Multiple Choice Current Affairs Questions: 23 December 2014

1) Which former player was named ambassador for 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup on 22 December 2014?

(A) Shane Warne

(B) Rahul Dravid

(C) Sachin Tendulkar

(D) Rickey Ponting

2) Former Union minister of state D Napoleon on 21 December 2014 joined BJP, after quitting which party?

(A) TDP

(B) AIADMK

(C) NCP

(D) DMK 

3) Who was awarded the Golden Ball Award for the best player of Indian Super League, which concluded recently?

(A) Iain Hume

(B) Elano Blumer

(C) Jan Seda

(D) Marco Materazzi

4) Which club recently defeated San Lorenzo of Argentina 2-0 to win the Club football World Cup 2014?

(A) Barcelona

(B) Machester United

(C) Liverpool

(D) Real Madrid

5) Who among the following was on 20 December 2014 appointed as the new Director-General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)?

(A) D K Pathak

(B) Prakash Mishra

(C) Dilip Trivedi

(C) None of these

6) India on 22 December 2014 celebrated National Mathematics Day. The day was celebrated on the birth anniversary of?

(A) Srinivasa Ramanujan

(B) Shakunthala Devi

(C) Aryabhata

(D) P.C. Mahalanobis

7) Haryanvi twins, Nungshi and Tashi Singh Mallik recently became the first twins to climb Seven Summits by climbing Mt Vinson. Mt Vinson is the highest peak of?

(A) Africa

(B) Australia

(C) South America

(D) Antartica

8) Which state will host the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2015 as announced by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on 22 December 2014?

(A) Gujarat

(B) Kerala

(C) Rajasthan

(D) Goa

9) Beji Caid Essebsi was on 22 December 2014 elected as the President of?

(A) Belgium

(B) Fiji

(C) Tunisia

(D) Sudan

10) LCA (Navy) Prototype 1 - or NP1 - the first indigenously designed and developed fourth-plus generation combat aircraft, was tested at the Ski-Jump facility of the Shore Based Test Facility at INS Hansa in which state on 20 December 2014?

(A) Odisha

(B) Andhra Pradesh

(C) Goa

(D) Kerala

Answers

1) Ans. (C) Sachin Tendulkar

2) Ans. (D) DMK

3) Ans. (A) Iain Hume

4) Ans. (D) Real Madrid

5) Ans. (B) Prakash Mishra

6) Ans. (A) Srinivasa Ramanujan

7) Ans. (D) Antartica

8) Ans. (A) Gujarat

9) Ans. (C) Tunisia

10) Ans. (C) Goa

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UPSC Civil Service Mains 2014 - English (Compulsory) Question Paper Download

Friends.. As you are all aware, the UPSC Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2014 was held from 14 December 2014 to 20 December 2014. So in this post, we are sharing with you the questions of English (compulsory) Paper which was held in the afternoon of 14.12.2014. This will be a useful reference for those who are preparing for next year's main examination. Also this will give you an idea about the question pattern. You can download this question paper as PDF from the below link. We will be posting the remaining question papers of main examination in coming days. Thank You.

General Instructions

Time allowed: Three Hours    

Maximum Marks: 300

All questions are to be attempted.

The number of marks carried by a question is indicated against it.

Answer must be written in ENGLISH Only.

Word limit in questions, wherever Specified, should be adhered to.

Download Question Paper as PDF: Click Here

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Current Affairs daily Updates: 22 December 2014

1) Sachin Tendulkar named ambassador for 2015 ICC World Cup: Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, who is the all-time leading run-getter in World Cup history, was named the event's ambassador for the second successive edition. "The International Cricket Council today announced Sachin Tendulkar as the World Cup 2015 Ambassador. It will be the second successive time that the India maestro will be the Ambassador of ICC's pinnacle tournament, after he fulfilled the role in the previous event in 2011," the ICC said in a statement in Dubai on 22 December 2014. In his role as ambassador, Tendulkar will promote and support a variety of ICC initiatives to enhance the profile of the tournament, which is the third biggest sporting event in the world and will take place in Australia and New Zealand from 14th February to 29th March.

2) Gujarat to host Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2015: The 13th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD), an event which celebrates the achievements of Indians living abroad, will be held in Gujarat from January 7-9. Briefing the media about the upcoming event on 22 December 2014, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that Gujarat has been chosen as the partner State as 2015 happens to be the 100th year of Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India from South Africa. To reflect this, the event will showcase his work and achievements. The event will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 8, and President Pranab Mukherjee will honour prominent Pravasis on January 9.

3) Beji Caid Essebsi elected as the President of Tunisia: Veteran politician Beji Caid Essebsi declared victory in Sunday's presidential run-off vote, seen as the last step in Tunisia's shift to full democracy four years after an uprising ousted autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali. The country took about 4 years to make the free and fair democratic transition after the chaotic uprising of 2011 which toppled dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The 88-year old leader heads the secular Nidaa Tounes (Call for Tunisia) party. He clinched the election by defeating incumbent Prime Minister Moncef Marzouki in the Presidential run-off vote.

4) India to reach replacement levels of fertility by 2020: Fertility is falling faster than expected in India, and the country is on track to reach replacement levels of fertility as soon as 2020, new official data shows. The 2013 data for the Sample Registration Survey (SRS), conducted by the Registrar General of India, the country’s official source of birth and death data, was released on 22 December 2014. The SRS shows that the Total Fertility Rate – the average number of children that will be born to a woman during her lifetime – in eight States has fallen below two children per woman, new official data shows.

5) Suresh Prabhu-led panel submitted advisory Group reports to Piyush Goyal: Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on 22 December 2014 submitted the reports of the Advisory Group for Integrated Development of Power, Coal, and Renewable Energy to Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal, and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal. The report covers the contemporary issues and challenges in respect of the the latter's ministries. In the report, suggestions have been made for the enhancement of coal production in the short, medium and long terms.

6) Naval light combat aircraft successfully tested: The first naval prototype of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), designed to operate from the decks of aircraft carriers, was successfully tested at a facility in Goa, the defence ministry said. The LCA (Navy) Prototype 1 - or NP1 - the first indigenously designed and developed fourth-plus generation combat aircraft, was tested at the Ski-Jump facility of the Shore Based Test Facility at INS Hansa in Goa on 20 Dec 2014.

7) Arjun Atwal won inaugural Dubai Open Golf: Veteran Indian golfer Arjun Atwal on 21 December 2014 ended a frustrating four-year title drought by winning the inaugural Dubai Open by one stroke after South Korean teenager Wang Jeung-hun bogeyed the final hole at the par-72 Els Club Dubai.

8) National Mathematics Day celebrated: India on 22 December 2014 celebrated National Mathematics Day. The day is observed to commemorate the birth anniversary of great Indian Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. The declaration to observe 22 December as National Mathematics Day was made by former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on 26 February 2012 at Madras University on the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of Ramanujan.

9) India's Shiva Keshavan wins silver at Asian Luge Championship: India’s Shiva Keshavan added another international medal to his kitty by winning a silver at the 17th Asian Luge Championships in Nagano, Japan. Keshavan, who has participated in five Winter Olympics, clocked 49.934 seconds to cover the 1326 metre long ice track in the men’s luge competition at the Spiral Olympic Sliding Centre in Nagano. Hidenari Kanayama of Japan won gold in 49.791 seconds while Kim of Korea bagged the bronze with a timing of 50.178.

10) Klaus Iohannis sworn in as Romania’s new president: Liberal Klaus Iohannis, former mayor of Sibiu, has been sworn in as Romania's new president in an elaborate ceremony on 21 December 2014. The new head of state pledged to use his time in office to fight corruption and strengthen the country's institutions.

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Syllabus & Pattern of SBI Associate Bank Clerk Exam 2014-15

Friends.. SBI is going to conduct the exam for recruitment of 6425 Clerks in SBI Associate Banks 2014-15 during the month of January and February 2015. The exam will be of online nature. In this post we are sharing with you, the Syllabus & Pattern of this exam.

The test will be online objective type, consisting of

(i) General Awareness

(ii) General English

(iii)Quantitative Aptitude

(iv)Reasoning Ability

(v)Marketing Aptitude /Computer Knowledge.

The questions in objective tests, except for the test of General English, will be bilingual i.e., English &Hindi. Each test will be of 40 marks. For these objective type tests of total 200 marks candidates will be given a composite time of 2Hours 15minutes.

The detailed syllabus will be similar to the SBI Clerk Exam 2014-2015 which is as follows:

General Awareness: Indian Constitution, Technology and Research News, India and its nearby countries’ news, Knowledge of current events, Sports, history, geography, culture etc.

General English: Deriving conclusions, Passage completion, Error detection, Passage correction, Sentence correction, Vocabulary, Spelling correction, Grammar, Idioms, Phrases, Synonyms, Word formation, Antonyms, Sentence completion, Comprehension and Theme detection.

Quantitative Aptitude: Number system, simplifications, Roots, Averages, Surd & Indices, Percentages, Profit & Loss, Ratio & Proportion, Partnership, Chain rule, Time & work, Pipes & Cisterns, Time & Distance, Problems on trains, Boats & streams, Allegation & mixtures, Simple & Compound interest, clocks & algorithms, mensuration, Volume & surface area, Permutations & combinations, heights & distances, line graphs, Bar graphs, pie charts and Tabulation.

Reasoning Ability: Series completion, syllogisms, Decision making, Statements , Analogy, Coding & Decoding, Blood relations, Sitting arrangements and Classification.

Marketing Aptitude: Economy of India, Marketing and Banking & Finance.

Computer Knowledge: Questions of Computer Software and Hardware, Operating System, Shortcut Keys, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Internet & Networks.

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GK Updates for New India Assurance AO and United India Insurance AO Exam 2014

Friends.. both New India Assurance and United India Insurance are going to conduct their respective AO exams in the coming days. So in this post we are sharing with you some useful GK questions asked in previous year exams. These questions were shared with us by our friend & follower Aishwarya Laxman. We thank her on behalf of all our readers & team.

1. Why does milk turn sour? - Due to presence of bacteria called lactobacillus.

2. Tuberculosis is cause due to? - Mycobacterium tuberculosis

3. India's biggest river? - Ganga

4. Chairman of Lalit kala academy? - KK Chakravarty

5. Napolean of India? - Samudragupta

6. Varahamihira wrote a book "brihat samhita", is related with? - Astronomy

7. Book "India 2020" is written by? - APJ Abdul Kalam

8. ASCII full form? - American Standard Code for Information Interchange

9. Smallest information unit in a computer? - Bit

10. Essay on Religion and its role in Indian Politics

11. Father of internet? - Vint Cerf

12. Veliconda hills situated in the Easternghats is in which state? - Andhra Pradesh

13. Among which of these rulers is illiterate? - Akbar

14. India collects highest revenue from which source? - Service Tax

15. Who invented jet engine? - Frank Whittle

16. Which animal can you see in Logo of WWF? - Panda

17. When CD rom was invented? - 1965 by James T. Russell

18. Byte is the unit of? - Computer Memory

19. Led pencil is having component of? - Graphite

20. Doctrine of lapse is related to? - Dalhousie

21. Which is primary component of natural gas? - Methane

22. Which sikh guru was called Saccha Padshah? - Guru Har Gobind

23. PIN full form? - Personal Identification Number

24. NPA full form? – Non-performing Assets

25. US open and Australian open etc related to which game? - Tennis

26. Which award related to cinema? - Dada Sahab Phalke

27. Financial inclusion means? - Provide banking facility in rural area

28. President of France is? - Francois Hollande

29. Plastic money means? - Credit Card

30. LIBOR means? - London Inter Bank Offer Rate

31. Restart of computer is called? - Warm Booting

32. Which of the following is work of Kalidas? - Meghaduta

33. Bench mark rate is? - Repo Rate

34. Bank recovery act is? - SARFAESI Act

35. Earth day is observed on which date? - 22 April

36. Davis cup is related to which sports? - Tennis

37. Housing Scheme Rajiv Awas Yojana(RAY) is a scheme for? - “Slum Free Cities”

38. Currency of Japan? - Japanese yen

39. Who is Li Keqiang? - Prime Minister of China

40. ATM full form? - Automated teller machine

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Employment News: 20 to 26 December 2014

1. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd.

Name of Post - Asstt. Manager Electrical, Asstt. Programmer,

Stenographer Jr. Engineer (Civil) etc.

No. of Vacancies - 189

Last Date - 15 Jan 2015

2. National Highways Authority of India,

Name of Post – Deputy Manager (Technical)

No. of Vacancies - 30

Last Date - 10 April 2015

3. Recruitment and Assessment Centre (RAC),

Name of Post – Scientist ‘F’, Scientist ‘E’, Scientist ‘D’, Scientist ‘C’

No. of Vacancies - 29

Last Date - 20 Days from the date of Publication.

4. National Mineral Development Corporation, (Chhattisgarh)

Name of Post – Field Attendant (Trainee)

No. of Vacancies - 25

Last Date - 21 days from the date of publication.

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22 December 2014 Current Affairs Quiz Questions

1) Which team won the inaugural edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) football tournament on 20 December 2014?

(A) Atletico de Kolkata

(B) Kerala Blasters

(C) FC Goa

(D) Chennaiyin FC 

2) Who among the following took over as the president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of commerce & Industry (FICCI) on 20 December 2014?

(A) Naina Lal Kidwai

(B) Sidharth Birla

(C) Harshavardhan Neotia

(D) Jyotsna Suri

3) International Human Solidarity Day was recently observed on?

(A) December 19

(B) December 20

(C) December 21

(D) December 22

4) Who was appointed as the new chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) on 20 December 2014?

(A) Rameshwar Nath Kao

(B) Alok Joshi

(C) Rajinder Khanna

(D) Prakash Mishra

5) Indian men & women win World Cup Kabaddi titles on 20 December 2014. Indian men's team defeated which team to win the title?

(A) Iran

(B) Pakistan

(C) Argentina

(D) Canada

6) According to a recent report of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) which was tabled in Parliament by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 19 December 2014, how many percentage of total population in India were covered by health insurance?

(A) 17%

(B) 31%

(C) 25%

(D) 41%

7) India on 20 December 2014 exported its first warship named ‘CGS Barracuda’ to which country?

(A) Maldives

(B) Bhutan

(C) Nepal

(D) Mauritius

8) Australia recently defeated India by 4 wickets in the second test match played at Brisbane. Who was adjudged Man of the Match?

(A) Ishant Sharma

(B) Mitchell Jhonson

(C) Steve Smith

(D) Josh Hazlewood

9) Name India's official entry, which was out of Oscars' race after it failed to make the cut in the Academy's shortlist in the best foreign film category recently?

(A) Jal

(B) Liar's Dice

(C) The Lunchbox

(D) Ship of Theseus

10) Which country on 19 December 2014 beat India in the race to become an associate member of CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), the world's largest particle physics laboratory?

(A) Kenya

(B) Russia

(C) Pakistan

(D) Honduras

Answers

1) Ans. (A) Atletico de Kolkata

2) Ans. (D) Jyotsna Suri

3) Ans. (B) December 20

4) Ans. (C) Rajinder Khanna

5) Ans. (B) Pakistan

6) Ans. (A) 17%

7) Ans. (D) Mauritius

8) Ans. (C) Steve Smith

9) Ans. (B) Liar's Dice

10) Ans. (C) Pakistan

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Daily Current Affairs: 21 December 2014

1) Indian men & women win World Cup Kabaddi titles: The Indian men's team continued their winning streak by clinching the fifth Kabaddi World Cup title, while the women's side bagged the crown for the fourth consecutive time. At a grand finale held at Guru Gobind Singh Multipurpose Stadium, the Indian men's team defeated Pakistan 45-42 for the fourth time, while the women team beat New Zealand 36-27 for the second time in a row. History repeated itself as both teams in the men and women sections had clashed during the finals of Fourth Kabaddi World Cup at Ludhiana last year and in both the matches, India had emerged victorious.

2) Only 17% have health insurance cover: Fresh official data show the number of people covered by health insurance in India could be far fewer than estimated. Only 21.62 crore people, or 17 per cent of the total population, were covered by health insurance at the end of March 2014. The estimate, prepared by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) and tabled in Parliament by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 19 December 2014, is sharply lower than that of the World Bank.

3) Holder appointed West Indies ODI captain: Jason Holder has replaced Dwayne Bravo as West Indies' ODI captain and will lead the team in the five-match ODI series against South Africa, which starts on January 16, 2015. Bravo, who had replaced Darren Sammy as the ODI captain in May 2013, has been left out of the squad for the South Africa one-dayers but is a part of the T20 side. Bravo led West Indies to victory in 12 of their 27 completed ODIs since taking over full-time from Sammy.

4) Jammu & Kashmir recorded highest turnout: Describing 2014 as a year of record-high voter turnouts, the Election Commission on 20 December 2014 said the 66% overall polling in J&K was its highest in the last two-and-a-half decades. In Jharkhand too, the 66.03% aggregate poll percentage was the best ever witnessed in any election in the state.

5) Former Union minister Napoleon joined BJP: Former Union minister of state D Napoleon on 21 December 2014 joined BJP in the presence of its President Amit Shah,a day after quitting the DMK,citing lack of intra-party democracy. I did not like the functioning of the party.There was no intra-party democracy.The party elections were not conducted the way it should have been,he told reporters after formally joining the BJP,which has set eyes on strengthening its presence in Tamil Nadu ahead of 2016 Assembly elections. The actor-turned politician said he had the blessings of former Union minister M K Alagiri,elder son of DMK chief M Karunanidhi. I have joined the BJP only with Alargiri's blessings.

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Daily Current Affairs Updates: 20 December 2014

1) Atletico de Kolkata defeated Kerala Blasters to win Inaugural edition of ISL: The Indian Super League trophy went to the traditional and most passionate home of Indian football as Atletico de Kolkata edged past Kerala Blasters 1-0 in the final in Mumbai on 20 December 2014, bringing the curtains down on what proved to be a successful inaugural event. Mohammad Rafique scored the most-important goal in the dying minutes to help Atletico de Kolkata emerge triumphant at the DY Patil Stadium. Here are the awards of ISL 2014

Golden Ball Award for the best player of the league: Iain Hume, Kerala Blasters

Golden Boot Award for the ISL's top scorer: Elano Blumer, Chennaiyin FC

Emerging Player Award: Sandesh Jhingan, Kerala Blasters

Golden Glove Award: Jan Seda, FC Goa

Goal of the League Award: Kostas Katsouranis, FC Pune City

Fair Play Award: Delhi Dynamos and Best Fans Award: Kerala Blasters

2) India exported its first warship ‘CGS Barracuda’ to Mauritius: By delivering an offshore patrol vessel to Mauritius, India on 20 December 2014 exported its first warship. “This is the first time that the export barrier has been breached. This would be the first among the long line of ships that we hope to export to various parts of the world,” Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh said during the warship handing over ceremony. Built by defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE) in Kolkata, the $58.5 million ‘CGS Barracuda’ measures 74.10 m in length.

3) India’s entry ‘Liar’s Dice’ out of Oscar race: India's official entry "Liar's Dice" is out of Oscars' race after it failed to make the cut in the Academy's shortlist in the best foreign film category. Nine films advanced to the next round of voting in the category for the 87th Academy Awards out of 83 movies that had qualified. "Liar's Dice", a road drama about a tribal woman's journey to find her missing husband, is the debut film of Geetu Mohandas. It stars Geetanjali Thapa and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in lead roles.

4) Australia beat India by 4 wickets in the second test: A listless India capitulated to a four-wicket defeat in the second Test against Australia with an inept batting display by the top-order to give the hosts an invincible 2-0 lead in the four-match series. Resuming at the overnight score of 71 for one, the visitors lost four wickets in quick succession with an addition of only 16 runs and were eventually bowled out for 224 in 64.3 overs. Chasing a paltry victory target of 128, Australians lost as many as six wickets but were always in control as they knocked off the required runs with more than a day to spare in what turned out to be a miserable fourth day for the Indians at the Gabba. Smith was named man of the match.

5) Morgan replaced Cook as England's World Cup captain: Eoin Morgan has replaced Alastair Cook as England's World Cup captain, The England and Wales Cricket Board announced on 20 December 2014.

6) Real Madrid beat San Lorenzo 2-0 to win Club World Cup: Real Madrid outclassed San Lorenzo of Argentina 2-0 in the Club World Cup final on 20 December 2014 to put a crown on their status as the best club in world football. The cup added to Madrid’s 2014 trophy haul of Champions League, Copa del Rey, and European Super Cup, and it will carry a 22-game winning streak into 2015.

7) Jyotsna Suri is new FICCI president: Jyotsna Suri, chairperson of Bharat Hotels Ltd, on 20 December 2014 took over as the president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of commerce & Industry (Ficci). Suri succeeded Sidharth Birla.

8) Indian-American Verma sworn in as US Ambassador to India: Indian-American Richard Rahul Verma has been sworn in as the US Ambassador to India by Secretary of State John Kerry. 46-year-old Verma is the first ever Indian-American to be the top US diplomat in New Delhi. He is scheduled to arrive in India ahead of Kerry's visit to Delhi next month. US President Barack Obama will arrive in late January to attend the Republic Day Parade on January 26, 2015 as the Chief Guest.

9) Federal Bank CEO to head IBA panel on private banks: Federal Bank Managing Director and CEO Shyam Srinivasan has been appointed Chairman of the reconstituted Indian Banks’ Association committee on member private sector banks for 2014-15.  The panel consists of executives from 13 private banks. The committee looks after the specific needs of all the 23 private sector banks that are members of the IBA. The term of the committee is one year, according to a press release.

10) Flipkart files for conversion to a Public Company in Singapore: India’s e-commerce giant Flipkart, on 20 December 2014 announced a US $ 700 million investment with new investors. Along with the latest funding round, Flipkart Limited (incorporated at Singapore) has filed with ACRA Singapore for conversion to a Public Company.

11) RAW, CRPF get new chiefs: Rajinder Khanna will be the new chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s external intelligence agency. The government on 20 December 2014 also appointed Prakash Mishra, Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Union Home Ministry, the new Director-General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). A senior 1977-batch IPS officer of the Odisha cadre, Mr. Mishra has served as Director-General of the Odisha Police and in the National Investigation Agency (NIA). In choosing Mr. Khanna to head RAW, the government has preferred to look inside the organisation to pick a successor to Alok Joshi, who retires as its chief on December 31.

12) International Human Solidarity Day observed: The UN General Assembly, on 22 December 2005, by resolution 60/209 identified solidarity as one of the fundamental and universal values that should underlie relations between peoples in the Twenty-first century, and in that regard decided to proclaim 20 December of each year International Human Solidarity Day. This year's theme - 'Moving together as one'.

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