Monday, April 18, 2011

Recent Appointments and News – India and the World


News Bullets
The parliament of this country has, in a new law, given its authority to the Supreme court – Britain
The new Secretary General of NATO – Anders Fogh Rasmussen
The re-elected President of Kyrgyztan – Kurmanbek Bakiyev
The former RBI governor, who has been reappointed as the chairman of the PM economic advisory panel –C. Rangarajan
The critically acclaimed film actor, who has been appointed chairperson of children’s film society of India (CFSI) – Nandita Das
The newly appointed chairman of the central board of excise and customs (CBEC) – V Sridhar
The newly appointed Navy Vice-Chief – Vice Admiral DK Dewan
Banker TS Narayanasami has been appointed as the Managing Director and CEO of – United Stock Exchange (USE)
The first Hispanic Judge in the US Supreme Court – Sonia Sotomayor
The alumnus of Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, who has been appointed head of the Nepal Army – Lt Gen Chhatraman Singh Gurung
The Nobel Prize winning South Korean President, who died recently – Kim Dae Jung
_, who swept away a dictator with a ‘people power’ revolt in Philippines and then sustained democracy by fighting off seven coup attempts in six years – Corazon Aquino
The brave recipients of this year’s Ashok Chakra – Major Mohit Shrma, Major D Sreeram Kumar
Recipients of this year’s Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna – MC Mary Kom, Vijendra Singh and Sushil Kumar
Pakistan has conferred its Sitara-i-Imtiaz, one of its highest civilian honours, to this late Gandhian –Nirmala Deshpande
Khabar Lahariya, a newspaper produced entirely by women in rural India, has won this coveted UNESCO prize – King Sejong Literacy Prize
International freedom award has been conferred on – Dalai Lama
The P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft is being manufactured by this company –Boeing
India is going to buy quick-reaction surface-to-air missile (QR-SAM) system SpyDer from – Israel
India is going to conduct ‘Yudh-Abhyas’ and ‘Cope-India’ wargames with – US
The indigenous Kaveri engine, which has failed to pass muster even after two decades of development, has been fitted into – Tejas fighter plane
United Nations has declared 2010 as – International year for the Rapprochement of Cultures
Daniel Vettori of New Zealand has become the _ player to achieve the 300 wickets 3000 runs double in test cricket – Eighth
The present world champion in men’s single badminton is – Lin Dan
Yang Yong-Eun, the first Asian to capture a major golf championship, belongs to – South Korea
Tiger Woods won the 2009 Bridgestone Invitational golf. The victory was hit _ in 30 world golf championship events – 16th
The Compton-Miller Medal-2009, which goes to the player who has had the biggest impact on the Ashes series, went to – Andrew Strauss
The Zimbabwean batsman who smashed 194 not out against Bangladesh to equal the record individual score in a one-day international of Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar – Charles Coventry
The new sport which is to be included for the first time in London 2012 Olympic Games – Women’s Boxing
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has recently approved Rs 25 crore for this sports – Football
The name of the desi version of Google Earth, launched by ISRO recently – Bhuvan
The agency which played a lead role in designing and developing ‘Bhuvan’ – National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA)
Scientists have recently decoded the entire genetic structure of HIV-1 the main cause of AIDS in humans. HIV carries its genetic information as _ rather than double-stranded DNA – single-stranded RNA
The 400 billion euro project to power Europe with sunlight from the Sahara has been named – Desertec
Scientists have shown that electrons, which are indivisible in isolation, can divide into two new particles called _ and a _ when crowded into in a narrow wire – spinons, holons
In a new way to time events in the early Solar System, _ can now offer precise timing of events 4.5 billion years ago – Aluminium Radioisotopes
The new search engine of Google, which the company claims will be faster and more relevant than ever before, has been dubbed – Caffeine
According to the 2007 World Development Indicators figures of the World Bank, energy sector contributed _ of total emissions in India – 61 percent
The new car unveiled by General Motors, which claims to give up to 100 km per litre in city driving – Chevy Volt
The first dry powder inhalable vaccine for measles will be tested next year in this country – India
Cassini-Huygens mission has revealed that this ‘moon’ of Saturn is quite like Earth in the way that weather and geology shape its terrain – Titan
This NATO country ended its troop presence in Iraq on July 31, concluding six years of military involvement in the country – Britain
_ is the largest Asian oil and gas company – Petro China
The massive Gorgon gas field is being developed off the northwestern coast of – Australia
_ launched its first satellite recently, although this country had launched 11 satellites, but all on foreign-made rockets sent from overseas sites – South Korea
Russia and – are planning to create a missile monitoring centre, possibly in Moscow, to avoid accidents or misunderstandings on missile launches – US
The country which has sent maximum number of rockets with payloads in space since 1999 – Russia
_ has topped Forbes magazine’s new list of powerful women – Angela Markel
Pakistan has begun its first international freight train service from Islamabad to _ – Istanbul
_ has been re-elected as president of Iraq’s autonomous region of Kurdistan – Massud Barzani
Cuba has recently signed agreement with this country to search for oil in the Gulf of Mexico – Russia
This EU country has adopted a new method of ‘probationary citizenship’ to replace the existing automatic citizenship right for non-EU citizens – UK
This international body has asked its Secretary General to further expand the ‘list of shame’ to cover recruitment and use of minors during war – UN security council
The powerful typhoon which killed people and devastated vast areas in the South East Asia was named –Typhoon Kiko
Governments of this region have agreed to ban all open burning in anticipation of the El Nino hot weather conditions exacerbating in the last quarter of the year – South East Asia

General Awareness Q and A


General Awareness Q and A – Answers given at the end of this post
1. Area wise, which one of the following is the largest Lok Sabha constituency?
a. Kutch
b. Kangra
c. Ladakh
d. Patna sahib
2. Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT) imparts training to army officers of
a. Nepal
b. Bangladesh
c. Maldives
d. Bhutan
3. The tourism phrase Paradise Unexplored refers to
a. Jammu and Kashmir
b. North-east India
c. Chhattishgarh
d. Uttarakhand
4. The speaker of the Lok Sabha can resign his office by addressing his resignation to
a. the President
b. the Prime Minister
c. the Deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha
d. the Chief Justice of India
5. Who can initiate impeachment proceedings against the President of India?
a. only Lok Sabha
b. only Rajya Sabha
c. either House of the Parliament
d. any Legislative Assembly
6. The highest body that approves Five Year Plans in India is
a. Planning commission
b. National development council
c. Interstate council
d. Union cabinet
7. Which among the following is the exclusive jurisdiction of the state government?
a. Corporation tax
b. Customs duty
c. Sales tax
d. Income tax
8. Which one of the following theories of communism is not a doctrine of Karl Marx?
a. Dialectical Materialism
b. Historical Materialism
c. Class Struggle
d. Theory of new Democracy
9. Which among the following is an extra constitutional growth in Indian democracy?
a. Attorney General of India
b. Autonomous Districts
c. Political Parties
d. Deputy Chairman of the Council of States
10. Socialism is opposed to
a. social security scheme
b. equal distribution of wealth
c. unrestricted competition
d. collective ownership and management
11. Who among the following was the first muslim Military Commander who annexed Bihar and Bengal by overthrowing the Sena dynasty?
a. Mahmud Gawan
b. Bakhtiyar Khilji
c. Adil Shahis
D. Shams-ud-Din
12. Which one of the following was the official language of Gupta period?
a. Pali
b. Magadhi
c. Prakrit
d. Sanskrit
13. Tropical cyclone of Philippines is termed as
a. Typhoon
b. Willy-willy
c. Hurricane
d. Baguio
14. Chambal river is a part of
a. Sabarmati basin
b. Ganga basin
c. Narmada basin
d. Gogavari basin
15. What is the reason for India being a major producer of different varieties of fruits and vegetables?
a. Its large populations size
b. Its large land area
c. Variation in its agro-climatic conditions
d. Diversity in socio-cultural phenomenon
16. What is the process that tends to build up the land surface by deposition of solid material in its lower areas, known as?
a. Abrasion
b. Agglomeration
c. Aggradation
d. Attrition
17. Which one of the following African countries is not land-locked?
a. Benin
b. Chad
c. Lesotho
d. Mali
18. The Tropic of Cancer does not pass through
a. Orissa
b. Tripura
c. Chhattisgarh
d. Rajasthan
19. Which of the following crops would be preferred for sowing in order to enrich the soil with nitrogen?
a. Wheat
b. Mustard
c. Sunflower
d. Gram
20. Which of the following plants is referred to as a living fossil?
a. Ephedra
b. Cycas
c. Gingko
d. Adiantum
Answers to the above questions
1.  C    2.  D    3.  B    4.  C   5.  C    6.  B    7.  C    8.  D    9.  C    10.  C    11.  B    12.  D    13.  A    14.  B    15.  C    16.  C    17.  A   18.  A   19.  D   20.  C

General Knowledge Question & Answers – Books and Authors (2-1-10)


General Knowledge Question & Answers – Books and Authors (2-1-10)
Here are 20 MCQ Question on Books and Authors. Answers are marked in Bold. All The Best for your Exam Preparation
1. Who was in news recently for the book – ‘Branding India — An Incredible Story’ recently?
a)               Dipankar Gupta
b)               Shashi Tharoor
c) Amitabh Kant
d)               Ashutsoh Mazumdar
e)               Prof. Meghnad Desai
2. Who is the richest person in world for the year 2009 as declared by Forbes magazine?
a)         Bill Gates
b)         Warren Buffett
c)         Mukesh Ambani
d)         LN Mittal
e)         Carlos Slim Helu
3. Who among the following is that author of the book entitled, “To a Hunger-free World”?
a)         A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
b)         Prof Amartya Sen
c)         M.S. Swaminathan
d)         Jaswant Singh
e)         Nelson Mandela
4. Who among of the following is the political scientist famous for his book’- “The Clash of Civilizations”?
a)         Keniche Ohmae
b)         Jim Collins
c)         Michael Hammer
d)         James Buchanan
e)         Samuel Huntington
5. ‘The Caged Phoenix: Can India Fly?’ is a recent   book   authored   by   which   of the following authors?
a)               Amitabh Kant
b)               Shiv Shankar Menon
c)               Dipankar Gupta*
d)               Jairam Ramesh
e)               Meghnad Desai
6.Who among the following is not among the six authors shortlisted for the 2009 Man Booker Prize winner announced recently?
a)               Sarah Waters
b)               JM Coetzee
c)               AS Byatt
d) Nick Hornby*
e)               Adam Foulds
7. English language publisher Puffin has ventured into comic book publishing with its comic book versions of stories from the famous Feluda mystery series. Which famous movie producer is the author of the Feluda mystery series?
a)               Buddhadeb Dasgupta
b)               Rituparno Ghosh
c)               Basu Chatterjee
d)               Subrata Sen
e) Satyajit Ray
8. Alan Macfarlane was in news recently for releasing a book on the occasion of completion of 800 years of which university recently?
a)               Harvard
b) Cambridge
c)               Oxford
d)               Lyons
e)               Berlin
9. Which publisher was in news recently for publishing former Union Minister and expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh’s book ‘Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence’?
a)               Penguin India
b)               HarperCollins
c) Rupa & Co
d)               Imprint Books
e)               AH Wheeler & Co
10. According to a recently released book “Hitler’s Jewish Hatred: Cliche And Reality” by American historian Ralf Georg Reuth, which industrialist was the major influence behind Hitler’s hatred of Jews?
a) Henry Ford
b)               Andrew Carnegie
c)               John D. Rockefeller
d)               Thomas Elva Edison
e)               George Eastman
11. Who has authored the recently released book – “India and the Global Financial Crisis”?
a) Y. V. Reddy
b)               Shankar Acharya
c)               Rakesh Mohan
d)               Anil Virmani
e)               C. Rangarajan
12. Noted sports journalist Rajan Bala passed away recently. Which of the following is the book authored     by him was published posthumously recently?
a)               ‘The Greatest of My Time’
b) ‘Days Well Spent’*
c)               ‘Purple Patches’
d)               ‘Spin and Other Turns’
e)               ‘The Appeal of Cricket’
13. Which Indian Booker Prize winner will publish the book “Last Man in the Tower” in early 2011?
a)               Kiran Desai
b)               Arundhati Roy
c) Aravind Adiga*
d)               Arundhati Roy
e)               Salman Rushdie
14. The book ‘Nine Lives: In search of the sacred in Modern India’ is written by – ?
a)               Kiran Desai
b)               Margaret Atwood
c)               William Dalrymple
d)               Lorrie Moore
e)               Subroto Bagchi
15. Who amongst the following is the author of the book A Better India: A Better World?
a. C. Rangarajan
b. G. Madhavan Nair
c. Anil Kakodkar
d. N.R. Narayana Murthy
e. None of these
16. Who amongst the following is the author of the book Development as Freedom?
a. Dr. C. Rangarajan
b. Dr. Y.V. Reddy
c. Dr. Amartya Sen
d. Anug San Suukyi
e. None of these
17. Who wrote the book Hind Swaraj in the year 1909?
a. Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel
b. Mahatma Gandhi
c. Jawaharlal Nehru
d. Motilal Nehru
e. None of these
18. The author of the book In Defence of Globalisation is
a. Joseph Stiglitz
b. Paul Krugman
c. Amartya Sen
d. Jagdish Bhagwati
e. None of these
19. Who wrote Anandmatha?
a. Bal Gangadhar Tilak
b. Subhash Chandra Bose
c. Ravindranath Tagore
d. Bankimchandra Chattopadhyaya
e. None of these
20. Name of the author of Sea of Poppies
a. Amitav Ghosh
b. Arvind Adiga
c. Chetan Bhagat
d. Vikas Swaroop
e. None of these