Latest Current Affairs April 2014 (1st Week) PDF Download

Latest Current Affairs- April 2014 1st Week

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April 2014 Current Affairs Questions and Answers for preparing Exams| Postal Assistant| IBPS | SSC CGL 2014| SBI PO 2014| UPSC | Civil Services | Bank | LD Clerk and all other Competitive Examinations.

Latest Current Affairs from First Week of April 2014 in PDF- useful for all competitive Examinations!!!!!

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Q1. Who was crowned as the new Miss India in the 51st Femina Miss India contest on 5 April 2014 at Mumbai?

Ans. Koyal Rana

Note: With this win, Rana will represent India at the Miss World International beauty pageant 2014. Rana, who was born in Jaipur but raised in Delhi, was crowned at Yash Raj Studio in Mumbai. She was crowned by Navneer Kaur Dhillion, the 2013 winner of Femina Miss India title and Megan Young, the Miss World 2013.

Q2. Which country lifted the T20 cricket world cup 2014?

Ans. Sri Lanka

Note: It was the maiden ICC Twenty20 World Cup title for Sri Lanka. They won title after defeating Indian cricket team by six wickets in the final match at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) in Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Q3. Which country won the ICC T-20 Women’s World Cup 2014?

Ans. Australia

Note: Australian women cricket team on 6 April 2014 won the Women’s World Twenty20 Cup 2014 cup defeating England in the final match in Mirpur, Dhaka.

Q4. Name India’s 2nd regional navigational satellite launched on 4 April 2014 by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)?

Ans. IRNSS 1B

Note: The launch of IRNSS series would enable India to have its own reliable and independent navigational resources for itself.  The satellite was lifted off by the Polar Satellite Vehicle (PSLV) C24 at 5.14 pm. IRNSS (Indian Regional navigational satellite) was injected by the launch vehicle after four stages of 19 minutes of its take off from Sriharikota. This launch of IRNSS 1B is the 25th successful launch of the PSLV series by ISRO. This launch of the satellite had brought India close to join the group of selected nations namely US, Russia, China, Japan and European countries.

Q5. Who was appointed as the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India on 3 April 2014 for a period of three years?

Ans. R Gandhi

Note: His appointment came into effect from 3 April 2014. Before being elevated to the position of Deputy Governor, he was serving the Reserve Bank as its executive director. He has been appointed as the successor of Anand Sinha, who retired from the office on 20 January 2014.

Q6. Who was appointed as the new Director General of BSF on 2 April 2014?

Ans. D K Pathak

Note: BSF is country's largest border guarding force. His name for the post of DG was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Mamohan Singh. He is expected to continue till February, 2016.

Q7. Which entity on 3 April 2014 received the Most Efficient Navratna  Award for the year 2013?

Ans. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL)

Note:  It received the award at the 5th Dalal Street Investment Journal Awards ceremony held in New Delhi. The award was collected by the Chairman of HAL, Dr. R K Tyagi.

Q8. Reserve Bank of India on 1 April 2014 adopted which index as the key measure of Inflation?Visit:www.currentaffairs4examz.com

Ans. Consumer Price Index (CPI)

Note: It was adopted in the first bi-monthly monetary policy statement for 2014-15. It was adopted on the basis of recommendations of Urjit R Patel Committee report on Revising and Strengthening the Monetary Policy Framework.

Q9. Election Commission (EC) confirmed whom as its national icon for the Lok Sabha elections 2014 on 1 April 2014?

Ans. Amir Khan

Note: He is the fifth national icon selected by the EC.  The EC recorded a video and audio campaign which shows Amir Khan urging people to vote ethically. The other four national icons were President A P J Abdul Kalam, cricketer M S Dhoni, badminton star Saina Nehwal and boxer Mary Kom.

Q10. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 1 April 2014 decommissioned which Communication Satellite?

Ans. INSAT-3E

Note: The satellite was decommissioned after it completed ten and half years in orbit as it had stopped working on 29 March 2014.

Q11. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 2 April 2014 granted in-principle approvals to which entities to start new banks in India?

Ans. IDFC Ltd and Bandhan Financial Services Pvt. Ltd

Note: These approvals have been granted under the guidelines on licensing of new banks in the private sector. The two have been granted the permission to set-up banks from a field of 25 aspirants. The two applicants received the in-principle approval following the recommendation of High-Level Advisory Committee (HLAC) set up by RBI that claimed these two as suitable. Since 2004, these two entities became the first one to be issued new bank licence. Kotak Mahindra Bank and YES Bank were given a licence in 2004.  

Q12. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its first Bi-monthly Monetary Policy statement 2014-15 announced on 1 April 2014, has kept the policy repo rate unchanged at ...........%?

Ans. 8.0

Note: In the first bi-monthly monetary policy statement for 2014-15, the RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan decided to pause and not disturb status quo. The repo rate and the rate at which RBI lends money to banks remained at 8 per cent.

Q13. Who was appointed as the next prime minister of France on 31 March 2014?

Ans. Manuel Valls

Note:  Manuel Carlos Valls is a Spanish-born French Socialist Party politician. He was the Mayor of Évry from 2001 to 2012 and a Member of the National Assembly since 2002. Valls replaced PM Jean-Marc Ayrault whose administration lost the confidence of the French in the recently concluded Municipal elections.

Q14. Earth Hour was observed across the world on 29 March 2014. The pledge of Earth Hour 2014 was?

Ans. Switch to energy efficient bulbs.

Note: India launched the Earth Hour to bring individuals, organisations, governments together to take action on climate change in 2009. Every year different celebrities supported the Earth Hour and this year. Actor Arjun Kapoor was the brand ambassador of the Earth hour in India for 2014.

Q15. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India was forecasted to rise to ........... percent in 2014-15, according to  Asian Development Outlook report 2014?

Ans. 5.5

Q16. Union Sports Ministry on 1 April 2014 derecognized which federation with an immediate effect after its refusal to comply with its directives?

Ans. Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF)

Q17. World Autism Awareness Day 2014 was celebrated across the world on?

Ans. 2 April

Note: This year was the seventh World Autism Day. The day is celebrated to raise fund and to create awareness about autism.

Q18. Qatar based Doha Bank announced on 3 April 2014 that it will be opening its first branch at which city in India?

Ans. Mumbai

Note: The branch in Mumbai will be opened as a full-fledged bank in May 2014. Initially, branch will offer retail and corporate banking solutions with emphasis on off-branch banking.

Q19. Who was sworn-in as the President of Malta on 4 April 2014?

Ans. Marie-Lousie Coleiro Preca

Note: She is the ninth President of the Malta. Coleiro, 55, is the youngest-ever President of Malta and will hold office for five years. Coleiro belongs to Labour Party and has served as minister for social policy. With her appointment, the total number of female heads of a country in the world now stands at 21.

Q20. International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) imposed a transfer ban at both national and international level on 2 April 2014 on which Spanish club?

Ans. FC Barcelona

Note: This ban will last for one year. Apart from this ban, FIFA also imposed financial penalty on FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. In 2013, FIFA conducted an investigation in which it found that both Barcelona and the Real Madrid guilty of making illegal transactions.

Q21. Name the Pulitzer Prize winning female journalist who was shot dead in Afghanistan on 4 April 2014?Visit:www.currentaffairs4examz.com

Ans. Anja Niedringhaus

Note: She was shot dead by a policeman in Afghanistan. She was 48. She was killed while covering the 2014 presidential election in Afghanistan.

Q22. Europe on 3 April 2014 launched which satellite designed to monitor Earth for climate change and environmental damage and help disaster relief operations?

Ans. Sentinel-1A

Q23. International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) on 2 April 2014 rejected the call of US senators to ban which country from 2014 World Cup in response to Kremlin’s position on Ukraine?

Ans. Russia

Note: At present, Russia is building a large scale project of sports facilities and necessary infrastructure to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Q24. Union Ministry of Civil Aviation on 2 April 2014 approved the Tata and Singapore Airlines (SIA) joint venture called?

Ans. Tata SIA Airlines Ltd

Note: The joint venture got the approval within a time period of little more than four months. Tata and SIA first got the clearance from Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in November 2013.

Q25. Which country started its first official census in 30 years on 30 March 2014?

Ans. Myanmar

Q26. What was India's rank out of 132 countries on the Social Progress Index (SPI) published by the US-based non-profit organisation Social Progress Imperative on 3 April 2014?

Ans. 102

Note: The top five countries are New Zealand, Switzerland, Iceland, Netherlands and Norway. These countries, which are relatively small in terms of populations, score strongly across all dimensions.

Q27. Amazon launched an internet-connected TV set-top box or video streaming device called .......... on 2 April 2014?

Ans. Fire TV

Note: It will allow consumers to stream content from Amazon's library, as well other video-on-demand services, directly to their TVs.

Q28. Who won special jury award of Times Now NRI Awards 2014?

Ans. Zubin Mehta

Note: He was renowned music director and concert conductor. Times Now NRI Awards 2014 is to recognize the successful Indians globally and to celebrate their achievements.

Q29. Who won the United Kingdom’s 2014 Asian Award for outstanding achievement in Sports?Visit:www.currentaffairs4examz.com

Ans. MS Dhoni

Note: Dhoni is widely regarded as one of the greatest finishers in limited over cricket tournament and in 2013 he emerged as the first captain to win all three ICC trophies. Under the Forbes list of highest paid athletes, Dhoni is ranked at the 16th position.

Q30. Election Commission of India (ECI) approved on 3 April 2014 the appointment of whom as Directorate General of Police (DGP) of Punjab?

Ans. Suresh Arora

Q31. President Barack Obama on 4 April 2014 nominated whom as the next US Alternate Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)?

Ans. Sunil Sabharwal

Q32. Who was named as the new Prime Minister of Kazakhstan on 2 April 2014?

Ans. Karim Massimov

Note: His appointment came following the resignation of Serik Akhmetov from the post, which was accepted by the President as per the Constitutional provision.

Q33. Who was appointed as the chairman of retail arm Trent on 31 March 2014?

Ans. Noel Naval Tata

Q34. Name the Indian- American Cardiologist who was chosen for Prestigious Simon Dack Award?

Ans. Dr. Sumit Chugh

Note: This award will be given to him in recognition of his contributions to the organisation’s peer-reviewed medical journals.

Prepared by: http://www.currentaffairs4examz.com/

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Daily Current Affairs Updates: 16 April 2014

1) 61st National Film Awards 2014 Announced: The National Film Awards for the year 2013 have been announced and The Best Actor Award is shared between Rajkummar Rao for his powerful performance in Shahid and Malayalam actor Suraj Venjaramudu for the movie Perariyathavar. Geetanjali Thapa has been adjudged the Best Actress for Liar’s Dice. Anand Gandhi’s Ship Of Theseus has also won the Golden Lotus for Best Feature Film while Bhaag Milkha Bhaag has been adjudged the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. The Nargis Dutt Award for Best Film On National Integration went to Talai Murugal while Jolly LLB won the award for the Best Hindi Film. This year, the Nation Film Award for Best Director has been conferred to Hansal Mehta for Shahid. The 61st National Film Awards ceremony will be held on May 03, 2014. Click Here for complete list of winners.

2) Vice Admiral Robin K Dhowan likely to take over as next Navy Chief: Vice Admiral Robin K Dhowan is most likely to be the next chief of the Indian Navy with reports on Wednesday suggesting that the Defence Ministry has recommended his name to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the coveted post. The post of Navy chief has been lying vacant for nearly two months since DK Joshi suddenly quit in the wake of a series of mishaps that hit the naval forces recently. Vice Admiral Dhowan, who has been the acting Navy chief since Joshi's exit, was in contention for the top job along with Western Navy Commander Shekhar Sinha and Eastern Commander Anil Chopra.

3) IPL Season 7 2014 kicked off in style: The seventh Indian Premier League kicked off in style at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on 16 April 204. The opening match was between Kolkata Knight Riders and defending champions Mumbai Indians. Kolkata Knight Riders won the match by 41 runs. Kallis, who has retired from Test cricket, was adjudged the Man of the Match. He scored quick 72 runs from 46 balls. The tournament will return to India on May 2 after being assured of security in states where voting would be over by that time.

4) Real Madrid beat Barcelona to win Copa del Rey: Real Madrid beat arch rivals Barcelona 2-1 in the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday, as Carlo Ancelotti won his first trophy as Real manager. Gareth Bale was the hero as his stunning solo goal five minutes from time gave Madrid the win. Barca have now suffered three defeats in a row as Gerardo Martino’s team are stuck in a rut.

Know Copa del Rey?- The Copa del Rey is an annual football championship for Spanish football club teams. FC Barcelona leads the overall tally with 26 trophies followed by Athletic Bilbao's 23 and Real Madrid's 19.

5) Government extended tourist visa-on-arrival facility to South Koreans: Government has extended tourist visa-on-arrival facility to citizens of South Korea, in an effort to increase people-to-people contact with that country. Visa-on-arrival with a maximum validity of 30 days with single entry facility will be offered to South Korean tourists at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi airports at a fee of US $ 60, the External Affairs Ministry said. Thus South Korea becomes the 181st country to be extended the tourist Visa-on-Arrival facility by India.

6) CBI sets up special unit to probe fraud, fixing and illegal betting in sport: Considering the gravity of corruption in sports, the CBI has set up a special investigating unit to handle cases related to the field, the agency's chief announced Tuesday. On the occasion of the D.P. Kohli Memorial lecture, Central Bureau of Investigation director Ranjit Sinha announced a special unit to probe corrupt practices especially in sports. "The CBI will investigate cases of fraud, fixing and illegal betting in sports," he said. The unit will act as the repository of intelligence and data related to corruption in sports.

7) SC says N Srinivasan among 13 names in sealed Mudgal committee report: Resuming hearing into the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing and betting scandal, the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday revealed that the suspended Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president N Srinivasan figures among the 13 people named in the sealed report submitted by the Justice Mukul Mudgal committee. Srinivasan had on Tuesday filed an affidavit questioning why the SC has removed him as BCCI president, requesting the apex court to reinstate him as he is innocent and none of the charges against him have been proved. However, the SC said he can't discharge his duties in the BCCI office. The court has also asked the BCCI to reply as to how the probe against those named in the report should be done.

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Daily Current Affairs: 15 April 2014

1) India-born poet Vijay Seshadri wins 2014 Pulitzer Prize: India-born poet Vijay Seshadri has won the prestigious 2014 Pulitzer Prize in the poetry category for his collection of poems "3 Sections." The 98th annual Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism, Letters, Drama and Music were announced on Monday by Columbia University, New York. Seshadri's '3 Sections' is a "compelling collection of poems that examine human consciousness, from birth to dementia, in a voice that is by turns witty and grave, compassionate and remorseless," the announcement said.

>> Seshadri is the fifth person of Indian origin to bag the prestigious award, the first being Gobind Behari Lal in 1937.

>> The Pulitzer Prize  is an award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of American (Hungarian-born) publisher Joseph Pulitzer, and is administered by Columbia University in New York City.  Prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. In twenty of the categories, each winner receives a certificate and a US$10,000 cash award.

2) Delhi high court to get its first woman chief justice: While it has led on many fronts, the Delhi high court has lagged behind in having a woman at the helm. This, however, is going to change by next week when it gets its first woman chief justice. President Pranab Mukherjee recently cleared the decks for appointment of Justice G Rohini, most senior judge of the Andhra Pradesh high court, to head the high court in the capital. She will be the 10th woman judge in the Delhi high court, which has nine women judges out of a strength of 40.

3) SC recognised transgenders as third gender: Ridiculed for their different sexual identity and orientation, transgenders were on Tuesday granted the status of third gender by the Supreme Court in a landmark ruling that will entitle them to benefits of the Centre and state government welfare schemes. Upholding their right to decide their self-identified gender, a bench of justice KS Radhakrishnan and justice AK Sikri directed the Centre and the state governments to treat them as socially and educationally backward classes of citizens and provide them reservation in admissions in educational institutions and government jobs.

4) Portal to help Railways Save Energy launched: Indian Railways has launched a portal to facilitate energy saving up to 15 per cent by the year 2020 through improved energy efficiency measures and to help the Railways in evolving future strategies for further intensifying energy conservation efforts. The web-based electrical energy management system, RAILSAVER, developed by the Centre of Railway Informatics System (CRIS), an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Railways, is part of the project for ‘Improving Energy Efficiency in Indian Railway System’ being executed by the Indian Railways under the programmatic framework of UNDP through Global Environmental Facility funding of US $5.2 million.

5) Google to buy drone-maker Titan Aerospace: Google Inc has acquired solar-powered drone maker Titan Aerospace as the Web search giant ramps up plans to deliver wireless Internet access to remote parts of the world.

Titan Chief Executive Vern Raburn declined to provide information on the price of the deal, which he said closed on Monday morning. The 20-person company will remain in New Mexico for the foreseeable future, Raburn said, with all employees joining Google.

6) Mayaram is new Finance Secretary: Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram has been designated as the new Finance Secretary. “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved that Mayaram may be designated as the Finance Secretary,” official sources said. Dr. Mayaram, a 1978 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS officer, has been holding charge as the Economic Affairs Secretary since 2012, and will continue to look after the Department of Economic Affairs. The post of Finance Secretary was lying vacant after Sumit Bose retired on March 31.

7) State Bank launched digital banking facilities: State Bank of India on Tuesday launched three digital banking facilities at the customer’s door step using TAB banking; one for customers opening Savings Bank accounts and another for Housing Loan applicants. The third is e-KYC (Know your Customer). The sales staff of SBI will visit the customers at their door step and using the tablets get the formalities completed for account opening like details of KYC and photographs of applicant. In the case of home loan applicants, he/she will be advised on the approximate loan amount eligible and the EMI.

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Daily Current Affairs Updates: 14 April 2014

1) 123rd birth anniversary of Dr. B.R Ambedkar celebrated: The 123rd birth anniversary of Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar was celebrated across India. It was celebrated as as Ambedkar Jayanti every year in India. On this day homage is paid to Babasaheb’s statue at the Parliament by the President, Prime Minister and other dignitaries. Ambedkar was born on April 14, 1891 to the Ramji Maloji Sakpal and Bhimabai in a poor Mahar family in Mhow, Central Provinces, British India (Madhya Pradesh). He died on December, 6 in 1956 at the age of 65.

2) Konkan services hit after goods train derailed near Ratnagiri: Long-distance train services on the Konkan Railway have been disrupted after five wagons of a goods train derailed inside a tunnel between Ukshi and Sangameshwar stations near Ratnagiri on Monday morning. Apart from diverting several trains, the railway had to cancel as well as short-terminate several services. "Five wagons of a 41-wagon empty goods train derailed at 8.10am. As cranes cannot enter the tunnel, services could not be restored even 12 to 14 hours after the incident. The derailment's cause is not yet known," Konkan Railway spokesperson Vaishali Patange said.

3) Bubba Watson wins 2014 Masters Golf tournament: Bubba Watson withstood an inspired early challenge from playing partner Jordan Spieth to clinch the Masters for a second time in three years with a three-shot victory at Augusta National on Sunday. Trailing the prodigiously talented Spieth by two strokes after seven holes, the left-handed Watson took advantage of a faltering run by his fellow American around the turn as he upped his own game, then maintained control on the back nine.

4) Dipika Pallikal loses in Texas Open Squash final: Dipika Pallikal stumbled on the final hurdle against Egyptian teenager Nour El Sherbini in the title clash of the Women's Champion Fiberglass Texas Open in Houston, USA on Monday. Eyeing maiden major title of her career, world No 12 Dipika faltered against the 18-year-old qualifier 7-11, 11-5, 7-11 to lose in 48 minutes.

5) Baroda wins Mushtaq Ali T20 title: Baroda pipped Uttar Pradesh by three runs to regain the National T20 title for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in a thrilling last ball finish at the Wankhede stadium on Monday. Chasing a challenging target of 145, the Venkatesh Prasad-coached Uttar Pradesh team needed 11 runs off 7 balls but lost the plot as the batsmen at the crease, Praveen Kumar and Upendra Yadav, couldn't manage to overhaul the target and UP finished at 141 for six.

6) Santoso shocks Lee to win OUE Singapore Open badminton: Indonesia’s Simon Santoso pulled off an upset victory over world No 1 Lee Chong Wei to clinch the US$300,000 OUE Singapore Open badminton championships . Santoso, who has beaten the Malaysian star, a two-time Olympic silver medallist, just once in 10 previous meetings, won 21-15, 21-10 to claim the US$22,500 men’s singles winner’s cheque at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

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Daily Current Affairs: 13 April 2014

1) Kenya's Kipsang sets London Marathon record:  Kenya's world record-holder Wilson Kipsang won the men's London Marathon in a new unofficial course record of two hours, four minutes and 27 seconds on Sunday. Fellow-Kenyan Stanley Biwatt came second. Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia, last year's winner was third, and Ayele Abshero of Ethiopia was fourth. Britain's Mo Farah, reigning Olympic and world 5,000 and 10,000 metres champion, finished in eighth place having failed in his goal to break Steve Jones's British record of 2:07:13, which has stood since 1985.

2) Indian Super League: Ganguly buys Kolkata franchise, Tendulkar gets Kochi: Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were among the host of high-profile winning bidders as the organisers of the much-anticipated Indian Super League on Sunday unveiled the eight franchises for the event that is set to take Indian football by storm. The bid winners for the eight franchises of the league, which is scheduled to be held in September-November, was announced in Mumbai by organisers IMG-Reliance after evaluation of the bids by a seven-member panel. Tendulkar bagged the Kochi franchise along with PVP Ventures, which also owns a team in the Indian Badminton League while Ganguly, who bid by forming a consortium with Spanish League giants Atletico Madrid and businessmen Harshavardhan Neotia, Sanjeev Goenka and Utsav Parekh, won the Kolkata franchise. The Mumbai franchise went to Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor and Bimal Parekh while another tinsel town biggie Salman Khan bagged the Pune franchise together with Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan of the Wadhawan Group.

3) Pallikal packs off Perry to enter Texas Open final: India's top woman's squash player Dipika Pallikal marched into the biggest final of her career after getting past higher-ranked Madeline Perry from Ireland in the $50,000 Texas Open at the Downtown Club. The 22-year-old World No.12 battled for 75 minutes, enduring three tie-break games, to beat eighth-ranked Perry 11-7, 11-13, 13-11, 10-12, 11-4 in the Women's Squash Association (WSA) Gold 50 event on Saturday.

4) Libya’s PM-designate resigned, citing gun attack: Libya’s Prime Minister-designate, Abdullah al-Thini, resigned on Sunday, citing what he said was an attack on him and his family overnight. In a letter addressed to the National Congress, Libya’s interim parliament, Mr. al-Thini, who was charged with forming a government on last Tuesday, said he and his family had been exposed to “a treacherous attack and shooting which terrified peaceful people in a residential area”. Mr. al-Thini said he and his government would continue to act as a caretaker administration pending the appointment of a new head of the interim government.

5) Missing jet black box from MH370 is feared to be dead now: The missing jet black box appears that it could be dead now which has people worried they will never find MH370. On Sunday, Web Pro News shared how it appears the box could be dead now which will make it really hard to keep searching and have any chance of finding it. This flight has been missing since March 8.

6) India to conduct complex interceptor missile test: In another fortnight, India will be conducting one of the most complex interceptor missile tests. For the first time a state-of-the-art interceptor missile at supersonic speed will seek to engage and destroy an incoming target missile at a very high altitude of 120-140 km over the Bay of Bengal.

7) India becomes net steel exporter after 6 years:  India became net steel exporter in 2013-14 after a gap of six years and is likely to maintain the momentum in 2014-15 as producers are looking to dock more overseas shipment to tide over subdued domestic consumption. Total steel exports by India during the last fiscal stood at 5.59 million tonnes (MT), as against imports of 5.44 MT, Joint Plant Committee (JPC), a unit of the steel ministry, said in a report. India, now the world's fourth largest steel maker, had been a net steel importer since 2007-08 and the trend continued till 2012-13 with 7.9 MT of imports and 5.2 MT of exports. Before 2007-08, India's exports were more than its imports.

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Daily Current Affairs: 12 April 2014

1) Gulzar to get Dadasaheb Phalke award: Renowned lyricist, poet, author and filmmaker Gulzar will be honoured with the 2013 Dadsaheb Phalke award, the country' highest award in cinema given annually by the Government of India. The 79-year-old was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2004 and the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002. He has won a number of National Film Awards and 20 Filmfare Awards. Read more from here.

2) High voter turnout in phase 4 in Goa, Assam, Tripura and Sikkim: In phase 4 the Lok Sabha polls on Saturday, 75 per cent polling has been recorded in 2 seats in Goa, 75 per cent in 3 seats in Assam, 81.8 per cent for 1 seat in Tripura. In Sikkim, 76 per cent has been recorded for 1 one Lok Sabha and 32 Assembly seats.

3) Fabianski stars as Arsenal reach FA Cup final: Lukasz Fabianski saved two penalties as Arsenal beat holders Wigan Athletic 4-2 in a shootout at Wembley on Saturday to reach their first FA Cup final for nine years. Having stunned Manchester City in last season's final, before being relegated from the Premier League, Wigan looked set for another famous Wembley day when Jordi Gomez put them ahead with a 63rd-minute penalty.

4) Six CRPF men among 15 killed in twin Maoist attacks in Chhattisgarh:  In a major post-poll attack, 15 people, including six personnel of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and nine civilians, were killed on Saturday when Maoists blew up an ambulance and a bus in two separate incidents in tribal Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. aoist guerrillas first triggered a powerful blast, targeting a bus when a polling party was returning, at village Kutulnar between Kutru and Gudma in Naxalite-affected Bijapur district. Seven members of the polling party were killed in the blast and subsequent firing, while five others were injured.

5) Manavjit Singh Sandhu shoots past Olympic champion to win World Cup gold: India's Manavjit Singh Sandhu produced some excellent shooting to clinch the men's trap gold medal ahead of two-time Olympic champion Michael Diamond at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Tucson, USA. The 37-year-old Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee shot scores of 121 and 13 in the qualification and finals, respectively, to finish on the podium with the gold medal around his neck.

6) HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh to assist Sunil Gavaskar in IPL 2014 matters: Deepak Parekh, an avid cricket follower and a management specialist, was appointed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India as special advisor to Sunil Gavaskar, Interim President, BCCI, for the 2014 season of the Indian Premier League. Parekh will be a special invitee to the Governing Council meetings of the IPL. He was recommended for the job by Gavaskar himself.

7) Delhi Daredevils unveiled new jersey for IPL 7:  The Delhi Daredevils on Saturday unveiled their brand new jersey for the seventh edition of the Indian Premier league with a tie-up with the country's largest online and mobile classifieds portal classified, Quikr. The new jersey was unveiled in the presence of captain Kevin Pietersen, vice-captain Dinesh Karthik and coach Gary Kirsten.

8) British Queen conferred Knight Grand Cross on Ratan Tata:  Ratan Tata, the former chairman of the Tata Group which is one of the largest employers in Britain, has been honoured by Queen Elizabeth with a GBE ( Knight Grand Cross), one of the UK's highest civilian awards. "The Queen has been graciously pleased to approve the following honorary British awards in 2014... GBE for Ratan Naval Tata, KBE, for services to UK/India relations, inward investment to the UK and philanthropy," an announcement by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said Thursday.

9) Rahul Gandhi, flanked by entire family, files nomination from Amethi: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday filed his nomination from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh in the presence of mother Sonia, sister Priyanka and her husband Robert Vadra. The Congress No. 2 is seeking re-election for a third consecutive term from the Lok Sabha constituency.

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Current Affairs Quiz Questions: 08 April 2014

1) Which Indian player has become world No.1 in the 10 metres air pistol event, according to the recent rankings(April 2014) released by International Shooting Sport Federation?

(A) Tejaswini Sawant

(B) Heena Sindhu

(C) Rahi Sarnobat

(D) Anjali Bhagwat

2) Which country recently overtook South Africa as the largest economy of Africa?

(A) Egypt

(B) Algeria

(C) Sudan

(D)  Nigeria

3) Who was declared the 'Man of the Series' in the recently concluded T20 World Cup?

(A) Kumar Sangakkara

(B) Lasith Malinga

(C) Virat Kohli

(D) Ravichandran Ashwin

4) Who was named captain of World T20 Team of Tournament after the recently concluded T20 world cup in Bangladesh?

(A) Mahendra Singh Dhoni

(B) Lasith Malinga

(C) Darren Sammy

(D) A B de Villers

5) First phase of Lok Sabha election began on 7 April 2014 in which among the following north eastern states?

(A) Assam & Tripura

(B) Meghalaya & Sikkim

(C) Mizoram & Arunachal Pradesh

(D) Sikkim & Mizoram

6) Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian American novelist Jhumpa Lahiri’s which book was recently (April 2014) shortlisted for this year’s Baileys Prize, the UK’s only annual book award for fiction written by a woman?

(A) The Namesake

(B) Unaccustomed Earth

(C) Interpreter of Maladies

(D) The Lowland

7) Itanagar, capital of which north eastern state, was put on the country's railway map on 7 April 2014, with the first passenger train of about 400 commuters arriving at Naharlagun?

(A) Sikkim

(B) Meghalaya

(C) Arunachal Pradesh

(D) Mizoram

8) IMF has recently(April 2014) announced that India's growth is expected to recover from 4.4 percent in 2013 to ...... percent in 2014?

(A) 4.5

(B) 5.1

(C) 5

(D) 5.4

9) Who gave Sahara Force India team its second podium finish by coming third in the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix 2014 on 6 April 2014?

(A) Narain Karthikeyan

(B) Jenson Button

(C) Sergio Perez

(D) Nico Rosberg

10) Which countries top court has recently (April 2014) approved a controversial birth control law?

(A) Egypt

(B) Australia

(C) China

(D) Philippines

Answers

1) Ans. (B) Heena Sindhu

2) Ans. (D)  Nigeria

3) Ans. (C) Virat Kohli

4) Ans. (A) Mahendra Singh Dhoni

5) Ans. (A) Assam & Tripura

6) Ans. (D) The Lowland

7) Ans. (C) Arunachal Pradesh

8) Ans. (D) 5.4

9) Ans. (C) Sergio Perez

10) Ans. (D) Philippines

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