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January 1-6, 2014

1) Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 5

January 2014 successfully launched a Geosynchronous

Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D5) with an indigenous

cryogenic engine from the spaceport of Satish Dhawan

Space Centre in Sriharikota (AP), entering a select club of

nations. With this launch, ISRO became the sixth space

agency in the world to have tasted success with an

indigenous cryogenic engine. Which are the other five

countries in this select club? – U.S., Russia, Japan, China

and France (Launching a GSLV with an indigenous

cryogenic engine has been a major challenge for ISRO

since 2001 after multiple unsuccessful attempts. Only

four of earlier seven attempts have succeeded. GSLV-D5’s

scheduled launch on August 19 last year was called off in

the eleventh hour after a fuel leak, following which ISRO

moved the vehicle back to the Vehicle Assembly Building

and rectified the defect. Cryogenic engines are essential

for rockets to put communication satellites, weighing

more than two tonnes, into orbit)

2) Which country became the 18th member of Eurozone

on 1 January 2014? – Latvia (The former Soviet republic

on the Baltic Sea recently emerged from the financial

crisis to become the EU’s fastest-growing economy.

Latvia was given final clearance to join Eurozone on 9 July

2013 by finance ministers of the 28-nation European

Union. It should be noted that 28-member EU is a

political entity and represents the interest of all of

Europe whereas Eurozone is a currency block of 18

nations that have accepted Euro as a common currency.

Not all countries of EU use Euro as currency (Britain still

uses Pound as its currency))

3) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 31 December 2013

dismissed rumours that it has stopped banks from

accepting scribbled currency notes from 1 January 2014

and announced that banks will continue to accept

currency notes with scribbling. However, it reiterated

that writing or scribbling on banknotes works against its

policy to keep currency notes clean and sought co-

operation from public, institutions and others in keeping

the banknotes clean by not writing anything on them.

What is the name of this policy which was released

during 2013? – ‘Clean Note Policy’ (RBI in 2013 had said

it has been noticed that at certain branches of banks, the

practice of writing/scribbling on the body of the bank

notes continues to remain in vogue. Under the present

system of mechanised processing of banknotes

inscription or scribbling on any part of the banknote

would render it to be classified as unfit for reissue)

4) Australia completed a 5-0 series whitewash over

England with a 281-run victory inside three days of the

fifth Ashes test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on 5

January 2014. English team was all out for 166 while

chasing 448 for victory on the third day of the final test.

When Australia had last whitewashed England by

identical margin? – In 2006-07

5) Ex-banker Meera Sanyal came to news after she quit

her job as the chairperson of the Indian operations of an

international bank to join Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi

Party (AAP) recently. She was associated with which

bank? – Royal Bank of Scotland (India) – Meera is not

new to politics and she hopes to contest the Lok Sabha

election from Mumbai South, where she, as an

Independent, lost to Milind Deora of the Congress in

2009.

6) Software services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

during January 2014 announced plans to open world’s

largest training centre and learning campus which will

have a built-up area of 6.1 million sq ft and provide

accommodation for professionals and the faculty. Where

is this huge campus going to be established? – In

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Technocity campus, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (The

global learning centre to be set up by TCS on the

Technocity campus will have facilities to train 50,000

professionals every year. The company claims that it will

be the world’s largest corporate learning and

development centre. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

laid the foundation stone for the facility on 4 January

2014)

7) Which U.S. state came to news recently after it

legalized the sale of marijuana for recreational use from 1

January 2014? – Colorado (From 1 January 2014

Colorado legalized the sale of marijuana on experimental

basis. Under this experiment, Colorado residents 21 and

older are allowed to buy up to an ounce of marijuana per

transaction, and out-of-state customers are allowed to

purchase up to a quarter-ounce. If Colorado is able to

successfully legalize marijuana without causing a social

backlash, the tourism, tax and other considerations are

likely to compel several other states to quickly follow

suit)

January 7, 2014

1) On 5 January 2014 for the first time the night landing

of as big an aircraft as C-17 military cargo aircraft

(Boeing C-17 Globemaster III) was successfully done. It

was also the first time that this huge aircraft landed in

an airbase in South India. At which Indian Air Force

(IAF) base of South India was this historic landing done?

– At Thanjavur Air Base (This C-17 landing was done as

a capability demonstration exercise of C-17 as well as

the IAF)

2) Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is all set to

form the new government in the country after winning

an absolute majority in the 5 January 2014

parliamentary elections boycotted by the Opposition.

What is the name of the political party of Sheikh

Hasina? – Awami League (The Awami League won 104

of the 139 seats for which results were declared.

Having already won 127 seats uncontested, the ruling

party has 231 seats under its belt, giving it a clear

three-fourths majority in the new Parliament. The

Jatiya Party , which won 33 seats, is likely to be the

main Opposition. Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) did not participated

in this election)

3) Former Supreme Court judge, Justice A.K. Ganguly,

who has been accused of sexual assault by a law intern,

on 6 January 2014 resigned from which post after

continuous pressure on him to resign from this post? –

Chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission

(WBHRC) – The intern’s allegations created a media

furore, with female lawyers, politicians and activists

calling for the Supreme Court to investigate the

incident and for the accused judge to be named

publicly. Pressure on him to resign increased after the

three-judge Supreme Court committee probing the

complaint filed by the law intern against Justice

Ganguly said that there was prima facie evidence

against him.

4) The Coal Ministry recently constituted a coordination

panel comprising officials from the Centre and State

governments to speed up clearances and ensure timely

completion of coal mining projects. Who is heading this

panel? – Coal Secretary S.K. Srivastava (The move

comes close on the heels of the State-run Coal India

Limited (CIL) airing concerns on clearances and stating

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that nearly 241 projects were awaiting environmental

or forest clearances at various levels)

5) Seeking to curb the practice of small aircraft and

helicopters operating in the country without cockpit

voice recorders, aviation regulator Director General of

Civil Aviation (DGCA) on 6 January 2014 made it

mandatory for all their operators to fit their machines

with black boxes. What is the deadline given for this

fitment guideline? – 31 December 2014 (During recent

safety audits, DGCA had discovered that a large number

of turbine-powered planes and helicopters, including

turboprops (turbine-powered propeller aircraft), were

not fitted with CVRs)

6) According to the Insurance Regulatory and

Development Authority (IRDA), the average number of

policies sold by an agent of LIC was almost 10 times

that of his private sector counterpart. LIC’s agents

managed their outperformance last year too, when the

life insurance business was on a slide. What was the

average policy sale figure for an LIC agent as disclosed

by the IRDA? – 29 Policies (LIC has an agency force of

11.72 lakh while private companies have 9.49 lakh

agents working for them)

7) Eusebio, who passed away on 5 January 2014, was a

great footballer of which country? – Portugal(Eusebio

was a top scorer at the 1966 Football World Cup. He

earned 64 caps and scored 41 goals for Portugal,

records that stood for almost two decades. The

Portuguese government announced three days of

national mourning as homage to this great footballer)

8) State-run BHEL recently completed building a

transmission sub-station in Karnataka, a link that has

connected the southern and national electricity grids.

Where in Karnataka is this sub-station situated? –

Raichur (It is the southern end of the Raichur-Solapur

transmission link of PowerGrid. With the

commissioning of the Raichur-Solapur transmission line

the southern grid has been linked with the national

grid. The project will allow electricity to be carried to

the southern region from other parts of the country

during peak demand as well as transfer surplus power

from the south during off-peak hours)

January 8, 2014

1) The committee constituted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI’s) to promote financial inclusion headed by

Nachiket Mor in its proposal has recommended universal electronic bank accounts to all Indian citizens above the age of 18 years. What is the deadline for opening these bank accounts as recommended by the committee? – 1 January 2016 (The committee has recommended that an instruction to open the bank account should be initiated by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI) after the issue of an Aadhaar number to an individual over the age of 18. It also recommended that the RBI should issue a circular indicating that no bank can refuse to open an account for a customer who has adequate KYC proof which specifically includes Aadhaar)

2) Which entity was on 6 January 2014 selected by the

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to act as a local operating

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unit for issuing globally compatible Legal Entity

Identifiers (LEIs) in India? – The Clearing Corporation of

India Limited – CCIL (CCIL will assign a unique code to

participants in financial markets to facilitate over-the-

counter derivative transactions. LEI is a 20-character

unique identity code assigned to entities which are

parties to a financial transactions)

3) Which state government on 7 January 2014 launched

a toll free helpline number 1100 to curb corruption in

its departments? – Chhattisgarh (This newly launched

toll free number can be used by general public to lodge

corruption-related complaints against the state

government officials)

4) In an important ruling the Supreme Court on 6

January 2014 ordered the setting up of a national

regulator with offices across the country to appraise

projects, enforce environmental norms for approvals

and penalise polluters. In giving this ruling the Green

Bench of the SC led by Justice A K Patnaik overrode

Union government’s authority to grant environmental

clearances. Union government had argued that it alone

was the regulator in the field of environment and

forests and no one else could be appointed

regulator. Union government had quoted which act in

its plea before the bench, which according to it gave

exclusive authority to it? – Forest (Conservation)

Act (The court order puts an end to the government’s

attempt to hold on to its absolute authority to grant

clearances, especially when it is already at loggerheads

with the National Green Tribunal over environment-

related orders)

5) A massive blast of bitterly cold air plunged

temperatures across much of the United States on 6

and 7 January 2014 to life-threatening lows not seen in

nearly two decades. Which phenomenon has been seen

responsible for this historic and life-threatening cold

wave across the U.S.? – ‘Polar Vortex’(A polar vortex is

a persistent, large scale cyclone located near one or

both of Earth’s geographical poles. This polar vortex is

named the 2014 North American polar vortex, which

has resulted in extremely cold temperatures in parts of

Canada and the U.S.)

6) Who took over as the new President of National

Association of Software and Service Companies

(NASSCOM) on 4 January 2014? – R.

Chandrashekhar (He took place of Som Mittal who

relinquished the office on 3 January 2014 after serving

for around six years. NASSCOM is the leading trade

association of India’s information technology (IT) and

business process outsourcing (BPO) industry)

7) New Zealand cricketer Corey Anderson came to

limelight recently after he scored the fastest ever one-

day international (ODI) century while scoring his

unbeaten 131 against the West Indies. Anderson scored

his century off just 36 deliveries. Whose record of

fastest century he broke? – Shahid Afridi of

Pakistan (Afridi had scored his century off 37 deliveries

against Sri Lanka in an ODI match played at Nairobi on 4

October 1996. Anderson broke his record by just one

ball on 1 January 2014 at Queenstown, New Zealand)

8) Who won the men’s singles title of Chennai Open

2014 on 5 January 2014? – Stanislas Wawrinkaof

Switzerland (He defeated Edouard Roger Vasselin of

France by 7-5, 6-2 to win his second Chennai Open title.

Wawrinka was top seeded player of the tournament

and was ranked World No. 8 before the tournament)

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January 9, 2014

1) The three day 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD)

started from 7 January 2014 at Vigyan Bhawan, New

Delhi. What is the theme of this year’s PBD? – Engaging

Diaspora: Connecting AcrossGenerations (PBD is

celebrated on 9th January every year to mark the

contribution of Overseas Indian community in the

development of India. January 9 was chosen as the day

to celebrate this occasion since it was on this day in

1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest Pravasi (non-

resident citizen), returned to India from South Africa,

led India’s freedom struggle and changed the lives of

Indians forever)

2) The Government has introduced a programme for

young persons of overseas Indians (POIs) with a view to

provide them an exposure to the country of their origin

so that they can understand it better and more

intimately. This programme was launched on the

occasion of the 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD)

organized in Delhi. What is the name given to this

programme? – ‘Know India Programme’ (Under the

Programme, 20 young persons of Indian origin in the

age group of 18 to 24 from different countries visit

India extensively every year, which will provide them an

opportunity to have a deeper insight into Indian people

and society)

3) Which corporate group was the top donor to both

the key national political parties – Congress and BJP, as

declared by the parties to the Election Commission? –

Aditya Birla group (Gujarat-based Torrent Power was

second largest donor to political parties. Among the

national parties, BJP got the maximum corporate

donations of Rs 192.47 crore from 1,334 entities,

followed by Congress, which got Rs 172.25 crore from

418 corporate/business donors. In fact, business

donations constituted 87% of the total contribution to

political parties from known sources, establishing the

growing link between corporate money and politics)

4) Which bank recently became the first Indian

domestic private sector bank to have a branch

presence in China? – Axis Bank (Axis Bank recently

opened its branch in Shanghai after receiving

permission from the China Banking Regulatory

Commission (CBRC). The branch will engage in foreign

currency businesses that includes all business approved

by the banking supervision and regulatory authorities

of the China. With opening of Shanghai branch, Axis

Bank’s overseas presence has grown to eight – one

each in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Colombo, and

Shanghai, two representative offices at Dubai and Abu

Dhabi and an overseas subsidiary in London)

5) Which private asset management company (AMC)

recently became the first private sector fund house to

launch an inflation indexed fund that aims to provide

inflation-adjusted returns to investors? – Deutsche

Asset Management India – DAMI (DAMI’s scheme,

‘DWS Inflation—Indexed Bond Fund’ is an open—ended

debt fund and will open for subscription on 16 January

2014, and close on 27 January. Inflation indexed bonds

(IIBs) are instruments where interest payment and

principal are linked to whole sale price index (WPI)

inflation and these bonds are currently available at an

attractive yield of 3.6% above WPI. Government has

been issuing IIBs on a monthly basis since June, 2013

and the current outstanding issuance stands at Rs 6,500

crore as of now)

6) Facebook Inc. on 7 January 2014 announced its first

deal in India in which it will purchase an Indian startup

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that builds performance analysis and monitoring tools

for mobile Android applications. What is the name of

this startup? – Little Eyes Labs (With this deal

Bangalore-based Little Eyes Labs will move to

Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California. It

was founded around a year ago by 4 Bangalore-based

technology professionals)

7) Nine persons were killed and over ten were injured

after a sleeper coach of a Dehradun-bound train caught

fire early on 8 January 2014 between Gholwad and

Dahanu Road station in Maharashtra’s Thane district.

What is the name of the train involved in this accident?

– Bandra-Dehradun Express (The fire broke in one of

the sleeper coaches and then spread to three boogies

of the train (S3, S4 and S5) around 2.30 am.)

January 10, 2014

1) According to the Society of Indian Automobile

Industry (SIAM), domestic car sales last year (2013) fell

to 18,07,011 units from 19,98,703 units in the previous

year (2012). This is the first time that annual car sales in

India declined after how many years? – 11 years (The

last year when annual car sales displayed negative

growth was in year 2002. High inflation, fuel prices and

interest rates – which resulted in high cost of

ownership, are generally as the reason for this negative

trend)

2) What was India’s rank in the 2014 Nuclear Threat

Initiative’s Nuclear Materials Security Index, which was

released on 8 January 2014? – 23 (India’s 23 rank was

among 25 countries included in this index, which

basically throws light on the level of nuclear material

security in the world. India has been ranked below its

two nuclear-armed neighbours – Pakistan and China.

India received 41 out of 100 points, which is

improvement by one point from the 2012 score. China

received 64 points and has been ranked at 20th spot,

while Pakistan with 46 points stands at 22nd place. India

and these countries are included in the list of 25

countries with one kilogram or more of these materials,

which also includes all other nuclear-armed states)

3) The RBI on 9 January 2014 allowed the relatives of

non-resident Indians (NRIs) to become joint account

holders in the savings bank account in the country.

Such an account will be treated as resident bank

account for all purposes and all regulations applicable

to a domestic account will be applicable. The joint

account holder facility will be extended to all types of

resident accounts, including savings bank account.

However, what facilities will not be provided for NRI’s

relatives for this joint-account? – The relative cannot

credit cheques, remittances, cash, card or any other

proceeds to this account

4) Al-Qaeda led forces recently took control of which

strategic city of Iraq resulting in Iraqi government losing

the control of this important town situated in Sunni-

dominated region? – Fallujah(Fallujah is located just 65

kilometers west of capital Baghdad. This incident is

being seen as yet another one to show that the Iraqi

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has not been able to

maintain control of the country since the United States

withdrew its troops in 2011)

5) Former Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa

on 9 January 2014 formally rejoined the BJP, more than

a year after he deserted the party and floated his own

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outfit. What was the name of the party founded by

him, which has now been merged with the BJP? –

Karnataka Janata Paksha – KJP(Relegated to third

position, the BJP had tasted the most humiliating

defeat in the Assembly polls held on 8 May 2013 which

saw the collapse of its first ever government in the

south with KJP playing the spoiler garnering six seats

with 10% vote share)

6) According to data provided by the Marine Products

Export Development Authority (MPEDA) and Seafood

Exporters Association of India on 9 January 2014, which

country has recently overtaken South-East Asia as the

largest market for Indian seafood exports? – The

United States (Shipments to the US in April-November

2013 in rupee terms jumped 91% to Rs 5,392.3 crore,

while the comparative number for South-East Asia was

Rs 4,887.7 crore)

January 11, 2014

1) Prime Manmohan Singh on 10 January 2014

inaugurated the new swanky airport terminal of

Chhatrapathi Sivaji International Airport (CSIA) Mumbai

called Terminal 2 (T2). This terminal will now go into

operations from 12 February 2014. Which company led

the consortium which built this huge terminal? – GVK

Airport Holdings (The new terminal will undergo a

comprehensive security sweep in addition to

operational readiness and airport transfer tests before

the launch of operations. CSIA’s T2 is a 4.4 million

square feet project which has been inspired by India’s

national bird – the peacock)

2) The Union Cabinet on 9 January 2014 gave its

approval for introduction of the National Youth Policy-

2014 (NYP-2014). The vision of NYP-2014 is to

empower youth to achieve their full potential, and

through them enable India to find its rightful place in

the community of nations. NYP-2014 would replace

which National Youth Policy, which was in use till now?

– National Youth Policy, 2013 (NYP-2014 will cover the

entire country catering the needs of all youth in the

age-group of 15-29 years, which constitutes 27.5% of

the population according to Census-2011, about 33

crore youths)

3) The government Union on 10 January 2014 gave its

approval to the plan to form an Exchange Traded Fund

(ETF) comprising scrips of 11 bluechip state-owned

companies, which will be offered in the market with a

view to garnering Rs 3,000 crore this fiscal. Which are

the 11 state-owned companies (PSUs) involved in this

ETF plan? – ONGC, Coal India Limited, GAIL, Power

Grid, REC, Oil India Limited, Container Corporation of

India, Power Finance Corporation, Indian Oil Limited,

Engineers India Limited and Bharat Engineering

Limited (ETF is a security that tracks an index, a

commodity or a basket of assets like an index fund, but

trades like a stock on an exchange. The PSU ETF would

comprise shares of various profitable state-owned

companies. The composition of ETF and weightage of

the shares of individual PSU in the index has been

decided by the EGoM)

4) SEBI on 10 January 2014 notified new norms

empowering its Chairman to order search and seizure

operations during investigations, while necessary

safeguards have also been put in place to protect rights

of affected persons. This would add extra power to

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SEBI’s crackdown against fraudsters. What is the name

of the ordinance promulgated by the Union

government in September 2013, which had conferred

explicit powers on SEBI Chairman to authorise

investigating authority or any other officer of SEBI to

conduct search and seizure under the SEBI Act? –

Securities Laws (Amendment) Second Ordinance,

2013 (The new norms providing SEBI with powers to

conduct search and seizure have been finalised after

taking into account suggestions from public and other

stakeholders to draft regulations, which were issued in

November 2013)

5) The Government on 10 January 2014 notified the

new gas pricing policy that would be applicable to all

domestically produced natural gas for the next five

years. However, Reliance Industries and its foreign

partners BP and Niko Resources in the KG-D6 block

would have to submit a bank guarantee before they

can avail themselves of the new price. This new price

mechanism would come into effect from which date? –

From 1 April 2014 (The new gas pricing mechanism, as

suggested by a panel headed by Prime Minister’s

Economic Advisory Council Chief C. Rangarajan, has

been given the go-ahead by the Cabinet Committee on

Economic Affairs (CCEA))

6) Election Commission (EC) on 9 January 2014 decided

to call off the tie with Google for registering new voters

through online mode and to guide votes regarding the

voting procedures. The Election Commission had earlier

signed an agreement with Google on 2 January 2014.

Why the decision to call off tie with Google in this issue

was taken by the Election Commission? – Due to

increased concerns raised over privacy, data security

and its commercial use by the Indian security

agencies (EC decided not to share details of around 800

million voters with internet giant Google. EC may seek

the US-based company’s support only for creating voter

awareness)

January 12-13, 2014

1) What is the name of world’ first Bitcoin storage

service that insures deposits of the digital currency

against hackers and accidental loss, which was opened

on London on 12 January 2013? – ‘Elliptic

Vault’ (Bitcoin is a virtual currency that can be

generated through complex computer software

systems with solutions shared on a network. Although,

the digital currency is gaining popularity, concerns

about its security are on the rise. Online wallets used to

store Bitcoins have been subject to a number of cyber-

attacks and some users have also suffered from

accidental loss. Unlike money stored in a conventional

bank, Bitcoins are not insured and there is no way of

retrieving them. Elliptic Vault’s founders claim they are

the “first in the world” to offer insurance for Bitcoin

owners)

2) Ariel Sharon, who passed away on 11 January 2014,

was the former Prime Minister of which country? –

Israel (Sharon, a hardliner revered by Israelis as “Mr.

Security” for his contributions in all the major wars

fought by Tel Aviv and reviled across the Arab world as

the “butcher of Sabra and Shatila”, was elected prime

minister in 2001 and served until he suffered a stroke

that left him comatose in January 2006)

3) Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina began her

second successive innings in government leading a 49-

member Cabinet which was sworn-in on 12 January

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2014. This is her third term as Prime Minister of

Bangladesh. She first became PM of her country in

which year? – 1996 (In the new parliament, Jatiya Party

is going to play a dual role as its leader Raushan Ershad

will be Leader of the Opposition while several partymen

were inducted as ministers. Ershad’s wife, Raushan

Ershad, has replaced Begum Khaleda Zia, who was the

Leader of the Opposition in the last parliament.

Khaleda Zia’s BNP had boycotted the parliamentary

polls)

4) Indian government will on 30 January 2014 revise

upwards its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate

estimate for 2011-12 to about 7% from 6.2%. Why this

upward correction will be done? –To address the

problem of earlier underestimation of industrial

output (The sharp revision in official data for GDP

growth assumes significance in the wake of severe

criticism from the Opposition of the Government’s

performance on economic management. GDP data for

a fiscal undergoes three rounds of revisions; the

process takes three years. The Central Statistical

Office’s (CSO) is scheduled to release the Second

Revised Estimate for 2011-12 on January 30. The First

Revised Estimate for 2011-12 was 6.2%)

5) ‘Driven’, a book released recently, has been written

by a former a Civil Servant Turned Entrepreneur. Who

is he? – Jagdish Khattar (Jagdish Khattar is a former IAS

officer who became an entrepreneur after his

successful career as Managing Director (MD) of Maruti

Suzuki, India’s largest automaker. After leaving Maruti

Suzuki Khattar founded his enterprise ‘Carnation’,

which deals with selling of used cars)

6) Who during January 2014 took over as the

109th Mayor of New York? – Bill de Blasio (He had

defeated Joe Lhota by a landslide margin the elections

held for the post during November 2013. He replaced

Michael Bloomberg, who was one of the most

influential New York mayors)

January 14, 2014

1) Which major bank during January 2014 came out

with plans to outsource the management of some of its

ATMs by taking calls from vendors? – State Bank of

India (SBI called for a Request for Proposal (RFP) from

vendors to manage about 7,843 cash dispensers

(ATMs). Vendors will be expected to have all

capabilities to remotely capture and initiate

appropriate action in the event of any problems at

these cash dispensers. They will be expected to ensure

that the downtime of these ATMs in metro and urban

areas is less than 3%, while it is less than 6% in rural

areas. SBI had 32,777 ATMs as of 30 September 2013. It

has expanded its network steadily in the past few years,

adding about a third of its network (about 11,000

ATMs) in the past 18 months. ATM operations have

however not been profitable)

2) Retirement fund-body the Employees’ Provident

Fund Organisation (EPFO) on 13 January 2014 decided

to increase the rate of interest on Provident Fund

deposits to 8.75 per cent for 2013-14, a move that will

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benefit about 5 crore subscribers. What was the

present rate of interest for EPFO subscribers? –

8.5% (The Central Board of Trustees, which is the apex

decision-making body of the Employees’ Provident

Fund Organisation (EPFO), met on 13 January and

approved the interest rate. The EPFO’s

recommendation will now be vetted by the Finance

Ministry. Once the ministry approves the decision, the

interest would be credited to the accounts of

subscribers. The EPFO is estimated to have an income

of Rs 20,796.96 crore in the current financial year)

3) According to announcement made by Union Finance

Minister P. Chidambaram on 12 January 2014 the

Centre has revised its target upwards to opening

10,000 new bank branches a year. This has been part of

Centre’s initiative of taking banking services to rural

areas. What was the earlier target? –7,000

branches (From the coming financial year, it has been

revised to open 10,000 branches a year and through

this, an additional 55,000 new jobs are expected to be

created)

4) The Government on 12 January 2014 unveiled 46 oil

and gas blocks, which are expected to be auctioned

soon under the tenth round of the Government’s New

Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP X). These blocks

were unveiled at the 4-day biennial international oil

and gas conference which started at New Delhi. What is

the name of this conference? – Petrotech

2014 (Petrotech 2014 has being jointly organised by the

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and the

PETROTECH Society. Nearly 11 energy ministers from

across the world are expected to fly down to the four-

day event. Companies from more than 15 countries

participated in the event. In this conference, all

regulators, national oil companies, private operators,

services and ancillary firms, form a combined platform

to demonstrate India as an E&P (exploration and

production) destination)

5) The seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams

of the United States became the first major casualty of

Australian Open 2014, which started on 13 January

2014 at Melbourne. She was defeated by which Russian

player? – Ekaterina Makarova (he No. 22-seeded

Makarova defeated Venus Williams by 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam

tennis events of the year)

6) The United Stock Exchange (USE) on 13 January 2014

announced a five-year contract with a leading IT

services company for deploying and managing a new

online trading system as part of its quest to turn

profitable next fiscal. Which IT company is this? – Tata

Consultancy Services – TCS(Under the contract, TCS will

replace the erstwhile technology platform at the

currency derivatives exchange with a system that is

more cost efficient but scalable enough to

accommodate its future expansion plans, multiple

sources close to the development. Once the solution is

up and running, USE expects a reduction in its

operating costs, thereby helping the exchange’s

balance sheet return to black in the next fiscal)

7) A 61,000 cubic meters balloon indigenously

developed in India at the Balloon Facility, Tata Institute

of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Hyderabad penetrated

into the mesosphere for the first time in India. So far

only two countries have accomplished this feat. Which

are these two countries? – The USA and Japan (The

61K cubic meter balloon weighing 31.0 kilograms was

manufactured at Balloon Facility using the indigenously

developed ultra-thin polyethylene film of thickness 3.8

micro meters. The balloon was launched at 0402 hours

on 7 January 2014 from Balloon Facility campus and it

reached the maximum altitude of 51.661 kilometers in

around 2 hours and created the record. The flight was

terminated at 0704 hours IST using Tele-Command.

This is for the first time that a regular stratospheric

balloon has penetrated the mesosphere in India)

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January 15, 2014

1) Indian Army celebrates 66th Army Day on 15 January

2014. Army Day was started to mark which occasion

associated with the Indian Army? – Lt. General K.M.

Cariappa taking over as the first Indian Commander-

in-Chief of the Indian Army from Sir Francis Butcher on

15 January 1948(Butcher was thus the last British Chief

of the Indian Army. Cariappa was later made Field

Marshal)

2) India on 13 February 2014 completed three

consecutive years without a single wild polio case being

reported from any part of the country. It thus achieved

the three-year milestone necessary to achieve polio-

free certification from the World Health Organisation

(WHO). The official announcement of India becoming a

polio free country will be made on 11 February 2014.

From where was the last case of polio reported in

India? – Howrah in West Bengal on 13 January

2011 (Commemorating the day, Rotary International lit

up iconic monuments and buildings across the nation.

In Delhi, the historic India Gate and Red Fort was lit up

with the message — “Celebrating 3 Years of last Polio

case in India”)

3) What is the name of country’s oldest elected

representative in the Parliament, who recently

announced his decision to retire shortly? – Rishang

Keishing, a Rajya Sabha MP from Manipur (He was born

on 25 October 1919 and had also served as the Chief

Minister of Manipur for four times. Kieshing was sworn

in as CM of Manipur for the first time on 16 December

1975. Keishing was first elected to the Rajya sabha on

Congress ticket in 2008 and has been MP so far. The

lone Rajya Sabha MP in Manipur will be elected on 7

February 2014)

4) Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi on 13

January 2014 withdrew the Foreign Direct Investment

(FDI) in multi-brand retail segment. By doing this it

became the …………state in the country to withdraw FDI

in this segment – First (The previous Delhi government

led by Sheila Dikshit had allowed FDI in multi-brand

retail segment during July 2012. While taking this

decision Delhi government found that at the global

level FDI in multi-brand retail caused massive job losses

at multiple places. However, many experts opined that

this decision is expected to adversely affect the

investment in Delhi and tarnish its FDI friendly image)

5) SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India)

Chairman UK Sinha’s term was extended by 2 years

during January 2014. Sinha will now head the

regulatory body till 16 March 2016. Among the last four

chairmen, Sinha is the only one whose term has been

extended. Who is the only SEBI chief to have held the

post for a longer duration than Sinha? – D.R.

Mehta (Mehta served as SEBI Chairman for 7 years

(1995-2002). Sinha’s three predecessors – GN Bajpai

(2002-2005), M Damodaran (2005-2008) and CB Bhave

(2008-2011) – had only got a three-year terms)

6) In a significant development, the Gujarat High Court

on 13 January 2014 ordered the suspension of all

commercial and development activity inside the 21

units at the Adani Group’s Adani Ports and Special

Economic Zone (APSEZ) at Gujarat’s Kutch district. This

order was passed following a public interest litigation

(PIL) filed by the villagers of Navinal, located inside the

SEZ, alleging serious violations of the Environment

Impact Assessment (EIA) notification, 2006 by the

company and the units there. Where is this SEZ of

Adani Group situated? – Mundra Port (The Adani

Group has pumped in around Rs. 20,000 crore in

Mundra and about Rs. 7,000 crore for the SEZ, with a

proposed area of some 18,000 hectares)

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January 16, 2014

1) Indian woman long jumper Anju Bobby George

became the first and the only Indian to win a gold

medal at the World Athletics Championships after her

silver medal position was promoted to gold medal

position due to disqualification of the Gold Medalist

Tatyana Kotova of Russia for doping. Anju had won this

silver medal in which World Athletics Championships? –

World Athletics Championships 2005 held at Monte

Carlo (At the World Athletics Final in 2005, Anju Bobby

George won the Silver Medal with a long jump of 6.75

meter. The Gold Medal was won by Russia’s Tatyana

Kotova with a jump of 6.83 meter and the Bronze

Medal was won by Grace Upshaw of the US. Following

the disqualification of Tatyana Kotova by the

International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF)

on 13 January 2014, Anju was declared winner of long

jump event. Eunice Barber of France was awarded the

bronze medal)

2) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during January 2014

clarified that the provision of prior RBI nod applies for

establishments from Hong Kong and Macau to set up

business or related activities in India. As per the existing

conditions this provision pertaining to RBI’s approval

applies on which 6 countries? – Afghanistan,

Bangladesh, China, Iran, Pakistan and Sri Lanka (As per

the existing conditions under the Foreign Exchange

Management Regulations, no entity or citizens of these

6 countries is allowed to set up any branch office or a

liaison office or a project or any other such business

activity without prior permission of the RBI)

3) Namdeo Dhasal, the Marathi poet, firebrand writer

and fierce fighter for Dalit rights, passed away at a

Mumbai hospital on 15 January 2014. He was being

treated for numerous illnesses including cancer at the

hospital. What is the name of the popular movement

started by Dhasal which focused on radical approach to

solve the problems of Dalits in India? – Dalit

Panthers (Dalit Panthers was founded by Namdeo

Dhasal in 1972 in Mumbai. The Dalit Panther

movement was a radical departure from earlier Dalit

movements. Its initial thrust on militancy through the

use of rustic arms and threats, gave the movement a

revolutionary coloration)

4) The Parliament of Europe on 14 January 2014 signed

a new carbon dioxide restriction treaty which seeks to

slash emissions for a segment of transport across the

European Union (EU) by 28% from year 2020. The

treaty focuses on which transport segment? –

Commercial Vans (All new light commercial vehicles

sold across the EU come under these new rules, under

which these vehicles are to emit a maximum 147

grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre instead of

203 grammes as per the level set in 2007. The

legislation would be reviewed in 2015. According to

data released by the European Commission, 12% of

emissions in the light-duty vehicle segment are done by

vans. These emissions contribute for 1.5% of total

European Union carbon dioxide emissions)

5) Who was appointed as new Commerce Secretary on

15 January 2014? – Rajeev Kher (He will take his charge

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on 31 January 2014 from SR Rao. Kher is a 1980-batch

IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre. He is currently

special secretary, Department of Commerce under

Ministry of Commerce and Industry)

January 17, 2014

1) A two-day voting was held in Egypt on 14 and 15

January 2014 on a draft for country’s next constitution.

This voting was also seen as a referendum on a likely

presidential run by Egypt’s top general. The results of

this voting were released on 16 January 2014 in which

Egypt’s new constitution was approved by an

overwhelmingly majority of around 90% votes. What is

the name of Egypt’s Army Chief, who nudged closer to

a bid for the presidency with these results? – General

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (The vote advances a transition

plan the army unveiled after deposing Islamist

president Mohammed Morsi during July 2013. The next

step is expected to be a presidential election for which

Sisi appears the only serious candidate. It was the first

vote held since Morsi was overthrown following the

mass protests of 30 June 2013 against his rule. The

constitution won wide support among the many

Egyptians who backed the army’s removal of Morsi.

Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood had called for a boycott,

seeing the vote as part of a coup)

2) Which Meteorological Data Processing System was

dedicated to the nation on 15 January 2014 on the

occasion of 139th Foundation Day of India

Meteorological Department (IMD)? – INSAT 3D (INSAT

3D Meteorological Data Processing System (IMDPS) has

been set up at National Satellite Meteorological Centre

(NSMC), IMD, New Delhi to receive and process the

satellite data on a real time basis. The system is capable

to process and generate images and products on 24X7

basis)

3) An international tribunal on 16 January 2014 opened

hearings into the killing of former Lebanese Prime

Minister Rafik Hariri at the International Court of

Justice at the Hague, Netherlands. The tribunal named

the Special Tribunal on Lebanon, however, marked the

notable absence of four accused in this case. When was

Rafik Hariri assassinated in a truck attack in Beirut? – 14

February 2005 (The trial for the alleged suspects

represents the first time that an international tribunal

has tried defendants in their absence since the

Nuremberg trials after World War II)

4) A national festival for showcasing the abilities of

Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) was organized by the

Department of Disability Affairs under the Ministry of

Social Justice and Empowerment on 15 – 16 January

2014 at New Delhi. What was the name of this festival?

– Samarth 2014 : Celebrating Diversity (The objectives

of organizing Samarth were to showcase the abilities

and potential of PwDs, create awareness about their

rights and entitlements and provide PwDs and those

working for them an opportunity for an interface with

each other)

5) A prominent Indian credit rating agency along with

four other rating agencies from Europe, Asia, Africa and

Latin America during January 2014 launched a new

credit rating outfit ARC Ratings S.A. The network-based

rating agency would provide credit rating services to

cross-border corporates in terms of accessing global

capital. Which Indian rating is involved in this initiative?

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– CARE – Credit Analysis and Research (ARC Ratings

will be an equally held entity and have its operational

headquarters in London. Each partner’s shareholding is

capped at a maximum of 25%. ARC will rate sovereign

debt, financial institutions, non-financial corporations

as well as structured products)

6) Garry Kenneth Toomey on 16 January 2014 resigned

as the CEO of a prominent Indian airline company.

Which airline is this? – Jet Airways (Toomey had joined

the airline barely seven months ago)

January 18-19, 2014

1) In a path-breaking development India and Pakistan

on 18 January 2014 agreed upon numerous measures

to smoothen trade between the two countries. Indian

Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and his Pakistani

counterpart Khurram Dastgir Khan in their meeting

held at New Delhi decided to re-start the trade

liberalisation process stalled for 16 months and work

towards non-discriminatory market access on a

reciprocal basis. What are important agreements

achieved at this meeting?

India and Pakistan decided to open the Wagah-

Attari border for trade 24X7

The two countries allowed containers from two

countries to be moved right up to Amritsar and

Lahore instead of being unloaded at the check-

post and re-loaded on the other side

It was decided to expedite the process of giving

banking licences so that Indian and Pakistani

banks can operate in the other country

(India and Pakistan had started negotiations to

normalise trade ties in January 2011 and had made

several concessions for each other before the talks

came to an abrupt halt due to violence across the Line

of Control)

2) Legendary Bengali actress Suchitra Sen passed away

on 17 January 2014 at a private hospital in Kolkata. She

was admitted to the hospital with a with chest infection

on 23 December. Sen acted in over 50 movies between

1952 and 1978 of which six were in Hindi. She went

into recluse after her last film was released. Over the

past three decades she withdrew herself from public

life and did not meet people except her family

members. She was considered for Dada Saheb Phalke

Award in which year, which she reportedly refused in

order to remain away from public life? – 2005 (The

award that year was conferred upon Shyam Benegal.

Capturing the public’s imagination for three decades

through her ethereal beauty and intense celluloid

performance, Suchitra Sen symbolised the golden age

of Bengali cinema with memorable films like

‘Agnipariksha’, ‘Devdas’ and ‘Saat Paake Bandha’.

Gulzar’s ‘Aandhi’ was one of her foremost Hindi films)

3) Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin passed away

on 17 January 2014 at Mumbai. 102-year old Dr.

Burhanuddin was a spiritual leader of which sect of

Muslims? – Dawoodi Bohra community(Dawoodi

Bohra is a sect of Shia Muslims spread all over the

world. The word Bohra means trader and traditionally,

most members of the sect have been entrepreneurs.

Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin was credited with

transforming Dawoodi Bohras into a vibrant

community. Bohras thronged to Syedna’s sermons in

thousands. He was cremated on 18 January 2014.

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However at least 18 persons died in the early hours of

18 January due to a stampede outside his south

Mumbai residence where innumerable of his followers

had assembled to have a last glimpse of this great

preacher)

4) According to the recently released report of the

World Health Organisation (WHO) Pakistan is the only

polio-endemic country in the world where polio cases

rose from 2012 to 2013. Which Pakistani city is now the

largest reservoir of endemic polio virus in the world, as

stated by the WHO on 17 January 2014? –

Peshawar (Peshawar is the provincial capital of Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa. According to the latest genomic

sequencing results of the Regional Reference

Laboratory for Poliovirus, 83 out of 91 polio cases in the

country during the last year are genetically linked to

the polio virus circulating actively in Peshawar.

Moreover, 12 out of the total 13 cases reported during

the previous year from Afghanistan are also directly

linked to Peshawar)

5) The 108 National Ambulance service was launched in

the state of Uttar Pradesh on 17 January 2014. Which

enterprise has been given charge to operate this

ambulance service? – GVK EMRI (GVK EMRI is currently

operating 988 Ambulances under 108 Scheme in Uttar

Pradesh. They have also bagged the project of

operating 2,000 more ambulances under 102 Scheme

which is meant for the transportation of pregnant

women and neonates to the hospital and also back to

home after delivery. Emergency Management and

Research Institute (EMRI) was set up in 2005 with the

objective of delivering comprehensive, speedy, reliable

and quality Emergency Care Services)

6) Sunanda Pushkar, who was found dead in a New

Delhi hotel late on 17 January 2014, was the wife of

which union minister? – Shashi Tharoor, the Union

Minister of State for Human Resource Development

(Her last rites were performed on 18 January at New

Delhi)

7) What was position of hosts India in the Hero Hockey

World League Final, in which it played its last

classification match on 18 January 2014? – Sixth (India

finished at sixth position after it was defeated 2-1 by

Belgium in the fifth-sixth place classification game. The

sixth place finish in this League is certain to give a major

boost to India’s world rankings. India are presently lying

10th in the world rankings)

January 20, 2014

1) Which stock exchange retained its position as the

world’s largest bourse in terms of equity trades for the

second consecutive year in 2013? – India’s National

Stock Exchange (NSE) – NSE recorded almost 145 crore

equity trades on its platform last year, a gain of 3%

from 2012, making it the biggest among 51 global

peers, according to data with the World Federation of

Exchanges (WFE). Rival exchange BSE slipped one place

to eighth position. Although it has more than 4,000

listed companies, the BSE recorded 34.46 crore trades

last year, a drop of 3% compared to 2012. China’s

Shenzhen Stock Exchange recorded 129 crore trades,

climbing three places to become the second-largest

bourse in the world. Trades on the Shenzhen SE, which

pushed NYSE Euronext to third place, rose 38% from

2012

2) The inaugural Hero Hockey World League 2014,

which was held at the Major Dhyan Chand National

Stadium, was won by – the Netherlands (In the final

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played on 18 January 2014 the Netherlands thrashed

New Zealand 7-2 to claim the title. Third place was

claimed by England which defeated Australia by 2-1 in

the bronze medal match. India earlier finished sixth in

the tournament after losing 1-2 to Belgium. Robbert

Kempermann of the Netherlands was declared Player

of the Tournament)

3) Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the

first Indian wicketkeeper and the fourth overall to

effect 300 dismissals in One Day Internationals (ODIs)

when he caught a Ross Taylor nick in the opening ODI

against New Zealand in Napier on 19 January 2014.

Which are the three players who have more catches

against their names in ODIs? – Australia’s Adam

Gilchrist (472), Sri Lankan’sKumar Sangakkara (443)

and South Africa’s Mark Boucher (425)

4) 3rd Lusofonia Games started on 18 January 2013 at

Goa. These games are held for community of which

countries? – Portuguese-speaking countries (Athletes

from 12 countries are participating in these games,

which are – Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor,

Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Goa (India), Macau

(China), Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome & Principe

and Sri Lanka)

5) Top-seeded Serena Williams was ousted from the

Australian Open 2014 after she lost in the fourth round.

With this loss Williams’ winning streak since August

2013 was broken. Who defeated her? –Ana

Ivanovic (Ivanovic defeated her by 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to move

into quarter-finals)

6) At least 22 security personnel were killed and 38

others injured in a terrorist attack on a military convoy

in Pakistan’s restive northwest on 19 January 2014. The

attack took place near Aamandi Chowk in Khyber-

Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu. This attack was committed by

which group? – Pakistani Taliban (Bannu, which stands

at the gateway to the semi-autonomous Waziristan

tribal region, is 150 kilometres southwest of Peshawar)

7) Global retail giant Wal-Mart on 15 January 2014

registered a new company in India as it prepares to

enter the country’s lucrative multi-brand retail market

with a new partner. What is the name of this new

registered company? – ‘Wal-Mart India Private

Ltd’ (The American retail major Wal-Mart and Bharti

Enterprises decided to part ways in October last year,

bringing an end to their six-year long partnership)

January 21, 2014

1) The Reserve Bank of India recently constituted an 8-

member expert committee to review the governance of

bank boards in India, which includes examining the

ownership and salary structure of banks. Who heads

this committee? – PJ Naik, former Chairman and CEO of

Axis Bank (The committee will review the regulatory

compliance requirements of the board of directors of

banks, judge what can be rationalised and where

requirements need enhancements, examine the

working of the boards, including whether adequate

time is being devoted to issues of strategy, growth,

governance and risk management)

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2) To promote women entrepreneurship, the country’s

first women’s bank – the Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB)

– has chosen to do away with collateral for loans

availed by women. The BMB will provide collateral-free

loans for amounts up to Rs 1 crore. Which entity would

cover the risk under this initiative? – Credit Guarantee

Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises –

CGTMSE (The CGTMSE is a credit guarantee scheme,

where a premium is paid either by the lender or the

applicant, provides a guarantee cover for up to 80% of

loans availed by women owned or operated micro- and

small enterprises. For loans availed for smaller amounts

such as Rs 20,000, the bank will completely waive off

the requirement for collateral)

3) The proposal to accord minority status to which

community was accepted by the Union Cabinet on 20

January 2014, which will enable it to avail of benefits in

government schemes and programmes? –Jain

community (The decision to grant minority status to

the community of about 50 lakh was taken at a meeting

of Union Cabinet a day after Congress Vice President

Rahul Gandhi took up this issue with Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh. Once formally recognised as a

minority, Jains would get a share in central funds

earmarked for welfare programmes and scholarships

for the minorities. They can also manage and

administer their own educational institutions. The

community is already enjoying minority status in some

states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,

Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan but the new decision

extends that status across the country)

4) Indian national airline Air India was recently invited

to join which famous global network of airlines by this

summer? – Star Alliance (Star Alliance was created in

1997, to better meet the needs of frequent

international travellers. It today serves over 1,300

airports globally with a combined fleet strength of the

members being over 4,700 aircraft. The Alliance,

through its member airlines has a presence in over 195

countries. In December 2007, Air India was inducted

into Star Alliance after a meeting of the CEOs board in

Beijing. But in August 2011, the airline’s application for

membership of the alliance was put on hold as it did

not meet the minimum joining conditions that had

been contractually agreed to in December 2007)

5) Which country on 19 January 2014 barred Malaysian

opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim from entering the

country on account of a previous conviction of the

leader? – Japan (Japanese immigration officials on 19

January stopped Anwar at Narita International Airport,

and told him to take the next flight back to Kuala

Lumpur. According to Ibrahim the officials apparently

denied him entry for a previous conviction in 1999)

6) China’s economy grew by 7.7% in 2013, which is far

below the standards of China – world’s second-largest

economy. The economic growth rate of 2013 is the

lowest since which year? – 1999 (2013’s growth is the

lowest in 14 years. This marks the slowest growth since

1999, when China grew 7.6%. The previous decade saw

record double-digit growth, with the country defying

the global slowdown to grow 10.4% in 2010 as it

unveiled a massive $ 586 billion stimulus. This declining

growth underlines the challenges faced by China as it

grapples with rebalancing and reviving a slowing down

economy)

7) What is the name of the Islamic militant group that

claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings in the

southern city of Volgograd during December 2013

which killed 34 people and heightened security fears

before Winter Olympics 2014? – Vilayat Dagestan (This

militant group claimed responsibility for Volgograd

bombings also threatened to strike the 2014 Winter

Olympics to be held in February 2014 in Sochi)

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January 22, 2014

1) In a major overhaul of foreign investment regime,

the government is considering splitting overseas

inflows into two categories – Foreign Portfolio

Investment (FPI) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) –

with a minimum composite cap of 49%. The proposal

envisages an aggregate automatic limit of 24% of FPI,

which may be raised up to the extent of FDI permitted

under the automatic route. Constituting two categories

for foreign investments is considered by which panel? –

Mayaram Panel (The government had set up a four-

member committee headed by Economic Affairs

Secretary Mayaram to define FDI and FII and remove

the ambiguity between them. The Committee is

expected to finalise its report by end of January 2014)

2) The Supreme Court on 21 January 2014 commuted

the death sentence of four aides of forest brigand

Veerappan to life term on ground of delay in deciding

their mercy plea by the Government. The four convicts

– Simon, Gnanaprakash, Madaiah and Bilavendran –

were convicted for killing 22 people in a landmine blast

in Palar, Tamil Nadu. In which year this crime was

committed by them? –1993

3) Who was chosen as the new Director of National

Police Academy (NPA), Hyderabad and with this she

becomes the first woman head of the country’s premier

training institute for IPS officers? – Aruna

Bahuguna (She will be the first woman to head the

country’s premier training institute for IPS officers

selected by the Union Public Service Commission since

its inception in 1948. Ms. Bahuguna, who belongs to

the 1979 batch of IPS, is an officer of the rank of

Director General of Police from Andhra Pradesh cadre.

She is presently the Special Director General of Central

Reserve Police Force, the country’s largest para-military

force with a strength of three lakh)

4) Who retired as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank

of India (RBI) on 20 January 2014? – Anand Sinha (With

Anand Sinha relinquishing his charge as Deputy

Governor, the RBI re-allocated his portfolios among the

remaining three Deputy Governors — K.C. Chakrabarty,

H.R. Khan and Urjit Patel. Sinha was in-charge of eight

departments, including Departments of Banking

Operations and Development, Risk Management,

Information Technology and Expenditure and

Budgetary Control)

5) The Union Government on 20 January 2014 allowed

the establishment of an ad hoc authority to

recommend the pricing of the passenger and cargo

segments. What is the name of this authority? –Rail

Tariff Authority (Rail Tariff Authority will have a

Chairman and four members. The decision to have an

ad hoc arrangement through a government resolution

was taken because establishing it through an executive

order, as had been desired by the Cabinet, was not

feasible given that under the Railway Act only the

Railway Board can decide on the prices of rail services.

For constitution of the RTA, an amendment to the

Railway Act, 1989, is also necessary)

6) The pilot project of Amul’s first “Any Time Milk”

(ATM) vending machine to dispense milk on 24X7 basis

was on 19 January 2014 installed at – Anand,

Gujarat (The pilot project of this 24×7 ATM began with

the installation of a vending machine at the gate of

Amul Dairy in Anand town of Gujarat. For a Rs 10-

currency note, which this machine will read through a

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sensor, the ATM would dispense a 300 ml pouch of

Amul Taaza milk. The ATM, fitted with refrigeration

facility, has a capacity to hold 150 pouches at a time. To

start with, Amul plans to set up these ATMs at each of

the 1,100 ‘mandalis’ (village-level milk collection

centres) in Kheda and Anand districts of Gujarat)

January 23, 2014

1) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on 22 January 2014,

warned that it would withdraw from circulation all old

banknotes and announced that it will withdraw all old

notes from 31 March 2014. From 1 July 2014 these old

notes would be put out of circulation. Notes issued

before which year will be withdrawn by the RBI? –

2005 (According to an RBI advisory, anybody who had

such currency notes would have to approach a bank in

order to exchange them. The RBI would start

withdrawing the notes after 31 March 2014. This step

will apparently hit currency hoarders and

counterfeiters. However, the currency notes issued

before 2005 would remain legal tender. But from 1 July

2014 those wanting to exchange more than 10 pieces

of 500 and 1000 rupee notes in a bank where they do

not have an account will have to provide proof of

residence and identity)

2) Who will be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day

Celebrations 2014 to be celebrated on 26 January

2014? – Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan (Japanese

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will pay an official visit to

New Delhi from January 25-27 and will be the chief

guest at this year’s Republic Day celebrations)

3) Who was the head of RBI’s committee on

strengthening monetary policy framework, which in its

recommendations has suggested that the target for

inflation should be set at 4% with a band of +/- 2%

around it? – Urjit Patel, Deputy Governor of the RBI

(This inflation target is in view of vulnerability of the

Indian economy to supply/external shocks and the

relatively large weight of food in Consumer Price Index

(CPI))

4) Who was selected to head the National Dairy

Development Board (NDDB), who will become the first

ever person from the Indian Administrative Service

(IAS) to hold the position of NDDB Chairman? – T.

Nanda Kumar (Nanda Kumar, currently Member of the

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), is

slated to take over from 1 March 2014. He will replace

Amrita Patel who has been holding the post since 1998.

Both Patel and her illustrious predecessor Verghese

Kurien, who was chairman from 1965 to 1998, had

dairy professional backgrounds. NDDB’s heydays were

in 1970-95, when it implemented the Operation Flood

programme that made India self-sufficient in milk

production and end reliance on imports of milk powder

and butter oil)

5) Legendary Telugu actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao

(lovingly called ANR) passed away at a private hospital

in Hyderabad on 22 January 2014 at the age of 91

years. Father of Telugu superstar Nagarjuna, he

founded which famous studios in Hyderabad, which

helped in establishing Telugu film industry in this city? –

Annapurna Studios (He always wished to stay in

Andhra Pradesh as this is where his audience was. With

the support of the government, he bought land and

developed Annapurna Studio primarily to encourage

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the migration of the Telugu film industry from Chennai.

ANR was awarded Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1991

and Padma Vibhushan in 2011, which is second highest

civilian award of the country)

6) Which bank came to highlight recently for declaring

an interim dividend of 9000%, which is said to be the

highest in India’s banking industry? – Tamilnad

Mercantile Bank – TMB (Tuticorin-based TMB took a

decision to this effect at a meeting held on 18 January

2014. This dividend stands at Rs. 900 per share of Rs 10

each, for the fiscal ending March 2014. This is the

second year in a row that the bank has declared such a

high dividend. The bank’s board had approved a

dividend of Rs 750 per share for 2008-09 and Rs 1,000

per share the following year)

January 24, 2014

1) The term ‘Euromaidan’ came to news recently, which

stands for a huge spat of civil unrest and anti-

government protests in a country. Which country is

associated with these protests? –

Ukraine(‘Euromaidan’ mean ‘Eurosquare’. It stands for

the ongoing protests and civil unrest undertaken by a

large section of Ukrainian populace demanding

country’s closer integration with Europe. The protests

started on 21 November 2013 from Ukraine’s capital

Kiev and since then have grown into a strong

movement against President Viktor Yanukovych and his

government. The protests against Yanukovych started

after his apparent move to incline towards Russian

Govt. and moving away from European influence.

‘Euromaidan’ is the largest ever pro-European

movement in the history. The protest took an ugly and

violent form on 19 January and became more violent

on 23 January)

2) President Pranab Mukherjee on 23 January 2014

gave seven more days to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly

to discuss and debate the draft Telangana bill in the

House before returning it to the Centre. What was the

deadline given by the President while sending the bill to

the state Assembly? –23 January 2014 (The decision

has been taken by the President following a request of

the Andhra Pradesh government which sought four

weeks extension of the 23 January deadline. The

Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill now has to be

returned by the state Assembly by 30 January 2014

with or without its view)

3) A 60-day state of emergency was imposed in which

South-East country’s capital on 21 January 2014? –

Thailand (A 60-day state of emergency was imposed in

Thailand’s capital Bangkok to suppress the anti-

government protests that has blocked the parts of the

capital and to take care of the situation and to enforce

the law. This emergency came into effect from 22

January and it bans public gatherings, brings into effect

censoring of news reports and imposition of curfew for

next 60 days)

4) Tata Chemicals on 23 January 2014 celebrated its

platinum jubilee (75th year) and on this occasion

company’s Managing Director R. Mukundan rang the

opening bell on the Bombay Stock Exchange. At which

place 75 years back Tata Chemicals established its first

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centre of salt and soda ash production? – Mithapur –

Gujarat (Tata Group was associated with Mithapur in

1939 when it took over the Okha Salt Works at

Mithapur near Okha. Mithapur, situated between Okha

and Dwarka, is a small colony supported by Tata

Chemicals Limited, which is one of the flagship

companies of the Tata Group)

5) What is the name of the Indian-American professor

who was recently appointed as the Dean of Harvard

College in the United States? – Prof. Rakesh

Khurana (He will assume his new charge from 1 July

2014. Harvard College is the school within Harvard

University that grants undergraduate degrees. Rakesh

will thus become the latest addition to a long list of

Indian-origin academicians assuming leadership roles at

renowned global universities. Before this India-born

Prof. Nitin Nohria had also assumed his responsibility as

Dean of the Harvard Business School)

6) Which Telugu film became the first to be released on

DTH along with its theatrical release on 24 January

2014? – Minukumanna Minugurulu (This film was

released on Airtel Digital TV at 00.30 hours on 24

January (the day of its release) and would be available

on this DTH platform for 5 days. Directed by

Ayodhyakumar Krishnamsetty, the film’s cast includes

national award winning actors Ashish Vidyarthi and

Suhasini Maniratnam along with internationally

acclaimed actor Raghubir Yadav)

January 25-26, 2014

1) Which are the two recipients of India’s second

highest civilian award – Padma Vibhushan for 2014, as

announced by the Union Government on 25 January

2014? – B.K.S. Iyengar, the renowned Yoga guru

and R.A. Mashelkar, former chief of the Council of

Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – B.K.S. Iyengar

(95), who founded the Iyengar School of Yoga that has

millions of followers across the globe including in China,

was once named by TIME magazine as one of the 100

most influential persons in the world. The 71-year-old

Mr. Mashelkar has played a significant role in evolving

science and technology policies in post-liberalised India.

A chemical engineer, he is also a former head of the

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)

2) How many Padma awards were announced by the

Union government on the eve of Republic Day on 25

January 2014? – 128 (This includes 2 Padma

Vibhushans, 25 Padma Bhushans and 101 Padma Shri

Awards)

3) India and China on 24 January 2014 launched a

special year to mark the coming year of exchanges in

the field of economy, culture and people-to-people

cooperation between the two countries. What is the

name given to this year? – ‘Year of Friendly Exchanges’

4) Leading Indian drug manufacturer Ranbaxy

Laboratories’ plant in Toansa (Punjab), which had

recently received Form 483 from the US Food and Drug

Administration (USFDA), was put under import alert on

24 January 2014. With this, all products manufactured

at Toansa would now remain banned from the US. This

is Ranbaxy’s fourth Indian plant to receive an import

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alert from the USFDA, which means that sale of all

Ranbaxy drugs manufactured in India have been

banned in the US. Which were the three plants which

were banned by the USFDA earlier? – Ponta

Sahib (Himachal Pradesh),Dewas (Madhya Pradesh)

and Mohali (Punjab) – The USFDA’s inspection of the

Toansa facility, which concluded on 11 January 2014,

identified significant CGMP violations. According to the

USFDA findings, the staff at Toansa facility were

retesting raw materials and intermediate drug products

and also finishing API that had earlier failed analytical

testing and specifications.

5) Who won the women’s singles title of Australian

Open on 25 January 2014? – Li Na of China (She

defeated Dominika Cibulkova 7-6 (3), 6-0 to win her

maiden Australian Open title. She also became the

oldest woman to clinch the title in the Open era. Li,

who turns 32 next month, lost Australian Open finals to

Kim Clijsters in 2011 and to Victoria Azarenka last year.

In between, she won the 2011 French Open to become

the first Chinese woman to win a major)

6) V.P. Agarwal, the Chairman of Airports Authority of

India (AAI) was on 23 January 2014 removed from his

post as the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) did not

clear his name for an extension. He was replaced by

whom? – Alok Sinha (Sinha is the Joint Secretary in the

Ministry of Civil Aviation and he was given the post of

AAI Chairman as an additional charge. AAI is in the

middle of a major investment programme to develop

50 low cost airports in the country and also privatise

the running of major airports including Chennai,

Kolkata, Lucknow and Ahmedabad)

7) What is the name of the new mascot of Hockey India

League (HIL), which was launched on 23 January 2014

for HIL’s second edition? – ‘Gaurav’, the tiger (The

introduction of mascot “Gaurav” will be a new and

refreshing chapter in the HIL. The mascot is designed to

arouse the interest for hockey in the country and to

connect all hockey fans with the game in a completely

redefined manner)

8) The ‘fastest ever’ broadband speeds of 1.4 terabits

per second have been achieved in a test in London

recently, raising hopes of more efficient data transfer

via existing infrastructure. This astonishing speed is

enough to send 44 uncompressed HD films a second.

Which companies collaborated in this test? – Alcatel-

Lucent (France) and British Telecom – BT (Britain) –

The test was conducted on a 410km (255-mile) link

between the BT Tower in central London and Ipswich.

This breakthrough is being seen as highly important for

internet service providers (ISPs), as it means a greater

amount of information can be sent through existing

broadband infrastructure, reducing the need for costly

upgrades. However, it may be many years before

consumers get services at this speed)

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January 27, 2014

1) Which city on 25 January 2014 became the first in

India to offer free Wi-Fi spots for the public? –

Bangalore (Karnataka Government’s Department of

Information Technology, Biotechnology, Science &

Technology launched the ‘Namma Wi-Fi’ hotspots

across six spots in the city. Usage will be limited to

three hours per day or up to 50 MB data. The total

number of access points would be 23 in the coverage

area which will accommodate 2,000 users at the same

time. To use this service, users should have an

authentication password which would be sent to their

mobile after they register on the network)

2) Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka claimed his first

Grand Slam title in dramatic fashion on 26 January 2014

when he upset injury-troubled world number one

Rafael Nadal of Spain in the Australian Open men’s

singles final. He defeated Nadal by 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to

win his maiden Grand Slam tennis title. Stanislas

Wawrinka has earlier in January 2014 won which ATP

title in India? – Chennai Open (Wawarinka had won the

men’s singles title of Chennai Open on 5 January 2014)

3) Vakrangee Ltd., which is engaged in providing e-

governance solutions, recently came to news for

banking related activities. Why? – It has received final

authorization for operating White Label ATM (WLA)

license from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) - Under, the

RBI license, the company is entitled to set up and run

minimum 15,000 ATMs across the country in next three

years. White label ATMs are those which are not run by

the Banks but by a non- banking entity in its own brand

name (like Vakrangee ATM) after passing through all

the stringent qualification and due-diligence process

undertaken by RBI

4) The third one-day international (ODI) of the India-

New Zealand series at Auckland on 25 January 2014

ended in a nail-biting tie with India scoring exactly 314

runs, the same scored by the Kiwis. It was India’s 7th tie

in an ODI match. What record was added to the name

of Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for this tied

match? - MS Dhoni created history by becoming the

first ODI captain to have participated in four tied

matches (Richie Richardson (West Indies), Steve Waugh

(Australia) and Shaun Pollock (South Africa) were

involved in three ties each. The first tie for Dhoni was in

the 2011 ICC World Cup against England in Bangalore.

His second was also against England at Lord’s on 11

September 2011. The third occasion was against Sri

Lanka in Adelaide in February 2012)

5) Karl Slym, who passed away on 26 January 2014 in

Bangkok, was the top executive associated with which

Indian automobile company? – Tata Motors (He was

the Managing Director of Tata Motors. He died in

Bangkok on 26 January 2014 where he had gone to

attend a board meeting of the company’s Thailand arm.

The UK-born Slym was brought to the company in 2012

to turn around the company’s domestic business as

Tata Motors was fully dependent on profits generated

by the company’s UK-based subsidiary Jaguar Land

Rover till the end of the last quarter)

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January 28, 2014

1) India’s Civil Aviation Ministry on 27 January 2014

approved the operations of Airbus A-380s in India at

four airports currently equipped to handle these super

jumbos. Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Lufthansa

have been pressing the government for several years to

allow them fly these super jumbos into India. Which

four airports were allowed to handle this huge aircraft?

– Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore (Presently

these four are equipped to handle huge A-380s. The

restrictions on the fully double-decker planes were

lifted after weeks of consultation between Directorate

General of Civil Aviation, Air India and Airports

Authority of India (AAI). An A-380 aircraft can seat 850

passengers in an all-economy configuration, but those

having a three-class configuration can accommodate

between 550-600 passengers)

2) What is the name of a new fund announced on 27

January 2014 by the National Innovation Council (NInC)

and the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium

Enterprises to combine innovation and the dynamism

of enterprise to solve the problems of citizens at the

bottom of the economic pyramid in India? – India

Inclusive Innovation Fund – IIIF (The fund, launched by

Sam Pitroda, head of the NInC, is an autonomous Rs.

500-crore fund, with the Union Government

contributing 20%. The balance will come from public

sector banks, financial institutions, insurance

companies, multilateral/bilateral development

agencies, Indian & global corporates)

3) The North-African country whose people overthrew

their dictator in 2011 in a popular uprising that inspired

the so-called Arab Spring across the region, approved

the country’s landmark democratic constitution on 26

January 2014. Which country is this? –

Tunisia (Tunisia’s National Constitutional Assembly on

26 January approved the country’s landmark post-

revolutionary Constitution its members have spent the

last two years writing, by 200 out of 216 votes. The new

document guarantees basic freedoms and gender

equality. It has been called one of the most progressive

Constitutions in the Arab world and involved lengthy

negotiations between an Islamist-dominated

Government and the largely secular Opposition)

4) Which organisation was chosen for the National

Communal Harmony Award 2013 in the organisations

category? – The Centre for Study of Society and

Secularism (CSSS) – The award was announced on 25

January 2014 by the National Foundation for

Communal Harmony. Mohinder Singh of Delhi and Dr.

N Radhakrishnan of Kerala have been selected for the

award in the individual category. Established in 1996,

CSSS is a Mumbai-based organisation working to

promote peace, secularism and communal harmony in

the country. Mohinder Singh, 72, is a scholar and

member of the National Commission for Minority

Educational Institutions. Dr. N. Radhakrishnan, 69, is a

well-known academic, Gandhian scholar and peace

worker. The National Communal Harmony Awards were

instituted in 1996 by the National Foundation for

Communal Harmony, an autonomous organisation

under the Union Home Ministry)

5) “Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo“, the patriotic song sung

by Lata Mangeshkar to commemorate the martyrdom

of Indian soldiers in the Sino-Indian War of 1962,

completed 51 years of its public performance on 27

January 2014. The song written by Kavi Pradeep was

performed live at Delhi’s historic Ramleela Maidan on

27 January 1963 by Lata Mangeshkar, just two months

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after the end of the war. Who composed this legendary

song? – C. Ramchandra (A special function was held at

Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi Racecourse to commemorate this

occasion)

January 29, 2014

1) Union Government on 27 January 2014 issued the

notification declaring the Jain community as the sixth

minority community in India. Which are the other five

communities accorded this status earlier? – Muslim,

Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi (The minority status

was accorded to Jain community under Section 2(C) of

National Minority Commission Act, 1992)

2) What is the new Repo Rate after Reserve Bank of

India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan on 28 January

2014 increased it by 0.25% under RBI’s third quarter

monetary policy review? – 8% (This move is expected

to translate into higher EMIs and push up the cost of

borrowing for corporates. Consequently, the Reverse

Repo Rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF)

will be revised to 7% and the marginal standing facility

rate and bank rate to 9%. However, the RBI kept the

cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged at 4% as liquidity

seems to be comfortable)

3) The RBI released the Macroeconomic and Monetary

Developments Report along with the third quarter

monetary policy review on 28 January 2014. What is

RBI’s broad expectation about economic growth rate

(GDP Growth Rate) during 2013-13? – GDP growth rate

will remain below 5% (The RBI said the growth is

expected to fall below 5% in 2013-14 in absence of

pick-up in manufacturing sector, but likely to recover to

5.5% in the next financial year (2014-15). In the first

half of 2013-14, the GDP growth was at 4.6%)

4) In back-to-back moves to try resolving the ongoing

Ukrainian political crisis, the prime minister submitted

his resignation on 28 January 2014 and the Parliament

repealed anti-protest laws that had set off violent

clashes between protesters and police. What is the

name of the Prime Minister who resigned? – Mykola

Azarov (Azarov was one of the government figures

most disliked by opposition supporters. The twin moves

were significant concessions to the protesters who

have occupied the capital’s main square for two

months and fought sporadically with police for the last

10 days)

5) What is the name of the high performance

computing system of the Defence Research and

Development Organisation (DRDO) which was unveiled

on 28 January 2014? – Dhruva-3 (Dhruva-3, which was

developed by the Advanced Numerical Research &

Analysis Wing (ANURAG), Hyderabad, will be useful for

the design of advanced aircrafts like the AMCA

(Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft), where analysis of

aerodynamics at high speeds under different conditions

is required. It will be deployed to solving mission critical

Defence R&D applications)

6) Raymond Weil, who passed away on 27 January

2013, was a renowned pioneer of which field? –Watch-

making (He was the founder of the watch brand of the

same name (Raymond Weil) and is considered one of

the great innovators of the Swiss watch industry. Born

in Geneva in 1926, Weil first made his foray into the

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watch industry at Camy Watch, of which he soon took

the reins. In 1976, in the midst of an industry-wide

crisis, he decided to go it alone and created his own

company focused on putting into practice his vision

that timepieces should be high-quality and with

superior design, but at affordable prices)

January 30, 2014

1) A study conducted by Nielsen and commissioned by

Oil Ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell

(PPAC), in its report has found that cheaper fuel is

finding usage by unintended beneficiaries. According to

this study what proportion of diesel is being consumed

by high-end cars and SUVs (sports utility vehicles)? –

13.15% (This study found that 70% of the diesel was

being used in the transport sector. Private cars and

SUVs consumed 13.15% of the 69.08 million tonne

diesel consumed in the country in 2012-13. Commercial

vehicles such as trucks however constituted the largest

user base of diesel at 28.25%. Other commercial

vehicles used another 8.94% and three-wheelers, a

further 6.39%. Agriculture tractors and pumps used

13% of the diesel. Industries and electricity generators

consumed almost 9% diesel, while mobile towers used

1.54%. The study found that 99.6% of petrol is

consumed in the transport sector alone. Of this,

majority consumption of 61.42% is accounted for by

two-wheelers while cars use 34.33%, followed by 3-

wheelers at 2.34%)

2) According to the recently released Education for All

Global Monitoring Report 2013-14, India has the largest

population of illiterate adults in the world and it

comprises of about 37% of the global total. What is the

total number of illiterate adults in India according to

this report? – 287 million or 28.7 crore (The report

mentions that India’s literacy rate rose from 48% in

1991 to 63% in 2006, the latest year it has available

data, but population growth cancelled the gains so

there was no change in the number of illiterate adults)

3) In a first of its kind venture, six public sector

undertakings (PSUs) including state-run Bharat Heavy

Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Power Grid Corporation

of India Limited (PGCIL) on 29 January 2014 announced

joining hands to set up world’s largest 4,000 MW ultra

mega solar power project in Rajasthan. Where in

Rajasthan this solar plant spread across 19,000 acres is

going to be established? – Sambhar (The project will be

the largest single location solar plant spread across

19,000 acres at Sambhar in Rajasthan. It entails an

investment of Rs. 7,500 crore in the first phase. The JV

will have equity of 26% from BHEL, 23%

from SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India), 16%

from SSL (Sambhar Salt Ltd), 16% from PGCIL, 16%

from SJVNL (Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam) and 3%

from REIL (Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments

Limited))

4) What is the name of the heritage building in Shimla

which houses the office of the Accountant General of

Himachal Pradesh and was gutted in a major fire on 28

January 2014? – Gorton Castle (A major fire reduced

two floors of this magnificent heritage building to

ashes. Deriving its name from the former estate upon

which it was built, this was the Government of India

Secretariat Building from where the affairs of this vast

country were administered during the summer months

in the colonial times. Crores of rupees had been spent

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on renovation of this heritage building which was built

in 1904. Renovation work was on when the fire broke

out in the building)

5) Which Hindi women novelist’s name was suggested

by the Delhi Government as the new chief of Delhi

Commission for Women (DCW) to Lt. Governor Najeeb

Jung on 29 January 2014 amidst speculations of

removing Barkha Singh? – Maitreyi Pushpa (Pushpa is

renowned for her feminist writings and strong feminist

leanings. The suggestion has come in the backdrop of

the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government accusing the

present DCW chairperson Barkha Singh of politicising

the role of her office while dealing with the midnight

raid episode allegedly involving Law Minister Somnath

Bharti)

January 31, 2014

1) The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) on

30 January 2014 raised the subsidised LPG cylinder

quota from 9 to 12 per year per household. It also

decided to put on hold the direct benefit transfer

scheme for LPG which linked payment of subsidy

directly into the bank accounts of the consumers under

the Aadhaar platform. After increase in the cap on

subsidized LPG cylinders what percentage of LPG

cylinders are now covered by subsidisd cylinders? –

Around 97% (Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister

Veerappa Moily disclosed that 89.2% of the 15 crore

LPG consumers use up to nine cylinders in a year and

only 10% have to buy the additional requirement at the

market price. After the quota is raised to 12, about 97%

of the LPG consumers would be covered by subsidised

LPG)

2) With Union government’s decision of increasing the

cap on subsidised domestic LPG cylinders from 9 to 12,

the subsidy burden on petroleum companies increased

substantially (by around Rs. 5,000 crore annually). This

decision also affected government’s target of reducing

fiscal deficit. When the cap on subsidised domestic LPG

cylinders was brought down to just 6, which was later

increased to 9? – In September 2012 (Govt. had

reduced the cap on subsidised domestic LPG cylinders

to just 6 with an objective to reduce its subsidy load

and reduce fiscal deficit. However due to severe

criticism from several quarters this cap was increased

to 9 during January 2013. Now the cap has been

increased further to 12)

3) India Post (Indian postal department) recently

announced an ambitious plan to install as many as

3,000 ATMs and 1.35 lakh micro-ATMs at its post

offices across the country for savings account holders.

This plan would be rolled-out by installing three ATMs

in New Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore on 5 February

2014 and then ramp it up gradually. What is the

tentative deadline given by India Post for installing

these 3,000 ATMs and 1.35 lakh micro-ATMs? –

September 2015 (Under this plan, 1,000 ATMs with the

India Post branding will be put in within the first year,

which will be ramped up massively to 3,000 in the next

18 months. To start with, the ATMs can be used only by

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26 crore savings account-holders who save with the

postal department but India Post hopes that within six

months of the launch, it will get the interoperability

permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Postal

savings are worth around Rs 6.05 trillion, which is half

the savings in the largest lender SBI and more than

double that of the largest private sector lender ICICI

Bank)

4) International creditors on 29 January 2014 started

the third bailout review of Cyprus to gauge whether the

country is living up to the terms of its financial rescue

program. The start of country’s third bailout review

comes after earlier assessments concluded that the

country was on track, but warned that there was no

room to slacken efforts. What was the amount of

bailout package approved by the European Union (EU)

and International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Cyprus

during March 2013? – 10 billion Euro or $13.6

billion (Cyprus’ banking sector is the hardest hit with

this bail-out package. The deal saw authorities seize

large portions of uninsured savings in the two largest

banks and impose capital controls while the second-

largest lender was shut down)

5) Google Inc. on 29 January 2014 announced selling

Motorola’s smartphone business (Motorola Mobility) to

Chinese company Lenovo for $2.9 billion. The price of

the sale makes Google’s biggest acquisition of Motorola

look like its most expensive mistake. For what price

Google acquired Motorola Mobility in 2012? – $12.4

billion (Motorola has lost nearly $2 billion since Google

took over, while trimming its workforce from 20,000 to

3,800. Google had previously recovered some of the

money that it spent on Motorola by selling the

company’s set-top operations last year to Arris Group

Inc. for $2.35 billion. On the other hand Lenovo now

appears determined to become a bigger player in

smartphones as more people rely on them instead of

laptop and desktop computers to go online)

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