been victims of electronic / online fraud will have to be compensated for such loss unless the bank can prove that the fraud occurred due to negligence on part of the customer. What is the full form of BCSBI: Banking Codes and Standards Board of India16) The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention held from 7-9 January in Delhi was in series:12th

17) Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is celebrated on which date:

9th January18) Who was the chief guest at the 12th

PravasiBharatiya Divas Convention: G Palanivel19) G Palanivel is from which country: Malaysia

20) Who is G Palanivel: Minister for Natural

Resources and Environment, Malaysia21) 6th All India Inter-University Fencing

Championship held at Patiala, Punjab was won by

22) Margaret Thatcher was voted as the most successful post-war British Prime Minister. She is also known as _: The ‘Iron Lady’ of Britain23) What is the formal name of the Lokpal Bill recently approved by the President: Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 201324) What is the objective of recently launched Multi- sectoral Nutrition Programme: To address the problems of maternal and child under- nutrition in the country

25) Which country recently announced to adopt Euro as its currency: Latvia

26) Which country has been named to take over the

Presidency of the European Union: Greece27) The Index of Economic Freedom ranks India at

place: 120th28) Name the country which ranks no. 1 in the Index of

Economic Freedom – 2014: Hong Kong29) The term EBID is used to indicate profits of a company. What is the full form of EBID: Earnings Before Interest and Depreciation30) The government has approved a proposal to pay formal sector workers a minimum monthly pension of Rs benefiting over 27 lakh pensioners:1,000,31) The Committee on Comprehensive

FinancialServices for Small Businesses and Low

Latest G.K .JANUARY – 2014

1) Paul Torday who passed away recently was a famous : British Novelist

2) Which prominent educational organization of India is recently is celebrating 60 years of its completion: UGC (University Grants Commission)3) Recently there was news headline – “US goes in for stimulus tapering”, what does it means: USA has decided reduce purchase of long term maturity bonds

4) Name the state which won the 62nd Senior National Volleyball Championship (Men’s) held at Moradabad, UP: Tamil Nadu

5) Who has been appointed as Chairman, Chiefs of

Staff Committee (CoSC): General Bikram 6) A Russian city was in news as it witnessed two ghastly terror attacks by suicide bombers, killing over thirty persons and seriously wounding several others. Name this city: Volgograd

7) The Reserve Bank has allowed banks to sanction loans of up to Rs. against pledge of gold ornaments and jewellery: Rs.1 lakh8) Abdulla Gayoom has been elected as

ofMaldives Islands: President9) Vinod Kumar Duggal has been appointed Governor of which state: Manipur

10) Asha Khemka, a Bihar born eminent educationist has been awarded one of Britain's highest civilian award-DAME COMMANDER of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for what purpose: For spreading education in deprived areas11) The Mountain Strike Corps raised recently for countering China is based at which place: Ranchi (Jharkhand)

12) Corey Anderson, the New Zealand all-rounder was in news recently for what reasons: For scoring the quickest century ever in international cricket, taking just 36 balls

13) Name the MNC which has filed first proposal to enter the Indian Multi Brand retail segment: Tesco Plc, USA

14) How much FDI is permitted in multi brand retail segment: 51%

15) BCSBI has ruled that bank customers who haveGENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014

65

50) What is the name of the official mascot of the 2014

FIFA World Cup to be held in Brazil in June: Fuleco the Armadillo51) Laimdota Straujuma has been elected as the first woman Prime Minister of which country: Latvia52) India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile. What is the strike range of this missile: 350 kms53) At which place in Haryana the foundation stone was laid for a 2800 megawatt nuclear power plant: Gorakhpur, Distt. Fatehabad (Haryana)54) Govt. has decided to widen the scope of MGNREGS to include works relating to also in it in collaboration with the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan: Rural sanitation

55) What is the objective of the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan:

To make India free from open 56) Ali Larayedh, Islamist Prime Minister of was in news as he resigned as part of a plan to end months of political deadlock. Tunisia

57) Name the country from which started the wide spread uprising of common public, called Arab Spring: Tunisia

58) Recently Posco was granted environmental clearance to build Rs 52,000 crore steel plant in Odisha. It is from which country: South Korea59) India’s largest and most modern airport has recently been inaugurated in which city: Mumbai60) What is the formal name of the new airport terminal started at Mumbai: Terminal – 2, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport

61) World’s largest railway platform is located at which place: Gorakhpur (UP) India

62) Aitizaz Hasan, a 15 year old school boy in Pakistan was decorated with the Sitara-e-Shujaat — a high civilian award for bravery, for what purpose: He died confronting a suicide bomber to save his school

63) Ariel Sharon who passed away recently was a prominent : Statesman

64) Ariel Sharon was a former Prime Minister of which country: Israel

65) In the Nuclear Materials Security Index 2014 released by the US-based think-tank Nuclear Threat Initiative, India has been placed at which rank: 23rd

66) India has completed three years without reporting any case of polio. The official confirmation in this regard has to be issued by which international organization: WHO – World Health Organization

67) Name the Awami League leader of Bangladesh who was sworn-in as Prime Minister for the third time: Sheikh Hasina

Households recently submitted its report. Name the chairman of this committee: Nachiket Mor32) What was the purpose of setting up Mor committee: To propose measures for achieving better financial inclusion

33) Mor committee recommended that each Indian resident above the age of with an individual Universal Electronic Bank Account (UEBA): 18 years

34) The Mor committee has recommended to form

‘payments banks’ for which category of customers:

35) Name the organization proposed to be formed for exploring the potential of generating power through wind energy: National Offshore Wind Energy Agency

36) Name the first lady President of South Korea who visited India recently: Park Geun-hye

37) Name the capital of South Korea: Seoul38) 44th annual meeting of World Economic

Forum – WEF was held at which place: Davos, Switzerland39) What is the formal name of the mega literature festival held annually in Jaipur, Rajasthan: Jaipur Literature Festival

40) Name the dignitary who made the inaugural key note speech at the Jaipur Literature Festival: Dr. Amartya Sen

41) Dr. Amartya Sen is from which field: Economics42) World Banks has approved a loan of $ 500

million to the Low Income States (Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh) for what purpose: To improve piped water supply and sanitation services43) A news headline read, “India joins ‘Cryo Club’ with GSLV-D5”. What is meant by Cryo Club: India has joined is select group of countries having cryogenic engine technology44) How many countries, other than India have the capability of cryogenic engine capability: Five – USA, Russia, France, Japan & China

45) In the abbreviation GSLV-D5, the letter D5 stands for what: 5th Development Flight

46) Name the satellite that was recently launched by

GSLV-D5: GSAT-1447) GSAT-14 satellite is used for what purpose:

Communication48) Jigme Wangchuck who recently visited India is

of Bhutan: King49) Name the hilly district of central Assam that was in news as it witnessed widespread violent clashes between the ethnic insurgent Karbi People’s Liberation Tigers (KPLT) and the Rengma Naga Hills Protection Force (RNHPF): Karbi Anglong

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 66

Oil Corporation86) Name the legendary Bengali actress who

died recently, known for her outstanding performances in several Bengali and Hindi films: Suchitra Sen87) Late Suchitra Sen was also properly known as of Indian cinema: Greta Garbo

88) Greta Garbo of Sweden was a renowned legendary

of Hollywood: Actress89) Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin who passed away recently was the spiritual head of which community: Dawoodi Bohra

90) Dawoodi Bohra committee is a sub group of which religion: Islam

91) Sunanda Pushkar who passed away recently was holding which ministry in the central government: None

92) Akkineni Nageswara Rao, veteran actor of cinema passed away recently. He was popularly known as : Telugu, ANR93) The famous historical cultural event - Jonbeel Mela is held in which state: Assam

94) Name the India’s nuclear-capable strategic missile, with a strike range of about 4,000 km tested successfully: Agni-IV

95) Which community has recently been granted minority status by the central government: Jains96) What is the present number of minority communities in India: Six

97) Under which Act government grants minority status to a community: National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992

98) Name the multinational multi sports event in India where sportspersons from Portuguese speaking countries participate: Lusofonia Games99) Lusofonia Games 2014 was held at which

place:Goa100) The 18th National Youth Festival was held at which place: Ludhiana

101) What was the theme for the 18th National Youth

Festival: 'Youth For Drugs Free World'102) The National Youth Festival is organized every year on January 12th for what reasons: It is birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda

103) Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to constitute a Rail Tariff Authority for what purpose: To advise the Railway Ministry on fares104) Which is the apex authority in India authorize to fix the railway fare: Railway Board

105) Name the two districts of Haryana that have recently been included in the National Capital Region: Jind and Karnal

68) In a list of 30 most admired persons on the planet compiled by by YouGov for The Times by surveying almost 14,000 people, India’s Sachin Tendulkar has been placed at which rank: 5th

69) Who is the most admired person in the world as per a recent survey by YouGov for The Times: Bill Gates

70) Sanil Shetty and Ankita Das bagged the men’s and women’s titles respectively at the 75th Senior National championships held at Patna: Table Tennis

71) The Hindu Prize for Best Fiction 2013 has been won by for his novel : Anees Salim, Vanity Bagh

72) The prestigious $50,000 DSC prize for South Asian literature is awarded at which event: Jaipur Literature Festival

73) The prestigious $50,000 DSC prize for South Asian literature has been won by for his book : Cyrus Mistry, Chronicle of a Corpse74) Govt. has agreed to provide an additional 50 days of employment beyond the stipulated 100 days under the NREGA scheme to which category of people: Scheduled Tribes (ST) households living in forest areas who have received land rights under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 200675) Name the Asia’s largest brackish water

lake:Chilika backwater lagoon, Odisha76) Chilika backwater lagoon is famous for

:Massive gathering of migratory birds77) The word brackish refers to what quality of

water:Excess of Salt78) The Golden Globe Awards are given in which

field:Cinema and TV79) The Golden Globe Awards are given in which country: USA

80) Name the film that won the Golden Globe for the best film: 12 Years a Slave

81) Alfonso Cuaron of Mexico won the Golden Globe for

Best Director for which film: Gravity82) Name the index recently launched by the government to measure level of house construction activity: Housing Start Up Index (HSUI)83) The recently launched Housing Start Up Index is a joint initiative of which two organizations: National Building Organisation and the Reserve Bank84) Indian railways entered a new territory recently in which part of the country: Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh

85) Govt. has recently sold its 10% stake in which mega oil company to raise around Rs. 5000 crore: Indian

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 67

Cristiano Ronaldo123) Cristiano Ronaldo is from which country: Portugal124) The interest rate on EPFO has been increase to

percent from 8.5 percent at present: 125) Name the light weight pistol specially developed by the Indian Ordnance Factory especially for women to defend themselves from assault: Nirbheek126) Who has been named as the captain of the

IndianWomen Cricket Team: Mithali Raj127) Name the joint naval exercise undertaken

by theIndian coast guard and its Japanese counterpart:

128) ‘Sahayog- Kaijin 2014’ - a joint naval exercise was recently held at which place: off the Kochi coast, Kerala

129) Malaysian Open 2014 tournament was held for which sports: Badminton

130) Name the winner of Men’s single title in the Malaysian Open 2014 tournament: Lee Chong Wei, Malaysia

131) Name the winner of Women’s single title in the Malaysian Open 2014 tournament: Li Xuerui, China

132) Name the cricketer who became the first Indian wicket keeper to claim 300 dismissals in One Day Internationals: M.S. Dhoni

133) Playing against which country M S Dhoni achieved the milestone of claiming 300 dismissals: New Zealand

134) At which border post India and Pakistan have agreed to liberalize various trade activities: Attari Wagah Border

135) Name the state that has been ranked No. 1 in implementation of SJSRY programme during 2012-13: Odisha136) What is the full form of the poverty alleviation programme SJSRY: Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana

137) Which category of persons are eligible to obtain bank loan under SJSRY: BPL families in urban area

138) Name the poverty alleviation scheme of the central government for providing bank loans to BPL families in rural area: Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana

139) Name the poverty alleviation scheme of the central government for providing bank loans to non BPL families in both rural and urban areas: Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme140) RBI has advised banks that amount of loans sanctioned by them against pledge of gold jewellery should not exceed per cent of the value of the

106) The 61st Senior National Kabaddi Championship were held at which place: Patna, Bihar107) Government has approved setting up of the AKIC Development Corporation for what purpose: For the development of Amritsar – Kolkata Industrial Corridor

108) Name the mega infrastructure project being developed by the central government for promoting industrial townships between Delhi and Mumbai: Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC)109) What is the objective of setting up of various industrial corridors: To boost up infrastructure and manufacturing activity

110) Name the three countries that have decided to develop a joint trade corridor with India: Bangladesh, China and Myanmar

111) The multination joint trade corridor proposed to be developed will start from in India and run up to in SW China: Kolkata, Kunming112) The ATP Chennai Open Tennis title was won by Stanislas Wawrinka. He is from which country: Switzerland

113) Name the programme launched to

:comprehensively address the health needs of the nearly 243 million children of Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram114) The Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakaram aims to cover children in the age group of to yeas:10 to 19 years115) What is the English name of the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakaram: National Adolescent Health Programme

116) The Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakaram has been launched by which ministry in the central government: Health and Family Welfare117) Name the ace badminton player who became the first male junior badminton player from India to be ranked top in the world by the World Badminton Federation (WBF): Aditya Joshi

118) Name the country which suffered recently the coldest, most dangerous blast of polar air in decades, causing wide spread extremely heavy snowfall leading to total disruption of daily life: USA119) Name the climatic phenomena that cause wide spread dangerous blast of polar air in USA and adjoining Canada: Polar Vortex

120) Evans Ruto of won the 11th Standard

Chartered Mumbai Marathon: Kenya121) The Hero Hockey World League championship held at New Delhi was won by beating : Netherlands, New Zealand

122) Name the international football player who has been declared as the best footballer of the year by FIFA:

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 68

156) What is the full form of NASSCOM: National Association of Software and Services Companies

157) The Jeevan Raksha Padak are given in how many categories: Three

158) Name the Supercomputer developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) that has been rated as India’s most power efficient computer system: PARAM Yuva-II159) Which bank has became first domestic private bank to have a branch in China: Axis Bank160) Which country India has signed a labour cooperation to cover about 28 lakh Indian expatriates working there: Saudi Arabia161) Name the Japanese PM who was the Chief Guest at the 2014 Republic Day Parade: Shinzo Abe162) For the expansion which major rapid transport project Japan has sanctioned a loan of $2 billion: Delhi Metro

163) Kerala tourism has won the top tourism award from UNWTO for the promotion of which back water resort: Kumarakom

164) What is the full form of abbreviation UNWTO:

United Nations World Tourism 165) The ambitious National Urban Health Mission (NUHM), aimed at providing adequate and efficient urban public health delivery system for the urban poor, was launched recently at which place: Bangalore

166) The National Urban Health Mission plans to cover urban poor for healthcare. Which areas will be treated as urban for this purpose: Areas with population of over 50,000

167) With which country India is working on developing a satellite designed for climate change studies: France

168) Which public sector bank has announced to increase its presence in the social media by joining Youtube and Twitter: State Bank of India169) The government has introduced a new procedure for issuance of PAN card as per which now the applicants will have to submit a documentary proof of also: Address170) RBI has decided to establish a fund to be

called‘Depositor Education and Awareness Fund’ from which source: By taking over amount lying in unclaimed deposit accounts with 171) As per Banking Regulation Act, 1949, an unclaimed deposit account is one in which there is no transaction for past or more years: 10172) International Marconi Prize is given for achievements in which field: Communication Technology

gold: 75141) The Reserve Bank has constituted an expert

committee under the chairmanship of (former Chairman of Axis Bank) to review governance of boards of banks: P. J. Nayak

142) Name the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India who recently retired from the service: Anand Sinha

143) Name the state that topped in the first ever ranking of state governments on the basis of their performance and implementation of the midday meal scheme: Karnataka

144) In which stream of studies government has decided to increase the number of seats in the country by10,000 by upgrading existing state and central government colleges: MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery)145) The Union Cabinet has approved a new comprehensive regulatory framework for TV rating agencies for release of TRPs. What is the full form of TRPs: Television Rating Points

146) Which international monetary organization has projected India’s growth rate for current year at4.4%: IMF147) RBI has decided that for the purpose of external commercial borrowings (ECB), 'Maintenance, Repairs and Overhaul’ (MRO) of will be treated as a part of infrastructure: Aircrafts148) Why RBI has decided that all banknotes issued prior to 2005 will be withdrawn after March 31, 2014: These have less security features compared to notes issued thereafter

149) What is the maximum amount of pre 2005 currency notes that an individual can exchange at a bank at a time: No such limit

150) Rakesh Khurana has recently been appointed dean of which prestigious international educational institution: Harvard College, at Harvard University, USA

151) Name the India’s first indigenously built nuclear- powered submarine, that is now ready for sea trials: INS Arihant

152) Name the first Indian State to adopt the provisions of the recently passed Lokpal Act: Uttarakhand153) Which committee appointed by RBI has recommendedthat retail inflation should be measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and not by the wholesale price index as being done currently: Urjit Patel Committee

154) Urjit Patel Committee has recommended to bring the retail inflation rate down at per cent with a band of +/- 2 per cent: Four

155) Who has been appointed as the new President of

NASSCOM: R. ChandrashekharGENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 69

Justice192) Name the women cricket star who has

been awarded Padma Shri recently: Anjum Chopra193) Sudarsan Pattnaik has been awarded Padma Shri recently. He is from which field: Renowned Sand artist

194) Reserve bank has announced issuance of Inflation Indexed National Savings Certificates (IINSC) to offer an inflation savvy investment option. These year Bonds will earn interest equal to theCPI inflation rate plus per cent per

195) Which country has decided to make military service compulsory for all adult males aged between 18 and30, but kept it optional for women: United Arab196) Name the Russian martial art that has earned recognition of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) for inclusion in the Asian Games: Sambo197) DRDO recently launched Dhruva-3 for promoting critical applications for defence research and development, particularly in advanced aircraft designing defence research. What is Dhruva-3: High performance computing system198) In a recently compiled environmental performance index of 178 countries, India has been placed at position: 155th

199) With what intention Reserve Bank hiked key policy interest rates by 0.25%: To tame inflation200) What will be the impact of recent 0.25% hike in repo rate on Bank Loans: They are likely to become costly due to rise in interest rate201) What will be the impact of recent 0.25% hike in repo rate on industrial growth: Likely to come down due to higher cost of funds202) Name the Super Jumbo Aircraft, capable of carrying over 850 passengers at a time, that has been allowed to land in India: A-380 of Airbus203) Central Vigilance Commission was in news recently for what reasons: Celebrating 50 years of its existence

204) Prime Minister of which country resigned recently to counter widespread political protests in thecountry against harsh anti protest laws: Ukraine205) Syed Modi International India Grand Prix Gold badminton championship was held at which place: Lucknow, UP

206) Govt has launched the India Inclusive Innovation Fund (IIIF), with the initial corpus of Rs 500 crore for what purpose: To promote profitable venture that take care of social needs also207) Which State has launched 'Ama Jangal Yojana'

(AJY)to enhance forest cover in the state:

173) Government has decided not to present regular budget for the year 2014 – 15 in view of upcoming general elections. It will instead present the for 2014-15 in Lok Sabha: Vote on Account174) Name the film that won 2014 Filmfare award for the best film: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

175) Name the director of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag who also won the Filmfare award for Best Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

176) Who has been declared the winner of 2014 Filmfare award for the Best actor: Farhan Akhtar for BMB177) Deepika Padukone has won the 2014 Filmfare award for best actress for which film: Goliyon Ki Raslila Ram - Leela

178) Asia’s biggest botanical garden will come up on 153 hectares of area near the Khandwa reservoir, in Naya Raipur, in which State: Chhattisgarh179) Men’s title in Australian Open Tennis Cup was won by which player: Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland)

180) Women’s title in Australian Open Tennis Cup was won by which player: Li Na of China

181) Grammy Awards are given for achievements in which field: Music

182) Name the musical album that won the 2014

Grammy for best album of the year: Random183) What is the maximum number (excluding posthumous awards and award to foreigners) of Padma Awards that can be given in a year: 120

184) A Padma Vibhushan awardee gets a cash reward of what amount: Nil

185) Padma Awards are announced every year on which particular date: Eve of Republic Day (25th January)

186) Dr Raghunath A Mashelkar has been awarded Padma Vibhushan in science and engineering category. He is from which field of science: Chemical Technology

187) Name the veteran Yoga maestro decorated with the

Padma Vibhushan: BKS Iyengar188) The Yoga form propagated by Padma Vibhushan awardee Sh. B K S Iyengar is known as: Iyengar Yoga

189) Name the iconic Tamil film actor, producer who has been awarded Padma Bhushan recently: Kamala Hasan

190) Name the renowned badminton coach decorated with Padma Bhushan in 2014: Pullela Gopichand191) What is the current assignment of Justice Dalveer Bhandari who has been awarded Padma Bhushan recently: Judge in

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 70

LG People’s Choice Award - 2013227) Tour de India championship is organized in

which sports: Cycling228) Tour de India championship was won by Mohd.

NorUmradi. He is from which country: 229) India has agreed to train naval officers of

which country: Sri Lanka230) Name the international event recently won

by ace shuttler of India – P V Sindhu: Macau Open Grand Prix

231) 29th Junior National Athletics Championships was held in which place: Bangalore232) Name the state which won 29th Junior

NationalAthletics Championship: Kerala233) Who has been named at Chief Executive of

IndianBanks Association: Mohan V Tanksale234) Are foreign banks allowed to become

member ofIndian Bank Association: Yes235) Who has been named as the new Chief

InformationCommissioner: Sushma Singh236) As per Right to Information Act, any person seeking information has to be provided the required information within days: 30

237) In corruption ranking of countries by the international watchdog Transparency International, India has been ranked at which place: 94th

238) Nelson Mandela, the iconic statesman from South

Africa passed away recently. He was called239) Mandela was known for his anti-apartheid

struggle.What is the meaning of apartheid: Observing racial discrimination240) Why Mr. Mandela was honoured with India’s highest civilian award – Bharat Ratna: Because he followed Gandhian philosophy and values in his fight against apartheid241) India has been ranked at place in terms of doing business, by a survey done by Forbes magazine: 98th

242) 57th National Shooting championship was held at which place: New Delhi

243) The Sankirtana, a ritual form of singing, drumming and dancing has been included in UNESCO’s list of “intangible heritage”. It belongs to which state of India: Manipur

244) US dollar is the largest used currency in the world, having 81.08% share in international transactions. Which is the currency at the second place: Yuan-8.66% (China)

245) Yuan, the currency of China is also called :

Renminbi

208) Name the jumbo naval exercise of 16 navies from the Indian ocean region being held in 2nd week of February: Milan 2014

209) The joint exercise of 16 navies from the Indian ocean region – Milan 2014 will be held at which place: Near Andaman & Nicobar Islands210) To which country Exim Bank has agreed to provide a Line of Credit of $ 19.50 million: Vietnam211) ADB has agreed to give $100 million loan to which state for boosting education and skills there: Meghalaya

212) To which category of customers RBI has allowed collection of account payee cheques even for third party accounts: Cooperative Credit Societies213) With which country India has agreed to set up a $40 million joint fund to support technological ventures for consolidating and strengthening economic ties: Israel

214) Which national organization has decided to set up

100 innovation hubs at an outlay of Rs 99 crore, throughout the country by 2017: National Innovation Council215) Who is the head of the National Innovation

Council:Sam Pitroda216) Which state in India has announced the

highest MSPof Rs. 1560 per quintal for paddy crop: 217) J N Chaudhury has been appointed Director

General of which paramilitary force: National Security Guard

218) India’s first Mono Rail has started operation in which city: Mumbai

DECEMBER – 2013219) As per the figures released by CSO, in GDP

growth in 2nd quarter was per cent: 4.8220) Core sector is a part of index of

industrial production. Its weightage in IIP is per cent in IIP: 37.90

221) Gaganjeet Bhullar is top rank player of which sports:

Golf222) Name the Emperor and Empress of Japan who recently visited India: Akihito and Michiko223) Shinzo Abe is the Prime Minister of which

country:Japan224) What is the name of the currency of Japan: Yen

225) Name the capital of Japan: Tokyo226) India’s cricket team captain MS Dhoni has

recently been honoured with which international award: ICC

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 71

rank: 69th

266) What is the full of the abbreviation NSSO: National

Sample Survey Office267) The Reserve Bank has estimated that India's economy would grow about per cent in FY2013-14: Five268) As per latest census 2011 data, percent Indian population has been categorized as homeless: 8.8

269) Govt. has decided to provide a monetary support of Rs. to every NREGA job cardholder who plans to build a toilet in his house: 10,000

270) In what manner govt. has decided to link up two major welfare schemes – NREGA and Indira Awaas Yojana: Labour constructing their own house under IAY will get NREGA wages271) Under Indira Awaas Yojana, a sum of

Rs. is provided to BPL families in plain areas for constructing their house: 272) Under Indira Awaas Yojana, a sum of

Rs. is provided to BPL families in hilly areas for constructing their house: 273) In which North-Eastern state cultivation of popular spice cardamom is picking up: Arunachal Pradesh274) As per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill approved by the cabinet, the reservation for Persons with Disabilities (PWD) has been raised to per cent from three at present: Five275) C. V. R. Rajendran has been appointed Chairman and Managing Director of which bank: Andhra Bank

276) Name the country that succeeded in landing a lunar probe on moon recently, becoming first country to do so since 1976: China

277) Sis Ram Ola, who passed away recently, was a prominent : Politician, Union Labour and Employment Minister

278) Who has been elected as the new Chief Minister of

Rajasthan: Vasundhara Raje279) Pu Lalthanhawla has been elected as Chief Minister for the fourth time in which state: Mizoram280) Name the person who has been elected as Banker of the Year 2013 by the financial daily Business Standard: Aditya Puri

281) Aditya Puri is the chief of which bank: HDFC Bank282) 4th edition of Kabaddi World Cup was won by

which country in Men’s category: India (beating Pakistan)

283) 4th edition of Kabaddi World Cup was won by which country in Women’s category: India (beating New Zealand)

284) The finals of 4th edition of Kabaddi World Cup were

246) Name the country that has recently been elected as a non permanent member of the UN security council: Jordan

247) Name the country that has recently refused to join Security Council, despite being elected as a non permanent member: Saudi Arabia

248) Why Saudi Arabia did not accept the membership of UN Security Council: To protest the world body’s failure to end the Syrian and Israeli- Palestinian conflicts249) Alyz Henrich has been crowned as

Miss 2013: Earth250) Miss Earth 2013 – Alyz Henrich is from which country: Venezuela

251) Tarundeep Rai and Atanu Das recently won silver and bronze medal respectively at which international sports event: Indoor Archery World Cup252) Indoor Archery World Cup was held at which

place:Singapore253) Which country has been named as host for the FIFA World Cup-2017 (Under-17): India

254) Name the light combat air craft (LCA) that has been inducted in Indian Air Force: Tejas

255) Name the aircraft that has recently been retired from the Indian Air Force: Mig-21

256) Mr. Sumit Bose has been appointed to which important central government position: Finance Secretary

257) Who has been named as the “Person of the Year” by the international magazine Time: Pope Francis258) Who is Pope Francis: Supreme Head of

RomanCatholics259) Gen. Bikram Singh was recently honoured

withLegion of Merit by which country: USA260) Trade deficit of India came down to less than $10 billion in Nov. 2013. What was the single most important factor for this: Reduction in import of gold

261) Asian lending agency ADB has projected India’s growth at percent for the year 2013-14:4.7%262) In which area scientists have recently discovered the coldest place on earth: East Antarctica263) The prestigious international Sundance Film Festival is held in which country: USA

264) Name the bank from Qatar which has become the first bank from that country to open a branch in India: Doha Bank

265) In a recent international survey on ranking of economies on the basis of their efficiency in utilization of energy, India has been placed at

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 72

present: Japan302) Govt. has cleared a services and

investment deal with 10-member ASEAN group as part of CECA. What is the full form of CECA: Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement303) India has signed DTAA with Macedonia, a small country north of Greece, to prevent income tax evasion by entities in both the countries. What is the full form of DTAA: Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement

304) What is the range of Agni-III missile recently test fired by India: 3000 kms

305) The missile testing site of India – Integrated Test Range is located at which place: Wheeler Island, Near Chandipur, Distt Balasore, Odisha306) Name the organization which is responsible for developing and testing various missiles for Indian Army: DRDO – Defence Research & Development Organization

307) Who is the Head of DRDO: Shri Avinash Chander308) Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai are the

current national champions in women and men category respectively in which sport: Archery

309) 34th Senior National Archery championship were held at which place: Jamshedpur, Jharkhand310) PV Sindhu and K Srikanth clinched the women's and men's National titles respectively in which sport:Badminton311) 78th Senior National Badminton Championships washeld at which place: New Delhi312) In the 9th Ministerial Conference of WTO held in Bali, Indonesia, what was the major achievement for India: India will continue to support its farmers with MSP-Minimum Support Price313) Recently govt. has launched a four day anti-Naxal operation involving close to 40,000 security personnel in which states: Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra

314) Govt has agreed to grant constitutional status to the proposed JAC for appointment and transfer of judges. What is full form of JAC: Judicial Appointments Commission315) India’s first National Cancer Institute is to be established in which state: Haryana

316) Name the South-African all rounder cricketer who has announced is retirement from Test and First Class cricket: Jacques Kallis

317) As per recent data the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) — number of women who die of pregnancy- related causes per 1,00,000 live births — has come down to in 2010-12, from 212 in 2007-09:178318) In India which state has the lowest MMR of 66

per

played at which place: Ludhiana (Punjab)285) Mahesh Mangaonkar has become the first

Indian player to win an International Title in which game: Squash

286) Name the shooter who won the ‘Champion of Champions’ title in pistol event in the final round in the 57th National Shooting Championships at New Delhi: Samresh Jung

287) Name the international beauty title won by Bea Rose

Santiago of Philippines: Miss International 288) Report from UNO has lowered India’s economic growth forecast for 2013 to per cent from6.1 per cent projected earlier: 4.8289) Parliament has finally passed the Lokpal Bill. What is the objective of setting up of a Lokpal: Establishment of an anti-corruption watchdog that will have in its purview even the office of the Prime Minister

290) Recently India displayed its strong displeasure against the rough treatment met to one of its diplomat posted at US consulate. Name that diplomat: Devyani Khobragade

291) Name the international convention which guarantees diplomatic immunity to persons posted in various embassies / consulates: Vienna Convention292) Name the veteran cricket player selected for

the ColCK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement award for the year

293) Name the international financial institution that has agreed to lend $176 million to extend the first metro train line in Jaipur: Asian Development Bank294) V. K. Duggal has been appointed as the new governor of which state: Manipur

295) Name the diplomat appointed as Pakistan’s new

High Commissioner to India: Abdul Basit296) Who has been appointed as the India’s new

Ambassador to USA: S. Jaishankar297) Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS) is located at which place in India: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

298) India and Pakistan had a dispute on the sharing of waters of which river that was settled in favour of India by the International Court of Arbitration : Kishan Ganga

299) Kishenganga Hydro Electric Project is located in which state: Jammu & Kashmir

300) India and San Marino, a tiny country within Italy, signed the TIEA between them at Rome. Write the full form of TIEA: Tax Information Exchange Agreement

301) With which country government has approved the enhancement of the bilateral currency swap arrangement to $ 50 billion, up from $ 15 billion at

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 73

given to film celebrity: Amitabh Bachchan339) Name the new tactical surface-to-surface missile based on the Prahaar missile, with a range between60-170 kms: Pragati Missile340) In a recent global study of tourism, which

IndianState has been named as best region to visit in341) The World Billiards Championship was

held at , England: Leeds342) Name the winner of World Billiards

Championship2013: Peter Gilchrist343) Peter Gilchrist the world Champion of Billiards is from which country: Singapore

344) Sachin played his last match in domestic cricket at which place: Lahli, Haryana

345) In which tournament, Sachin played his last domestic test match: Ranji Trophy

346) The govt has recently approved an education promotion programme by the name RUSA. What is the full form RUSA: Rashtriya Uchchatar Siksha Abhiyan

347) What is the objective of starting the educational project RUSA: Improving quality and number of universities / colleges in country348) With which country India has agreed to export motorcycles through the land route: Bangladesh349) As per recent RBI guidelines banks have been allowed to pay interest on their deposit accounts at intervals: Monthly / Fortnightly350) Most of the banks recover a fixed fee from their customers for sending them SMS alerts for their transactions. What are the recent RBI guidelines in this regard: Charge to be recovered actual usage basis

351) As per Forbes ranking of The world’s most powerful people, has been ranked as No. 1: Vladimir Putin

352) What position is held by Mr. Vladimir Putin:

President, Russia353) Recently first time a rail link was opened linking the two continents – Asia and Europe in which country: Turkey

354) In a list of most powerful persons of the world compiled by Forbes Magazine, has been named as most powerful women: Angela Markel (5th)

355) K P Saxena who passed away recently was a noted _: Hindi Satirist

356) Name the international beauty title won by Ms.

Srishti Rana: Miss Asia Pacific 2013357) In the 'Prosperity Index' ranking of 142 countries compiled by London-based Legatum Institute, India

lac: Kerala319) In India which state has the Highest MMR of

328 per lac: Assam320) J N Chaudhury has been appointed Chief of

which paramilitary force: National Security Guard321) Who has been appointed as new Director

General ofCentral Industrial Security Force: Arvind 322) Who has been honoured with Polly Umrigar

Award from the BCCI for being India’s best international cricketer of the year 2012-13: Ravichandran Ashwin

323) What is the official growth rate fixed by the planning commission for the 12th five year plan: 8%324) In the first half (April-September) of the current fiscal FY2013-14, the economy grew by per cent: 4.6

325) India has signed a mega contract of $1.01 billion with which country for six additional C-130J "Super Hercules" jumbo military cargo aircrafts: USA326) Farooq Sheikh who passed away recently was a prominent : Film Actor

NOVEMBER – 2013327) Rajendra Yadav who passed away recently

was from which field: Literature328) Rajendra Yadav was a eminent short story

writer and novelist of which language: Hindi329) As per a recent study, India has been ranked

in terms of ‘Ease of Doing Business’: 330) In terms of Ease of Doing Business is no. 1 in the world: Singapore

331) The WTA Tour Championship title for 2013 was lifted by which player: Serena Williams

332) The full form of WTA in WTA Tour Championship is:

Women’s Tennis Association333) The WTA Tour Championship was held at which place: Istanbul, Turkey

334) As per Forbes magazine’s latest India Rich List,

has been named as India’s wealthiest person for the sixth year in a row:

335) Mukesh Ambani is the corporate head of which industries: Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL)336) Recently we read in the newspaper that an ATM has been launched for ‘Bitcoins’. What is the Bitcoins: It is a digital currency, popular worldwide337) Ashok Amritraj, producer of 109 Hollywood films, for his outstanding achievements in the film industry has been honourd with which award: Soul of IndiaAward338) Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award for 2013 has been

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 74

place: Chennai377) What is the full form of chess championship

FIDE: World Chess Federation (Federation Internationale des Echecs)

378) What is the full form of Agricultural mission NFSM:

National Food Security Mission379) What is the name of joint naval exercise recently held by navies of Indian and USA: Malabar380) The naval exercise Malabar by Indian and US Navy was held at which place: Off the coast of Tamil Nadu in Bay of Bengal

381) Pakistan successfully tested its , Hatf IX (Nasr) having a range of 60 kms: Missile382) The maneuvering and tracking of Mangalyaan is being done by ISTRAC. Write its full form: ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network383) The satellite tracking centre ISTRAC is located at which place: Bangalore

384) India’s first interplanetary space craft – Mangalyaan was launched from which centre: Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota (AP)385) Who is the Chief of the ISRO: Dr. K Radhakrishnan

386) Name the satellite launching vehicle that was used to launch Mangalyaan: PSLV-C25

387) The book “Gandhi A Spiritual Biography” has been written by: Arivnd Sharma

388) In which North Eastern states govt. has extended AFSPA for a further period of six months: Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.

389) What is the full form of AFSPA: Armed Forces

(Special Powers) Act390) Tarla Dalal who passed away recently, was a noted

expert: Cookery391) 44th International Film Festival of India was held at which place: Goa

392) was the ‘country in focus for’ for the44th

International Film Festival of India: Japan393) India’s second international standard multi-use Integrated Check Post (ICP) and the first along the Bangladesh border was opened at which place: Akhaurah, Tripura

394) India’s second international standard multi-use Integrated Check Post (ICP) has been opened at Akhaurah in Tripura. The first ICP is located at which place: Attari, Punjab

395) India successfully test-fired its nuclear weapons- capable, surface-to-surface Agni-1 missile recently. What is its range: 700 kms

396) India’s first Bird Ringing Station has been setup at

Salropa in the prestigious Great Himalayan

stood at position: 106th

358) Name the legendry Pakistani female folk singer who passed away recently: Reshma

359) The Hockey World Cup- 2014 will be held at which place: The Hague, Netherlands

360) The first joint retreat ceremony of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) was held which place: Petropole border in district North 24Parganas, West Bengal361) Name the Indian batsman who created history by scoring world’s highest ever sixes – 16 in an ODI: Rohit Sharma

362) With which country India has signed an agreement to facilitate transfer of sentenced prisoners languishing in jails in the two countries: Vietnam363) The 13th meeting of the Council of Ministers of the IndianOcean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) was held in: Perth, Australia

364) Sebastian Vettel, the reigning Formula One world champion from Germany created history by winning formula races in one year: 9365) Name the film that won the Golden Gateway of India award for the best film at the 15th Mumbai Film Festival: La Jaula De Oro (of Mexico)366) Geeta Chandran who has been honourd with Guru Debaprasad Award is from which filed: Bharatnatyam

367) Name the UN agency which has taken up a nationwide social media campaign against open defecation in India: UNICEF

368) Name the social media campaign launched by UNICEF against open defecation in India: Take the Poo to Loo

369) As regard to service conditions of civil servants, what was the recent ruling of Supreme Court: They should not be transferred frequently370) Which country won the Ashihara Sabaki

WorldKarate Championship: Romania371) the Ashihara Sabaki World Karate Championship was held at which place: Bucharest, Romania372) The Paris Masters Tennis tournament was

won by Djokovic: Novak373) Tennis star Novak Djokovic is from which

country:Serbia374) To which country India has provided Rs. 100 crores as a grant for their Economic Stimulus Plan: Bhutan375) World Agriculture Forum Congress 2013 and Agri- Tech Trade Fair was held at which place: Hyderabad (AP)

376) FIDE world chess championship, was held at whichGENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 75

414) South Asian Junior Athletics Championships were held at which place: Ranchi, Jharkhand

415) Name the country that secured top position in the

South Asian Junior Athletics Championships: 416) Hurun India Philanthropy List 2013 published by the China’s leading magazine mougal ‘Huran Report Inc has ranked IT tycoon as the most generous Indian with a donation of Rs 8,000 crore in the year ending March 31, 2013: Azim Hashim Premji

417) Malia and Malala have been named among the 16 most influential teens of 2013 by the Time magazine. Who is Malia: Elder daughter of Barack Obama

418) Prof. C.N.R. Rao has been decorated with Bharat Ratna. He is from which field: Solid state and materials chemistry

419) What is the amount of cash reward that is given to the recipient of a Bharat Ratna: Nil

420) Recommendation for Bharat Ratna are made by which authority: Prime Minister

421) Who approves awardees for Bharat Ratna:

President of India422) Can Bharat Ratna be awarded to a non Indian also:

Yes423) What is the name of the second air craft carrier of

India: INS Vikramaditya424) The abbreviation INS stands for: Indian Naval

Ship425) What is the name of the original ship that has been transformedinto INS Vikramaditya: Admiral Gorshkov

426) INS Vikramaditya has been procured by India from which country: Russia

427) INS Vikramaditya is the second aircraft of the Indian Navy. What is the name of the first (existing) aircraft carrier of India: INS Viraat

428) Name the aircraft carrier being built indigenously in

India: INS Vikrant429) Name the first aircraft carrier acquired by Indian Navy which was decommissioned on 31st Jan, 1997: INS Vikrant

430) The INS Vikramaditya will be based at which naval base: INS Kadamba at Karwar, Karnataka431) UN’s International Day for Tolerance celebrated on which date: Nov 16

432) National think tank NCAER has lowered country's growth rate to 4.8-5.3 per cent range in the current fiscal. Write the full form of NCAER: National Council of Applied Economic Research

433) Name the Prime Minister of UK who visited India

Park in Kullu. What is its purpose: To identify and establish species of various birds397) Imomali Rakhmon has been elected as President of which country: Tajikistan

398) Name the lady who has been named as the most powerful businesswoman in India for the third consecutive year in the list of 50 most powerful businesswomen ranking for 2013 by Fortune magazine: Chanda Kochhar

399) What is the official position of the prominent corporate figure Ms. Chanda Kochhar: MD & CEO of ICICI Bank

400) Name the country that will host 2018 men’s Hockey

World Cup: India401) Name the super strong typhoon that caused wide spread devastation in Philippines, claiming over12000 lives: Haiyan402) The World Economic Forum has joined hands

with to jointly organise the India Economic

403) RBI has signed cooperation agreement with central banks of which two countries: Australia and New Zealand

404) Recently RBI issued what guidelines for foreign banks in the context of domestic private sector banks: Allowed them to take over private banks

405) As per recent RBI guidelines foreign banks will not be allowed to hold more than per cent equity in the private banks they may acquire: 74406) Name the Olympian shooter who created history by becoming first Indian women to win air pistol gold in the ISSF World Cup: Heena Sidhu407) The ISSF World Cup Shooting Championship was held at which place: Munich, Germany

408) Name the TV channel that Prasar Bharti plans to launch specially for Aruanchal Pradesh and Sikkim: Prabha

409) The Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas was organized at which place by the High Commission of India: Sydney, Australia

410) National Education Day is celebrated on which date:

11th November411) The birthday of first Education Minister of Independent India, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad is celebrated as what day: National Educational Day

412) India has declared itself free from as there has been no occurrence of the disease in the last three months: H5N1 Avian Influenza (bird flu)413) won the ATP World Tour Finals in London beating Rafael Nadal: Novak Djokovic

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 76

(block III variant) successfully: Pokhran, Rajasthan

451) BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile system. What is the meaning of supersonic: Objects flying with speed higher than speed of sound452) Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2013 has been awarded to which person: Angela Merkel, German Chancellor453) NASA has launched its latest orbiter to

Mars –‘MAVEN’ to hunt for clues about why the Red Planet lost much of its atmosphere. What is the full form of MAVEN: Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution454) Centre has directed the state governments to implement the new National Crop Insurance Programme (NCIP) for compulsory coverage of which category of beneficiaries: Borrower Farmers455) BRICS International Competition Conference was recently held at which place: New Delhi

456) Name the remote-sensing satellite recently launched by China: ‘YAOGAN XIX’

457) Election commission has ask the government to enact a law demanding what from the government in the context of election related opinion polls: Banning the release of results of election related opinion polls, once the notification of elections has been made458) The Reserve Bank has directed public sector banks to provide credit to women self help groups at a rate of percent per annum: seven

459) What is the name of the first all women bank started in India: Bhartiya Mahlia Bank

460) In which place Bhartiya Mahila Bank has opened its first branch: Mumbai

461) Is the Bhartiya Mahila Bank allowed to recruit male staff members: Yes, on selected basis

462) Is the Bhartiya Mahila Bank allowed to cater to male customers: Yes, on selected basis

463) Bhartiya Mahila Bank has been ask to devote special attention to which category of women customers: Self Help Groups

464) Why 19th November was selected as the day to inaugurate the Bhartiya Mahila Bank: It is birth anniversary of late Indira Gandhi

465) Name the first chairperson of the Bhartiya Mahila

Bank: Usha Ananthasubramaniam466) To which country India has extended a 100 million dollar line of credit for defence purchases: Vietnam467) The Golden Elephant Award is given for what purpose: Best Children Film

468) The Golden Elephant Award is given on what occasion: at International Children's Film

recently for a short trip: David Cameron434) Prime Minister of UK recently visited India only

for a short time as he was on his way to : Colombo, Sri Lanka

435) Central govt. has increased man-days under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to 150 from existing norm of 100 days in which state: Odisha436) Why govt. has increased man-days under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to 150 from existing norm of100 days in Odisha: To provide relief from devastation caused by Phailin 437) World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have assured a financial assistance of $ 313 mn to Odisha government for what purpose: For restoration and rehabilitation activities in cyclone Phailin hit areas

438) Which country has promised to provide support of Rs. 1129 crore for campus development at IIT Hyderabad: Japan

439) Govt. has decided to establish National Institute of Disaster Response (NIDR) at which place: Kamptee, near Nagpur, Maharashtra440) Telecom major Vodafone India and ICICI Bank have launched mobile money transfer and payment service in Assam and other North Eastern states: 'M-Pesa'

441) Name the new President of island country Maldives:

Abdulla Yameen442) Who has been named as World Athlete of the Year for 2013 in Men’s category: Usain Bolt

443) World athlete of the year Usain Bolt is from which field of athletics: 100 and 200 m sprint444) World athlete of the year Usain Bolt is from which country: Jamaica

445) Who has been named as World Athlete of the Year for 2013 in women’s category: Shelly-Ann Fraser- Pryce

446) World athlete of the year Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is from which field of athletics: 100 and 200 m sprint

447) World athlete of the year Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is from which country: Jamaica

448) What was the theme of the 22nd

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2013 held at Colombo, Sri Lanka: Growth with Equity; Inclusive Development449) In the recently held CHOGM, India was represented by which statesman: Salman Khurshid, Minister of External Affairs

450) At which place the Indian Army tested an advanced version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 77

488) The Climate Change Conferences are organized by UNFCCC. The abbreviation UNFCCC stands for: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change489) won the Asian Archery Championship held in Taipei, China: South Korea490) Which country recently agreed to curb its nuclear programme in lieu of lifting of economic sanctions against it: Iran

491) Which country has offered to renovate and preserve a total of 116 heritage buildings, constructed in the18th and 19th centuries, located on the banks of the river Hooghly in West Bengal: 492) A high power group of six super powers negotiated a deal with Iran for what purpose: To restrict the nuclear programme of Iran

493) Mount Sina Bung, a volcano that erupted very violently causing dislocation of thousands of people, is in which country: Indonesia

494) Which country has decided to award International Prize for Equality and Non-Discrimination 2013 to Malala Yousafzai: Mexico495) Global Islamic Economic Summit held at which place: Dubai, UAE

496) Which country hosted the 20th World Master

Athletics Championship: Brazil497) Which corporate brand has been ranked No. 1 in the

'World's Most Valuable Brand List' compiled by

498) 4th World Cup Kabaddi will be held in which state:

Punjab499) Name the country where Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship was held recently: Malaysia

500) Who has been elected as President, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci): Sidharth Birla

501) Name the new Chief of Pakistan Army: Lt. Gen.

Raheel Sharif502) Junior National Archery Championship was held at

Assam: Kokrajhar503) Mahendra Dev Committee has been appointed for what purpose: To review the scale of NREGA wages

504) RBI has allowed which category of manufacturing units to be covered under priority sector lending: Medium

505) On what basis business units are classified into Micro, Small and Medium categories: On the basis of investment made in plant & machinery / equipment

506) Name the Act that lays down various rules and

Festival469) The 18th International Children's Film

Festival was held at which place: Hyderabad470) Name the film that won the Golden Elephant Award:

Dutch Film Kauwboy471) What is the recent ruling of Supreme Court with regard to contesting of elections by the persons in jail: They are eligible to contest elections472) Name the fifteen year old cricket star who created history by scoring a record 546 runs playing in Mumbai: Prithvi Shaw

473) Frederick Sanger who passed away recently was the only person to win the noble prize for two times, in 1958 and in 1980: Chemistry

474) India’s only Equatorial Rocket Launching station is located at which place: Thumba, Kerala475) What is the name of the India’s only Equatorial Rocket Launching station: Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre

476) Why Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thumba was in news recently: It celebrated its golden jubilee477) Name the India's batting star who became the fastest batsman in world to score 5000 runs in one- day internationals (ODI): Virat Kohli478) The National Book Award 2013 of USA has been given to the book by James Mc Bride: The Good Lord Bird

479) Who is the author of the book, ‘Book of Destruction’:

Anand480) The famous book Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer has been authored by : Cyrus Mistry481) What is the common factor in the mini territories of Liechtenstein, Isle of Man, British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands: All four are tax havens482) Name the 23 year old chess prodigy from Norway who was crowned as World Champion at the World Chess Championship at Chennai: Magnus Carlsen483) Name the West Indies cricketer who marked an end to the glorious career of Master Blaster Sachin: Darren Sammy

484) The last ball to be faced by Sachin marking end of his 24 years of cricketing career was bowled by of West Indies: Narsingh Deonarine485) A survey of 1,600 senior executives across more than 70 countries by global professional services firm Ernst & Young (EY) placed as the first choice of global investors: India

486) Who has been appointed as Chairman of the 20th

Law Commission of India: Ajit Prakash 487) The Warsaw Climate Change Conference 2013 was held at which place: Warsaw, Poland

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 78

context of 13th amendment to their constitution:Devolution of powers to the provinces524) The 2013 meet of CHOGM is to be held at which place: Colombo, Sri Lanka

525) What is the full form of CHOGM: Commonwealth

Heads of Government Meeting526) The summit of CHOGM is held every years:

Two527) How many countries are the member of The

Commonwealth: 53528) Headquarter of The Commonwealth is located at:

London, UK529) is designated as head of the

Commonwealth: British Monarch530) Name the middle Asian country visited by Indian

President recently: Turkey531) Name the capital of Turkey: Ankara532) Which Turkish University honoured Indian

President with honorary ‘doctorate’ in Political Science: Istanbul University

533) Currency of Turkey is : Turkish Lira534) In a recent survey of top 400 universities in world,

has been ranked as No. 1 university in535) Election commission has given the option to the voters not to vote for any candidate, if they decide so. This option has been named as: None of the above (NOTA)

536) Two day international Rhino conference was held at:

Bandar Lampung, Indonesia537) Lampedusa an island near was in news as over 300 persons drowned there after a boat, with up to 500 African asylum seekers, caught fire and sank: Italy

538) Rohan Bopanna along with French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin, won the men’s doubles title at held at Tokyo, Japan: Japan Open Tennis

539) Name the team that won the Champions League

Cricket recently: Mumbai Indians540) The final match of the Champions League, Cricket was held at stadium in Delhi: Feroz Shah Kotla

541) Name the veteran Indian film director who has been nominated to head the accomplished jury for the Seventh Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA): Shyam Benegal

542) The Seventh Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) to be held in : Brisbane, Australia543) “The Busan International Film Festival” is held in which country: South Korea

regulations for classification of business units into micro small and medium enterprises: MSMED Act2006507) What is the full form of MSMED: Micro Small & Medium Enterprises Development Act508) Sachin Tendulkar has been selected by UNICEF as the brand ambassador for Asian region for what purpose: To promote its Total Sanitation Campaign

509) As Brand Ambassador of UNICEF for Total Sanitation Campaign, Sachin Tendulkar will campaign in which countries: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal510) The coveted title of Miss Universe 2013 has been won by Gabriela Isler. She is from which country: Venezuela

511) The Reserve Bank has directed all regional rural banks to follow the minimum _capital adequacy rule from this year itself: 9%

512) With which country India has agreed to strengthen, promote and develop renewable energy cooperation: Belgium

513) Jason Day lifted the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf held in Melbourne, Australia. He is from whichcountry: Australia514) The Hornbill Festival to promote tribal culture is heldin which state: Nagaland515) The ICC T20 championship 2014 will be held whichcountry: Bangladesh516) Which Indian IT giant agreed to pay a record $34 million fine to settle a visa row in the USA: Infosys

OCTOBER – 2013517) In which country thousands of government

servants were asked to go on leave without pay temporarily as the government had no funds to pay their salary: USA

518) One of the main factors behind the recent ‘Shut Down’ crisis in USA was the popular health care programmes of the government. What is the popular name for this programme: Obamacare519) Name the diplomat who has been appointed High Commissioner of India in United Kingdom: Ranjan Mathai

520) The International Day of “Older Person” is celebrated on which day: October 1521) In the recently compiled “Global Human

CapitalIndex”, what is India’s rank: 78th

522) India’s minister of external affairs visited to impress upon early implementation of 13th amendment to constitution: Sri Lanka

523) In the neighbouring country Sri Lanka, what is theGENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 79

, Indonesia: Bali562) What is the full form of ASEAN: Association of

South East Asian Nations563) Name the Director General of World Trade Organisation – WTO who visited India recently: Roberto Azevedo

564) Asian Development Bank has provided $100 mn loan to which State to improve education and skills: Meghalaya

565) With which country India finalised $512-million joint venture deal for the construction of two coal fired power projects of 250 megawatts each: Sri Lanka

566) The annual meeting of IMF and the World Bank was recently held at: Washington, USA

567) Name the first women chairperson of the Federal

Reserve System of USA: Janet Yellen568) Name the Central Bank in United Kingdom: Bank of

England569) Name the Bank that facilitates and promotes research for improvement in banking services all over the world. Bank for International Settlements

570) The Headquarter of Bank for International Settlement is located at , Switzerland: Basel

571) What is the purpose of the proposed Rs. 43,000 crore Green Energy Corridor Project: Setting up of wind and solar power plants

572) Prime Minister of which country was in news due to his sudden abduction and subsequent release also: Libya

573) What is the officially name of the ISRO’s project for sending a satellite to planet Mars: Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)

574) Tom Clancy, one of the most widely read and influential military novelist of his time, passed away recently. He was from which country: USA575) World Toilet Summit was recently held in which country: Indonesia

576) Name the new High Commissioner of Pakistan to

India: Ibne Abbas577) Name the campaign launched by China aimed at enforcing standards for waste imports to avoid unusable or unsafe/dangerous consignments: Green Fence578) Which country has qualified for the first time to play in the 11th ICC Cricket World Cup: Afghanistan579) The 11th ICC Cricket World Cup is to be hosted jointly by which two countries: Australia & New Zealand

580) What is the full form of ICC: International Cricket

544) Name the acclaimed Cambodian director who received the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea: Rithy Panh

545) Which international IT giant has joined hands with Archaeological Survey of India to provide 360- degree online panoramic imagery of 100 nationally- important monuments: Google546) Name the Sri Lanka’s first elected Tamil Chief Minister of the Northern Province in the first ever provincial elections held after clearance of LTTE from North Sri Lanka: C. V. WIGNESWARAN

547) The China Open Tennis Cup Men’s Singles has been lifted by : Novak Djokovic

548) The tennis star Novak Djokovic hails from which country: Serbia

549) Women’s singles title in the China Open Tennis Cup was won by: Serena Williams

550) Name the Indian tennis star who alongwith Cara Black won the women’s doubles title of China Open: Sania Mirza

551) As per the estimates of the Finance Ministry and that of RBI, growth rate of India’s economy during current fiscal is expected to be around per cent: 5.5%

552) Name the international financial agency that has pulled down projection for India’s growth rate to 3.8 percent for the year 2013-14: IMF553) Vladimir Klitschko who won the world heavyweight boxing title at Moscow, Russia is from which country: Ukraine

554) Name the allrounder from Bangladesh who became the first cricketer in 136 year old history of cricket to score a century and claim a hat-trick in the same Test: Sohag Gazi

555) Name the first MP whose Parliamentary seat was declared vacant following his conviction for more than two years, as a result of recent ruling of Supreme Court to this effect: Rashid Masood

556) Name the space craft launched by NASA on a mission to Jupiter: Juno

557) RBI has increase the borrowing period under MSF from one day at present to days: 7 to 14 days

558) Indian Prime Minister visited Brunei recently for attending which International summit: ASEAN and East Asia Summit

559) The recent meeting of ASEAN and East Asia Summit was held at , Brunei: Darussalam560) Out of ASEAN and East Asia Summit, India is member of which organization: East Asia Summit561) The 9th WTO Ministerial Conference will be

held at

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 80

work for national integration: Indira GandhiAward for National Integration600) Malala Yousafzai, the teenage activist for girl’s education has been honoured with Sakharov Human Rights Prize. The prize is given by which organization: European Parliament601) Name the renowned scientist who has written the book My Brief History: A Memoir : Stephen Hawking

602) Under which loan scheme the receipt of annuity amount has been exempted from income tax: Reverse Mortgage Scheme

603) Who are the likely beneficiaries under the reverse mortgage loan scheme: Property Owning Senior Citizens

604) Government has increased MSP of wheat by Rs. 50 to Rs. per quintal: 1400

605) Name the CEO of ICICI bank who has been ranked as top women business leader of India: Ms. Chanda Kochhar

606) Name the remittance system for which RBI has issued new revised guidelines: RTGS

607) Government has decided to include skilled labour in sericulture under the MNREGA Scheme. What is sericulture: Rearing of silk worms608) NPCI has launched Aadhaar-based remittances for bank account holders. What is the full form of NPCI: National Payments Corporation of India609) What is the main objective of NPCI: To promote various forms of electronic banking in India610) Which city has been voted as countries top business destination in terms of infrastructure, human capital, city culture and basic quality of living: Bangalore611) Indian Prime Minister recently visited Russia and met their President. What is the name of Russian President: Vladimer Putin

612) South zone and North zone were declared joint winners of the in the final of Duleep trophy played at Kochi, Kerala. It is from which sports: Cricket

613) Which big hydel project of India is celebrated its

Golden Jubilee: Bhakra Dam, Punjab614) 5th South Asian Conference on Sanitation held at which place: Kathmandu, Nepal

615) Name the first Indian to win a silver medal at the

2013 ITTF Asian Table Tennis championship held in616) Name the player who scored the fastest ever century by an Indian batsman in ODI, off 52 balls, playing against Australia at Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur: Virat Kohli

617) Man Booker Prize 2013 has been awarded to

for her novel, The Luminaries.

Council581) What is the range of Nuclear weapons

capable surface-to-surface missile Prithvi-II: 300 kms582) The missile testing range of India is named

as:Integrated Test Range583) The missile testing range of India is located at which place: Wheeler Island, Near Chandipur, Odisha584) Recently Supreme Court ordered per cent reservation in govt. jobs for disables person: Three585) Ilham Aliyev has been elected as President of which country: Azerbaijan

586) What is the popular full form of the scientific research organization CERN: European Council for European Research

587) Mulatu Teshome has been elected president ofwhich country: Ethiopia588) Sachin Tendulkar reached the coveted

landmark of50,000 runs across all formats of cricket at which stadium: Feroze Shah Kotla stadium, 589) India has signed agreements with countries, who pledged their commitment to the ambitious Nalanda University project: Seven590) The prestigious International Nalanda University is located is which place: Rajgir, Distt Nalanda, Bihar

591) Name the Nobel laureate who has been designated to head the Nalanda University as its Chancellor: Prof. Amartya Sen

592) In the Global Hunger Index India has been ranked at place: 63rd

593) Which district of Odisha was hardest hit by the recent cyclone Phailin: Ganjam

594) Authorities worldover have appreciated the excellent preparations done by the NDRF and IMD for minimizing the possible damage from the cyclone Phailin: What is the full form of NDRF and IMD: National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indian Metrological Department (IMD)595) Govt. has decided to bring all post offices across the country on CBS platform to cover larger number of people, particularly in rural areas for banking services. What is CBS: Core Banking Solution596) Name the place in distt. Datia of Madhya Pradesh which witnessed a gruesome stampede killing over120 persons: Rattangarh597) The World Boxing Championships was held in which place: Almaty, Kazakhstan

598) Name the freedom fighter, ex Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission who passed away recently: Dr. Mohan Dharia599) M.S. Swaminathan, Eminent agriculture scientist has been honoured with which prestigious prize for his

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 81

635) has become the first company in the country to achieve sales of more than Rs 1,00,000 crore in a quarter: Reliance Industries Ltd.636) INS Sunayna, the indigenously built warship is which type of ship: Naval offshore Patrol Vessel (NOVP)

637) Terry Walsh has been appointed chief coach of which national men’s sports team: Hockey638) The new chief coach of men’s national hockey

team– Terry Walsh is from which country: 639) India and China will hold joint military

exercises from November 4 in region in South west China: Chengdu

640) What is the objective of the proposed Indo-China joint military exercise: To practice counter insurgency and counter terrorism manoeuvres641) Which corporate has been allowed by government to start a new domestic airline jointly with Singapore Airlines: Tata Group

642) What is the name of proposed new domestic airline started jointly by Tata and Singapore airlines: 'Tata SIA Airlines Limited'

643) Government has decided to contribute a sum of Rs.

crore towards capital infusion in public sector banks: 14,000644) For what purpose government is

contributing Rs.14,000 crore in capital of public sector banks: To enable banks to meet Basel III capital requirements645) Name the two Latin American Countries visited by the Vice President Hamid Ansari: Peru & Cuba646) Sanjeev Rajput won the gold in which event in the Asian Air Gun shooting championship in Tehran, Iran: Men’s 50-metre free rifle event647) Bru community which has settled in large number of refugee camps in Tripura and Assam, belongs to which state: Mizoram

648) Air Costa is the new regional airline started in which part of the country: Andhra Pradesh

649) Name the Indian scientist in whose name the ‘God Particle’ has been named as Higgs Boson: Satyendra Nath Bose

650) The Nobel prize – 2013 for physics has been given to François Englert, Belgium and Peter W. Higgs, UK for which achievement: for the outstanding research for discovery of ‘God Particle’651) The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2013 has been awarded to how many scientists: Three

652) The three scientists – Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel have been given Nobel prize in Chemistry for 2013 for research in which field: for developing computer

Catton618) Name the eminent Telugu novelist, short

story writer, poet critic and 2012 Jnanpith award winner who passed away recently: Ravuri Bharadhwaja619) The Indian Open Snooker Tournament – 2013 title was won by of China: Ding Junhui620) The Indian Open Snooker Tournament – 2013 was held at which place: New Delhi

621) Name the first ever India-Russia joint military exercise that began on October 19 at the Mahajan field firing range in Rajasthan near the Indo-Pak border: Indra 2013

622) What is the objective of recently conducted Indo- Russian joint military exercise: for improving anti- terrorist operations

623) Name the latest National Tennis champions in men’s

& women’s category: Mohit Mayur and Prerna624) With which country India recently signed a border defence pact: China

625) What is the officially name of the border defence pact signed between India and China: Border Defence Co-operation Agreement

626) What is the official designation of the Prime Minister of China: Premier

627) What is the name of the Premier of China: Li

Keqiang628) Which mega steel company has been asked by a UN Human Rights panel to stop the work at its Odisha plant as it may lead to displacement of thousands of people and disruption in their livelihoods: Posco629) The Union Cabinet has approved the biggest ever foreign investment in India's aviation sector - Jet Airways' proposed sale of its 24 per cent equity to airline: Etihad Airways630) The Etihad Airways is the national airline of which country: United Arab Emirates

631) To which country India has agreed to start a power transmission line to export 500 million megawatt of electricity: Bangladesh

632) Name the Indian power cooperate which has joined hands with Bangladesh power development board to form Bangladesh – India Friendship Power Company to promote 1,320-MW Maitri thermal power project in

Bangladesh: National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)633) UNO recently passed a regulation to destroy huge amounts of chemical in which country: Syria634) Which railway station near Kolkata has been renamed as Komagata Maru station to salute the martyrs of September 29, 1914, who arrived there by the ship of the same name: Budge Budge

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 82

special loan scheme for creation of storage infrastructure like construction of Warehouses, Silos, cold storages and cold chain infrastructure: NABARD

672) Govt. plans to start National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) for what purpose: As a watchdog for the accounting and auditing policies and standards for adoption by companies.

673) With which bank Australian Trade Commission has signed a MoU to raise the productivity and exports of India’s food and

674) To which state World Bank has provided $360 million loan for modernisation of irrigation and drainage systems: Uttar

675) India is planning a cross country highway with which two other countries: Myanmar and

676) The trilateral highway with Myanmar and Thailand will start from in Manipur, India :

677) The trilateral highway with Myanmar and Thailand will end at in Thailand: Mae

678) Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project will link Kolkata port with Sittwe port in which country: Myanmar

679) In the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport

Project, Kaladan is the name of a 680) The World Agricultural Congress and Trade

Fair to be held at : Hyderabad681) Supreme Court ruled that MPs/MLAs will lose

their seats immediately if they are convicted of offences that carry a prison term of more than years: Two

682) The 2013 Norton Report by Symantec says that

India is among the world’s top countries with the highest number of

683) Indian Navy has recently inducted Hawk MK 132 aircraft. It is what type of aircraft: Advanced Jet Trainer

SEPTEMBER– 2013684) The book Communist Cookbook has written by:

Sharmishta Roy Chowdhury685) Who is the author of the book ‘Punjab: A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten: Rajmohan Gandhi

686) The Asia Cup Hockey was held at which place:

Ipoh, Malaysia687) 2014 Hockey World Cup will be held at which place:

The Hague, Netherlands688) Name the country who won the Asia Cup Hockey by defeating India: South Korea

689) As per the Land Acquisition Bill passed by Lok

Sabha, govt. has to pay compensation upto

complex chemical reactions that can be used for tasks like creating new drugs

653) Nobel prize for Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for which achievement: For breakthroughs in understanding how key substances are moved around within a cell654) The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2013 has been awarded to author Alice Munro for which field of literature: Contemporary short stories655) Nobel Laureate for 2013 literature Nobel Prize – Alice Munro is from which country: Canada656) What is the formal official name for the Economics Nobel Prize: The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences

657) The Nobel Prize for economics for 2013 has been awarded for what purpose: For research in empirical analysis of asset prices658) The Nobel Peace Prize – 2013 has been awarded to which organization: Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)659) Currently, OPCW is in news for handling which international assignment: Destruction of dumps of chemical weapons in Syria as per UN mandate

660) The headquarters of Nobel Peace prize winning organization – OPCW is located at which place: The Hague, Netherland

661) Why the Nobel prizes are delivered on a fix day – December 10 every year: It is the death anniversary of Alfred Nobel

662) All Nobel Prizes except the peace prize are presented at , Sweden: Stockholm

663) The Nobel Prize for Peace is presented at , Norway: Oslo

664) The Nobel Prize for Peace is not decided in Sweden, instead, it is decided by an expert committee of : Parliament of Norway665) India has been ranked out of 136 countries on a Global Gender Gap Index compiled by Geneva-based World Economic Forum: 101st

666) According to a recent survey by Global Initiative for Restructuring Environment and Management (GIREM) and DTZ, is the best business destination in the

667) Name the Formula One champion who has won four successive titles in the current season: Sebastian Vettal

668) Sebastian Vettal, the formula one world champion is from which country: Germany

669) India’s only Formula One Racing Track Buddha International Circuit is located at which place: Noida, UP

670) World’s largest airport Al-Maktoum International is located at which place: Dubai,

671) Which financial institution proposes to launch aGENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 83

708) Name the tennis star who won US Open men’s singles title: Rafael Nadal

709) Noted tennis star Rafael Nadal is from which country: Spain

710) Famous sports person Novak Djokovic is from which game: Tennis

711) Tennis star Novak Djokovic hails from which country: Serbia

712) Name the tennis star who won US Open women’s singles title: Serena Williams

713) Noted tennis star Serena Williams from which country: USA

714) Name the prestigious sports event recently won by tennis star Leander Paes: US Open 2013 men’s doubles crown

715) Name the world renowned music maestro who conducted the Bavarian State Orchestra in J & K: Zubin Mehta

716) The musical concert conducted by Jubin Mehta at Shalimar Garden, Srinagar (J&K) was named as : Ehasas-e-Kashmir717) Tony Abbott has been elected as new Prime Minister of which country: Australia

718) With which country India has enlarged its currency swap arrangement from $15 billion at present to $50 billion: Japan719) India has been ranked at place in terms of its global competitiveness in 2013: 60th

720) has emerged as most literate state in India with 94.65 per cent literacy, compared with Kerala’s 93.91 per cent: Tripura

721) Share of agriculture in India’s GDP is about %:

13.7722) Control of Forward Markets Commission has recently been taken over by Ministry: Finance723) Govt. has approved setting up of the Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation, a partnership between government, corporate India, academics and civil society, with a contribution of Rs 500 crore for what purpose: To engage corporates for help to counter Naxal influence

724) RBI has setup Bimal Jalan Committee for what purpose: To scrutinize the applications for new bank licences

725) Name the head of the committee formed to strengthen the framework of monetary policy to avoid friction between the RBI and the Finance Ministry: Urjit Patel Committee726) Who has been elected as President of

InternationalOlympics Committee: Thomas Bach727) India’s trade deficit narrowed to $10.9

billion in

times of market value for acquiring land in rural areas: four

690) As per the Land Acquisition Bill passed by Lok Sabha, govt. has to pay compensation upto times of market value for acquiring land in urban areas: two691) G-20 group of countries held a meeting of

theirHeads at which place: St. Petersburg, 692) Name the ace footballer from UK who created

a new record by becoming the expensive most player in the history of football: Gareth Bale693) Noted footballer Gareth Bale has been contracted by which Club for a sum of 100 million Euros: Real Madrid, Spain

694) Diana Nyad, the 64 year old lady swimmer from USA created a world record for what: for longest distance swimming – 110 mile (177 kms)695) Haraprasad Das, eminent Oriya writer, has been honoured with which prestigious award for his book‘Vamsha’: Moortidevi Award - 2012696) Name the country who won SAFF football championship by beating India: Afghanistan697) What is the full form of SAFF: South Asia

FootballFederation)698) The SAFF football championship was recently held at which place: Kathmandu, Nepal

699) As per new companies law, the corporates are required to spend % of their profits towards CSR activities: Two

700) Write the full form of CSR: Corporate Social

Responsibility701) India recently launched multi band communication satellite - GSAT-7 for what purpose: Data gathering for defence forces702) The GSAT- 7 satellite was launched from which place: Kourou, French Guiana (An overseas territory of France, at joining Brazil)703) The GSAT-7 satellite was launched in a Orbit, about 36000 kms above Earth’s surface: Geosynchronous

704) Name the book on tax administration written by noted economist Parthasarthi Shome, Advisor to the Finance Minister: Indian Tax Administration: A Dialogue

705) Dr. Raghuram Rajan, the new governor of RBI was holding which position before this: Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance

706) As per the PFRDA bill, 2011, government has permitted FDI upto % in the pension sector:26707) Write the full form PFRDA: Pension

FundRegulatory and Development Authority

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 84

August from $12.26 billion in July. What does it represents: The amount by which exports are short of imports

728) Which is the single largest item contributing to the import bill of India: Petroleum

729) As per the RBI guidelines, cash withdrawals of up to Rs. a day from point of sale terminals are allowed: 1,000

730) Which type of banking transactions can be carried out using plastic money: Debit / Credit card transactions

731) What is the popular name for the total money supply

– M3 in the country: Broad Money

732) What is the priority sector lending target fixed by the government for foreign banks in India: 40%; if the branches are less than 20, then 32%

733) If an Indian bank in private sector fails to achieve priority sector lending targets, what will be the penal action: It will have to deposit the short fall amount in Rural Infrastructure Development Fund

734) The government has approved a proposal to invest USD 4.3 billion in which international financial institution: World Bank

735) Eighth Women’s Hockey Asia Cup was recently held at which place: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

736) Which big industrial country has decided to say

‘good bye’ to nuclear power: Japan

737) Name the spacecraft that has become the first man- made object to venture into interstellar space: Voyager-1

738) Name the wrestler who won silver medal at the

World Wrestling Championship: Amit Kumar

739) Name the wrestler who won bronze medal in free style wrestling in the World Wrestling Championship: Bajrang

740) World Wrestling Championship were held at which place: Budapest, Hungary

741) Name the hockey player who will captain the Indian

Women’s Hockey team in Asia Cup: Ritu Rani

742) Name the Indian origin girl who was crown as Miss

America recently: Nina Davuluri

743) Jhumpa Lahri, a Noted Novelist of Indian origin is settled in which country: USA (New York)

744) Which city has been named to host 2020 Olympic

747) From which place India conducts its missile tests:

Wheeler Island off Odisha coast748) NASA has launched an unmanned spacecraft Ladee for what purpose: To explore the surface ofmoon749) Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia has recently been honured with which Award: Indira Gandhi Prize for

Peace,Disarmament and Development-2012750) Durand Cup is associated with which

sports:Football751) Durand Cup for 2013 was won by after a gap of 73 years: Mohammedan Sporting, Kolkata

752) Durand Cup Football tournament was held at which place: New Delhi

753) Dinesh K. Sarraf has been appointed head of which Maharatna company: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation

754) With a view to boost exports, government has raised interest subvention on export loans to percent: Three755) 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup will be hosted jointly by which two countries: Australia and New Zealand756) Govt. has recently relaxed certain pre conditions in case of FDI in which field: Multi Brand Retail757) With which country India has an arrangement to pay in Indian rupees for its import of crude oil: Iran758) Name the veteran British journalist and broadcaster, famous for his TV interviews of various Heads of States, who passed away recently: David Frost759) How many industries are there in the core sector within Index of Industrial Production (IIP): Eight760) Which country has agreed to contribute 41% share in the creation of a $100-billion Currency Reserve Fund (CRF) by BRICS: China

761) Name the noted Bengali author who was killed in

Afghanistan by Taliban: Sushmita 762) The mobile phone business of Nokia Corporation of Finland has been taken over by which multinational company: Microsoft

763) A robot astronaut called developed by Toyota Company of Japan, has made history by becoming the first robot ever to speak in space: Kirobo

764) As per recent RBI guidelines, Indians travelling abroad can carry Indian currency of up to Rs. per person: 10,000765) Which state in India has recorded the lowest proportion of 3.66 % of poor living below poverty line in urban areas: Sikkim

Games: Tokyo

745) The 2016 Olympics are to be held at which place:

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

746) Name the recently tested nuclear capable surface to surface long-range ballistic missile which has a strike range of more than 5000 kms: Agni-V

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 85

766) Which state in India has the lowest proportion –

5.09%, of the poor living below poverty line: 767) India has recorded the largest increase in its UHNI club among the BRICS nations in the last one year, with a total of 7,850 super rich people in the country. What is the full form of UHNI: Ultra-High Networth Individual768) Recent RBI guidelines have asked banks to close accounts of those customers who use their credit or debit cards for transactions: Online Forex

769) As per the food security Act notified recently,

% of country’s population will be covered under food guarantee: 67

770) Which state in India emerged as the hottest investment destination for new projects: Odisha771) World largest solar power plant is being

setup inIndia at which place: Sambar Lake, 772) Govt has finalised the timeline for

implementation of the mega ADKIC project to promote industrial activity in north India. What is the full form of ADKIC: Amritsar-Delhi-Kolkata Industrial Corridor

773) For which part of India govt. has approved Rs. 2,130 crore expenditure under Special Accelerated Road Development Programme (SARDP): North East Region

774) RBI has allowed banks to open branches, including in Tier 1 centres without its prior permission. Which city come under tier 1: Centres cities with population of one lakh and above

775) The Reserve Bank has advised banks to allot a different product code in their core banking solution to which type of accounts: Accounts which are dormant or inoperative for over two years776) Which film will represent India in the Best Foreign Film category at 2014 Oscar Awards in USA: The Good Road

777) Govt. has submitted in Supreme Court that it intends to go ahead with Sethusamudram Project. It is located in which area of India: Rocky terrain between India and Sri Lanka in the Gulf of Mannar

778) What is the geographical name for the

Sethusamudram: Adam’s Bridge779) At which place is the World's highest-altitude civilian airport, located 4,411 meters above sea level: Daocheng, Near Tibet, China

780) Super Typhoon Usagi has caused widespread damage in which part of the world: Philippines and Taiwan

781) Who has been elected as the 12th

President ofPakistan: Mamnoon Hussain

782) Recently India post released a commemorative stamp in the memory of freedom fighter and veteran journalist Lala Jagat Narain. Name the news paper founded by him: Punjab Kesari

783) Kaesong industrial park was the matter of dispute between which two countries: North and South Korea

784) Govt. has started a Rs. 1000 crore Nirbhaya Corpus Fund for what purpose: For empowerment and protection of women

785) Name the first programme started from Nirbhaya Fund, aimed at helping the women who need special protection measures, such as women in prostitution or widowed women: Shubh786) Ray Dolby, an inventor and audio pioneer from USA, founder of Dolby Laboratories, passed away recently. He is known for which product: Dolby Stereo Sound System

787) Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has become the first regulator in the world to start an _system: Insurance Repository

788) Name the international literary prize that has now been made open to English authors from all over the world: The Man Booker Prize

789) President of which country recently cancelled its official visit to USA to protest against the spying excesses of National Security Agency of USA: Dilma Rousseff of Brazil790) Which country has recently started Direct Banking, offering banking services not through branches but through various other means like internet, mobiles and ATMs: China

791) Name the former world heavyweight boxing champion, considered one of the greatest fighter of his era, who passed away recently: Ken Norton792) The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs is planning to rope in celebrities as brand ambassadors for the five minority

communities. Name these five communities: Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhist and Parsis793) Name the organization that has acquired the Rs. 600 crore research vessel named Samudra Ratnakar: Geological Survey of India

794) Who has been elected as Chancellor of Germany for the third time in a row: Angela Markel (Ms)795) India has been granted ‘authorizing nation’ status for certifying which type of products: Electronics and IT Products

796) Sandeep Tulsi Yadav created history by winning

India’s first ever wrestling medal in category at World

797) Name the Indian who has been honoured with

GENERAL AWARENESS – MARCH 2014 86

n

n

r

t m A

Clinton Global Citizen Award: Bunker Roy798) RBI has directed banks to stop

loans schemes s they tend to befool the consumers into believing that bank funding come for free: zero per cent

799) With which country India conducted a joint military exercise in general combat and mountain warfare: Nepal

800) Indo-nepal joint military exercise was recently held at which place: Pithoragarh, Uttrak and801) Erna Solberg has been elected as Prime Minister of which country: Norway

802) Sultan of Johor Cup Hockey tournament was held at

Johar Bahru in which co ntry: Malaysia803) National Junior Athletics Championship held at , Kerala: Kochi

804) In which country a legislative decree has been passed for reserving one seat in their parliament for persons of Sikh/Hindu religion: Afghanistan805) Wolesi Jirga is the equivalent of Indian Lok Sabha in which country: Afghanistan

806) A severe earthquake of 7.7 magnitude that caused widespread devastation in district of Balochistan, Pakistan: Awaran

807) Name the author of the book “Never Go Back”: Lee

Child808) The sustainable mountain development summit was held at which place: Kohima, Nagaland809) The picture, The Good Road, that has been nominated from India to Oscars, has been made in which language: Gujarati

810) Name the film that won the Best Asian Film Award at the 38th Toronto International Film Festival in Canada: Qissa, A Punjabi Film

811) Govt has notified as the new date for implementing GAAR: April 1, 2016

812) What is the full form of GAAR: General Anti

Avoidance Rules813) GAAR form an internal part of which law: Income

Tax Act814) Grand Master Vidit Gujrathi who won the bronze medal at an international event, is from which game: Chess

815) The 18th International Children's Film Festival(ICFFI)will be held at which place: Hy erabad

816) The Golden Elephant award for best film is given at which film festival: International Children's Film Festival

817) Name the movie that won the best fil award at theLadakh International Fil Festival: “O SS”

818) Horticulture Mission for North East and Himalayan

States (HMNEH) and National Bamboo Mission (NBM) have been merged with which other major national mission: Nation l Horticultural Mission (NHM).

819) RBI Governor Dr. Raghuram G Rajan as recently been honoured for his ground breaki g research work by which German Bank: Deutsche Bank820) A panel headed by Raghuram Rajan has recommended a new methodology based on a for devolving f nds for development of821) As per Raghuram Rajan report on allocation of funds for development of states, which are the three development categories of the states: Least, Relatively and Less developed

822) A panel headed by Raghuram Rajan has identified which state of India as least developed: Odisha, followed by Bihar

823) A panel headed by Raghuram Rajan has identified which state of India as most developed: Goa, followed by Kerala

824) Supreme Court has ruled that for a vibrant democracy the voter has the right to negative voting by rejecting all the candidates in fray by exercising the option of in EVMs and ballot papers: None of the Above (NOTA)825) For which metro city ADB has offered a $ 400 million loan to improve water and sanitation system: Kolkata

826) NASA’s unmanned rover – Curiosity has recently discovered traces of water in the soil cover of which planet: Mars

827) Miss Philippines has been selected as Miss

World 2013: Megan Young828) In a recent ruling of National Green Tribunal, digging of has been banned across the country: Soil (Earth)

829) ‘Patan Patola’ which recently got the GI tag from the Geographical Indication (GI) Registry, Chennai, is a popular type of fro Gujarat: Double-sided saree

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