April 14- Dr B.R Ambedkar Jayanti

Ambedkar Jayanti is a festival observed on April 14 every year to commemorate the memory of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.  This day is celebrated as birth anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar who born on this day in the year 1891. It is a public holiday in all of the Indian states. It is a customary tradition to pay homage to Babasaheb’s statue at the Parliament, New Delhi by the President, Prime Minister, Leaders of prominent parties etc. on this day. It is celebrated throughout the world especially by formerly oppressed communities who embraced Buddhism under his guidance. In India, large number of people visit Babasaheb's statue at the prominent place of their village/city in procession with lot of fanfare of dhol, tasha, dance etc. throughout the day and unto late night.

Know about Dr B.R Ambedkar

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956), popularly also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, politician, philosopher, anthropologist, historian and economist. A revivalist for Buddhism in India, he inspired the Modern Buddhist movement. As independent India's first law minister, he was principal architect of the Constitution of India.

Born into a poor Mahar family, Ambedkar campaigned against social discrimination, the Indian caste system. He converted to Buddhism and is also credited with providing a spark for the conversion of hundreds of thousands of lower caste members to Buddhism. Ambedkar was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in 1990. Eventually earning a law degree and doctorates for his study and research in law, economics and political science from Columbia University and the London School of Economics, Ambedkar gained a reputation as a scholar and practiced law for a few years, later campaigning by publishing journals advocating political rights and social freedom for India's untouchables.

Pranab Mukherjee, Manmohan Singh pay tribute to Dr.BR Ambedkar

President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Vice President Hamid Ansari on Monday(14 April 2014) paid tribute to Chief architect of the Indian constitution Dr.BR Ambedkar on his 123rd birth anniversary.

Dr. Ambedkar was born on this day in 1891 in the town of Mhow in Madhya Pradesh and was independent India's first law minister and principal architect of the Constitution of India.

All central government offices including industrial establishments and Banks will remain closed today on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti.

Read More

Question Papers of Postal/Sorting Assistant Exam(PA/SA) 2013 held in all Circles

Friends..we have already shared all the Question Papers of PA/SA Exam held during last year (2013). As now exam dates for PA/SA Exam 2014 are announced and very short time is available for preparation, it is very important to have a look at the previous papers so as to get an idea about the question paper and pattern. Hence here we have compiled all the questions for your easy reference. Hope this helps you. Prepare well….all the best in advance.

Phase	Exam Date	Circles Covered	Question Paper
1	21 April 2013	TamilNadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra & Gujarat Circles	Click Here
2	05 May 2013	Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, North East , Odhisha & West Bengal	Click Here
3	12 May 2013	Kerala	Click Here
4	19 May 2013	Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Uttarakhand and U. P. circles	Click Here
5	07 July 2013	Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan circles	Click Here

Read More

Exam Date for PA/SA Exam 2014 for Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, North East, Odisha, Rajasthan and Jharkhand out!!!!

Update as on April 13, 2014      

Tentative schedule for Postal Circle wise exams is as follows:

Exam Date   Postal Circles

27-April        ----------         Assam (12), Chhattisgarh (14), Delhi (15), North East (25), Odisha (26), Rajasthan (28)

04-May          ----------        Jharkhand (20)

CANDIDATES CAN DOWNLOAD THE ADMIT CARDS FROM THIS WEBSITE. THE COMMENCMENT FOR POSTAL CIRCLE WISE DOWNLOADING OF ADMIT CARDS SHALL BE DISPLAYED SHORTLY.

CANDIDATES ARE REQUESTED TO VISIT THE WEBSITE REGULARLY FOR UPDATES AND EXAM DATES OF OTHER POSTAL CIRCLES. 

Exam Date of PA/SA Exam 2014  

Visit: www.currentaffairs4examz.com

Circles	Exam Date
Assam (12), Chhattisgarh (14), Delhi (15), North East (25), Odisha (26), Rajasthan (28)	27-April-2014
Jharkhand (20)	04-May-2014

Friends…date of other postal circles are yet to be published. Please wait patiently and concentrate on your preparation. We will inform you all the updates regularly J

View Study Materials (click on each item): Model Questions, Previous Questions, Exclusive Blog for Exam preparation

Read More

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.

Read More

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

Read More

Veteran film lyricist and director Gulzar chosen for Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2013

 >> Veteran poet and film lyricist Gulzar has been chosen for the coveted Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2013, the ministry of information and broadcasting announced on Saturday.

>> The multi-faceted Gulzar, whose real name is Sampooran Singh Kalra, is a lyricist, director, screen writer, producer and poet.

>> He is the 45th winner of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

>> The award is conferred by the government for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema.

>> Born in 1934 in Punjab in pre-independence India, Gulzar started his career in 1956. As a lyricist, he got his first break in Bimal Roy's "Bandini". He then worked with leading composers like Sachin Dev Burman, Salil Chowdhury, Shankar-Jaikishan, Hemant Kumar, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Madan Mohan, Rajesh Roshan, Anu Malik and the new age Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

>> His has contributed to several films as script, story and dialogue writer. His directorials are "Mere Apne", "Koshish", "Aandhi", "Kinara", "Khushboo", "Angoor", "Libaas", "Meera", "Lekin" and "Maachis".

>> Gulzar's small screen stint included creating the series like "Mirza Ghalib" and "Tahreer Munshi Premchand Ki". He wrote lyrics for Doordarshan serials "Hello Zindagi", "Potli Baba Ki" and "Jungle Book".

>> The 79-year-old was conferred the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002 and the Padma Bhushan in 2004 . He has won a number of National Film Awards and 20 Filmfare Awards.

>> At the 81st Oscars in 2009, he won the Academy Award for best original song for "Jai ho" with A R Rahman.

>> His poetry has been published in three compilations: "Chand Pukhraaj Ka", "Raat Pashminey Ki" and "Pandrah Paanch Pachattar". His short stories are published in "Raavi Paar" and "Dhuan".

Know about Dadasaheb Phalke Award?

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest award in cinema given annually by the Government of India for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema.

The Award is given to a prominent personality from the Indian film industry, noted and respected for significant contributions to Indian cinema. A committee consisting eminent personalities from the Indian film industry is appointed to evaluate the award. Introduced in 1969, the birth centenary year of Dadasaheb Phalke, considered as the father of Indian cinema, award is given to recognise the contribution of film personalities towards the development of Indian Cinema and for distinguished contribution to the medium, its growth and promotion.

 The award for a particular year is given during the end of the following year along with the National Film Awards. The award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a cash prize of INR 1 million and a shawl.

Read More

11 April 2014: Daily Current Affairs Updates

1) Justice R.M. Lodha appointed next Chief Justice of India:  Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha has been appointed as the next Chief Justice of India and he will assume charge on April 27. On Friday, the law ministry issued a press note saying the President has appointed Justice Lodha as the next CJI. Justice Lodha (64) is the most senior judge of the Supreme Court after CJI P Sathasivam. He will have a brief tenure of five months as CJI as he is scheduled to retire on September 27. Read more from here.

2) EC banned Amit Shah, Azam Khan rallies: Taking serious exception to the failure of the U.P. government to file an FIR against Urban Development Minister Azam Khan for his communal utterances and to check inflammatory speeches by BJP leader Amit Shah, the Election Commission on Friday directed the Chief Secretary to initiate criminal proceedings against the two and ban public meetings where they are expected to be present.

3) Former media adviser of PM- Sanjaya Baru's book sparks controversy: Manmohan Singh's former media adviser, Sanjaya Baru, has come out with a tell-all memoir of his days in the Prime Minister's Office during UPA I. The Accidental Prime Minister: Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh is like a House of Cards of Indian politics - not as ruthless as the American television series about Capitol Hill but terrifically real. In his book he describes, PM Manmohan Singh was in office, but not in power.

4) Deadly ‘Heartbleed’ virus arrived in Indian cyberspace: Indian cyber security sleuths have alerted Internet users against a “highly severe” virus named ‘Heartbleed’, which has set alarm bells ringing across the globe for fear of exposing millions of passwords, credit card numbers and other sensitive information to hackers. The virus prowling in the domestic arena, authorities said, attacks the openSSL of an online system which is the most essential protocol which encrypts information and data transfer over the Internet.

5) President presented Sangeet Natak Akademi awards: President Pranab Mukherjee presented the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Sangeet Natak Akademi awards for 2013 at a function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday. Akademi Ratna, the Fellowship, was conferred on Dr. Kanak Rele, R. Sathyanarayana, and Mahesh Elkunchwar. The Fellows received a cash purse of Rs. 3 lakh. The awards for overall contribution and scholarship in the performing arts were presented to Mysore V. Subramanya and N. Ramanathan.

6) India successfully conducted maiden night test of Agni missile: India last night successfully conducted maiden night test of its indigenously developed nuclear-capable Agni-I ballistic missile with strike range of 700 km from a test range off Odisha coast as part of a user trial by the Army. The surface-to-surface, single-stage missile, powered by solid propellants, was test-fired from a mobile launcher at 2310 hours from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Wheeler Island, about 100 km from here, Defence sources said.

7)  Infosys starts new CEO search: IT major Infosys is poised to choose a CEO from outside its six founders as incumbent CEO S.D Shibulal is set to exit well before the end of his term. Days before announcing its annual financial results, the company declared to the stock exchange early on Thursday that it will start its hunt for a new CEO, and interestingly, this time the search will include external candidates.

8) Maruti to recall over one lakh units of Ertiga, Swift, DZire: Maruti Suzuki, on Friday, said it would recall over one lakh units of its popular models — Ertiga, Swift and DZire — to replace faulty fuel filler neck.

9) Vodafone Group buys out minority partners, now owns 100% in India unit:  Vodafone Group Friday said that it has taken complete ownership of its India telecom venture Vodafone India Ltd. (VIL), by buying oput minority partners Piramal Enterprises, and Analjit Singh and Neelu Analjit Singh for a combined Rs10,142 crore.

10) SBI mops up record $1.25 billion in overseas bond sale: State Bank of India has mopped up $1.25 billion in overseas debt sale through a dual tranche bond programme, making it the largest ever offering from a domestic issuer.

11) Stuart Parkin won Millennium Technology Prize 2014: British-American physicist Stuart Parkin won Millennium Technology Prize 2014 for discoveries leading to a thousand-fold increase in digital data storage on magnetic disks. The Prize is worth of 1 million euro and it was announced by the Technology Academy Finland in Finland on 9 April 2014.

Read More

Current Affairs Quiz Questions: 06 & 07 April 2014

1) Which country lifted the T20 cricket world cup 2014?

(A) India

(B) West Indies

(C) Sri Lanka

(D) South Africa

2) Who won the Bahrain Grand Prix racing on 6 April 2014?

(A) Lewis Hamilton

(B) Sebastian Vettel

(C) Nico Rosberg

(D) Kimi Raikkonen

3) World Health Day was observed across the globe on April 7, 2014 with the theme?

(A) Healthy blood pressure

(B) Vector-borne diseases

(C) Ageing and health

(D) Anti-microbial resistance

4) Who was crowned as the new Miss India in the 51st Femina Miss India contest, which culminated on 5 April 2014 at Mumbai?

(A) Koyal Rana

(B) Vanya Mishra

(C) Navneet Kaur Dhillon

(D) Kanishtha Dhankhar

5) Which country won the ICC T-20 Women’s World Cup 2014?

(A) England

(B) Pakistan

(C) India

(D) Australia

6) Which company has recently (April 2014) made deal worth USD 3.2 billion to buy India's No. 1 drugmaker Ranbaxy?

(A) Johnson & Johnson

(B) Sun Pharma

(C) GlaxoSmithKline

(D) Pfizer

7) Name the Pulitzer Prize winning female journalist who was shot dead in Afghanistan on 4 April 2014?

(A) Anja Niedringhaus

(B) Mary Garber

(C) Kathy Gannon

(D) Catharine Graham

8) Which team won the Junior Men National hockey title 2014 on 6 April 2014?

(A) Andhra Pradesh

(B) Odisha

(C) Delhi

(D) Punjab

9) Who won third India Open men's Super Series badminton title on 6 April 2014?

(A) Chen Long

(B) Tommy Sugiarto

(C) Lee Chong Wei

(D) Kenichi Tago

10) Who won third India Open women's Super Series badminton title on 6 April 2014?

(A) Shixian Wang

(B) LI Xuerui

(C) Yihan Wang

(D) Saina Nenwal

Read More

Justice R.M. Lodha to be next Chief Justice of India

>> Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha has been appointed as the next Chief Justice of India and he will assume his charge on April 27.

>> “In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha, Judge of the Supreme Court, to be the Chief Justice of India with effect from April 27, 2014,” a Law Ministry statement said.

>> Justice Lodha (64) is the senior-most judge of the apex court after CJI P. Sathasivam. He will have a brief tenure of five months as the Chief Justice as he is scheduled to retire on September 27, this year.

>> Justice Lodha’s name was recommended as the next CJI by Justice Sathasivam.

>> As per the Memorandum of Procedure which governs the appointment of members of the higher judiciary, appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office. It stipulates that the Law Minister would, at the appropriate time, seek the recommendation of the outgoing Chief Justice of India for the appointment of the next CJI. Under this process, after receipt of the recommendation of the CJI, the Law Minister puts it up to the Prime Minister who advises the President in the matter of appointment.

>> Born in Jodhpur, Justice Lodha enrolled with Bar Council of Rajasthan in February 1973. He practiced Law in the Rajasthan High Court and dealt with all branches of law — constitutional, civil, company, criminal, taxation and labour. He was elevated as a Permanent Judge of the Rajasthan High Court in January 1994. He was transferred to the Bombay High Court where he assumed office in February 1994. Justice Lodha was transferred back to the Rajasthan High Court in February 2007. He had been the Administrative Judge of the Rajasthan High Court and was chairman of State Judicial Academy.

>> He was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Patna High Court on May 13, 2008 and elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court on December 17, 2008.

Read More