Current Affairs - XII

1. The book, “Keeping the Faith”, is written by which of the following authors?

a. Somnath Chatterji

b. Ram Jethmalani

c. Salman Rushdie

d. None of these

2. Dronacharya Award is an award presented by the government of India for excellence in sports coaching.. Which of the following personalities is heading the panel to pick the Dronacharya Awards 2010?

a. Ashok Kumar

b. Jaspal Rana

c. M. S. Gill

d. None of these

3. Which country is hosting the World Billiards Chamionship 2010?

a. Japan

b. Australia

c. Netherland

d. India

4. The Legatum Prosperity Index is the world's only global assessment of wealth and well being. What rank does India posses in the Legatum Prosperity Index ranking 2009?

a. 45th rank

b. 40th rank

c. 30th rank

d. 50th rank

5. In 2009, what rank does India posses in the Per Capita GDP ranking among the 104 countries?

a. 100th

b. 25th

c. 83rd

d. 99^th

6. Which state in India added another feather in its cap to emerge as a steel manufacturing hub? It has serving the market of Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Turkey and the UAE.

a. Karnataka

b. Tamil Nadu

c. Bihar

d. Rajasthan

7. Who has been awarded the 3rd M.S.Swaminathan 'Best Agricultural Scientist Award'?

a. Dr. Subramaniam Nagarajan

b. Robert Burns

c. A. K. Stevenson

d. Robert Barclay

8. This bank became a Scheduled Bank under the Reserve Bank of India Act on May 11, 1935. It recently celebrated its 89th Founder's Day. Can you name it?

a. Tamilnad Mercantile Bank

b. Royal Bank of Scotland

c. Bank of Baroda

d. None of these

9. School of Engineering and Applied Science of the University of Pennsylvania conferred this personality with the Dean's medal. He has topped Forbes India's rich list at $32 billion. Identify.

a. Mukesh Ambani

b. Ratan Tata

c. Rahul Bajaj

d. Azim Premji

10. Which of the following country is the fi rst in Asia to host Embraer's small jet, The Phenom 100, a light jet developed by Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer?

a. India

b. Singapore

c. Russia

d. Australia

11. In a bid to provide employment to youth of Southern origin Sidi community, which IT major is all set to help create 'Little Africa' in Gujarat on the borders of Gir forest?

a. HCL

b. IBM

c. Wipro

d. Infosys

12. Which of the following is the largest gland in the human body?

a. Liver

b. Adrenal

c. Pituitary

d. Thymus

13. Women's tournament "Kremlin Cup", the successor of "Moscow Ladies Open", was renamed in 1996. Who has won the women's fi nal at the Kremlin Cup 2010?

a. Francesca Schiavone

b. Serena Williams

c. Katrina Adams

d. Elena Baltacha

14. Althingi is the parliament of which of the following countries?

a. Iceland

b. Canada

c. Brazil

d. Bhutan

15. Oceansat-2 is an Indian satellite designed to provide service continuity for operational users of the Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) instrument on Oceansat-1. NASA signed an agreement with which of the following organisations for the use of the satellite oceansat-2?

a. ISRO

b. European Space

organisation

c. Czech Space office

d. None of these

16. ISRO recently launched a spy satellite designed by the Israeli Aerospace Industries. Name it.

a. RISAT-2

b. INSAT B

c. Cartosat 1

d. Cartosat 2A

17. “Mission Aditya” is associated with which of the following?

a. A ISRO mission to the sun

b. A ISRO mission to the moon

c. A military operation

d. None of these

18. Which company launched a Cell phone Made From Recycled Water Bottles?

a. Motorola

b. Nokia

c. HTC

d. Samsung

19. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a cartel of twelve countries, which hosts regular meetings among the oil ministers of its Member Countries. In which city will you fi nd the headquarters of OPEC?

a. Vienna

b. Geneva

c. Vatican

d. London

20. Who is the chairman of TRAI, the regulator of telecommunicationbusiness?

a. J. S. Sharma

b. J. K. Sharma

c. P. S. Sharma

d. None of these

21. Who is the chief of integrated defense staff?

a. Air Marshal Suresh Chand Mukul

b. General V K Singh

c. Admiral Verma

d. Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston

22. Who is the President of Iraq?

a. Jalal Talabani

b. Jalal Hanid

c. Hamid Ullah

d. Zafar Mohammad

23. Name the oil Rig that is the cause of Oil spill in Gulf of mexico?

a. Deep water Horizon

b. Schoonebeek

c. Zuidwal

d. Vulcan

24. What is the amount that BP will pay as compensation?

a. $20 Billion

b. $30 Billion

c. $18 Billion

d. None of these

25. Who, amongst the following, made the symbol of rupee?

a. D Udaya Kumar

b. Udaya Kumar

c. Udaya Raj

d. Shankar Kumar

26. Which of the following is TRUE about the per capita income?

a. National income divided by the population of the country

b. Average income received by the citizen of a country in a year

c. It is the indicator of the improvement in the economic position of a person

d. All of the above are true

27. Ben Bernanke is the present chairman of …

a. Federal Reserve Bank of America

b. European Central Bank

c. World Bank

d. Asian Development Bank

28. Can you identify the venue of the World Food Summit that took place in the middle of November 2009, from the given options?

a. Berlin

b. Geneva

c. Rome

d. London

29. Also known as the Bible of the English Constitution, Magna Carta, was the Charter of Rights given to the Englishman by …

a. King John

b. King Richard

c. King Edmund

d. None of these

30. Diware temples are linked with…

a. Hinduism

b. Buddhism

c. Jainism

d. Sikhism

31. Which of the following represents the present strength of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)?

a. 21

b. 24

c. 26

d. 28

32. Can you name the academy that the Council for Scientifi c and Industrial Research is going to start, which will award post graduate and doctoral degrees?

a. Academy of Scientifi c and Innovative Research

b. Academy of Innovative Research

c. Institute of Scientific Research

d. None of these

33. Spirit of Laws, is a famous book written by …

a. Voltaire

b. Jean Jacques Rousseau

c. Montesquieu

d. Diderot

34. Who had initiated the World Wide Web project?

a. Tim Berners-Lee and Lew Kowarski

b. Tim Berners-Lee and Georges Charpak

c. Tim Berners-Lee and Carlo Rubbia

d. Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau

35. Zoozoos are the mascots of Vodafone Essar, created by …

a. JWT

b. Trikaya Grey

c. O&M

d. Rediffusion Y&R

36. Who is known as the ‘Little Corporal”?

a. Adolf Hitler

b. Napolean Bonaparte

c. Saddam Hussain

d. None of these

37. We have recently been reading the term Flea Market. Can you select the option that best suits the word?

a. A flea Market is another name for a near perfect competitive market such as a vegetable market

b. A Flea Market is a market where stolen goods are sold and purchased

c. A Flea market is a market where used and old goods are sold and bartered

d. A Flea Market is a market for insecticides

38. Recently which committee has recommended the implementation of Elimination of standard deduction?

a. Abid Hussain Committee

b. Vijay Kelkar Committee

c. Kiran Karnik Committee

d. Raja Chelliah Committee

39. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has constituted a committee, Takeover Regulations Advisory Committee (TRAC) to review the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 1997 (Takeover Regulations) and to suggest suitable recommendations for amendments to the Takeover Regulations as it considers necessary. Can you recognise the chairman of the committee?

a. C Achuthan

b. Deepak Parekh

c. Rangrajan

d. Abid Hussain

40. Tata Power has decided to set up 50 MW solar photovoltaic power project. The intended

project will be the largest solar photovoltaic facility in the country. Can you recognise the

state where it will be set?

a. Maharastra

b. Gujarat

c. Tamilnadu

d. West Bengal

41. As of July 2010, BSNL and MTNL are the largest in terms of "Wire line subscriber base".

Which among the following is currently the third largest company?

a. Bharti

b. Videocon

c. Reliance

d. Vodafone

42. The Hindu Mela or National mela initiated in Calcutta was largely the product of the efforts of …

a. Rajnarayan Basu

b. Dwijendranath Tagore

c. Nabagopal Mitra

d. All of these

43. Free look period is associated with which of the following?

a. Loans

b. Cars

c. Garments

d. Insurance

44. The Four Asian Tigers are the countries with highly developed economies. They are the fi rst newly industrialised countries, noted for maintaining exceptionally high growth rates and

rapid industrialisation between the early 1960s and 1990s. Which among the following country/ regions is not among the "Four Asian Tigers"?

a. Hong Kong

b. Singapore

c. China

d. Taiwan

45. As of August 2010, what is the current number of world heritage sites in India?

a. 26

b. 27

c. 28

d. 29

46. Recently, the Pupils Own Language (POL) Policy made news. It gives the opportunity to the student to study in a language of his choice. Which of the following country has adopted

the POL Policy?

a. China

b. Thaliand

c. Malaysia

d. Singapore

47. Political commentators and journalists uses the term Failed State to describe a state perceived as having failed at some of the basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign

government. Which country ranks no. 2 in the latest Failed States Index?

a. Somalia

b. Chad

c. Tanzania

d. Congo

48. A Nobel laureate who authored the controversial work "The Gospel According to Jesus

Christ", died recently. Identify him.

a. Naguib Mahfouz

b. Octavio Paz

c. Joseph Brodsky

d. José Saramago

49. Christ Redeemer has recently been added into the New Seven Wonders of the world. Which country is it located in?

a. Mexico

b. Italy

c. Peru

d. Brazil

50. The following personality was the Director, Human Resources Development in a PSU. He has now become the Chief Managing Director of the same organisation.Name him.

a. MTNL

b. BSNL

c. NTPC

d. BHEL

ANSWERS

1. a. Somnath Chatterji

2. a. Ashok Kumar

3. c. 71

4. d. India

5. a. 45th rank

6. c. 83rd

7. a. Karnataka

8. a. Dr. Subramaniam Nagarajan

9. a. Tamilnad Mercantile Bank

10. a. Mukesh Ambani

11. a. India

12. b. IBM

13. a. Liver

14. a. Francesca Schiavone

15. a. Iceland

16. a. ISRO

17. a. RISAT-2

18. a. A ISRO mission to the sun

19. a. Motorola

20. a. Vienna

21. a. J S Sharma

22. a. Air Marshal Suresh Chand Mukul

23. a. Jalal Talabani

24. a. Deep water Horizon

25. b. $20 Billion

26. b. D Udaya Kumar

27. b. Average income received by the

         citizen of a country in a year

28. a. Federal Reserve Bank of America

29. c. Rome

30. a. King John

31. c. Jainism

32. d. 28

33. a. Academy of Scientifi c and

         Innovative Research

34. c. Montesquieu

35. d. Tim Berners-Lee and Robert

         Cailliau

36. c. O&M

37. b. O&M

38. c. A Flea market is a market where

         used and old goods are sold and

         bartered

39. b. Vijay Kelkar Committee

40. a. C Achuthan

41. b. Gujarat

42. a. Bharti

43. d. All of these

44. d. Insurance

45. c. China

46. b. 27

47. b. Chad

48. d. José Saramago

49. d. Brazil

50. b. BSNL

Budget related Questions

1) Who presented the Union Budget 2011-12 in the Parliament on February 28, 2011?
a) Manmohan Singh

b) Pratibha Devisingh Patil

c) Hamid Ansari 

d) D.Subbarao
e) Pranab Mukherjee

2) The first Union budget of independent India was presented by?
a) R.K.Shanmukham Chetty

b) Jawaharlal Nehru

c) Morarji Desai

d) Indira Gandhi
e) Manmohan Singh

3) Disinvestment Target for 2011-12 has been placed at?
a) Rs. 10000 crore

b) Rs. 20000 crore

c) Rs. 30000 crore

d) Rs. 40000 crore
e) None of these

4) Foreign Institutional Investor-(FII) limit for investment in Indian corporate bonds raised from $20 billion to?
a) $30 billion

b) $40 billion

c) $50 billion

d) $60 billion

e) None of these

5) As per Union Budget 2011-12, Indian Micro Finance Equity Fund of Rs.100 crore to be created with?
a) SBI

b)ICICI
c) NABARD

d)IDBI

e) SIDBI

6) Rural Infrastructure Develo-pament Fund (RIDF) was set up by the Government in?
a) 1995-96

b) 1996-97

c) 1997-98

d)1998-99

e) None of these

7) The corpus allocated for Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for 2011-12 is?
a) Rs.16000

b) Rs.17000

c) Rs.18000

d) Rs.19000

e) None of these

8) The target of credit flow to farmers has been raised from Rs.3,75,000 crore of 2010-11 to ……in 2011-12?
a) Rs.4,75,000 crore  
b) Rs.5,75,000 crore

c) Rs.6,75,000 crore

d) Rs.7,75,000 crore

e) None of these

9) Rural Infrastructure Develo-pment Fund (RIDF) is maintained by?
a) RBI

b) SBI

c) NABARD

d) IDBI Bank

e) None of these

10) Eligibility for pension under Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme for BPL beneficiaries reduced from 65 years of age to?
a) 64 years

b) 63 years

c) 62 years

d) 61 years

e) 6o years

11) Exemption limit for the general category of individual taxpa-yers enhanced from 1,60,000 to?
a) 1,70,000

b) 1,80,000

c) 1,90,000

d) 2,00,000

e) None of these

12) As per Union Budget 2011-12, standard rate of Service Tax is?
a) 10 %

b) 11 %

c) 12 %

d) 13 %

e) None of these

13) As per Union Budget 2011-12, Defence allocation is?
a) 1.64 lakh crore

b) 1.74 lakh crore

c) 1.84 lakh crore

d) 1.94 lakh crore

e) None of these

14) In the Constitution of India, the Union Budget of India referred to as the?
a) Economic Survey

b) Monetary and Credit Policy

c) Foreign Trade Policy

d) Annual Financial Statement
e) None of these

15) Which of the following department is not a part of Finance Ministry of India?
a) Department of Economic Affairs
b) Department of Expenditure
c) Department of Revenue
d) Department of Disinvestments
e) Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion

16) Which Department principal responsibility is the prep-aration of the Union Budget annually (excluding the Railway Budget)?
a) Department of Economic Affairs
b) Department of Expenditure
c) Department of Revenue
d) Department of Disinvestments
e)Department of Financial Servies

17) Which of the following is a government body that offers a single window clearance for proposals on foreign direct investment in the country that are not allowed access through the automatic route?
a) Securities and Exchange Board of India
b) Reserve Bank of India
c) Export-Import Bank of India
d) Foreign Investment Promo-tion Board
e) Bombay Stock Exchange

18) The first woman Finance Secretary of India?
a) Sushma Nath
b)Shyamala Gopinath
c) Chanda Kochhar
d) Shikha Sharma
e) None of these

19) The only woman to hold the post of the finance minister of India?
a) Vijaya Lakshmi Nehru Pandit

b) Sarojini Naidu
c) Rajkumari Amrit Kaur

d) Indira Gandhi

e)None of these

20) The Union Budget is always presented first in ?
a) Lok Sabha

b) Rajya Sabha

c) Joint Session of the Parliament

d) State Assemblies

e) None of these

21) Which of the following presents the Economic Survey in the parliament every year, just before the Union Budget?
a) RBI

b) Ministry of Finance

c) Ministry of Commerce

d) Planning Commission

e) Finance Commission

22) The financial year in India starts on?
a) 1st January

b)1stMarch

c) 1st April

d) 1st July

e) None of these

23) A fiscal year in India ends on?
a) February 28

b) March 31 

c)April1

d)July1

e)December 31

24) A. Gross Tax receipts are estimated at 9,32,440 crore.
B. Non-tax revenue receipts estimated at 1,25,435 crore.
C. Total expenditure proposed at 12,57,729 crore.
D. Increase of 18.3 per cent in total Plan allocation.
E. Increase of 10.9 per cent in the Non-plan expenditure.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) A and B b) B and C
c) C and D d) D and E e) All of the above

25) A.Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimated to have grown at 8.6 per cent in 2010-11 in real terms.
B. Government expects econo-my to grow at 9 % in 2011-12.
C. Fiscal Deficit target at 4.6% for 2011-12, down from 5.1% estimated for 2010-11.
D. Central Government debt estimated at 44.2 per cent of GDP for 2011-12 as against 52.5 per cent recomm-ened by the 13th Finance Commission.
E. 40,000 crore to be raised through disinvestment in 2011-12.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) A and B b) B and C
c) C and D d) D and E e) All of the above

26) A. Government committed to retain at least 51 per cent ownership and management control of the Central Public Sector Undertakings.
B. "India Microfinance Equity Fund" of ’100 crore to be created with SIDBI. Gover-nment considering putting in place appropriate regulatory framework to protect the interest of small borrowers.
C."Women's SHG's Develo-pment Fund" to be created with a corpus of Rs. 500 crore.
D. Corpus of RIDF XVII to be raised from Rs. 16,000 crore to 20,000 crore.
E. 1,000 crore to be provided to SIDBI for refinancing incre-mental lending by banks to these enterprises.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) A and D b) A, B and C c) C and D d) D and E e) None of these

27) A.Allocation under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) increased from Rs. 6,755 crore to 7,860 crore.
B. Rs.10,000 crore to be contributed to NABARD's Short-term R-ural Credit fund for 2011-12.
C. Allocation for Bharat Nirman programme proposed to be increased by Rs.10,000 crore from the current year to Rs. 58,000 crore in 2011-12.
D. Rs. 21,000 crores for primary education to implement Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
E. Defence budget hiked to Rs.1.64 lakh crore
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) A and B b) B and C c) C and D d) D and E
e) All of the above

28) Consider the following statements:
1) Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee unveiled the Union Budget 2011-12 on February 28, 2011.
2) Economic Survey 2010-11 was presented in the Parliament on Feb 25, 2011.
3) India's Railway Minister Mamta Banerjee presented the new Railway Budget for the year 2011-12 in the parliament on February 25, 2011.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only b) 2 only
c) 3 only d) All of the above e) None of these

Answers:

1) e,

2) a,

3) d

4) a,

5) e,

6) a,

7) c,

8) a,

9) c,

10) e,

11) b,

12) a,

13) a,

14) d,

15) e,

16) a,

17) d,

18) a,

19) d,

20) a

21) b,

22) c,

23) b,

24) e,

25) e,

26) b,

27) e,

28) d