September 2014
1. President Pranab Mukherjee authorised
Vigilance Commissioner Rajiv to act as chief of
Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) until the
appointment of the Central Vigilance
Commissioner.
2. Justice Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy
Dattu was sworn-in as the 42nd Chief Justice
of India on 28 September 2014. He succeeded
Chief Justice RM Lodha who demitted office on
27 September 2014.
3. Suresh Prabhu was appointed as Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s Sherpa for the
Group of 20 annual Summit 2014. The G-20
annual summit will be held in Brisbane from 15
November to 16 November 2014. Sherpa is a
senior official responsible for preparing the
agenda for leaders to consider during the
summit.
4. Lalitha Kumaramangalam was appointed as
chairperson of National Commission for
Women.
5. Senior IAS officer Subhash Chandra Garg was
appointed as the Executive Director (ED) of
World Bank.
6. Hindi-language feature film Liar's Dice was
selected for India’s official entry in the 2015
Oscars Awards for the Best Foreign Language
Film category. The film is directed by Geethu
Mohandas. The 87th Oscar Awards event will
take place in the US on 22 February 2015.
7. Govind Mishra, the renowned Hindi author
was given the Saraswati Samman in New
Delhi. He was given the Samman for his novel
Dhool Paudhon Par that was published in 2008.
8. The WHO honoured Bangladesh and Timor-Leste
with South East Asia Regional Award for Excellence in
Public Health.
9. UN Climate Change Summit 2014 was held at UN
headquarters in New York on 23 September
2014 to put the planet on course towards
reversing global warming. The purpose of the
2014 Climate Summit was to raise political
momentum for a meaningful universal climate
agreement in Paris in 2015.
10. The G-20 Labour and Employment Ministerial
meet was held at Melbourne, Australia.
11. Operation Megh Rahat – a rescue operation
undertaken by Indian Army during Jammu and
Kashmir floods Indian Army on 19 September
2014 completed rescue Operation Megh Rahat in
Jammu and Kashmir.
12. SRPF (Special Rhino Protection Force) is to be
setup to protect Rhinos from poaching in Assam.
It will be created in Assam with the help of
Central funds.
13. Union Government declared 25 September as
Antyodya Diwas. Antyodya diwas was
observed to mark the 98th birth anniversary
of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay.
14. National Hindi Divas (Hindi Day) was observed
across India on 14 September 2014.
15. The India-US Combined Military Training
Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2014 concluded at
Ranikhet in Uttarakhand.
16. Indian Air Force gifted a vintage Dakota aircraft
from its museum to Bangladesh Air Force.
17. Strategic Force Command of India successfully
test-fired nuclear weapons capable ballistic
missile Agni-I with a range of 700 Km. The
missile was launched from the Integrated Test
Range (ITR) at Wheeler Island, Balasore off the
Odisha Coast.
18. India's largest naval offshore patrol vessel INS
Sumitra was commissioned into Indian Navy.
19. Indo-Nepal joint military exercise Surya KiranVII concluded on 31 August 2014 at Pithoragarh.
20. The Union Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy announced the organisation of the first
Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet & Expo
(RE-INVEST). The meet is scheduled to be held
on 15 February 2015 in New Delhi.
21. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the
country's biggest-ever cleanliness drive that is
expected to cost over Rs 62,000 crore, asserting
that the "Swachh Bharat" mission is "beyond
politics" and inspired by patriotism. The Cabinet
had last month decided to merge the 'Nirmal
Bharat Abhiyan', a campaign for rural sanitation
with Swachh Bharat Mission.
22. US government welcomes India's offer for US
industry to be the lead partner in developing
smart cities in Ajmer (Rajasthan),
Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and
Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh).
23. US President Barack Obama and Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi agreed to deepen US Indian
cooperation on maritime security to
ensure freedom of navigation in what amounts
to a response to China's naval muscle-flexing in
Asia.
24. The government announced setting up of four
task forces to lay down the roadmap for
developing four new regulatory agencies —
Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA),
Financial Sector Appellate Tribunal (FSAT),
Financial Data Management Centre (FDMC) and
Resolution Corporation (RC).
25. PM Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama
issued an India and the US vision statement
"Chalein Saath Saath: Forward Together We Go"
promising that their "strategic partnership"
would work to combat terror threats and
prevent the spread of weapons of mass
destruction.
26. Revising India's GDP upwards by 0.3 per cent to
6.3 per cent in 2015, Asian Development Bank
(ADB) has said the economy shows a new
promise of turnaround after the election
brought a stable government in May.
27. Mumbai has emerged as the least expensive city
in the world to live and work in, according to a
latest real estate analysis. British capital London
has overtaken Hong Kong as the most expensive
city to rent living and working space.
28. The Union government said the proposed Goods
and Services Tax could become a reality from
April 1, 2016. The finance ministry is set to
introduce the Constitution (115th Amendment)
Bill in the winter session.
29. A new index Creative Productivity Index (CPI)
ranks Japan as the most efficient among Asian
countries while Myanmar, Pakistan and
Cambodia are least efficient. India is at 14th
rank. The Asian Development Bank said it
developed the index with the Economist
Intelligence Unit to give policymakers a tool to
assess how best to foster innovation and
creativity in Asian economies.
30. With the target of providing houses for all by
2022, a new integrated National Housing
Mission will be launched soon by merging some
of UPA's flagship schemes like JNNURM and
Rajiv Awas Yojana.
31. Boeing has delivered the fifth maritime patrol
aircraft P-8I to India as part of a deal for eight
aircraft to support the Indian Navy's maritime
patrol requirements.
32. Finance minister Arun Jaitley is unlikely to
attend the G-20 finance ministers and central
bank chiefs’ meeting in Cairns, Australia, on
September 20 and 21, as he is recovering from a
diabetes management surgery. Minister of state
(finance and commerce) Nirmala Sitharaman
will attend the meeting instead.
33. The Expenditure Management Commission
headed by Bimal Jalan, will submit its interim
report by January, in time for its
recommendations to be incorporated in the
FY16 Budget.
34. The NDA government has decided to start
negotiations for a free-trade agreement (FTA)
with Peru.
35. India has signed the free trade agreement (FTA)
in services and investments with the 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
36.Seven years after the then Australian Prime
Minister John Howard decided to sell uranium to
India. India and Australia signed the civilian
nuclear cooperation agreement.
37.India will get $35 billion from Japan over the
next five years for development projects,
including building of smart cities and next
generation infrastructure.
38.The much-awaited minimum monthly
pension of Rs.1,000 and a higher wage ceiling
of Rs.15,000 for social security schemes run by
retirement fund manager Employees’ Provident
Fund Organisation (EPFO) will be implemented
from September 1.
39.Mumbai’s Esplanade House, once the residence
of Jamsetji Tata, founder of the Tata empire, and
the Shri Sakhargad Nivasini Devi Temple
Complex in Satara are among the 14 projects
from 10 countries that bagged the UNESCO AsiaPacific Heritage Awards that were announced in
Bangkok.
40.Bihar is the fastest growing State while Tamil
Nadu is the worst performer, the latest data
released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO)
has revealed. Bihar’s Gross State Domestic
Product (GSDP) grew 10.73 per cent during
2012-13. The second-best performing State is
Madhya Pradesh, which grew at 9.89 per cent.
Delhi is third with a growth rate of 9.33 per cent.
41.Kolkata-born British author Neel Mukherjee’s
latest novel The Lives of Others has been
shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize
2014.
42.India and Vietnam signed seven agreements,
including one for enhanced cooperation in the
oil sector. ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) and
Vietnam Oil signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) for
jointly exploring two more blocks.
43.India has warmed to the idea of the BCIM
(Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar) corridor
that could prove to be a game-changer in
regional linkages among the four countries. The
BCIM corridor, long promoted by China, is
intended to link Kunming to Kolkata, Mandalay
(Myanmar), Dhaka and Chittagong.
44.The Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim
Bank) and the China Development Bank
Corporation (CDB) signed various agreements
with SBI, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.
45.Public sector banks (PSBs) in India will need to
raise up to $37 billion over the next 4-5 years to
meet Basel III compliance norms, credit rating
agency Moody’s said.
46.Bamiyan has been selected to be the SAARC
cultural capital for a year beginning April 2015.
Dhaka will be the SAARC cultural capital in
2016-17. The year 2016-17 will also be declared
the SAARC Year of Cultural Heritage.
47.Cricket legend Kapil Dev has been honoured
with a Lifetime Achievement award at a
ceremony in the House of Lords in London.
Oct’ 2013
1. Union Government of India appointed Gireesh B.
Pradhan as the Chairperson of the Central Electricity
Regulatory Commission (CERC).
2. Arundhati Bhattacharya took over as the
Chairperson of the State Bank of India (SBI). She is
the first woman to take charge as the Chairperson of
SBI.
3. S. Varadarajan took over charge as chairman and
managing director (CMD) of Bharat Petroleum
Corporation Limited (BPCL).
4. Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for literature. She
was the first Canadian woman to take the Nobel Prize
since its launch in 1901.
5. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, paid a
state visit to Belgium from 2 October 2013 to 5
October 2013, at the invitation of the King of the
Belgium.
6. Eminent Telugu writer and Gyanpeeth award
recipient, Dr. Ravuri Bharadwaja passed away in
Hyderabad.
7. Tennis player- turned film producer Ashok Amritraj
was presented with the 'Soul of India Award' for his
outstanding achievements in the film industry.
8. Anjali Gopalan was awarded with French highest
civilian award Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur. She
was awarded for her work on transgenders and HIV
positive patients.
9. Aung Suu Kyi received the Sakharov Prize for
Freedom of Thought at Strasbourg, France. She was
chosen by the European Parliament in 1990.
10. Eminent agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan
selected for the Indira Gandhi Award for National
Integration for the year 2012.
11. Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teen shot by the
Taliban for championing girls' education won the
European Union's (EU) Sakharov human rights prize
2013.
12. Government of India appointed a four member
committee headed by Arvind Mayaram to clear the
ambiguity between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
and Foreign Institutional Investment (FII).
13. India developed a new tactical surface-to-surface
missile Pragati which has a range between 60-170
km.
14. The Indian Navy inducted into service its largest
offshore patrol vessel (OPV), INS Sunayna, at the
Southern Naval Command.
15. India successfully test-fired it’s indigenously
developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile with a
strike range of 350 km from Chandipur Integrated test
range in Odisha.
16. Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) headed by
P.C. Chako, on allocation and pricing of telecom
licences and 2G Spectrum during 1998-2009 was
submitted its report to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira
Kumar on 29 October 2013.
17. Kirit Parikh Panel on advising Pricing
Methodology for Diesel, Domestic LPG and PDS
Kerosene submitted report to the Petroleum and
Natural Gas Ministry.
18. Global Gender Gap Report 2013, which was
published by World Economic Forum- India was
ranked 101 out of 136 countries on Gender Gap
index.
19. The annual economic publication of Asian
Development Bank (ADB) titled Asian Development
Outlook released lowered the India economic growth
forecast for 2013-14 to 4.7 percent.
20. National Green Tribunal has banned digging of
earth across the country for making bricks and
laying roads without prior environment clearance.
21. Net non-performing assets (NPAs) of all banks
have increased to 1.68 per cent of the total loan at the
end of 2012-13. It was 1.28 per cent at the end of
2011-12.
22. Peter Scholze, 25-year-old professor of
mathematics, University of Bonn, Germany, has been
chosen for the 2013 SASTRA Ramanujan Prize.
23. Cooking gas will now be available at select petrol
pumps in metro cities after the Oil Ministry allowed
the sale of five-kg cylinders at retail outlets.
24. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been
nominated for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize by a
Russian advocacy group — The International
Academy of Spiritual Unity and Cooperation Among
the Nations of the World — for his key role in
preventing a U.S. missile strike on Syria and
initiatives to dismantle Damascus’ chemical
weapons.
25. NABARD has announced a scheme ‘Nabard
Warehousing Scheme (NWS) 2013-14’ with a corpus
of Rs.5,000 crore for providing loans to the public
and private sector to meet the growing demand of
storage capacity of agricultural commodities in the
country.
26. Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge and Steel
Minister Beni Prasad Verma finalised a deal for
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) to set up a
forged wheel factory at Lalganj in Rae Bareli.
27. Vijay Kelkar Committee was appointed by the
Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry to prepare a road
map to make India self-sufficient in oil and natural
gas by 2030.
28. Karan Thapar has won the International Press
Institute (IPI) India Award for Excellence in
Journalism.
29. The international lending agency said the global
economy would grow 2.9 per cent this year and 3.6
per cent in 2014.
30. IMF slashed forecast for India’s growth 1.8
percentage points to 3.8 per cent this year.
31. India’s trade deficit — the difference between
imports and exports of goods and commodities — fell
to a two-and-a-half-year low of $6.76 billion in
September.
32. Jignesh Shah, Vice-Chairman and Shareholder
Director, has resigned from the board of directors of
MCX-SX.
33. The International Monetary Fund said India’s
fiscal deficit was expected to increase to 8.5 per cent
of GDP this financial year, mainly due to the
downward revision in GDP growth.
34. The 29th annual meeting of the World Economic
Forum (India chapter) (WEF), scheduled to be held in
Kochi on November 8 and 9, has been cancelled in
view of the announcement of elections in five States.
35. China and the European Union signed a 350
billion yuan (euro 45 billion) currency swap
agreement, a major step in pushing international use
of the Chinese currency yuan.
36. The Telecom Ministry has approved new telecom
licence for pan-India 4G spectrum holder Reliance Jio
Infocomm Ltd.
37. OPCW, an obscure body recently thrust into the
spotlight by the Syria crisis won the Nobel Peace
Prize for its work to rid the world of chemical
weapons. The Hague-based OPCW was founded in
1997.
38. India has improved its ranking from 65 to 63 in the
Global Hunger Index, making a marginal
improvement since 2012. The index is prepared by
the International Food Policy Research Institute along
with Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.
39. The Environment Ministry has decided to turn
approximately 60,000 square kilometres of the
Western Ghats across six States into an Ecologically
Sensitive Area (ESA), banning mining, quarrying,
thermal power plants and polluting industries over
the entire range. The decision has been taken by the
Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan
as a follow-up to the two reports on the Ghats, one
headed by ecologist Madhav Gadgil and the other by
Planning Commission member K. Kasturirangan.
40. Switzerland became the world’s 58th nation to
sign the Multilateral Convention on Mutual
Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. The
agreement prepared by taxation experts from the
Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD), which
has led the war against tax havens in recent years.
41. The Bar Council of India has urged the Centre to
withdraw the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill
providing for constitution of a National Judicial
Commission (NJC) for appointment of judges of High
Courts and the Supreme Court as it interfered with
the independence of the judiciary and would affect
the basic structure of the Constitution.
42. India signed an agreement with Finland to
produce indigenous ethanol to promote use of clean
technologies and cut down the oil import bill. ONGC
and Finnish clean technology firm Chempolis will set
up a pilot project to produce ethanol.
43. Eleanor Catton, the 28-year old author from New
Zealand has won the Man Booker prize 2013 for her
novel, The Luminaries. She is not only the youngest
novelist to win this prize. Ms. Catton is also the last
winner of the Booker prize in its present format,
confined to writers from the Commonwealth
countries and Ireland. From next year, the prize will
be opened up to writers from all countries.
44. The World Bank has lowered its forecast for
India’s economic growth in the current fiscal year to
4.7 per cent from 6.1 per cent it had projected in April.
45. With an aim to make the reverse mortgage facility
more attractive for senior citizens, the government
has extended the period of the scheme from 20 years
to the life of the person seeking funds from banks by
pledging his residential property.
46. Saudi Arabia has rejected a rotating seat at the
Security Council, as a mark of protest against the
perceived inaction by the world body against Syria.
The kingdom had for the first time been elected by
the General Assembly to become a non-permanent
member.
47. To prevent leakages in the public distribution
system, the Union government has decided to allow
the States to construct intermediary godowns under
the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for storage of grains. For
this, the Rural Development Ministry will provide Rs.
450 crore in the first phase for the creation of a
capacity of 15 lakh tonnes.
48. The Tax Administration Reform Commission
(TARC) headed by Parthasarathi Shome, is expected
to submit its report in six months.
49. India agreed to initiate an exercise for a free trade
agreement with the customs union of Belarus,
Kazakhstan and Russia to enhance economic ties.
The joint statement was issued after the 14th IndiaRussia annual summit meeting between Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President
Vladimir Putin.
50. Tamil Nadu Assembly called for a “total boycott”
of the Commonwealth Heads of Government
Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Sri Lanka in
November.
51. India was ranked 101 out of 136 countries on a
global gender gap index. The index, compiled by
Geneva-based World Economic Forum.
52. Mr. Modi lays the foundation of a 597-foot Sardar
Patel idol (called the Statue of Unity), billed to be
taller than the Statue of Liberty.
53. Addressing the 11th ASEAN-India Summit in
Brunei, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also said
that India was ready to sign a Free Trade Agreement
(FTA) with ASEAN on services and investment to
boost their bilateral trade to USD 100 billion by 2015,
from USD 76 billion last year.
November 2014
1 Experts recently discovered at least 20 drawings of the
Harappan (Sindhu) era in Gondi dialect on a boulder on top of a
hill near Talwarghatta that is adjacent to river Tungbhadra. The
place is located in?
A. Hampi, Karnataka
2. What is the name of India-Sri Lanka joint military exercise that
started on 3 November 2014 in Colombo?
A. Mithra Shakti
3. Which cricketer on 5 November 2014 won the LG People’s
Choice Award for the year 2014?
A. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
4. Surface-to-surface nuclear-capable Dhanush ballistic missile
was test-fired from a naval ship off the Odisha coast on 14
November 2014. Dhanush is a naval variant of India’s
indigenously-developed missile?
A. Prithvi
5. The Union Government launched the National Bal Swachhta
Mission on?
A. 14 November
6. India on 14 November 2014 celebrated Children’s Day. The
Universal Children's Day on United Nations recommendation is
observed on?
A. 20 November
7. The UK, France and Nepal on 13 November 2014 supported
candidature of G4 nations as a permanent member of a reformed
UN Security Council (UNSC). Which of the following countries are
part of G4 nations?
A. India, Germany, Brazil and Japan
8. International Cricket Council (ICC) on 13 November 2014
announced appointment of its ambassadors for ICC Cricket
World Cup (CWC) 2015. Who has not been named as
ambassador for ICC CWC 2015?
A. M S Dhoni
9. Armenian Military Helicopter (Mi-24 combat helicopter) was
shot down by the force of a country. Name it?
A. Azerbaijan
10. Name the first state to achieve 100 percent bank accounts for
all families under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna?
A. Kerala
11. India observed Public Service Broadcasting Day on?
A. 12 November
12. Public Service Broadcasting Day is observed in remembrance
of?
A. Mahatma Gandhi’s maiden visit to studio of All India Radio in
Delhi
13. Name the militant outfit operational in Assam and West
Bengal that was banned by Union Home Ministry in November
2014?
A. Kamatapur Liberation Organisation
14. Name the person who was awarded with Jnanpith award for
the year 2013?
A. Kedarnath Singh (for his poetry collection, Akaal Mein Saras
(loose translation into English: Cranes in Drought).)
15. India and Israel on 10 November 2014 successfully test fired
LRSAM in Israel. What is the full form of LRSAM?
A. Long Range Surface to Air Missile
16. Reserve Bank of India on 10 November 2014 tightened its
norms for Non- Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) by
requiring them to have a much stronger capital base. The new
limit of capital base is?
A. 2 crore rupees
17. Where was the 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) Summit held in November 2014?
A. Beijing, China
18. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 18 November 2014 gifted an
Australian lawyer’s 1854 petition against the East India Company
(EIC) on behalf of Rani Lakshmibai to Australian Prime Minister
Tony Abbott. Name the lawyer?
A. John Lang
19. Name the person who on 18 November 2014 was awarded
with the prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize 2014?
A Neha Gupta from the US
20. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 19
November 2014 was chosen for the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace,
Disarmament and Development for 2014. Who was the winner of
the award in 2013?
A. Angela Merkel
21. Foreign Policy Magazine of America on 17 November 2014
released a list of 100 Global Thinkers. Name the Indian who was
named in the list of Moguls?
A. Arundhati Bhattacharya
22. Assam State Zoo in Guwahati in the third week of November
2014 announced to conserve a critically endangered species of a
pig and with this it became the first and only zoo of the world to
have this critically endangered species of pigs. Name the species
of pig that will be a part of Assam Zoo?
A. Pygmy Hog
23. Name Sri Lanka’s oldest hotel doorman, who died recently?
He served world leaders like Lord Mountbatten, Princess
Elizabeth, Mahatma Gandhi and others.
A. Kottarapattu Chattu Kuttan
24. Name the India – China joint military exercise that started in
Pune on 17 November 2014?
A. Hand-in-Hand 2014
25. Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth on 16
November 2014 clinched women’s and men’s singles title of the
Open Super Series Premier of Badminton. Name the title?
A. China Open Super Series Premier
26. Researchers recently claimed that basin in Ontario, Canada
was formed due to comet impact. Name the basin?
A. Sudbury Basin
27. Name the tennis player who won the ATP World Tour finals
recently?
A. Novak Djokovic
28. Virat Kohli became the fastest cricketer to hit 21 ODI
centuries and broke the record of Sachin Tendulkar who had
taken 200 innings to get to 21 hundreds in the one-day format.
Kohli played how many innings to break Sachin’s record?
A. 138 Innings
29. Union Government on 20 November 2014 approved the
launch of Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DUGJY) and
decided to merge an ongoing Yojna with DUGJY scheme. Name
the Yojna that will be merged with DUGJY?
A. Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana
30. The Union Cabinet on 20 November 2014 approved signing of
three SAARC a greements that is to be signed at 18th SAARC
Summit scheduled to be held from 26 November 2014. Which one
of the following is not one of the SAARC agreements?
A. SAARC Inter-governmental Transport Connectivity
31. Which software company on 18 November 2014 launched the
new email servise Verse?
A. IBM
32. Who was appointed as CMD of Coal India Limited on 19
November 2014?
A. Sutirtha Bhattacharya
33. The High-level Pledging Conference of Green Climate Fund
on 20 November 2014 was held in which city?
A. Berlin, Germany
34. Name the institute that on 20 November 2014 developed a
hollow-fiber membrane to cut the dialysis cost and time by half.
A. Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B)
35. Name the Indian author who wrote Live of Others which was
shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards on 19 November 2014?
A. Neel Mukherjee
36. Name the Australian city where the G-20 Summit was held in
the month of November 2014?
A. Brisbane
37. State Bank of India (SBI) on 17 November 2014 approved 1
billion US dollar loan for which Indian mining company to
develop Carmichael coal mine project near Clermont in Central
Queensland, Australia?
A. Adani Mining
38. The critically endangered Forest Owlet (Athene blewitti) was
spotted in northern Western Ghats by naturalist Sunil Laad in
October 2014. The bird was spotted in?
A. Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary, Maharashtra
39. Name the 2010 Commonwealth Games gold-medalist boxer
who on 26 November 2014 received the prestigious Arjuna Award
after he took the legal route for the same?
A. Manoj Kumar
40. Recently a Biography titled My Name is Abu Salem was in
controversy after being released. Name the author of the book?
A. S Hussain Zaidi
41. South Korean paleontologists recently discovered fossilised
skeleton of one of the smallest species of dinosaur in rare
condition. The fossil was discovered in?
A. Hadong
42. Name the cricketer who in November 2014 died after a
bouncer ball hit back of his head at Sydney Cricket Ground?
A. Phillip Hughes of Australia (youngest cricketer in history to
score centuries in both innings of a Test match & the first
Australian batsman in the history of ODI cricket to score a
century on debut, a feat which he achieved against Sri Lanka in
Melbourne) (bowler was Sean Abbott.)
43. Legendary danseuse Sitara Devi (Rabindranath Tagore
described her as Nritya Samragini, meaning the empress of
dance) was associated with which form of dance?
A Kathak
44. US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel on 24 November 2014
resigned after remaining at the top military post for less than two
years. Hagel is a veteran of war for which he had received two
Purple Hearts as an infantry squad leader. Name the war with
which he is associated?
A. Vietnam War
45. Name the Indian Cyclist who in November 2014 won four gold
medals at the Track Asia Cup Cycling Championship 2014?
A. Deborah
46. Name the F1 driver who on 23 November 2014 won the Abu
Dhabi Grand Prix (GP) of Formula One (F1) racing at Yas Marina
circuit in United Arab Emirates (UAE)?
A. Lewis Hamilton
47. Pico do Fogo volcano that erupted on 24 November 2014 is
located in?
A. Cape Verde archipelago off the coast of West Africa
48. Report on the impact of global warming titled Turn Down the
Heat: Confronting the New Climate Normal was released by?
A. World Bank
49. Indian Women Boxers Sarjubala Devi and Saweety on 24
November 2014 won Silver medals at the 8th World Women's
Boxing Championships, in Jeju, South Korea. Sarjubala Devi is a
boxer from which state of India?
A. Manipur
50. Which Country will host the G20 Summit of the emerging
economies in 2015?
A. Turkey
51. Who won the 2014 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize?
A Bilal Tanweer (Pakistan) (for his book “The Scatter Here Is Too
Great”)
52. The book titled Your Dreams Are Mine Now: She Showed him
What Love was is authored by
A. Ravinder Singh
December 2014
1. Who was recently awarded with the Asian of the
Year 2014 by The Straits Times?
a) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
2. The first Adaptation Gap Report on Climate Change
was recently released by
a) United Nations Environment Programme
3. Recently American geologists discovered the most
abundant mineral on earth's lower mantle known as
a) Bridgmanite
4. Name the places that will be connected by the
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which was
inaugurated by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
on 29 November 2014
a) Gwadar Port in Pakistan and Xinjiang in China
5. Who on 30 November 2014 won the 2014
presidential elections of Uruguay?
a) Tabare Ramon Vazquez Rosas
6. State Government of Gujarat on 5 December 2014
declared 353 villages of a district as completely or
partially scarcity affected. Name the district?
a) Kutch
7. Indian Navy in the first week of December 2014
selected a company to fulfill the service’s MultiRole Helicopter requirement for anti-submarine and
anti-surface warfare among other maritime roles.
Name the company.
a) Sikorsky Aircraft Corp
8. Mahaparinirwan Diwas was observed across India
on 6 December 2014. The day is observed to
pay tribute to whom of the following?
a) Dr BR Ambedkar
9. Union Government on 5 December 2014 sent five
Indian Air Force (IAF) transport aircraft and
one naval vessel carrying a large consignment of
potable water to a country which was facing a
national water crisis. Name the country?
a) Maldives
10. A State Government on 5 December 2014 decided
to ban health camps without prior approval of district
civil surgeons. Name the state that banned health
camps?
a) Punjab
11. Air India on 4 December 2014 signed an MoU for
implementation of the monetisation of assets of Air
India at various locations on joint venture basis with
a) National Buildings Construction Corporation
Limited
12. Justice V. R. Iyer died on 4 December 2014 at the
age of 100. Which of the following statement
is/are true in context of this personality?
I. He was born in 1914 at Vaidyanathapuram near
Palakkad, in Malabar region of Kerala in a Tamil
Brahmin family
II. He is the last but one Supreme Court judge who
have previously served as a politician
III. He served as the Home Minister in the first
Communist Ministry in Kerala.
IV. He never served as a Law Commission Chairman
a) Only Statement I, II and III are true
13. Raninder Singh an accomplished international
level trap shooter was in news in December 2014 for
a) Becoming the first Indian to get elected as a
member of the executive committee of ISSF
14. Infosys on 4 December 2014 appointed a Stanford
Professor as an Independent member on its Board of
Directors (BoD). Name him?
a) John W. Etchemendy
15. Indian Oil on 4 December 2014 won the 119th
Beighton Cup after defeating Punjab National
Bank in tie-breaker at the SAI Eastern Centre in
Kolkata. Beighton Cup is associated with which
game?
a) Hockey
16. Deodhar Trophy of cricket for the season 2014-15
was won by?
a) East Zone
17. Supreme Court constituted a Social Justice
Bench, comprising of two judges for delivery of
speedy justice in a range of social issues. The bench
will be headed by?
a) Justice Madan B Lokur
18. Name the author of the book titled Prince of
Gujarat: The Extraordinary Story of Prince Gopaldas
Desai (1887-1951)?
a) Rajmohan Gandhi
19. Name the head of the 15-member Committee that
was formed by State Government of Meghalaya on 3
December 2014 to speed up the process of getting
Khasi included in the 8th Schedule of the
Constitution of India?
a) R C Laloo
20. Name the person who was recently appointed as
the new Director of CBI
a) Anil Kumar Sinha
21. The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on 2 December 2014 approved
Regional Rural Banks (Amendment) Bill, 2013. The
Bill seeks to amend the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs)
Act passed in?
a) 1976
22. Recently, second-generation asteroid explorer
Hayabusa 2 was launched by which country?
a) Japan
23. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion
(DIPP) on 3 December 2014 issued Press Note
10 of 2014 series to relax FDI norms for which sector
of Indian economy?
a) Construction development
24. Navy Day was observed on 4 December 2014. It is
observed to commemorate?
a) The success of Operation Trident of Indian Navy in
1971
25. RBI on 4 December 2014 notified norms to set up
Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS). The
TReDS will facilitate the financing of bills of which
sector of Indian economy?
a) MSME sector
26. Researchers led by Professor Gene K Beare
developed World’s fastest 2D camera at the
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and
Bioengineering, Washington University. Which new
technique is used in this 2D camera?
a) Compressed ultrafast photography
27. India exported first warship to Mauritius on 20
December 2014. What is the name?
a) CGS Barracuda
28. Recently, Department of Industrial Policy and
Promotion (DIPP) relaxed FDI norms for the
construction development sector. In this context
consider the following statements.
I. 100 percent of FDI is allowed through the automatic
route
II. The minimum floor area requirement IS 20000
square metres in construction development projects.
Which is/are correct?
a) Both I and II
29. Recently, International Criminal Court withdrew
the charges of crimes against humanity against the
President of a country of African continent. Name the
country
a) Kenya
30. United Nations Food and Agricultural
Organisation observed the World’s First Soil Day on
which date of the year 2014?
a) 5 December
31. The Union Cabinet on 10 December 2014 gave its
approval for creation of five posts of Additional
Solicitors General (ASG), one each for the High
Courts of certain states. Which of the below is not a
part for it?
a) Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu
32. Ebola fighters were collectively named as the
TIME’s Person of the Year 2014. Who of the following
was named as the TIME’s Person of Year 2013?
a) Pope Francis
33. Nine new species of bush frogs were discovered
recently in the Western Ghats by scientists
from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore.
These bush frogs belong to the family of
a) Raorchestes
34. Recently on 8 December 2014, World Economic
Forum (WEF) released The 2013 Travel & Tourism
Competitiveness Index. What is the rank of India in
the index?
a) 65
35. Name the Indian bank that on 9 December 2014
launched two indices named Monthly Composite
Index and Yearly Composite Index to track monthly
and yearly economic trends.
a) State Bank of India
36. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) on 9
December 2014 ruled against a country’s decision to
impose high duty on imports of certain steel products
from India. Name the country against which the
verdict was given?
a) United States
37. Which one is the incorrect definition of NonCooperative Borrower as defined in the RBI
Guidelines on Non-Cooperative Borrower issued on
22 December 2014?
a) who have aggregate fund-based and non-fund
based facilities of 10 crore rupees from the
concerned
bank/financial institution (FI)
38. Name the space mission that has been named as
the Breakthrough of the Year 2014 by
Journal Science on 19 December 2014
a) Rosetta
39. Name the web-based taxi service company that
was recently banned from providing services in the
national capital?
a) Uber
40. Hockey Olympian Grihanandan Singh alias Nandy
Singh died on 7 December 2014 in New Delhi. He was
a part of the National Hockey team that won the
Olympic Gold in which years?
a) 1948 and 1952
41. The United States (US) and North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation (NATO) recently ended their combat
mission in Afghanistan. The combat mission formally
came to end on
a) 8 December 2014
42. What is the name of the world’s smallest hearing
aid developed by an international team of researchers
in the fourth week of December 2014?
a) Nanoplug
43. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on 5
December 2014 approved the proposed 4
billion dollars merger of Ranbaxy with which
pharmaceutical company ?
a) Sun Pharmaceutical
44. Nedanuri Krishnamurthy who died on 8 December
2014 in Visakhapatnam was?
a) Carnatic vocalist
45. Indian Blind Cricket team on 7 December 2014
won the 2014 Blind Cricket World Cup (BCWC) by
defeating
a) Pakistan
46. The International Cricket Council (ICC) on 7
December 2014 suspended an off-spinner from
bowling in international cricket with immediate effect
for illegal bowling action. Name him?
a) Mohammad Hafeez
47. China on 7 December 2014 rejected the UN
arbitration to resolve the South China Sea maritime
dispute with its neighbors. The UN mediation to
resolve the dispute was demanded from which
country?
a) Philippines
48. India on 7 December 2014 set the Guinness
Record for largest human formation of a national
flag in the world. The previous record was held by?
a) Pakistan
49. Consider the following statements on STAP
technique of stem cells which was in news due
to resignation of Japanese stem cell scientists on 19
December 2014.
I. STAP stands for Stimulus-triggered acquisition of
pluripotency
II. It requires neither nuclear transfer nor the
introduction of transcription factors
III. In this pluripotent stem cells are generated by
subjecting ordinary cells to certain types of stress
IV. The stress includes either the application of a
bacterial toxin or submersion in a weak acid or
physical
squeezing
Which is/are correct?
a) All of the above
50. Which Indian Company on 8 December 2014
commissioned the Nyaborongo Hydro Electric
Project in Rwanda?
a) Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
51. Which organisation on 9 December 2014
translated the Indian Constitution into Arabic
language?
a) International Institute for Democracy and Electoral
Assistance
52. The Union Government recently divested its 5
percent stake in which company?
a) Steel Authority of India Limited
53. Which organisation on 10 December 2014 banned
the sale of 80 generic drugs produced in
India on the grounds that their clinical trials were
insufficient?
a) Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices
54. As per the announcement of the Union
government on 22 December 2014, which State is
going to host the 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD)
in January 2015?
a) Gujarat
55. Consider the following statements in reference to
Amendments to Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill
2008 that was recently approved by a Parliamentary
Standing Committee.
I. The bill allows a composite cap of 49 percent on
foreign direct investment in insurance.
II. The bill aims to dissolve the defaulting insurance
companies.
III. The bill allows insurer to challenge life insurance
policy for any reasons.
Which statement is/are correct?
a) I Only
56. Consider the following statements in context of
Web Index 2014 that was released on 10 December
2014.
I. The Web Index measures the internet's contribution
to social, economic and political progress in the
world.
II. India ranks at the 48th with 48.6 score in the index.
Which is the correct statement(s)?
a) Only I
57. Who won the Confucius Peace Prize 2014 recently
which is also considered as Chinese Nobel Prize?
a) Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz
58. Who on 11 December 2014 succeeded Anthony
Banbury as the head of UN Mission for Ebola
Emergency Response?
a) Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed
59. The 2013 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index
was released on 8 December 2014 by World
Economic Forum (WEF) under which theme?
a) Reducing Barriers to Economic Growth and Job
Creation
60. Which Indian cricket commentator was recently
appointed by Tourism Australia as brand
ambassador?
a) Harsha Bhogle
61. Which country won the Hockey Champions
Trophy for the year 2014?
a) Australia
62. Who won the Miss World title for the year 2014 in
December 2014?
a) Rolene Strauss
63. Name the Indian participant in Miss World 2014
competition
a) Koyal Rana
64. China recently developed a long-range and nonlethal Pain Beam weapon. Name it?
a) Poly WB-1
65. Global Illicit Financial Flows Report 2014 was
released on 15 December 2014 by
a) Global Financial Integrity
66. Consider the following statements regarding the
Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised
Occupants) Act, 1971?
I. The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised
Occupants) Act, 1971 has never been amended
before.
II. The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized
Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2014 redefines public
premises to include the companies in which at least
51 percent of the paid-up share capital is held by
Central and state governments.
Which of the statement(s) is correct?
a) Only II
67. Who on 15 December 2014 was appointed as the
16th Pakistan Ambassador to the United
Nations?
a) Maleeha Lodhi
68. Who on 15 December 2014 was appointed as the
19th Surgeon General of America?
a) Vivek Hallegere Murthy
69. Consider the following statements regarding
Google's Year in Search Report 2014.
I. According to Google's Top Trending Global
Searches, searches for the late actor Robin Williams
topped the list.
II. Elections 2014 topped the list of top Trending
Searches in India.
Which of the following statement(s) is correct?
a) Both I and II
70. The historic Geeta Press announced its lockout
for an indefinite period because
a) Clashes between the management and employees
over wage issues
71. Who among the following Indian-origin woman
was recently appointed as the Chairman of
Santander UK Bank?
a) Shriti Vadera
72. Who headed the Advisory Group for Integrated
Development of Power, Coal and Renewable
Energy which submitted its report to the Union
Ministry of Power and Coal on 22 December 2014?
a) Suresh Prabhu
73. The Reserve Bank of India on 17 December 2014
imposed monetary penalty on two banks for
violation of its instructions regarding norms on Know
Your Customer (KYC) and Anti Money
Laundering (AML). Name the banks.
a ICICI bank and Bank of Baroda
74. ISRO recently test-fired GSLV Mark-III from the
Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.
GSLV Mark-III is?
a) Heaviest rocket of India
75. To check cross-border influx of illegal
Bangladeshis into Assam, Supreme Court on 17
December 2014 directed the Union Government to
complete fencing work along Indo-Bangladesh
border within?
a) Three-months
76. Name the world’s first twin and siblings who on
16 December 2014 achieved the feat of
climbing the highest peaks of the seven continents.
a) Khusi and Aparajita Agarwal
77. Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympics Games
mascot have been named as
a) Vinicius and Tom
78. The Lok Sabha on 16 December 2014 passed the
National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special
Provisions) Amendment Bill, 2014. The Bill seeks to
amend
a) National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special
Provisions) Second Act, 2011
79. Name the Marathi film that was nominated in the
Best Picture Category of the 87th Academy Awards,
popularly known as Oscars
a) Kapus Kondyachi Goshta
80. Name the person, who was recently appointed as
Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB)?
a) Dineshwar Sharma
81. Name the winner of 2014 London Classic Chess
title
a) Viswanathan Anand
82. 14th Finance Commission on 15 December 2014
submitted its report to the President of India.
Name the person who headed the commission
a) YV Reddy
83. Name the corporate group that in the second
week of December 2014 acquired the iconic old
war office building of Winston Churchill of Britain.
a) Hinduja Group
84. Name the Indian-American who on 17 December
2014 was appointed as the Federal judge of
district of Columbia?
a) Amit Priyavadan Mehta
85. Who was appointed as the first Chairman of
Telangana State Public Service Commission on 17
December 2014?
a) Ghanta Chakrapani
86. Consider the following statements regarding
Companies (Amendment) Bill 2014.
I. Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2014 proposes to
exempt corporate from the need to get shareholders'
nod in the case of related party transactions valued
lower than 100 crore rupees.
II. The bill does not prescribe punishments for those
raising illegal deposits from the public.
Which of the above statement(s) is correct?
a) Only I
87. Who was recently appointed as the first female
bishop of the Church of England?
a) Reverend Libby Lane
88. Lens-free on-chip Microscope was primarily
developed to
a) image pathology samples
89. Consider the following statements regarding the
Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2014.
I. The Bill brings e-carts and e-rickshaws under the
ambit of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
II. The Bill states that the driver licences can be
issued for e-cart or e-rickshaw in the same manner as
for
light motor vehicle.
Which of the above statement(s) is correct?
a) Only I
90. Who recently won the Queen’s Gold Medal for
Poetry 2014?
a) Imtiaz Dharker
91. Name the first non-tribal Chief Minister of
Jharkhand who was sworn-in as tenth Chief Minister
of the State on 28 December 2014?
a) Raghubar Das
92. Pompadour Green Pigeon, a native of the Western
Ghats and Sri Lanka was spotted on 28 December
2014 over a Bar tree (Ficus bengalensis) of Barkheda
village in Rajasthan. What is the
scientific name of Pompadour Green Pigeon?
a) Treron pompadora
93. Name the photojournalist who died on 26
December 2014? He was acclaimed for chronicling
Indo-US relations from Washington DC, for more than
half-a-century.
a) Rajan Devadas
94. Operation All Out was in news on 23 December
2014. What is it?
a) Indian Army operation to flush out Bodo militants
in Assam
95. Name the former left handed batsman of England
who died on 25 December 2014 at the age of
79?
a) Geoff Pullar
96. India observed National Mathematics Day on 22
December 2014 to commemorate birth
anniversary of
a) Srinivasa Ramanujan
98. Which country on 20 December 2014 won the
men’s title of the fifth edition of Kabaddi World Cup
2014 held in Punjab?
a) India
99. To bring transparency and curb irregularities in
the state administration, State Government of
Maharashtra on 18 December 2014 decided to make
e-tendering compulsory for projects over
what amount?
a) 3 lakh rupees
101. The women’s title of the fifth edition of the
Kabaddi World Cup 2014 was won by India on 20
December 2014. India defeated which country to win
the title?
a) Pakistan
102. US and NATO on 28 December 2014 officially
ended their combat mission in Afghanistan and
replaced it with training and support mission under
the name
a) Resolute Support
103. What was the level of Foreign Exchange
Reserves in India on 26 December 2014 as revealed
by RBI Data on Foreign Exchange?
a) 320 billion US dollars
104. As revealed by Union Ministry of Law and
Justice on 28 December 2014, how many States have
ratified the National Judicial Appointments
Commission Bill, 2014?
a) 16
105. Dubai Customs on 28 December 2014 released
the trade data for the first nine months of 2014. In this
context consider the following statements
I. India is the second largest trading partner of Dubai
after China
II. Among Arab nations, India is the largest trading
partner with trade volume of 10 billion US dollars
Which is/are correct?
a) Both I and II
106. Name the country where first municipal elections
were held in 60 years on 27 December 2014.
a) Myanmar
107. The gecko gripper to grab space debris being
developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, California was in news on 19 December
2014. In this context, consider the following
statements.
I. Gecko grippers are adhesive gripping tool with
characteristic feature of permanent stickiness
II. These grippers will grab space debris by using the
van der Waals force
Which is/are correct?
a) II Only
108. Union Government announced on 24 December
2014 to confer the Bharat Ratna on which two
personalities?
a) Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Madan Mohan Malaviya
109. Name the country which on 22 December 2014
launched the construction of an inter-oceanic
canal linking the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific
Ocean?
a) Nicaragua
110. Consider the following statements on global
Arms Trade Treaty that came into force on 24
December 2014.
I.It aims to regulate the industry and keep weapons
out of the hands of human rights violators worldwide
II. It is the first major arms accord since the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1996
III. The treaty has been signed by 130 countries and
ratified by 60 countries, including India
Which is/are correct?
a) I and II
111. What is the name of the Committee constituted
by Union government on 23 December 2014 to
examine the possibility of constitution of Special
Investigation Team (SIT) to probe anti-Sikh
riots of 1984?
a) Justice Mathur Committee
112. Nepal on 23 December 2014 signed agreement
with which country to expand the use of local
currency for border trade?
a) China