Daily Current Affairs Updates: 20 March 2014

1) Khushwant Singh, journalist and writer, died at 99:  Noted writer and journalist Khushwant Singh passed away on Thursday. He was 99. Singh was best known for his trenchant secularism, his humour, and an abiding love for poetry. Born on February 2, 1915 at Hadali, now in Pakistan, Singh wrote classics like "Train to Pakistan", "I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale" and "Delhi". He was a lawyer-turned-diplomat-turned-writer. His autobiography, "Truth, Love and a Little Malice", was published by Penguin Books in 2002. He was editor of several literary and news magazines, including the Illustrated Weekly of India as well as two newspapers, the Hindustan Times and the National Herald, through the 1970s and 1980s. In 2007, he was awarded with the Padma Vibhushan.

His most famous books:

1) Train to Pakistan, 1956

2) The Company of Women, 1999

3) Truth, Love and a Little Malice (an autobiography), 2002

4) Delhi: A Novel, 1990

5) The Sunset Club, 2010

6) The Portrait of a Lady

2) LK Advani to contest from Gandhinagar: LK Advani relented on Thursday, as he's done after earlier shows of rebellion, but he did so after forcing personal interventions from virtually the entire BJP-RSS brass. The late evening announcement that Advani will contest from Gandhinagar, as decided by BJP on Wednesday, came after strong RSS intervention and assurances by Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders that Advani will be backed by local cadre in his contest from the Gujarat seat.

3) Bangladesh entered the Super-10 round of the ICC World T20 despite shock defeat: Bangladesh entered the Super-10 round of the ICC World T20 despite suffering a shocking two-wicket loss to Hong Kong in the final Group A qualification match at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium here on Thursday. After being dismissed for 108 in 16.3 overs, Bangladesh were in a real spot of bother, with their qualifying chances hanging in balance, thanks to the result in the earlier game where Nepal upset Afghanistan.

4) Manchester United Defeated Olympiakos to Enter Champions League Quarterfinals: Manchester United won a 3-0 match against Olympiakos, bringing them a 3-2 agregate and into the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

5) Parupalli Kashyap jumps to 24 in world rankings: India’s ace men’s shuttler Parupalli Kashyap has jumped a rung to the 24th spot in the latest Badminton World Federation rankings issued on Thursday. Kashyap had reached a career high of World No.6 last year but had been witnessing slump in form for quite sometime now, resulting in his slide in the world rankings.

6) Modi is the most searched CM on Google: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has once again beaten his counterparts in the virtual world. After emerging as the most searched Indian politician on Google in 2013, the BJP leader has now topped the list of most searched Chief Minister in the country. Internet search giant Google on Wednesday released trends on Chief Ministers of India. According to the trends, which took into account searches made for a period of three months from December 14 to March 13 this year, Mr. Modi was the most popular Chief Minister among Internet users in the country..

7) BIRAC Celebrates its 2nd Foundation Day: BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council) - a Section 25 ‘Not-for-Profit Company’ of Government of India, registered under Indian Companies Act 1956, set up as Department of Biotechnology’s interface agency, which serves as a single window for the emerging biotech industries – has completed 2 years of incorporation today  20th March, 2014.

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PA/SA Exam 2014: Total Applicants crossed 20 Lakhs!!!

Friends..everyone will be eager to know the at present status of registered applicants for Postal/Sorting Assistant Exam 2014. As per the status available till 22.03.2014 at 05.00Hrs 20,96,746 applications registered. With 05 more days remaining it will not be a surprise if it touches 25 lakhs or even 30 lakhs. It is a doubt whether any other exam in India will be having more applicants than this. (Last year about 22 lakhs registered for SSC CGL 2013..in all probabilities this will broke that record). This is at a time when everybody says that the relevance of Postal Department is shrinking. But the fact inside is that with the advent of technology, more than any other department, it is the Postal Department which is changing with the needs of the customers bringing in all the new technologies to a single platform. But as advertisements etc are no that much higher..still most people are not conversant with the new services being offered by Post Offices. With the DoP even in the front of the race for the new banking license there lies a great future ahead for the Department as well as newly recruited staffs. (These lines have been posted because we are receiving many questions as to the existence of DoP from many candidates).

The following states are having more than 01 lakhs applicants:

1) Andhra Pradesh: 177776

2) Gujarat: 112695

3) Madhya Pradesh: 176539

4) Maharashtra: 339874

5) Tamil Nadu: 103462

6) Uttar Pradesh: 280325

7) West Bengal: 101855

To see other states details and also cadre wise number of applicants click on the picture below:

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March 22, 2014: World Water Day

 >> March 22 is World Water Day. A day to remember the importance of water. A day to remember that Water is precious and each drop needs to be saved for ourselves and for our next generation.

>> But it’s so sad that we remember and talk much about Water only on March 22 and then continue to contaminate and waste it all the other 364 days. If there is no fresh water, there is no life. What makes earth compatible for life itself is water. What would the world do without fresh water? We need it to hydrate our bodies, it’s in the food we eat and the beverages we drink. We use it to clean ourselves, our clothes, our dishes, our cars and everything else around us. You can travel on it or jump in it to cool off on hot summer days. Many of the products that you use everyday, contain it or were manufactured using it. All forms of life need it, and if they don’t get enough of it, they quite simply die.

>> Political disputes have centred around water nowadays. In some places, it’s treasured and incredibly difficult to get. In others, it’s incredibly easy to get and then squandered and wasted. So, as our numbers grow, we have to realise that fresh water is becoming scarce, and there soon will not be enough to go around unless we learn to save it.

>> So friends..its our responsibility to save water. Whenever you use water, remember its importance and reduce its consumption to the absolute minimum. We need to keep that water flowing in our taps and into our homes and what better way than to be a mover and shaker or rather a saver, in your own little way?

Here is the history and importance of World Water Day.

** World Water Day has been observed on 22 March since 1993 when the United Nations General Assembly declared 22 March as "World Day for Water". The UN and its member nations devote this day to implementing UN recommendations and promoting concrete activities within their countries regarding the world's water resources. Each year, one of various UN agencies involved in water issues takes the lead in promoting and coordinating international activities for World Water Day. Since its inception in 2003, UN-Water has been responsible for selecting the theme, messages and lead UN agency for the World Day for Water.

2014 World Water Day Theme: "Water and Energy"

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Message for the World Water Day

"On World Water Day, let us pledge to develop the policies needed to ensure that sustainable water and energy are secured for the many and not just the few".

With Inputs from Various articles available in net

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GK & Current Affairs Questions: 09 & 10 March 2014

1) Which team won the Santosh Trophy football tournament 2014?

(A) Services

(B) Mizoram

(C) Kerala

(D) Goa

2) Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys and chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) joined congress party on 9 March 2014. He will contest Lok Sabha polls from which state?

(A) Karnataka

(B) Delhi

(C) Uttar Pradesh

(D) Maharashtra

3) Which batsman is at No.1 position in the lastest released ICC ODI rankings (March 2014)?

(A) AB De Villers

(B) Kumar Sangakkara

(C) Hashim Amla

(D) Virat Kohli

4) Which state has hosted the Santhosh Trophy football tournament 2014?

(A) Kerala

(B) Tamil Nadu

(C) West Bengal

(D) Goa

5) Who was named Captain of Rajasthan Royals in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014?

(A) Kevin Pietersen

(B) George Bailey

(C) Brad Hodge

(D) Shane Watson

6) Name the phone series launched by Nokia with Android operating system?

(A) Nokia X

(B) Nokia M

(C) Nokia K

(D) Nokia S

7) Mohammad Qasim Fahim who died on 9 March 2014 was the vice president of?

(A) Maldives

(B) Afghanistan

(C) Indonesia

(D) Pakistan

8) Which was the first country to give women the right to vote in the national elections?

(A) Finland

(B) New Zealand

(C) USA

(D) Germany

9) Who was awarded Nobel Prize both for Physics and for Chemistry?

(A) Marie Curie

(B) Albert Einstein

(C) C.V. Raman

(D) Pierre Curie

10) Which Indian nationalist formed the Indian Association in 1876?

(A) Surendranath Banerjee

(B) W.C. Bonerjea

(C) Aurobindo Ghose

(D) Chittaranjan Das

Answers

1) Ans. (B) Mizoram

2) Ans. (A) Karnataka

3) Ans. (D) Virat Kohli

4) Ans. (C) West Bengal

5) Ans. (D) Shane Watson

6) Ans. (A) Nokia X

7) Ans. (B) Afghanistan

8) Ans. (B) New Zealand

9) Ans. (A) Marie Curie

10) Ans. (A) Surendranath Banerjee

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Mathematics Model Questions for PA/SA Exam

1. How long will Lucy have to wait before for her $2,500 invested at 6% earns $600 in simple interest?

(A)2 years

(B)3 years

(C)4 years

(D)5 years

(E)6 years

2. Grace has 16 jellybeans in her pocket. She has 8 red ones, 4 green ones, and 4 blue ones. What is the minimum number of jellybeans she must take out of her pocket to ensure that she has one of each color?

(A)4

(B)8

(C)12

(D)13

(E)16

3. If r = 5 z then 15 z = 3 y, then r =

(A)y

(B)2 y

(C)5 y

(D)10 y

(E)15 y

4. What is 35% of a number if 12 is 15% of a number?

(A)5

(B)12

(C)28

(D)33

(E)62

5. A computer is on sale for $1600, which is a 20% discount off the regular price. What is the regular price?

(A)$1800

(B)$1900

(C)$2000

(D)$2100

(E)$2200

6. A car dealer sells a SUV for $39,000, which represents a 25% profit over the cost. What was the cost of the SUV to the dealer?

(A)$29,250

(B)$31,200

(C)$32,500

(D)$33,800

(E)$33,999

7. After having to pay increased income taxes this year, Edmond has to sell his BMW. Edmond bought the car for $49,000, but he sold it for a 20% loss. What

did Edmond sell the car for?

(A)$24,200

(B)$28,900

(C)$35,600

(D)$37,300

(E)$39,200

8. If Sam can do a job in 4 days that Lisa can do in 6 days and Tom can do in 2 days, how long would the job take if Sam, Lisa, and Tom worked together to complete it? Get more postal assistant study material from here

(A)0.8 days

(B)1.09 days

(C)1.23 days

(D)1.65 days

(E)1.97 days

9. Find 0.12 ÷12

(A)100

(B)10

(C)1

(D)0.01

(E)0.001

10. If 6 is 24% of a number, what is 40% of the same number?

(A)8

(B)10

(C)15

(D)20

(E)25

11. Which of the following numbers could be described in the following way: an integer that is a natural, rational and whole number?

(A)0

(B)1

(C)2.33

(D)-3

(E)none of the above

12. Find the mode of the following list of numbers: 2, 4, 6, 4, 8, 2, 9, 4, 3, 8

(A)2

(B)3

(C)4

(D)5

(E)6

13. In the fraction 3/x, x may not be substituted by which of the following sets?

(A){1, 2, 4}

(B){-2,-3,-4}

(C){1, 3, 7}

(D){0, 10, 20}

(E){1.8, 4.3}

14. Sarah needs to make a cake and some cookies. The cake requires 3/8 cup of sugar and the cookies require 3/5 cup of sugar. Sarah has 15/16 cups of

sugar. Does she have enough sugar, or how much more does she need?

(A)She has enough sugar.

(B)She needs 1/8 of a cup of sugar.

(C)She needs 3/80 of a cup of sugar.

(D)She needs 4/19 of a cup of sugar.

(E)She needs 1/9 of a cup of sugar.

15. At a company fish fry, 1/2 in attendance are employees. Employees' spouses are 1/3 of the attendace. What is the percentage of the people in attendance who are not employees or employee spouses?

(A)10.5%

(B)16.7%

(C)25%

(D)32.3%

(E)38%

16. If 8x + 5x + 2x + 4x = 114, the 5x + 3 =

(A) 12

(B) 25

(C) 33

(D) 47

(E) 86

17. There are 8 ounces in a ½ poun(D)How many ounces are in 7 3/4 lbs?

(A)12 ounces

(B)86 ounces

(C)119 ounces

(D)124 ounces

(E)138 ounces

18. If the value of x and y in the fraction XZ/Y are both tripled, how does the value of the fraction change?

(A)increases by half

(B)decreases by half

(C)triples

(D)doubles

(E)remains the same

19. What is the next number in the following pattern? 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, ___

(A)1/10

(B)1/12

(C)1/14

(D)1/15

(E)1/16

20. Of the following units which would be more likely used to measure the amount of water in a bathtub?

(A)kilograms

(B)liters

(C)milliliters

(D)centigrams

(E)volts

(Comment if there is mistake with any questions)

Answers

1. C 2. D 3. A 4. C 5. C 6. B 7. E 8. B 9. D 10. B 11. B 12. C 13. D 14. C 15. B 16. C 17. D 18. E 19. E 20. B 21. D 22. B 23. C 24. A 25. E

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Daily Current Affairs Updates: 19 March 2014

1) High Courts to get 25 per cent more judges to clear backlog: In an attempt to clear the backlog of over 40 lakh cases, the Centre has increased the strength of judges in all High Courts by 25 per cent. As a result, the number of judges will go up from 906 to 1,112. At present, there are about 250 vacancies in the High Courts. In addition, 206 new vacancies have to be filled in view of the proposed increase in the strength.

2) EC to track election ads on Twitter, Facebook: With political parties using social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook in a big way for campaigning in Lok Sabha elections, Election Commission (EC) has issued detailed guidelines for political advertisements on such platforms that include obtaining certification for contents before putting them in public domain. The EC has also asked the social media sites to maintain expenditure incurred by the political parties and individual candidates on advertisements so that they can be produced to the commission when requested for.

3) UAE to host 20 matches in IPL 7 first leg:  The United Arab Emirates was on Wednesday awarded the hosting rights of 20 matches in the IPL's first leg with defending champions Mumbai Indians opening the tournament by squaring off against Kolkata Knight Riders on April 16 in Abu Dhabi. The IPL Governing Council announced the schedule for the first phase of the tournament after a meeting. UAE leg of the IPL, a part of which has been shifted out of the country due to general elections, will wind up on April 30 with Mumbai facing Sunrisers Hyderabad in Dubai.

4) Nissan rolls out Datsun GO at Rs. 3.12 lakh: Japanese auto maker Nissan, on Wednesday, launched the Datsun brand in India with the first offering 'GO' priced between Rs.3.12 lakh and Rs.3.69 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The car is likely to intensify competition in the popular small car category and will compete with cars such as Maruti Suzuki's Alto 800 and Hyundai's Eon.

5) Bank, ATM services may be hit as Windows XP support ends on April 8:  Banking operations, including ATM services, may be hit as support from Microsoft for Windows XP operating system will end from April 8, the RBI said on Wednesday asking banks to take immediate steps to control this. The end of support for Windows XP is likely to increase the probability of attacks on such a system and may affect ATM operations as well, RBI said.Read more daily updates from here. 

6) Pakistan's first LNG terminal to be ready by November: Pakistan first ever LNG Terminal to be ready for operation soon at Karachi by November. Pakistan is going through severe energy crisis and LNG is seen as short term solution to meet its energy needs.

7) Government allows more banks to import gold in easing of curbs: Government has allowed five domestic private sector banks to import gold, in what industry officials say could be a significant step towards easing of tough curbs on the metal imposed last year to cut the country's trade deficit. The move could boost gold supplies and bring down premiums for the metal in the world's second-biggest consumer after China.

8) World Twenty20 warm-up: Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina set up India's 20-run win over England: India comprehensively defeated England by 20 runs in their second and final warm-up fixture of the ICC World Twenty20 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Wednesday. Chasing India's total of 178/4, England could only manage 158/6 in their quota of 20 overs.

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GK Questions for Postal Assistant Examination| Useful for other Exams also

Q1. After which historical character is the Victoria Gardens in Maharashtra named?

(A) Nana Saheb

(B) Jijamata

(C) Chhatrapati Shivaji

(D) Balaji Baji Rao

Ans. (B) Jijamata

Q2. Ulaanbaatar is the capital of which Asian country?

(A) Sri Lanka

(B) Maldives

(C) Mongolia

(D) Malaysia

Ans. (C) Mongolia

Q3. In which Indian state is the Kanchenjunga National Park located?

(A) West Bengal

(B) Sikkim

(C) Arunachal Pradesh

(D) Assam

Ans. (B) Sikkim

Q4. The Atlas mountain range is in which continent?

(A) Europe

(B) Asia

(C) Africa

(D) Australia

Ans. (C) Africa

Q5. Saffron color in Indian national flag stands for _____.

(A) Sacrifice

(B) Prosperity

(C) Enmity

(D) Peace

Ans. (A) Sacrifice

Q6. Sristhanaka was the original name of which Indian city?

(A) Thane

(B) Nasik

(C) Pune

(D) Nagpur

Ans. (A) Thane

Q7. Who was the first Indian to reach the semi final in Wimbledon Tennis Championship?

(A) Ramanathan Krishnan

(B) Ramesh Krishnan

(C) Leander Paes

(D) Mahesh Bhupati

Ans. (A) Ramanathan Krishnan

Q8. Who was the inventor of xerography?

(A) Chester Carlson

(B) Michael Faraday

(C) Thomas Alva Edison

(D) Humphry Davy

Ans. (A) Chester Carlson

Q9. Who was the first Indian woman to win a medal in the Olympics?

(A) P.T.Usha

(B) Karnam Malleshwari

(C) Kunjarani Devi

(D) Bachendri Pal

Ans. (B) Karnam Malleshwari

Q10. In which Indian state would you find the largest church of Asia?

(A) Rajasthan

(B) Maharashtra

(C) Kerala

(D) Goa

Ans. (D) Goa

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