's Foreign Minister has said that Canada has agreed to sign commercial contracts for supply of uranium for Indian nuclear reactors.

India signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Culture Cooperation with UK for next five years.

A commemorative postage stamp on Sri Lankan Buddhist revivalist and writer Anagarika Dharmapala was released by the President.

Government decides to commemorate Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s birth anniversary (October 31) as “National Integration Day”- Rashtriya Ekta Diwas.

India and Mexico signed a MoU for cooperation in space and working together in the areas of remote sensing

and satellite communication. India and Nepal have signed a Power Trade Agreement

to promote cooperation in the field of production and transmission of electricity.

India Heritage Research Foundation, Rishikesh has released the ‘Encyclopedia of Hinduism’ consisting of 11 volumes and approximately 7000 entries.

India will contribute $4 million in the $5.4 billion aid pool formed by the global donors for rebuilding the Gaza Strip destroyed in the conflict with Israel.

Prime Minister addressed the nation on Oct 3 for the first time over radio in the programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ to reach out to maximum audience.

SEPTEMBER 2014 PM Modi addressed a historical public gathering at the

USA’s most prestigious venue – Madison Square Garden in New York on 28th September.

Recognising the importance of Modi’s visit to USA, the US Senate announced September 30 as 'US-India Partnership Day'.

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited India and signed 12 pacts to commit investment of $20 billion in India

in the next five years China to help in setting up of a Railway University and

high speed Chennai-Bangalore-Mysore train corridor, of up to 160kmph

China agreed to open a new route to Kailash Mansarovar via Nathu La in Sikkim.

Prime Minister Modi visited Japan and sought support to introduce the Shinkansen, or bullet train, along the Ahmedabad-Mumbai route.

India and Japan have signed a partner city affiliation agreement between Varanasi (Kashi) and Kyoto - ‘city of thousand shrines.’

Supreme Court has directed that all under-trial prisoners who have completed more than half of the jail term prescribed for their offences, should be released on bail


President Pranab Mukherjee made a four-day state visit to Vietnam and met his counterpart Truong Tan Sang.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott came to India and signed a landmark civil nuclear cooperation agreement

President released a set of eight commemorative postage stamps on great Indian musicians

India slipped to 71st position (from 60th in 2013) in an annual global competitiveness list released by the World

Economic Forum. Country's first 'Coral garden' will be set up at Mithapur

coastal region of Devbhoomi-Dwarka district in Gujarat. The ancient Nalanda University (NU), started

functioning once again after almost 800 years at its newly established campus at Rajgir, Bihar.

National Nutrition Week observed from 1st to 7th Sep. The theme for this year is ‘Poshak Ahaar, Desh Ka Adhaar’.

India has signed an agreement with Germany for cooperation in the field of skill development, solid waste management and cleaning of rivers.

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

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

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

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

Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned 64 on 17th

September.

AUGUST 2014 Prime Minister Mr. Modi visited Kathmandu, Nepal and

addressed the Constituent Assembly. India to provide Nepal $ 1 billion concessional line of

credit for various development purposes. A report by ICDS says that about 2.3 crore children in

India, up to 6 years of age, are suffering from malnourishment and are under-weight.

Indian domain names will now make their debut with the extension .Bharat which will be in Devanagari script.

Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister of UK visited India. Northeast Frontier Railway to construct a bridge with

highest pillars in the world, in Manipur, with height of pillars upto 141 metres.

Prime Minister announced Central assistance of Rs. 8,000 crore for four major road projects connecting J&K with rest of the country.

“Pinkathon Delhi 2014” - a run for cause was organised in Delhi with the slogan "Each One Kheench One"

Sushma Swaraj, the External Affairs Minister visited Vietnam on August 24

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

West Bengal 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN)

Foreign Ministers meeting held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.

India to construct a pipeline for supply of petroleum products from Raxual, Bihar to Amlekhganj, Nepal

NEWS FROM STATES

OCTOBER 2014 Kerala Forest Research Institute plans to mark public

trees with a "health-card" that will show its strength condition, risk factors and details of damage etc.

Union government plans to set up a mega handicraft cluster in Kachch, Gujarat to promote handcraft items and craft based textiles.

Madhya Pradesh tops iin the field of organic farming producing about five lakh metric ton of farm products,

about 40% of the country’s total organic produce. The Kerala Government will provide free treatment to

every cancer patient in the state under the project ‘Sukrutham’ at major government hospitals.

Union Govt launches Jammu Kashmir Arogya Gram Yojna to promote cultivation of scientifically tested and commercially beneficial aromatic and medicinal plants.

SEPTEMBER 2014 Major rivers of J&K, particularly Jhelum, heavily

overflowed, causing widespread devastating floods in the state.

Indian Army launched rescue operation “Operation Megh Rahat” to provide relief to the flood victims.

Madhya Pradesh outpaced all the major states to top the economic growth charts with a scorching 11 per cent growth in 2013-14

‘Swavalamban Abhiyan' - A set of 11 new pro poor initiatives of the Gujarat government aimed at promoting dignity and self-sufficiency of the poor,

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

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

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

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

3rd Ladakh Marathon at Leh in J&K was held on 16th

September. This is world’s highest/toughest marathon held at 3,524 meter (11,562 feet) altitude.

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


AUGUST 2014 FOUR NEW GOVERNORS APPOINTED

Kalyan Singh Rajasthan Vajubhai Vala Karanatka C Vidyasagar Rao Maharashtra Mridula Sinha Goa Sheila Dikshit Resigned as Governor of Kerala K Sankaranarayanan quits as Governor (Maharashtra) Kamala Beniwal sacked as Mizoram Governor V K Duggal resigned as Manipur Governor

The 20-day Nanda Devi Raj Jat yatra, also called the ‘Himalayan Kumbh,’ began from Nauti village in Chamoli district in Uttarakhand on 18th August.

Sikkim has become the first choice of foreign tourists in the north-eastern states of the country,

GOVT INITIATIVES

OCTOBER 2014 Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram launched for creating a conducive environment for industrial development and doing business with ease.

Labour Identification Number to be issued to all industrial units for transparency and accountability in labour inspections

“Shram Suvidha" – a Unified Labour Portal launched to facilitate "Labour Inspection Scheme

Universal Account Number for Employees' Provident Fund members

Apprentice Protsahan Yojana to reimburse 50 per cent of the stipend paid to apprentices

Swachh Bharat Mission launched on October 2 to make India neat and clean by Oct 2, 2019 at an expected cost of Rs 62,000 crore.

Govt has decided to merge the ‘Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan’, a campaign for rural sanitation with Swachh Bharat Mission.

Prime Minister launched Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana on 11th October, on the occasion of birth anniversary of Jai Prakash Narayan.

o Every MP to adopt one village by 2016 and two more by 2019.

National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation launched “Swachhta Udyami Yojana to provide financial assistance to Safai Karamcharis

Govt has reintroduced the Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana- a single premium pension policy for senior citizens, for a limited period of one year

Government has launched an Adhaar based Biometric Attendance System (BAS) for government employees. named attendance.gov.in

Universal Health Assurance Mission plans to bring all Indians under health insurance cover

o UHAM to provide 50 essential drugs and 30 AYUSH drugs to all citizens at govt. hospitals and health centres.

National Air Quality Index launched to create awareness about the quality of air and its likely health impact.

Union Cabinet has decided to completely deregulate the diesel prices and henceforth the price will be linked to the market.

The government has made it mandatory for tobacco companies to carry health warnings on at least 85% of the surface of cigarette packets

T S R Subramanian committee set up to review the laws related to protection of environment including the Indian Forest Act, 1927

India’s first-ever Offshore Wind Power Project in India to come up along Gujarat coast.

Govt plans to start “Sardar Patel Urban Housing Mission” to ensure housing for all by 2022 and a ‘slum free India’.

Union Government has decided to sell LED bulbs to households at 10 rupees against the market price of 400 rupees.

From November, 2014 all replies given under RTI by ministries will be posted online, available for access to all and not just to persons seeking the information.

Central govt has advised all states, union territories and Central Armed Police Forces to recruit 33 per cent women in their ranks.

T.K. Vishwanathan Committee setup to review Bankruptcy laws.

SEPTEMBER 2014 “Make in India” campaign launched to make India a

global manufacturing destination focussing on 25 thrust sectors.

www.makeinindia.com launched to provide one point solutions to all the persons interested in ‘make in India’ mission.

Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana launched for empowering the population through enhancement of livelihood opportunities.

Sep 25, birth anniversary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya to be observed as Antyodaya Diwas every year

The Aajeevika Skills Dev Prog renamed as “Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana” reducing the min entry age to 15 years from 18 years.

The new Road Safety and Transport Bill, 2014 proposes a steep hike in penalties for traffic violations:

Fine up to Rs 3 lakh along with minimum 7 –years jail for death of a child in certain circumstances.

Fine of Rs 5 lakh per vehicle as well as imprisonment for faulty manufacturing design, Cancellation of licences for rash and negligent driving.

Country’s first 'Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve' (CDBR) to come up in the Spiti region of the tribal Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.

Govt has launched the Reefer Vehicle Call-in-Centre (RVC) for smooth transportation of perishable goods.

The first anti-Tuberculosis Drug Resistance Survey of India was launched on Sept 6 supported by WHO.


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

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

Textiles Ministry has approved setting up of 13 textile parks

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

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

AUGUST 2014 Lok Sabha passed the National Judicial Appointments

Commission Bill, 2014 to scrap the collegium system of appointing Supreme Court and High Court judges.

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for raising FDI limit in Defence from 26 per cent to 49 per cent.

Govt allows up to 100 per cent FDI in infrastructure projects such as high-speed train systems

Union Textiles Ministry has signed a MoU with Flipkart to provide online marketing platform to handloom weavers all over India

Union Cabinet has approved the Digital India Programme to transform the Indian economy into a digitally empowered knowledge economy.

Govt has launched Rashtriya Gokul Mission to promote conservation and development of indigenous breeds of cows

Govt has set up the Expenditure Management Commission headed by former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan.

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

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

OCTOBER 2014 A World Bank report says that India’s GDP is likely to expand by 5.6 per cent this fiscal as reforms gain momentum.

SEPTEMBER 2014 Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has raised the outlook on

India’s sovereign rating from negative to stable Asian Development Bank has revised India's GDP

growth upwards by 0.3 per cent to 6.3 per cent for 2015,

Prof. B N Goldar committee set up to develop a new inflation index - the Producer Price Index which may replace the Wholesale Price Index.

AUGUST 2014 Data from CSO shows that India’s Gross Domestic

Product (GDP) grew at 5.7 per cent during April-June, the highest in past 10 quarters.

RBI puts GDP growth rate at 5.5%, has projected that gdp growth in the current fiscal may rise up to 5.5% from 4.7% in the last financial year.

UN report puts India’s growth at 5.5%, a report from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) says that India’s economy is expected to record stronger growth momentum of 5.5 per cent in the current fiscal.

Global rating agency Moody’s has projected a better growth outlook for India saying that the country’s GDP would grow by 5% this year.

ECONOMY

OCTOBER 2014 A major crude oil discovery in the Kharenti-A well near

Ahmadabad in the Cambay basin by a private oil company, makes it the biggest find of the year.

SEBI barred India's largest real estate company DLF and its top officials, including chairman KP Singh, from accessing or dealing in stock markets for three years.

Amazon.com and India's Future Group, promoters of ‘Big Bazaar’ retail chain, have signed a deal to jointly sell goods over the Internet

Delhi Metro has been ranked second among 18 international Metro systems in terms of overall customer satisfaction in an online customer survey.

Maruti Suzuki launched ‘Ciaz’ - its first sedan car in past 7 years, to meet competition from Honda City and Hyundai Verna.

Government has decided to import potatoes for the first time to augment domestic availability and to check its rising prices.

Country’s first olive oil refinery has been started in Lunkaransar area of Bikaner, Rajasthan. The project was started by taking assistance from Israel.

IndiGo, India’s largest domestic airline by market share, has signed a deal to buy 250 latest Airbus A-320 neo aircrafts worth $26 billion or Rs 1.55 lakh crore.

India has imposed anti-dumping duty on Phenol imported from the U.S. and China’s Taipei to safeguard the interest of domestic manufacturers.

SEPTEMBER 2014 Supreme Court on 24th Sep cancelled 214 coal block

allocations made since 1993, except 4 blocks, one each of NTPC and SAIL and 2 of Sasan UMPH.

Govt has directed that 50 per cent of all the works taken up at the district level under MNREGA scheme should only be for water conservation.

The Netherlands is working with India to set up 10 centres of excellence across the country with an aim to raise agriculture output

Reliance Industries Chairman, Mukesh Ambani has topped the Forbes list of billionaires in India for the eighth consecutive year with a net worth of $23.6 billion.


The ADB to give $63.3 million loan to improve urban municipal services in Karnataka and $150 million for development of renewable energy in Rajasthan.

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

India has signed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in services and investments with 10 ASEAN countries.

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

AUGUST 2014 SEBI has asked listed companies to intimate decisions

on dividends, bonus, buyback etc. within 15 minutes of closure of the board meetings to curb insider trading.

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

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

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

The number of telephone subscribers in India increased by 0.49 per cent over May 2014 to 942.95 million at the end of June, 2014.

BANKING

OCTOBER 2014 KYC COMPLIANCE ‘MUST’ FOR ALL ACCOUNTS The RBI has made it mandatory for all bank customers, including low risk ones, to be KYC-compliant. The accounts which are not KYC compliant, credits

would be allowed but debits won't be allowed However, the account-holder will have the option to

close the account and withdraw the money. To facilitate compliance of KYC norms, banks have been

asked to allow self-certification of documents and accept a certified copy of the document

KYC norms were introduced in 2001, after the 9/11 attacks in New York, America.

Customers of the six identified metros who have only 3 free transactions in a month at non-home ATMs can now have 2 more free transactions at the non metro centres.

State Bank of India has launched a facility called ‘mPassBook’ on its ‘State Bank Anywhere’ mobile application, for its retail banking users.

Kotak Mahindra Bank has launched an instant bank payment product – KayPay for Facebook users to send money to each other in an instant.

Federal Bank has won the IDRBT Banking Technology Excellence award for 2013-14 in four out of total five Categories in the mid-sized lenders segment.

RBI signs a pact with Central Bank of Kenya for exchange of information and supervisory cooperation.

SEPTEMBER 2014 United Bank of India has slapped wilful defaulter notice

on Kingfisher Airline, its promoter Vijay Mallya and its directors.

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

RBI has said that the S B accounts in which even if dividend cheque has been credited in it in the previous two years, may not be treated as inoperative.

State Bank of India accounted for half of the total number of banking transactions done through mobile phone in June, 2014,

ICICI Bank became the first bank to surpass the Rs 1,000-crore mark in terms of amount of transactions done through mobile phones in June 2014.

Indian Highways Management Company has inked a pact with Axis Bank and ICICI Bank for services related to electronic toll collection.

G Gopalakrishna Committee formed to give recommendations on capacity building in banks and NBFCs

SBI introduced new S B accounts 'Pehli Udaan' for minors and 'Pehla Kadam’ for minors accounts operated jointly with parent or guardian.

ICICI Bank has introduced a Cardless Cash Withdrawal facility to allow customers to transfer money to anyone in India with a mobile number.

H R Khan committee set up to take stock of unclaimed PPF and post office saving accounts and suggest how these funds can be utilised for the benefit of senior citizens

A total of 201 state and district level Central Cooperative Banks have joined the 'NABARD initiated Project on Core Banking Solutions in Co-operative Banks.

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

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

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

AUGUST 2014 Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna announced to provide a

bank account to every family in the country The government has set a target of 15 crore new accounts by 2018, ensuring at least two bank accounts per family.

The scheme will be launched in two phases – first from 15.8.14 to 15.8.15 and second from 16.8.15 to 15.8.18,

Each phase targeting opening of 7.5 cr. bank accounts. The accounts will be opened with zero balance with no

minimum balance condition.


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

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

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

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

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

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

RBI has reduced the SLR by 50 basis points from 22.5 per cent to 22.0 per cent with effect from the fortnight beginning 9th August, 2014

Banks have been advised to provide their savings bank account holders with at least five free transactions per month at their own ATMs.

Banks may decide to levy transaction charges (not exceeding Rs 20) beyond 5 free ATM transactions

The number of free transactions on ATMs set up by other banks in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, reduced to three per month.

Reserve Bank proposes to set up an "anytime anywhere" bill payment system by the name ‘Bharat Bill Payment System’.

The Reserve Bank has approved the transfer of surplus (profit) amounting to Rs 526.79 billion for the year ended June 30, 2014 to the Government of India.

India Post announced the launch of over 1000 ATMs in the near feature.

DEFENCE, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

OCTOBER 2014 India successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable cruise

missile 'Nirbhay' from the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur,

Odisha, having a strike range of 700 kilometres. India and China to set up hotlines between their army

headquarters and establish new border meeting posts to amicably address incidents of incursions on border.

China has test fired a new variant of its 10,000 km range missile - Dongfeng-31B, capable of targeting Europe and the West Coast of the United States.

ISRO launched its third navigation satellite IRNSS 1C on board its PSLV-C26 rocket from Sriharikota on Oct 16.

SEPTEMBER 2014 A joint 14 days military exercise between the armed

forces of America and India was held at Ranikhet in Almora District of Uttrakhand.

The Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel (NOPV), INS Sumitra, built by Goa Shipyard Ltd joins Indian Navy

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

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

India scripted history on Sep 24, becoming the first country to place its Mars Orbiter Spacecraft (MOS) in the orbit in very first attempt.

Scientists have warned that millions of lives could be at risk because of the threat to food crops posed by conflict in the Middle East.

Researchers at Drexel University in the US have claimed to have discovered in Argentina remains of an enormous Dinosaur weighing nearly 60 tons.

China launched two satellites - Yaogan-21 and Tiantuo- 1 to relay information on natural resources, disaster management and smart satellite experiments.

DRDO successfully test-fired Agni-I - nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missile with a striking range of 700 to 1250 km.

AUGUST 2014 India and Russia conducted their first-ever joint Air

Force exercise “Avia Indra-2014” in Astrakhan region located north of the Caspian Sea.

China unveiled next generation Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Dongfeng – 41 (DF-41) with a range of 12 -15000 kms.

Country’s first multi-sensor moored observatory IndARC was successfully deployed in Kongsfjorden Fjord of the Arctic region, near the North Pole

Rosetta- space vehicle by European Space Agency made history on August 6 after travelling 6.4 billion kilometers to reach the comet — 67P/Churyumov – Gerasimenko

NASA scientists have developed Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite that can predict the severity of droughts to help farmers maximize the crop yield.

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

OCTOBER 2014 Hong Kong witnessed widespread clashes between pro-

democracy activists and counter-protesters (pro-Beijing) The movement has been named as “occupy central” and also given the name ‘umbrella revolution’ due to extensive use of umbrellas by the demonstrators.

The World Health Organization has advised that by October 25, the number of Ebola cases has exceeded the 10,000 mark, holding with about a 50 percent mortality rate.

UNO observed the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17th October.

The theme for the day for 2014 was “Leave no one behind: think, decide and act together against extreme poverty”.

The United Kingdom finally called it a day to its presence in Afghanistan when it handed over its last base there in Helmand province to the Afghan forces


Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Venezuela and Spain were elected as the new non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for a two years term

Jaffna-Colombo railway line, reconstructed with Indian assistance in Sri Lanka's former war zone,started 24 years after it was shut down during the civil war.

China and 20 other countries plan to set up an Asian infrastructure Bank seen as a counterweight to West backed international development banks.

25th ASEAN Summit to be held on Nov 12-13 at Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.

Google closed the social networking site Orkut on 30 September 2014. The site was started in 2004 by Orkut Buyukkokten, a Google employee.

Severe typhoon – Vongfong slammed into Japan on 13th Oct. at Makurazaki on Kyushu Island with winds of up to 180 kmph, causing widespread destruction.

Strong typhoon Phanfone slammed into Japan on 5th

Oct. with winds of up to 180 kmph lashing the shore, bringing heavy rain and chaos in areas around Tokyo.

SEPTEMBER 2014 Mr Narendra Modi addressed the 69th session of United

Nations General Assembly, in New York. SAARC Culture Ministers Conference at New Delhi

named Bamiyan to be the SAARC cultural capital for 2015-16 and Dhaka for 2016-17.

UN Climate Change Summit 2014 held at UN headquarters in New York on 23 September 2014.

Scotland has rejected independence and decided to stay with United Kingdom as 55 % population voted in favour of staying with U K.

Ukraine's Parliament has ratified a landmark European Union pact that decisively steers the former Soviet state towards Europe and away from Russian influence.

The NATO summit held in Wales, UK. The resolutions adopted in the summit were named ‘Wales Resolution’.

Over two million affected in massive floods in Pakistan, mainly in Punjab province and in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

6th meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation for Home Ministers held on September 19 at Kathmandu, attended by Rajnath Singh.

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

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

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

AUGUST 2014 Three West Africa nations - Liberia, Guinea and Sierra

Leone, are struggling to control an outbreak of Ebola viral

fever that has claimed thousands of lives

The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to enter into force from12th October 2014

Bangladesh has decided to join the newly formed BRICS Bank, an initiative of the world's five emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Britain observed Lights Out Project on 4 August 2014 to commemorate 100 years of First World War (WW-1

The "Ice Bucket Challenge" encourages participants to dump bucket of freezing water on their head to raise awareness for the ‘amyotrophic lateral sclerosis’ (ALS)

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

PERSONS IN NEWS OCTOBER 2014

RAGHURAM RAJAN: Reserve Bank of India Governor has received the Euromoney’s “Central Bank Governor of the Year Award 2014” in Washington on October 10 for his excellent performance. Euromoney is a reputed international financial magazine of UK.

SARITA DEVI: Indian boxer was in news as the International Boxing Association provisionally suspended her for protesting against a controversial verdict, at 2014 Incheon Asian Games. She declined to accept the bronze medal awarded to her as she expected to win the silver.

SHAKTI DEVI: An Indian police inspector won International Female Police Peacekeeper Award 2014 by the UN's police division for her "exceptional achievements" in her duty with the UN mission in Afghanistan

HARSHIT SAUMITRA: A five-year-old Indian boy has become the youngest person to reach the Everest Base Camp at an altitude of 5,364 metres (17,598 ft). A class 1 student from New Delhi, Harshit took 10 days to cover the distance of 62 km trek. He also climbed the nearby Kalapathar (5550 m) peak

LEELA SAMSON: Eminent Bharatnatyam dancer and Chairperson of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) was in news as she resigned from the post of Chairperson of Sangeet Natak Akademi.

THOMAS KAILATH: Indian-American professor from USA is one of the nine scientists selected for the prestigious National Medal of Science, the highest honour for achievement in the fields of science and engineering in USA.

JOSHUA WONG: He has just completed 18 years but he is one of the fieriest political activists in Hong Kong. He is the founder of students organisation “Scholarism” which is leading the pro democracy youth movement in Hong Kong.

JEFFREY P. BEZOS: The Chief Executive of the world’s largest e-tailer –Amazon.com, called on Modi and committed $2 billion investment in the country.

MARK ZUCKERBERG: Founder and CEO of Facebook, called on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.


ALAN EUSTACE: A senior Google vice-president (57) created a new world record for highest free-fall parachute jump. He went up hanging with a Helium balloon and jumped in a specially designed space suit from an altitude of 135908 ft (41.4kms) reaching a max speed of 1300 kmph.

SEPTEMBER 2014 R A MASHELKAR: Eminent scientist has been named to head an expert panel to recommend best technologies for the "Swachh Bharat" national sanitation campaign with an emphasis on areas like potable water and sanitation. AKKINENI NAGESWARA RAO (ANR): Legendary Telugu actor, who passed away in January 2014, became the first Indian actor to be honoured with a postage stamp by the U.S. Post Service (USPS). CHITRESH TATHA: 12-year-old, a sailor of ‘Optimist’ dinghy category is the youngest sailor to represent India at the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon, South Korea. TN SURESH KUMAR: A senior ISRO scientist has become the first Indian to visit the stratosphere, the second layer of the Earth’s atmosphere. J. JAYALALITHAA: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister was in news as she and three others were sentenced to four years in jail by a special court in Bangalore in a 66.65 crore rupees Disproportionate Assets case on 27th September. She was also fined Rs. 100 crore. ALOK SHETTY: The 28 year old Indian architect has been named ‘Young Leader of Tomorrow’ by Time magazine for his pioneering work in designing affordable flood-proof houses for slum dwellers. JACK MA: Chinese founder and promoter of world’s largest online shopping portal – Alibaba was in news as the firm successfully launched world’s largest IPO, amassing around $25 billion from the investors.

AUGUST 2014 IROM SHARMILA CHANU: The human rights activist was in news as an Imphal Sessions Court ordered her release, accepting her plea that she did not attempt suicide by fasting unto death.

SHAH RUKH KHAN: Indian superstar has been roped in as an ambassador for Inter-pol’s “Turn Back Crime” campaign to promote awareness of how everyone can play a role in preventing crime. KAMLA BENIWAL: Governor of Mizoram was sacked by a Presidential order for certain irregularities committed by her during her Gujarat tenure. NIKHIL CHANDWANI: First Indian to win the prestigious Author of the Year award from the American Literary Forum Society for his novel 'Coded Conspiracy’. JOHN KERRY: US Secretary of State (Foreign Minister) visited in India to hold 5th Indo-US Strategic Dialogue

CHUCK HAGEL: U.S. Defence Secretary (Defence Minister) visited India to lay the groundwork for the revival of Indo- U.S. defence ties.

GENERAL PRAYUTH CHAN-OCHA: Thailand's coup leader was in news as he was appointed Prime Minister by a legislature that was formed by him only.

A P P O I N T M E N T S OCTOBER 2014

MANOHAR LAL KHATTAR: New Chief Minister of Haryana

DEVENDRA FADNAVIS: Chief Minister of Maharashtra

ARVIND SUBRAMANIAN: Chief Economic Adviser to the Union Government. He is the former IMF economist

RAJIV MEHRISHI: Union Finance Secretary

Dr. A SURYA PRAKASH: Chairman, Prasaar Bharati Board

HEMANT CONTRACTOR: Chairman of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)

DILMA ROUSSEFF: Re-elected as the President of Brazil, second term leading her Workers Party

KHALED BAHAH: Prime Minister of Yemen

JENS STOLTENBERG: Secretary-General of NATO

India has been re-elected as member of the 47-nation UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for the period of 2015-17

SEPTEMBER 2014 R A MASHELKAR: Technology Head of the "Swachh Bharat Mission".

LALITHA KUMARAMANGALAM: Chairperson of the National Commission for Women.

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

HARDEEP SINGH PURI: Secretary General of Independent Commission on Multilateralism

O PANNEERSELVAM: Elected as new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, in place of Jayalalitha

ADIL ZAINULBHAI: Former McKinsey India Chief has been appointed Chairman, Quality Council of India.

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

ASHRAF GHANI: President of Afghanistan

VOREQE BAINIMARAMA: Fiji's new Prime Minister

JOHN KEY: Prime Minister of New Zealand

LE YUCHENG: China's new Ambassador to India.

RICHARD RAHUL VERMA: Next US ambassador to India.

AUGUST 2014 FOUR NEW GOVERNORS APPOINTED Kalyan Singh Rajasthan Vajubhai Vala Karanatka C Vidyasagar Rao Maharashtra Mridula Sinha Goa


K.V. THOMAS: Congress MP appointed Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.

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

T M BHASIN: Chairman of the Indian Banks Association – IBA for 2014-15. He is CMD of Indian Bank. M. THAMBIDURAI: Deputy Speaker, Lok Sabha

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

AHMET DAVUTOGLU: New Prime Minister of Turkey

HAIDAR AL-ABADI: Prime Minister of Iraq

GEN. PRAYUTH CHAN-OCHA: Prime Minister of Thailand

AWARDS & HONOURS

OCTOBER 2014 NATIONAL RAIL AWARD: Harish Kanwar, Deputy Director in Railway Board for his contribution in completion of the Pirpanjal rail tunnel in J&K.

NATIONAL KISHORE KUMAR AWARD: Noted Bollywood lyricist Sameer

LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI NATIONAL AWARD – 2014 for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management: Dr. A. Sivathanu Pillai, CEO and MD of BrahMos Aerospace.

WORLD MEDIA SUMMIT Global Awards for

Excellence, 2014: P. Sainath, Rural Affairs Editor at The Hindu got the Public Welfare Award. He is one of the five other media entities honoured with these awards.

WILDSCREEN PANDA AWARD: The coveted wildlife photography award in best newcomer category was won by Ashwika Kapur for her film, Sirocco - how a dud became a stud at the annual Wildscreen Film Festival held at Bristol, UK.

CULTURAL MEDALLION 2014 (Singapore): KTM Iqbal, an Indian-origin Singaporean poet and writer was named for this highest cultural award of Singapore.

WORLD FOOD PRIZE 2014: Dr Sanjaya Rajaram for his scientific research that led to a bumper growth in world wheat production.

MAN BOOKER PRIZE: The Australian novelist Richard Flanagan for book “The Narrow Road to the Deep North.” The book tells the harrowing story of an Australian surgeon who is held in a Japanese P.O.W. camp and is forced to work on the Thailand-Burma Railway.

WAISLITZ GLOBAL CITIZEN AWARD: Anoop Jain for his work in founding Humanure Power in Bihar in 2011 that builds community sanitation facilities in rural India.

GLOBAL DIVERSITY AWARD 2014: Shah Rukh Khan has been honoured with this award by British Parliament for his contribution to cinema.

2014 Nobel Prizes Declared

PRIZE FIELD

PRIZE DECIDED

BY

WINNER OF 2014

SELECTED WORK

Physiology or Medicine

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute, Stockholm

John O’Keefe of the USA, May-Britt & Edward Moser of Norway

For discovering brain’s internal positioning system, helping humans find their ways and giving clues to how strokes and Alzheimer affect the brain.

Physics The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano from Japan and U.S. citizen Shuji Nakamura

For inventing blue light-emitting diodes, a breakthrough that has spurred the development of LED technology to light up homes, computer screens and smartphones worldwide.

Chemistry The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Eric Betzig and William Moerner from the USA; Stefan Hell from Germany

For finding ways to make microscopes more powerful than previously thought possible, allowing scientists to see how diseases develop inside the tiniest cells.

Literature The Swedish Academy

Patrick Modiano, France

For his moody, terse and occasionally dreamlike novels, often set during the Nazi occupation of France

Peace The Norwegian Nobel Committee

Indian child right activist Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzai (See details below)

For their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of education for all children.

Economics The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Jean Tirole, France

For research on market power and regulation that has helped policy-makers understand how to deal with industries dominated by a few dominant companies

SEPTEMBER 2014 SARASWATI SAMMAN: Noted Hindi novelist Govind Mishra for his novel ‘Dhool Paudhon Par’. The prize carries a cash award of Rs. Ten lakh.

SHANTI SWARUP BHATNAGAR AWARD: 10 scientists selected for the annual award conferred for their outstanding works in the field of science and technology.

SAAKSHAR BHARAT AWARDS are given on International Literacy Day – Sep 8 by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development for the best performance in the field of adult education.

BHARTENDU HARISHCHANDRA AWARDS: Given by Union Ministry for Information & Broadcasting for original writing in Hindi by Indian authors on subjects like Journalism and Mass Communication, National Integration, Women’s Issues and Children’s Literature.


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

GOLDEN LION: Award for best film at the Venice Film Festival was bagged by the Swedish film, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch While Reflecting on Existence directed by Roy Anderson.

LION OF THE FUTURE: Award for best debut feature film at the Venice Film Festival won by the film Court by Indian writer-director Chaitanya Tamhane.

AUGUST 2014 OUTSTANDING PARLIAMENTARIAN AWARDS BJP leader Arun Jaitley for 2010 Congress leader Karan Singh for 2011 JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav for 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

OBITUARY

OCTOBER 2014 M.V. KAMATH: Veteran journalist and former Prasar Bharati Chairman, Padmasri awardee from Karnataka.

JAGDISH SHARAN PANDE: Noted freedom fighter from Almora, Uttarakhand.

MARTIN PERL: Nobel Prize-winning physicist from USA, known for discovery of a subatomic particle known as the Tau Lepton.

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

BAPU (Sathiraju Lakshminarayana): Veteran Telugu film director, artist and cartoonist, Padma Sri awardee

G.E. VAHANVATI: The former Attorney-General of India BALRAJ PURI: Veteran journalist, Padma Bhushan awardee, author of over 40 books

MANDOLIN U. SHRINIVAS: Eminent Carnatic music exponent from Andhra Pradesh, Padmasri awardee, known for his expert use of mandolin KIREET JOSHI: Eminent educationist and former education adviser to the Union government

FIROZA BEGUM: Prominent Bangladeshi Nazrul Sangeet singer

JOAN RIVERS: 81-year-old noted lady comedian and TV host from USA NORMAN GORDON: South African fast bowler, oldest surviving Test cricketer passed away at 103 years.

AUGUST 2014 B K S IYENGAR: 96 years old Padma Vibhushan awardee Yogacharya, known for his vast contribution in spreading Indian Yoga all over the world. U. R. ANANTHAMURTHY: Jnanpith awardee and renowned Kannada novelist and story writer MADHUKAR SINGH: Eminent Hindi litterateur and novelist from Bihar

PRAN KUMAR SHARMA: Eminent cartoonist, popularly known as Pran, who gave life to lovable comic characters Chacha Chaudhary and his friend Sabu. RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH: Oscar-winning British filmmaker and actor, renowned for his critically-acclaimed biopic ‘Gandhi’ on Mahatma Gandhi that won eight Oscars, died at the age of 90. ROBIN WILLIAMS: Oscar winning famous US comedy actor dies of suspected suicide.

P L A C E S I N N E W S OCTOBER 2014

VISAKHAPATNAM: A major coastal city of Andhra Pradesh suffered wide spread destruction under the impact of severe super cyclone ‘Hudhud’

NALIYA: Small town on coast of Kutchh, Gujarat was in news as it was struck by super cyclone Nilofer.

SEPTEMBER 2014 GOA: The city was declared as the permanent venue for the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). The 45th IFFI will be held here from 20 to 30 November, 2014. VIJAYAWADA: City of Andhra Pradesh was in news as it was declared to be the new capital of Andhra Pradesh.


CHABAD HOUSE: The Jewish centre, also called Nariman House, in Mumbai was reopened on 26 August 2014, nearly six years after the 26/11 terror attack in November 2008. The Centre is a sacred synagogue of Jews.

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

SINDHUPALCHOK: in Nepal was in news as a massive land slide blocked the Sunkoshi River causing massive damage to local settlements, claiming at least 156 lives.

MOUNT SINJAR: place in Nineveh province of northern Iraq was in news as thousands of Yezidis stranded there as they flee from nearby areas persecuted by ISIS militants.

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

S P O R T S W O R L D

OCTOBER 2014 The 17th Asian Games came to an end at Incheon on 4th

October. China topped with 342 medals (151 gold, 108 silver and 83 bronze) followed by South Korea (234) and Japan (200).

India was placed at 8th rank, securing 57 medals - 11 Gold, 10 Silver and 36 Bronze.

Kosuke Hagino, the Japanese swimmer, was named as the “Most Valuable Player” of the 17th Asian Games.

MC Mary Kom, gold medal winner boxer was chosen as the ‘Most Valuable Player of India’ at the recent Incheon Asian Games.

The 18th Asian Games will be held in 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

SEPTEMBER 2014 The Asian Games begin in Incheon, South Korea on 19th

September. Sardara Singh, Captain of Indian Hockey team was the flag bearer of the Indian contingent.

Viswanathan Anand won the Bilbao Chess Masters Finals at Bilbao, Spain, defeating Levon Aronian of Armenia.

Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold: H S Prannoy won the badminton championship at Palembang, Indonesia.

51st Shooting World Championship: Indian shooter Pradeep bagged a bronze medal at Granada, Spain.

Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black won the women’s doubles title at the WTA Toray Pacific Open at Tokyo, Japan.

Davis Cup Commitment Award: Ace Tennis player Rohan Bopanna. It is given to players who have competed in at least 20 ties.

Pankaj Advani, noted snooker and billiards champion has announced his retirement from the professional snooker. However, he will continue to participate in Billiards.

MANOJ KUMAR: A 2010 CWG boxing gold-medalist was in news as he was selected for Arjuna Award after a directive from the Delhi High Court where he had filed a case challenging his non selection for the award.

DHONI SCORES RECORD 91 ODI WINS India thrashed England in the ODI played at Edgbaston, UK making Dhoni the most successful Indian ODI captain with 91 wins.

60th National School Games in six sporting disciplines will be held in November in Punjab.

20th Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships held at Mumbai.

India’s first National Academy of Athletics established at Kariavattom near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has allowed players to wear religious head coverings, such as hijabs or turbans by Sikhs, on a trial basis.

U S OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP, NEW YORK

Marin Cilic (Croatia) beats Japan's Kei Nishikori to win men’s singles title

Serena Williams of USA beats Caroline Wozniazki of Denmark to win Women’s singles title

Sania Mirza with Brazil's Bruno Soares won the mixed doubles title

ICC World Cricket League Division 3 will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 23 to 30 October, 2014.

Summer Youth Olympic Games 2014 held at Nanjing, China.

BWF WORLD BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIP COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

Chen Long of China won the men’s singles beating world no. one Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia Carolina Marin of Spain become Spain's first-ever World champion in badminton history, beating world no 1 Li Xuerui of China. P V Sindhu won the bronze medal in women’s singles.

FIBA Basketball World Cup: USA lifts the cup by defeating Serbia at Madrid, Spain.

FILA Senior World Wrestling Championship held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

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

Marvan Atapattu appointed as the head coach of the Sri Lankan cricket team. He is the former captain of their


AUGUST 2014 20th Commonwealth games came to an end on August 3

at Hampden Park, Scotland’s National Stadium, Scotland.

England topped the medal tally with 174 medals, including 58 golds.

India won 64 medals – 15 gold, 30 silver and 19 bronze and stood at 5th rank.

The 2018 Commonwealth Games will be held at Gold Coast, Australia

NATIONAL SPORTS AWARDS 2014 These awards are announced every year on 29th August on the birthday of legendary hockey wizard Sh. Dhyan Chand, which is observed as National Sports Day.

DHYAN CHAND AWARDS (For Lifetime Achievement)

Sl. No. Name Discipline

1. Shri Gurmail Singh Hockey

2. Shri K.P. Thakkar Swimming (Diving)

3. Shri Zeeshan Ali Tennis

DRONACHARYA AWARDS (For Coaches)

Sl. No. Name Discipline

1. Shri Mahabir Prasad Wrestling

2. Shri N. Lingappa Athletics – Lifetime

3. Shri G. Manoharan Boxing – Lifetime

4. Shri Gurcharan Singh

Gogi

Judo – Lifetime

5. Shri Jose Jacob Rowing – Lifetime

TENZING NORGAY AWARDS 2013

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

Sherpa Land Adventure

3. MWO Surender Singh Air Adventure 4. Wing Commander

(Retd) Amit Chowdhury

Life Time Achievement

ARJUNA AWARDS

S. No. NAME DISCIPLINE 1. Mr. Abhishek Verma Archery 2. Ms. Tintu Luka Athletics 3. Mr. H.N. Girisha Para-Athletics 4. Mr. V. Diju Badminton 5. Ms. Geetu Anna Jose Basketball 6. Mr. Jai Bhagwan Boxing

7. Mr. R. Ashwin* Cricket 8. Mr. Anirban Lahiri Golf 9. Ms. Mamta Pujari Kabaddi

10. Mr. Saji Thomas Rowing 11. Ms. Heena Sidhu Shooting 12. Ms. Anaka

Alankamony Squash

13. Mr. Tom Joseph Volleyball 14. Ms. Renu Bala Chanu Weightlifting 15. Mr. Sunil Kumar Rana Wrestling

ARCHERY WORLD CUP, Wroclaw, Poland: Indian women’s team, led by Deepika Kumari, clinched the recurve team gold.

THE WORLD KABADDI LEAGUE started in London on August 9. The league to be played across 16 international cities, will end on November 30, 2014 in India.

SABINE LISICKI of Germany created a world record of fastest serve in the women’s tennis by serving at 131 miles per hour at a match played in Stanford, USA.

FRANKIE JONES: Canadian gymnast was awarded the David Dixon Award for the best athlete of the Games. She won six medals, including one gold.

RORY MCLLROY: of Ireland became number one in Golf by winning the elite World Golf Championships held at Akron, USA.

USAIN BOLT: Jamaican sprint superstar set a new best time record of 9.98 second for the rarely run 100 meter indoors at Warsaw’s national football stadium in Poland.

DANIEL RICCIARDO of Australia won the Belgian Grand Prix F1 car race for team Red Bull.

BWF WORLD BADMINTON Championship held in Copenhagen, Denmark

BOOKS AND AUTHORS

OCTOBER 2014 BOOK AUTHOR

Final Test: Exit Sachin Tendulkar

Dilip D’Souza

The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Richard Flanagan

A Man and A Motorcycle, How Hamid Karzai Came to Power

Bette Dam

Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace by Leon Panetta

Jim Newton

Sons of Brahama Dhruba Hazarika

The divided Island Samanth Subramanian

And then One Day: A Autobiography of noted film


Memoir artist Naseeruddin Shah

The Highlights Frank Keating

Odyssey of My Life Autobiography of former Union Home Minister Shivraj

Patil Playing It My Way –My Autobiography

cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar

Gods of Antarctica Yashwardhan Shukla, a 13 year old school boy from

Delhi The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee, Kolkata-born British author.

The book has been shortlisted for the prestigious

Booker Prize 2014 Heaven is for Real Todd Burpo & Lynn Vincent

The Boys in the Boat Daniel James Brown

Orange is the New Black Piper Kerman

The Book of Life Deborah Harkness

The Goldfinch Donna Tartt

Half Girlfriend Chetan Bhagat

Simian Vikram Balagopal

One Life is Not Enough Natwar Singh

Not Just an Accountant Vinod Rai

Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi: An Inside Job

Faraz Ahmad

Strictly Personal, Manmohan and Gursharan

Ms Daman Singh

The Lives of Others Neel Mukherjee

Finding Neema Juliet Reynolds

Half a Rupee Stories Gulzar

The Substance and The Shadow

Udaya Tara Nayar, a biography of veteran actor

Dilip Kumar

Innovation in India Shyama V. Ramani

Blood Feud: The Clintons vs. The Obamas

Edward Klein

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Americanah

Hannah Kent Burial Rites

Audrey Magee The Undertaking

Eimear McBride A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing

Donna Tartt The Goldfinch

Post Haste: Quintessential India

B.G. Verghese

Hard Choices Hillary Clinton

India Junction – A Window to the Nation brought out

Public Relations Directorate, Railway Board

A Stamp is Born C. R. Pakrashi

INAUGURAL DISCOUNT GYANM COLLEGE OF COMPETITIONS

Bathinda Announces

20% Discount on Bank Po / SSC More than 4000 successful students

Excellent Success Ratio

Special emphasis on shortcuts

Special exam oriented study material

Dedicated doubt sessions

Life time coaching support

OFFER VALID UPTO 28th FEBRUARY, 2015

GGAALLII NNOO.. 11 AA,, AAJJIITT RROOAADD,, NNEEAARR GGHHOODDAA CCHHOOWWKK BBAATTHHIINNDDAA –– 115511000011

PH: 076962-25975


Pedagogy WHAT IS PEDAGOGY A common way of approaching pedagogy is as the art and science (and maybe even craft) of teaching. However, according to the latest view about it is a good way of exploring the process of accompanying learners; caring for and about them; and bringing learning into life. At the centre of his theory of education and of schooling is the idea of ‘educational teaching’ or ‘educating instruction’. ‘Education’ means shaping the development of character with a view to the improvement of man. ‘Teaching’ represents the world, conveys fresh knowledge, develops existing aptitudes and imparts useful skills TEACHERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE It is generally accepted that what teachers know, do and care about is very powerful in the learning equation. A number of empirical studies have revealed that apart from school, family, peer groups etc., teachers play the most important role in development of students. There are three studies that endorse power of teachers in the life of students. i. The first found that the quality of the ‘teacher-student’

relationship in kindergarten was an important factor in success of the students.

ii. The second study found that teacher quality was the strongest factor of student achievement in mathematics and reading.

iii. The final study examined math achievement for students in two large school districts as they moved through 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. Again, the quality of the teacher made a difference in students who had three high quality teachers and they were way ahead of students who spend one or more years with less competent teachers.

It has also observed that what a student learns in the first few years of life – it is the teacher who contributes more than any other factor to student achievement. WHAT IS GOOD TEACHING? It’s about not only motivating students to learn, but teaching them how to learn, and doing so in a manner that is relevant, meaningful, and memorable. It’s about caring for teaching, having a passion for it, and conveying that passion to everyone, most importantly to your students. It is also about training students as consumers of knowledge. BEGINNINGS TEACHERS The persons who join the profession of teaching are beginning teachers. For them learning to teach is a slow process. The concerns and problems of teachers change as they progress. Maintaining discipline, motivating students, evaluating students work, and dealing with parents are

universal concerns for beginning teachers. The more experienced teacher concentrates on growth and impact with a wide range of students. They envision themselves as flexible and fun enjoying their job, respected by parents and looked upon as a valuable addition by their school staff. EXPERT TEACHERS Experienced, effective teachers develop solutions for common classroom problems. Their knowledge of teaching process and contents is extensive and well organized. Expert teachers adopt a problem solving stance to their work, have high respect for students and are passionate about teaching and learning. They “engage students in learning and develop in their students’ self-regulation, involvement in mastery learning, enhanced self-efficacy, and self-esteem as learners. They aim for more than achievement goals and to motivate their students to master rather than perform, they enhance students’ self-concept and self-efficacy about learning, they set appropriate challenging tasks. WHAT DO EXPERT TEACHERS KNOW? It takes time and experience to become an expert teacher. These teachers have very good knowledge about the many different situations of teaching. This includes knowledge about the subjects they teach, their students, general teaching strategies, subject specific ways of teaching, curriculum materials, and the goals of education. REFLECTIVE TEACHERS They introspect about their performance their teaching practices, analyzing how something was taught and how the practice might be improved or changed for better learning outcomes. Some points of consideration in the reflection process might be what is currently being done, why it's being done and how well students are learning.

Qualities of Expert teachers: can identify essential representations of their subject, can guide learning through classroom interactions, can monitor learning and provide feedback, can attend to affective attributes, and can influence student outcomes

Attributes of Expert teachers: have deeper representations about teaching and

learning adopt a problem-solving stance to their work


can anticipate, plan, and improvise as required by the situation

are better decision-makers and can identify what decisions are important and which are less important decisions

are proficient at creating an optimal classroom for learning

have a multi dimensionally complex perception of classroom situations

are more context-dependent and have high situation cognition

are more adept at monitoring student problems and assessing their level of understanding and progress, and they provide much more relevant, useful feedback

are more adept at developing and testing hypotheses about learning difficulties or instructional strategies

are more automatic have high respect for students are passionate about teaching and learning engage students in learning and develop in their

students self-regulation, involvement in mastery learning, enhanced, self-efficacy, and self-esteem as learners

provide appropriate challenging tasks and goals for students

have a positive influence on students’ achievement enhance surface and deep learning

ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

What is Educational Psychology? The aim of educational psychology is to understand and to evolve teaching and learning processes. Educational psychologists develop different ways and methods to study the process of learning and teaching in everyday life. Branch of psychology concerned with the learning processes and psychological issues associated with the teaching and training of students. The educational psychologist studies the cognitive development of students and the various factors involved in learning, including aptitude and learning measurement, the creative process, and the motivational forces that influence student-teacher dynamics. According to Charles. E. Skinner, “Educational psychology deals with the behaviour of human beings in educational situations”. Thus educational psychology is a behavioural science with two main references– human behaviour and education. In the words of E.A. Peel, “Educational Psychology is the science of Education”. SCOPE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY The scope of educational psychology is ever-growing due to constant researches in this field. The following factors will indicate the scope of educational psychology:

1. The Learner. The subject-matter of educational psychology is ‘learner’. It helps in understanding the need of knowing the learner and the techniques of knowing him well. 2. The Learning Experiences. Educational Psychology helps in deciding which learning experiences are desirable, at what stage of the growth and development of the learner, so that these experiences can be acquired with a greater ease and satisfaction. 3. Learning process: After knowing the learner and deciding what learning experiences are to be provided, Educational Psychology moves on to the laws, principles and theories of learning. Other items in the learning process are remembering and forgetting, perceiving, concept formation, thinking and reasoning, problem solving, transfer of learning, ways and means of effective learning etc. 4. Learning Situation or Environment. It deals with the environmental factors and learning situations which come midway between the learner and the teacher. Topics like classroom climate and group dynamics, techniques and aids that facilitate learning and evaluation, techniques and practices, guidance and counselling etc. 5. The Teacher: The teacher is a main pillar in any scheme of teaching and learning process and it helps in understanding the role of the teacher. It emphasizes the need of ‘knowing thyself’ for a teacher to play his role properly in the process of education. It throws light on the essential personality traits, interests, aptitudes, the characteristics of effective teaching etc so as to inspire him for becoming a successful teacher. SCOPE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY The scope of educational psychology is ever-growing due to regular research in this field. The following factors will indicate the scope of educational psychology: 1. Human Behaviour. It studies human behaviour in the educational context. Psychology is the study of behaviour and education aims at modification of behaviour. Hence the influence of Educational Psychology has to be reflected in all aspects of education. 2. Growth and development. It studies the principles governing growth and development. The insight provided by the study will help in scientifically planning and executing learner oriented programmes of education. 3. The Learner. The subject-matter of educational psychology is how to impart knowledge to the ‘learner’. Therefore, it is important to know the learner and also the techniques of knowing him well. 4. The Learning Experiences. Educational Psychology helps in deciding what learning experiences are desirable, at what stage of the growth and development of the learner, so that these experiences can be acquired with a greater ease and satisfaction.


5. Learning process: After knowing the learner and deciding what learning experiences are to be provided, Educational Psychology moves on to the laws, principles and theories of learning. Other items in the learning process are remembering and forgetting, perceiving, concept formation, thinking and reasoning, problem solving, transfer of learning, ways and means of effective learning etc. 6. Learning Situation or Environment. It is very important to understand the environmental factors and learning situations which come midway between the learner and the teacher. Topics like classroom climate and group dynamics, techniques and aids that facilitate learning and evaluation, techniques and practices, guidance and counselling etc. 7. Individual differences. It is universally accepted that every individual differs from every other individual. This idea has been brought to light by Educational Psychology. 8. Personality and adjustment. Education has been defined as the all-round development of the personality of an individual. If educational has to fulfil this function all instructional programmes have to be based on the principles governing the nature and development of personality. 9. The Teacher: The teacher is a potent force is any scheme of teaching and learning process. It discusses the role of the teacher. It emphasizes the need of ‘knowing thyself’ for a teacher to play his role properly in the process of education. His conflicts, motivation. Anxiety, adjustment, level of aspiration etc. It throws light on the essential personality traits, interests, aptitudes, the characteristics of effective teaching etc. so as to inspire him for becoming a successful teacher. 10. Guidance and Counselling. Education is nothing but providing guidance and counselling required for the proper development of the child. This is very true, especially in the light of the extremely complex and problematic situation one has to face in the fast growing world. Educational psychology has been very useful in developing principles and practical measures helpful for providing effective guidance and counselling. RELEVANCE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY FOR SECONDARY TEACHERS Educational psychology has contributed considerably to the creation of the modern system of education. The knowledge of educational psychology helps the teacher in the following ways: 1. To understand the Stages of Development: Psychology has clearly shown that human life passes through different stages of development before it reaches adulthood. They are i. infancy ii. Childhood iii. adolescence iv. adulthood. Psychologists have also thoroughly studied the characteristic behaviour patterns in these different periods of life. Identification of these periods with different sets of characteristics and attributes as regards

physical, mental and emotional development greatly help educationists to design curriculum and determine appropriate methods of teaching for students at different stages. 2. To Know the Learner: The child or the learner is the key factor in the teaching-learning process. Educational psychology helps the teacher to know his interests, attitudes, aptitudes and the other acquired or innate capacities and abilities; to know the stage of development linked with his social, emotional, intellectual, physical and aesthetic needs; to know his level of aspiration, his conscious and unconscious behaviour; his motivational and group behaviour; his conflicts, desires and other aspects of his mental health. So that perfect guidance and help can be provided and positive attitude towards the learner can be formed. 3. To Understand the Nature of Classroom Learning: Educational Psychology helps the teacher to adapt and adjust his teaching according to the level of the learners. A teacher is teaching in a class but a large number of students do not understand the subject-matter which is being taught. To deal with the students effectively in the class the teacher must have the knowledge of the various approaches to the learning process, principles, laws and factors affecting it. Only if the teacher understands these factors can he/she apply remedial measures in the learning situation. 4. To Understand the Individual Differences: No two persons are exactly alike. Pupils differ in their level of intelligence, aptitudes, likes and dislikes and in other propensities and potentialities. There are gifted, backward, physically and mentally challenged children. Thus, psychology tells the teacher about the individual differences among the students in the class and the procedure, methodology and techniques to be adopted for them. 5. To Solve Classroom Problems: There are innumerable problems like truancy, bullying, peer pressure, ethnic tensions, cheating in tests etc. Educational Psychology helps to equip the teacher by studying the characteristics of the problem children, the dynamics of the group, behavioural characteristics and adjustments. 6. To develop Necessary Skills and Interest in Teaching: Educational psychology helps the teacher to acquire and develop necessary qualities and skills to deal with the problems created by the pupils, maintain a healthy atmosphere in the classroom and show concern regarding the progress of the child. 7. To Understand Effective Methods of Teaching: Educational Psychology has discovered several new approaches, principles. methods and techniques of teaching which are very helpful in today’s teaching-learning process. Educational psychology tells us how significant play and recreation are for the children and how play-way methods turn learning into an interesting task.


8. To Understand the Influence of Heredity and Environment on the Child: Educational psychology helps the teacher to know that the child is the product of heredity and environment. They are the two sides of a coin. Both play a prominent part in the all-round development of the child. While the child is born with a number of hereditary qualities, environment helps them to be modified according to the requirements of the society. 9. To Understand the Mental Health of the Child: Educational Psychology helps the teacher to know the factors which are responsible for the mental ill-health and maladjustment of a student and to suggest improvement thereof. Besides this, it also provides the teacher with necessary insight to improve his own mental status to cope up with the situation. 10. To Understand the Procedure of Curriculum Construction: Curriculum is an integral part of the teaching-learning process. Curriculum should be child-centred and fulfil the motives and psychological needs of the individual because child capacities differ from stage to stage. Educational psychology helps the teacher to suggest ways and means to curriculum framers to prepare sound and balanced curriculum for the children. 11. To Provide Guidance and Counselling : A child requires guidance at every stage of life is needed because psychological abilities, interests and learning styles differ from person to person. Similarly, what courses of study the child should undertake in future is also a vital question. All these can be answered well if the teacher knows the psychology of children. 12. To Understand Principles of Evaluation and Assessment: Evaluation is an integral part of the teaching-learning process. How to test the potentialities of the child depends upon the evaluation techniques. The development of the different types of psychological tests for the evaluation of the individual is a distinct contribution of educational psychology. 13. To inculcate Positive and Creative Discipline: The slogan of the traditional teachers was “spare the rod and spoil the child.” Flogging the child was the chief instrument. Educational Psychology has replaced the repressive system with the preventive system. Now teachers adopt a cooperative and scientific approach to modify the behaviour of the students. Emphasis is laid on self-discipline through creative and constructive activities. 14. Educational Psychology and Research: Educational psychologists conduct research to improve the behaviour of human beings in the educational situation. For this purpose it helps in developing tools and devices to measure the performance and suggest remedial measures thereof. 15. To Know Himself/Herself: Educational Psychology helps the teacher to know about himself/herself. His/her own behaviour pattern, personality characteristics, likes and dislikes, motivation, anxiety, conflicts, adjustment etc. All

this knowledge helps him in growing as a successful teacher. 16. Professional Growth, Changing Attitude and Innovative Thinking: Inside the classroom, educational psychology has enabled the teacher to achieve proper conditioning of pupils by achieving and directing classroom programmes on human lives. Not only this, educational psychologists are busy in finding out innovations in the field of education. These innovations will bring about professional growth of the teacher. PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Piaget conducted experiments to understand, how living things adopted to their environment (Piaget described as intelligence.). He opined that Behavior (adaptation to the environment) is controlled through mental organizations called schemata (sometimes called schema or schemes). This adaptation is driven by a biological drive to obtain balance between schemes and the environment (equilibration). Piaget hypothesized that infants are born with schema operating at birth that he called "reflexes." In other animals, these reflexes control behavior throughout life. However, in human beings as the infant uses these reflexes to adapt to the environment, these reflexes are quickly replaced with constructed schemata. Piaget described two processes used by the individual in its attempt to adapt: assimilation and accomodation. Both of these processes are used though out life as the person increasingly adapts to the environment in a more complex manner. What are the main influences on cognitive development? A theory of cognitive development is based on the assumption that people try to learn about world and actively create knowledge through direct experience with objects, people, and ideas. Maturation, activity, social transmission, and the need for equilibrium all influence the way of thinking processes and knowledge development. In response to these effects thinking processes and knowledge develop through changes in the organizations of thought i.e. learning new ideas & continuous change in ideas through experience Stages of Cognitive Development 1. Sensorimotor stage (Infancy). In this period (which

has 6 stages), intelligence is demonstrated through motor activity without the use of symbols. Knowledge of the world is limited (but developing) because it is based on physical interactions / experiences. Children acquire object permanence at about 7 months of age (memory). Physical development (mobility) allows the child to begin developing new intellectual abilities. Some symbollic (language) abilities are developed at the end of this stage.

2. Pre-operational stage (Toddler and Early Childhood). In this period (which has two sub-stages), intelligence is demonstrated through the use of symbols, language use matures, and memory and imagination are developed, but thinking is done in a non-logical, non-reversible manner. Egocentric thinking predominates.


3. Concrete operational stage (Elementary and early adolescence). In this stage the child is able to solve concrete problems in logical fashion . He can understands laws of conservation and ‘seriate’ i.e. arranging things in a logical manner. He also understands reversibility.

4. Formal operational stage (Adolescence and adulthood). In this stage, intelligence is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts. At this stage a child learns to reason or form his own views about world and things. He can also think about members & figures.

Reversibility: The ability to think through a series in a stepwise manner & then recall the steps in orderly manner. Hypothetico-Deductive Reasoning: An operation in which an individual first figures out the cause of the problem & deduce a feasible solution. What is active learning? Why is Piaget’s theory of cognitive development consistent with active learning? A fundamental suggests that individuals form their own understanding, learning is a constructive process. At every level of cognitive development, students must be able to absorb information into their own schemes. To do this they must act on the information in some way. This active experience, even at the earliest school levels, should include both physical and mental ideas. As a general rule, students should act, manipulate, observe, and then talk or write about what they have experienced. Concrete experiences provide the raw materials for thinking, communication with others,test, and sometimes change their thinking abilities. What are some limitations of Piaget’s theory? Children & students often think in different manner in different circumstances. This theory underestimated the cognitive abilities. Other theories focused on children’s information processing skills & duty of teacher to enhance this development. This theory overlooked child’s cultural background. “Problem Of The Match”: Hunt An important implication of Piaget's theory for teaching is what called "the problem of the match." Students must be neither bored by work that is too simple nor left behind by teaching they cannot understand. According to Hunt, disequilibrium must be kept "just rights to encourage growth. Setting up situations that lead to errors can help create an appropriate level of disequilibrium. When students experience some conflict between what they think should happen and what actually happens, they may rethink the situation, and new knowledge may develop

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIO-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE According to Vygotsky inter psychological development becomes intra-psychological development The children start high skilled reasoning & share their ideas with the children or their teachers. These ideas get incorporated in their personality. Thus children’s ideas, attitude & values develop by sharing their views & talking their ideas out with their peers or adults.

In contrast to Piaget, Vygotaky proposed that cognitive development is strongly linked to input from others. Vygotsky assumed that "every function in a child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level and later on the individual level; first between people (inter-psychological) and then inside the child (intra-psychological)" Differences between Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s perpectives on private speech: Vygotsky’s: 1) The children’s view & ideas develop through social interaction along with the development of language. A child’s self directed speech helps in thinking, problem solving. 2) He emphasized on the role of adults & peers in building children’s understanding which helps them to solve their problem later. Piaget’s: He described children’s direct speech as ego-centric Socio cultural Theory: Emphasizes role in development of cooperative conversation between children and more knowledgeable member of society. Children learn the culture of their community (ways of thinking and behaving) through these interactions. Co-constructed Process: It is a social process in which people interact and negotiate (usually verbally) to create an understanding or to solve a problem. The final product is shaped by all people involved in interaction. Cultural Tools: The real tools (computers, scales, etc) and symbol systems (numbers, language, graphs) that allow people in a society to communicate, think, solve problems, and create knowledge. Private Speech: Children talk to themselves which guides their thinking and action. Eventually these talks are internalized as sound of conscience Scaffolding: Support for learning and problem solving. The support could be clues, reminders, encouragement, breaking the problem down into step, providing an example, or anything else that allows the student to grow freely as a learner.


Differences between Piaget’s & Vygotsky theory of Egocentric or Private Speech

Piaget Vygotsky Development Significance Represents an inability to take the

perspective of another and engage in reciprocal communication

Represents externalised thoughts; its function is to communicate with the self for the purpose of self guidance and self direction.

Course of Development Decline with Age Increase at younger ages and then gradually loses its audible quality to become internal verbal thought.

Relationship to Social Speech Negative; least socially and cognitively mature children use more egocentric speech

Positively private speech develops out of social interaction with others.

Relationship to Environmental Contexts - Increases with task difficulty. Private speech serves a helpful self guiding function in situations where more cognitive effort is needed to reach a solution.

Implications of Vygotsky’s Theory for Teachers One is the desirability of setting up cooperative learning arrangements among groups of students with differing levels of ability. Tutoring by more competent peers would be most effective in promoting growth within the zone of proximal development.

Second, a Vygotskian approach to instruction emphasizes scaffolding, with students taking more and more responsibility for their own learning. In reciprocal teaching, teachers lead small groups of students in asking questions about material they have read and gradually turn over responsibility for leading the discussion to the students. Scaffolding can be called an approach in which the students are led through "assisted discovery," which calls for explicitly teaching students to use private speech to talk themselves through problem solving. What is assisted learning, and what role does scaffolding play? Assisted learning, or guided participation in the classroom, requires scaffolding giving information, prompts, reminders, and encouragement at the right time and in the right amount, and then gradually allowing the students to do more and more on their own. Teachers can assist learning by using materials or problems ,to help students at current levels, demonstrating skills or through different ways walking students through the steps of a complicated problem, doing part of the problem, giving detailed feedback an allowing revisions, or asking questions that refocus student’s attention.

What is a student’s zone of proximal development? At any given point in development there are certain problems that a child is behind the others & that are beyond the child’s capabilities. The zone of proximal development is the area where the child cannot solve a problem alone, but can be successful under adult guidance or with help of more advanced student or colleague. Assisted Learning Providing strategic help in the starting stages of learning slowly reducing as students gain independence. Zone of Proximal Development Phase at which a child can gain expertise over a task if given appropriate help and support.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE How are humans predisposed to develop language? What role does learning play? Children develop language as they develop other cognitive abilities by actively trying to understand what they hear, looking for patterns, and making up rules. In the process, built units, own rules may limit the search and guide the pattern recognition. Reward and correction play a role in helping children learn correct language use, but the child’s thought processes are very important.


What are pragmatics and meta linguistic awareness? Pragmatics is knowledge about how to use language when, where, how, and to whom to speak. Meta linguistic awareness begins around age of 5 or 6 and grows throughout life.

Syntax: The order of words in phrases or sentences.

Pragmatics: The rules of when and how to use language to be an effective communicator in a particular culture.

Meta linguistic Awareness: Understanding about one’s own use of language.

THE WORK OF ERIKSON

Why is Erikson’s theory considered a psychosocial perspective? Erikson was interested in the ways that individuals developed psychologically to become active and contributing members of society. He believed that all humans have the same basic needs and that each society must fulfill those needs. Erikson’s emphasis on the relationship between society and the individual is a psychosocial theory of development, a theory that connects personal development (psycho) to the social environment (social).

What are Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development? Eight stages theory: Every individual goes through eight stages of life & faces a central crises or problems. If an individual overcomes such problems of life he attains confidence to face any such crisis in future. Ist & IInd stage: In these two stages an infant needs to form a sense of trust & freedom rather than mistrust & shame or doubt IIIrd stage: In this stage the child needs to take the initiative & in the mean time he must avoid guilt. IVth stage: In this stage the child needs to get busy & not feel inferior to others Vth stage: The adolescent age is age of identity, Adolescents often try to achieve their identity. The either achieve it or lose further confidence. VI, VII, VIII: The other 3 stages involve the struggle to achieve intimacy generativist & integrity.

STAGE BASIC CONFLICT IMPORTANT EVENTS OUTCOME Infancy (birth to 18

months) Trust vs. Mistrust Feeding Children develop a sense of trust when

caregivers provide reliabilty, care, and affection. A lack of this will lead to mistrust.

Early Childhood (2 to 3 years)

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

Toilet Training Children need to develop a sense of personal control over physical skills and a sense of independence. Success leads to feelings of autonomy, failure results in feelings of shame and doubt.

Preschool (3 to 5 years) Initiative vs. Guilt Exploration Children need to begin asserting control and power over the environment. Success in this stage leads to a sense of purpose. Children who try to exert too much power experience disapproval, resulting in a sense of guilt.

School Age (6 to 11 years)

Industry vs. Inferiority School Children need to cope with new social and academic demands. Success leads to a sense of competence, while failure results in feelings of inferiority.

Adolescence (12 to 18 years)

Identity vs. Role Confusion

Social Relationships Teens need to develop a sense of self and personal identity. Success leads to an ability to stay true to yourself, while failure leads to role confusion and a weak sense of self.

Young Adulthood (19 to 40 years)

Intimacy vs. Isolation Relationships Young adults need to form intimate, loving relationships with other people. Success leads to strong relationships, while failure results in loneliness and isolation.

Middle Adulthood (40 to 65 years)

Generativity vs. Stagnation

Work and Parenthood Adults need to create or nurture things that will outlast them, often by having children or creating a positive change that benefits other people. Success leads to feelings of usefulness and accomplishment, while failure results in shallow involvement in the world.

Maturity(65 to death) Ego Integrity vs. Despair

Reflection on Life Older adults need to look back on life and feel a sense of fulfillment. Success at this stage leads to feelings of wisdom, while failure results in regret, bitterness, and despair.


ABILITY DIFFERENCES AND TEACHING What are the problems between class ability grouping? Academic ability grouping can have both disadvantages and advantages for students and teachers. For low ability students, class ability grouping generally has a negative effect on achievement, social adjustment, and self esteem. Teacher in low achievement classes tend to emphasize lower level objectives and routine procedures, with less academic focus. Often there are increased teacher stress, lowered expectations, and decreased enthusiasm. Ability grouping can promote separation within schools. What are the alternatives available for grouping in classes? Cross age grouping by subject can be a better way to deal with ability differences in a school. Within class ability grouping, if handled sensitively and flexibly can have positive effects, but other options such as cooperative learning may be better. Between Class Ability Grouping/ Tracking: System of grouping in which students are assigned to classes based on their measured ability or their achievements. Un-tracking: Redesigning schools to teach students in classes that are not grouped by ability. Non-graded Elementary School / The Joplin Plan: Arrangement wherein students are grouped by ability in particular subjects, regardless of their ages or grades. Within Class ability Grouping: System of grouping in which students in a class are divided into two or three groups based on ability in an attempt to accommodate student difference.

STUDENT WHO ARE GIFTED AND TALENTED What are the characteristics of gifted students? Gifted students learn easily and rapidly and retain what they have learned, use common sense and practical knowledge, know about many things that the other children don’t use a large number of words and are easily and accurately recognized by them and comprehend meaning; are alert and keen observant and respond quickly, are persistent and highly motivated and some are creative or make interesting connections. Teachers should make special efforts to support underrepresented gifted students, girls, students who also have learning disabilities, and children living in poverty. Is acceleration is useful approach with gifted students? Many people object to acceleration, but most careful studies indicate that truly gifted students who are accelerated do as well as, and unusually better than, no gifted students who are processing at the normal pace. Gifted students tend to prefer the company of older playmates and may be bored if kept with children their own age. Skipping grades may not be the best solution for a particular student, but for

students who are extremely advanced intellectually (with a score of 160 or higher on an individual intelligence test), the only practical solution may be to accelerate their education. Gifted Students: A very bright creative, and talented student.

TODAY’S MULTICULTURAL CLASSROOM Distinguish between the “melting pot” and multiculturalism Statistics point of increasing cultural diversity in society. Old views that minority group members and immigrants should lose their cultural distinctiveness and assimilate completely in the American “melting pot” or be regarded as culturally deficient are being replaced by new emphases on multiculturalism, equal educational opportunity, and the celebration of cultural diversity. What is culture? There are many conceptions of culture, but most include the knowledge, rules, traditions, attitudes, and values that guide behavior in a particular group of people culture is a program for living. Everyone is a member of many cultural groups, defined in terms of geographic region, nationality, ethnicity, race, gender, social class, and relations. Membership in a particular group does not determine behavior or values, but makes certain values and kinds of behavior more likely. A wide variation exists within each group. Melting Pot: A metaphor for the absorption of a dissimilation of immigrants into the mainstream of society so that ethnic differences vanish. Cultural deficit model: A model that explains that school achievement problems of ethnic minority students by assuming that their culture is inadequate and does not prepare them to succeed in school. Multicultural Education: Education that teaches the values of cultural diversity. Culture: The knowledge, values, attitudes, and traditions that guide the behavior of a group of people and allow them to solve the problems of living in their environment.

SOCIAL CLASS DIFFERENCES What is SES? Social economic status (SES) is a term used by sociologist for variations in wealth, power, and prestige. Social-economic status is determined by several factors not just income and often overpowers other cultural differences. No single variable is an effective measure of SES, but most researchers identity four general levels of SES, upper, middle, working and lower classes. The majority of children in poverty are white. But a disproportionate number of African American and Hispanic American children live in poverty.


What is the relationship between SES and school achievement? Socioeconomic status and academic achievements are closely related. High SES students of all ethnic group show higher average levels of achievement on test scores and staying in school longer than low SES students/ poverty during a child’s preschool years appear to have the greatest negative impact. the longer the child is in poverty, the stronger the impact on achievement. Why is there a correlation between SES and school achievement? Low SES students may suffer from inadequate health care, teachers lowered expectations of them, low self esteem, learned helplessness, participation in resistance cultures school tracking and under stimulating children styles and home environments. A striking finding is that low SEs children lose academic ground outside school over the summer while higher SEs children continue to advance.

Socioeconomic Status (SES): Relative standing in the society based on income, power, background, and prestige.

Resistance Culture: Group values and beliefs about refusing to adopt the behavior and attitudes of the majority culture.

Tracking: Assignments to different classes and academic experiences based on achievement.

ETHNIC AND RACIAL DIFFERENCES Distinguish between ethnicity and race: Ethnicity (culturally transmitted behavior) and race (biologically transmitter physical traits) are socially significant categories people use to describe themselves and others. Minority groups (either numerically or histrionically underpowered) are rapidly increasing in population. How can ethnicity affect school performance? Conflicts between groups can arise from differences in culture based beliefs; values, and expectations, cultural conflicts are usually about below the surface differences, because when subtle cultural differences meet, misunderstandings are common. Students in some cultures learn attitudes and behaviors that are more consistent with school expectations. Differences among ethnic groups in cognitive and academic abilities are largely the legacy of racial segregation and continuing prejudice and discrimination. Distinguish among prejudice, discrimination and stereotype threat: Prejudice is a rigid and irrational generalization a prejudgment about an entire category of people. Prejudice may target people in particular racial, religious, political, geographical, or language groups, or at may be directed toward the sex or sexual orientation of the individual Discrimination is unequal treatment of particular categories of people. Stereotype threat is the extra emotional and cognitive burden that your performance in an academic situation

might confirm a stereotype that others hold about you. It is not necessary that the individual even believe the stereotype. All that matters is that the person is aware of the stereotype and cares about performing well enough to disprove its unflattering implications. In the short run, the fear that you confirm a negative stereotype can induce test anxiety and undermine performance. Overtime, experiencing stereotype threat may lead to misidentification with schooling and academic achievement.

Ethnicity: A cultural heritage shared group of people. Race: A group of people who are common biological traits that are seen as self defining by the people of the group.

Minority Group: A group of people who have been socially disadvantages not always a minority in actual numbers

Prejudice: Prejudgment, or irrational generalization about an entire category of people.

Authoritarian Personality: Rigidly confirming to the belief the society is naturally competitive, with “better” people reaping its rewards.

Stereotype: Schema that organizes knowledge or perceptions about a category.

Discrimination: Treating particular categories of people unequally.

Stereotype Threat: The extra emotional and cognitive burden that your performance in an academic situation might confirm a stereotype that others hold about you.

GIRLS AND BOYS: DIFFERENCES IN THE CLASSROOM

What is gender-role identity? Gender-role identity is the image each individual has of himself or herself as masculine or feminine in characteristics a part of self concept. People with a feminine “identity would rate themselves high on characteristics usually associated with females, such as, “sensitive” or “warm”, and a “forceful” and “competitive”. Most people see themselves in under typed terms; however, some children and adults are more they rate themselves high on both masculine and feminine traits. How do gender role identifies develop? Biology (hormones) plays a role, as done the differential behaviour of parents and teachers towards male and female children. Through their interactions with family, peers teachers, and the environment in general, children begin to form gender or a organize networks of knowledge about what it means to be male or female. Research shows that gender role stereotyping begins in the preschool years and continues through gender bias in the school curriculum and sex discrimination in the classroom. “Teachers often unintentionally perpetuate these problems. Are there sex differences in cognitive abilities? Some measures on IQ and SAT tests have shown sex linked differences, especially in verbal and spatial abilities and mathematic.


Males seem to be superior on tasks that require mental rotation of subjects and females are better on tasks that require acquisition and use of verbal information. Research on the causes of these differences has been inconclusive, except to indicate that academic socialization and teachers treatment of male and female students in mathematics classes do play a role. Teachers can use many strategies for reducing gender bias.

Gender-Role Identity: Belief about characteristic and behaviour associated with one sex as opposed to the other.

Androgynous: Having some typically male and some typically female characteristics apparent in one individual.

Gender Schemes: Organization networks of knowledge about what it means to be male or female

Gender Biases: Different views of males and females, often favoring one gender over the other. LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES IN THE CLASSROOM

What are the origins of language differences in the classroom? Language differences among students include local language bilingualism, and culture based communication style. Dialects are not inferior languages and should be respected, but standard English should be taught for academic contexts. Dialects often affect the pronunciation of words, so teachers have to be able to distinguish a mistake from a dialect difference in verbal language. Student who speak in dialect and students who are bilingual often use code switching to communicate in different groups.

What is bilingual education? Bilingual students speak first language other than English, learn English as second language, may have same degree of limitation in English proficiency, and also must often struggle with social adjustment problems relating to biculturalism. While there is much debate over the best way to help bilingual students master English, studies show it is best if they are not forced to abandon their first language. The more proficient students are in their first language, the faster they will master the second. Mastering academic language skills in any new language take five to seven years.

Dialect” Rule governed variation of a language spoken by a particular group.

Standard Speech: The most generally accepted and used form of a given language.

Code-Switching: Successful switching between cultures in language, dialect, or nonverbal behavior to fit the situation.

Bilingualism: Speaking two languages fluently English as a Second Language (ESL): Designation for programs and classes to teach English to student who are not native speaker of English. Limited English Proficiency (LEP): Descriptive term for students who have limited mastery of English

Semi lingual: Not proficient in any language, speaking one or more languages inadequately.

COGNITIVE AND LEARNING STYLES

Difference between cognitive style and learning preference: Cognitive styles are characteristic modes of learning remembering, Thinking, problem solving and decision making. They show information processing that develop around underlying personality trends such as a tendency for deep or surface processing of information.

Learning preference or individual preference is used for particular learning modes and environments. Even though cognitive styles and learning preferences are not related to intelligence or effort, they may affect school performances.

School teachers match instruction to individual learning styles: Results of some research indicate that students learn more when they study in their preferred setting and manner but most research does not show a benefit. Many students would develop new and perhaps more effective ways to learn.

GLOSSARY

Cognitive Styles: Different ways of perceiving and organizing information.

Field Dependence: Cognitive style in which patterns are perceived as wholes.

Field independences: Cognitive style in which separate parts of a pattern are perceived and analyzed.

Impulsive: Characterized by cognitive style of responding quickly but often inaccurately.

Reflective: Characterized by cognitive style of responding slowly, carefully, and accurately.

Self-instruction: Talking oneself through the steps of a task.

Learning Styles: Characteristic approaches to learning and studying.

Learning Preference: Preferred ways of studying and learning, such as using pictures, instead of test, working with other people versus alone, learning in structured or in unstructured situations, and so on.

Changes in the Law: Integration and Inclusion Describe the main legal requirements that pertain

to students with disabilities: It is required that each exceptional learner or student with special needs to be educated in the least restrictive environment.

Regular Education Initiative: An educational movement that advocates giving regular education teachers, not special education teachers, responsibility for teaching mildly (an sometimes moderately) handicapped students.

Least Restrictive Placement: Placement of each child in as normal an educational setting as possible.

Mainstreaming: Teaching children with disabilities in regular classes for part or all of their school day.

Full inclusion: The integration of all students, including those with severe disabilities, into regular classes.


MCQs ON

P E D A G O G Y

1. Inclusive education (1) celebrates diversity in the classroom (2) encourages strict admission procedures (3) includes indoctrination of facts (4) includes teachers from marginalized groups 2. A school gives preference to girls while preparing students for a state level solo-songs competition. This reflects (1) global trends (2) pragmatic approach (3) progressive thinking (4) gender bias 3. Young learners should be encouraged to interact with peers in the class-room so that (1) they can learn answers to questions from each- other (2) the syllabus can be covered quickly (3) they learn social skills in the course of study (4) the teacher can control the class-room better 4. When a child with disability first comes to school the teacher should? (1) Refer the child to a special school according to the disability (2) Seclude him from other students (3) Discuss with the child parents to evolve collaborative plans (4) Conduct an admission test 5. _____ is not considered a sign of ‘being gifted’. (1) Creative ideas (2) Fighting with others (3) Novelty in expression (4) Curiosity 6. Errors of learners often indicate (1) how they learn (2) the need for mechanical drill (3) absence of learning (4) socio-economic status of the learners 7. Creativity is usually associated with (1) imitation (2) convergent thinking (3) divergent thinking (4) modelling 8. Dyslexia is associated mainly with difficulties in (1) reading (2) speaking (3) speaking and hearing (4) hearing 9. Individual attention is important in the teaching-learning process because

(1) learners always learn better in groups (2) teacher training programmes prescribe it (3) it offers better opportunities to teachers to discipline each learner (4) children development at different rates and learn differently 10. When a child gets bores while doing a task, it is a sign that (1) the task may have become mechanically repetitive (2) the child is not intelligent (3) absence of learning (4) socio-economic status of the learners 11. Which of the following is not a sign of an intelligent young child? (1) One who has the ability to cram long essays very quickly (2) One who has the ability to communicate fluently and appropriately (3) One who carries on thinking in an abstract manner (4) One who can adjust oneself in a new environment 12. A student of V-grade with ‘visual deficiency’ should be (1) excused to do a lower level of work (2) helped with higher routine-work by parents and friends (3) treated normally in the classroom and provided support through Audio CDs (4) given special treatment III the classroom 13. Which one of the following is an important factor of creativity? (1) Originality (2) Discipline (3) Fluency (4) Flexibility 14. Backwards children are (1) slow learners (2) IQ – level 80-90 (3) mentally sick, persons having maladjusted behaviour (4) All of the above 15. Factors influencing mental development are (1) heredity (2) family environment (3) social status of family (4) All of the above


16. Students who gets less marks. You will (1) try to search other options for him (2) ask him to get commercial education (3) punish him in morning meeting (4) provide necessary help to them after 17. There are 60 students in your class, out of them 10 students’ intelligence quotient is less than 70 students, in which category will you put of those students? (1) Talented students (2) Backward students (3) Weak students (4) Creative students 18. In which context in gender discrimination is there in the development of a child? (1) Caste (2) Age 3) Social level (4) All of these 19. Which is the individual reason for affecting the greatness of any superior? (1) Language (2) Gender (3) Community (4) All of the above 20. Which of the following is not helpful in development of creativity in children? (1) Play/game (2) Lecture (3) Story-writing (4) Experiment 21. To maintain level of activity of teaching understanding; important thing is (1) management (2) skilled administration (3) able teacher (4) All of the above 22. Who is mainly responsible for classroom management? (1) Principal (2) Class-teacher (3) Students (4) Students 23. For healthy arrangement of classroom, necessary thing is (1) sufficient light should be in the class (2) ventilated classroom (3) appropriate seating arrangement in the class (4) All of the above 24. To inspire the weak students teacher should (1) applause and tell them to do good work (2) given them set on first bench (3) asked to pay some more attention to the class (4) not pay attention of them in the class 25. In the classroom, direct relation of problems of discipline is with (1) age of child, interest in study, personality of teacher (2) which subject is studying in the class (3) seating arrangement in the class (4) boring or interesting subject 26. What do you mean by creativity? (1) To make things (2) To make new things (3) To decorate things (4) To decorate only new things

27. Creative child is that who (1) stands first in the class (2) have creative behaviour (3) have good behaviour (4) have good memory power 28. Strict discipline should be in school (1) Co-education system is there (2) discipline makes students healthy citizen (3) children can study in better way in discipline (4) disciplined children do not make nose 29. Proper teaching is possible when mental and internal capacity of children are known perfectly (1) By it one can know about his family environment (2) One can know about his parent’s education level (3) One can know about school’s and teacher’s education level (4) By this knowledge he can taught in psychological way 30. If principal are displeased with you, then you will (1) complain of principle (2) take transfer in other school (3) give respect as prior to this event (4) try to avert his displeasure with talking’s 31. If you get an opportunity to teach a visually challenged students along with normal students, what type of treatment would you like to give him in the class? (1) Not giving extra attention because majority may suffer. (2) Take care of him sympathetically in the classroom. (3) You will think that blindness is his destiny and hence you cannot do anything. (4) Arrange a seat in the front row and try to teach at a pace convenient to him. 32. Which of the following is not a characteristic of a good achievement test? (1) Reliability (2) Objectivity (3) Ambiguity (4) Validity 33. Dynamic approach to teaching means (1) Teaching should be forceful and effective (2) Teachers should be energetic and dynamic (3) The topics of teaching should not be static, but dynamic (4) The students should be required to learn through activities 34. Which of the following qualities is most essential for a teacher? (1) He should be a learned person. (2) He should be a well dressed person. (3) He should have patience. (4) He should be an expert in his subject. 35. An effective teaching aid is one which (1) is colourful and good looking (2) activates all faculties (3) is visible to all students


(4) easy to prepare and use 36. Which one of the following is the most important quality of a good teacher? (1) Punctuality and sincerity (2) Content mastery (3) Content mastery and reactive (4) Content mastery and sociable 37. The primary reasonability for the teacher’s adjustment lies with (1) The children (2) The principal (3) The teacher himself (4) The community 38. A successful teacher is one who is (1) Compassionate and disciplinarian (2) Quite and reactive (3) Tolerant and dominating (4) Passive and active 39. The most important quality of a good teacher is (1) Sound knowledge of subject matter (2) Good communication skills (3) Concerns for student’s welfare (4) Effective leadership qualities 40. What quality the students like the most in a teacher? (1) Idealist philosophy (2) Compassion (3) Discipline (4) Entertaining 41. What is the medium of effective teaching? (1) Individualized instruction and open classroom discussion (2) Verbal guidance (3) Emphasis on understanding the concept rather than completing syllabus (4) All the above 42. An effective teacher is one who can: (1) control the class (2) give more information in less time (3) motivate students to learn (4) correct the assignments carefully 43. Teacher’s primary responsibly lies in (1) planning educational experiences (2) keeping students records (3) implementing policies (4) all of the above 44. A teacher in the class is (1) a director of the group (2) the instructor of the group (3) a leader and guide of the group (4) all of the above 45. All of the following are the characteristic features of an effective teacher except (1) emphasizing group discussion for the purpose of clarifying the objectives (2) emphasis upon standard (3) emphasis upon the quick control of the problematic situation (4) differential treatment meted out to students of his class 46. The greatest important cause of failure in beginning for a teacher lies in the area of (1) inter-personal relationship (2) knowledge of the teacher (3) verbal ability

(4) tight handling of the students 47. An effective teacher is expected to (1) reduce the anxiety level of students to moderate level (2) encourage the students to make initiative (3) to make students feel that education is their need (4) all of the above 48. The primary task of a teacher is (1) to teach the prescribed curriculum (2) to stimulate and guide student's learning. (3) to provide diagnostic and remedial aid whereever desired. (4) to promote habits of conformity to adult demands and expectations. 49. As a new teacher the first professional responsibility you must meet is to (1) change the curriculum in the light of your training (2) co-operate with your fellow teacher inspite of differences. (3) ascertain and follow the procedures of your predecessor. (4) None of the above. 50. Which one is not the objective of the special education? (1) To develop motivational patterns in the handicapped that will produce achievements (2) To pursue those curricular matters that strategically determine effective living for specific type of handicapped children (3) To develop a realistic self-concept in handicapped children (4) None of the above

ANSWER KEY

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

11 1 12 3 13 4 14 4 15 4 16 3 17 3 18 4 19 4 20 2 21 4 22 2 23 4 24 1 25 4 26 2 27 2 28 2 29 4 30 4 31 4 32 3 33 4 34 3 35 2 36 2 37 3 38 1 39 2 40 3 41 4 42 3 43 1 44 3 45 4 46 1 47 4 48 2 49 2 50 4

Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the l i v e s o f t h e i r s t u d e n t s


S S C MODEL TEST PAPER

GENERAL INTELLIGENCE & REASONING

1) An insect is walking in a straight line. It covers a distance of 15 cm per minute. It comes back 2.5 cm after every 15 cm. How long will it take to cover a distance of 1 metre? a) 6.5 min b) 8 min c) 10 min d) 12 min 2) A group of alphabets are given with each being assigned a number. These have to be unscrambled into a meaningful word and correct order of letters may be indicated from the given responses. T M H R E O 5 4 3 2 1 0 a) 025314 b) 315402 c) 405312 d) 504231 3) From the given alternative words, select the word which cannot be formed using the letters of the given word: TRIVANDRUM a) RAIN b) DRUM c) TRAIN d) DRUK 4) How many meaningful English words can be made with the letters ‘OEHM’ using each letter only once in each word? a) FOUR b) THREE c) TWO d) ONE 5) A shopkeeper quotes the rate on the price tag replacing number with letters as follow: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 B R O W N S T I C K If a customer purchases two items whose price tags read Rs IIT and Rs NICK, what is the total amount he has to Pay? a) Rs 4776 b) Rs 4765 c) Rs 5565 d) Rs 5665 6) If CASUAL is coded as SACLAU, then what would be the code of MATRIC? a) CIRTAM b) TMAICR c) TAMCIR d) ATMCIR 7) If ‘S’ is written as ‘H’, ‘R’ as ‘@’ ‘A’ as ‘’ ‘M’ as ‘#’ ‘T’ as ‘$’ and ‘E’ as ‘%’, then how is ‘MASTER’ written in that code? a) #H$%@ b) #H$%@ c) #$H%@ d) #H%@$

8) If I candle in box number 1 is placed in box number 2, then box-2 has twice the number of candles that box 1 has. If 1 candle from box-2 is placed in box-1, then box-2 and box-1 have same number of candles. How many candles were there in box-1 and box-2? Box-1 Box-2 Box-1 Box-2 a) 5 : 3 b) 7 : 5 c) 6 : 4 d) 5 : 7 9) Which of the following interchange of signs would make the equation correct? 6 x 4 + 2 = 16 a) + and x, 2 & 4 b) + and x, 4 & 6 c) + and x, 2 & 6 d) + and x, 3 & 4 10) Select the correct combination of mathematical signs to replace the * signs and to balance the following equation: 45 * 3 * 6 * 2 * 16 a) + x = b) + - = c) x + = x d) x - = x 11) Select the correct combination of mathematical signs to replace * signs and to balance the following equation: 8 * 5 * 10 * 2 * 25 a) + x = b) + - = c) x + = x d) x - = x Direction: In Question Nos. 12 to 14, select the missing number from the given responses. 12) 7 6 6 8 6 ? 3 4 6 168 144 120 a) 8 b) 10 c) 5 d) 4 13) 8 5 6 3 7 5 1 4 2 74 90 ? a) 65 b) 85 c) 52 d) 76 14) 22 46 24 27 58 31 32 68 ? a) 46 b) 36 c) 32 d) 38 Direction: In Question Nos. 15 to 20, select the related word/letter/number from the given alternatives.


15) Voyage : Sea sickness : : Heights :? a) Ship b) Travel c) Giddiness d) Motion 16) Waitress : Restaurant : :? a) Doctor : Nurse b) Driver : Truck c) Teacher : School d) Actor : Role 17) AROUND : RAUODN : : GROUND :? a) RGUODN b) NDOOGR c) OUNDGR d) DNUURG 18) APPROACHED : ROACHEDAPP : : BARGAINED :? a) AINEDBARG b) GAINEDBAR c) GAINEDRAB d) RABGAINED 19) 8 : 256 : : ? a) 7 : 343 b) 9 : 243 c) 10 : 500 d) 5 : 75 20) 21 : 3 : : 574 : ? a) 23 b) 82 c) 97 d) 113 Direction: In Question Nos. 21 to 26, find the odd word/number/letters/number pair from the given alternatives. 21) a) Obstetrician b) Podiatrist c) Pulmonologist d) Prosthetist 22) a) Century b) Decadent c) Year d) Month 23) a) FEDC b) STUV c) LKJI d) RQPO 24) a) LPXOY b) RQST c) FBDLX d) MPONL 25) a) 14 – 16 b) 56 – 64 c) 77 – 88 d) 80 – 93 26) a) 13 – 21 b) 19 – 27 c) 15 – 23 d) 16 – 24 27) Which one of the given responses would be a meaningful order of the following? 1) apartment 2) town 3) street 4) building 5) complex a) 1, 5, 4, 3, 2 b) 4, 5, 3, 2, 1 c) 2, 1, 3, 4, 5 d) 1, 4, 5, 3, 2 28) If the following words are arranged in reverse dictionary order, which word comes second? a) Explosion b) Express c) Exploit d) Expulse 29) Which one set of letters when sequentially placed at the gaps in the given letter series shall complete it? ac__ c __ cb __ acbcacbca __ bc a) abbb b) bacc c) babc d) bbcc Direction: In Question Nos. 30 to 32, a series is give3n, with one term missing. Choose the correct alternative from the given ones that will complete the series. 30) AZ, CX, FU, ? a) IR b) IV c) JQ d) KP

31) 1, 2, 6, 24, ? , 720 a) 3 b) 5 c) 120 d) 8 32) 156, 506, ? , 1806 a) 1056 b) 856 c) 1456 d) 1506 33) Suket has three daughters and each daughter has a brother. How many male members are there in the family? a) 4 b) 2 c) 3 d) 1 34) Dinesh and Ramesh start together from a certain point in the opposite direction on motorcycles. The speed of Dinesh is 60 km per hour and Ramesh 44 km per hour. What will be the distance between them after 15 minutes? a) 20 km. b) 24 km. c) 26 km. d) 30 km. 35) On one side of a street are even numbers and on the other side are odd numbers. No. 1 is exactly in front of No. 2 My house is No. 9. From my house, a man comes up from No. 2 and knocks at the door, five doors beyond the house infront of me. What is the No. of that house? a) 18 b) 20 c) 22 d) 26 36) Four players P, Q, R and S are standing a play field in such a way that Q is to East of P, R is to the South of P and S is to the North of P. In which direction of Q is S standing? a) North b) South c) North-West d) South-East 37) One Statement is given followed by two Conclusions I and II. You have to consider the statement to be true, even if it seems to be at variance from commonly known facts. You are to decide which of the given conclusions can definitely be drawn from the given statement. Indicate your answer. Statement: The rich must live more simply. All poor people are simple. Conclusions: I Rich people waste money. II Poor people save money. a) Only I follows. b) Only II follows. c) Neither I nor II follow. d) Both I and II follow. 38) 1) All roses in Sita’s garden are red. 2) All marigold flowers in Sita’s garden are orange. 3) All flowers in Sita’s garden are either red or orange. If 1st two statements are true, the third is a) True b) False c) Uncertain d) Vague

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.


39) Find out which answer figure will exactly make up the question figure.

(a) (b) (c) (d) 40) How many triangles are there in the given figure?

a) 48 b) 60 c) 56 d) 52 41) Choose the cube that will be formed by folding the sheet of paper shown in the problem figure.

(a) (b) (c) (d) 42) In a group of persons, 11 persons speak Kannada, 20 persons speak Tamil and 11 persons speak Telugu. In that group, if two persons speak two languages and one person speak all the languages, then how many persons are there in the group?

a) 40 b) 41 c) 42 d) 43

43) Which one of the following diagrams best depicts the relationship among Human Society – Youth Club, Political Party and Youth?

44) Which one of the following diagrams represent correct relationship among pigeon, birds, dogs?

a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 d) 4 Direction: In Question Nos. 45 to 46, which answer figure will complete the pattern in the question figure? 45)

(a) (b) (c) (d) 46)

(a) (b) (c) (d)


47) From the given answer figures, select the figure which is hidden/ embedded in the question figure.

(a) (b) (c) (d) 48) 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) (b) (c) (d) 49) If a mirror is place on the line MN, then which of the answer figures is the right image of the given figure?

(a) (b) (c) (d) 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., ‘F’ can be represented by 30, 23, etc. and ‘N’ can be represented by 97, 89, etc. Similarly, you have to identify the set for the given word. “DAKU” Matrix – I Matrix – II

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

4 A F K P U 9 D I N S X

3 F K A U P 8 X S I D N

2 P U F K A 7 N X S I D

1 K P U A F 6 S D X N I

0 U A P F K 5 1 N D X S

a) 95, 40, 04, 42 b) 24, 95, 20, 27 c) 88, 24, 10, 34 d) 57, 13, 23, 21

GENERAL AWARENESS 51) What is ‘Biodiversity’? a) Many types of flora & fauna in one forest b) Many types of flora and fauna in many forests c) Many population of one species in one forest d) All the above are true. 52) Where is the headquarters of Hindustan Zink Ltd? a) Udaipur b) Jodhpur c) Jaisalmer d) Jaipur 53) Leaving agricultural land uncultivated for some years known as a) Intensive farming b) Fallowing c) Shifting cultivation d) Subsistence farming 54) The sky appears blue due o a) Rayleigh scattering b) Mie scattering c) Back scattering d) None of the above 55) The mountain formed on the earth crust due to tension is called a) Young folded mountain b) Old folded mountain c) Laccolith mountain d) Block mountain 56) Movement of hairs in Drosera is referred to as a) Heliotropism b) Thigmotropism c) Photonastic d) Seismonastic 57) Which of the following is an example of parasitic alga? a) Ulothrix b) Cephaleuros c) Oedogonium d) Sargassum 58) Solitary cymose inflorescence is observed in a) Rose b) Chinarose c) Tuberose d) Gardenia 59) The excretory aperture in Paramoecium is known as a) Cytopharynx b) Cytostome c) Cytopyge d) Cryptospere 60) IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) Technique was first devised by a) Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards b) Dr. Henry Dixon c) Robertson d) Dr. Martin Cooper 61) Just born baby has the respiratory rate as a) 32 times/minute b) 26 times/minute


c) 18 times/minute d) 15 times/minute 62) A particle is moving in a uniform circular motion with constant speed v along a circle of radius r. The acceleration of the particle is

a) zero b) rv

c) 2rv

d)

rv2

63) Which of the following devices can be used to detect radiant heat? a) Liquid thermometer b) Six’s maximum and minimum thermometer c) Constant volume air thermometer d) Thermopile 64) In which one of the following the phenomenon of total internal reflection of light is used? a) Formation of mirage b) Working of binoculars c) Formation of rainbow d) Twinkling of stars 65) Period of oscillation of 3 cm microwaves in seconds is a) 1 x 1010 b) 1 x 10 -10 c) 0.01 d) 0.001 66) The most advanced form of Read Only Memory (ROM) is a) PROM b) RAM c) Cache Memory d) EEPROM 67) A computer program that translates one program instruction one at a time into machine language is called a/an a) Interpreter b) Compiler c) Simulator d) Commander 68) Which of the following is very reactive and kept in kerosene? a) Sodium b) Potassium c) Iodine d) Bromine 69) Which of the following is a metallic ore? a) Mica b) Quartz c) Feldspar d) Galena 70) In the periodic table of elements, on moving from left to right across a period, the atomic radius a) decreases b) increases c) remains unchanged d) does not follow a definite pattern 71) Vulcanized rubber contains sulphur a) 2% b) 3-5% c) 7-9% d) 10-15% 72) Uric acid is the chief nitrogenous wastes in a) Frogs b) Birds c) Fishes d) Mankind 73) To conserve coral reefs, the Government of India declared one of the following as Marine Park: a) Gulf of Kutch b) Lakshadweep Islands c) Gulf of Mannar d) Andaman Islands 74) The special modified epidermal cells surrounding stomatal pore are called a) Epithelial cells b) Guard cells

c) Subsidiary cells d) Accessory cells 75) Transpiration through leaves is called as a) Cauline transpiration b) Foliar transpiration c) Cuticular transpiration d) Lenticular transpiration 76) Who is the brand ambassador of Nokia Phones in India? a) Shah Rukh Khan b) Aamir Khan c) Abhishek Bachchan d) M.S. Dhoni 77) Where is the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee located? a) Italy b) Switzerland c) Belgium d) France 78) ‘Canterbury’, the premium Indian brand of woollen cardigans and pullovers is from the house of a) Monte-Carlo b) Woodland c) Digjam d) OCM 79) Lionel Messi, the winner of four FIFA Ballion d’ or and World Player of the year, belongs to a) Brazil b) Spain c) Argentina d) Germany 80) Who is the brand ambassador of the Hockey India League (HIL) 2013? a) Pargat Singh b) Dhanraj Pillai c) Navjot Singh Siddhu d) Virat Kohli 81) “Consumer Electronic Imaging Fair 2013”, formally called as “Photo Fair”, will be organize in January 2015 at a) Kolkata b) Chennai c) Delhi d) Mumbai 82) Which Indian State is the leading cotton producer? a) Gujarat b) Maharashtra c) Andhra Pradesh d) Madhya Pradesh 83) The ‘More mega store’ retail chain belongs to which Indian Industry? a) Reliance Industry b) Bharti Enterprises c) Aditya Birla Group d) None of these 84) Who among the following was responsible for the revival of Hinduism in 19th century? a) Swami Dayanand b) Swami Vivekanand c) Guru Shankaracharya d) Raja Ram Mohan Roy 85) The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in which city? a) Brussels b) Geneva c) Oslo d) Stockholm 86) The demand of a factor of production is a) direct b) derived c) neutral d) discretion of the producer 87) If the average revenue is a horizontal straight line, marginal revenue will be a) U shaped b) Kinked c) Identical with average revenue d) L shaped 88) The hypothesis that rapid growth of per capita income will be associated with a reduction in poverty is called a) trickle down hypothesis b) trickle up hypothesis c) U shaped hypothesis d) poverty estimation hypothesis


89) According to Keynes, business cycles are due to variation in the rate of investment caused by fluctuations in the a) Marginal efficiency of capital b) Marginal propensity to save c) Marginal propensity to consumption d) Marginal efficiency to investment 90) The main emphasis of Keynesian economics is on a) Expenditure b) Exchange c) Foreign trade d) Taxation 91) The main feature of the Federal State is a) Decentralisation b) Centralisation c) Theory of separation of powers d) Sovereignty 92) Public opinion is a) The opinion of the majority b) The opinion of the people on political matters c) Opinion of the citizens of the country d) The opinion based on reasoning which is for the welfare of the whole society 93) In India the largest single item of current government expenditure is a) Defence Expenditure b) Interest payment of debt c) Payment of subsidies d) Investment in social overheads 94) Which one of the following is an item included in the list of Fundamental Duties of an Indian citizen in the Constitution? a) To practice secularism. b) To develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of enquiry and reform. c) To pay all taxes to government regularly and correctly. d) Not to assault any public servant in the (during) performance of his duties. 95) The first woman to preside over the UN General Assembly: a) Rajkumari Amrit Kaur b) Vijaylakshmi Pandit c) Kamla Nehru d) Indira Gandhi 96) Panchasiddhantham of Varahamihira deals with a) Astrology b) Astronomy c) Medicine d) Anatomy 97) Which one of the following coins were issued in silver during the Gupta period? a) Kakini b) Nishka c) Rupyaka d) Dinar 98) Lothal, the dockyard site of the Indus Valley Civilization, is situated in a) Gujarat b) Punjab c) Pakistan d) Haryana 99) Who among the Delhi Sultans died of a sudden fall from a horse at Lahore while playing Chaugan? a) Qutbuddin Aibak b) Iltutmish c) Balban d) Jalaluddin Khilji 100) Buddha means a) Great Conqueror b) Great Saint c) Wise one d) Enlightened one

QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE 101) Ram bought a T.V. with 20% discount on the labelled price. Had he bought it with 30% discount he would have saved Rs 800. The value of the T.V. set that he bought is a) Rs 5,000 b) Rs 8,000 c) Rs 9,000 d) Rs 10,000 102) A vessel full of pure acid contains 10 litres of it, of which 2 litres are withdrawn. The vessel is then filled with water. Next 2 litres of the mixture are withdrawn, and again the vessel is filled up with water. The ratio of the acid left in the vessel with that of the original quantity is a) 1 : 5 b) 4 : 5 c) 4 : 25 d) 16 : 25 103) Gold is 19 times as heavy as water and copper is 9 times as heavy as water. In what ratio should these be mixed to get an alloy 15 times as heavy as water? a) 1 : 1 b) 1 : 2 c) 2 : 3 d) 3 : 2 104) The average age of boys in the class is twice the number of girls in the class. The ratio of boys and girls in the class of 50 is 4 : 1. The total of the ages (in years) of the boys in the class is a) 2000 b) 2500 c) 800 d) 400 105) There are 100 students in 3 sections A, B and C of a class. The average marks of all the 3 sections was 84. The average of B and C was 87.5 and the average marks of A is 70. The number of students in A was a) 30 b) 35 c) 20 d) 25 106) A sold an article to B at 20% profit and B sold it to C at 15% loss. If A sold it to C at the selling price of B, then A would make a) 5% profit b) 2% profit c) 2% loss d) 5% loss 107) The monthly salaries of A and B together amount to Rs 40,000. A spends 85% of his salary and B, 95% of his salary. If now their savings are the same, then the salary (in Rs) of A is a) 10,000 b) 12,000 c) 16,000 d) 18,000 108) It takes 8 hours for a 600 km journey, if 120 km is done by train and the rest by car. It takes 20 minutes more if 200 km is done by train and the rest by car. The ratio of the speed of the train to that of the car is a) 2 : 3 b) 3 : 2 c) 3 : 4 d) 4 : 3 109) If a train runs at 70 km/hour, it reaches its destination late by 12 minutes. But if it runs at 80 km/hour, it is late by 3 minutes. The correct time to cover the journey is a) 58 minutes b) 2 hours


c) 1 hour d) 59 minutes 110) A man borrowed some money from a private organisation at 5% simple interest per annum. He lended 50% of this money to another person at 10% compound interest per annum and thereby the man made a profit of Rs 13, 205 in 4 years. The man borrowed a) Rs 80,000 b) Rs 1,00,000 c) Rs 1,20,000 d) Rs 1,50,000 111) If a2 + b2 + c2 = 2a – 2b – 2, then the value of 3a – 2b + c is a) 0 b) 3 c) 5 d) 2 112) If a + b + c = 3, a2 + b2 + c2 = 6 and

,1c1

b1

a1

where a, b, c are all non-zero,

then ‘abc’ is equal to

a) 32

b) 23

c) 21

d) 31

113) If a2 – 4a – 1 = 0, a 0, then the value of

a2+3a+a3

a12 is

a) 24 b) 26 c) 28 d) 30 114) The total area (in sq. unit) of the triangles formed by the graph of 4x + 5y = 40, x-axis, y-axis and x=5 and y=4 is a) 10 b) 20 c) 30 d) 40 115) For what value of k, the system of equations kx + 2y = 2 and 3x + y = 1 will be coincident? a) 2 b) 3 c) 5 d) 6

116) If x = 2 + 3 , then x2+2x

1 is equal to

a) 10 b) 12 c) -12 d) 14 117) If a = 4.965, b = 2.343 and c = 2.622, then the value of a3 – b3 – c3 – 3 abc is a) -2 b) -1 c) 0 d) 9.93 118) If x + y + z = 0, then the value of

yzx

zyx2

222

is

a) -1 b) 0 c) 1 d) 2 119) The value of sin21° + sin22° + sin23° + ……. + sin289° is a) 22 b) 44

c) 2122 d)

2144

120) The value of

toequalissincossincos

sincossincos 3333

a) -1 b) 1 c) 2 d) 0 121) The shadow of a tower standing on a level plane is found to be 30 m longer when the Sun’s altitude changes from 60° to 45°. The height of the tower is

a) m3315 b) m1315

c) m1315 d) 15 m33

122) If sin 17° = ,yx

then sec 17° - sin 73° is equal

to

a) 22 xy

y

b)

22 xyx

y

c)

22 xyy

x d)

22

2

xyy

x

123) If is a positive acute angle and cosec + cot

= ,3 the value of cosec is

a) 3

1 b) 3

c) 3

2 d) 1

124) If cos + sec = ,3 then the value of cos3 + sec3 is a) 2 b) 1 c) 0 d) 4

125) If sin + cos = 2 cos , then the value of cot is

a) 12 b) 12

c) 13 d) 13 126) In a quadrilateral ABCD, the bisector of A and B meet at O. If C= 70° and D = 130°, then measure of AOB is a) 40° b) 60° c) 80° d) 100° 127) Arranging the following in ascending order 334, 251, 717, we get a) 334 > 251 > 717 b) 717 > 251 > 334 c) 334 > 717 > 251 d) 251 > 334 > 717 128) If the product of first fifty positive consecutive integers be divisible by 7n, where n is an integer, then the largest possible value of n is a) 7 b) 8 c) 10 d) 5 129) A, B and C together can do a piece of work in 40 days. After working with B and C for 16 days, A leaves and then B and C complete the remaining work in 40 days more. A alone could do the work in a) 80 days b) 90 days c) 100 days d) 120 days


130) Three pipes A, B and C can fill a tank in 6 hours. After working it together for 2 hours, C is closed and A and B can fill the remaining part in 7 hours. The number of hours taken by C alone to fill the tank is a) 10 b) 12 c) 14 d) 16 131) Pratibha is thrice as efficient as Sonia and is therefore able to finish a piece of work in 60 days less than Sonia. Pratibha and Sonia can individually complete the work respectively in a) 30, 60 days b) 60, 90 days c) 30, 90 days d) 40, 120 days 132) The base of a right pyramid is an equilateral triangle of side 4 cm each. Each slant edge is 5 cm long. The volume of the pyramid is

a) 3cm384

b) 3cm3604

c) 3cm3594

d) 3cm3614

133) There are two cones. The curved surface area of one is twice that of the other. The slant height of the latter is twice that of the former. The ratio of their radii is a) 4 : 1 b) 4 : 3 c) 3 : 4 d) 1 : 4 134) A wire is bent into the form of a circle, whose area is 154 cm2. If the same wire is bent into the form of an equilateral triangle, the approximate area of the equilateral triangle is a) 93.14 cm2 b) 90.14 cm2 c) 83.14 cm2 d) 39.14 cm2 135) A shopkeeper allows 10% discount on goods when he sells without credit. Cost price of his goods is 80% of his selling price. If he sells his goods by cash, then his profit is a) 50% b) 70% c) 25% d) 40% 136) A dealer of scientific instruments allows 20% discount on the marked price of the instruments and still makes a profit of 25%. If his gain over the sale of an instrument is Rs 150, find the marked price of the instrument. a) Rs 938.50 b) Rs 940 c) Rs 938 d) Rs 937.50 137) In ∆ABC, E and D are points on sides AB and AC respectively such that ABC = ADE. If AE = 3 cm, AD = 2 cm and EB = 2 cm, then length of DC is a) 4 cm b) 4.5 cm c) 5.0 cm d) 5.5 cm 138) In a circle with centre O, AB is a chord, and AP is a tangent to the circle. If AOB = 140°, then the measure of PAB is a) 35° b) 55° c) 70° d) 75° 139) In ∆ABC, A > B. The altitude to the base divides vertex angle C into two parts C1 and C 2, with C2 adjacent to BC. Then a) C1 + C2 = A + B b) C1 – C2 = A – B

c) C1 – C2 = B – A d) C1 + C2 = B – A 140) If O is the in-centre of ∆ABC; if BOC = 120°, then the measure of BAC is a) 30° b) 60° c) 150° d) 75° 141) Two parallel chords of a circle of diameter 20 cm are 12 cm and 16 cm long. If the chords are in the same side of the centre, then the distance between them is a) 28 cm b) 2 cm c) 4 cm d) 8 cm 142) The interior angle of a regular polygon is 140°. The number of sides of that polygon is a) 9 b) 8 c) 7 d) 6 143) If two circles of radii 9 cm and 4 cm touch externally, then the length of a common tangent is a) 5 cm b) 7 cm c) 8 cm d) 12 cm Study the following table and answer Question Nos. 144 to 146: School No. of

students scoring

marks less than 50%

Percentage of students

scoring marks more than 50%

No. of students appeared

A 240 55 600 B 220 40 400 C 300 20 375 D 280 10 350 E 210 25 300

144) The ratio of the total number of students scoring marks less than 50% to that of scoring marks exactly 50% is a) 50 : 3 b) 25 : 2 c) 25 : 4 d) 35 : 2 145) Which school has the highest number of students scoring exactly 50% marks? a) D b) E c) B d) A 146) The total number of students scoring 50% or more marks is a) 1250 b) 875 c) 775 d) 675


Study the following graph which shows income and expenditure of a company over the years 2005 – 2009 and answer questions 147 – 150

010203040506070

(Rs i

n Cr

ore)

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Years

Income Expenditure

147) The difference in profit (Rs, in crores) of the company during 2006 and 2007 is a) 10 b) 15 c) 20 d) 25 148) In how many years was the income of the company less than the average income of the given years? a) 4 b) 3 c) 2 d) 1 149) The percentage increase in expenditure of the company from 2007 to 2008 is a) 20 b) 25 c) 30 d) 35 150) Profit of the company was maximum in the year a) 2009 b) 2008 c) 2006 d) 2005

ENGLISH COMPREHENSION Directions: In Question Nos. 151 – 155, 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. 151) I am very interested to know the outcome of the debate, kindly keep me in the loop. a) out of it b) informed about the fees c) informed about the last date of joining d) informed regularly 152) There is no cut and dried method for doing this. a) simple b) honest c) ready made d) understandable 153) Suddenly the man blacked out during the parade and had to be helped to a quiet place. a) lost temper b) lost control over himself c) lost consciousness d) lost balance

154) Hold your horses for a moment while I make a phone call. a) Be patient b) Stayout c) Be quiet d) Wait 155) Sachin Tendulkar’s batting skills make him a cut above the rest. a) taller than b) superior to c) senior to d) different from Directions: In Question Nos. 156 to 165, a sentence / a part of the sentence is underlined. Below are given alternatives to the underlined part at (A), (B), (C) which may improve the sentence. Choose the correct alternative. In case no improvement is needed your answer is (D). Mark your answer in the Answer Sheet. 156) The visitors arrived at a lucky moment. a) an opportunistic b) an opportunity c) an opportune d) No improvement 157) Suraj looked at Sunil with a question. a) questioningly b) questionably c) wistfully d) No improvement 158) The government can see scarcely any valid reason to launch an inquiry. a) cannot scarcely see any valid reason b) can see any valid reason scarcely c) can scarcely see any valid reason d) No improvement 159) Henry is taking John for tea. a) taking John on tea b) taking John to tea c) taking John at tea d) No improvement 160) The medicines made miracles and healed me in two days. a) The medicines brought miracles b) The medicines worked miracles c) The medicines performed miracles d) No improvement 161) Any of these two books is good. a) Any of this b) Either of these c) Any other of this d) No improvement 162) The report highlights a number of instance of injustice. a) highlight a number of instances of injustice b) highlights a numbers of instances of injustice c) highlights a number of instances of injustice d) No improvement 163) He was for a time our captain. a) for sometime b) once c) at any time d) No improvement 164) He made the utmost effort to save us. a) an all-out b) an altered c) an intentional d) No improvement 165) He belongs to a rich family. a) a well-to-do family b) an upper class family c) a well-known family d) No improvement Directions: In Question Nos. 166 to 172, out of the four alternatives, choose the one which can be substituted for the given words/sentences and indicate it by blackening the appropriate oval in the Answer Sheet.


166) The act of speaking about one’s thoughts when one is alone. a) Silence b) Monologue c) Dialogue d) Soliloquy 167) To remove an objectionable part from a book. a) Exterminate b) Expurgate c) Extirpate d) Destroy 168) Pertaining to sheep a) Canine b) Bovine c) Ovine d) Feline 169) Hole excavated by an animal as dwelling a) Borrow b) Burrow c) Bore d) Pierce 170) Person believing in free will a) Guardian b) Tyrant c) Humanitarian d) Libertarian 171) Small pieces of metal that fly out from an exploding bomb a) Shrapnel b) Splinters c) Filings d) Bullets 172) All the arts, beliefs and social institutions etc. characteristic of a race a) Culture b) Civilization c) Infrastructure d) Ritual Directions: In Questions Nos. 173 & 174, four words are given in each question, out of which only one word is correctly spelt. Find the correctly spelt word and mark your answer in the Answer Sheet. 173) a) Sychological b) Psychological c) Psykological d) Sykological 174) a) Corralative b) Correlative c) Corilative d) Correletive Directions: In Question Nos. 175 to 184, you have two brief passages with 5 questions following 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.

Passage – I (Question Nos. 175 to 179) Poverty can be defined as a social phenomenon in which a section of the society is unable to fulfill even its basic necessities of life. When a substantial segment of the society is deprived of the minimum level of living and continues at a bare subsistence level, that society is said to be plagued with mass poverty. The countries of the third world exhibit invariably the existence of mass poverty, although pockets of poverty exist even in the developed countries of Europe and America. Attempts have been made in all societies to define poverty, but all of them are conditioned by the vision of minimum or good life obtaining in society. For instance, the concept of poverty in the U.S.A. would be significantly different from that in India because the average man is able to afford a much higher level of living in the United States. There is an effort in all definitions of poverty to approach the average level of living in a society and as such these definitions reflect the coexistence of inequalities in a society and the extent to which different societies are prepared to tolerate them. For instance, in India, the generally accepted

definition of poverty emphasizes minimum level of living rather than a reasonable level of living. This attitude is borne out of a realization that it would not be possible to provide even a minimum quantum of basic needs for some decades and therefore, to talk about a reasonable level of living or good life may appear to be wishful thinking at the present stage. Thus, political considerations enter the definitions of poverty because programmes of alleviating poverty may become prohibitive as the vision of a good life widens. 175) What is poverty according to the writer? a) Ability to consider it as social phenomenon of a substantial segment of society. b) Inability of a society to provide the basic necessities of life. c) A political compulsion that dictates economic policies. d) A form of exhibition of subsistence living. 176) Societies in the third world can be characterised as plagued by mass poverty, because a) Europe and America have pockets of poverty. b) Poverty is a mass social phenomenon. c) There is a wide variation in the definition of poverty. d) Societies live at a bare subsistence level. 177) What conditions the various attempts to define poverty? a) The definition of poverty in India. b) The definition of poverty in the U.S.A. c) The vision of minimum or good life d) Political considerations 178) What do all definitions of poverty do? a) Reflect coexistence of inequalities in society. b) Societies tolerance of inequalities. c) Approach the average level of living in a society. d) Minimum level of living in India. 179) Definition of poverty in India emphasizes minimum level of living because a) It is impossible at this stage to provide a reasonable quantum of living. b) Political considerations enter the definitions of poverty. c) There is a reasonable level of good living. d) Programmes of alleviation of poverty have been initiated.

Passage – III (Question Nos. 180 to 184) By the mid-nineteenth century, mass production of paper patterns, the emergence of the home sewing machine, and the convenience of mail order catalogues brought fashionable clothing into the American home. By the early twentieth century, home economists working in extension and outreach programs taught women how to use paper patterns to improve the fit and efficiency of new garments as well as how to update existing ones. Teachers of home economies traditionally made home sewing a critical part of their curriculum, emphasizing self-sufficiency and resourcefulness for young women. However, with the increasing availability of mass-produced clothing in catalogues and department stores, more and more women


preferred buying garments to making them. As a result, home economists shifted their attention to consumer education. Through field study, analysis and research, they became experts on the purchase and preservation of ready-to-wear clothing for the family, offering budgeting instruction targeted at adolescent girls. Modern home sewing made it possible for American women to transcend their economic differences and geographic locations with clothing that was increasingly standardized. The democratization of fashion continued through the twentieth century as the ready-to-wear market expanded and home sewing became more of a pastime than a necessity. 180) What improved the fit and efficiency of new garments? a) Sewing machines b) Economists c) Mass production d) Paper patterns 181) What were the skills that were emphasized for young women? a) Self confidence and self-esteem b) Self-sufficiency and resourcefulness c) Resourcefulness and self-confidence d) Prudence and resourcefulness 182) Who became experts on the purchase and preservation of ready-to-wear clothing for the family? a) Owners of department stores b) Field-study analysts c) Young women d) Teachers of home economics 183) Who was the target group? a) Young women b) Young girls c) Adolescent girls d) Working women 184) How did home sewing help American women? a) They became field analysts and researchers. b) They went beyond economic boundaries. c) They found good jobs. d) They become excellent teachers. Directions: In Questions Nos. 185 to 189, some parts of the sentences have errors and some are correct. Find out which part of a 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. 185) The whole block of flats / (A) including two shops were / (B) destroyed in fire. / No error (C) (D) 186) He feels his troubles / as much or / (A) (B) even more than they. / No error (C) (D) 187) I like reading / more than / to play./ (A) (B) (C) No error (D) 188) The old lady swooned / but was soon / (A) (B)

restored at senses. / No error (C) (D) 189) I shall have to / (A) withdraw from my savings/ (B) to buy a new car./ No error (C) (D) Directions: In Question Nos. 190 to 194, Sentences 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. 190) He was _____ about whether to do it or not. a) ambiguous b) ambivalent c) ambidextrous d) uncertain 191) His conduct is bad, and his honesty is not ____ suspicion. a) above b) beyond c) under d) in 192) The minister ______ on the petition before it was taken up for discussion. a) could sign b) signed c) had signed d) must sign 193) The foolish crows _____ to sing. a) crow b) jump c) tried d) try 194) Truculent in defending their individual rights of sovereignty under the Articles of Confederation, the newly formed states _____ constantly. a) apologized b) digressed c) conferred d) squabbled Directions: In Question Nos. 195 to 197, out of the four alternatives, choose the one which best expresses the meaning of the given word and mark it in the Answer Sheet. 195) Convalesce a) Diminish b) Admonish c) Recover d) Convey 196) Porous a) Adventurous b) Permeable c) Pungent d) Concrete 197) Insipid a) Spicy b) Bland c) Interesting d) Warm Directions: In Question Nos. 198 to 200, choose the word opposite in meaning to the given word and mark it in the Answer Sheet. 198) Indict a) Accuse b) Exonerate c) Incriminate d) Impeach 199) Suppress a) Reveal b) Increase c) Open d) Explain 200) Vocal a) Voluble b) Calm c) Quite d) Silent


ANSWER – KEY

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

1 B 2 C 3 D 4 D 5 C

6 C 7 A 8 D 9 B 10 -

11 C 12 D 13 A 14 B 15 C

16 C 17 A 18 B 19 C 20 B

21 D 22 B 23 B 24 B 25 D

26 D 27 A 28 B 29 B 30 C

31 C 32 A 33 B 34 C 35 B

36 D 37 C 38 C 39 C 40 A

41 B 42 C 43 D 44 A 45 D

46 B 47 A 48 C 49 C 50 D

51 C 52 A 53 C 54 A 55 D

56 B 57 B 58 C 59 B 60 A

61 A 62 B 63 B 64 C 65 B

66 D 67 A 68 A 69 D 70 A

71 B 72 D 73 A 74 B 75 C

76 A 77 B 78 A 79 C 80 C

81 C 82 B 83 C 84 B 85 C

86 B 87 C 88 A 89 A 90 A

91 B 92 D 93 C 94 B 95 B

96 A 97 B 98 A 99 A 100 D

101 B 102 D 103 D 104 C 105 C

106 B 107 A 108 C 109 C 110 B

111 C 112 B 113 D 114 B 115 D

116 D 117 C 118 D 119 D 120 C

121 A 122 D 123 C 124 C 125 A

126 D 127 A 128 A 129 C 130 C

131 C 132 C 133 A 134 A 135 C

136 D 137 D 138 C 139 B 140 B

141 B 142 A 143 D 144 A 145 C

146 C 147 B 148 B 149 B 150 C

151 D 152 A 153 C 154 A 155 D

156 C 157 C 158 C 159 D 160 B

161 B 162 C 163 B 164 A 165 A

166 D 167 B 168 C 169 B 170 D

171 A 172 A 173 B 174 B 175 B

176 D 177 C 178 A 179 A 180 D

181 B 182 B 183 C 184 B 185 B

186 C 187 C 188 B 189 B 190 D

191 B 192 C 193 D 194 D 195 C

196 B 197 B 198 B 199 C 200 C

INAUGURAL DISCOUNT GYANM COLLEGE OF COMPETITIONS

Mohali Announces

10% Discount on Bank Po / SSC More than 4000 successful students

Excellent Success Ratio

Special emphasis on shortcuts

Special exam oriented study material

Dedicated doubt sessions

Life time coaching support

OFFER VALID UPTO 28th FEBRUARY, 2015

SSCCFF 2200,, TTOOPP FFLLOOOORR PPHHAASSEE –– VVIIII

MMOOHHAALLII –– PPUUNNJJAABB PH: 09257211740


Latest G.K. Bullets

JANUARY – 2015 1) The 13th Pune International Film Festival was held at

Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad in Maharashtra from January 8 to 15. What was the theme this year: War against War

2) Name the biggest cultural festival of the Mahayana sect of Buddhism in Nepal, observed to mark the beginning of the New Year: Tamu Lhochhar

3) The famous new year festival of Nepal – Tamu Lhochhar is held at which place: Kathmandu

4) ADB has agreed to give $ 75 million loan and $1.8 million grant to which state in India for Integrated Urban Water Management Investment Program for improving the water resource management: Karnataka

5) Name the top Indian cricketer who has decided to retire from the Test Cricket: MS Dhoni

6) Name the country that has recently adopted the Euro as its currency: Lithuania

7) How many countries in Europe have adopted Euro as their currency: 19

8) President gave his assent to the NJAC Act, nearly ending the two-decade-old Collegium System for appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and 24 high courts. NJAC stand for what: National Judicial Appointments Commission

9) The NJAC will be headed by ___________ and will have ______ other members: Chief Justice of India, Five

10) _____________ has been shifted from Uttarakhand to Mizoram to hold charge of Governor of State: Aziz Qureshi

11) ______________ has been appointed as new Governor of Uttarakhand: K K Paul

12) Name the former editor of the Hindustan Times and The Indian Express, who passed away recently: B G Verghese

13) As per a recent report by global property consultant CBRE, __________ is the costliest office space in India: Connaught Place

14) R Koteeswaran has been appointed MD & CEO of which public sector bank: Indian Overseas Bank

15) _______________ is the new MD & CEO of the Oriental Bank of Commerce: Animesh Chauhan

16) Kishore Kumar Sansi is the new MD & CEO of which bank: Vijaya Bank

17) Name the recently appointed MD & CEO of United Bank of India: P Srinivas

18) Name the India's first integrated mobile application for women safety launched in Delhi on Jan 1:

‘Himmat' 19) Saiyid Hamid, noted Muslim academician,

educationist, reformist and author passed away recently. He was Chancellor of which educational institution: Jamia Hamdard University and Jamia Millia Islamia

20) What is the new name of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) after the promulgation of Insurance Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India

21) On Jan 1, the government announced that the Planning Commission had been revamped and rechristened as NITI Aayog. What is the full form of NITI: National Institution for Transforming India

22) _____________ is the Chairman of the NITI Aayog: Prime Minister

23) Name the newly appointed vice chairperson of the NITI Aayog: Arvind Panagariya

24) Ms Sindushree Khullar has been appointed CEO of which important national level office: NITI Aayog

25) In which development financial institution government has decided to increase its stake to 51% from around 48% at present: Industrial Finance Corporation of India – IFCI

26) Which is the only state in India that has the potential to grow the rare ‘purple tea’: Assam

27) ______________ is the only country in the world that produces unique purple tea: Kenya

28) India's top PSU bankers and select policy makers gathered in Pune for a two-day (Jan 2-3) retreat that was named ______________: Gyan Sangam

29) 102nd Indian Science Congress was held at which place: Mumbai

30) Who is the author of the book ‘The Fault in Our Stars’: John Green

31) Name the senior politician who has authored the book titled, ‘At Home in India: The Muslim Saga’: Salman Khurshid

32) The RBI has signed an information sharing agreement with which country for better coordination in supervising financial institutions: Unite States of America

33) As per revised norms, NBFCs have been asked to review KYC norms in their high risk category accounts every _________ years: Two

34) Two commemorative coins of Rs 100 and five were released in the honour of Tata Group founder ________________ to mark his 175th birth anniversary: Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata

35) Indian railways runs the Maitree Express train


between which two stations: Kolkata – Dhaka 36) Name the project launched by government for

under taking eco friendly development of the rural areas: Green India Mission

37) Govt. has launched domestic efficient lighting programme in Delhi. What is the highlight of this project: LED bulbs to be supplied at an initial payment of Rs. 10

38) What is the full form of LED: Light Emitting Diodes

39) What is the name of the customized low-cost combination of phone and tablet computer launched for farmers by ICRISAT: Greenphablet

40) Write the full form of the abbreviation ICRISAT: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics

41) Headquarters of ICRISAT are located at which place: Near Hyderabad, Telangana

42) India is on way to join the global high-end scientific Neutrino Club as the government has approved a high level research laboratory in __________ field in Tamil Nadu: High energy physics

43) Amitabh Bachchan has been appointed as the brand Ambassador for health sector by which State: Andhra Pradesh

44) The 19th National Youth Festival began in ___________on Jan 8: Guwahati

45) The theme for 19th National Youth Festival is_______________: Youth for Clean, Green and Progressive India

46) Which union ministry has launched a toll-free helpline (1800-11-0031) to assist the alcoholic and drug-dependent persons: Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

47) As per a Labour Bureau survey, unemployment rate in the country rose to ______per cent in 2013-14, mainly on account of increase in joblessness in rural areas: 4.9

48) Name the satirical weekly of France whose office was attacked recently by Islamic militants, killing over 12 persons: Charlie Hebdo

49) Millions of people around the world expressed their solidarity with the slain French journalists by using the hash tag # Je Suis Charlie on Twitter. What is its meaning: I am Charlie

50) Name the senior Indian diplomat who has been named as the new Under-Secretary-General, Department of Field Support (DFS) in UNO: ATUL KHARE

51) Which bank recently launched the country’s first contactless debit and credit cards that use the near-field communication (NFC) technology, enabling customer to make payments by just waving the card near merchant terminals instead of swiping the same: ICICI Bank

52) India has agreed to provide 60 million dollars Line of Credit – LoC to Guyana for its road infrastructure projects. Where is it located: On Northern border of Brazil

53) Modibo Keita has been elected as Prime Minister

of which country: Mali 54) The country Mali is located in which part of the

world: West Africa 55) Hampi Utsav – 2015 a three-day mega cultural

festival of dance, drama, art and music was held in which State: Karnataka

56) Ancient town of Hampi in Karnataka was the capital of which empire: Vijayanagar Empire

57) Scientists have discovered a powerful new antibiotic which can kill an array of germs without the bugs easily becoming resistant to it. What is its name: Teixobactin

58) India will provide Rs 6.90 crore support to Nepal for fighting against the Iodine Deficiency Disorder Control Programme (IDDCP) for control of which ailment: Goitre

59) In which country militants of Boko Haram massacred over 2000 persons in towns around Baga: Nigeria

60) Tshering Tobgay, who recently visited India is the _________ of Bhutan: Prime Minister

61) Who has been elected as new President of Sri Lanka: Maithripala Sirisena

62) In which State governor rule was imposed on January 9, 2015: Jammu & Kashmir

63) Why has governors rule been imposed in J & K: No party staked claim to form the government

64) 15 prominent NRIs were conferred which honour at the recently held Pravasi Bharatiya Divas: Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award

65) In whose honour, the coins of the denomination of Rs. 100 and Rs. 10 and the stamps of value of Rs 25 and Rs 5 were released at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas: Mahatama Gandhi

66) National Youth Day is observed on which date: 12th January

67) Why January 12 is observed as National Youth Day: It is birthday of Swami Vivekananda

68) Name the star footballer who won the FIFA Ballon d'Or award for 2014: Cristiano Ronaldo

69) Name the ace tennis player who reached the 1,000 ATP Tour wins milestone as he won the Brisbane International title on Jan 11: Roger Federer

70) In the field of tennis, the abbreviation ATP stands for: Association of Tennis Professional

71) Who has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization: A S Kiran Kumar

72) Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic has been elected as the first women President of which country: Croatia

73) Which airline has been selected as the safest airline in the world for 2015: Quantas

74) Quantas is the official air carrier of which country: Australia

75) A new vaccine ‘Raksha Blue’ has been launched to counter which deadly disease in farm animals: Bluetongue

76) Election commission has announced 7th February as the date for assembly elections in which State: Delhi


77) Golden Globe awards are given in which field: Cinema

78) Golden Globe award are given in which country: USA

79) Which film won the Golden Globe 2015 for the best motion picture: Boyhood

80) Name the Secretary, Defence Research and Development cum Director General, DRDO and Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister who was in news as he was removed by the govt. from his seat, 15 months before his contract was to end: Avinash Chander

81) Raghuram Rajan, Governor, RBI was selected as the ‘Governor of the Year’ by international magazine Central Banking. This magazine is from which country: Britain

82) Country’s first compressed natural gas (CNG) - powered train was flagged on January 13 from which place: Rewari, Haryana

83) Encouraged by the India’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, the United Kingdom announced which campaign to forge collaborations with Indian companies: Great Collaborations

84) Nabard has signed an MoU with which Indian Institute of Management, to set up a Chair to encourage research in climate change, rural livelihood and financial inclusion, among others: IIM, Ahmedabad

85) India and ____________have signed a joint agreement to implement the third phase of the agriculture cooperation project for next three years, 2015-18: Israel

86) Which bank bagged three awards, including the ‘award for the best bank’ at the annual flagship event "MSME Banking Excellence Awards-2014" at Bengaluru: Canara Bank

87) Which Bank on Jan 13 launched a savings bank account christened as Jifi Saver, which can be managed via Twitter and Facebook: Kotak Mahindra Bank

88) Which Indian space project has won the 2015 Space Pioneer Award in the science and engineering category from the US based National Space Society (NSS): Mass Orbiter Mission

89) Which district in Kerala became the first district in the country to have all its gram panchayats connected through National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) - hi-speed rural broadband network: Idukki

90) The first Border Haat (market) along with Bangladesh frontier was opened on 13 January 2015 in which State: Tripura

91) Which country has launched an Online Visa Pilot Programme to make it easier for Indian business and tourism visitors to apply online visa: Australia

92) Name the Indian professional golfer who has been voted as the 2014 Players’ Player of the year in Asian Tour: Anirban Lahiri

93) Name the new Chief Election Commissioner of India: H S Brahma

94) The Reserve Bank of India cut down repo rate by 25

basis points to 7.75 percent from 8 percent. What will be the new Bank Rate: 8.75 per cent

95) Bank Rate of Reserve Bank of India is calibrated with which other policy rate: Marginal Standing Facility

96) Which top IT company of India has promised the Prime Minister to invest $250 million for funding innovations in software and services in India: Infosys

97) Who is the appointing authority for Chief Election Commissioner: President of India

98) What is the tenure of Chief Election Commissioner: 6 years

99) The official status of Chief Election Commissioner is equivalent to which other post: Judge of Supreme Court

100) Which area of Uttar Pradesh was in news as around 50 lives were lost there due to a hooch tragedy that occurred in its nearby villages: Malihabad, Lucknow

101) Bhakti Sharma, India's 24 year old open water swimmer has set a world record by swimming 2.25 kms in 52 minutes in one degree temperature in which ocean: Antarctic Ocean

102) 76th Table Tennis National Championship was held at which place: Puducherry

103) The Red Sari by Javier Moro is a book return about which Indian political celebrity: Sonia Gandhi

104) Chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification recently resigned from her post. What is her name: Ms. Leela Samson

105) Which Bollywood celebrity has been conferred Social Media Person of the year award 2015 by the Internet and Mobile Association of India: Amitabh Bachchan

106) Name the new indigenously built fighter aircraft recently inducted in the Indian Air Force: Tejas

107) Tejas is a LCA acquired by the Indian Air Force. What is the full form of LCA: Light Combat Aircraft

108) Stephen Constantine has been appointed head coach of which Indian sports team: Men's Football

109) Sania Mirza along with her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands won doubles title at which international tournament in Australia: Sydney International Tennis Tournament

110) Giraffe Hero Award is given for excellence in which field: Social Work

111) Which State has appointed yoga guru Ramdev as the state's brand ambassador to promote yoga and ayurveda in a big way: Haryana

112) Which state has banned the sale of loose cigarettes (as single sticks) and loose tobacco, becoming the first State to do so: Punjab

113) Which State has been selected, for the first time, for National e-Governance Award 2014-15 for the best district- level initiative in the country: Jammu & Kashmir

114) In a bid to promote entrepreneurship among the Scheduled Castes (SCs), which Ministry launched


two schemes for funding ventures setup by them: Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

115) Name the Australian cricketer, rated as third fastest bowler in world, who announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after a 20-year career: Brett Lee

116) Name the cueist who won the National Billiards Championship held at Kolkata: Pankaj Advani

117) Name the cricketer who recently hit the fastest century in one-day internationals cricket history: AB de Villiers

118) _________ state to host the 35th National Games: Kerala

119) Asia’s biggest literary event was recently held in which city: Jaipur

120) Name the Indian-American author who won the coveted DSC Prize for Literature at the Jaipur Literature Festival: Jhumpa Lahiri

121) _________ was declared as the winner of inaugural Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize Literature at the Jaipur Literature Festival: Arunadhathi Subramaniam

122) Name the film producer who has been appointed as the Chairman, Central Board of Film Certification: Pahlaj Nihalani

123) A report by the IMF says that India is expected to grow at 6.3 per cent this year and 6.5 per cent in 2016 by when it is likely to cross growth rate of which country: China

124) The 79th Senior National Badminton Championship held in ________ from January 29 to February 5: Vijayawada

125) Name the Indian runner who broke the 19-year-old women marathon national record at the 12th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon in Mumbai: O P Jaisha

126) In which country the Houthi rebels seized the Presidential palace in the capital Sanaa, forcing the President to resign: Yemen

127) As per the recent tiger census in India, ________ State has highest number of tigers: Karnataka

128) As per a study by Edelman, India has been placed at _____ rank in world in terms of faith reposed by its citizens in its institutions: 2nd

129) Name the noted political scientist, founder of Centre for the Study of Developing Societies who passed away recently: Rajni Kothari

130) With which country India signed an agreement on transfer of prisoners who are completing their sentence there: Hong Kong

131) Name the author of the book “Geek Sublime: The Beauty of Code, the Code of Beauty”: Vikram Chandra

132) The prestigious National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Awards are given in which country: USA

133) Jimjang Deru of Arunachal Pradesh recently created national record in which sports: Weight Lifting

134) Which international organization has decided to lift a seven-month-long ban on the import of mangoes from India: European Union

135) Veteran journalist Malini Parthasarathy has been appointed as the first women editor of a century old national news paper: The Hindu

136) The government has launched HRIDAY to preserve and rejuvenate the rich cultural heritage of the country. Write full form of HRIDAY: Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana

137) What is the name of the Microsoft’s voice controlled assistant to be introduced in its new operating system - Windows 10: Cortana

138) India has allowed duty free access to which country’s export products in Indian markets under the Agreement of South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA): Afghanistan

139) Name the scheme launched by the Prime Minister to save and empower the girl child: Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao

140) Which Bollywood celebrity has been appointed as brand ambassador of Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign: Madhuri Dixit

141) A special savings scheme by the name ________ has been launched to encourage special savings for girl child: Sukanya Samriddhi Account

142) What is the rate of interest payable in the Sukanya Samriddhi Account: 9.1% per annum

143) A maximum amount of Rs. ______ can be deposited in a financial year in the Sukanya Samriddhi Account: 1,50,000

144) Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, King of Saudi Arabia was in news recently for what reasons: He passed away

145) India’s first International Institute of Music will be set up in _____ by a trust headed by Sarod Maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his family: Kerala

146) In which country its first women premier was impeached on Jan 23 for corruption charges: Thailand

147) Lee Wan Koo has been appointed new Prime Minister of which Asian country: South Korea

148) The Reserve Bank has allowed Indians to carry high value notes of Rs 500 /1000 while travelling to _______ and _____with a cap of Rs 25,000 on the total amount: Nepal, Bhutan

149) The World Economic Forum's five-day annual jamboree of the global elite started on Jan 20 at______, Switzerland: Davos

150) Which Ministry has launched a new organisation “National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited” (NHIDCL) to promote the road construction: Road Transport and Highways Ministry

151) Name the controversial Australian bowler who has been named Australia's young cricketer of the year, winning the Sir Bradman Award: Sean Abbott

152) In a major boost to the jute sector, govt. has approved mandatory packaging of _____ and _____ in jute material to minimum extent of up to 90 per cent of production: Sugar and Foodgrains

153) RBI has advised that RRBs with assets less than $175 million need not to register under the US law FATCA. Write the full form of FATCA: Foreign


Account Tax Compliance Act 154) Govt plans to set up a ‘Price Stabilisation Fund’

(PSF), with a corpus of Rs 500 crore for what purpose: To control price fluctuations in fruits and vegetables

155) The proposed price stabilization fund will initially focus on which two commodities for their price regulation: Onions and Potatoes

156) With which country India signed MoUs for formulating action plans for development of smart cities in Allahabad, Ajmer and Visakhapatnam: USA

157) Govt plans to introduce a new Consumer Price Index with ________ as base year for computing retail inflation rate: 2012

158) India has been ranked _______ globally in terms of talent competitiveness of its human capital, indicating acute shortage of skilled workforce: 78th

159) The Expenditure Management Commission, headed by_______, has recommended to the government that it cut fiscal deficit to 3.6 per cent of the GDP during 2015-16: Bimal Jalan

160) Which Bank has launched Jifi Saver, a social savings bank account which can be seamlessly managed via Twitter and Facebook: Kotak Mahindra Bank

161) Who has been appointed as the new Union Foreign Secretary of India: S. Jaishankar

162) Country’s first geothermal heating plant was launched successfully by the Snow and Avalanche Studies Establishment of DRDO at its _____(HP) campus: Manali

163) R K Laxman, the legendary cartoonist who passed away recently is known for the iconic cartoon character named ________:The Common Man

164) Veteran cartoonist R K Laxman was associated with which news paper: The Times of India

165) Name the highest peacetime military honour awardaed posthumously to Major Mukund Varadarajan and Naik Neeraj Kumar Singh on Republic Day: Ashok Chakra

166) Paulina Vega of Columbia has been crowned with which international beauty pageant: Miss Universe

167) Name the new national champion of snooker in men’s category: Pankaj Advani

168) The Reserve Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding on “Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information” with central bank of which country: Brazil

169) Which Indian bank signed an agreement with U.S. government’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation for $220 million loan for on-lending to micro, small and medium enterprises: Yes Bank

170) Pooja Thakur, the first woman to lead the ceremonial tri-service guard of honour inspected by Mr. Obama is from which wing of Indian Defence Forces: Air Force

171) Which MNC recorded highest ever quarterly profit of $18 billion in quarter ending December 2014: Apple Inc.

172) Name the legal luminary, a senior advocate who has been awarded Padma Bhushan recently: Harish

Salve 173) Mr. Subhash Kashyap who has been honoured with

Padma Bhushan is an authority in which field: Constitutional Expert

174) Name the noted philanthropist couple honoured recently with Padma Bhushan: Bill Gates and Melinda Gates

175) Name the noted TV journalist honoured with Padma Bhushan this year: Rajat Sharma

176) Name the veteran politician, a serving Chief Minister who has been decorated with Padma Vibhushan this year: Prakash Singh Badal

177) Name the two noted bollywood actors who have been honoured with Padma Vibhushan this year: Amitabh Bachhan and Dilip Kumar

178) Name the UK businessman and spiritual leader who has been honoured with Pamda Vibhushan this year: Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan

179) Sportsperson Mithali Raj has been honoured with Padma Shri. She is from which sports: Cricket

180) Name the women badminton player honoured with Padma Shri award this year: PV Sindhu

181) Noted film personality Prasoon Joshi who has been awarded Padma Shri is from which field of film industry: Lyricist

182) Jhumpa Lahiri has been awarded DSC Prize 2015 for literature for her book : The Lowland

183) India's FDI increased by 26 per cent in 2014 to an estimated 35 billion US dollar. Maximum FDI was attracted by which sector of economy: Services

184) To meet the fiscal deficit, the government sold 10 per cent stake in which state owned company to raise about Rs 24,000 crore: Coal India Ltd

185) Which country will host the 2016 Twenty 20 World Cup from 11th of March to 3rd of April 2016: India

186) Name the Former chief of Gorkha National Liberation Front, who gave birth to the Gorkhaland movement, who died recently: Subash Ghishing

187) As per revised guidelines, winners of Gold medal in international sports events will now get Rs. __________: 75 lacs

188) Jaswant Sing Rajput who won two times gold medal for India in Olympics, passed away recently. He was from which Sports: Hockey

189) The Payment Banks are not allowed to undertake which major banking function: Giving Loans

190) The payment banks are not allowed to accept deposits beyond Rs. ___________: One lac

DECEMBER – 2014 191) Name the Russian film that won the Golden Peacock

for the best film at the International Film Festival of India: Leviathan

192) The Golden Peacock Award for the best film carries a cash award of __________ rupees: 40 lac

193) Noted film maker Wong Kar Wai was conferred the lifetime achievement award at IFFI. He is from which country: China


194) Worlds Aids Day is observed on which date: December 1st

195) What is the full form of HIV infection: Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

196) In the abbreviation of AIDS, the letter S stands for what: Syndrome

197) Which Southeast Asian country has launched a Tamil version of National Day Song: Singapore

198) Name the Indian footballer who has been given Hall of Fame Award in Manila: Baichung Bhutia

199) Name the Indian woman badminton player who won the Macau Grand Prix Gold trophy at Macau, China: PV Sindhu

200) Jarbom Gamlin who passed away recently was a formal Chief Minister of which State: Arunachal Pradesh

201) Govt. has deiced to observe 25th December as which day: National Good Governance Day

202) National Good Governance Day is observed in the honour of which national leader: Atal Behari Vajpayee

203) Name the noted Bollywood comedy actor who passed away recently: Deven Verma

204) A R Antulay, former Chief Minister of Maharashtra passed away recently. He was from which political party: Congress

205) In a gruesome attack naxalites killed 14 CRPF personnel in Sukma district of _________ state: Chhattisgarh

206) Tabare Vazquez has been elected as President of which South American country: Uruguay

207) Who has been appointed as the new Director of Central Bureau of Investigation: Anil Kumar Sinha

208) The international prize for art – Turner Prize is given in which country: UK

209) Niryat Shree and Niryat Bandhu Awards are given in which field: For excellence in exports

210) Which bank won the Niryat Bandhu Silver Trophy for excellence in exports: Canara Bank

211) As per data released by the Central Statistics Office on Nov 28, the economy slowed in the quarter ending Sep 30, growing at _____per cent only: 5.3

212) American geologists have named the earth’s most abundant ________as ‘Bridgmanite’: Mineral

213) The world climate change conference was held at which place: Lima, Peru

214) The recent world climate change conference was organized by UNFCCC. What is the full form of UNFCCC: UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

215) As per the Corruption Perceptions Index–2014 released by the Transparency International, India stands at ___ position among 175 countries: 85th

216) As per the Corruption Perceptions Index–2014, which country is least corrupt in world: Denmark

217) Name the India’s recently tested nuclear – capable strategic ballistic missile having a range of about 4000 kms: Agni IV

218) Name the system launched by RBI to help consumers pay multiple bills like electricity,

telephone and school fees at a single point of transaction: Bharat Bill Payment System

219) Which organization has been appointed as the nodal body for implementing Bharat Bill Payment System: National Payment Corporation of India

220) Government has fixed an export target of $______ billion for the current fiscal: 340

221) India recently launched GSAT-16 satellite for what purpose: Communications

222) The communication satellite GSAT-16 was launched at which place: Kourou in French Guiana

223) United Nations has declared which day as International Yoga Day: June 21

224) Why June 21 has been selected as World Yoga Day: This is the longest day thus having maximum energy

225) Which state recently launched “Mobile one” e-governance initiative to enable public to access 4000 govt/ private services on their mobile phones just by dialing 161: Karnataka

226) Blind Cricket World Cup was recently held at which place: Cape Town, South Africa

227) Name the country that won the Blind Cricket World Cup 2014: India

228) RBI has hiked the limit for pre-paid payment instruments (PPI) to Rs. _________ from Rs. 50,000 at present: One Lac

229) Name the legendary jurist, a Supreme Court judge, and post-retirement, a human rights activist who passed away recently: V.R. Krishna Iyer

230) Deodhar trophy is related to which place: Cricket 231) Deodhar trophy 2014 was lifted by which team:

East Zone 232) Which US firm has been selected for supply of 16

multirole helicopters for the Indian Navy: Sikorsky 233) Government has asked PSUs to ensure that they

procure 20 percent of their requirements from the products manufactured by MSME Units. What is meant by MSME: Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

234) Who has been appointed as the new US Defence Secretary: Ashton Carter

235) On December 5, NASA launched Orion spacecraft atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket. It is what type of spacecraft: Returnable Spacecraft

236) Name the author of the book “2014: The Election That Changed India”: Rajdeep Sardesai

237) Which Indian state got its first rail link on Nov. 29, 2014: Meghalaya

238) As per the 2013 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index, India has been placed at which position: 65th

239) Death anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar – 6 December is observed as what day: Mahaparinirwan Divas

240) United Nations General Assembly has declared 2015 as the International Year of _______: Soils

241) Japan recently launched explorer Hayabusa 2 for what purpose: For exploring asteroids

242) With which country Andhra Pradesh signed a MoU for development of new capital: Singapore


243) The UNICEF has said that 2014 has been “devastating” for some 15 million ______caught up in violent conflicts around the world: Children

244) Ms. Wang Patraporn has been selected as Miss Intercontinental 2014. She is from which country: Thailand

245) In which country typhoon Hagupit caused wide spread devastation on December 7: Philippines

246) The government has decided to decriminalise “attempt to suicide” by deleting which section of the Indian Penal Code: 309

247) The Union Cabinet has cleared a proposal for setting up of a 500 crore rupees Credit Guarantee Fund for Factoring for MSME units. What is factoring: Collection of receivables of business units

248) The first Arabic translation of the Indian Constitution has been launched recently in which country: Egypt

249) Name the entity that has been selected as the ‘Person of the Year 2014’ by Time magazine: Ebola Fighters

250) Name the Sri Lanka President who visited India to offer prayers at the Lord Venkateswara temple in Andhra Pradesh: Mahinda Rajapaksa

251) Which Indian bank has launched two indices to track manufacturing activity and offer forward looking economic trends: State Bank of India

252) Which country has become the 181st member of Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA): Bhutan

253) As per the Web Index 2014 India has been placed at which rank in terms of internet's contribution to social, economic and political progress: 48th

254) Union government mopped up around 1715 crore rupees with the sale of 5 percent stake recently in which of its PSU: Steel Authority of India Ltd.

255) Noted corporate personality Azim Premji has been awarded Swiss Ambassador's Award. He is chairman of which company: Wipro Ltd.

256) The Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) links Ludhiana in Punjab to __________ near Kolkata: Dankuni

257) India’s most prestigious Indian classical music function – The Tansen Sangeet Samaroh was held at which place: Gwalior, MP

258) INS Circars, the oldest naval establishment on the Eastern seaboard celebrated its Platinum Jubilee. It is located at which place: Visakhapatnam

259) Russian President Vladimir Putin visited India to attend which important meeting: 15th India-Russia annual summit

260) Who is Arunima Sinha, writer of the book “Born Again on the Mountain”: First Indian female amputee to climb Mount Everest

261) The World Diamond Congress was held at which place in India: New Delhi

262) The Druzhba – Dosti concept relates to strengthening of the bilateral partnership of India with which country: Russia

263) Name the book by Akhil Sharma that has been selected by The New York Times Book Review as

one of the ten Best Books of 2014: Family Life 264) In which country police forcefully ended the more

than two month old street demonstration - Occupy Central: Hong Kong

265) The 14th Finance Commission submitted its report on December 11 to which authority: President of India

266) Who is the head of the 14th Finance Commission: Y V Reddy

267) What is the purpose of setting the finance commission: To decide the devolution of tax receipts from the Centre to the states

268) The recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission shall be applicable from ______ to 31st March, 2020: 1st April, 2015

269) To promote electronic payments, the Reserve Bank of India has increased the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) business hours to 12 hours from ________ to _____ on weekdays: 8 am, 8 pm

270) Name the recent international chess title won by Viswanathan Anand: London Classic

271) Name the indigenous nuclear-powered submarine that for the first time sailed out for sea-trials on Dec 16: INS Arihant

272) Name the beauty queen that has been selected as Miss World 2014: Rolene Strauss

273) Miss World 2014, Rolene Strauss is from which country: South Africa

274) National Energy Conservation Day is observed on which date: Dec 14

275) Who is the author of the book ‘In God’s Hands’: Desmond Tutu

276) Who is Desmond Tutu, winner of Templeton Prize: Archbishop from South Africa

277) Name the new chief of the Intelligence Bureau: Dineshwar Sharma

278) Who has been re-elected as the Prime Minister of Japan: Shinzo Abe

279) Champions Trophy is related to which sports: Hockey

280) Champions Trophy 2014 was won by which country: Germany

281) Champions Trophy 2014 was held at which city in India: Bhubaneswar

282) Confucius Peace Prize, also known as China's version of the Nobel Prize, has been given to which person for 2014: Fidel Castro, Former Cuban leader

283) Vivek Murthy, the 37 year old Indian origin doctor in USA was in news for what reasons: He has been appointed Surgeon General of USA

284) Olof Palme Human Rights Prize is given in which country: Sweden

285) Nasa's Curiosity rover has recently detected methane on which planet: Mars

286) Government has approved the continuation of interest subvention for short-term crop loans up to Rs _______ to farmers: 3 lakh

287) Which state has won the Krishi Karman Award for the year 2013-14 for showing exemplary agri-


performance in 14 different categories: Arunachal Pradesh

288) Which bank has launched its mobile banking application by the name ‘Bank Aapki Muththi Mein’: HDFC Bank

289) Name the heaviest ever rocket, weighing 630 tonnes launched by ISRO on Dec 18: GSLV Mark III

290) GSLV Mark III carried CARE as its payload which is an Indian-made unmanned crew module. What is full form of CARE: Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment

291) USA has announced a series of steps aimed at normalising relations with which country: Cuba

292) Name the two banks that have been fined recently by the RBI for violation of KYC norms: ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda

293) Union Cabinet recently approved a constitutional amendment bill on which important tax issue: Goods and Services Tax

294) Name the super power whose economy is in deep trouble due to economic sanctions imposed on it and huge loss on account of steep fall in oil prices: Russia

295) Opening ceremony for the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2015 shall be held at which place: Melbourne, Australia

296) Tashi Malik and Nungshi Malik, the twin sisters from Dehradun were in news for what reasons: They completed scaling highest peaks

297) Name the beauty queen selected as the Miss Universal Peace & Humanity 2014: Ruhi Singh

298) Miss Universal Peace & Humanity 2014 contest was held at which place: Beirut, Lebanon

299) What is the name of the new Prime Minister of Mauritius: Anerood Jugnauth

300) Among the chief ministers serving currently, who is the Chief Minister with longest tenure of 20 years: Pawan Chamling

301) Pawan Chamling, who completed 20 years as Chief Minister on Dec 12. He is from which State: Sikkim

302) In India the record for longest tenure as Chief Minister, 23 years, 4 months is held by which person: Jyoti Basu

303) Chunibhai Vaidya, a veteran Gandhian and freedom fighter passed away recently. He is from which state: Gujarat

304) Rajinder Khanna has been appointed head of which national intelligence agency: Research and Analysis Wing

305) Prakash Mishra has been appointed head of which paramilitary force: CRPF

306) The festival of Losar celebrated to mark the beginning of new year is observed at which place in India: Ladakh, J & K

307) Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas to be held from 7th to 9th January, 2015 will be which number in series: 13th

308) 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas will be held at which place: Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat

309) Which Indian cricketer has been named as the brand ambassador of ICC cricket world cup 2015:

Sachin Tendulkar 310) Name the Indian golfer who won the Inaugural

edition of Dubai Open Golf Championship title: Arjun Atwal

311) Name the winning team of the Indian Super League Football Championship: Atletico De Kolkata

312) Beji Caid Essebsi has been elected as President of which African Country: Tunisia

313) Which Indian State has decided to set up a Cultural University to promote its rich cultural heritage: Manipur

314) Klaus Iohannis has been elected as __________ of Romania: President

315) Govt. has decided to pay __ % interest on provident fund deposits of Employees Provident Fund Organisation: 8.75%

316) International Tennis Federation (ITF) has declared __________ as the men’s player of the year 2014: Novak Djokovic

317) _______ has been named as the women player of the year 2014 by International Tennis Federation: Serena Williams

318) The authorize capital of the Regional Rural Banks has been raised from Rs.5 crore at present to Rs. _______ crore: 2000

319) The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has advised that the new IFRS norms shall be applicable from April 1, 2015. What is the full form of IFRS: International Financial Reporting Standards

320) Recently RBI has released a new set of norms defining which type of borrowers: Non Cooperative Borrowers

321) Jyotsna Suri has recently been elected as President of the prominent national trade body – FICCI. What is the full form of FICCI: Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry

322) Name the President of Bangla Desh who visited Kolkata recently: Abdul Hamid

323) Name the NASA’s planet-hunting spacecraft which discovered a ‘super-Earth’ located 180 light-years from Earth: Kepler

324) As per a recent survey which are the two top culprits for highest global carbon-dioxide emissions from burning of fossil fuels: China and United States– 29 and 15 per cent

325) British Queen has honoured noted Pakistan-born poetess Imtiaz Dharker for her poetry collection ‘Over the Moon’ with which award: Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry 2014

326) Joe Cocker who died recently was a famous ________ from the Colorado, USA: Rock Singer

327) Name the Indian player who won silver medal at the 17th Asian Luge Championship: Shiva Keshavan

328) 58th National Shooting Championships was held in which place: Pune

329) Vinicius – the cat, has been declared as mascot for which international sports event: 2016 Rio Olympics

330) Name the European space mission spacecraft that has been declared as the most important scientific


Breakthrough of the Year 2014: Rosetta 331) Bharat Ratna Award is given on recommendation of

which authority: Prime Minister 332) The declaration for Bharat Ratna Award is made by

which authority: President 333) Name the eminent South Indian filmmaker and

Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner from Chennai who died recently: K. Balachander

334) The deadline for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes of various denominations, including 500 and 1,000 rupees, has been extended upto which date: June 30, 2015

335) The World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad at Gyor in Hungary was won by which country: India

336) For the first time, India exported an indigenously built war ship to which country: Mauritius

337) For the first time, India exported an indigenously built war ship to a foreign country. It was what type of ship: Offshore Patrol Vessel

338) Which online shopping portal has announced the launch of ‘Agri Store’, offering online products like seeds, fertilizer and irrigation tools etc.: Snapdeal.com

339) Name the new Chief Minister of Jharkhand: Raghubar Das

340) Govt. has launched which programme to cover all those children by 2020 who are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated against seven vaccine preventable diseases: Mission Indradhnaush

341) Government has decided to set-up _______________to provide counseling to consumers in redressal of their grievances and assist them in registering their complaints in the appropriate consumer forums: Grahak Suvidha Kendras (Consumer care centres)

342) Union Cabinet approved promulgation of the ordinance on Insurance Bill to raise foreign investment cap in the insurance sector from 26 to _________ per cent: 49

343) Union Cabinet opened the medical devices sector to foreign investment by allowing ______per cent FDI in these devices: 100

344) Which private sector bank has raised $200 million loan from Asian Development Bank for onward lending to small farm households and rural women self help groups (SHGs): Yes Bank

345) Name the head of the committee setup to examine the possibility of forming a Special Investigation Team for re investigation of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases: Justice G P Mathur

346) Who has been selected as one of the top ten scientists in 2014 chosen by the prestigious science journal of UK-Nature: Dr. K. Radhakrishnan

347) A new train - The Sushaasan (good governance) Express was launched on Dec 25, from which place to which place: Gwalior to Gonda

348) Ankita Raina won ITF singles tennis title becoming the first Indian to win this title in past 14 years. This match was played at which place: Pune

349) Name the cricketer who broke the world record for

most number of stumpings in international cricket after he claimed his 134th victim: M S Dhoni

350) Which country has been assigned the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first half of 2015: Latvia

351) Which southeastern country suffered worst flooding in decades forcing some 1,18,000 people to flee to safer places: Malaysia

352) Name the wheeled version of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Nishant, recently tested by DRDO: Panchi

353) Name the mission that aims at creating an environment for producing high quality teachers: Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching

354) Which country recently successfully test fired its Angara-A5 rocket: Russia

355) Name the country that has decided to join North Atlantic Treaty Organization: Ukraine

356) Which Indian bowler has been banned by BCCI as his bowling action was found illegal: Pragyan Ojha

357) World Bank will lend Rs 475 crore ($75 million) to the ___________Government for implementing a rural growth project: Andhra Pradesh

358) The Reserve Bank released a charter of customer rights on Dec.3 that lays down ____________basic rights that bank customers enjoy: Five

359) Pragyan Ojha was banned as his bowling action was found illegal, flexing elbow beyond ___degrees: 15

360) Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching was launched on 25th December at which place: BHU, Varanasi

NOVEMBER – 2014 361) Julian Burnside, Human rights advocate and

barrister from Australia was honoured recently with which international prize: Sydney Peace Prize 2014

362) Sydney Peace Prize is awarded by which organization: Sydney University

363) Mithra Shakthi, the three weeks Joint military exercise was conducted between India and which other country: Sri Lanka

364) Mithra Shakthi military exercise was held at which place: Sri Lanka

365) What was the name of the 4th Joint anti terrorism military exercise held by Indian and Chinese forces: Hand in Hand 2014

366) The 4th Hand in Hand 2014 joint exercise of Indian and Chinese forces was held at which place: Pune

367) Which state aims at construction of 10 lakh toilets by 2018 to make the state completely free from open defecation: Karnataka

368) The Union Government has decided on 29th October, to relax FDI norms in the ____________sector, allowing 100 per cent of foreign funds in building projects: Constructions

369) Govt has fixed rupees _______ per quintal as the Minimum Support Price for wheat for 2014-15


season: 1450 370) Name the Indian cricketer who was inducted into

the Bradman Hall of Fame on 5th October at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia: Sachin Tendulkar

371) Name the former Union Carbide chief, wanted in India in connection with the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, who passed away recently: Warren Anderson

372) Name the India’s ace shooter who became the first Indian to be elected as Chairman of International Shooting Sport Federation's (ISSF) Athletes Committee: Abhinav Bindra

373) Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani teenage rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner was in news for donating $50,000 for what purpose: To help rebuild UN schools in Gaza

374) Name the Mumbai Cinema actor, winner of two Filmfare awards who passed away in November: Sadashiv Amrapurkar

375) Duleep Trophy 2014 was won by which zone: Central Zone

376) Duleep Trophy is for which sports: Cricket 377) 43rd Handball National Championship (women’s) was

held at which place: Mastuana Sahib, Punjab 378) The Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia

Flowers is the high level national civilian award of which country: Japan

379) Name the Indian dignitary who was honoured with The Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers: Manmohan Singh

380) World Trade Center, New York was in news recently for what reasons: It has been re-constructed and restarted

381) President Pranab Mukherjee recently visited which neighbouring country of India: Bhutan

382) Recently a warship of Indian Navy sunk off the Visakhapatnam coast during a naval exercise. What type of ship it was: Torpedo Recovery Vessel

383) The Central Government has allocated five thousand crore rupees under AYUSH Mission for what purpose: For promoting traditional methods of treatment in the country

384) Children's Film Society of India organised the first edition of the National Children's Film Festival from 14 to 16 Nov at which place: New Delhi

385) Paris-based think tank, OECD has projected 5.4 percent growth for the Indian economy this year. What is the full form of OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

386) Who is Dmitry Rogozin, who visited India to attend 20th session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission: Deputy Prime Minister of Russia

387) In the Forbes list of the world's most powerful people for 2014, Mr. Modi has been placed at which rank: 15th

388) As per the Forbes list of the world's most powerful people for 2014, who has been placed at the top of the list: Vladimir Putin

389) Who has been appointed as the new Chairperson of

the Central Board of Direct Taxes: Anita Kapur 390) 54th National Open Athletics Championships held at

which place: New Delhi 391) Who was adjudged the best female athlete in the

54th National Open Athletics Championships: Tintu Luka

392) Who was adjudged the best male athlete in the 54th National Open Athletics Championships: Ankit Sharma

393) Tintu Luka, winner of the best national athlete (female) is from which sport: Racing

394) Ankit Sharma, winner of the best national athlete (male) is from which sports: Long Jump

395) Name the India’s fast bowler who has won this year's ICC’s LG People's Choice Award: Bhuvneshwar Kumar

396) Name the batsman who became the quickest cricketer to reach 6,000 runs in ODIs: Virat Kohli

397) Virat Kohli achieved the landmark of 6,000 runs in ODIs playing against which country: Sri Lanka

398) The Indian Army’s team of eight Garhwalis won the rigorous endurance competition Cambrain Patrol in which country: Wales, UK

399) Name the region of Spain which is agitating for its separation from Spain: Catalonia

400) Name the village near Varanasi that has been adopted for development by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi under ‘Sansad Gram Yojna’: Jayapur

401) Laxmikant Parsekar has been appointed as the new Chief Minister of which state: Goa

402) What is the strike range of recently test fired ballistic missile Agni – II: 2,000 kms

403) Name the India’s first indigenous Light Combat Aircraft’s two-seater trainer jet: Tejas

404) Recently Germany observed silver jubilee of demolition of which historical monument: Berlin Wall

405) With which country India signed a MoU for promoting the Nalanda University in Bihar: Bhutan

406) In collaboration with which country India has developed the long-range surface-to-air missile (LR-SAM) system with a range of 70 kms: Israel

407) Who has been named as the most-powerful business woman in India by Fortune Magazine: Arundhati Bhattacharya

408) RBI has made it mandatory for banks to send SMS alerts for which type of transactions: Cheque Transactions

409) Where in India country’s longest access controlled six lane expressway is being developed: Uttar Pradesh

410) Country’s longest access controlled six lane expressway shall be connecting which two cities: Lucknow–Agra

411) Lipulekh Pass through which border trade worth over Rs 3 crore took place between India and China this year lies in which state: Uttarakhand

412) India has inked a USD 200 million loan agreement with the World Bank to finance the setting up of


technology centres to help MSMEs enhance their productivity. What is full form of MSMEs: Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

413) The 45th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) was held at which place: Goa

414) Which was the focus country for this year’s International Film Festival of India: China

415) Which Cine Star was honoured with Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year at the 45th IFFI: Rajnikanth

416) Which two States have opened the bank accounts for all households in the state under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY): Kerala and Goa

417) 6th World Ayurveda Congress was held in which place: New Delhi

418) Durand Cup is related with which sports: Football 419) The 127th Durand Cup Championship was held at

which place: Goa 420) National Education Day is observed on which date:

November 11 421) Name the India’s first Education Minister in whose

honour National Education Day is observed on November 11: Maulana Abul Kalam

422) Unnat Bharat Abhiyaan has been launched for what purpose: To promote role of IITs/NITs in rural development

423) Name the portal launched to enable students for selecting the right college for their higher education: Know Your College

424) Govt. has launched SAMVAY to facilitate students to switch between education and jobs. The acronym SAMVAY stands for: Skill Assessment Matrix for Vocational Advancement of Youth

425) Name the two scholarship schemes launched for girls pursuing technical education at college level: Saksham and Pragati

426) ________ has been appointed Chairman of National Chemical Weapon Convention: G.S. Sandhu

427) National Cancer Awareness Day observed on which date: 7 November

428) At which place in India Suzlon Energy company installed the world’s tallest 120 meters high hybrid wind generator turbines: Kutch, Gujarat

429) As per recent reports from IMF, in October 2014, which country became the world’s largest economy in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP): China

430) Name the country who has become the first European Union (EU) country to officially recognise the State of Palestine: Sweden

431) Public Service Broadcasting Day is observed on 12th November to commemorate the first and only visit of which celebrity to All India Radio: Mahatma Gandhi

432) Gandhian Philosophy and Public Service Broadcasting Award 2014 has been won by which radio station: Radio Kashmir, Jammu

433) Name the world number one Badminton player who has been suspended due to an apparent anti-doping regulation violation: Lee Chong Wei

434) What was the name of the first ever manmade

mechanical device landed on a comet: Philae Probe

435) In the 10 day foreign visit of Prime Minister Modi in November, which was the first place visited by him: Nay Pyi Taw

436) How many members are there in the ASEAN group of nations: 10

437) Summit of ASEAN group of nations in November was held at which place: Nay Pyi Taw

438) Apart from 10 ASEAN countries, how many more countries are member of East Asian Summit: 8

439) ASEAN summit 2015 will be held in which country: Cambodia

440) While visiting Australia in November, Prime Minister Modi visited which city first of all: Brisbane

441) While visiting Australia in November, which was the last city visited by the Prime Minister Modi: Melbourne

442) What was the name of the venue in Sydney where Mr. Modi addressed Indian diaspora: Allphones Arena

443) At which place in Australia, Mr. Modi addressed the Australian Parliament: Canberra

444) Mr. Modi assured of life time visa to PIO and OCI card holders of Australia. What is the full form of PIO and OCI: Persons of Indian Origin; Overseas Citizens of India

445) Who is the constitutional head of Australia: British Monarch

446) __________ is the Prime Minister of Australia: Tony Abbott

447) __________ is the President of Myanmar: Thein Sein

448) Name the Oceanic Island country visited by Mr. Modi in November: Fiji

449) ___________ is the capital of Fiji: Suva 450) Govt. has notified BIS mark for 15 electronic

products, including mobile phones, power banks and LED lamps. BIS stands for: Bureau of Indian Standards

451) Which two countries have agreed on a timetable to limit emission of greenhouse gases — ending a 20-year discord between them: China and USA

452) The net own funds – NOF requirements for NBFCs has been raised from Rs.25 lakh at present to Rs._____ by March, 2016: One crore

453) As per a recent study, which city in India has the largest number (16.4 million) internet users: Mumbai

454) Who has been named as the captain of ICC ODI Team of the Year 2014: MS Dhoni

455) Who has been appointed as the new Union Financial Services Secretary (FSS): Hasmukh Adhia

456) Name the winner of 2014 World’s Children Prize: Malala Yousafzai

457) Name the Governor of South Caorlina state, USA who visited India recently: Nikki Haley


458) Name the Bollywood actor-director who became the first man in the history of “UN Women” to be appointed as its Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia: Farhan Akhtar

459) Rohit Sharma made history by scoring the highest individual score of 264 runs. He achieved this feet at which ground: Eden Garden Stadium, Kolkata

460) Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag, Indian Army Chief was conferred the title of honorary rank of General by which country: Nepal

461) Name the veteran film director from Bollywood, famous for his tele serial – Mahabharat and movie – Baghban, who passed away recently: Ravi Chopra

462) The IPI India Award for Excellence in Journalism, 2014, was awarded jointly to which two publications: Hindustan Times and The Week

463) The Indian army recently test-fired the Prithvi-II missile. What is the name of its naval version: Dhanush

464) Name the cricketer who won the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Sir Garfield Sobers trophy for the Cricketer of the Year award for 2014: Mitchell Johnson

465) Mitchell Johnson, winner of the Cricketer of the Year award for 2014 is from which country: Australia

466) Name the cricketer who was voted the ODI player of 2014: AB de Villiers

467) AB de Villiers is the batsman of which country: South Africa

468) 68th Senior National Aquatic Championship was held at which place: Kolkata

469) Name the tennis star who won the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Nov 16 at London: Novak Djokovic

470) Name the state that has been chosen for union government’s Best State Award for Empowerment of Disabled for year 2014: Madhya Pradesh

471) Which country will host the 16 nation Football tournament Africa Cup of Nations 2015: Equatorial Guinea

472) The India Economic Summit, sponsored by the World Economic Forum was held at which city in India: New Delhi

473) Govt of India has relaxed Indian citizenship norms for Hindu and Sikh refugees from which two countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan

474) Union Ministry of Minorities Affairs launched the Maulana Azad National Academy for Skills (MANAS) to impart training to youths in which sector: Health and Security Sector

475) Which UN organisation released first ever ‘Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality - Household Fuel Combustion’ to promote use of clean fuels at household level: World Health Organisation

476) 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit was held in which place: Beijing

477) The 2015 G 20 summit will be hosted by which country: Turkey

478) The 2016 G 20 summit will be hosted by which country: China

479) To help in its efforts to crack down on suspected black money stashed abroad, India signed which agreement with Saint Kitts & Nevis: Tax Information Exchange Agreement

480) With which country India has reached an agreement on public stockpiling of food in terms of Bali Package: USA

481) Which UN organisation is the coordinator for the Trade Facilitation Agreement: WTO

482) International Buddhist Conference was held in which place: Lumbini, Nepal

483) Men's singles title of the China Open Super Series Premier (Badminton) was won by: K Srikanth

484) Women’s singles title of the China Open Super Series Premier (Badminton) was won by: Saina Nehwal

485) China Open Super Series Premier (Badminton) was held in which city: Fuzhou, China

486) RBI has asked banks to give liberal loans to landless farmers to meet the govt’s target of financing five lakh JLGs in 2014-15. JLG stands for what: Joint Liability Group

487) Which city in India has set up a kiosk that lets anyone file an FIR at any time, irrespective of where an incident took place: Bengaluru

488) The foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) has allowed which bank to increase foreign investment in the bank to 74 per cent: HDFC Bank

489) Which senior global leader left the G 20 summit under protest, before its conclusion: Vladimir Putin

490) Which country celebrated the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Velvet Revolution that toppled communism in 1989: Czech Republic

491) What is the name of the small savings instrument recently re-launched by the govt: Kisan Vikas Patra

492) What is the highest denomination in which the Kisan Vikas Patra will be available: Rs 50,000

493) What is the maturity period for the Kisan Vikas Patra: 100 months

494) Which major economy of the world shrank for the second consecutive quarter, slipping it into a technical recession: Japan

495) Klaus Warren Lohannis has been elected as President of which country: Romania

496) IIM- JRD Tata Award For Excellence In Corporate Leadership for 2014 has been won by which person: C S Verma, Chairman, SAIL

497) Indian cricket team won 5-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, winning all the five matches. This achievement is termed as _____: Whitewash


498) What is the objective of the National Bal Swachhta Mission: To improve over all cleanliness amongst school children

499) Which programme has been launched to assist girl students in preparing them for the IIT-JEE while studying in classes XI and XII: Udaan

500) Prasar Bharti announced to re-launch DD National with which new tagline: Desh Ka Apna Channel

501) Which country is worst affected by the terrorism as per the Global Terrorism Index 2014: Iraq

502) As per the Global Terrorism Index 2014, India is the ______ worst affected nation: 6th

503) Indian Air force tested its medium range surface-to-air anti-aircraft missile ______ with a strike range of 25 km: Akash

504) International Children’s Peace Prize – 2014 has been won by Neha Gupta. She is from which country: USA

505) 2015 IAAF World Athletics Championships will be hosted by which country: China

506) ______ quit as the Head Coach of the National Hockey team: Terry Walsh

507) 'Vape' has been chosen by Oxford Dictionaries as its international word of the year for 2014. What is the meaning of this word: Smoking electronic cigarette

508) Name the winner of BCCI’s C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for 2014: Dilip Vengsarkar

509) Name the winner of BCCI’s Polly Umrigar Award 2013-14 for being India’s best international cricketer of the year: Bhuvneshwar Kumar

510) A latest UN report says that, India has the world’s largest youth population-356 million. What is their age group: 10-24 years

511) The book “Truth Always Prevails” has been written by Sadruddin Hashwani. He is from which country: Pakistan

512) Sumitra Charat Ram Award is given in which field: Art and culture

513) Name the noted Japanese film actor who passed away recently: Ken Takakura

514) Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA) and US Export-Import (Exim) Bank signed a MoU for what purpose: For cooperation on clean energy investment

515) Name the winner of Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2014: Indian Space Research Organisation – ISRO

516) 18th SAARC Summit was held in _____ on the 26th and 27th Nov: Kathmandu

517) What is the full form of the acronym SAARC: South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

518) Which major oil company in India won a Rs 18, 000 crore income tax order against it: Shell India

519) World Tour Golf Championship was held in which city: Dubai

520) UN World Toilet Day is observed on which date: Nov 19

521) World Women's Boxing Championships was held in which place: Jiju, South Korea

522) The Union Cabinet has approved "Integrated Power Development Scheme" for strengthening of distribution network of electricity in which area: Urban India

523) Name the bank that has been merged with the Kotak Mahindra Bank: ING Vysya Bank

524) Name the foreign dignitary who will be the Chief Guest at India's 2015 Republic Day celebrations: Barack Obama

525) The third South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women's Championship was held at which place: Islamabad, Pakistan

526) Name winner of the third South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women's Championship: India

527) Which Indian invention has been listed among the 25 best innovations of 2014 by the Time magazine: Mangalyaan

528) Which Indian zoo has become the first zoo in the world to house the critically endangered pig Pygmy Hog: Guwahati

529) UN Climate Change Summit 2014 was held in which city: New York

530) The United Nations has adopted the first-ever resolution calling on governments to stop which undesirable social practice: Child Marriage

531) Name the eminent Kathak danseuse, Padma sri awardee, who passed away recently: Sitara Devi

532) Name the grand master who won the World Chess Championship title defeating five-time champion Viswanathan Anand: Magnus Carlsen

533) Magnus Carlsen, world chess champion is from which country: Norway

534) Recent world chess championship was held at which place: Sochi, Russia

535) Murli Deora, the former union petroleum minister who passed away recently, was from which field: Politics

536) Name the British F1 champion who won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as well as the Formula 1 racing championship title of the year, becoming the first British to do so since 1971: Lewis Hamilton

537) Which country won the prestigious Davis Cup Tennis Title – 2014 for the first time: Switzerland

538) Name the player who won four gold medals in the Track Asia Cup Cycling Championship 2014 held at New Delhi: Ms Deborah

539) To Indian Christian priests were decorated with Sainthood by the Pope Francis II. This process is known as_______________: Canonisation


540) Finals of the World Kabaddi League were played in which city: Mohali, Punjab

541) Name the football player who became the all-time highest scorer in La Liga history by scoring 253 goals in first class football: Lionel Messi

542) Name the new Defence Minister of India: Manohar Parrikar

543) Who has been appointed as the new Union Railway Minister: Suresh Prabhu

544) Who is the new Information and Broadcasting Minister of India: Arun Jaitely

545) Name the football superstar who became the all-time highest scorer in La Liga history by scoring 253 goals: Lionel Messi

546) Which organisation has started a Delhi-Kathmandu bus service from Nov. 26: Delhi Transport Corporation

547) World’s longest rail journey, covering 10,000 kms has been started between which two cities: Yiwu China and Madrid, Spain

548) Name the book that won the 2014 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize: The Scatter Here is Too Great

549) Who has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Press Council of India: Justice C. K. Prasad

550) Name the U.S. Defense Secretary who was in news as he resigned from his post: Chuck Hagel

551) The SAARC summit that started in Kathmandu on 26 Nov, was _____ in the series: 18th

552) Who has been named as the new chairman of SAARC: Sushil Koirala

553) SAARC is a group of how many countries: 8

554) What is the theme of this year’s SAARC summit: 'Deeper Regional Integration for Peace and Prosperity'

555) First Commonwealth Science Congress was held in November 2014 at which place: Bengaluru

556) Who is the author of the book titled “The Dramatic Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years”: Pranab Mukherjee

557) The three organisations - World Toilet Organisation (WTO), WASTE and the Financial Inclusion Improves Sanitation and Health (FINISH) have joined hands for what purpose: To end open defecation in India

558) World Fisheries Day is observed on which date: Nov 21

559) Who has been appointed as the new Chairman of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC): Deepak Gupta

560) Which UN organisation released a report on the impact of global warming titled “Turn Down the Heat: Confronting the New Climate Normal”: World Bank

561) Nov 25 is observed as International Day for what purpose: Elimination of Violence Against

Women

562) Name the fund launched by the Central Govt to build toilets in schools, rural and urban areas: 'Swachh Bharat Kosh'

563) As per the Global Slavery Index 2014, India is home to about ___ per cent of the people trapped in modern slavery: 40

564) The H5NI avian influenza virus is spread by which bird: Poultry birds

565) Name the country's oldest and largest foreign bank that recently opened its 100th branch in India: Standard Chartered Bank

566) The recent meeting of General Council of WTO was held at which place: Geneva

567) World AIDS Day is observed on which date: December 1

568) India observes December 16 as Vijay Diwas to commemorate which event: Victory in 1971 Indo-Pak war

OCTOBER – 2014 569) Fitch has projected that India's growth is expected

to accelerate to 5.6 per cent in the year 2014-15. What type of organization is Fitch: Rating Agency

570) Core sector growth for the month of August stood at 5.8 percent. How many industries are there in core sector: Eight

571) The Union Ministry of Culture is observing the year-long centenary commemoration of the historic Komagata Maru incident. What / who was Komagata Maru: Steamer Ship

572) The Komagata Maru incidents took place at which place in India: Budge Budge Port, Kolkata

573) The US govt has assured its support for developing_________ smart cities in India: Three

574) Name the three proposed smart cities to be developed with US assistance: Allahabad, Ajmer and Visakhapatnam

575) Who has been appointed as new Chairman of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA): Hemant Contractor

576) RBI has directed banks to disallow _________ in the accounts where customers have not fulfilled KYC norms: Debits

577) What is the formal name of the cleanliness drive launched by the PM across India, on Gandhi Jayanti: Swachh Bharat Mission

578) _______ has been named as new Secretary General of NATO: Jens Stoltenberg

579) In a recent global ranking of universities, ________ secured top position in Indian universities: Panjab University

580) Name the Chief Executive of the world’s largest e-tailer _________who visited India to meet our Prime Minister: Jeffrey P. Bezos, Amazon.com

581) India has imposed anti-dumping duty on _________imported from the U.S. and Chinese


Taipei to safeguard the interest of domestic manufacturers: Phenol

582) ATP China open tennis cup 2014 was held at which place: Beijing

583) _________ won the Men’s singles trophy at ATP China open tennis cup 2014: Novak Djokovic

584) Novak Djokovic is from which country: Serbia 585) _________ won the Women’s singles trophy at ATP

China open tennis cup 2014: Maria Sharapova 586) Maria Sharapova is from which country: Russia 587) Martin Perl, Nobel Prize-winning physicist from USA

was in news for what reasons: He passed away 588) Which country has test fired a new variant of its

10,000 km range missile - Dongfeng-31B: China 589) At which place in the world, students are leading a

prodemocracy protest – “occupy central”: Hong Kong

590) In which part of the world a mass public protest is going on nick named as ‘umbrella revolution’: Hong Kong

591) Name the Indian-American professor from USA honoured with National Medal of Science: Thomas Kailath

592) Which country secured highest number of medals in 17th Asian Games: China, 342

593) India was placed at 8th rank in the 17th Asian Games, securing ________medals: 57

594) Indian sportspersons won _______ gold medals in the 17th Asian Games: 11

595) Indian sportspersons won _______ silver medals in the 17th Asian Games: 10

596) _________ , the Japanese swimmer, was named as the “Most Valuable Player” of the 17th Asian Games: Kosuke Hagino

597) The 18th Asian Games will be held in 2018 in_________, Indonesia: Jakarta

598) ___________became the first Indian woman boxer to clinch a gold medal at the Asian Games: MC Mary Kom

599) Indian won the hockey gold medal at Asian Games by beating which country: Pakistan

600) In which sports India won gold medal in both Men’s and Women’s category: Kabaddi

601) Name the Indian film celebrity who was honoured with Global Diversity Award 2014: Shah Rukh Khan

602) The Global Diversity Award is given by which organization: British Parliament

603) Name the proposed central govt. programme that aims at bringing all Indians under health insurance cover: Universal Health Assurance Mission

604) Name the winner of Champions League Twenty 20, 2014: Chennai Super Kings

605) Country’s first olive oil refinery has been started in which State: Rajasthan

606) What was the name of the first address of the Prime Minister over radio broadcasted recently: Mann Ki Baat

607) Name the social networking site that was closed

recently by Google: Orkut 608) Which metro service in India has been ranked

second among 18 international Metro systems: Delhi Metro

609) What is the name of the recently launched sedan car by Maruti Suzuki: Ciaz

610) Strong typhoon Phanfone slammed into which country, with winds of up to 180 kmph: Japan

611) Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award is given for excellence in which field: Public Administration, Academics and Management

612) Dr A Sivathanu Pillai, winner of this year’s Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award is head of which national organisation: BrahMos Aerospace.

613) M.V. Kamath, former Prasar Bharati Chairman, Padmasri awardee from Karnataka, passed away recently. He was from which field: Journalism

614) _______ would become the first state in India to have high-speed internet connecting all the panchayats in the state by March next year: Kerala

615) John O’Keefe of USA, May-Britt & Edward Moser of Norway won the Nobel Prize 2014 for which field: Medicine

616) Nobel Prize 2014 for Physics has been won by three scientists from which country: Japan

617) Eric Betzig, William Moerner and Stefan Hell won the Nobel Prize 2014 in which field: Chemistry

618) Patrick Modiano, winner of Nobel Prize for literature, is from which country: France

619) Name the joint winners of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize: Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi

620) Name the economist who won the 2014 Nobel Prize for Economics: Jean Tirole, France

621) Union Government has decided to sell ______bulbs to households at 10 rupees against the market price of 400 rupees: LED

622) The first-ever Offshore Wind Power Project in India is to be setup at which place: Along the Gujarat coast

623) What is the objective of the proposed “Sardar Patel Urban Housing Mission”: Housing for all by 2022 and a ‘slum free India’

624) Name the Japan’s gymnast who won his fifth straight all-around world title to become the only gymnast to win more than three World all-around titles: Kohei Uchimura

625) Name the super cyclone that caused wide spread devastation in the coastal part of Andhra Pradesh: Hudhud

626) Name the city which suffered maximum damage from the super cyclone Hudhud: Visakhapatnam

627) The name Hudhud has been derived from which object: National bird of Israel

628) Waislitz Global Citizen Award 2014, won by ___________ for his work in founding Humanure Power in Bihar in 2011 that builds community sanitation facilities in rural India: Anoop Jain

629) In which athletics event Indian women’s team won gold in 17th Asian Games: 4x400 relay race

630) In which sports Seema Punia won the only gold


medal in athletics for India in the 17th Asian Games: Discuss Throw

631) What is the objective of the recently launched “Swachhta Udyami Yojana - Swachhta Se Sampannta Ki Aur”: To provide financial assistance to Safai Karamcharis

632) Name the single premium pension policy for senior citizens launched for a limited period of one year, from 15-08-2014 to 14-08-2015: Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana

633) Leela Samson was in news as she resigned from the post of Chairperson of Sangeet Natak Akademi. She is from which field: Eminent Bharatnatyam dancer

634) Name the plan that has been launched to promote model villages by each and every MP: Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana

635) The village selected under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana should have a population of ______in plain areas and _____in hilly, tribal and difficult areas. 3000-5000; 1000-3000

636) RBI has restricted free non-home ATM transactions to three in how many metro cities: Six

637) RBI has allowed how many free non-home ATM transactions to metro users in non-metro centres: Two

638) CEO of which international social networking site recently met Indian Prime Minister in New Delhi: Facebook

639) Shanghai Rolex Masters is related to which field of sports: Tennis

640) _________ won the Shanghai Rolex Master- 2014 championship: Roger Federer

641) Which Indian state has launched a health card scheme to protect grand old trees in public places: Kerala

642) Indian super league that was launched on 12th Oct. in Kolkata is for which sports: Football

643) Name the famous Ghazal and Thumri singer whose birth centenary is being celebrated in India: Begum Akhtar

644) President of India recently visited which two Scandinavian countries: Norway and Finland

645) Name the India’s research station located in the middle of North Pole and Norway: Himadri

646) With which country India recently signed an agreement for nuclear cooperation: Finland

647) In which country a 400 kms long railway line reconstructed with Indian assistance, was inaugurated recently: Sri Lanka

648) Khaled Bahah has been elected as ______ of Yemen: Prime Minister

649) Which state govt. has decided to provide free treatment to every cancer patient in the state: Kerala

650) As per the Global Hunger Index 2014, India has been ranked at ______ place: 55th

651) Name the India’s largest real estate company that was recently barred for three years by SEBI: DLF

652) World's largest online retailer Amazon.com has tied

up with which Indian retailer giant to jointly sell goods over the Internet: Future Group

653) India’s largest listed retailer, Future Group is known for which brand name: Big Bazaar

654) The 4th Sultan Johor Cup is related to which sports: Hockey

655) The 4th Sultan Johor Cup was held in which country: Malaysia

656) Name the country which won the 4th Sultan Johor Cup: India

657) 35th Senior National Archery Championship held in New Delhi, was won by which state: Punjab

658) Shakti Devi, an Indian police inspector won international Female Police Peacekeeper Award 2014 for her work in which country: Afghanistan

659) 18 year old young boy from Hong Kong – Joshua Wong was in news for what reasons: He is the leader of the pro democracy youth movement in Hong Kong

660) 2014 Man Booker Prize for Literature has been won by which author: Richard Flanagan

661) Richard Flanagan, winner of Man Booker Prize is from which country: Australia

662) Name the book by Richard Flanagan that won him the Man Booker Prize: The Narrow Road to the Deep North

663) Which Indian Sports Person was chosen as the ‘Most Valuable Player’ of India at the recent Incheon Asian Games: MC Mary Com

664) Name the noted Bollywood lyricist who won the National Kishore Kumar Award: Sameer

665) Name the world famous fictitious character, very popular amongst children whom Indian President met recently in Norway: Santa Claus

666) ISRO launched its third navigation satellite named______on board its PSLV-C26 rocket from Sriharikota: IRNSS 1C

667) The government has made it mandatory for tobacco companies to carry health warnings covering at least _______ of the surface of cigarette packets: 85%

668) Name the project launched by the central govt. that aims at creating a conducive environment for industrial development and doing business with ease: Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram

669) Shramev Jayate Karyakram has been promoted by which Union Ministry: Labour Ministry

670) Govt. plans to allot Labour Identification Number - LIN to whom for simplifying business regulations and securing transparency and accountability in labour inspections: Industrial Units

671) Name the Unified Labour Portal launched to facilitate "Labour Inspection Scheme," which aims at ending arbitrariness in the inspection: Shram Suvidha

672) Under ________ Yojana govt will reimburse 50 per cent of the stipend paid to apprentices during first two years of their training: Apprentice Protsahan

673) Govt. plans to allot Universal Account Number to which category of workers: Members of


Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO)

674) Name the India’s largest domestic airline by market share that has signed a deal to buy 250 latest Airbus A-320 neo aircrafts: IndiGo

675) Name the international financial magazine that awarded “Central Bank Governor of the Year Award 2014” to Mr. Raghuram Rajan: Euromoney, UK

676) Who has been appointed as the new Chief Economic Adviser to the Union Government: Arvind Subramanian

677) Rajiv Mehrishi has been appointed to which important position: Union Finance Secretary

678) Name the Australian cricketer who created history by scoring 341 runs in limited over match: James Tull

679) Name the Indian nuclear-capable cruise missile tested successfully recently: Nirbhay

680) How many new non permanent members were elected recently to the UN Security Council: Five

681) Union government plans to set up a mega handicraft cluster in_______, Gujarat to promote handicraft items and craft based textiles: Kachch

682) ____________ has become number one state in the field of organic farming producing about five lakh metric ton of farm products: Madhya Pradesh

683) Government has decided to import ______for the first time to augment domestic availability and to check its rising prices: Potatoes

684) Which bank has won the IDRBT Banking Technology Excellence award for 2013-14: Federal Bank

685) The Reserve Bank has signed a pact with Central Bank of _________ for exchange of information and supervisory cooperation: Kenya

686) Which country has agreed to sign commercial contracts for supply of uranium for Indian nuclear reactors: Canada

687) Which Bank has launched an instant bank payment product – KayPay for Facebook users to send money to each other in an instant: Kotak Mahindra Bank

688) Cricket players of which country refused to play in India due to a pay dispute with their cricket board: West Indies

689) Union Cabinet has decided to completely deregulate the prices of which product to link its prices to the market forces: Diesel

690) The government has launched a new methodology —National Air Quality Index (AQI) for what purpose: To create awareness about the quality of air and its likely health impact

691) The recently launched National Air Quality Index will categorize air quality into how many categories: Six

692) World Junior Chess title 2014 was held at which place in India: Pune

693) Central govt has advised all states, union territories and Central Armed Police Forces to recruit ___ per cent women in their ranks: 33

694) A five year old Indian boy Harshit Saumitra was in news for what achievement: For climbing up the Everest Base Camp

695) India and _____ have agreed to set up hotlines between their army headquarters: China

696) Which African country has recently been successful in controlling the spread of deadly Ebola virus: Nigeria

697) Which state has launched the Farmers Empowerment Corporation to provide agricultural debt redemption to farmers: Andhra Pradesh

698) Who has been elected as the new Chief Minister of Haryana: Manohar Lal Khattar

699) Name the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra: Devendra Fadnavis

700) India has been re-elected as member of which important UN organization: UN Human Rights Council

701) The Union Government has decided to commemorate October 31 - birth anniversary of which National Leader as “National Integration Day”- Rashtriya Ekta Diwas: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

702) India and ________ signed a MoU for cooperation in space and work together in the areas of remote sensing and satellite communication: Mexico

703) Jagdish Sharan Pande who passed away recently was a noted ________ from Uttarakhand: Freedom Fighter

704) Name the Indian boxer who was suspended by the International Boxing Association for protesting against a controversial verdict at 2014 Incheon Asian Games: Sarita Devi

705) Wildscreen Panda Award is given in which field: Wildlife Photography

706) Name the Indian cueist who won World Billiards Championships in both – point and time formats at Leeds, United Kingdom: Pankaj Advani

707) Union Government launched Jammu Kashmir Arogya Gram Yojna for what purpose: To promote cultivation of the aromatic and medicinal plants

708) India and ______ have signed a Power Trade Agreement to promote cooperation in the field of production and transmission of electricity: Nepal

709) India has signed the __________Convention on Mercury to control and reduce emissions from the power plants: Minamata

710) ___________ won the WTA Finals cup of tennis at Singapore: Serena Williams

711) Name the Indian golfer who won the Venetian Macau Open Golf Cup 2014: Anirban Lahiri

712) Which country withdrew its last forces from Afghanistan, after serving there for 13 years: Britain

713) Recently a big crude oil discovery was made in the Cambay basin by a private oil company. It is in which state: Gujarat

714) Name the Prime Minister of Vietnam who recently visited India: Nguyen Tan Dung

715) 25th ASEAN Summit will be held on Nov 12-13 at_____________ Myanmar: Nay Pyi Taw

716) Dilma Rousseff has been re-elected as the President


of which country: Brazil 717) What is the name of the international infrastructure

development bank that China and 20 other countries plan to establishes: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

718) Which bank has launched an electronic application ‘mPassBook’ for its savings and current accounts: State Bank of India

719) A World Bank report says that India’s GDP is likely to expand by ________per cent this fiscal as reforms gain momentum: 5.6

720) Name the world's tallest statue (182 mts) of India's first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel proposed in Gujarat: Statue of Unity

721) Sharath Gayakwad, who made history at the Asian Para-Games in Incheon by winning six medals, is from which sports: Swimming

722) What is the domain name of the Adhaar based Biometric Attendance system launched by central govt. for its employees: attendance.gov.in

723) Who has been appointed as the chairman of Prasaar Bharati Board: Dr. A Surya Prakash

724) In the Gender Gap Index 2014, India has been placed at ____rank in a list of 142 countries: 114th

725) World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” report places India at _______ rank among 189 countries surveyed by it: 142nd

726) ________tops the list for the most equitable sharing of resources among men and women as per Gender Gap Index 2014: Iceland

727) In terms of ‘Ease of Doing Business’, _________ stands at no. 1 in the world: Singapore

728) Which organization compiles the Gender Gap Index report annually: World Economic Form

729) In the recently released Global Innovation Index 2014, India has been placed at which rank: 76th

SEPTEMBER – 2014 730) Padma Bhushan awardee Bipan Chandra was a

authority on economic and political ______ of India: History

731) Sathiraju Lakshminarayana, Veteran Telugu film director, artist and cartoonist who passed away recently, was popularly known as ________: Bapu

732) Name the eminent jurist who has been appointed Governor of Kerala: P. Sathasivam

733) BWF World Badminton Championship was held at which place: Copenhagen, Denmark

734) Chen Long who won the men’s singles title at BWF World Badminton Championship, is from which country: China

735) Women’s singles title at BWF World Badminton Championship was won by_______: Carolina Marin

736) Name the badminton player of India who won the bronze medal in women’s single title at BWF World Badminton Championships: PV Sindhu

737) The famous international Nalanda University has been established at which place: Rajgir, Bihar

738) Who is the chairman of the governing body of the Nalanda University: Prof. Amartya Sen

739) Prof. Amartya Sen is an eminent scholar of which field: Economics

740) Nabard has initiated a project on Core Banking Solutions - CBS for which type of banks: Cooperative Banks

741) Name the legendary Telugu actor who passed away in January 2014: Akkineni Nageswara Rao

742) For what reasons Akkineni Nageswara Rao, legendary Telugu actor was in news recently: U.S. Post Service has issued a stamp in his honour

743) ‘Odyssey of My Life’ is the autobiography of which prominent political figure: Shivraj Patil

744) Japan has promised to provide all possible support to introduce the bullet train, along the Ahmedabad-Mumbai route. What is its Japanese name: Shinkansen

745) With which Japanese city India has signed a partnership agreement for development of Varanasi: Kyoto

746) What is the popular nick name for the Japanese city Kyoto: City of Thousand shrines

747) Prime minister of India recently visited Japan to meet _________, Prime Minister of Japan: Shinzo Abe

748) The parliament of Japan is named as ______: Diet 749) Name the world champion iconic sprinter who

recently visited India: Usain Bolt 750) Govt has setup Prof. B. N. Goldar committee for

what purpose: To develop the Producer Price Index

751) Which committee has been setup by the govt. to develop a new inflation index- Producer Price Index to replace Wholesale Price Index: B. N. Goldar Committee

752) What is the purpose of Producer Price Index: To measure inflation

753) The proposed Producer Price Index aims to replace which existing index: Whole Sale Price Index

754) What is the most prominent feature of the proposed Producer Price Index: To cover services sector also

755) Name the former Attorney-General of India who passed away recently: G. E. Vahanvati

756) Name the new generation Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel that has joined Indian Navy recently: INS Sumitra

757) Which country has unveiled a new surface-to-air missile - Talash-3: Iran

758) What is the name of the autobiography of the Sachin Tendulkar: Playing It My Way

759) In terms of global competitiveness, India ranks ________ in world: 71st

760) ____________ is the number one country in the world in terms of global competiveness: Switzerland


761) Name the South African fast bowler, oldest surviving Test cricketer who passed away recently at the age of 103 years: Norman Gordon

762) What is the special thing about Yashwardhan Shukla, author of the book ‘Gods of Antractica’: He is 13 year old school boy

763) The Chabad House in Mumbai that reopened nearly six years after the 26/11 terror attack in November 2008 is a sacred ___________ of the Jews: Synagogue

764) Justice H.L. Dattu is the _______Chief Justice of India: 42nd

765) The historical Omari Mosque that was destroyed in the recent Israel-Gaza conflict, was in which country: Gaza

766) With which country India has signed a Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) to ensure zero border killings: Bangladesh

767) Recently President released a set of eight commemorative postage stamps on great Indian_________: Musicians

768) National Nutrition Week is celebrated every year from ______September to the ______September: 1st, 7th

769) What is the theme of the National Nutrition Week 2014: Poshak Ahaar, Desh Ka Adhaar

770) Who is the head of the committee setup to examine the un-claimed amount in PPF, Post Office and Savings Schemes: HR Khan

771) Name the Australian Prime Minister who came to India on a two day visit: Tony Abbott

772) Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has announced that _______ will be the new capital of Andhra Pradesh: Vijayawada

773) MS Dhoni has become the most successful Indian ODI captain with ________ wins to his career: 91

774) Joan Rivers, 81-year-old noted lady comedian and TV host who passed away recently was from which country: United State of America

775) India signed a landmark civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Australia on 5th September to ensure supply of ________ for peaceful purposes: Uranium

776) Prime Minister of which country recently returned two precious ancient idols of Hindu deities to India which were allegedly stolen from temples in Tamil Nadu: Australia

777) The Supreme Court has directed that all ________ prisoners who have been in the prison for a period more than half of the jail term prescribed for the offences they had been arrested, should be released on bail immediately: Under trial

778) According to recent data from CSO, ____________outpaced all the major states to top the economic growth charts with a scorching 11 per cent growth in 2013-14: Madhya Pradesh

779) In the recent rescue operations in J & K, hundreds of NDRF personnel worked round the clock to rescue

thousands of marooned persons. What is the full form of NDRF: National Disaster Relief Force

780) Which major river of J & K caused heavy damage due to floods in the State: Jhelum

781) What is the name of the award for best film at the Venice Film Festival: Golden Lion

782) Name the Swedish film directed by Roy Anderson that won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival: A Pigeon Sat on a Branch While Reflecting on Existence

783) Name the film directed by Indian writer-director Chaitanya Tamhane that won award for best debut feature film at the Venice Film Festival: Court

784) Name the tennis star who won men’s single titles at the US open tennis: Marin Cilic

785) Marin Cilic, winner of US open 2014 is from which country: Croatia

786) Name the first ever male Asian player to play in the finals of US Open Lawn Tennis Championship: Kei Nishnikori

787) Marin Cilic defeated Japan's ________to win men’s singles title at US open: Kei Nishikori

788) Women’s singles title at the US open tennis championship was won by_________: Serena Williams

789) Sania Mirza won which title at the US open tennis championship: Mixed doubles

790) Midori Prize in Biodiversity is given in which country: Japan

791) Midori Prize in Biodiversity is given for what purpose: For outstanding contributions to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity

792) Which Indian scientist and ecologist has won Midori Prize in Biodiversity for his research on climate change in the Himalayas: Kamal Bawa

793) Name the author of the book ‘The Lives of Others’: Neel Mukherjee

794) The book ‘The Lives of Others’ by Neel Mukherjee was in news for what reasons: it has been shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize 2014

795) Booker prize for literature are given in which country: England

796) RBI has fixed _______years as the upper age limit for managing directors (MDs) and chief executive officers (CEOs) and other whole-time director of banks in the private sector: 70

797) Which Union Minister recently visited Afghanistan to meet President and to review key projects there: Sushma Swaraj

798) India has signed the _________ (FTA) in services and investments with 10 ASEAN countries: Free Trade Agreement

799) Which country launched two satellites - Yaogan-21 and Tiantuo-1 to relay information on natural resources, disaster management: China

800) With which neighbouring country India signed a


MoU on cooperation in the field of traditional systems of medicine and homeopathy: Bangladesh

801) China has assured cooperation for setting up a automobile manufacturing industrial park at which place in India: Pune

802) Under which Indian law, Govt. of India is the sole authority to print Rupee one currency note: Coinage Act, 2011

803) RBI is authorized to issue currency notes upto which highest denomination:10,000

804) Govt. of India is empowered to issue coins upto which highest denomination: Rs. 1,000

805) Who has been appointed as head of the Expenditure Management Commission: Bimal Jalan

806) What is the purpose of setting up of Expenditure Management Commission: for suggesting ways to improve fiscal discipline

807) ‘Pehli Udaan’ and ‘Pehal Kadam’ are the names for which item: Savings account for minors

808) Which bank has started savings account for minors by the name ‘Pehli Udaan’ and ‘Pehal Kadam’: State Bank of India

809) Which bank has started cardless cash withdrawal facility from its ATMs: ICICI Bank

810) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the sale of stakes in how many PSUs: Three – ONGC, NHPC and CIL

811) 60th National School Games in six sporting disciplines will be held in November in which State: Punjab

812) DRDO successfully test-fired indigenously developed Agni-I - nuclear-capable missile recently. It is what type of missile: Surface-To-Surface

813) India’s first coral garden is proposed to be developed in which State: Gujarat

814) Which public sector bank has declared the Kingfisher Airlines as the ‘willful defaulter’: United Bank of India

815) Which State has launched the renovation and beautification work of the birthplace of famous author, journalist and critic George Orwell: Bihar

816) Bhartendu Harishchandra Awards are given by Union Ministry for Information & Broadcasting for what purpose: For original writing in Hindi Indian authors on subjects like Journalism and Mass Communication, National Integration, Women’s Issues and Children’s Literature

817) Govt has launched the Reefer Vehicle Call-in-Centre (RVC) for what purpose: For smooth transportation of perishable goods

818) Name the prominent Bangladeshi Nazrul Sangeet singer who passed away recently: Firoza Begum

819) Who is India’s noted snooker and billiards champion to announce his retirement from the professional snooker: Pankaj Advani

820) With which country India has signed an agreement for cooperation in the field of skill development,

solid waste management and cleaning of rivers: Germany

821) Scientists have warned that millions of lives could be at risk because of the threat to food crops in ‘Fertile Crescent’. Where is this area: Middle East Asia

822) H. Devraj Committee has been setup for what purpose: To examine working of 'C' category deemed universities

823) Which State has declared 9 September as Himalaya Diwas to spread the message of conservation of the Himalayan ecosystems: Uttarakhand

824) Saakshar Bharat Awards are given on which date: Sep. 8 International Literacy Day

825) Saakshar Bharat Awards are given for what purpose: For the best performance in the field of adult education

826) Saakshar Bharat Awards are given by which Union Ministry: Human Resource Development

827) North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Summit 2014 was held in which place: Wales, U.K.

828) ‘Wales Resolution’ is the name given to the resolutions adopted at the recent summit of which international organization: NATO

829) Chitresh Tatha, a 12 year old boy is representing India at the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon, South Korea in which sports: Optimist Dinghy Race

830) General elections for electing Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) have been declared for how many states: Two (Haryana and Maharashtra)

831) Davis Cup Commitment Award is given for which category of Tennis player: Those who have competed in at least 20 ties

832) Name the winner of the Davis Cup Commitment award 2014: Rohan Bopanna

833) Country’s first 'Cold Desert Biosphere Reserve' (CDBR) is to be developed in which place: Spiti in Himachal Pradesh

834) President Pranab Mukherjee made a four-day state visit to Vietnam and met his counterpart __________: Truong Tan Sang

835) What is the currency of Vietnam: Dong 836) _______ is the capital of Vietnam: Hanoi 837) Which public sector organization is celebrating 55

years of its service: Doordarshan 838) First experimental centre of Doordarshan was

established at which place: Delhi 839) Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold championship is

for which sports: Badminton 840) The Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold

championship – 2014 was held at which place: Palembang, Indonesia

841) Name the winner of the Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold championship – 2014: S Prannoy, India

842) FILA Senior World Wrestling Championship held in_________, Uzbekistan: Tashkent

843) Name the eminent scientist who has been named to head an expert panel to recommend best


technologies for the "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”: R A Mashelkar

844) Which country is helping India to set up 10 centres of excellence to raise agriculture output and introduce modern farm technologies: Netherlands

845) Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL) has inked a pact with ___________ for services related to electronic toll collection: Axis Bank and ICICI Bank

846) Which committee recommended idea of universal bank accounts that is bank account for every individual: Nachiket Mor

847) Name the China’s President who recently visited India: Xi Jinping

848) On which railway corridor China has assured technological support for achieving speed of 160 kmph: Chennai – Bangalore – Mysore

849) Which Chinese city has signed a “sister city” agreement with Ahmedabad: Guangzhou

850) China has agreed to opening of a new route to Kailash Mansarovar via _________ in Sikkim: Nathu La

851) Which type of power projects are categorized as Ultra Megha Power Project: Which generate more than 4000 MW or above electricity

852) Guangdong province of China has agreed to become partner in cultural and social ties with which State of India: Gujarat

853) What is the name of currency of China: Renminbi (Yuan)

854) _______ is the capital of China: Beijing 855) The world’s highest and toughest marathon held at

3,524 meter (11,562 feet) altitude is held at which place: Leh, J & K

856) Who has been appointed as the new Chairperson of the National Commission for Women: Lalitha Kumaramangalam

857) Who has been appointed Chairman, Quality Council of India: Adil Zainulbhai

858) Manoj Kumar a 2010 CWG boxing gold-medalist was in news for what reasons: He has been given Arjun Award on Delhi High Court orders

859) 51st Shooting World Championship was held at which place: Granada, Spain

860) 20th Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships was held at_______ : Mumbai

861) A joint 14 days military exercise between the armed forces of America and India was held at which place: Ranikhet in Almora district of Uttrakhand

862) What is the name given to the Joint Army Exercise between armed forces of American and India being held at Ranikhet, Uttarakhand: Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2014

863) Govt. has launched India Newborn Action Plan for what purpose: To achieve the single digit neonatal mortality and stillbirth rate by 2030

864) The 45th IFFI will be held from 20 to 30 November, 20 14 at which place: Goa

865) IFFI stands for: International Film Festival of India

866) Which city has been declared as the permanent venue for the International Film Festival of India (IFFI): Goa

867) Who has been appointed as new ambassador of China in India: Le Yucheng

868) Name the Indo-American appointed by USA as its next ambassador to India: Richard Rahul Verma

869) And then One Day: A Memoir is the autobiography of which noted film artist: Naseeruddin Shah

870) The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 was won by which country: USA

871) The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 was held at which place: Madrid, Spain

872) The Supreme Court has directed Central Government to ensure ______ percent quota for disabled persons in all government jobs, including IAS and promotions: Three

873) Players of which sports have recently been allowed to wear religious head coverings, such as hijabs or turbans by Sikhs, on a trial basis: Basketball

874) Sportspersons of which game have now been allowed to participate in Asian Games under Indian flag: Boxing

875) The Asian games been held in Incheon, South Korea are which number in series: 17th

876) Name the sports person who was the flag bearer of the Indian contingent in the Asian Games: Sardara Singh

877) Who is Sardara Singh, the flag bearer of the Indian contingent in the Asian Games: Captain of Indian Hockey Team

878) Mandolin U. Shrinivas, eminent Carnatic music exponent from Andhra Pradesh who passed away recently was famous for what reasons: His expert use of mandolin, a western instrument, in Carnatic music

879) Name the international NGO that has agreed to promote user friendly toilets to improve sanitation system in India under Swachchh Bharat Mission: Bill and Milinda Gates Foundation

880) All India Radio has started free SMS service to provide news in how many languages: Five

881) Recognising the importance of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to USA, the US Senate has designated September 30 as ________ day: US-India Partnership Day

882) Which country voted in a referendum to continue with UK: Scotland

883) The United Kingdom is a union of how many countries: Four

884) Which are the four countries comprising the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, North Ireland and Wales

885) Alok Shetty the 28 year old has been named ‘Young Leader of Tomorrow’ by Time magazine for his pioneering work in designing affordable flood-proof


houses for slum dwellers. He is from which field: Architecture

886) Name the India’s pistol-shooter who won India's first gold in the 50m event at Asian Games: Jitu Rai

887) Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank) and China Development Bank Corporation have signed agreements with which Indian banks to facilitate trade between the two countries: SBI, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank

888) Name the bank which accounted for half of the total number of banking transactions done through mobile phone in June,2014: State Bank of India

889) Who is Jack Ma, whose company recently created the world record for largest IPO, amassing around $25 billion from the investors: Chinese founder and promoter of world’s largest online shopping portal – Alibaba

890) John Key has been elected as new Prime Minister of which country: New Zealand

891) Name the World Chess Championship recently won by Viswanathan Anand: Bilbao Chess Masters

892) Bilbao Chess Masters Finals were held at which place: Bilbao, Spain

893) Summer Youth Olympic Games 2014 were held at which place: Nanjing, China

894) Ashraf Ghani has been appointed new President of which country: Afghanistan

895) Sania Mirza recently won the women’s double title in which championship at Tokyo, Japan: WTA Toray Pacific Open

896) U N summit on climate change was held at which place: New York, USA

897) India’s first National Academy of Athletics has been established at which place: Kariavattom near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

898) Apart from India, how many other international space agencies have been successful in sending a spacecraft Mars: Three

899) Which Indian film has been selected as India’s entry for the Oscar Awards in the foreign film category: Liar’s Dice

900) RBI has formed G Gopalakrishna Committee to give recommendations on which matter: Capacity building in banks and streamlining training intervention

901) __________ appointed as the head coach of the Sri Lankan cricket team: Marvan Atapattu

902) Which city shall be hosting ICC World Cricket League Division 3: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

903) Noted Hindi novelist Govind Mishra has been honoured with which prize: Saraswati Samman

904) What is the title of the book by Govind Mishra for which he has been awarded Sarswati Samman: Dhool Paudhon Par

905) Which international Chinese tennis star has announced her retirement from the sports: Li Na

906) Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana has been launched for what purpose: To impart skills to rural and

urban poor 907) What is the new name for Aajeevika Skills

Programme aimed at providing skill development to Rural Youth: Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gramin Kaushalya Yojana

908) Under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gramin Kaushalya Yojana the minimum entry age for imparting skill to rural youth has been reduced from 18 years to ______: 15 Years

909) What is the aim of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gramin Kaushalya Yojana: To train 10 lacs rural youth by the end of 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017)

910) What is the objective of recently launched “Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana”: For skill development of rural youth

911) India’s first National Sports University is going to be setup in which State: Manipur

912) Name the surface to surface missile recently tested by Pakistan: Hatf IX

913) _______ and _______ has been named as SAARC cultural capital for a year beginning April 2015 and 2016-17 respectively: Bamiyan and Dhaka

914) The year _________ has been declared as the SAARC Year of Cultural Heritage: 2016-17

915) Which country has decided to sell cigarettes in plain packets to discourage smoking: France

916) Name the industrialist who is the 2nd richest billionaire of India: Dilip Shanghvi

917) Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has raised the outlook on India’s sovereign rating from negative to _________: Stable

918) Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards are given for excellence in which field: Science & Technology

919) Name the programme launched by Govt. of India for making India as future manufacturing hub: Make in India

920) How many thrust sectors have been identified under the Make in India campaign: 25

921) The Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the _____ session of United Nations General Assembly in New York: 69th

922) The six major world powers held the 7th round of nuclear talks with which countries: Iran

923) Which state capital has recently started the work on having a metro rail service: Lucknow

924) Name the State that has recently been put under presidents rule: Maharashtra

925) Mount Ontake that erupted suddenly, killing over 36 persons is located in which country: Japan

926) In which two events, Indian men’s team won the gold medal in Asiad 2014: Archery and Squash

927) Name the Indian wrestler who ended a 28-year drought for gold in wrestling by winning gold at Asiad 2014: Yogeshwar Dutt

928) _________ won the country’s first-ever silver in the women’s 20 kms race walk in Asiad: Khushbir Kaur


929) Saurav Ghoshal won silver in individual _______ event at Asiad 2014: Squash

930) Who has been named as the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu: O Panneerselvam

931) Name the American venue where Prime Minister Modi addressed a gathering of over 18,000 persons: Madison Square Garden, New York

932) _________ is the West Asia’s largest consumer IT and electronics retail show: GITEX Shopper, Dubai

933) The Prime Minister has assured merger of schemes for PIOs and OICs. What is the full form of PIOs and OICs: Persons of Indian Origin, Overseas Indian Citizens

934) Global Competiveness report is published by which organization: World Economic Forum (Switzerland)

935) Global Gender Gap Report is published by which organization: World Economic Forum (Switzerland)

936) Which committee has recommended Vijayawada as capital of Andhra Pradesh: The Sivaramakrishnan Committee

937) Name the programme launched by Indian Army to rescue thousands of maroon persons in floods of Jammu & Kashmir: Operation Megh Rahat

938) In which country the city of Bamiyan is located: Afghanistan

939) For what reasons is Bamiyan an important city: It had world’s tallest Buddha Statue which were destroyed by Taliban in 2001.

940) In which city is the Headquarter of United Nations situated: New York

941) Who is the President of United Nations General Assembly: John William Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda

942) Which day has been declared by US Senate to be designated as US-India partnership day: September 30

943) Sarasawati Samman is promoted by which foundation: K.K. Birla Foundation

944) What is the award amount for the winners of Saraswati Samman: Rs. 10 lacs

945) What is the prize money for the winners of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award: Rs. 5 lakh, a citation and a plaque

AUGUST – 2014 946) John Kerry who visited India recently is the Foreign

Minister of which country: USA 947) Foreign Minister of USA is officially designated as

___________ in USA: Secretary of State 948) Name the village near Pune, Maharashtra that was

almost swept away in a massive mud slide: Malin Village

949) Name the famous Eminent Hindi litterateur and novelist from Bihar who passed away recently:

Madhukar Singh 950) Name the exploration rover of NASA that created a

record of travelling maximum distance on Mars: Opportunity

951) Govt has launched a nationwide scheme by the name _____________to promote conservation and development of indigenous breeds of cows in a focused and scientific manner: Rashtriya Gokul Mission

952) Name the German player who created a world record of fastest serve in the women’s tennis by serving at 131 miles per hour: Sabine Lisicki

953) Recently the Nagoya Protocol was ratified by 51 countries. What is the objective of this protocol: Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits of genetic resources

954) What is the total number of total medals won by the India in 20th Commonwealth Games: 64

955) India won 64 medals at the Commonwealth Games 2014. Of this how many were gold medals: 15

956) Name the country that won highest number of medals at the Commonwealth Games 2014: England

957) England top the Commonwealth Games by capturing __________ medals: 174

958) Parupalli Kashyap became the first Indian male player in 32 years to win a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in which sports: Badminton

959) Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal won the doubles gold medal in Commonwealth Games in which game: Squash

960) Name the Canadian gymnast who was awarded the David Dixon Award for the best athlete of the Games: Frankie Jones

961) To whom David Dixon award is awarded: An outstanding Athlete of Common Wealth Game

962) In which year was this award instituted: 2002 Common Wealth Games in Manchester in honour of David Dixon Secretary of Common Wealth Games for 17 years

963) K.V. Chowdary has been appointed chairman of which important central govt. office: Central Board of Direct Taxes

964) Country’s first multi-sensor moored observatory IndARC was successfully deployed in Kongsfjorden Fjord in which region of the world: Arctic Region

965) 22nd Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavna Award has been awarded to which personality: Muzaffar Ali

966) Muzaffar Ali, winner of 22nd Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavna Award is a prominent person from which field: Cinema, Film maker

967) The deadly EBOLA virus has claimed hundreds of lives in Africa. What is the full form of EBOLA: No full form, it is the name of virus

968) Name African region where Liberia, Guinea and Siera Leone countries have been attacked by Ebola virus: West Africa

969) In which country, the Ebola virus was first


discovered nearly four decades ago: Congo 970) The book “The Boys in the boat” has been written

by which author: Daniel James Brown 971) What is the name of the Latest novel written by

Chetan Bhagat: Half Girlfriend 972) Modi suggested “HIT” formula for Nepal’s

development. Expand the acronym HIT: Highways, I-ways and Transways

973) India to construct a pipeline for supply of _______ from Raxual in Bihar to Amlekhganj in Nepal: Petroleum products

974) Name the recently appointed new Deputy Governor of the RBI: S S Mundra

975) S S Mundra, has been appointed Deputy Governor of RBI for _________ years: Three

976) Name the agreement that was objected to by India at the recent WTO meet: Trade Facilitation Agreement

977) In which State of India, world highest pillar railway bridge is being constructed: Manipur

978) “Pinkathon Delhi 2014” - a run for cause was organised in Delhi with the slogan "Each One, Kheench One" urging all men to encourage at least one special woman in their life to run for a good cause. What was this cause: Spreading awareness about breast cancer

979) RBI has reduced the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) of scheduled commercial banks by 50 basis points. What is the present rate of SLR: 22%

980) Reduction of SLR by 50 basis points is expected to release Rs. _________ crore of Banks funds: 40,000

981) Name the number one ranking golfer of the world who won the elite World Golf Championships held at Akron, USA: Rory Mcllroy

982) World’s No. 1 golfer Rory Mcllroy is from which country: Ireland

983) Longtoushan, a town in Ludian county of Yunnan province of China was in news for what reasons: It was hit by a severe earthquake

984) Name the eminent Indian cartoonist famous for his popular comic characters, who passed away: Pran Kumar Sharma

985) Name the popular comic characters created by late cartoonist Pran: Chacha Chaudury and Sabu

986) Which Indian bank won the Core Banking System Imitative Award 2014 at Singapore: Bharatiya Mahila Bank Ltd.

987) Governor of which Indian State was recently sacked by the President for her alleged irregularities: Mizoram

988) As per recent estimates from RBI, the projected GDP growth rate for year 2014-15, is around _________ per cent: 5.5

989) The Union Cabinet has cleared a historic, all new juvenile justice law under which _________year olds who commit heinous offences such as rapes and robberies can be tried as adults: 16 to 18

990) Govt. has allowed __________ per cent FDI in defence sector: 49%

991) Nikhil Chandwani who recently won the “Author of the year” award in USA is also known for his works in which other fields: Documentary Films

992) Name the US Defence Secretary who visited India recently: Chuck Hagel

993) What is the name of the recently released controversial book by Natwar Singh: One Life is not Enough

994) The World Kabaddi League started in _________ on August 9: London

995) What is the objective of the proposed Bharat Bill Payment System: Centralised payment of various types of bills

996) 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers meeting held at which place: Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar

997) The Reserve Bank has approved the transfer of surplus (profit) amounting to Rs 526.79 billion for the year ended June 30, 2014 to__________. Government of India

998) Name the space ship that created a world record of travelling longest ever distance of 6.4 billion kms since its launch in March 2004: Rosetta

999) The space ship Rosetta that created world record for longest distance covered was launched by which space agency: European Space Agency

1000) What is the brand name of the new joint venture airline of the Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines: Vistara

1001) UAE has become the first gulf country to install reverse vending machines. What is the purpose of these machines: To collect domestic light bulbs and batteries for recycling

1002) Haider Al-Abadi has been named as Prime Minister of which country: Iraq

1003) Who has been elected as Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha: M. Thambidurai

1004) The recent Archery World Cup was held at Wroclaw. It is in which country: Poland

1005) Indian women’s archery team led by ___________ won the gold medal in recurve category: Deepika Kumari `

1006) Robin Williams who recently died of suspected suicide was a famous __________ of USA: Comedy Actor

1007) For which State government announced Central assistance of Rs. 8,000 crore for four major road projects connecting it with rest of the country: Jammu & Kashmir

1008) What is the name of the new bill passed by the Parliament to scrap the collegium system of appointing Supreme Court and high court judges: National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014

1009) To give national judicial appointments commission a constitutional status, __________ Constitution Amendment Bill was passed: 99th


1010) Which award is popularly known as Nobel Prize of Mathematics: Fields Medal

1011) Name the Indian Mathematician who won the recent Filed Medal: Manjul Bhargava

1012) Name the first women to win the Fields Medal award in Mathematics: Maryam Mizakhani (Iran)

1013) Govt has approved the constitution of the Expenditure Management Commission to be headed by which person: Bimal Jalan

1014) What is the purpose of setting up Expenditure Management Commission: To suggest ways to reduce subsidies on food, fertilizer and oil

1015) Name the army officer who was decorated with Ashok Chakra – the highest peace time gallantry award of the country: Major Mukund Vardarajan

1016) What is the name of the award for the best film at the famous Locarno International Film Festival: PARDO d’ORO (Golden Leopard)

1017) The famous Locarno International Film Festival is held in which country: Switzerland

1018) Who is the new Chairperson Union Public Service Commission: Rajni Razdan

1019) What is the formal name of the scheme launched to provide a bank account to every Indian: Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna

1020) Under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna, every new bank account opener will also get Accidental life insurance cover of __________ lakh rupees: One

1021) As per new RBI guidelines, banks are required to provide their savings bank account holders with at least ________free transactions per month at their own ATMs.: Five

1022) The number of free transactions on ATMs set up by other banks had been reduced to_________, from five earlier, in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad: Three

1023) Name the JD(U) leader who has been selected for Outstanding Parliamentarian Award 2012: Sharad Yadav

1024) Recently, a large number of countries around the world organized various functions to commemorate 100 years of which major international event: World War 1

1025) World War I, also called The Great War, took place in and around Europe from July ______to November _________: 1914, 1918

1026) Which place of Nepal was in news as a massive land slide near Mankha on 2 August 2014 blocked the Sunkoshi River and caused maasive damage to local settlements, claiming at least 156 lives: Sindhupalchok

1027) Which country recently unveiled its next generation Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Dongfeng – 41 (DF-41): China

1028) In which Indian State started the The 20-day Nanda Devi Raj Jat yatra also called the ‘Himalayan Kumbh,’: Uttarakhand

1029) BKS Iyengar, 96 year old Padmavibhushan Awardee

who passed away recently was a world famous Guru in which field: Yoga

1030) A Hindu temple - Shree Swaminarayan Mandir, claimed to be the world's first 'eco-temple' featuring solar panels and a rainwater harvesting system, has been opened in which place: London, UK

1031) Among Northeastern States, ________ has been the first choice of foreign tourist in 2013: Sikkim

1032) Name the human rights activist and former journalist of Imphal who has been protesting against AFSPA since November 2000: Irom Sharmila Chanu

1033) What is the full form of AFSPA: Armed Forces Special Powers Act

1034) General Prayuth Chan-ocha has been proclaimed as Prime Minister of which country: Thailand

1035) Which neighbouring country of India has decided to join the newly form BRICS bank: Bangladesh

1036) Who has been appointed as the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament: K. V. Thomas

1037) Name the CMD of Indian Bank who has been elected as Chairman of the Indian Banks Association for 2014-15: T M BHASIN

1038) Youth Olympic games 2014 were held at which place: Nanjing, China

1039) Name the Jnanpith awardee and renowned novelist and story writer, who passed away recently: U R Ananthamurthy

1040) U R Ananthamurthy was renowned novelist and story writer of which language: Kannada

1041) Sushma Swaraj, the External Affairs Minister recently visited which country to promote country’s Look East Policy: Vietnam

1042) Governor of which State recently quite his office to protest his transfer to Mizoram: Maharashtra

1043) Which sprint superstar set a new best time record of 9.98 second for the rarely run 100 meter indoors race: : Usain Bolt

1044) The sprint superstar Usain Bolt is from which country: Jamaica

1045) Which online shopping portal has signed a MoU with Union Textile Ministry to provide online marketing platform to handloom weavers all over India: Flipkart

1046) Noted film maker and actor Richard Attenborough who passed away recently, hailed from which country: Britain

1047) Name the super hit biopic, winner of 8 Oscars, directed by Richard Attenborough: Gandhi

1048) Which animal has been selected as mascot for the forthcoming Asian Games: Harbor Seals

1049) The forthcoming Asian Games are which number in series: 17th

1050) Name the city that is hosting the 17th Asian Games: Incheon

1051) Incheon city is located in which country: South Korea


1052) BJP veteran Kalyan Singh has been appointed Governor of which State: Rajasthan

1053) Who has been appointed as the new governor of Maharashtra: C Vidyasagar Rao

1054) Vajubhai Vala, a senior BJP leader from Gujarat has been made Governor of which State: Karnataka

1055) Deputy Prime Minister of which country recently visited India to promote mutual economic and social ties: United Kingdom

1056) Name the Deputy Prime Minister of UK who recently visited India: Nick Clegg

1057) Who is the Prime Minister of United Kingdom: David Cameron

1058) What is the official name of the currency of United Kingdom: UK Pound

1059) With which country India conducted its first ever joint Air Force exercise: Russia

1060) What is the name of the joint Air Force exercise conducted with Russia: Avia Indra-2014

1061) Avia Indra-2014 is being conducted in ________ region located North of the Caspian Sea: Astrakhan

1062) Of the total 943 million telephone users of India, roughly _____ per cent are from urban area: 60%

1063) On which route India’s first sea plane service has been launched: Mumbai-Lonavala

1064) What is the title of the recent book launched by Vinod Rai, former CAG of India: Not Just An Accountant

1065) Ahmet Davutoglu has been appointed Prime Minister of which country: Turkey

1066) India’s first Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) has been established at which place: Shibpur, West Bengal

1067) Which international organization has called for a ban on the use of e-cigarettes indoors and its sale to children: World Health Organization

1068) BWF World Badminton Championship was held in which country: Denmark (Copenhagen)

1069) Indian domain names now can make their names with extension _______ in Devnagri Script: .Bharat

1070) The 2018 Commonwealth Games will be hosted by which country: Australia

1071) V K Duggal recently resigned as Governor of which State: Manipur

1072) Which international organization has appointed Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador for it project “Turn Back Crime”: Interpol

1073) Govt. has setup R. Ramanujam Committee for what purpose: To identify obsolete laws

1074) The popular “Ice Bucket Challenge” is aimed at collected charity to fight which decease: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

1075) Under Pradhanmantri Jan Dhan Yojana, the account holders will also be provided Rs. _________ accidental cover insurance: One lac

Edited, Printed and Published by Varinder Mohan Singh Grover for Gyanm Education and Training Institute Pvt. Ltd., SCO 13-14-15, 2nd Floor, Sector 34-A, Chandigarh –

160022 and printed by him at All tech Print Pack, 182/4, Industrial Area – I, Chandigarh

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION FORM TO SUBSCRIBE THIS MAGAZINE

Simply SMS ‘GYANM’ TO ‘09646888377’ OR EMAIL YOUR REQUEST AT: [email protected]

SUBSCRIPTION PERIOD: ONLY 12 MONTHS

FROM (MONTH) …………………..TO…………….(MONTH)

AMOUNT:

I am preparing for: � Bank PO � Management � Bank

Clerk � SSC Exams � Railway Exams � Others

Name: Mr. / Ms:……………………………………………….….

DOB:……..../……..../………..…

Address:…………………………………………………………….…

………………………………………………………………………….…

…………………………………………………………………………….

City:………………………………………………………………………

…………………………….District:…………………………………..

State: ………………..…………………..PIN:

Email: …………………………………………………………………..

Ph./Mob…………………………………………………..…………

Subscription amount can be credited to our Bank

A/c No. 50213117700 at Allahabad Bank, Sector

34-A, Chandigarh, IFS Code – ALLA0211989

or

by MULTICITY Cheque/Draft favouring “Gyanm

Education & Training Institute Pvt. Ltd.” payable at

Chandigarh.

Date:……………… Signature

(Magazine will be sent by Ordinary Post)

GYANM COLLEGE OF COMPETITIONS, HO: SCO 13-15, 2ND FLOOR, SEC 34-A, CHANDIGARH, PH: 0172-4052124

Rs. 600/-


TOP REASON TO START A FRANCHISEE

Low Investment Upfront Revenue Generation Best Return on Investment Proven Business Module Already 8 Branches are working

WHAT WE NEED

Person with Good Management Skills Passions to Work in this Noble Business Investment Capacity of 6-8 Lacs Area of 600-800 Sq. Feet People from Education Field will be Preferred

WHY GYANM

Leading Brand Name Extensive Support in Every Vertical Proven Working Model Already Established 8 Centers Very High Success Rates Best Online Testing System

IF INTERESTED, PLEASE CALL 09646039977

SAHIL KUMAR, MANAGER, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT or Email at [email protected] or SMS ‘GROWTH’ to 09646039977

Gyanm General Awareness issue March 2015

Education

Transcript of Gyanm General Awareness issue March 2015