12 & 13 April 2014 Current Affairs Questions for competitive Exams

1) Which filmmaker was honoured with the 2013 Dadsaheb Phalke award, the countries' highest award in cinema given annually by the Government of India?

(A) Saeed Akhtar Mirza

(B) Gulzar

(C) K. Balachander

(D) Manna Dey

2) Which Indian clinched the men's trap gold medal ahead of two-time Olympic champion Michael Diamond at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Tucson, USA on 12 April 2014?

(A) Abhinav Bindra

(B) Gagan Narag

(C) Ronjan Sodhi

(D) Manavjit Singh Sandhu

3) Ratan Tata, the former chairman of the Tata Group has been recently conferred Knight Grand Cross. It is one of the highest civilian awards of which country?

(A) Britain

(B) China

(C) Australia

(D) Germany

4) Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is contesting the Lok Sabha Elections 2014 from which constituency?

(A) Raebareli

(B) Gandhinagar

(C) Varanasi

(D) Amethi

5) Kenya's world record-holder Wilson Kipsang won which marathon on 13 April 2014 with a new unofficial course record of two hours, four minutes and 27 seconds?

(A) Delhi Marathon

(B) London Marathon

(C) Sydney Marathon

(D) Tokyo Marathon

6) Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were among the host of high-profile winning bidders of much-anticipated Indian Super League which is set to take Indian football by storm.  Sachin Tendulkar won which franchise?

(A) Kolkata

(B) Mumbai

(C) Hyderabad

(D) Kochi

7) Gulabi Gang documentary based on the life of which activist will be screened at the 14th New York Indian Film Festival to be held from 5 May to 10 May 2014?

(A) Sampat Devi

(B) Irom Sharmila

(C) Maneka Gandhi

(D) Medha Patkar

8) Who won the Millennium Technology Prize 2014?

(A) Alasdair Turner

(B)  Michael J Francis

(C) Stuart Parkin

(D) Michael Diller

9) State Bank of India (SBI) on 11 April 2014 launched its Twitter handle account named ........... to strengthen its social media presence?

(A) TweetSBI

(B) SBITweet

(C) TheOfficialSBI

(D) SBIOfficial

10) Justice R M Lodha was recently appointed as the .......Chief Justice of India?

(A) 40th

(B) 35th

(C) 39th

(D) 41^st

Answers

1) Ans. (B) Gulzar

2) Ans. (D) Manavjit Singh Sandhu

3) Ans. (A) Britain

4) Ans. (D) Amethi

5) Ans. (B) London Marathon

6) Ans. (D) Kochi

7) Ans. (A) Sampat Devi

8) Ans. (C) Stuart Parkin

9) Ans. (C) TheOfficialSBI

10) Ans. (D) 41st

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Persons holding Important Positions in India 2014- Useful for all competitive exams

(As per status on: 19 April 2014)

1. President of India- Shri Pranab Kumar Mukherjee

2. Prime Minster of India- Dr Manmohan Singh

3. Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India:  Hon'ble Justice P. Sathasivam ( Justice R.M. Lodha will take over on 27 April 2014)

4. Chairman of the Planning Commission of India: Dr. Manmohan Singh

5. Deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of India: Montek Singh Ahluwalia

5. Chairperson of Sangeet Natak Academy: Ms. Leela Samson

6. President of Sahitya Academy: Dr. Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari

7. Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG): Shashi Kant Sharma

8. Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC): Pradeep Kumar

9. Chairman of the Election Commission /Chief Election Commissioner: V. S. Sampath

10. Attorney General of India: Goolam E. Vahanwati

11. Solicitor General of India : Mohan Parasaran

12. Governor of Reserve Bank of India: Raghuram Rajan

13. Speaker of the Lok Sabha: Meira Kumar

14. Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha: Kariya Munda

15. Chairman of the Rajya Sabha: Mohammad Hamid Ansari

16. Deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha: P.J. Kurien

17. Law minister to the Government of India :- Kapil Sibal

18. Chief of the Army Staff: General Bikram Singh

19. Chief of the Air Staff: Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha

20. Chief of the Naval Staff: Admiral Robin K Dhowan

21. Chairman of Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI): U. K. Sinha

22. Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of India: Sushma Singh

23. Chairperson of Prasar Bharti of India: Smt. Mrinal Pande (Tenure ends on 30 April 2014)

24. Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharti of India: Shri Jawhar Sircar

25. President of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII):  S Gopalakrishnan

26. Director General of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII):  Chandrajeet Banerjee

27. President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FICCI): Siddhartha Birla

28. President of National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM): R. Chandrashekhar

29. Chairman of National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM): R. Chandrasekaran

30. Chairman of National School of Drama: Ratan Thiyam
Prepared by:http://www.currentaffairs4examz.com/

31. Director General of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research: Dr. T. Ramasami (Additional Charge)

32. Director of Indian Agriculture Research Institute(IARI): Dr. Hari Shankar Gupta

33. Chairman of Life Insurance Corporation of India: S.K Roy

34. Chairman cum Managing Director of (CMD) of General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC): Shri P J Joseph

35. Chairman of Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA):  T S Vijayan

36. Chairman of National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD): H K Bhanwala

37. Chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC): Prof. Ved Prakash

38. Chairman of Press Trust of India (PTI): K N Shanth Kumar

39. Chairperson of the State Bank of India:  Ms. Arundhati Bhattacharya

40. Secretary General of Lok Sabha:  Bal Shekhar

41. Secretary –General of the Rajya Sabha: Shumsher Sheriff

42. Chairperson of the Children Film Society of India: Amol Gupte

43. Chairman of National Film Development Corporation of India: Ramesh Sippy

44. Chairman of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC): Prof. D. P. Aggarwal

45. Chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI): Rahul Khullar

46. Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India: Shri Ajit Kumar Seth

47. President of ASSOCHAM: Rana Kapoor

48. Chief of the Integrated Defense staff: Anil Chait

49. Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI): Ranjit Sinha

50. Chairman of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO): K. Radhakrishnan

51. Chairman of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB): T. Nanda Kumar

52. President of Indian National Congress: Smt. Sonia Gandhi

53. President of BJP: Shri. Rajnath Singh

54. General Secretary of CPI(M): Shri. Prakash Karat

55. Chairman Atomic Energy Commission: Dr. Ratan Kumar Sinha

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Important Awards/ Honours 2014 for competitive Exams

1. National Film Awards 2014: Complete list of winners

Visit>> http://goo.gl/ZrVpVl

2. Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2013

Visit>> http://goo.gl/3lKzJu

3. Oscar Awards 2014

Visit>> http://goo.gl/f2hgRr

4. Bharat Ratna 2013

Visit>> http://goo.gl/Zoie9a

5. Padma Awards 2014

Visit>> http://goo.gl/D7brqq

6. 59th Filmfare Awards 2014

Visit>> http://goo.gl/ilvCMn

7. FIFA Ballon d’Or award 2013

Visit>> http://goo.gl/w3vg5A

8. Golden Globe Awards 2014

Visit>> http://goo.gl/TrraEl

9. Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace 2013

Visit>> http://goo.gl/ffyr05

10. Miss Universe 2013

Visit>> http://goo.gl/G523sz

11. Man Booker Prize 2013

Visit>> http://goo.gl/gY41VD

12. Nobel Prize Winners 2013

Visit>> http://goo.gl/kUlSEf

13. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna/Arjuna / Dronacharya & Dhyan Chand Awardees 2013

Visit>> http://goo.gl/O8Egjn

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18 April 2014 Current Affairs Updates

1) World Heritage Day observed: World Heritage Day 2014 was observed across the World on April 18 with the theme "Heritage of Commemoration".  The day also known as 'International Day for Monuments and Sites' is celebrated to promote awareness about their significance in life and to intensify the preservation efforts. As of Januray 2014, there are 981 World Heritage Sites across 160 countries in the world. On World Heritage Day, India got a special gift from the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation which on Friday put 15 additional sites located across the country in its tentative list of world heritage sites.

2) Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nobel prize-winning author, died at 87: Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Colombian novelist whose "One Hundred Years of Solitude" established him as a giant of 20th-century literature, died on Thursday at his home in Mexico City. He was 87. His death was confirmed by Cristobal Pera, his former editor at Random House. Garcia Marquez, who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982, wrote fiction rooted in a mythical Latin American landscape of his own creation, but his appeal was universal. His books were translated into dozens of languages. He was among a select roster of canonical writers — Dickens, Tolstoy and Hemingway among them — who were embraced both by critics and by a mass audience. His other books include Chronicle of a Death Foretold (1981), Love in the Time of Cholera (1985), Autumn of the Patriarch (1975), The General in his Labyrinth (1989), Of Love and Other Demons (1994) and Living to Tell the Tale (2002).

3) Bouteflika wins 4th term as president of Algeria: Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, whose poor health forced him to vote from a wheelchair, has won a fourth term with 81.53 per cent of the votes, the Interior Minister announced on Friday. The 77-year-old incumbent’s main rival, Ali Benflis, received 12.18 per cent of the votes in a poll which saw 51.78 per cent of Algerians cast their ballots, Tayeb Belaiz told a news conference.

4) Ferrer ends Nadal’s run: Rafael Nadal’s 30-match winning streak on clay ended on Friday when the world No.1 was upset 7-6(1), 6-4 by fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in the ATP Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinals.

5) Maxwell powers Kings XI to easy win: Chennai Super Kings’ imposing 205 for four failed to intimidate Kings XI Punjab, who chased down the total with six wickets in hand and seven balls to spare in their Indian Premier League match at the Zayed cricket stadium on an oppressive Friday afternoon. Drifting dangerously at 52 for three early into the chase, the hour of reckoning produced the man for the crisis in the form of Glenn Maxwell, whose 43-ball 95 brought the Kings well within range of what had once seemed a distant target.

6) Rahane and Binny shine in Royals win: Rajasthan Royals, after restricting Sunrisers Hyderabad’s famed batting line-up to a modest 133 for six, survived a few anxious moments before overhauling the target with three balls and four wickets to spare in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Zayed Cricket Stadium here on Friday. Rising head and shoulders above the rest in the low-scoring contest was man-of-the-match Ajinkya Rahane, who anchored the innings with 59 off 53 balls before Stuart Binny’s unconquered 48 (32b, 4x4, 1x6) took Royals home. Binny held one end up even as wickets fell at regular intervals at the other.

7) Raj Singh is chef-de-mission for Commonwealth Games 2014: Raj Singh (Dronacharya awardee) has been appointed chef-de-mission for the 2014 Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow from July 23 to August 3, according to a press release from the Indian Olympic Association. Raja K.S. Sidhu, an International shooter, will be the deputy chef-de-mission.

8) EC launched Voter Educational Channel: The Election Commission has launched its own internet-based media arm called ‘Voter Education Channel’. Numerous video clips featuring iconic personalities urging citizens to vote have been uploaded on the channel and can be viewed on social media platform YouTube. While the first clip showcases a recorded speech of Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath asking voters to exercise their voting right, a number of other video links have sportpersons like M S Dhoni, Saina Nehwal and MC Mary Kom urging the young and the old to go for the most important right of an Indian citizen — that of the vote.

Voters can also view videos of EC brand ambassadors such as former President APJ Abdul Kalam and actor Aamir Khan on the e-link.

9) Vietnam Pulls out of Hosting Asian Games 2019: Vietnam has withdrawn as the host of the 2019 Asian Games, saying it lacked funds and the country's reputation could be at risk if the event flops.

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Objective Question Answer on Current Affairs: 10 & 11 April 2014

1) Who among the following has been appointed as next Chief Justice of India on 11 April 2014?

(A) Justice R M Lodha

(B) Justice P Sathasivam

(C) Justice A K Patnaik

(D) Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur

2) Which Indian was recently inducted as a member of the Board of Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), a rare distinction for an Indian in the Chinese government-backed influential body?

(A) Sunil Bharti Mittal

(B) Mukesh Ambani

(C) N. R. Narayana Murthy

(D) Ratan Tata

3) Viktor Orban was re-elected as Prime Minister of which country for the second consecutive four-year term on 10 April 2014?

(A) France

(B) Germany

(C) Hungary

(D) Malta

4) The book "The Accidental Prime Minister: Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh" which sparked controversy recently was authored by?

(A) Sanjaya Baru

(B) T. K. A. Nair

(C) Shivshankar Menon

(D) V R Narayanaswamy

5) Name the highly sever virus which arrived in Indian Cyber Space recently?

(A) Trojan

(B) Heartbleed

(C) Apple

(D) Sality

6) India on 10 April 2014 successfully conducted the maiden night test of its indigenously developed which nuclear-capable ballistic missile?

(A) Agni-I

(B) Prithvi-II

(C) Dhanus-I

(D) Barhmos-IV

7) Which private telecom giant recently bought out its minority partners and now owns 100% in India unit?

(A) Airtel

(B) Reliance

(C) Tata

(D) Vodafone

8)  Stuart Parkin recently won which among the following prize?

(A) Pulitzer Prze 2014

(B) Abel Prize 2014

(C) Millennium Technology Prize 2014

(D) Pritzker Architecture Prize 2014

9) Name the stone-age tribes of Andaman & Nicobar (A&N) islands who for the first time casted their votes in Great Nicobar on 10 April 2014?

(A) Shompens

(B) Jarawa

(C) Onge

(D) Sentinelese

10) Which leading banking luminary was appointed as the special advisor of the interim President of BCCI-IPL Sunil Gavaskar on 11 April 2014?

(A) Shyam Srinivasan

(B) K. Venkataraman

(C) Deepak Parekh

(D) Adtya Puri

Answers

1) Ans. (A) Justice R M Lodha

2) Ans. (D) Ratan Tata

3) Ans. (C) Hungary

4) Ans. (A) Sanjaya Baru

5) Ans. (B) Heartbleed

6) Ans. (A) Agni-I

7) Ans. (D) Vodafone

8) Ans. (C) Millennium Technology Prize 2014

9) Ans. (A) Shompens

10) Ans. (C) Deepak Parekh

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Current Affairs MCQs for Competitive Exams 09 April 2014

1) Which Indian Cricketer was recently named one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year?

(A) Virat Kohli

(B) M S Dhoni

(C) Sachin Tendulkar

(D) Shikhar Dhawan

2) Name Indian Navy's first aircraft carrier which was sold to ship-breaker company for Rs 60 crore recently (April 2014)?

(A) INS Virat

(B) INS Vikrant

(C) INS Vijay

(D) INS Sindhurakshak

3) Which prolific cricketer adorned the covers of the 151st edition of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack released in April 2014?

(A) Sachin Tendulkar

(B) Jacques Kallis

(C) Don Bradman

(D) Sunil Gavaskar

4) Which bollywood actor was recently appointed brand ambassador for Lenovo smartphones?

(A) Aamir Khan

(B) Shahid Kapoor

(C) Irfan Khan

(D) Ranbir Kapoor

5) World Bank on 9 April 2014 projected an economic growth rate of ..... per cent in 2014-15 for India?

(A) 5.7

(B) 4.5

(C) 5

(D) 6.7

6) Software services industry group Nasscom (National Association of Software and Services Companies) has named whom, as its new chairman for the 2014-15 financial year?

(A) Krishnakumar Natarajan

(B) B.V.R. Mohan Reddy

(C) R. Chandrasekaran

(D) Rana Kapoor

7) Which Israeli Startup has developed a smartphone battery which charges in just 30 Seconds, demonstrated their pioneering progress at Microsoft's Think Next symposium in Tel Aviv recently?

(A) Bat Cell

(B) Charge thunder

(C) Limelight

(D) StoreDot

8) Which player was named icon of IPL team Mumbai Indians for IPL season 7?

(A) Rohit Sharma

(B) Sachin Tendulkar

(C) Ricky Ponting

(D) Ambadi Rayidu

9) A new law legalizing sale of self-testing kits for HIV came into force in which country on 6 April 2014?

(A) Bangladesh

(B) Australia

(C) UK

(D) China

10) India's first aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant was recently sold for 60 crore rupees to a company named?

(A) IB Commercial Pvt Ltd

(B) IRB Construction Ltd

(C) JRB Ships Pvt Ltd

(D) ITBB Scraps pvt Ltd.

Answers

1) Ans. (D) Shikhar Dhawan

2) Ans. (B) INS Vikrant

3) Ans. (A) Sachin Tendulkar

4) Ans. (D) Ranbir Kapoor

5) Ans. (A) 5.7

6) Ans. (C) R. Chandrasekaran

7) Ans. (D) StoreDot

8) Ans. (B) Sachin Tendulkar

9) Ans. (C) UK

10) Ans. (A) IB Commercial Pvt Ltd

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Daily Current Affairs 17 April 2014

1) Robin Dhowan takes over as new Navy chief: Robin K. Dhowan on Thursday took over as chief of the Indian Navy nearly two months after D.K. Joshi quit the post in the wake of a series of mishaps. Admiral Dhowan, 59, who has been the acting Navy chief since Joshi's exit, has been appointed the Chief of Navy Staff superseding Western Naval Commander Shekhar Sinha. He will have a tenure of 25 months, retiring in May 2016.

Sinha was the senior-most Vice Admiral but he has been edged out of the race, apparently because majority of the 14 mishaps, including two major submarine accidents, took place under his command during the last 10 months.

Joshi, who had 15 months left in service, resigned on February 26 following the mishap involving submarine INS Sindhuratna in which two Navy officers were killed and several others were injured.

2) Fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections held: Heavy voter turnout marked the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections, covering 121 constituencies spread across 12 States. The outcome of the latest phase could decide the shape the new government in May. This round is crucial to both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress as together with their allies, they currently hold 86 of the 121 seats. The States where both the ruling party and the principal Opposition have heavy stakes are Karnataka, where election for all 28 seats was held, and Rajasthan, which saw voting in 20 of its 25 constituencies. Polling was also held for 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, 10 in Madhya Pradesh, seven in Bihar, six in Jharkhand, four in West Bengal, three in Chhattisgarh, and one each in Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur.

3) Microsoft is the most attractive employer in India, finds Randstad survey: Microsoft has won the Randstad Award 2014 for being the 'Most Attractive Employer' for the fourth consecutive year in India, Sony India is the runner-up, while 'special recognition awards' have been given to Larsen & Toubro in the infrastructure sector, State Bank of India in the banking sector, Taj Group of Hotels in the hospitality sector and Tata Power in the energy sector.

The Randstad Award, instituted globally by leading HR services provider, Randstad, aims to encourage best practices for talent attraction and to identify the best 'Employer Brand' in the country based on perceived attractiveness of a company.

4) Union Cabinet approved the appointment of Narendra Kothari as Chairman of NMDC: Union Cabinet on 16 April 2014 approved the appointment of Narendra Kothari as full time Chairman of the state-run miner National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC). The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the appointment. NMDC is the biggest iron ore Miner of India. NMDC has been functioning without a full-time chairman and managing director ever since incumbent Rana Som retired in December 2011.

5) ING Vyasa launched m-banking application: ING Vyasa on Wednesday officially announced the launch of its mobile banking application, which is believes will help drive higher user engagement. Besides features such as checking balance, funds transfer and bill payments, the application offers ability to scan and store cheques issued, lets users buy and send gift vouchers from various brands and ATM branch locater. Customer will require a single channel to access all digital platforms, including mobile and internet banking. The app has been developed in partnership with technology giant IMB, using latter’s Worklight Platform. While the application for Google’s Android operating system and Apple’s iOS have been launched, the company said testing is on for the applications for Windows Phone and Blackberry OS’.

6) Orient Electricals is Orient Electric now; name change aimed at new business consolidation plan:  CK Birla group firm Orient Electricals has changed its name to Orient Electric today, as part of its new business consolidation plan. The country's oldest and largest manufacturer of fans, Orient, is making a shift from being a significant player in the domestic fan industry to an integrated home solutions provider of smart home solutions. The company will be consolidating its business verticals like fans, lighting products and home appliances under one umbrella brand Orient Electric.

7) CAG can audit accounts of private telecom companies: SC - The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the department of telecom's appeal that the comptroller and auditor general of India can audit the accounts of private telecom service providing companies. The apex court held that private companies utilize national wealth, which is spectrum, in providing the cellular and fixed telephone services. So, their profit-loss accounts could be looked into by the CAG, the SC said.

8) World Met Organization announced second world record for Cherrapunji: Cherrapunji has been holding a world record of maximum amount of rainfall in a single year for long. But, now this tiny town of Meghalaya has 'officially' been named for holding second world record, reaffirming it as "one of the wettest places on Earth".

A World Meteorological Organization (WMO) panel on 4 April 2014 announced that "Cherrapunji now holds the world record for two-day (48-hour) rainfall, with 2493 millimeters (98.15 inches) recorded on June 15-16, 1995".

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