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January 1-6, 2014

1) Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 5
January 2014 successfully launched a Geosynchronous
Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D5) with an indigenous
cryogenic engine from the spaceport of Satish Dhawan
Space Centre in Sriharikota (AP), entering a select club of
nations. With this launch, ISRO became the sixth space
agency in the world to have tasted success with an
indigenous cryogenic engine. Which are the other five
countries in this select club? U.S., Russia, Japan, China
and France (Launching a GSLV with an indigenous
cryogenic engine has been a major challenge for ISRO
since 2001 after multiple unsuccessful attempts. Only
four of earlier seven attempts have succeeded. GSLV-D5s
scheduled launch on August 19 last year was called off in
the eleventh hour after a fuel leak, following which ISRO
moved the vehicle back to the Vehicle Assembly Building
and rectified the defect. Cryogenic engines are essential
for rockets to put communication satellites, weighing
more than two tonnes, into orbit)
2) Which country became the 18th member of Eurozone
on 1 January 2014? Latvia (The former Soviet republic
on the Baltic Sea recently emerged from the financial
crisis to become the EUs fastest-growing economy.
Latvia was given final clearance to join Eurozone on 9 July
2013 by finance ministers of the 28-nation European
Union. It should be noted that 28-member EU is a
political entity and represents the interest of all of
Europe whereas Eurozone is a currency block of 18
nations that have accepted Euro as a common currency.
Not all countries of EU use Euro as currency (Britain still
uses Pound as its currency))
3) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 31 December 2013
dismissed rumours that it has stopped banks from
accepting scribbled currency notes from 1 January 2014
and announced that banks will continue to accept
currency notes with scribbling. However, it reiterated
that writing or scribbling on banknotes works against its
policy to keep currency notes clean and sought co-
operation from public, institutions and others in keeping
the banknotes clean by not writing anything on them.
What is the name of this policy which was released
during 2013? Clean Note Policy (RBI in 2013 had said
it has been noticed that at certain branches of banks, the
practice of writing/scribbling on the body of the bank
notes continues to remain in vogue. Under the present
system of mechanised processing of banknotes
inscription or scribbling on any part of the banknote
would render it to be classified as unfit for reissue)
4) Australia completed a 5-0 series whitewash over
England with a 281-run victory inside three days of the
fifth Ashes test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on 5
January 2014. English team was all out for 166 while
chasing 448 for victory on the third day of the final test.
When Australia had last whitewashed England by
identical margin? In 2006-07
5) Ex-banker Meera Sanyal came to news after she quit
her job as the chairperson of the Indian operations of an
international bank to join Arvind Kejriwals Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) recently. She was associated with which
bank? Royal Bank of Scotland (India) Meera is not
new to politics and she hopes to contest the Lok Sabha
election from Mumbai South, where she, as an
Independent, lost to Milind Deora of the Congress in
2009.
6) Software services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
during January 2014 announced plans to open worlds
largest training centre and learning campus which will
have a built-up area of 6.1 million sq ft and provide
accommodation for professionals and the faculty. Where
is this huge campus going to be established? In


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Technocity campus, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (The
global learning centre to be set up by TCS on the
Technocity campus will have facilities to train 50,000
professionals every year. The company claims that it will
be the worlds largest corporate learning and
development centre. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
laid the foundation stone for the facility on 4 January
2014)
7) Which U.S. state came to news recently after it
legalized the sale of marijuana for recreational use from 1
January 2014? Colorado (From 1 January 2014
Colorado legalized the sale of marijuana on experimental
basis. Under this experiment, Colorado residents 21 and
older are allowed to buy up to an ounce of marijuana per
transaction, and out-of-state customers are allowed to
purchase up to a quarter-ounce. If Colorado is able to
successfully legalize marijuana without causing a social
backlash, the tourism, tax and other considerations are
likely to compel several other states to quickly follow
suit)

January 7, 2014

1) On 5 January 2014 for the first time the night landing
of as big an aircraft as C-17 military cargo aircraft
(Boeing C-17 Globemaster III) was successfully done. It
was also the first time that this huge aircraft landed in
an airbase in South India. At which Indian Air Force
(IAF) base of South India was this historic landing done?
At Thanjavur Air Base (This C-17 landing was done as
a capability demonstration exercise of C-17 as well as
the IAF)
2) Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is all set to
form the new government in the country after winning
an absolute majority in the 5 January 2014
parliamentary elections boycotted by the Opposition.
What is the name of the political party of Sheikh
Hasina? Awami League (The Awami League won 104
of the 139 seats for which results were declared.
Having already won 127 seats uncontested, the ruling
party has 231 seats under its belt, giving it a clear
three-fourths majority in the new Parliament. The
Jatiya Party , which won 33 seats, is likely to be the
main Opposition. Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zias
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) did not participated
in this election)
3) Former Supreme Court judge, Justice A.K. Ganguly,
who has been accused of sexual assault by a law intern,
on 6 January 2014 resigned from which post after
continuous pressure on him to resign from this post?
Chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission
(WBHRC) The interns allegations created a media
furore, with female lawyers, politicians and activists
calling for the Supreme Court to investigate the
incident and for the accused judge to be named
publicly. Pressure on him to resign increased after the
three-judge Supreme Court committee probing the
complaint filed by the law intern against Justice
Ganguly said that there was prima facie evidence
against him.
4) The Coal Ministry recently constituted a coordination
panel comprising officials from the Centre and State
governments to speed up clearances and ensure timely
completion of coal mining projects. Who is heading this
panel? Coal Secretary S.K. Srivastava (The move
comes close on the heels of the State-run Coal India
Limited (CIL) airing concerns on clearances and stating


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that nearly 241 projects were awaiting environmental
or forest clearances at various levels)
5) Seeking to curb the practice of small aircraft and
helicopters operating in the country without cockpit
voice recorders, aviation regulator Director General of
Civil Aviation (DGCA) on 6 January 2014 made it
mandatory for all their operators to fit their machines
with black boxes. What is the deadline given for this
fitment guideline? 31 December 2014 (During recent
safety audits, DGCA had discovered that a large number
of turbine-powered planes and helicopters, including
turboprops (turbine-powered propeller aircraft), were
not fitted with CVRs)
6) According to the Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority (IRDA), the average number of
policies sold by an agent of LIC was almost 10 times
that of his private sector counterpart. LICs agents
managed their outperformance last year too, when the
life insurance business was on a slide. What was the
average policy sale figure for an LIC agent as disclosed
by the IRDA? 29 Policies (LIC has an agency force of
11.72 lakh while private companies have 9.49 lakh
agents working for them)
7) Eusebio, who passed away on 5 January 2014, was a
great footballer of which country? Portugal(Eusebio
was a top scorer at the 1966 Football World Cup. He
earned 64 caps and scored 41 goals for Portugal,
records that stood for almost two decades. The
Portuguese government announced three days of
national mourning as homage to this great footballer)

8) State-run BHEL recently completed building a
transmission sub-station in Karnataka, a link that has
connected the southern and national electricity grids.
Where in Karnataka is this sub-station situated?
Raichur (It is the southern end of the Raichur-Solapur
transmission link of PowerGrid. With the
commissioning of the Raichur-Solapur transmission line
the southern grid has been linked with the national
grid. The project will allow electricity to be carried to
the southern region from other parts of the country
during peak demand as well as transfer surplus power
from the south during off-peak hours)

January 8, 2014

1) The committee constituted by the Reserve Bank of
India (RBIs) to promote financial inclusion headed by
Nachiket Mor in its proposal has recommended
universal electronic bank accounts to all Indian citizens
above the age of 18 years. What is the deadline for
opening these bank accounts as recommended by the
committee? 1 January 2016 (The committee has
recommended that an instruction to open the bank
account should be initiated by the Unique Identification
Authority of India (UIAI) after the issue of an Aadhaar
number to an individual over the age of 18. It also
recommended that the RBI should issue a circular
indicating that no bank can refuse to open an account
for a customer who has adequate KYC proof which
specifically includes Aadhaar)
2) Which entity was on 6 January 2014 selected by the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to act as a local operating


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unit for issuing globally compatible Legal Entity
Identifiers (LEIs) in India? The Clearing Corporation of
India Limited CCIL (CCIL will assign a unique code to
participants in financial markets to facilitate over-the-
counter derivative transactions. LEI is a 20-character
unique identity code assigned to entities which are
parties to a financial transactions)
3) Which state government on 7 January 2014 launched
a toll free helpline number 1100 to curb corruption in
its departments? Chhattisgarh (This newly launched
toll free number can be used by general public to lodge
corruption-related complaints against the state
government officials)
4) In an important ruling the Supreme Court on 6
January 2014 ordered the setting up of a national
regulator with offices across the country to appraise
projects, enforce environmental norms for approvals
and penalise polluters. In giving this ruling the Green
Bench of the SC led by Justice A K Patnaik overrode
Union governments authority to grant environmental
clearances. Union government had argued that it alone
was the regulator in the field of environment and
forests and no one else could be appointed
regulator. Union government had quoted which act in
its plea before the bench, which according to it gave
exclusive authority to it? Forest (Conservation)
Act (The court order puts an end to the governments
attempt to hold on to its absolute authority to grant
clearances, especially when it is already at loggerheads
with the National Green Tribunal over environment-
related orders)
5) A massive blast of bitterly cold air plunged
temperatures across much of the United States on 6
and 7 January 2014 to life-threatening lows not seen in
nearly two decades. Which phenomenon has been seen
responsible for this historic and life-threatening cold
wave across the U.S.? Polar Vortex(A polar vortex is
a persistent, large scale cyclone located near one or
both of Earths geographical poles. This polar vortex is
named the 2014 North American polar vortex, which
has resulted in extremely cold temperatures in parts of
Canada and the U.S.)
6) Who took over as the new President of National
Association of Software and Service Companies
(NASSCOM) on 4 January 2014? R.
Chandrashekhar (He took place of Som Mittal who
relinquished the office on 3 January 2014 after serving
for around six years. NASSCOM is the leading trade
association of Indias information technology (IT) and
business process outsourcing (BPO) industry)
7) New Zealand cricketer Corey Anderson came to
limelight recently after he scored the fastest ever one-
day international (ODI) century while scoring his
unbeaten 131 against the West Indies. Anderson scored
his century off just 36 deliveries. Whose record of
fastest century he broke? Shahid Afridi of
Pakistan (Afridi had scored his century off 37 deliveries
against Sri Lanka in an ODI match played at Nairobi on 4
October 1996. Anderson broke his record by just one
ball on 1 January 2014 at Queenstown, New Zealand)
8) Who won the mens singles title of Chennai Open
2014 on 5 January 2014? Stanislas Wawrinkaof
Switzerland (He defeated Edouard Roger Vasselin of
France by 7-5, 6-2 to win his second Chennai Open title.
Wawrinka was top seeded player of the tournament
and was ranked World No. 8 before the tournament)






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January 9, 2014

1) The three day 12
th
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD)
started from 7 January 2014 at Vigyan Bhawan, New
Delhi. What is the theme of this years PBD? Engaging
Diaspora: Connecting AcrossGenerations (PBD is
celebrated on 9
th
January every year to mark the
contribution of Overseas Indian community in the
development of India. January 9 was chosen as the day
to celebrate this occasion since it was on this day in
1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest Pravasi (non-
resident citizen), returned to India from South Africa,
led Indias freedom struggle and changed the lives of
Indians forever)
2) The Government has introduced a programme for
young persons of overseas Indians (POIs) with a view to
provide them an exposure to the country of their origin
so that they can understand it better and more
intimately. This programme was launched on the
occasion of the 12
th
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD)
organized in Delhi. What is the name given to this
programme? Know India Programme (Under the
Programme, 20 young persons of Indian origin in the
age group of 18 to 24 from different countries visit
India extensively every year, which will provide them an
opportunity to have a deeper insight into Indian people
and society)
3) Which corporate group was the top donor to both
the key national political parties Congress and BJP, as
declared by the parties to the Election Commission?
Aditya Birla group (Gujarat-based Torrent Power was
second largest donor to political parties. Among the
national parties, BJP got the maximum corporate
donations of Rs 192.47 crore from 1,334 entities,
followed by Congress, which got Rs 172.25 crore from
418 corporate/business donors. In fact, business
donations constituted 87% of the total contribution to
political parties from known sources, establishing the
growing link between corporate money and politics)
4) Which bank recently became the first Indian
domestic private sector bank to have a branch
presence in China? Axis Bank (Axis Bank recently
opened its branch in Shanghai after receiving
permission from the China Banking Regulatory
Commission (CBRC). The branch will engage in foreign
currency businesses that includes all business approved
by the banking supervision and regulatory authorities
of the China. With opening of Shanghai branch, Axis
Banks overseas presence has grown to eight one
each in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Colombo, and
Shanghai, two representative offices at Dubai and Abu
Dhabi and an overseas subsidiary in London)
5) Which private asset management company (AMC)
recently became the first private sector fund house to
launch an inflation indexed fund that aims to provide
inflation-adjusted returns to investors? Deutsche
Asset Management India DAMI (DAMIs scheme,
DWS InflationIndexed Bond Fund is an openended
debt fund and will open for subscription on 16 January
2014, and close on 27 January. Inflation indexed bonds
(IIBs) are instruments where interest payment and
principal are linked to whole sale price index (WPI)
inflation and these bonds are currently available at an
attractive yield of 3.6% above WPI. Government has
been issuing IIBs on a monthly basis since June, 2013
and the current outstanding issuance stands at Rs 6,500
crore as of now)
6) Facebook Inc. on 7 January 2014 announced its first
deal in India in which it will purchase an Indian startup


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that builds performance analysis and monitoring tools
for mobile Android applications. What is the name of
this startup? Little Eyes Labs (With this deal
Bangalore-based Little Eyes Labs will move to
Facebooks headquarters in Menlo Park, California. It
was founded around a year ago by 4 Bangalore-based
technology professionals)
7) Nine persons were killed and over ten were injured
after a sleeper coach of a Dehradun-bound train caught
fire early on 8 January 2014 between Gholwad and
Dahanu Road station in Maharashtras Thane district.
What is the name of the train involved in this accident?
Bandra-Dehradun Express (The fire broke in one of
the sleeper coaches and then spread to three boogies
of the train (S3, S4 and S5) around 2.30 am.)

January 10, 2014

1) According to the Society of Indian Automobile
Industry (SIAM), domestic car sales last year (2013) fell
to 18,07,011 units from 19,98,703 units in the previous
year (2012). This is the first time that annual car sales in
India declined after how many years? 11 years (The
last year when annual car sales displayed negative
growth was in year 2002. High inflation, fuel prices and
interest rates which resulted in high cost of
ownership, are generally as the reason for this negative
trend)
2) What was Indias rank in the 2014 Nuclear Threat
Initiatives Nuclear Materials Security Index, which was
released on 8 January 2014? 23 (Indias 23 rank was
among 25 countries included in this index, which
basically throws light on the level of nuclear material
security in the world. India has been ranked below its
two nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and China.
India received 41 out of 100 points, which is
improvement by one point from the 2012 score. China
received 64 points and has been ranked at 20
th
spot,
while Pakistan with 46 points stands at 22
nd
place. India
and these countries are included in the list of 25
countries with one kilogram or more of these materials,
which also includes all other nuclear-armed states)
3) The RBI on 9 January 2014 allowed the relatives of
non-resident Indians (NRIs) to become joint account
holders in the savings bank account in the country.
Such an account will be treated as resident bank
account for all purposes and all regulations applicable
to a domestic account will be applicable. The joint
account holder facility will be extended to all types of
resident accounts, including savings bank account.
However, what facilities will not be provided for NRIs
relatives for this joint-account? The relative cannot
credit cheques, remittances, cash, card or any other
proceeds to this account
4) Al-Qaeda led forces recently took control of which
strategic city of Iraq resulting in Iraqi government losing
the control of this important town situated in Sunni-
dominated region? Fallujah(Fallujah is located just 65
kilometers west of capital Baghdad. This incident is
being seen as yet another one to show that the Iraqi
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has not been able to
maintain control of the country since the United States
withdrew its troops in 2011)
5) Former Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa
on 9 January 2014 formally rejoined the BJP, more than
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outfit. What was the name of the party founded by
him, which has now been merged with the BJP?
Karnataka Janata Paksha KJP(Relegated to third
position, the BJP had tasted the most humiliating
defeat in the Assembly polls held on 8 May 2013 which
saw the collapse of its first ever government in the
south with KJP playing the spoiler garnering six seats
with 10% vote share)
6) According to data provided by the Marine Products
Export Development Authority (MPEDA) and Seafood
Exporters Association of India on 9 January 2014, which
country has recently overtaken South-East Asia as the
largest market for Indian seafood exports? The
United States (Shipments to the US in April-November
2013 in rupee terms jumped 91% to Rs 5,392.3 crore,
while the comparative number for South-East Asia was
Rs 4,887.7 crore)

January 11, 2014

1) Prime Manmohan Singh on 10 January 2014
inaugurated the new swanky airport terminal of
Chhatrapathi Sivaji International Airport (CSIA) Mumbai
called Terminal 2 (T2). This terminal will now go into
operations from 12 February 2014. Which company led
the consortium which built this huge terminal? GVK
Airport Holdings (The new terminal will undergo a
comprehensive security sweep in addition to
operational readiness and airport transfer tests before
the launch of operations. CSIAs T2 is a 4.4 million
square feet project which has been inspired by Indias
national bird the peacock)
2) The Union Cabinet on 9 January 2014 gave its
approval for introduction of the National Youth Policy-
2014 (NYP-2014). The vision of NYP-2014 is to
empower youth to achieve their full potential, and
through them enable India to find its rightful place in
the community of nations. NYP-2014 would replace
which National Youth Policy, which was in use till now?
National Youth Policy, 2013 (NYP-2014 will cover the
entire country catering the needs of all youth in the
age-group of 15-29 years, which constitutes 27.5% of
the population according to Census-2011, about 33
crore youths)
3) The government Union on 10 January 2014 gave its
approval to the plan to form an Exchange Traded Fund
(ETF) comprising scrips of 11 bluechip state-owned
companies, which will be offered in the market with a
view to garnering Rs 3,000 crore this fiscal. Which are
the 11 state-owned companies (PSUs) involved in this
ETF plan? ONGC, Coal India Limited, GAIL, Power
Grid, REC, Oil India Limited, Container Corporation of
India, Power Finance Corporation, Indian Oil Limited,
Engineers India Limited and Bharat Engineering
Limited (ETF is a security that tracks an index, a
commodity or a basket of assets like an index fund, but
trades like a stock on an exchange. The PSU ETF would
comprise shares of various profitable state-owned
companies. The composition of ETF and weightage of
the shares of individual PSU in the index has been
decided by the EGoM)
4) SEBI on 10 January 2014 notified new norms
empowering its Chairman to order search and seizure
operations during investigations, while necessary
safeguards have also been put in place to protect rights
of affected persons. This would add extra power to


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SEBIs crackdown against fraudsters. What is the name
of the ordinance promulgated by the Union
government in September 2013, which had conferred
explicit powers on SEBI Chairman to authorise
investigating authority or any other officer of SEBI to
conduct search and seizure under the SEBI Act?
Securities Laws (Amendment) Second Ordinance,
2013 (The new norms providing SEBI with powers to
conduct search and seizure have been finalised after
taking into account suggestions from public and other
stakeholders to draft regulations, which were issued in
November 2013)
5) The Government on 10 January 2014 notified the
new gas pricing policy that would be applicable to all
domestically produced natural gas for the next five
years. However, Reliance Industries and its foreign
partners BP and Niko Resources in the KG-D6 block
would have to submit a bank guarantee before they
can avail themselves of the new price. This new price
mechanism would come into effect from which date?
From 1 April 2014 (The new gas pricing mechanism, as
suggested by a panel headed by Prime Ministers
Economic Advisory Council Chief C. Rangarajan, has
been given the go-ahead by the Cabinet Committee on
Economic Affairs (CCEA))
6) Election Commission (EC) on 9 January 2014 decided
to call off the tie with Google for registering new voters
through online mode and to guide votes regarding the
voting procedures. The Election Commission had earlier
signed an agreement with Google on 2 January 2014.
Why the decision to call off tie with Google in this issue
was taken by the Election Commission? Due to
increased concerns raised over privacy, data security
and its commercial use by the Indian security
agencies (EC decided not to share details of around 800
million voters with internet giant Google. EC may seek
the US-based companys support only for creating voter
awareness)


January 12-13, 2014

1) What is the name of world first Bitcoin storage
service that insures deposits of the digital currency
against hackers and accidental loss, which was opened
on London on 12 January 2013? Elliptic
Vault (Bitcoin is a virtual currency that can be
generated through complex computer software
systems with solutions shared on a network. Although,
the digital currency is gaining popularity, concerns
about its security are on the rise. Online wallets used to
store Bitcoins have been subject to a number of cyber-
attacks and some users have also suffered from
accidental loss. Unlike money stored in a conventional
bank, Bitcoins are not insured and there is no way of
retrieving them. Elliptic Vaults founders claim they are
the first in the world to offer insurance for Bitcoin
owners)
2) Ariel Sharon, who passed away on 11 January 2014,
was the former Prime Minister of which country?
Israel (Sharon, a hardliner revered by Israelis as Mr.
Security for his contributions in all the major wars
fought by Tel Aviv and reviled across the Arab world as
the butcher of Sabra and Shatila, was elected prime
minister in 2001 and served until he suffered a stroke
that left him comatose in January 2006)
3) Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina began her
second successive innings in government leading a 49-
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2014. This is her third term as Prime Minister of
Bangladesh. She first became PM of her country in
which year? 1996 (In the new parliament, Jatiya Party
is going to play a dual role as its leader Raushan Ershad
will be Leader of the Opposition while several partymen
were inducted as ministers. Ershads wife, Raushan
Ershad, has replaced Begum Khaleda Zia, who was the
Leader of the Opposition in the last parliament.
Khaleda Zias BNP had boycotted the parliamentary
polls)
4) Indian government will on 30 January 2014 revise
upwards its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate
estimate for 2011-12 to about 7% from 6.2%. Why this
upward correction will be done? To address the
problem of earlier underestimation of industrial
output (The sharp revision in official data for GDP
growth assumes significance in the wake of severe
criticism from the Opposition of the Governments
performance on economic management. GDP data for
a fiscal undergoes three rounds of revisions; the
process takes three years. The Central Statistical
Offices (CSO) is scheduled to release the Second
Revised Estimate for 2011-12 on January 30. The First
Revised Estimate for 2011-12 was 6.2%)
5) Driven, a book released recently, has been written
by a former a Civil Servant Turned Entrepreneur. Who
is he? Jagdish Khattar (Jagdish Khattar is a former IAS
officer who became an entrepreneur after his
successful career as Managing Director (MD) of Maruti
Suzuki, Indias largest automaker. After leaving Maruti
Suzuki Khattar founded his enterprise Carnation,
which deals with selling of used cars)
6) Who during January 2014 took over as the
109
th
Mayor of New York? Bill de Blasio (He had
defeated Joe Lhota by a landslide margin the elections
held for the post during November 2013. He replaced
Michael Bloomberg, who was one of the most
influential New York mayors)

January 14, 2014

1) Which major bank during January 2014 came out
with plans to outsource the management of some of its
ATMs by taking calls from vendors? State Bank of
India (SBI called for a Request for Proposal (RFP) from
vendors to manage about 7,843 cash dispensers
(ATMs). Vendors will be expected to have all
capabilities to remotely capture and initiate
appropriate action in the event of any problems at
these cash dispensers. They will be expected to ensure
that the downtime of these ATMs in metro and urban
areas is less than 3%, while it is less than 6% in rural
areas. SBI had 32,777 ATMs as of 30 September 2013. It
has expanded its network steadily in the past few years,
adding about a third of its network (about 11,000
ATMs) in the past 18 months. ATM operations have
however not been profitable)
2) Retirement fund-body the Employees Provident
Fund Organisation (EPFO) on 13 January 2014 decided
to increase the rate of interest on Provident Fund
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benefit about 5 crore subscribers. What was the
present rate of interest for EPFO subscribers?
8.5% (The Central Board of Trustees, which is the apex
decision-making body of the Employees Provident
Fund Organisation (EPFO), met on 13 January and
approved the interest rate. The EPFOs
recommendation will now be vetted by the Finance
Ministry. Once the ministry approves the decision, the
interest would be credited to the accounts of
subscribers. The EPFO is estimated to have an income
of Rs 20,796.96 crore in the current financial year)
3) According to announcement made by Union Finance
Minister P. Chidambaram on 12 January 2014 the
Centre has revised its target upwards to opening
10,000 new bank branches a year. This has been part of
Centres initiative of taking banking services to rural
areas. What was the earlier target? 7,000
branches (From the coming financial year, it has been
revised to open 10,000 branches a year and through
this, an additional 55,000 new jobs are expected to be
created)
4) The Government on 12 January 2014 unveiled 46 oil
and gas blocks, which are expected to be auctioned
soon under the tenth round of the Governments New
Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP X). These blocks
were unveiled at the 4-day biennial international oil
and gas conference which started at New Delhi. What is
the name of this conference? Petrotech
2014 (Petrotech 2014 has being jointly organised by the
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and the
PETROTECH Society. Nearly 11 energy ministers from
across the world are expected to fly down to the four-
day event. Companies from more than 15 countries
participated in the event. In this conference, all
regulators, national oil companies, private operators,
services and ancillary firms, form a combined platform
to demonstrate India as an E&P (exploration and
production) destination)
5) The seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams
of the United States became the first major casualty of
Australian Open 2014, which started on 13 January
2014 at Melbourne. She was defeated by which Russian
player? Ekaterina Makarova (he No. 22-seeded
Makarova defeated Venus Williams by 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam
tennis events of the year)
6) The United Stock Exchange (USE) on 13 January 2014
announced a five-year contract with a leading IT
services company for deploying and managing a new
online trading system as part of its quest to turn
profitable next fiscal. Which IT company is this? Tata
Consultancy Services TCS(Under the contract, TCS will
replace the erstwhile technology platform at the
currency derivatives exchange with a system that is
more cost efficient but scalable enough to
accommodate its future expansion plans, multiple
sources close to the development. Once the solution is
up and running, USE expects a reduction in its
operating costs, thereby helping the exchanges
balance sheet return to black in the next fiscal)
7) A 61,000 cubic meters balloon indigenously
developed in India at the Balloon Facility, Tata Institute
of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Hyderabad penetrated
into the mesosphere for the first time in India. So far
only two countries have accomplished this feat. Which
are these two countries? The USA and Japan (The
61K cubic meter balloon weighing 31.0 kilograms was
manufactured at Balloon Facility using the indigenously
developed ultra-thin polyethylene film of thickness 3.8
micro meters. The balloon was launched at 0402 hours
on 7 January 2014 from Balloon Facility campus and it
reached the maximum altitude of 51.661 kilometers in
around 2 hours and created the record. The flight was
terminated at 0704 hours IST using Tele-Command.
This is for the first time that a regular stratospheric
balloon has penetrated the mesosphere in India)



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January 15, 2014
1) Indian Army celebrates 66
th
Army Day on 15 January
2014. Army Day was started to mark which occasion
associated with the Indian Army? Lt. General K.M.
Cariappa taking over as the first Indian Commander-
in-Chief of the Indian Army from Sir Francis Butcher on
15 January 1948(Butcher was thus the last British Chief
of the Indian Army. Cariappa was later made Field
Marshal)
2) India on 13 February 2014 completed three
consecutive years without a single wild polio case being
reported from any part of the country. It thus achieved
the three-year milestone necessary to achieve polio-
free certification from the World Health Organisation
(WHO). The official announcement of India becoming a
polio free country will be made on 11 February 2014.
From where was the last case of polio reported in
India? Howrah in West Bengal on 13 January
2011 (Commemorating the day, Rotary International lit
up iconic monuments and buildings across the nation.
In Delhi, the historic India Gate and Red Fort was lit up
with the message Celebrating 3 Years of last Polio
case in India)
3) What is the name of countrys oldest elected
representative in the Parliament, who recently
announced his decision to retire shortly? Rishang
Keishing, a Rajya Sabha MP from Manipur (He was born
on 25 October 1919 and had also served as the Chief
Minister of Manipur for four times. Kieshing was sworn
in as CM of Manipur for the first time on 16 December
1975. Keishing was first elected to the Rajya sabha on
Congress ticket in 2008 and has been MP so far. The
lone Rajya Sabha MP in Manipur will be elected on 7
February 2014)
4) Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi on 13
January 2014 withdrew the Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI) in multi-brand retail segment. By doing this it
became the state in the country to withdraw FDI
in this segment First (The previous Delhi government
led by Sheila Dikshit had allowed FDI in multi-brand
retail segment during July 2012. While taking this
decision Delhi government found that at the global
level FDI in multi-brand retail caused massive job losses
at multiple places. However, many experts opined that
this decision is expected to adversely affect the
investment in Delhi and tarnish its FDI friendly image)
5) SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India)
Chairman UK Sinhas term was extended by 2 years
during January 2014. Sinha will now head the
regulatory body till 16 March 2016. Among the last four
chairmen, Sinha is the only one whose term has been
extended. Who is the only SEBI chief to have held the
post for a longer duration than Sinha? D.R.
Mehta (Mehta served as SEBI Chairman for 7 years
(1995-2002). Sinhas three predecessors GN Bajpai
(2002-2005), M Damodaran (2005-2008) and CB Bhave
(2008-2011) had only got a three-year terms)
6) In a significant development, the Gujarat High Court
on 13 January 2014 ordered the suspension of all
commercial and development activity inside the 21
units at the Adani Groups Adani Ports and Special
Economic Zone (APSEZ) at Gujarats Kutch district. This
order was passed following a public interest litigation
(PIL) filed by the villagers of Navinal, located inside the
SEZ, alleging serious violations of the Environment
Impact Assessment (EIA) notification, 2006 by the
company and the units there. Where is this SEZ of
Adani Group situated? Mundra Port (The Adani
Group has pumped in around Rs. 20,000 crore in
Mundra and about Rs. 7,000 crore for the SEZ, with a
proposed area of some 18,000 hectares)


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January 16, 2014

1) Indian woman long jumper Anju Bobby George
became the first and the only Indian to win a gold
medal at the World Athletics Championships after her
silver medal position was promoted to gold medal
position due to disqualification of the Gold Medalist
Tatyana Kotova of Russia for doping. Anju had won this
silver medal in which World Athletics Championships?
World Athletics Championships 2005 held at Monte
Carlo (At the World Athletics Final in 2005, Anju Bobby
George won the Silver Medal with a long jump of 6.75
meter. The Gold Medal was won by Russias Tatyana
Kotova with a jump of 6.83 meter and the Bronze
Medal was won by Grace Upshaw of the US. Following
the disqualification of Tatyana Kotova by the
International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF)
on 13 January 2014, Anju was declared winner of long
jump event. Eunice Barber of France was awarded the
bronze medal)
2) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during January 2014
clarified that the provision of prior RBI nod applies for
establishments from Hong Kong and Macau to set up
business or related activities in India. As per the existing
conditions this provision pertaining to RBIs approval
applies on which 6 countries? Afghanistan,
Bangladesh, China, Iran, Pakistan and Sri Lanka (As per
the existing conditions under the Foreign Exchange
Management Regulations, no entity or citizens of these
6 countries is allowed to set up any branch office or a
liaison office or a project or any other such business
activity without prior permission of the RBI)
3) Namdeo Dhasal, the Marathi poet, firebrand writer
and fierce fighter for Dalit rights, passed away at a
Mumbai hospital on 15 January 2014. He was being
treated for numerous illnesses including cancer at the
hospital. What is the name of the popular movement
started by Dhasal which focused on radical approach to
solve the problems of Dalits in India? Dalit
Panthers (Dalit Panthers was founded by Namdeo
Dhasal in 1972 in Mumbai. The Dalit Panther
movement was a radical departure from earlier Dalit
movements. Its initial thrust on militancy through the
use of rustic arms and threats, gave the movement a
revolutionary coloration)
4) The Parliament of Europe on 14 January 2014 signed
a new carbon dioxide restriction treaty which seeks to
slash emissions for a segment of transport across the
European Union (EU) by 28% from year 2020. The
treaty focuses on which transport segment?
Commercial Vans (All new light commercial vehicles
sold across the EU come under these new rules, under
which these vehicles are to emit a maximum 147
grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre instead of
203 grammes as per the level set in 2007. The
legislation would be reviewed in 2015. According to
data released by the European Commission, 12% of
emissions in the light-duty vehicle segment are done by
vans. These emissions contribute for 1.5% of total
European Union carbon dioxide emissions)
5) Who was appointed as new Commerce Secretary on
15 January 2014? Rajeev Kher (He will take his charge


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on 31 January 2014 from SR Rao. Kher is a 1980-batch
IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre. He is currently
special secretary, Department of Commerce under
Ministry of Commerce and Industry)

January 17, 2014

1) A two-day voting was held in Egypt on 14 and 15
January 2014 on a draft for countrys next constitution.
This voting was also seen as a referendum on a likely
presidential run by Egypts top general. The results of
this voting were released on 16 January 2014 in which
Egypts new constitution was approved by an
overwhelmingly majority of around 90% votes. What is
the name of Egypts Army Chief, who nudged closer to
a bid for the presidency with these results? General
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (The vote advances a transition
plan the army unveiled after deposing Islamist
president Mohammed Morsi during July 2013. The next
step is expected to be a presidential election for which
Sisi appears the only serious candidate. It was the first
vote held since Morsi was overthrown following the
mass protests of 30 June 2013 against his rule. The
constitution won wide support among the many
Egyptians who backed the armys removal of Morsi.
Morsis Muslim Brotherhood had called for a boycott,
seeing the vote as part of a coup)
2) Which Meteorological Data Processing System was
dedicated to the nation on 15 January 2014 on the
occasion of 139
th
Foundation Day of India
Meteorological Department (IMD)? INSAT 3D (INSAT
3D Meteorological Data Processing System (IMDPS) has
been set up at National Satellite Meteorological Centre
(NSMC), IMD, New Delhi to receive and process the
satellite data on a real time basis. The system is capable
to process and generate images and products on 24X7
basis)
3) An international tribunal on 16 January 2014 opened
hearings into the killing of former Lebanese Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri at the International Court of
Justice at the Hague, Netherlands. The tribunal named
the Special Tribunal on Lebanon, however, marked the
notable absence of four accused in this case. When was
Rafik Hariri assassinated in a truck attack in Beirut? 14
February 2005 (The trial for the alleged suspects
represents the first time that an international tribunal
has tried defendants in their absence since the
Nuremberg trials after World War II)
4) A national festival for showcasing the abilities of
Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) was organized by the
Department of Disability Affairs under the Ministry of
Social Justice and Empowerment on 15 16 January
2014 at New Delhi. What was the name of this festival?
Samarth 2014 : Celebrating Diversity (The objectives
of organizing Samarth were to showcase the abilities
and potential of PwDs, create awareness about their
rights and entitlements and provide PwDs and those
working for them an opportunity for an interface with
each other)
5) A prominent Indian credit rating agency along with
four other rating agencies from Europe, Asia, Africa and
Latin America during January 2014 launched a new
credit rating outfit ARC Ratings S.A. The network-based
rating agency would provide credit rating services to
cross-border corporates in terms of accessing global
capital. Which Indian rating is involved in this initiative?


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CARE Credit Analysis and Research (ARC Ratings
will be an equally held entity and have its operational
headquarters in London. Each partners shareholding is
capped at a maximum of 25%. ARC will rate sovereign
debt, financial institutions, non-financial corporations
as well as structured products)
6) Garry Kenneth Toomey on 16 January 2014 resigned
as the CEO of a prominent Indian airline company.
Which airline is this? Jet Airways (Toomey had joined
the airline barely seven months ago)

January 18-19, 2014

1) In a path-breaking development India and Pakistan
on 18 January 2014 agreed upon numerous measures
to smoothen trade between the two countries. Indian
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and his Pakistani
counterpart Khurram Dastgir Khan in their meeting
held at New Delhi decided to re-start the trade
liberalisation process stalled for 16 months and work
towards non-discriminatory market access on a
reciprocal basis. What are important agreements
achieved at this meeting?
India and Pakistan decided to open the Wagah-
Attari border for trade 24X7
The two countries allowed containers from two
countries to be moved right up to Amritsar and
Lahore instead of being unloaded at the check-
post and re-loaded on the other side
It was decided to expedite the process of giving
banking licences so that Indian and Pakistani
banks can operate in the other country
(India and Pakistan had started negotiations to
normalise trade ties in January 2011 and had made
several concessions for each other before the talks
came to an abrupt halt due to violence across the Line
of Control)
2) Legendary Bengali actress Suchitra Sen passed away
on 17 January 2014 at a private hospital in Kolkata. She
was admitted to the hospital with a with chest infection
on 23 December. Sen acted in over 50 movies between
1952 and 1978 of which six were in Hindi. She went
into recluse after her last film was released. Over the
past three decades she withdrew herself from public
life and did not meet people except her family
members. She was considered for Dada Saheb Phalke
Award in which year, which she reportedly refused in
order to remain away from public life? 2005 (The
award that year was conferred upon Shyam Benegal.
Capturing the publics imagination for three decades
through her ethereal beauty and intense celluloid
performance, Suchitra Sen symbolised the golden age
of Bengali cinema with memorable films like
Agnipariksha, Devdas and Saat Paake Bandha.
Gulzars Aandhi was one of her foremost Hindi films)
3) Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin passed away
on 17 January 2014 at Mumbai. 102-year old Dr.
Burhanuddin was a spiritual leader of which sect of
Muslims? Dawoodi Bohra community(Dawoodi
Bohra is a sect of Shia Muslims spread all over the
world. The word Bohra means trader and traditionally,
most members of the sect have been entrepreneurs.
Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin was credited with
transforming Dawoodi Bohras into a vibrant
community. Bohras thronged to Syednas sermons in
thousands. He was cremated on 18 January 2014.


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However at least 18 persons died in the early hours of
18 January due to a stampede outside his south
Mumbai residence where innumerable of his followers
had assembled to have a last glimpse of this great
preacher)
4) According to the recently released report of the
World Health Organisation (WHO) Pakistan is the only
polio-endemic country in the world where polio cases
rose from 2012 to 2013. Which Pakistani city is now the
largest reservoir of endemic polio virus in the world, as
stated by the WHO on 17 January 2014?
Peshawar (Peshawar is the provincial capital of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa. According to the latest genomic
sequencing results of the Regional Reference
Laboratory for Poliovirus, 83 out of 91 polio cases in the
country during the last year are genetically linked to
the polio virus circulating actively in Peshawar.
Moreover, 12 out of the total 13 cases reported during
the previous year from Afghanistan are also directly
linked to Peshawar)
5) The 108 National Ambulance service was launched in
the state of Uttar Pradesh on 17 January 2014. Which
enterprise has been given charge to operate this
ambulance service? GVK EMRI (GVK EMRI is currently
operating 988 Ambulances under 108 Scheme in Uttar
Pradesh. They have also bagged the project of
operating 2,000 more ambulances under 102 Scheme
which is meant for the transportation of pregnant
women and neonates to the hospital and also back to
home after delivery. Emergency Management and
Research Institute (EMRI) was set up in 2005 with the
objective of delivering comprehensive, speedy, reliable
and quality Emergency Care Services)
6) Sunanda Pushkar, who was found dead in a New
Delhi hotel late on 17 January 2014, was the wife of
which union minister? Shashi Tharoor, the Union
Minister of State for Human Resource Development
(Her last rites were performed on 18 January at New
Delhi)
7) What was position of hosts India in the Hero Hockey
World League Final, in which it played its last
classification match on 18 January 2014? Sixth (India
finished at sixth position after it was defeated 2-1 by
Belgium in the fifth-sixth place classification game. The
sixth place finish in this League is certain to give a major
boost to Indias world rankings. India are presently lying
10
th
in the world rankings)

January 20, 2014
1) Which stock exchange retained its position as the
worlds largest bourse in terms of equity trades for the
second consecutive year in 2013? Indias National
Stock Exchange (NSE) NSE recorded almost 145 crore
equity trades on its platform last year, a gain of 3%
from 2012, making it the biggest among 51 global
peers, according to data with the World Federation of
Exchanges (WFE). Rival exchange BSE slipped one place
to eighth position. Although it has more than 4,000
listed companies, the BSE recorded 34.46 crore trades
last year, a drop of 3% compared to 2012. Chinas
Shenzhen Stock Exchange recorded 129 crore trades,
climbing three places to become the second-largest
bourse in the world. Trades on the Shenzhen SE, which
pushed NYSE Euronext to third place, rose 38% from
2012
2) The inaugural Hero Hockey World League 2014,
which was held at the Major Dhyan Chand National
Stadium, was won by the Netherlands (In the final


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played on 18 January 2014 the Netherlands thrashed
New Zealand 7-2 to claim the title. Third place was
claimed by England which defeated Australia by 2-1 in
the bronze medal match. India earlier finished sixth in
the tournament after losing 1-2 to Belgium. Robbert
Kempermann of the Netherlands was declared Player
of the Tournament)
3) Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the
first Indian wicketkeeper and the fourth overall to
effect 300 dismissals in One Day Internationals (ODIs)
when he caught a Ross Taylor nick in the opening ODI
against New Zealand in Napier on 19 January 2014.
Which are the three players who have more catches
against their names in ODIs? Australias Adam
Gilchrist (472), Sri LankansKumar Sangakkara (443)
and South Africas Mark Boucher (425)
4) 3
rd
Lusofonia Games started on 18 January 2013 at
Goa. These games are held for community of which
countries? Portuguese-speaking countries (Athletes
from 12 countries are participating in these games,
which are Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor,
Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Goa (India), Macau
(China), Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome & Principe
and Sri Lanka)
5) Top-seeded Serena Williams was ousted from the
Australian Open 2014 after she lost in the fourth round.
With this loss Williams winning streak since August
2013 was broken. Who defeated her? Ana
Ivanovic (Ivanovic defeated her by 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to move
into quarter-finals)
6) At least 22 security personnel were killed and 38
others injured in a terrorist attack on a military convoy
in Pakistans restive northwest on 19 January 2014. The
attack took place near Aamandi Chowk in Khyber-
Pakhtunkhwas Bannu. This attack was committed by
which group? Pakistani Taliban (Bannu, which stands
at the gateway to the semi-autonomous Waziristan
tribal region, is 150 kilometres southwest of Peshawar)
7) Global retail giant Wal-Mart on 15 January 2014
registered a new company in India as it prepares to
enter the countrys lucrative multi-brand retail market
with a new partner. What is the name of this new
registered company? Wal-Mart India Private
Ltd (The American retail major Wal-Mart and Bharti
Enterprises decided to part ways in October last year,
bringing an end to their six-year long partnership)


January 21, 2014

1) The Reserve Bank of India recently constituted an 8-
member expert committee to review the governance of
bank boards in India, which includes examining the
ownership and salary structure of banks. Who heads
this committee? PJ Naik, former Chairman and CEO of
Axis Bank (The committee will review the regulatory
compliance requirements of the board of directors of
banks, judge what can be rationalised and where
requirements need enhancements, examine the
working of the boards, including whether adequate
time is being devoted to issues of strategy, growth,
governance and risk management)


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2) To promote women entrepreneurship, the countrys
first womens bank the Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB)
has chosen to do away with collateral for loans
availed by women. The BMB will provide collateral-free
loans for amounts up to Rs 1 crore. Which entity would
cover the risk under this initiative? Credit Guarantee
Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises
CGTMSE (The CGTMSE is a credit guarantee scheme,
where a premium is paid either by the lender or the
applicant, provides a guarantee cover for up to 80% of
loans availed by women owned or operated micro- and
small enterprises. For loans availed for smaller amounts
such as Rs 20,000, the bank will completely waive off
the requirement for collateral)
3) The proposal to accord minority status to which
community was accepted by the Union Cabinet on 20
January 2014, which will enable it to avail of benefits in
government schemes and programmes? Jain
community (The decision to grant minority status to
the community of about 50 lakh was taken at a meeting
of Union Cabinet a day after Congress Vice President
Rahul Gandhi took up this issue with Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh. Once formally recognised as a
minority, Jains would get a share in central funds
earmarked for welfare programmes and scholarships
for the minorities. They can also manage and
administer their own educational institutions. The
community is already enjoying minority status in some
states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan but the new decision
extends that status across the country)
4) Indian national airline Air India was recently invited
to join which famous global network of airlines by this
summer? Star Alliance (Star Alliance was created in
1997, to better meet the needs of frequent
international travellers. It today serves over 1,300
airports globally with a combined fleet strength of the
members being over 4,700 aircraft. The Alliance,
through its member airlines has a presence in over 195
countries. In December 2007, Air India was inducted
into Star Alliance after a meeting of the CEOs board in
Beijing. But in August 2011, the airlines application for
membership of the alliance was put on hold as it did
not meet the minimum joining conditions that had
been contractually agreed to in December 2007)
5) Which country on 19 January 2014 barred Malaysian
opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim from entering the
country on account of a previous conviction of the
leader? Japan (Japanese immigration officials on 19
January stopped Anwar at Narita International Airport,
and told him to take the next flight back to Kuala
Lumpur. According to Ibrahim the officials apparently
denied him entry for a previous conviction in 1999)
6) Chinas economy grew by 7.7% in 2013, which is far
below the standards of China worlds second-largest
economy. The economic growth rate of 2013 is the
lowest since which year? 1999 (2013s growth is the
lowest in 14 years. This marks the slowest growth since
1999, when China grew 7.6%. The previous decade saw
record double-digit growth, with the country defying
the global slowdown to grow 10.4% in 2010 as it
unveiled a massive $ 586 billion stimulus. This declining
growth underlines the challenges faced by China as it
grapples with rebalancing and reviving a slowing down
economy)
7) What is the name of the Islamic militant group that
claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings in the
southern city of Volgograd during December 2013
which killed 34 people and heightened security fears
before Winter Olympics 2014? Vilayat Dagestan (This
militant group claimed responsibility for Volgograd
bombings also threatened to strike the 2014 Winter
Olympics to be held in February 2014 in Sochi)




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January 22, 2014

1) In a major overhaul of foreign investment regime,
the government is considering splitting overseas
inflows into two categories Foreign Portfolio
Investment (FPI) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
with a minimum composite cap of 49%. The proposal
envisages an aggregate automatic limit of 24% of FPI,
which may be raised up to the extent of FDI permitted
under the automatic route. Constituting two categories
for foreign investments is considered by which panel?
Mayaram Panel (The government had set up a four-
member committee headed by Economic Affairs
Secretary Mayaram to define FDI and FII and remove
the ambiguity between them. The Committee is
expected to finalise its report by end of January 2014)
2) The Supreme Court on 21 January 2014 commuted
the death sentence of four aides of forest brigand
Veerappan to life term on ground of delay in deciding
their mercy plea by the Government. The four convicts
Simon, Gnanaprakash, Madaiah and Bilavendran
were convicted for killing 22 people in a landmine blast
in Palar, Tamil Nadu. In which year this crime was
committed by them? 1993
3) Who was chosen as the new Director of National
Police Academy (NPA), Hyderabad and with this she
becomes the first woman head of the countrys premier
training institute for IPS officers? Aruna
Bahuguna (She will be the first woman to head the
countrys premier training institute for IPS officers
selected by the Union Public Service Commission since
its inception in 1948. Ms. Bahuguna, who belongs to
the 1979 batch of IPS, is an officer of the rank of
Director General of Police from Andhra Pradesh cadre.
She is presently the Special Director General of Central
Reserve Police Force, the countrys largest para-military
force with a strength of three lakh)
4) Who retired as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI) on 20 January 2014? Anand Sinha (With
Anand Sinha relinquishing his charge as Deputy
Governor, the RBI re-allocated his portfolios among the
remaining three Deputy Governors K.C. Chakrabarty,
H.R. Khan and Urjit Patel. Sinha was in-charge of eight
departments, including Departments of Banking
Operations and Development, Risk Management,
Information Technology and Expenditure and
Budgetary Control)
5) The Union Government on 20 January 2014 allowed
the establishment of an ad hoc authority to
recommend the pricing of the passenger and cargo
segments. What is the name of this authority? Rail
Tariff Authority (Rail Tariff Authority will have a
Chairman and four members. The decision to have an
ad hoc arrangement through a government resolution
was taken because establishing it through an executive
order, as had been desired by the Cabinet, was not
feasible given that under the Railway Act only the
Railway Board can decide on the prices of rail services.
For constitution of the RTA, an amendment to the
Railway Act, 1989, is also necessary)
6) The pilot project of Amuls first Any Time Milk
(ATM) vending machine to dispense milk on 24X7 basis
was on 19 January 2014 installed at Anand,
Gujarat (The pilot project of this 247 ATM began with
the installation of a vending machine at the gate of
Amul Dairy in Anand town of Gujarat. For a Rs 10-
currency note, which this machine will read through a


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sensor, the ATM would dispense a 300 ml pouch of
Amul Taaza milk. The ATM, fitted with refrigeration
facility, has a capacity to hold 150 pouches at a time. To
start with, Amul plans to set up these ATMs at each of
the 1,100 mandalis (village-level milk collection
centres) in Kheda and Anand districts of Gujarat)

January 23, 2014
1) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on 22 January 2014,
warned that it would withdraw from circulation all old
banknotes and announced that it will withdraw all old
notes from 31 March 2014. From 1 July 2014 these old
notes would be put out of circulation. Notes issued
before which year will be withdrawn by the RBI?
2005 (According to an RBI advisory, anybody who had
such currency notes would have to approach a bank in
order to exchange them. The RBI would start
withdrawing the notes after 31 March 2014. This step
will apparently hit currency hoarders and
counterfeiters. However, the currency notes issued
before 2005 would remain legal tender. But from 1 July
2014 those wanting to exchange more than 10 pieces
of 500 and 1000 rupee notes in a bank where they do
not have an account will have to provide proof of
residence and identity)
2) Who will be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day
Celebrations 2014 to be celebrated on 26 January
2014? Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan (Japanese
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will pay an official visit to
New Delhi from January 25-27 and will be the chief
guest at this years Republic Day celebrations)
3) Who was the head of RBIs committee on
strengthening monetary policy framework, which in its
recommendations has suggested that the target for
inflation should be set at 4% with a band of +/- 2%
around it? Urjit Patel, Deputy Governor of the RBI
(This inflation target is in view of vulnerability of the
Indian economy to supply/external shocks and the
relatively large weight of food in Consumer Price Index
(CPI))
4) Who was selected to head the National Dairy
Development Board (NDDB), who will become the first
ever person from the Indian Administrative Service
(IAS) to hold the position of NDDB Chairman? T.
Nanda Kumar (Nanda Kumar, currently Member of the
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), is
slated to take over from 1 March 2014. He will replace
Amrita Patel who has been holding the post since 1998.
Both Patel and her illustrious predecessor Verghese
Kurien, who was chairman from 1965 to 1998, had
dairy professional backgrounds. NDDBs heydays were
in 1970-95, when it implemented the Operation Flood
programme that made India self-sufficient in milk
production and end reliance on imports of milk powder
and butter oil)
5) Legendary Telugu actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao
(lovingly called ANR) passed away at a private hospital
in Hyderabad on 22 January 2014 at the age of 91
years. Father of Telugu superstar Nagarjuna, he
founded which famous studios in Hyderabad, which
helped in establishing Telugu film industry in this city?
Annapurna Studios (He always wished to stay in
Andhra Pradesh as this is where his audience was. With
the support of the government, he bought land and
developed Annapurna Studio primarily to encourage


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the migration of the Telugu film industry from Chennai.
ANR was awarded Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1991
and Padma Vibhushan in 2011, which is second highest
civilian award of the country)
6) Which bank came to highlight recently for declaring
an interim dividend of 9000%, which is said to be the
highest in Indias banking industry? Tamilnad
Mercantile Bank TMB (Tuticorin-based TMB took a
decision to this effect at a meeting held on 18 January
2014. This dividend stands at Rs. 900 per share of Rs 10
each, for the fiscal ending March 2014. This is the
second year in a row that the bank has declared such a
high dividend. The banks board had approved a
dividend of Rs 750 per share for 2008-09 and Rs 1,000
per share the following year)

January 24, 2014

1) The term Euromaidan came to news recently, which
stands for a huge spat of civil unrest and anti-
government protests in a country. Which country is
associated with these protests?
Ukraine(Euromaidan mean Eurosquare. It stands for
the ongoing protests and civil unrest undertaken by a
large section of Ukrainian populace demanding
countrys closer integration with Europe. The protests
started on 21 November 2013 from Ukraines capital
Kiev and since then have grown into a strong
movement against President Viktor Yanukovych and his
government. The protests against Yanukovych started
after his apparent move to incline towards Russian
Govt. and moving away from European influence.
Euromaidan is the largest ever pro-European
movement in the history. The protest took an ugly and
violent form on 19 January and became more violent
on 23 January)
2) President Pranab Mukherjee on 23 January 2014
gave seven more days to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly
to discuss and debate the draft Telangana bill in the
House before returning it to the Centre. What was the
deadline given by the President while sending the bill to
the state Assembly? 23 January 2014 (The decision
has been taken by the President following a request of
the Andhra Pradesh government which sought four
weeks extension of the 23 January deadline. The
Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill now has to be
returned by the state Assembly by 30 January 2014
with or without its view)
3) A 60-day state of emergency was imposed in which
South-East countrys capital on 21 January 2014?
Thailand (A 60-day state of emergency was imposed in
Thailands capital Bangkok to suppress the anti-
government protests that has blocked the parts of the
capital and to take care of the situation and to enforce
the law. This emergency came into effect from 22
January and it bans public gatherings, brings into effect
censoring of news reports and imposition of curfew for
next 60 days)
4) Tata Chemicals on 23 January 2014 celebrated its
platinum jubilee (75
th
year) and on this occasion
companys Managing Director R. Mukundan rang the
opening bell on the Bombay Stock Exchange. At which
place 75 years back Tata Chemicals established its first


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centre of salt and soda ash production? Mithapur
Gujarat (Tata Group was associated with Mithapur in
1939 when it took over the Okha Salt Works at
Mithapur near Okha. Mithapur, situated between Okha
and Dwarka, is a small colony supported by Tata
Chemicals Limited, which is one of the flagship
companies of the Tata Group)
5) What is the name of the Indian-American professor
who was recently appointed as the Dean of Harvard
College in the United States? Prof. Rakesh
Khurana (He will assume his new charge from 1 July
2014. Harvard College is the school within Harvard
University that grants undergraduate degrees. Rakesh
will thus become the latest addition to a long list of
Indian-origin academicians assuming leadership roles at
renowned global universities. Before this India-born
Prof. Nitin Nohria had also assumed his responsibility as
Dean of the Harvard Business School)
6) Which Telugu film became the first to be released on
DTH along with its theatrical release on 24 January
2014? Minukumanna Minugurulu (This film was
released on Airtel Digital TV at 00.30 hours on 24
January (the day of its release) and would be available
on this DTH platform for 5 days. Directed by
Ayodhyakumar Krishnamsetty, the films cast includes
national award winning actors Ashish Vidyarthi and
Suhasini Maniratnam along with internationally
acclaimed actor Raghubir Yadav)

January 25-26, 2014

1) Which are the two recipients of Indias second
highest civilian award Padma Vibhushan for 2014, as
announced by the Union Government on 25 January
2014? B.K.S. Iyengar, the renowned Yoga guru
and R.A. Mashelkar, former chief of the Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) B.K.S. Iyengar
(95), who founded the Iyengar School of Yoga that has
millions of followers across the globe including in China,
was once named by TIME magazine as one of the 100
most influential persons in the world. The 71-year-old
Mr. Mashelkar has played a significant role in evolving
science and technology policies in post-liberalised India.
A chemical engineer, he is also a former head of the
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
2) How many Padma awards were announced by the
Union government on the eve of Republic Day on 25
January 2014? 128 (This includes 2 Padma
Vibhushans, 25 Padma Bhushans and 101 Padma Shri
Awards)
3) India and China on 24 January 2014 launched a
special year to mark the coming year of exchanges in
the field of economy, culture and people-to-people
cooperation between the two countries. What is the
name given to this year? Year of Friendly Exchanges
4) Leading Indian drug manufacturer Ranbaxy
Laboratories plant in Toansa (Punjab), which had
recently received Form 483 from the US Food and Drug
Administration (USFDA), was put under import alert on
24 January 2014. With this, all products manufactured
at Toansa would now remain banned from the US. This
is Ranbaxys fourth Indian plant to receive an import


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alert from the USFDA, which means that sale of all
Ranbaxy drugs manufactured in India have been
banned in the US. Which were the three plants which
were banned by the USFDA earlier? Ponta
Sahib (Himachal Pradesh),Dewas (Madhya Pradesh)
and Mohali (Punjab) The USFDAs inspection of the
Toansa facility, which concluded on 11 January 2014,
identified significant CGMP violations. According to the
USFDA findings, the staff at Toansa facility were
retesting raw materials and intermediate drug products
and also finishing API that had earlier failed analytical
testing and specifications.
5) Who won the womens singles title of Australian
Open on 25 January 2014? Li Na of China (She
defeated Dominika Cibulkova 7-6 (3), 6-0 to win her
maiden Australian Open title. She also became the
oldest woman to clinch the title in the Open era. Li,
who turns 32 next month, lost Australian Open finals to
Kim Clijsters in 2011 and to Victoria Azarenka last year.
In between, she won the 2011 French Open to become
the first Chinese woman to win a major)
6) V.P. Agarwal, the Chairman of Airports Authority of
India (AAI) was on 23 January 2014 removed from his
post as the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) did not
clear his name for an extension. He was replaced by
whom? Alok Sinha (Sinha is the Joint Secretary in the
Ministry of Civil Aviation and he was given the post of
AAI Chairman as an additional charge. AAI is in the
middle of a major investment programme to develop
50 low cost airports in the country and also privatise
the running of major airports including Chennai,
Kolkata, Lucknow and Ahmedabad)
7) What is the name of the new mascot of Hockey India
League (HIL), which was launched on 23 January 2014
for HILs second edition? Gaurav, the tiger (The
introduction of mascot Gaurav will be a new and
refreshing chapter in the HIL. The mascot is designed to
arouse the interest for hockey in the country and to
connect all hockey fans with the game in a completely
redefined manner)
8) The fastest ever broadband speeds of 1.4 terabits
per second have been achieved in a test in London
recently, raising hopes of more efficient data transfer
via existing infrastructure. This astonishing speed is
enough to send 44 uncompressed HD films a second.
Which companies collaborated in this test? Alcatel-
Lucent (France) and British Telecom BT (Britain)
The test was conducted on a 410km (255-mile) link
between the BT Tower in central London and Ipswich.
This breakthrough is being seen as highly important for
internet service providers (ISPs), as it means a greater
amount of information can be sent through existing
broadband infrastructure, reducing the need for costly
upgrades. However, it may be many years before
consumers get services at this speed)
















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January 27, 2014

1) Which city on 25 January 2014 became the first in
India to offer free Wi-Fi spots for the public?
Bangalore (Karnataka Governments Department of
Information Technology, Biotechnology, Science &
Technology launched the Namma Wi-Fi hotspots
across six spots in the city. Usage will be limited to
three hours per day or up to 50 MB data. The total
number of access points would be 23 in the coverage
area which will accommodate 2,000 users at the same
time. To use this service, users should have an
authentication password which would be sent to their
mobile after they register on the network)
2) Switzerlands Stanislas Wawrinka claimed his first
Grand Slam title in dramatic fashion on 26 January 2014
when he upset injury-troubled world number one
Rafael Nadal of Spain in the Australian Open mens
singles final. He defeated Nadal by 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to
win his maiden Grand Slam tennis title. Stanislas
Wawrinka has earlier in January 2014 won which ATP
title in India? Chennai Open (Wawarinka had won the
mens singles title of Chennai Open on 5 January 2014)
3) Vakrangee Ltd., which is engaged in providing e-
governance solutions, recently came to news for
banking related activities. Why? It has received final
authorization for operating White Label ATM (WLA)
license from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) - Under, the
RBI license, the company is entitled to set up and run
minimum 15,000 ATMs across the country in next three
years. White label ATMs are those which are not run by
the Banks but by a non- banking entity in its own brand
name (like Vakrangee ATM) after passing through all
the stringent qualification and due-diligence process
undertaken by RBI
4) The third one-day international (ODI) of the India-
New Zealand series at Auckland on 25 January 2014
ended in a nail-biting tie with India scoring exactly 314
runs, the same scored by the Kiwis. It was Indias 7
th
tie
in an ODI match. What record was added to the name
of Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for this tied
match? - MS Dhoni created history by becoming the
first ODI captain to have participated in four tied
matches (Richie Richardson (West Indies), Steve Waugh
(Australia) and Shaun Pollock (South Africa) were
involved in three ties each. The first tie for Dhoni was in
the 2011 ICC World Cup against England in Bangalore.
His second was also against England at Lords on 11
September 2011. The third occasion was against Sri
Lanka in Adelaide in February 2012)
5) Karl Slym, who passed away on 26 January 2014 in
Bangkok, was the top executive associated with which
Indian automobile company? Tata Motors (He was
the Managing Director of Tata Motors. He died in
Bangkok on 26 January 2014 where he had gone to
attend a board meeting of the companys Thailand arm.
The UK-born Slym was brought to the company in 2012
to turn around the companys domestic business as
Tata Motors was fully dependent on profits generated
by the companys UK-based subsidiary Jaguar Land
Rover till the end of the last quarter)





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January 28, 2014


1) Indias Civil Aviation Ministry on 27 January 2014
approved the operations of Airbus A-380s in India at
four airports currently equipped to handle these super
jumbos. Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Lufthansa
have been pressing the government for several years to
allow them fly these super jumbos into India. Which
four airports were allowed to handle this huge aircraft?
Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore (Presently
these four are equipped to handle huge A-380s. The
restrictions on the fully double-decker planes were
lifted after weeks of consultation between Directorate
General of Civil Aviation, Air India and Airports
Authority of India (AAI). An A-380 aircraft can seat 850
passengers in an all-economy configuration, but those
having a three-class configuration can accommodate
between 550-600 passengers)
2) What is the name of a new fund announced on 27
January 2014 by the National Innovation Council (NInC)
and the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises to combine innovation and the dynamism
of enterprise to solve the problems of citizens at the
bottom of the economic pyramid in India? India
Inclusive Innovation Fund IIIF (The fund, launched by
Sam Pitroda, head of the NInC, is an autonomous Rs.
500-crore fund, with the Union Government
contributing 20%. The balance will come from public
sector banks, financial institutions, insurance
companies, multilateral/bilateral development
agencies, Indian & global corporates)
3) The North-African country whose people overthrew
their dictator in 2011 in a popular uprising that inspired
the so-called Arab Spring across the region, approved
the countrys landmark democratic constitution on 26
January 2014. Which country is this?
Tunisia (Tunisias National Constitutional Assembly on
26 January approved the countrys landmark post-
revolutionary Constitution its members have spent the
last two years writing, by 200 out of 216 votes. The new
document guarantees basic freedoms and gender
equality. It has been called one of the most progressive
Constitutions in the Arab world and involved lengthy
negotiations between an Islamist-dominated
Government and the largely secular Opposition)
4) Which organisation was chosen for the National
Communal Harmony Award 2013 in the organisations
category? The Centre for Study of Society and
Secularism (CSSS) The award was announced on 25
January 2014 by the National Foundation for
Communal Harmony. Mohinder Singh of Delhi and Dr.
N Radhakrishnan of Kerala have been selected for the
award in the individual category. Established in 1996,
CSSS is a Mumbai-based organisation working to
promote peace, secularism and communal harmony in
the country. Mohinder Singh, 72, is a scholar and
member of the National Commission for Minority
Educational Institutions. Dr. N. Radhakrishnan, 69, is a
well-known academic, Gandhian scholar and peace
worker. The National Communal Harmony Awards were
instituted in 1996 by the National Foundation for
Communal Harmony, an autonomous organisation
under the Union Home Ministry)
5) Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo, the patriotic song sung
by Lata Mangeshkar to commemorate the martyrdom
of Indian soldiers in the Sino-Indian War of 1962,
completed 51 years of its public performance on 27
January 2014. The song written by Kavi Pradeep was
performed live at Delhis historic Ramleela Maidan on
27 January 1963 by Lata Mangeshkar, just two months


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after the end of the war. Who composed this legendary
song? C. Ramchandra (A special function was held at
Mumbais Mahalaxmi Racecourse to commemorate this
occasion)

January 29, 2014

1) Union Government on 27 January 2014 issued the
notification declaring the Jain community as the sixth
minority community in India. Which are the other five
communities accorded this status earlier? Muslim,
Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi (The minority status
was accorded to Jain community under Section 2(C) of
National Minority Commission Act, 1992)
2) What is the new Repo Rate after Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan on 28 January
2014 increased it by 0.25% under RBIs third quarter
monetary policy review? 8% (This move is expected
to translate into higher EMIs and push up the cost of
borrowing for corporates. Consequently, the Reverse
Repo Rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF)
will be revised to 7% and the marginal standing facility
rate and bank rate to 9%. However, the RBI kept the
cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged at 4% as liquidity
seems to be comfortable)
3) The RBI released the Macroeconomic and Monetary
Developments Report along with the third quarter
monetary policy review on 28 January 2014. What is
RBIs broad expectation about economic growth rate
(GDP Growth Rate) during 2013-13? GDP growth rate
will remain below 5% (The RBI said the growth is
expected to fall below 5% in 2013-14 in absence of
pick-up in manufacturing sector, but likely to recover to
5.5% in the next financial year (2014-15). In the first
half of 2013-14, the GDP growth was at 4.6%)
4) In back-to-back moves to try resolving the ongoing
Ukrainian political crisis, the prime minister submitted
his resignation on 28 January 2014 and the Parliament
repealed anti-protest laws that had set off violent
clashes between protesters and police. What is the
name of the Prime Minister who resigned? Mykola
Azarov (Azarov was one of the government figures
most disliked by opposition supporters. The twin moves
were significant concessions to the protesters who
have occupied the capitals main square for two
months and fought sporadically with police for the last
10 days)
5) What is the name of the high performance
computing system of the Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO) which was unveiled
on 28 January 2014? Dhruva-3 (Dhruva-3, which was
developed by the Advanced Numerical Research &
Analysis Wing (ANURAG), Hyderabad, will be useful for
the design of advanced aircrafts like the AMCA
(Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft), where analysis of
aerodynamics at high speeds under different conditions
is required. It will be deployed to solving mission critical
Defence R&D applications)
6) Raymond Weil, who passed away on 27 January
2013, was a renowned pioneer of which field? Watch-
making (He was the founder of the watch brand of the
same name (Raymond Weil) and is considered one of
the great innovators of the Swiss watch industry. Born
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watch industry at Camy Watch, of which he soon took
the reins. In 1976, in the midst of an industry-wide
crisis, he decided to go it alone and created his own
company focused on putting into practice his vision
that timepieces should be high-quality and with
superior design, but at affordable prices)

January 30, 2014

1) A study conducted by Nielsen and commissioned by
Oil Ministrys Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell
(PPAC), in its report has found that cheaper fuel is
finding usage by unintended beneficiaries. According to
this study what proportion of diesel is being consumed
by high-end cars and SUVs (sports utility vehicles)?
13.15% (This study found that 70% of the diesel was
being used in the transport sector. Private cars and
SUVs consumed 13.15% of the 69.08 million tonne
diesel consumed in the country in 2012-13. Commercial
vehicles such as trucks however constituted the largest
user base of diesel at 28.25%. Other commercial
vehicles used another 8.94% and three-wheelers, a
further 6.39%. Agriculture tractors and pumps used
13% of the diesel. Industries and electricity generators
consumed almost 9% diesel, while mobile towers used
1.54%. The study found that 99.6% of petrol is
consumed in the transport sector alone. Of this,
majority consumption of 61.42% is accounted for by
two-wheelers while cars use 34.33%, followed by 3-
wheelers at 2.34%)
2) According to the recently released Education for All
Global Monitoring Report 2013-14, India has the largest
population of illiterate adults in the world and it
comprises of about 37% of the global total. What is the
total number of illiterate adults in India according to
this report? 287 million or 28.7 crore (The report
mentions that Indias literacy rate rose from 48% in
1991 to 63% in 2006, the latest year it has available
data, but population growth cancelled the gains so
there was no change in the number of illiterate adults)
3) In a first of its kind venture, six public sector
undertakings (PSUs) including state-run Bharat Heavy
Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Power Grid Corporation
of India Limited (PGCIL) on 29 January 2014 announced
joining hands to set up worlds largest 4,000 MW ultra
mega solar power project in Rajasthan. Where in
Rajasthan this solar plant spread across 19,000 acres is
going to be established? Sambhar (The project will be
the largest single location solar plant spread across
19,000 acres at Sambhar in Rajasthan. It entails an
investment of Rs. 7,500 crore in the first phase. The JV
will have equity of 26% from BHEL, 23%
from SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India), 16%
from SSL (Sambhar Salt Ltd), 16% from PGCIL, 16%
from SJVNL (Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam) and 3%
from REIL (Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments
Limited))
4) What is the name of the heritage building in Shimla
which houses the office of the Accountant General of
Himachal Pradesh and was gutted in a major fire on 28
January 2014? Gorton Castle (A major fire reduced
two floors of this magnificent heritage building to
ashes. Deriving its name from the former estate upon
which it was built, this was the Government of India
Secretariat Building from where the affairs of this vast
country were administered during the summer months
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on renovation of this heritage building which was built
in 1904. Renovation work was on when the fire broke
out in the building)
5) Which Hindi women novelists name was suggested
by the Delhi Government as the new chief of Delhi
Commission for Women (DCW) to Lt. Governor Najeeb
Jung on 29 January 2014 amidst speculations of
removing Barkha Singh? Maitreyi Pushpa (Pushpa is
renowned for her feminist writings and strong feminist
leanings. The suggestion has come in the backdrop of
the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government accusing the
present DCW chairperson Barkha Singh of politicising
the role of her office while dealing with the midnight
raid episode allegedly involving Law Minister Somnath
Bharti)


January 31, 2014

1) The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) on
30 January 2014 raised the subsidised LPG cylinder
quota from 9 to 12 per year per household. It also
decided to put on hold the direct benefit transfer
scheme for LPG which linked payment of subsidy
directly into the bank accounts of the consumers under
the Aadhaar platform. After increase in the cap on
subsidized LPG cylinders what percentage of LPG
cylinders are now covered by subsidisd cylinders?
Around 97% (Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister
Veerappa Moily disclosed that 89.2% of the 15 crore
LPG consumers use up to nine cylinders in a year and
only 10% have to buy the additional requirement at the
market price. After the quota is raised to 12, about 97%
of the LPG consumers would be covered by subsidised
LPG)
2) With Union governments decision of increasing the
cap on subsidised domestic LPG cylinders from 9 to 12,
the subsidy burden on petroleum companies increased
substantially (by around Rs. 5,000 crore annually). This
decision also affected governments target of reducing
fiscal deficit. When the cap on subsidised domestic LPG
cylinders was brought down to just 6, which was later
increased to 9? In September 2012 (Govt. had
reduced the cap on subsidised domestic LPG cylinders
to just 6 with an objective to reduce its subsidy load
and reduce fiscal deficit. However due to severe
criticism from several quarters this cap was increased
to 9 during January 2013. Now the cap has been
increased further to 12)
3) India Post (Indian postal department) recently
announced an ambitious plan to install as many as
3,000 ATMs and 1.35 lakh micro-ATMs at its post
offices across the country for savings account holders.
This plan would be rolled-out by installing three ATMs
in New Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore on 5 February
2014 and then ramp it up gradually. What is the
tentative deadline given by India Post for installing
these 3,000 ATMs and 1.35 lakh micro-ATMs?
September 2015 (Under this plan, 1,000 ATMs with the
India Post branding will be put in within the first year,
which will be ramped up massively to 3,000 in the next
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26 crore savings account-holders who save with the
postal department but India Post hopes that within six
months of the launch, it will get the interoperability
permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Postal
savings are worth around Rs 6.05 trillion, which is half
the savings in the largest lender SBI and more than
double that of the largest private sector lender ICICI
Bank)
4) International creditors on 29 January 2014 started
the third bailout review of Cyprus to gauge whether the
country is living up to the terms of its financial rescue
program. The start of countrys third bailout review
comes after earlier assessments concluded that the
country was on track, but warned that there was no
room to slacken efforts. What was the amount of
bailout package approved by the European Union (EU)
and International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Cyprus
during March 2013? 10 billion Euro or $13.6
billion (Cyprus banking sector is the hardest hit with
this bail-out package. The deal saw authorities seize
large portions of uninsured savings in the two largest
banks and impose capital controls while the second-
largest lender was shut down)
5) Google Inc. on 29 January 2014 announced selling
Motorolas smartphone business (Motorola Mobility) to
Chinese company Lenovo for $2.9 billion. The price of
the sale makes Googles biggest acquisition of Motorola
look like its most expensive mistake. For what price
Google acquired Motorola Mobility in 2012? $12.4
billion (Motorola has lost nearly $2 billion since Google
took over, while trimming its workforce from 20,000 to
3,800. Google had previously recovered some of the
money that it spent on Motorola by selling the
companys set-top operations last year to Arris Group
Inc. for $2.35 billion. On the other hand Lenovo now
appears determined to become a bigger player in
smartphones as more people rely on them instead of
laptop and desktop computers to go online)










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