Current Affairs october 2012 Quiz-30

1. An expert panel set up by the Prime Minister recommended complete decontrol of the sugar industry. Who headed this committee? (The panel submitted its report in October 2012) 1) Kaushik Basu 2) Bimal Jalan 3) C.Rangarajan 4) R.S.Gujral 5) Y.V.Reddy 2. Who are awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for studies of G-protein coupled receptors? 1) Thomas Steitz (USA) & Ada Yonath (Israel) 2) Barry Sharpless & William Knowles (USA) 3) Robert Lefkowitz & Brian Kobilka (USA) 4) Peter Agre & Roderick Mackinnon (USA) 5) None of these

Current Affairs october 2012 Quiz-29

1. Who won the Nobel Prize in Physics for the year 2012 for their work with light and matter at the most fundamental level? 1) Adam Reiss and Brian Schmidt 2) Adam Reiss and Saul Perlmutter 3) Serge Haroche and David J.Wineland 4) Charles K. Kao and Willard S. Boyle 5) Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov 2. Who was conferred with the prestigious Lata Mangeshkar Award by the Maharashtra government in September 2012? 1) Khayyam 2) Udit Narayan 3) Anandji Shah 4) Suman Kalyanpur 5) None

September 2012 Bilateral Relations Affairs

Aiming to improve ties between India and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), "INS Sudarshini", a sail training ship, began its journey on 28 September, from Chennai on a nine nation voyage. Director General, Naval Projects (V) Vice Admiral V K Namballa flagged off the ship, manned by five officers, 31 sailors, 30 Naval and Coast Guard cadets, from the Chennai Port Trust. During its journey, the ship would call on 13 foreign ports across nine nations to bolster friendship across the seas. The ship would take the ancient route of Indian mariners to South East Asia, it said, adding during its journey, the ship would spend a total of 127 days before berthing back at Kochi on March 29, 2013.

September 2012 National Affairs

On instructions from the Central Vigilance Commission, the CBI on 24 September, decided to expand the scope of its investigation into the scam in coal blocks allocation to private firms between 1993 and 2004. The probe will now cover the blocks given during the six-year tenure of the BJP-led NDA government, from 1998 to 2004, besides those allotted by the Congress government led by P.V. Narasimha Rao after 1993 and the United Front government from 1996 to 1998. Till now, the CBI was investigating private companies that got blocks between 2004 and 2009.As per the Comptroller and Auditor-General’s report on the allocation between 1993 and 2009, 215 blocks were allotted and 99 of them went to government companies and 105 to private firms, while 11 were allotted for ultra-mega power projects. Twenty-four blocks were de-allocated between 2003 and 2011 for non-performance by companies. On representations from MPs, Coal Minister Shriprakash Jaiswal wrote to the CVC, seeking a CBI probe into the allocations since 1993 when the government started giving blocks to private players for captive use. Mainly Congress MPs alleged massive irregularities in the allocations under the NDA rule.

September 2012 International Affairs

Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg appointed a 29-year-old, Hadia Tajik, a Muslim woman of Pakistani origin, as the new Culture Minister. Hadia Tajik is the first Muslim and youngest Minister ever in Norwegian political history. Ms. Tajik, who has degrees in law and journalism and has been a career politician in Norway’s Labour Party, was appointed in a Cabinet reshuffle. Ms. Tajik has already declared that cultural diversity should become more integral to the life of her fellow citizens. She said her programme would focus on how this reflected on Norwegian society as a whole. Conservative elements in Norway believe that a very rapid influx of foreigners and foreign cultures has destabilised the steady and stable pattern of Norway’s essentially Christian society. Last year, Anders Breivik randomly shot 69 people at a summer camp organised by the Workers' Youth League (AUF) of the Labour Party after blowing up a Norweigan state building. During his trial, Breivik reasoned that multi-cultural policies were harming Norway, adding that he considered Islam his enemy.

Current Affairs October 2012 Quiz 27

1.Pauline Marois became the first female Premier of which of the following provinces of Canada in September 2012?
1) Alberta
2) Nova Scotia
3) Quebec
4) British Columbia
5) Ontario

2.The Central Government appoin-ted Y.C. Deveshwar as a director on the central board of directors of the Reserve Bank of India in September 2012. He is the chairman of which of the following companies?
1) Bombay Dyeing
2) ITC
3) Murugappa Group
4) Future Group
5) Essar Group

Current Affairs September 2012 Quiz-26

1. Effective from September 22, 2012 what is the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)?
1) 4% 2) 4.75%
3) 4.5% 4) 4.25% 5) 5%

2. Which Russian city hosted the 24th Summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in September 2012?
1) Yekaterinburg
2) Vladivostok 3) Moscow
4) Novosibirsk
5) Saint Petersburg

Current Affairs September 2012 Quiz-25

1. What is the revised growth rate target for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017)?
1) 9% 2) 8%
3) 8.2% 4) 8.5%
5) 9.5%

2. Which Indian author has been short listed for this year's Man Booker Prize for his novel 'Narcopolis', a dark tale about the opium and heroin dens of Mumbai?
1) Aravind Adina 2) Jeet Thayil
3) Amitav Ghosh
4) Chetan Bhagat
5) Rahul Bhattacharya

Books & Authors

"White Tiger" was the first book written by Aravind Adiga, this book has won the 2008 Man Booker Prize.
"Between The Assasinations" was written by Aravind Adiga, this is his second book.
"Sea of Poppies" was written by Amitav Ghosh, this book was nominated for the 2008 Booker Prize.

"Mid Night Children" was written by Salman Rushdie, this book has been adjudged as the Best Of Booker Prize.
"Enchantress Of florence" was written by Salman Rushdie, which is the latest book written by him.
"God Of Small things" was the first book written by Arundhati Roy which won the man Booker Prize in 1997.
"Imagining India" was written by Nandan Nilenkhani.

Appointments in India 2012

 

 

1. Dr. Bhalchandra Mungekar appointed as President, Indian Economic Association.

2. Parvin Sinclair appointed as Director of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on Jan 2, 2012.

3. Samir K. Brahmachari reappointed as Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). He got extension for a period of two years.

4. Arvind Gupta appointed as Director General, Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA).

5. Vice Admiral M.P. Muralidharan appointed as Director General, Indian Coast Guard in Jan 2012. Earlier served as the first Commandant fo the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala.

Current Affairs September 2012 Quiz-23

1. What is the first quarter (April-June) gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the year 2012-13?
1) 6.3% 2) 7.5% 3) 6.5% 4) 5.5% 5) 8.5%

2. Who, among the following Nobel laureates in Literature, has written a novel 'The Dream of the Celt'?
1) V.S.Naipaul 2) J.M.Coetzee
3) Orhan Pamuk
4) Tomas Transtromer
5) Mario Vargas Llosa

3. Which state imposed a ban on manufacture, storage and sale of gutka, pan masala and their variants containing tobacco and nicotine recently? (It has become the second state after Madhya Pradesh to ban gutka products)
1) Punjab 2) Haryana
3) Kerala 4) Gujarat
5) Andhra Pradesh

World Bank ranks India at 132

As per the World Bank Report, India has been ranked at 132 amongst the sample 183 countries, said Minister of State for Corporate Affairs R.P.N. Singh on Thursday.

"Recognising the need for Reforming the Regulatory Environment for doing business in India, a Committee under the Chairmanship of Shri. M. Damodaran has been constituted on 23.08.2012 by this ministry to extensively examine different areas of root functioning such as financial reforms, governance reforms, liberalized policy framework, process reforms etc, and to suggest a roadmap for improving business climate in India," said Singh in Lok Sabha.

Current Affairs August 2012 Quiz-22

1.Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the moon, died on August 25, 2012. He landed on the moon on which of the following dates?
1) August 5, 1969
2) August 9, 1969
3) July 26, 1969
4) July 20, 1969 5) July 22, 1969

2. The 16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was held in August 2012 in which of the following countries?
1) Egypt 2) Iran
3) India 4) Turkey 5) Senegal

August 2012 Economic Affairs

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has been appointed as India's Governor on the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank and African Development Fund in place of Pranab Mukherjee.Likewise, Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram has been appointed as India's alternate Governor.

SEBI has allowed seven Alternative Investment Funds (AIF) to set up shop in the country under a newly formulated route, which allows pooling of funds for investments in areas such as real estate, private equity and hedge funds. The approval has been given to all the seven AIFs by the Securities and Exchange Board of India in a period of less than one month, as per the information available with the market regulator. SEBI had notified its guidelines in May for AIFs, which are funds established or incorporated in India for the purpose of pooling in of capital from Indian and foreign investors for investing as per a pre-decided policy. As per SEBI data, six AIFs registered with the regulator during August 2012, while one was granted registration on July 23.

August 2012 International Affairs

Russia became the 156th member of the World Trade Organization on 21 August, following nearly two decades of negotiations. Russia was one of the world's last major economies to join the Geneva-based institution, having previously expressed concerns about the potential influx of Western goods and services. As part of its membership, Russia has agreed to lower import tariffs to less than 8 percent from a current average of around 10 percent. As part of the agreement, Russia has also made commitments to open trade in several sectors, including the banking, automotive and insurance industries. Some analysts expect this will be to the benefit of Russian consumers by making it cheaper for them to purchase imported products while allowing them to save more and invest back into the local economy. Russia joins the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, which will become the WTO s 157th member on 21 August. Pascal Lamy is the present Director-General of WTO.

August 2012 Bilateral Relations Affairs

India and Belgium on 8 August decided to cooperate in the railway sector. A MoU was signed for this purpose in the presence of visiting Deputy Prime Minister Didier Reynders, who also holds the portfolio of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs. Speaking on the occasion, Minister of External Affairs SM Krishna said India wanted to collaborate with Belgium in newer areas, particularly in infrastructure and energy sector, including port development, renewable energy, both solar and wind power. He said his discussions with Mr Reyders touched the entire gamut of their bilateral relations and touched on their cooperation in further strengthening the strategic partnership with the European Union. They took note of the fact that despite global economic slowdown, there was substantial increase in their bilateral trade, which has now crossed the 13 billion Euro mark in 2011. Belgium has now emerged as the second largest trading partner in goods sector within the European Union.

August 2012 National Affairs

India's ruling United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi has been ranked sixth, in the Forbes magazine list of 100 powerful women. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is ranked the most powerful in the world for the second year in a row. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is placed second, followed by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, making the top three spots unchanged from that of last year. US first lady Michelle Obama, who had topped the list in 2010, was ranked No.7. Also in the top five were Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and wife of Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates, and Jill Abramson, executive editor of the New York Times. Besides Sonia Gandhi, the list released on 21 august features three other Indians. Padmasree Warrior, chief technology and strategy officer, Cisco Systems, and Chanda Kochhar, managing director and CEO, ICICI Bank, are ranked 58th and 59th, while Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder and chair, Biocon Ltd, is placed 80th. PepsiCo's Indian-American chairperson and CEO Indra Nooyi is ranked 12th. The list named women involved in policymaking, entertainment, technology and nonprofit organisations, among other fields. They were ranked according to influence, the amount of money they control or earn, and media presence.

Justice Sundaresh Menon to be appointed new Chief Justice

Judge of Appeal Sundaresh Menon will be appointed the Chief Justice (CJ) of the Supreme Court with effect from Nov 6, replacing the present Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong who will retire on the same day after he reaches his 75th birthday.

A statement from the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday afternoon said that the decision to appoint Justice Sundaresh Menon was taken "in concurrence with the advice of the Prime Minister".

Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir nominated for Padma Awards

Just retired Rahul Dravid will be nominated for Padma Bhushan award 2012 for his service and contribution to Indian cricket.

Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian honour in India after Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan.

Rahul Dravid had announced retirement from cricket in March 2012 after playing 16 years of international cricket for India.

Current Affairs August 2012 Quiz-21

1. Meles Zenawi passed away on August 20, 2012. He was the Prime Minister of which of the following African countries from 1995 until his death in 2012?
1) Somalia 2) Ethiopia
3) Eritrea 4) Djibouti
5) Sudan

2. Which Chinese woman shooter won the first gold medal of the London Olympics on July 28, 2012?
1) Yi Siling
2) Yu Dan 3) Ye Shiwen
4) Wang Mingjuan
5) Li Xuerui