Article 370: Ten Facts

The "1974 Indira-Sheikh" accord between Sheikh Abdullah Kashmiri politician and then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi stated, "The State of Jammu and Kashmir which is a constituent unit of the Union of India, shall, in its relation with the Union, continue to be governed by Article 370 of the Constitution of India".

10 Points of Article 370

1. According to the Constitution of India, Article 370 provides temporary provisions to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, granting it a special autonomy.

2. The article says that the provisions of Article 238, which was omitted from the Constitution in 1956 when Indian states were reorganised, shall not apply to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

3. Dr BR Ambedkar, the principal drafter of the Indian Constitution, had refused to draft Article 370.

4. In 1949, the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had directed Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdullah to consult Ambedkar (then law minister) to prepare the draft of a suitable article to be included in the Constitution.

5. Article 370 was eventually drafted by Gopalaswami Ayyangar

6. Ayyangar was a minister without portfolio in the first Union Cabinet of India. He was also a former Diwan to Maharajah Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir

7. Article 370 is drafted in Amendment of the Constitution section, in Part XXI, under Temporary and Transitional Provisions.

8. The original draft explained "the Government of the State means the person for the time being recognised by the President as the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers for the time being in office under the Maharaja's Proclamation dated the fifth day of March, 1948."

9. On November 15, 1952, it was changed to "the Government of the State means the person for the time being recognised by the President on the recommendation of the Legislative Assembly of the State as the Sadr-i-Riyasat (now Governor) of Jammu and Kashmir, acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers of the State for the time being in office."

10. Under Article 370 the Indian Parliament cannot increase or reduce the borders of the state.

Courtsey:   "India Today" 

Ebola fighters named TIME's Person of the Year 2014

Ebola fighters collectively were named as the TIME’s Person of the Year 2014 on 10 December 2014 by the TIME’s magazine.  The announcement was made by Nancy Gibbs, the Managing Editor of TIME.

They were selected from an initial list of 50 world leaders, business heads and record-breaking artists for their tireless acts of courage and mercy, for buying the world time to boost its defences, for risking, for persisting, for sacrificing and saving the thousands of lives from Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

In their honour, the magazine has come out with five cover pages featuring five of them. 

These are:

·              Dr Kent Brantly: the U.S. doctor who contracted Ebola while treating patients in Liberia

·              Dr Jerry Brown: A Liberian surgeon who turned his hospital's chapel into the country's first Ebola treatment center

·              Foday Gallah: An ambulance driver who survived the infection

·              Salome Karwah: Medecins Sans Frontieres nurse

EVD since its outbreak in early 2014 turned into an epidemic killing more than 7000 people across Liberia, Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone before traveling to Europe and the U.S.

The Top Four Runners Up of the TIME’s Person of the Year 2014

In the TIME’s Person of the Year 2014, Ferguson Protesters came at the second place. They started their protest in August 2014 and built a movement that revived national conversation about race and justice. The protesters took to the streets following the shooting down of 18-year-old unarmed black man Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson.

At third place came the Russian President Vladimir Putin who invaded Crimea in February 2014 and in doing so, restored Russia's honour and saw his approval ratings soar.

The fourth place was bagged by Masoud Barzani, the acting president of the Iraqi Kurdish Region.

At fifth place came Chinese entrepreneur Jack Ma, who founded Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant that debuted with 25 billion US dollars IPO in September 2014 making it one of the world's most valuable tech companies.

Other than this, in the readers’ poll of TIMES magazine that was conducted online Prime Minister Narendra Modi won the poll with a whopping 16 percent margin.

TIME's Person of the Year since 2000

This is an annual honour bestowed by Time magazine since 1927. It goes to the person who most influenced the news during the year for better or worse.

·              2000: George W. Bush

·              2001: Rudolph Giuliani, who was New York City's mayor on 9/11

·              2002: The Enron Whistleblowers

·              2003: The American soldier

·              2004: George W. Bush

·              2005: The Good Samaritans - Bono and Bill Gates

·              2006: You - represented by the Internet

·              2007: Vladimir Putin

·              2008: Barack Obama

·              2009: Ben Bernanke

·              2010: Mark Zuckerberg

·              2011: The Protester

·              2012: Barack Obama

·              2013: Pope Francis

*     2014: Ebola Fighters

Year 2014 ranked as Earth's hottest year since 1880

The year 2014 was ranked as the Earth’s hottest year since 1880 as per the two separate analyses done by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientists and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists. The findings of NASA and NOAA were released on 16 January 2015.

Both NASA and NOAA conducted independent analyses based on satellite and ground readings, but they arrived at similar conclusions.

The global average temperature for 2014 was roughly 1.24°F (or 0.69°C) warmer than the 20th-century average that included record heat in the western United States, Europe, Australia, and much of the Pacific Ocean.

Rankings of 10 warmest years

1. 2014

2. 2010

3. 2005

4. 2007

5. 1998

6. 2002

7. 2013

8. 2009

9. 2003

10. 2006

Findings

As per GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP), since 1880, Earth’s average surface temperature has warmed by about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degrees Celsius), which was caused by the increase in carbon dioxide into the planet’s atmosphere.

The 2014 temperatures were the warmest ones, but scientists still expect to see year-to-year fluctuations in average global temperature caused by phenomena such as El Nino or La Nina.

The phenomena El Nino and La Nina in the Pacific Ocean played an important role in the flattening of the long-term warming trend over the past 15 years. Moreover, 2014’s record warmth occurred during an El Nino-neutral year.

Regional differences in temperature are more strongly affected by weather dynamics than the global mean temperature.

Study Process

The scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York mapped the five-year global temperature averages from 1880 to 2014.

The GISS analysis incorporated surface temperature measurements from 6300 weather stations, ship- and buoy-based observations of sea surface temperatures and temperature measurements from Antarctic research stations.

This raw data was analyzed using an algorithm that measures the varied spacing of temperature stations around the globe. The result is an estimate of the global average temperature difference from a baseline period of 1951 to 1980.

COMPUTER KNOWLEDGE PRACTICE QUESTIONS FOR ALL BANK EXAMS

1. Which of the following is not a logical database structure?

1) Chain
2) Network
3) Tree
4) Relational
5) All of the above

2. Which of the following is not a standard MS office Edition?
1) CE
2) Advanced
3) Standard
4) Professional
5) None of these

3. Which device is used as the standard pointing device in a Graphical User Environment?
1) Keyboard
2) Mouse
3) Joystick
4) Track ball
5) All of the above

4. Which of the following is not a part of standard office suit?
1) File Manager
2) Image Editor
3) Database
4) Word Processor
5) None of these

5. Which of the following is a programming language for creating special programs like applets?
1) Java
2) Cable
3) Domain name
4) Net
5) Cobol

6. An online discussion group that allows direct "live" communication is known as ___
1) WebCrawler
2) Chat group
3) Regional service provider
4) Hyperlink
5) E-mail

7. The other name of motherboard is:
1) Chip sheet
2) Computer board
3) System device
4) Central board
5) System board

8. The basic goal of the computer process is to convert data into ___
1) Graphs
2) Tables
3) Files
4) Data
5) Information

9. To restart the computer which of the following combination of keys used?
1) Del + Ctrl
2) Backspace + Ctrl
3) Ctrl + Alt +Del
4) Insert +Esc
5) Esc +Ctrl

10. The storage devices used to compensate for the difference in rates of flow of data from one device to another is termed as ___
1) Chip
2) Channel
3) Floppy
4) Call
5) Buffer

11. Which of the following companies is a leader in manufacture of Hard Disk Drives?
1) Samsung
2) IBM
3) Fujitsu
4) Seagate
5) Moratala

12. DSL is an example of a(n) ____ connection.
1) Network
2) Wireless
3) Slow
4) Cable
5) Broadband

13. ____ is data that has been organized or presented in a meaningful fashion.
1) A process
2) Software
3) Storage
4) Information
5) Hard ware

14. ____ is a set of computer programs used on a computer to help perform tasks.
1) An instruction
2) Software
3) Hardware
4) Memory
5) A processor

15. Any part of the computer that you can physically touch is called as ___
1) Hardware
2) Software
3) A device
4) A peripheral
5) An application

16. Which of the following is not available on the Ruler of MS Word screen?
1) Tab stop box
2) Left Indent
3) Right Indent
4) Center Indent
5) All of these are available on ruler

17. ___ is the section of the CPU that selects, interprets and sees to the execution of program instructions.
1) Memory
2) Register unit
3) Control unit
4) ALU
5) System unit

18. Which was the world's first minicomputer and when was it introduced?
1) PDP-I, 1958
2) IBM System/36, 1960
3) PDP-II, 1961
4) VAX 11/780, 1962
5) PDP-I, 1963

19. Which of the following is a software package to implement a data base?
1) System analysis
2) DBMS
3) Database
4) DASD
5) File analysis

20. The permanent memory built into your computer is called ___
1) ROM
2) CD-ROM
3) RAM
4) CPU
5) Mother board

21. What is a portion of a document in which you set certain page formatting options?
1) Page
2) Document
3) Section
4) Page Setup
5) Page layout

22. The term "push" and "pop" is related to the:
1) Array
2) Lists
3) Stacks
4) All of the above
5) None of these

23. www is based on which model?
1) Local server
2) Client server
3) 3 tier
4) World server
5) User server

24. Which of the following is not a domain name extension?
1) .mil
2) .org
3) .int
4) .com
5) All of the above

25. Which of the following TCP/IP protocol is used for transferring electronic mail messages from one machine to another?
1) FTP
2) SNMP
3) SMTP
4) RPC
5) HTTP

26. A processor that collects the transmissions from several communications media and sends
them over a single line that operates at a higher capacity is called?
1) Multiplexor
2) Bridge
3) Hub
4) Router
5) None of these

27. Which of the following is used for manufacturing chips?
1) Control bus
2) Control unit
3) Parity unit
4) Semiconductor
5) Process unit

28. ____ defines the structure of a relation which consists of a fixed set of attribute-domain pairs.
1) Instance
2) Schema
3) Program
4) Super Key
5) Code

29. To produce high-quality graphics (hardcopy) in color, you would use a(n):
1) RGB monitor
2) Plotter
3) Ink-jet printer
4) Laser printer
5) All of the above

30. What component would most likely cause a "parity error"?
1) Bad hard disk
2) Bad controller
3) Bad RAM
4) Bad software
5) Bad OS

31. _____ transforms one interface into another interface.
1) Software
2) Program
3) Data
4) File
5) Code

32. A URL can specify the IP address of the web ____ that houses a Web page?
1) server
2) client
3) page
4) user
5) e-mail recipient

33. The three basic categories of connection to the internet include all EXCEPT?
1) Direct connection
2) Dial-up
3) Broadband
4) Direct satellite
5) None of these

34. Hundreds of Universities, Government entities and Research labs have formed ____.
1) Internet
2) www
3) Internet2
4) TCP/IP
5) Intranet

35. Which of the following is not an example of hard ware?
1) Scanner
2) Printer
3) Mouse
4) Monitor
5) Interpreter

36. A computer program that translates one program instructions at a time into machine language is called a/an ____
1) Interpreter
2) CPU
3) Compiler
4) Simulator
5) RAM

37. What is the name of the display feature that highlights are of the screen which requires operator attention?
1) Pixel
2) Reverse video
3) Touch screen
4) Cursor
5) Note pad

38. The first digital computer built with IC chips:
1) IBM 7090
2) Apple - 1
3) VAX-10
4) Dell-1
5) IBM System / 360

39. Which of the following case does not exist in complexity theory?
1) Best case
2) Worst case
3) Average case
4) All cases
5) Null case

40. Which of the following American Computer Company is called big blue?
1) Microsoft
2) Compaq Corp
3) IBM
4) Tandy Stevenson
5) Samsung

ANSWERS:
1) 1; 2) 2; 3) 2; 4) 1; 5) 1; 6) 2; 7) 5; 8) 3; 9) 3; 10) 5;
11) 4; 12) 5; 13) 4; 14) 2; 15) 1; 16) 4; 17) 3; 18) 1; 19) 2; 20) 1;
21) 3; 22) 3; 23) 2; 24) 3; 25) 3; 26) 1; 27) 4; 28) 2; 29) 2; 30) 3;
31) 1; 32) 1; 33) 4; 34) 3; 35) 5; 36) 1; 37) 2; 38) 5; 39) 5; 40) 3

CURRENT AFFAIRS JANUARY 2015

CURRENT AFFAIRS JANUARY 2015

Set 1

1) Which player on 3 January 2015 became the fastest cricketer to reach 12000

Test runs? - Kumar Sangakkara

2) Which bank on 2 January 2015 launched Digital Village Project in Akodara

Village of Gujarat? - ICICI Bank

Note: This was launched in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and

ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochar.

3) IRDA was renamed recently as? - Insurance Regulatory and Development

Authority of India

Note: Change in name came in to effect after the promulgation of Insurance

Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014, by the President of India on 26 December

2014.

4) Who was sworn-in as tenth Chief Minister of Jharkhand on 28 December 2014?

- Raghubar Das

Note: Raghubar Das is the first non-tribal Chief Minister of Jharkhand since the

state came into being on 15 November 2000.

5) BCCI on 28 December 2014 banned which left-arm spinner from bowling in

competitive matches, after his bowling action was found illegal? - Pragyan Ojha

6) Who retired as the Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on

31 December 2014? - K Radhakrishnan

7) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on 1 January 2015 launched integrated

women safety mobile app called? – Himmat

8) Union Government on 1 January 2015 set up the National Institution for

Transforming India (NITI) Aayog to replace? - Planning Commission

9) Which state government on 1 January 2015 launched online Right to

Information (RTI) application filing facility? – Maharashtra

10) Union Government on 2 January 2014 accepted the recommendations of the

Bezbaruah committee on? - Safety of North East people

Note: Bezbaruah committee of five members was set up under chairmanship of M

P Bezbaruah in February 2014 to look into the concerns of the people of the

North East living in other parts of the country.

11) Sports Ministry on 2 January 2015 cleared the National Boxing Federations

new name called? - Boxing India

12) Who took charge as new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Indian

Overseas Bank (IOB) on 2 January 2015? - R. Koteeswaran

13) Union Cabinet recently approved hike of government stake in Industrial

Finance Corporation of India to? - 51 percent

14) Union Government on 29 December 2014 renamed the Department of

Disability Affairs (Nishaktata Karya Vibhag) as? - Department of Empowerment

of Persons with Disabilities (Viklangjan Sashaktikaran Vibhag)

15) Mahendra Singh Dhoni on 30 December 2014 announced retirement from

which format of International cricket? - Test Cricket

16) Who was appointed as the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on 31

December 2014? - M Sathiyavathy

17) Tropical storm Jangmi made landfall in which country on 28 December 2014?

– Philippines

18) Which Indian player on 29 December 2014 won the International Tennis

Association (ITF) singles title of the World Tennis Association circuit held in

Pune? - Ankita Raina

19) AirAsia flight number QZ8501 recently went missing (later confirmed as

crash) with 162 people on board en route from? - Indonesian city of Surabaya to

Singapore

20) Union Government in the recently decided to launch Operation All Out

against Bodo militants in which state? – Assam

21) Who won the ATP World Tennis Championship at Zayed Sports City in Abu

Dhabi on 4 January 2015? - Andy Murray

22) Who took over as the new chairman of Airports Authority of India (AAI) on 2

January 2015? - R K Srivastava

23) Who was appointed as the Chairman of Railway Board on 31 December 2014?

- A.K. Mittal

24) Who was elected as President of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) for

2014-15 on 2 January 2015? - Kiran Bhai Vadodaria

25) President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 30 December 2014 appointed the

Governors of Mizoram, Uttarakhand and Meghalaya. Name them?

Mizoram - Aziz Qureshi, Uttarakhand - Dr Krishan Kant Paul, Meghalaya -

Keshari Nath Tripathi

26) RBI recently amended KYC norms for? - Non-Banking Financial Companies

27) Union Government recently launched Madan Mohan Malviya National

Mission on? - Teachers and Teaching

28) Name the noted educationist and former Vice Chancellor of the Aligarh

Muslim University who died on 29 December 2014? - Saiyid Hamid

29) Jaffna-Kankasanthurai rail track restored by IRCON was recently

inaugurated in which country? - Sri Lanka

30) Who was sworn in as the President of Tunisia on 31 December 2014? - Beji

Caid Essebsi

Set 2

1) Who was appointed as the Vice-Chairman of National Institution for

Transforming India (NITI) Aayog on 5 January 2015? - Arvind Panagariya

2) Who was named as the Business person of the Year for 2014 on 6 January 2015 by Fortune magazine? - Larry Page

3) 102nd Indian Science Congress (ISC) was recently held at? - Mumbai

Note: The theme of the ISC was Science and Technology for Human

Development.

4) Name the French satirical weekly magazine in Paris which was attacked by

three masked gunmen on 7 January 2015? - Charlie Hebdo

5) Which bank on 7 January 2015 launched contactless credit cards and debits

cards called Coral Contactless Credit Card and Expressions Wave Debit Card

respectively in India? - ICICI Bank

6) Who has sworn-in as the 7th President of Sri Lanka on 9 January 2015? -

Mithripala Sirisena

7) Name the joint venture of Tata-SIA which started its flight operation in India

on 9 January 2015? - Vistara Airline

8) Who was on 10 January 2015 appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog with effect from 1

January 2015? - Sindhushree Khullar

9) Which city will host International Hindi Conference in April 2015? - New

Jersey

10) Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5 January 2015

approved to set up the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) in which state? -

Tamil Nadu

11) Who was named as the Brand Ambassador of Andhra Pradesh (AP) health

sector on 6 January 2015? - Amitabh Bachchan

12) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 6 January 2015 released a commemorative

coin to mark the 175th birth anniversary of which industrialist? - Jamsetji

Nusserwanji Tata

13) Which airline was named as the world’s safest airline by AirlineRatings.com

on 6 January 2015? - Qantas

Note: It is Australia’s national airline.

14) Name the new antibiotic discovered by scientists nearly after two decades? –

Teixobactin

15) Which Indian film was on 8 January 2015 nominated for British Academy of

Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards 2015 under non-English best film

category? - Lunchbox

16) Which bank secured its shareholders approval for amalgamation with ING

Vysya Bank recently? - Kotak Mahindra Bank

17) Name the Chinese nuclear physicist who was on 9 January 2015 presented

with the State Preeminent Science and Technology Award 2014 by Chinese

President Xi Jinping? - Yu Min

18) Who presented the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards 2015 to sixteen

personalities on 9 January 2015? - Vice President of India Mohammad Hamid

Ansari

19) Who resigned as Director General of Sports Authority of India (SAI) on 2

January 2015? - Jiji Thomson

20) Board of Control for Cricket in India on 6 January 2015 announced the 15-

man squad for the Cricket World Cup 2015. Who will captain the team? - MS

Dhoni

21) Which country will host the 42nd World Bridge Championships in Sep-Oct

2015? – India

22) PM Narendra Modi on 8 January 2015 inaugurated a state-of-the-art museum

Dandi Kutir at which place? - Gandhinagar, Gujarat

23) Who won 7th Chennai International Open Grandmaster Chess title on 6

January 2015? - Popov Ivan of Russia

24) Who was sworn in as the sixth Governor of Uttarakhand on 8 January 2015? -

Krishan Kant Paul

25) Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on 5 January 2015 launched

the sale of subsidised 5 kg cooking gas cylinders for BPL families under which

scheme? - Free Trade LPG (FTL)

26) Who took charge as Coal India Limited’s full-time Chairman and Managing

Director (CMD) on 5 January 2015? - Sutirtha Bhattacharya

27) Who was on 7 January 2015 appointed as the United Nations (UN) Under-

Secretary-General, Department of Field Support (DFS)? - Atul Khare

28) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 January 2015 released Commemorative

Postage Stamps to mark ___ Years of Mahatma Gandhi’s Return from South

Africa to India? – 100

29) Who won his maiden National Sub-Junior Billiards title at the BRC Gloster

National Billiards & Snooker Championship 2015 recently? - S Shrikrishna

30) Who was elected as the Speaker of Jharkhand Legislative Assembly on 7

January 2015? - Dr. Dinesh Oraon of BJP

31) Which firm launched China's first online bank named WeBank to boost small

businesses on 6 January 2015? - Tencent Holdings

32) Governor's rule was recently imposed in which state on 9 January 2015? -

Jammu and Kashmir

33) Who was appointed as the Prime Minister of West African nation Mali on 8

January 2015? - Modibo Keita

Set 3

1) Who won the 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or award for the best footballer of the year

in the world on 12 January 2015? - Cristiano Ronaldo

2) Who was on 12 January 2015 appointed as Chairman of Indian Space Research

Organisation (ISRO)? - Alur Seelin Kiran Kumar

3) Who has received the Governor of the Year Award for 2015 in the Central

Banking Awards announced on 12 January 2015? - Raghuram Rajan, RBI

Governor

4) Who took charge as Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog on 13 January 2015? -

Arvind Panagariya

5) Which district in Kerala became first District of India to have Complete Rural

Broadband Coverage, as Union Minister for Communications and Information

Technology on 12 January 2015 linked this district to the National Optic Fiber

Network (NOFN)? – Idukki

6) Which club on 11 January 2015 lifted their maiden football Federation Cup

defeating Goa's Dempo Sports Club 2-1? - Bengaluru FC

7) Name the Indian open water swimmer who on 14 January 2015 set a world

record by swimming 1.4 miles in 52 minutes in one degree temperature in the

Antarctic Ocean? - Bhakti Sharma

8) Who was appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) by

President Pranab Mukherjee on 15 January 2016? - Hari Shankar Bramha

Note: He succeeds V.S. Sampath who has retired from service.

9) Baba Ramdev was on 15 January 2015 appointed as state brand ambassador

of? – Haryana

10) Who was appointed as the head coach of Indian men’s football team on 16

January 2015? - Stephen Constantine

11) Who won the Chennai Open Tennis title on 11 January 2015? - Stanislas

Wawrinka

12) Which Pakistan cricket player recently announced his retirement from One

Day International (ODI) and T20 after the Cricket World Cup 2015? - Misbah-ul-

Haq

13) Who won the Brisbane International Tennis title on 11 January 2015? - Roger

Federer

14) Who was on 10 January 2015 selected for the Vikram Sarabhai memorial

award 2015? - MYS Prasad

Note: He is the director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota

Range (SHAR).

15) 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) 2015 concluded on 9 January 2015 in

Gujarat. What was the theme of 2015 PBD? - Bharat ko jano and Bharat ko

mano

16) Which mission of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was on 12

January 2015 won the 2015 Space Pioneer Award in the Science and Engineering

category? - Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)

17) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 15 January 2015 announced sixth Bi-Monthly

Monetary Policy Statement. RBI has cut its main lending rate (Repo Rate) by ___

per cent? - 0.25 (Present Repo Rate - 7.75)

18) Who was on 13 January 2015 presented with the Social Media Person of the

Year Award 2015 by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI)? -

Amitabh Bachchan

19) Which Australian cricketer on 14 January 2015 announced his retirement

from all forms of cricket after a 20-year career? - Brett Lee

20) Reserve Bank of India on 15 January 2015 issued final guidelines for banks to act as? - Insurance Brokers

21) The Red Sari, an unauthorized biography of Congress Party President Sonia

Gandhi, was released by Roli Books in India on 16 January 2015. Book was

written by? - Javier Moro

22) Who was on 16 January 2015 appointed as Nepal's ambassador to India? -

Deep Kumar Upadhyay

23) National Youth Day was observed across India on 12 January every year to

mark the birth anniversary of? - Swami Vivekananda

24) Who was on 12 January 2015 appointed as the 21st chief justice of

Bangladesh, becoming the first non-Muslim to take charge of the office of Chief

Justice of Bangladesh? - Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha

25) Name the Union Minister for Railways who on 13 January 2015 inaugurated

India’s first compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered train on the Rewari –

Rohtak link of Northern Zone? - Suresh Prabhu

26) Which search engine on 13 January 2015 launched its Flight Search Tool in

India? – Google

27) Seventh Vibrant Gujarat Summit was held from 11 January to 13 January

2015 at? - Gandhinagar, Gujarat

28) Who was appointed as CMD (Chairman and Managing Director) of Bharat

Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) on 14 January 2015? - Anupam Shrivastava

29) Who was named as the winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award 2014 for

Sanskrit on 14 January 2015? - Prabhu Nath Dwivedi

30) Who has resigned as Chairperson of Central Board of Film Certification,

(CBFC) on 16 January 2015? - Leela Samson

31) Who has resigned as member of the Union Public Service Commission

(UPSC) on 14 January 2015? - A P Singh

32) Who was on 16 January 2015 conferred with the JGBS-Top Rankers'

Excellence Award for CEO of the year 2014? - R.K. Tyagi, HAL Chairman

33) Which state was on 16 January 2015 selected for the National Award for e-

Governance for the best district-level initiative in Citizen-Centric Service

Delivery through ICT? - Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)

34) Sania Mirza and her partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands of which country on 16

January 2015 won the women’s doubles title of the Sydney International Tennis

Tournament? – USA

35) India on 15 January 2015 observed the ___th Army Day? – 67

36) Pope Francis on 14 January 2015 cannonised Joseph Vaz as the first saint of

which country? - Sri Lanka

37) Union Government on 13 January 2015 removed whom as the Chairman of

Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO)? - Avinash Chander

38) Australia on 10 January 2015 won the 4-match Border-Gavaskar Test series

played against India by 2-0. Who was named Player of the series? - Steven Smith

39) Which Indian professional golfer was on 12 January 2015 voted as the 2014

Players’ Player of the year in Asian Tour? - Anirban Lahiri

Set 4

1) Which cricketer on 18 January 2015 hit the fastest century in One-Day

International (ODI) cricket? - AB de Villiers

Note: The 30-year-old South African captain scored the century in just 31 balls

against West Indies. The previous record was held by New Zealand’s Corey

Anderson who scored a century in 36 balls. He also broke 19-year old record of

the fastest ODI half-century held by Sanath Jayasuriya. De Villers scored fifty

off just 16 balls.

2) Which bank in India was recently named among 50 most valuable banks in

2014 with a market capitalisation of 41.58 billion US dollar? - HDFC bank

Note: It was ranked at 45th position.

3) Who was appointed as the Chairman of Central Board of Film Certification

(CBFC) on 19 January 2015? - Pahlaj Nihalani

Note: Nihalani, known for the 1990s blockbusters Shola aur Shabnam and

Aankhen will succeed Leela Samson who resigned from her office on 16 January

2015.

4) Name the small deposit scheme for girl child launched by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi on 22 January 2015 under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP)

campaign? - Sukanya Samridhi Yojana

5) National Girl Child Day was recently observed on? - January 24

6) Name the Indigenously-built Light Combat Aircraft which was handed over to

the Indian Air Force (IAF) on 17 January 2015? – Tejas

7) National Immunization Day for the year 2015 was observed on? - 18 January

8) Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 17 January 2015 adopted which

Panchyat under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna (SAGY)? - Pachim Bekeli Gaon

Note: It is located in Kamrup district of Assam.

9) The Periyar Tiger Reserve on 20 January 2015 won the National Tiger

Conservation Authority (NTCA) biennial award. It is situated in which state? –

Kerala

10) Which Union Ministry on 21 January 2015 launched the National Heritage

Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) that seeks to preserve and

rejuvenate the rich cultural heritage of the country? - Union Ministry of Urban

Development

11) Which scheme announced by Modi government on 20 January 2015 made it

to Guinness Book of World Records? - Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna(PMJDY)

12) Name the Telugu comedian actor who passed away on 23 January 2015? -

Mailavarapu Surya

13) Name the former Thailand Prime Minister who was impeached on 23 January

2015 by an army-backed parliament? - Yingluck Shinawatra

14) Who won the National Billiards Championship on 17 January 2015 at the

Bengal Rowing Club in Kolkata? - Pankaj Advani

Note: This was his seventh Senior National Billiards Championship. Advani, the

12-time world champion has won the previous six titles in 2012, 2011, 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2005.

15) Which Indian city will host the World Congress on Information Technology

(WCIT) in 2018, as announced recently? – Hyderabad

16) European Union (EU) on 20 January 2015 decided to lift a seven-month-long

ban on the import of ____ from India? – Mangoes

17) Which Committee on 21 January 2015 submitted its report on restructuring of

Food Corporation of India (FCI) to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi? - Shanta

Kumar

18) Name the Saudi Arabia King who passed away on 23 January 2015? - King

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz

19) Which Indian was appointed in the UN peace-building panel recently? -

Saraswathi Menon

20) Name the Prime Minister of Bhutan who visited India from 10 January to 18

January 2015? - Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay

21) Which mobile messaging application on 21 January 2015 unveiled a new

service for sending messages from a Web browser? – WhatsApp

22) Which state will be getting the first international institute in India that is

dedicated to music as announced recently? – Kerala

23) Eicher Motors on 19 January 2015 appointed whom as President of Royal

Enfield? - Rudratej Singh

Set 5

1) Who was crowned Miss Universe 2014 on 25 January 2015? - Paulina Vega,

Miss Colombia

2) Who won the women’s single title of Australian Open on 31 January 2015? -

Serena Williams

Note: She defeated Maria Sharapova, the world number two from Russia 6-3, 7-

6(5) in Melbourne, Australia.

3) Name the eminent Cartoonist who died on 26 January 2015? -Rasipuram

Krishnaswamy Laxman (RK Laxman)

Note: His Common Man, created in 1957, was the symbol of trials and

tribulations of India's ordinary people.

4) Who was on 29 January 2015 appointed as the Chairman of the Sangeet Natak

Akademi (SNA)? - Shekhar Sen

5) Who was appointed as the Foreign Secretary of India on 28 January 2015? - Dr.S Jaishankar

6) Who won the women’s singles of Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold Badminton

Tournament 2015 on 25 January 2015? - Saina Nehwal

7) Alexis Tsipras on 26 January 2015 was sworn in as the Prime Minister of? –

Greece

8) Who were on 26 January 2015 posthumously awarded with the highest

peacetime military honour the Ashok Chakra by President Pranab Mukherjee? -

Major Mukund Varadarajan and Naik Neeraj Kumar Singh

9) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 30 January 2015 constituted a High Powered

Committee to re-examine and recommend appropriate set of businesses, size,

conversion and licensing terms for the Urban Cooperative Banking (UCB) Sector.

Who will chair the eight-member committee? - R Gandhi, the Deputy Governor

of Reserve Bank of India.

10) Anti-Leprosy Day was observed on? - 30 January

11) Which country will host ICC Twenty20 World Cup in 2016 as announced

recently? – India

12) Who took charge as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of National

Research Development Corporation (NRDC) recently? -Hanumanthu

Purushotham

13) Name the Union Minister for Communications & Information

Technology who on 30 January 2015 launched commemorative Postage stamps

on the theme of Swachh Bharat Mission? - Ravi Shankar Prasad

14) Who won the inaugural Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for Poetry at

Jaipur Literature Festival on 24 January 2015? - Poetess Arundhathi

Subramaniam

15) Who was appointed as the Special Director General (DG) of the Central

Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on 27 January 2015? - K Durga Prasad

16) People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on 29 January 2015

announced to create India's first fenced elephant sanctuary at? –Bannerghatta Biological Park in Karnataka

17) Who was appointed as coach of National Men’s Hockey team on 30 January

2015? - Paul van Ass

Note: He succeeded Terry Walsh of Australia.

18) Malaysian government on 29 January 2015 officially declared the

disappearance of which flight as an accident? - MH370

Note: The Beijing-bound Boeing 777 aircraft carrying 239 passengers and crew on

board disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur on 8 March 2014.

19) Who was appointed as the Director General (DG) of the Indo-Tibetan Border

Police (ITBP) on 30 January 2015? - Krishna Chaudhary

20) Who recently won the Allan Border Medal for the Australian Player of the

Year? - Steve Smith

21) Who was on 25 January 2015 appointed as Secretary (Security) in the Union

Cabinet Secretariat? - Divya Prakash Sinha

22) Who was on 30 January 2015 sworn in as 44th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka? -

Kanagasabapathy J Sripavan

23) India on 31 January 2015 successfully test-fired indigenously developed

canister-based inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) Agni-5 from? -

Wheeler's Island off Odisha coast

24) Actor and comedian Mala Aravindan who died on 28 January 2015 was

famous in which film industry? – Malayalam

25) Which company recorded the highest-ever profit of 18 billion US dollars in

corporate history worldwide recently? - Apple Inc

26) Name the President and Founder of Gorkha National Liberation Front

(GNLF) who died on 29 January 2015? - Subhash Ghising

27) Who was on 27 January 2015 appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

of Ogilvy & Mather India with effect from 1 March 2015? - Kunal Jeswani

28) Who on 25 January 2015 became the first lady officer to lead the Inter-Service

Guard of Honour for a major visiting dignitary at the Rashtrapati Bhavan? -

Wing Commander Pooja Thakur

29) Union Government on 30 January 2015 divested ___ percent of its stake in

Maharatna Coal India Limited (CIL)? - 10