Current Affairs Quiz: 05 March 2015

1) Which mine sweeper of the Indian Navy will be decommissioned in 2015 as announced recently?

(A) INS Kozhikode

(B) INS Kakinada

(C) INS Ratnagiri

(D) INS Alleppey

2) Who has been unanimously elected the president of the BCCI on 2 March 2015?

(A) N. Srinivasan

(B) Jagmohan Dalmiya

(C) Shivlal Yadav

(D) Sharad Pawar

3) Arvind Virmani, who served as the country’s Chief Economic Advisor and Principal Advisor in the Planning Commission, was recently appointed as the Economic Mentor of?

(A) FICCI

(B) ASSOCHAM

(C) NASSCOM

(D) Infosys 

4) Who has been declared the richest man in the world for the 16th time by Forbes magazine's annual ranking of global billionaires released recently?

(A) Warren Buffett

(B) Carlos Slim Helu

(C) Bill Gates

(D) Larry Ellison

5) Which football club recently won League Cup?

(A) Chelsea

(B) Tottenham

(C) Manchester United

(D) Manchester City

6) World’s first electric satellites successfully lifted off by which rocket recently?

(A) Antares rocket

(B) SpaceX rocket

(C) Nighttime rocket

(D) None of these

7) Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015 by voice vote on 2 March 2015. The Bill seeks to amend the?

(A) Citizenship Act, 1947

(B) Citizenship Act, 1950

(C) Citizenship Act, 1953

(D) Citizenship Act, 1955

8) Hifikepunye Pohamba has recently won the world's most valuable individual award, the Mo Ibrahim prize for African leadership. Hifikepunye Pohamba is the President of which African country?

(A) South Africa

(B) Kenya

(C) Namibia

(D) Nigeria

9) Who recently won the Argentina Open tennis tournament?

(A) Roger Federer

(B) Rafael Nadal

(C) Andy Murray

(D) Novak Djokovic

10) Sania Mirza of India has recently decided to team up with former World No. 1 Martina Hingis in the US-leg of the WTA Tour circuit. Martina Hingis is from which country?

(A) Switzerland

(B) Serbia

(C) Spain

(D) Slovakia

Answers

1) Ans. (D) INS Alleppey

2) Ans. (B) Jagmohan Dalmiya

3) Ans. (A) FICCI

4) Ans. (C) Bill Gates

5) Ans. (A) Chelsea

6) Ans. (B) SpaceX rocket

7) Ans. (D) Citizenship Act, 1955

8) Ans. (C) Namibia

9) Ans. (B) Rafael Nadal

10) Ans. (A) Switzerland

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Current Affairs February 2015 (First Week) PDF

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1) Who won the Australian Open 2015 men’s single title? - Novak Djokovic of Serbia

2) Who won the Australian Open 2015 women’s single title? - Serena Williams of the USA

3) NASA on 31 January 2015 successfully launched its first Earth satellite named? - Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP)

Note: The satellite is designed to collect global observations of the vital soil moisture.

4) Union Government on 4 February 2015 appointed whom as Union Home Secretary? - LC Goyal

5) World Cancer Day (WCD) 2015 was observed across the world on? - 4 February

Note: The tagline for the WCD 2015 was Not beyond Us.

6) Mrinalini Mukherjee who passed away on 2 February 2015 was a famous? - Sculptor and artist

7) Twitter and which search engine on 5 February 2015 have signed a deal to make tweets searchable? – Google

8) Which handset maker recently took over Korean electronics giant Samsung and became India’s biggest smartphone vendor and third largest in the world? -

Micromax 

9) Madras High Court on 6 February 2015 directed the which state government to issue a circular banning beauty contests in colleges and other educational institutions of the state? - Tamil Nadu

10) Which department won Gold at National Awards for e-Governance which was announced on 31 January 2015? - Directorate of Income Tax

Note: It was awarded for TDS Reconciliation Analysis & Correction Enabling System (TRACES).

11) Which country on 2 February 2015 successfully test-fired indigenously developed Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) Ra’ad? – Pakistan

12) Who became youngest medal winner in National Games 2015 on 3 February 2015? - Saloni Dalal

Note: The 12-year-old, Saloni won a Bronze medal in the 200 meter breast stroke swimming event.

13) Which state Government on 3 February 2015 decided to provide free education to the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and girl students till Post Graduation (PG) level in the State? – Bihar

14) Which state won the 10th National Award for excellent work in MGNREGA recently? - Madhya Pradesh

15) Union Government on 3 February 2015 constituted a High Level Panel to suggest a framework to assess Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities undertaken by companies under the Companies Act, 2013. The panel will be headed by? - Anil Baijal

16) Who was appointed as General Manager of Southern Railway on 1 February 2015? - Ashok K Agarwal

17) Who was sworn-in as the President of Italy on 3 February 2015? - Sergio Mattarella

18) Who won King Faisal International Prize for the year 2015 recently? - Dr. Zakir A. Naik

19) Who was on 5 February 2015 appointed as the Director General of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)? - MO Garg

20) Who was awarded with Shrilal Shukla Sahitya IFFCO Award 2014 on 31 January 2015? - Hindi novelist Mithileshwar 

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28th February 2015 Important Current Affairs

1) Arun K Singh to be India’s next ambassador to the US:

--> Arun Kumar Singh, a 1979 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, has been named ambassador to the United States in place of S Jaishankar, who took over as foreign secretary on January 28.

--> Fifty-nine-year-old Singh is India’s ambassador to France now.

--> India has already sent an agrement to the US government naming Singh as its next Ambassador and was awaiting a response from the Obama administration.

2) Oxford Dictionary adds 'Ride-share', 'unboxing' in word list:

--> Oxford dictionary has added words "Ride-share" and "unboxing" in the new list.

--> Other additions included "Bioprinting", defined as as "the use of 3D printing technology with materials that incorporate viable living cells, e.g. to produce tissue for reconstructive surgery."

--> And "unboxing", a favorite past time for Apple enthusiasts especially: "An act or instance of removing a newly purchased product from its packaging and examining its features, typically when filmed and shared on a social media site."

--> Oxford also added "vishing", which is like phishing, but using phone calls or voice messages instead of emails to trick people in revealing sensitive information.

3) Indian-origin counsel appointed as Judicial Commissioner to Singapore Supreme Court:

--> A 49-year-old Indian-origin lawyer has been appointed as a Judicial Commissioner to Singapore’s Supreme Court bench for two years.

--> Senior Counsel Kannan Ramesh, who was appointed to the bench, will assume the position from May 22, according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office. 

4) National Science Day observed:

--> Every year February 28 is celebrated as the National Science Day i.e. Rashtriya Vigyan Diwas.

--> In 2015, the theme of the day is “Science for Nation Building”.

--> This year’s theme has been chosen for the purpose of raising public appreciation on scientific issues for the development of nation.

5) Union Budget 2015-16 presented in Parliament:

--> Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented Union Budget 2015-16 in the Parliament.

--> It was the first full year Budget of the NDA government under leadership of Prime Minister of Narendra Modi and the second budget of Arun Jaitley as Finance Minister.

--> Click Here for highlights of Union Budget 2015-16

6) FMC to be merged with SEBI:

--> The finance minister has announced a decision to merge the commodities market regulator, Forward Markets Commission (FMC), with the capital markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

--> To give effect to this, amendments in the respective Acts governing these markets have been introduced.

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Latest Current Affairs Questions: 28 February 2015

1) Government has tabled the 14th Finance Commission report for the period 1st April 2015 to 31st March 2020 in the Lok Sabha on 24 February 2015. Finance commission is a body set up under which article of the Constitution?

(A) Article 280

(B) Article 370

(C) Article 371(A)

(D) Article 230

2) Which player has hit the first double century in the ICC Cricket World Cup history on 24 February 2015?

(A) AB de Villiers

(B) Chris Gayle

(C) Brendon McCullum

(D) Rohit Sharma

3) Which state governmnet on 24 February 2015 announced that it had developed a mobile application “mLiquorSaleCheck” for end consumers of liquor?

(A) Kerala

(B) Gujarat

(C) Maharashtra

(D) Delhi 

4)  R. K. Pachauri has recently resigned as Chief of UN panel on?

(A) Peace

(B) Child Education

(C) Climate Change

(D) None of these

5) Bharatiya Janata Party and the which other party on 24 February 2015 announced their alliance for forming a “popular’’ government in Jammu and Kashmir?

(A) Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

(B) National Conference (NC)

(C) Indian National Congress

(D) Janata Dal United (JDU)

6) A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Indian Army and which bank on the Defence Salary Package on 23 February 2015?

(A) ICICI Bank

(B) State Bank of India

(C) Union Bank of India

(D) Indian Bank

7) Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has tied up with which  E-Commerce company to sell various products on 27 February 2015?

(A) Flipkart

(B) eBay

(C) Amazon

(D) Snapdeal

8) Which session of Parliament began on 23 February 2015 with President Pranab Mukherjee's address to members of both houses of Parliament?

(A) Summer Session

(B) Winter Session

(C) Joint Session

(D) Budget Session

9) Ram Niwas Goel was on 23 February 2015 unanimously elected Speaker of which state Assembly?

(A) Delhi

(B) Jharkhand

(C) TamilNadu

(D) Bihar

10) Justice Amitava Roy was on 27 February 2015 sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court. Earlier, he was the chief justice of?

(A) Kerala high court

(B) Odisha high court

(C) Calcutta high court

(D) Karnataka high court

Answer

1) Ans. (A) Article 280

2) Ans. (B) Chris Gayle

3) Ans. (D) Delhi

4) Ans. (C) Climate Change

5) Ans. (A) Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

6) Ans. (B) State Bank of India

7) Ans.(C) Amazon

8) Ans. (D) Budget Session

9) Ans. (A) Delhi

10) Ans. (B) Odisha high court

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Highlights of Union Budget 2015-16: PDF Download

Friends..As you all know, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today (28 February 2015) presented the Union Budget 2015-16 in Parliament. Questions related to this budget will surely be asked in upcoming competitive Exams and mainly in Bank Exams. So in this post, we are sharing with you the highlights of the Union Budget 2015-16.

Download as PDF: Click Here

--> No change in personal Income Tax * Health Insurance Premium deduction hiked from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 25,000; for senior citizens to Rs. 30,000

--> Transport allowance exemption hiked to Rs. 1,600, from Rs. 800 per month

--> Additional 2% surcharge on people earning over Rs. 1 cr; to fetch Rs. 9,000 cr

--> Wealth tax abolished

--> Direct Taxes Code (DTC) dropped

--> Rs. 50,000 deduction for contribution to New Pension Scheme

--> To lower Corporate Tax to 25% over next four years

--> GAAR implementation deferred by 2 years to April 2017

--> Service Tax rate hiked to 14%, from 12.36%

--> Tax free bonds for roads, railways, irrigation projects

--> 2015—16 growth between 8—8.5%, double digit growth feasible

--> Retail inflation close to 5% by March, room for monetary policy easing

--> To achieve fiscal deficit of 3% of GDP by 2017—18

--> Fiscal Deficit target 3.9% in 2015—16, 3.5% in 2016—17

--> Revenue Deficit to be 2.8% in 2015—16

--> Current Account Deficit for 2014—15 to be below 1.3% of GDP

--> To introduce comprehensive law to deal with black money

--> Benami property transaction bill to tackle black money transaction in real estate soon

--> 100% deduction for contribution to Swachh Bharat, Clean Ganga projects

--> GST to be put in place by April 1, 2016

--> Internationally competitive direct tax regime to be put in place to incentivise saving

--> Incentivise use of credit, debit cards; disincentivise cash transaction to curb black money.

Here are sector-wise highlights:

TAXATION

* Abolition of Wealth Tax.

* Additional 2% surcharge for the super rich with income of over Rs. 1 crore.

* Rate of corporate tax to be reduced to 25% over next four years.

* No change in tax slabs.

* Total exemption of up to Rs. 4,44,200 can be achieved.

* 100% exemption for contribution to Swachch Bharat, apart from CSR.

* Service tax increased to14 per cent.

AGRICULTURE

* Rs. 25,000 crore for Rural Infrastructure Development Bank.

* Rs. 5,300 crore to support Micro Irrigation Programme.

* Farmers credit - target of 8.5 lakh crore.

INFRASTRUCTURE

* Rs. 70,000 crores to Infrastructure sector.

* Tax-free bonds for projects in rail road and irrigation

* PPP model for infrastructure development to be revitalised and govt. to bear majority of the risk.

* Atal Innovation Mission to be established to draw on expertise of entrepreneurs, and researchers to foster scientific innovations; allocation of Rs. 150 crore.

* Govt. proposes to set up 5 ultra mega power projects, each of 4000MW.

EDUCATION

* AIIMS in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Assam.

* IIT in Karnataka; Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad to be upgraded to IIT.

* PG institute of Horticulture in Amritsar.

* Kerala to have University of Disability Studies

* Centre of film production, animation and gaming to come up in Arunachal Pradesh.

* IIM for Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh.

DEFENCE

* Allocation of Rs. 2,46,726 crore; an increase of 9.87 per cent over last year.

* Focus on Make in India for quick manufacturing of Defence equipment.

WELFARE SCHEMES

* GST and JAM trinity (Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and Mobile) to improve quality of life and to pass benefits to common man.

* Six crore toilets across the country under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

* MUDRA bank will refinance micro finance orgs. to encourage first generation SC/ST entrepreneurs.

* Housing for all by 2020.

* Upgradation 80,000 secondary schools.

* DBT will be further be expanded from 1 crore to 10.3 crore.

* For the Atal Pension Yojana, govt. will contribute 50% of the premium limited to Rs. 1,000 a year.

* New scheme for physical aids and assisted living devices for people aged over 80 .

* Govt. to use Rs. 9,000 crore unclaimed funds in PPF/EPF for Senior Citizens Fund.

* Rs. 5,000 crore additional allocation for MGNREGA.

* Govt. to create universal social security system for all Indians.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

* Rs. 75 crore for electric cars production.

* Renewable energy target for 2022: 100K MW in solar; 60K MW in wind; 10K MW in biomass and 5K MW in small hydro.

TOURISM

* Develpoment schemes for churches and convents in old Goa; Hampi, Elephanta caves, Forests of Rajasthan, Leh palace, Varanasi , Jallianwala Bagh, Qutb Shahi tombs at Hyderabad to be under the new toursim scheme.

* Visa on Arrival for 150 countries.

FINANCIAL SECTOR

* Forward Markets Commission to be merged with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

* NBFCs registered with the RBI and having asset size of Rs 500 crore and above to be considered as ‘financial institution’ under Sarfaesi Act, 2002, enabling them to fund SME and mid-corporate businesses

* Permanent Establishment norms to be modified to that mere presence of offshore fund managers in the country does not lead to “adverse tax consequences.”

Courtesy in preparing this article: The Hindu

Official Budget Speech: English and Hindi

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Economic Survey 2014-15 Highlights PDF

A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi government's first full Union Budget, the Economic Survey has been tabled in Parliament on 27 February 2015 by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. It has highlighted that the Indian economy would grow by more than 8 percent in the 2015-16 fiscal year. Following are the highlights of Economic Survey 2014-15:

* GDP growth seen at 8.1–8.5 per cent in 2015-16

* Double digit growth trajectory; 8–10 per cent GDP in coming years

* Inflation shows declining trend during April-December

* Current Account Deficit (CAD) to decline to about 1 per cent in 2015-16

* To adhere to fiscal deficit target of 4.1 per cent of GDP; to aim for 3 per cent

* Committed to fiscal consolidation; to enhance revenue generation

* More reforms on anvil; Goods and Services Tax, expanding direct benefit transfers to be game-changers

* Foodgrains production for 2014-15 estimated at 257.07 million tonnes; will exceed last 5-year average by 8.5 million tonnes

* NITI Aayog, 14th Finance Commission to enhance fiscal federalism

* External Sector returning to strength, resilience

* Need balance between ‘Make in India’ and ‘Skilling India’

* Services sector negotiations at WTO crucial for India in removing many market access barriers

* Revitalise PPP model to revive investment

* Manufacturing and services equally important for growth

* Consumer inflation in 2015-16 to be between 5-5.5%

* Lower inflation opens up space for more monetary easing

* There is scope for big bang reforms

* Labour, capital, land, market reform and skills to be engines of growth

* JAM Trinity — Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar, Mobile — to help transfer of funds to poor without leakage

* Shield domestic industry to promote ‘Make In India’

* Borrowings to fund investment, not for meeting expenses

* Food subsidy bill in April-Jan up 20% to Rs. 1.08 lakh cr

* Reform Railway’s structure, commercial practices, overhaul of technology

* Public investment key growth engine in short-run for Railways, but not a substitute for private investment

* More disinvestments on the anvil in current fiscal

* Under-recoveries on petroleum products to come down to Rs. 74,664 crore in 2014-15, from Rs. 1.39 lakh crore in FY14

4Ds — Deregulation, Differentiation, Diversification, Disinter (better bankruptcy laws) — to push financial sector growth

* Implementation of GST to boost GDP, exports

* Suggests medium to long term fiscal policy to target deficit, expenditure

* Global commodity prices to remain weak in 2015

* Ecommerce sector to witness 50% growth in 5 years

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