Daily Current Affairs Updates: 07 March 2015

1) Kerala Assembly speaker G Karthikeyan passed away:

--> Senior Congress leader and Kerala Assembly Speaker G Karthikeyan passed away in Bangalore, Karnataka. He was 66.

--> A prominent Congress leader in Kerala, Karthikeyan has entered into politics through Kerala Students Union, the student outfit of Congress.

--> He had been elected to the state assembly in 1982, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011.

--> In Congress government headed by A K Antony in 1995, Karthikeyan had been power minister. He had served as civil supplies minister in the Congress government in 2001.

2) Snooker shortlisted for Tokyo 2020 Olympics:

--> The green baize game of snooker, played with multi-coloured balls, has been short-listed among three sports to be included in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, according to Captain P.V.K. Mohan, president of the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF). 

3) Saina Nehwal advanced to All England Badminton Final:

--> Saina Nehwal became the first Indian in 14 years to reach the final of the All England Open Badminton Championships by virtue of a straight games win over China's Sun Yu here on 7 March 2015.

--> The third seed became the first Indian woman to enter the summit clash of the prestigious $500,000 tournament by defeating the tall Chinese 21-13, 21-13 in 50 minutes at the Barclaycard Arena, taking a 2-1 lead in career meetings.

--> Only two Indians -- Pullela Gopichand (2001) and Prakash Padukone (1980) -- have won the tournament till date.

4) NASA's Dawn spacecraft reached dwarf planet Ceres:

--> NASA's Dawn spacecraft has created history by becoming the first mission to achieve orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres with an aim of providing new insights and capturing images from the distant world.

--> The spacecraft was approximately 61,000 kilometres from Ceres when it was captured by the dwarf planet's gravity, NASA said.

5) Walmart India appoints Ashwin Mittal as CFO:

--> Walmart India has appointed Ashwin Mittal as chief operating officer and Javier Rojo as real estate and business development head.

--> Mittal will replace Jill Anderson who will soon repatriate back to Walmart in US, said the company in a statement.

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MCQ on Current Affairs: 7 March 2015

1) On 3 March 2015, for the _____ time in Rajya Sabha’s history that an amendment moved by the opposition to the motion of thanks to the President’s address has been passed?

(A) First

(B) Second

(C) Third

(D) Fourth

2) Which country recently unveiled a new political theory named “Four Comprehensives”?

(A) China

(B) Brazil

(C) Cuba

(D) Uruguay

3) _____ on 3 March 2015 launched National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPAP) throughout India?

(A) Union Home Ministry

(B) Ministry of Panchayati Raj

(C) Election Commission of India

(D) Department of Posts

4) A bill banning the cow slaughter in which state received the President's assent on 4 March 2015?

(A) Haryana

(B) Jammu and Kashmir

(C) Himachal Pradesh

(D) Maharashtra

5) Ratings agency Moody’s has recently downgraded ratings for which banks?

(A) Union Bank Of India and Indian Bank

(B) State Bank of India and Vijaya Bank

(C) Central Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank

(D) Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank

6) World's largest and tallest Indian tricolour was unfurled at Town Park in Faridabad on 3 March 2015. Faridabad is in which Indian state?

(A) Punjab

(B) Haryana

(C) Uttar Pradesh

(D) Gujarat

7) M C Mary Kom on 3 March 2015 said she has decided to quit boxing after the 2016 Olympic Games. 2016 Olympic Games will be held at?

(A) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

(B) Tokyo, Japan

(C) Durban, South Africa

(D) Beijing, China 

8) “Bharat-Nepal Maitri Bus Seva” was flagged off by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in Varanasi on 4 March 2015. This bus service will connect Varanasi to?

(A) Nepalgunj

(B) Pokhara

(C) Butwal

(D) Kathmandu

9) Lok Sabha on 4 March 2015 passed the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015. This bill provides for raising the foreign investment cap from 26 per cent to ___ per cent?

(A) 51

(B) 75

(C) 49

(D) 100

10) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 4 March 2015 has cut down repo rate by 25 basis points to?

(A) 7.75

(B) 7.50

(C) 7.25

(D) 7.00 

Answers

1) Ans. (D) Fourth

2) Ans. (A) China

3) Ans. (C) Election Commission of India

4) Ans. (D) Maharashtra

5) Ans. (C) Central Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank

6) Ans. (B) Haryana

7) Ans. (A) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

8) Ans. (D) Kathmandu

9) Ans. (C) 49

10) Ans. (B) 7.50

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Daily Current Affairs: 6 March 2015

1) Prime Minister Narendra Modi among 30 most influential people on internet: Time Magazine

--> Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been named among the 30 most influential people on the internet by Time magazine in a list which also features US President Barack Obama.

--> The list, which analysed social-media followings, site traffic and overall ability to drive news, also includes British author of the Harry Potter series J K Rowling and singers Taylor Swift and Beyonce.

--> Time said the Indian Prime Minister has roughly 38 million followers on social networking sites Twitter and Facebook, putting him ahead of any other leaders in the world except Obama.

2) NPCI linked 15 crore bank accounts with Aadhaar number:

--> National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on 6 March 2015 said it has linked 15 crore bank accounts with Aadhaar number.

--> NPCI is the nodal agency for all retail payment systems under the Jan Dhan scheme.

--> "NPCI, the umbrella organisation for all retail payments system in India, reached a major milestone of successfully linking 15 crore bank accounts with Aadhaar number," it said in a statement.

3) Former Bihar Chief Minister Ram Sundar Das passed away:

--> Former Bihar Chief Minister and senior JD(U) leader Ram Sundar Das died on 6 March 2015 due to age-related problems.

--> Das was chief minister of Bihar as the head of the Janata Party government in 1979.

--> He had defeated Ram Vilas Paswan in the Hajipur (SC) Lok Sabha seat in 2009, but in the parliamentary polls last year, had lost to the latter.

4) RBI eased norms for home loans for up to Rs 10 lakh:

--> Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 5 March 2015 eased the norms for home loans for up to Rs.10 lakh by allowing banks to include stamp duty and registration charges to the cost of a unit.

--> These charges form around 15 per cent of the cost of the house and place a burden on borrowers.

--> As per the current practice, banks do not include stamp duty, registration and other documentation charges in the cost of housing property.

5) UST Global launched mobile app for women's safety:

--> UST Global has launched its mobile app for women's safety.

-->  iSafe has been rolled out for the Thiruvananthapuram City Police.

--> The app is currently available for Android phones and will soon be available on other platforms.

--> Through the app, women will be able to send instant alerts to the police control room by using the Panic Button or just by the long press of volume key of their mobile phones.

--> The police then immediately dispatches help via the police CRV (Control Room Vehicle)

6) Flipkart aquired mobile ad network AdIQuity:

--> Flipkart on 6 March 2015 acquired mobile ad network AdiQuity.

--> The acquisition is aimed at increasing advertising muscle of Flipkart.

--> The deal amount was not disclosed by both the companies. The deal marked the online retailer's first acquisition in 2015 so far.

7) Hyderabad best city to live in India: Study

--> Leaving behind India's more traditional business centres such as Mumbai and Bangalore, the city of pearls Hyderabad is the best city to live in the country, says a global survey.

--> According to consultancy firm Mercer's 'Quality of Living Report-2015', notwithstanding its top rank among Indian cities, Hyderabad globally ranks at 138th position in a list of 230 cities around the world in terms of standard of living.

--> The list is topped by Vienna for the second consecutive year.

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Current Affairs February 2015 (Second Week): PDF Download

Download as PDF: Click Here

1) Who was chosen for the Jnanpith Award 2014 by the Jnanpith Selection Board on 6 February 2015? - Bhalchandra Nemade

Note: He is an Eminent Marathi writer. He will be the 50th recipient of Jnanpith award, the highest literary honour of India and he will receive the award in April 2015.

2) Which bank on 10 February 2015 launched India’s first digital Bank on mobile phone named Pockets? - ICICI Bank

Note: Pockets, the digital e-wallet uses a virtual VISA card that enables the users to transact on any website or mobile application in India.

3) Social networking giant Facebook on 10 February 2015 tied-up with which mobile operator to offer free internet access to people in India through the Facebook's initiative, Internet.org? - Reliance Communications Limited

4) Who took charge as the Director General (DG) of the border guarding force Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) on 11 February 2015? - Krishna Chaudhary

Note: He succeeded Subhas Goswami.

5) World Radio Day was observed globally on? - February 13

6) Which players were on 13 February 2015 awarded with the All India Football Federations (AIFF) 2014 Player of the Year trophy in men and women category, respectively? - Sunil Chhetri and Bala Devi

7) Who was sworn-in as Chief Minister of Delhi on 14 February 2015? - Arvind Kejriwal

8) India on 14 February 2015 successfully test-fired a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from Indian Navy's latest destroyer named? - INS Kolkata

9) Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s name was included in the LIMCA book of records in the first week of February 2015 for what reason? - For being the only woman of the country to represent the same Lok Sabha constituency on the same party ticket for eight times in a row.

Note: As a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), she represents the Indore constituency of Lok Sabha in Madhya Pradesh. For the first time she was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989. Since then she has been re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2009 and finally to the 16th Lok Sabha on 18 May 2014.

10) First World Ocean Science Congress (WOSC) was held from 5 February 2015 to 8 February 2015 at? - Kochi, Kerala

11) Union Government recently declared 10 February as? - National Deworming Day

12) Rajasthan Government and which company on 9 February 2015 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly set up India’s largest solar park with capacity of 10000 MW of electricity in Rajasthan? - Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL)

13) First Robot-staffed Hotel of the World was recently announced to open in which country? – Japan

14) Who was on 8 February 2015 appointed as the Brand Director of German sportswear brand Adidas Group, India? - Damyant Singh

15) Union Government on 7 February 2015 decided to infuse 6990 crore rupees in how many Public Sector Banks to enhance their capital and meet global risk norms? – nine

 Prepared by: www.currentaffairs4examz.com

16) Who was awarded with Yash Bharti Samman 2015 by UP Government on 9 February 2015? - Vinod Mehta

Note: Vinod Mehta is a distinguished journalist.

17) Who was appointed as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Vodafone India on 9 February 2015? - Naveen Chopra.

18) ____th Annual Grammy Awards were held on 8 February 2015 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California? – 57

19) Which media company on 11 February 2015 acquired the Telugu television channel network Maa Television Network Ltd (MTNL) including its brand, assets and four channels for an undisclosed amount? - Star India Pvt. Ltd

20) Union Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports on 11 February 2015 revised which scheme? - Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar Scheme.

21) Who was on 9 February 2015 appointed as the Chairman of Indraprastha Gas Ltd, the firm that sells CNG in New Delhi? - M Ravindran

22) Name mascot of India’s 35th National Games, which was included in the LIMCA Book of Records? - Ammu, Hornbill

Note: The mascot found its place in the record books for its play, Kalikkunna Kuttikalkkayi Bharatham Kathirikkunnu (India Awaits Children Who Play) featuring the bird in lead role. The play was staged in 147 schools in Kerala.

23) ICICI Bank Limited on 12 February 2015 tied up with which global payment solutions company to offer an instant bank transfer service named FLASHremit? - UAE Exchange

24) India Cements Limited on 11 February 2015 transferred the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Chennai Super Kings Cricket (CSK) franchise to its new subsidiary named? - Chennai Super Kings Cricket (CSKC) Limited.

25) What was India's position in the World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) 2015 released recently? - 136

Note: Finland was on the 1st position followed by Norway and Denmark.

26) The Reserve Bank of India on 13 February 2015 announced that soon the currency notes of one rupees denomination will be in circulation. The notes will be printed by? - Government of India

Note: Other notes are printed by RBI.

27) Experimental aerospace firm SpaceX on 12 February 2015 successfully launched which rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida? - Falcon 9

28) Election Commission of India (ECI) on 10 February 2015 declared the results of Delhi Legislative Assembly Elections 2015. Which party emerged the winner by winning 67 seats in the house of 70 seats? - Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)

29) 68th British Academy Films Awards (BAFTA) was announced on 8 February 2015. The BAFTA Awards were handed out at? - Royal Opera House in London.

30) Name the Veteran Marathi theatre artist and film actor who died on 7 February 2015? - Atmaram Govind Bhende

31) Union Ministry of Home Affairs on 12 February 2015 constituted a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) for re-investigation of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases. Who will head it? - Pramod Asthana, an IPS officer of 1986 batch.

32) Name the Indian-origin scientist who was on 27 January 2015 presented with the prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award? - Gurpreet Singh 

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Conducting of PA/SA Aptitude Test (Re-examination) for Madhya Pradesh Circle

Friends.. Postal Directorate vide letter No.NO. A-34012/10/2014-DE ( MP Part)

dated 5 March 2015 has published that the PA/SA Direct Recruitment Examination, 2013-14 held on 22-06-2014 in Madhya Pradesh Circle was ordered by the competent authority to be cancelled. The re-examination will be conducted on 15-03-2015 and 22-03-2015.

The message displayed in official site http://pasadrexam2014.in/ read as follows:

Update as on March 04, 2015    

Examination (Paper I) for Madhya Pradesh Postal Circle, held on June 22, 2014, has been cancelled. A Re-examination is being scheduled. Candidates, who appeared in the last Examination (Paper I) held on June 22, 2014, will only be called for the Re-examination. And Candidature of the candidates, who were reported involved in any malpractice, has been cancelled. Please keep visiting the website for exam schedules & updates.

Update as on March 04, 2015    

Schedule of Re Examination (Paper I) for the following Postal Circles is as follows:

Madhya Pradesh (23): Phase I - March 15, 2015 (Admit Card available):       Shift I - 11:00AM to 01:00PM. Shift II - 03:00PM to 05:00PM

Madhya Pradesh (23): Phase II - March 22, 2015 (Admit Card shall be available soon): Shift I - 11:00AM to 01:00PM. Shift II - 03:00PM to 05:00PM

Candidates may download Fresh Admit Cards for above stated Postal Circle by Logging into the website from today to the exam date. Please Note: Exam city for some candidates have been changed from that of last time. Please keep visiting the website for updates.

View Official Notice: Click Here

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5th March 2015 Important Current Affairs Updates

1) Union Minister Dadarao Danve resigned:

--> Union Minister Raosaheb Dadarao Danve, who was made Maharasthra BJP president a few months back, on 5 March 2015 resigned from the Council of Ministers over the principle of ‘one-man, one-post’.

--> Mr. Danve submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who accepted it and forwarded it to President Pranab Mukherjee.

--> Mr. Danve, who held the portfolio of Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, quit the Council of Ministers over the principle of ‘one-man, one-post’, the sources said.

2) PM Modi inaugurated two units of Shri Singaji Thermal Power Plant:

--> Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated two units each of 600 MW of Shree Singaji Thermal Power Plant in Khandwa district  of Madhya Pradesh on 5 March 2015.

--> The PM, while inaugurating the power plant, expressed concerns that many villages in the state and across India still lack access to electricity, which badly affects the poorer section of the society.

--> MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal and other dignitaries are also present on the occasion.

3) Maharashtra government scraped Muslim quota for education:

--> Maharashtra government has now officially scraped the five percent reservation to Muslims in education, a move that has triggered outrage and severe criticism from opposition parties.

--> A Government Resolution (GR) issued by the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP-Sena government has now cancelled the previous notification issued by the NCP-Congress government in July 2014 granting reservation to Muslims (and Marathas).

--> Just before the elections, the Congress-NCP government announced reservation for Marathas (16 per cent) and Muslims (five per cent). 

4) Virat Kohli warned by BCCI for abusive behaviour:

-->  Star Indian batsman Virat Kohli was on 5 March 2015 reprimanded by the BCCI for his abusive behaviour towards a journalist and asked him to "maintain the dignity of the team" and avoid such incidents in the future.

5) Barack Obama re-nominated Indian-American investor Sunil Sabharwal to key administration post:

--> US President Barack Obama has re-nominated Sunil Sabharwal, an independent Indian-American investor, to a key administration post as Alternate Executive Director at the IMF.

--> First nominated in April 2014 to the position of Alternate Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Sabharwal has been an independent investor in the payments sector since 2006.

6) “India’s Daughter” documentary film:

--> A documentary film made by British director Leslee Udwin about the fatal gang rape of the 23-year old paramedic woman in New Delhi in 2012 has been banned in the country.

--> Ban was imposed over concerns that derogatory comments made by one of the rapists could create an atmosphere of fear and tension.  

--> Controversial documentary was named “India’s Daughter”.

--> The film was earlier scheduled to be premiered in India and several countries such as Britain and Denmark on March 8 on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

7) Foreign Secretary Jaishankar concluded SAARC Yatra:

--> Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on 4 March 2015 concluded his four-day SAARC Yatra after meeting Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul.

--> The Foreign Secretary began his SAARC yatra with Bhutan, later travelling to Bangladesh. On 3 Mar 2015, Jaishankar met his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry in Islamabad, the first meeting between the two Foreign Secretaries since New Delhi had called off talks in August 2014.

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Daily Current Affairs Updates: 4 March 2015

1) Varanasi-Kathmandu bus service flagged off:

--> A direct AC bus service between Varanasi and Kathmandu was flagged off by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in Varanasi on 4 March 2015.

--> Bus service is aimed at boosting Buddhist and religious tourism.

--> The Varanasi to Kathmandu service is called the “Bharat-Nepal Maitri Bus Seva” (India-Nepal Friendship Bus Service).

--> Ten buses of the rural bus service dubbed as Lohia Gramin Bus Seva were also flagged off by the Chief Minister.

2) Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill 2015 passed by Lok Sabha:

--> Lok Sabha on 4 March 2015 passed the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015.

--> The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, which provides for raising the foreign investment cap from 26 per cent to 49 per cent, was passed by the Lok Sabha after a short debate.

--> The bill will now have to pass the test of Rajya Sabha where BJP and its allies do not have majority and the government is critically dependent on the support of the Congress. 

3) RBI cuts repo rate by 25 bps to 7.5%; keeps CRR unchanged:

--> The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 4 March 2015 has cut down repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5 percent from 7.75 percent, with immediate effect.

--> RBI has kept the cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged at 4 percent.

--> It is the second change in rates by 25 basis points since January 2015.

--> The cut in the policy rate by RBI will help in lowering interest rate for individual and corporate borrowers.

4) Renowned ornithologist K.S. Lavkumar Khachar died:

--> Eminent ornithologist and naturalist K.S. Lavkumar Khachar died in Rajkot on 2 March 2015.

--> Khachar, who belonged to the erstwhile princely family of Jasdan in Gujarat, worked closely with another stalwart of the field, the late Salim Ali, and had a long association with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) India.

5) Union Government and RBI signed an agreement on Monetary Policy Framework:

--> Union Government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signed an agreement on Monetary Policy Framework.

--> The agreement was signed on 20 February 2015 but was made public on 2 March 2015.

--> The agreement empowers the RBI to go for inflation targeting that is common in developed countries and it also empowers RBI to monitor its monetary policy framework.

6) Govt. to set up National Marine Police Academy in Gujarat:

--> Government of India has decided to establish a National Marine Police Training Institute in the land offered by the Government of Gujarat located at Pindara village in Devbhoomi Dwarka district of the State, to impart training to the marine Police personnel of all the coastal States/Union Territories in the country.

7) Launch of PSLV-C27 with IRNSS-1D postponed:

--> The launch of India’s fourth Navigation Satellite IRNSS-1D onboard PSLV-C27 was originally scheduled for March 09, 2015 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

--> During the integrated electrical checks of Launch Vehicle along with Satellite after the closure of heat shield on March 03, 2015, an anomaly was observed in one of the telemetry transmitters of the Satellite.

-->  In order to resolve the technical anomaly through further test, simulation and analysis, the launch of PSLV-C27 with IRNSS-1D has been postponed.

8) Rani Mukerji awarded for highlighting women's safety:

--> Rani Mukerji was felicitated for the kind of work she has been doing to create awareness about child trafficking in New Delhi by Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury, the chairperson for the National Institute of Gender Justice.

--> The past awardees include Anna Hazare, Pratibha Patil, Pandit Jasraj and Mahashweta Devi.

--> Rani is the first ever film personality to be felicitated with this prestigious award.

9) Bharti Airtel inked pact with China Mobile for 4G tech:

--> Bharti Airtel has entered into a partnership with China Mobile, the world's largest telco, for jointly sourcing devices and equipment as well as developing 4G technology and standards, a development which will help India's biggest telecom operator take on Reliance Jio Infocomm.

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SSC CGL 2014 Tier-1 Results Published

Friends..Staff Selection Commission has today (5 March 2015) published the results of its Combined Graduate Level (Tier-1) exam 2014. The Tier-1 exam for CGL-2014 was conducted by SSC during October-November 2014. A total of 13,01, 391 candidates appeared in this examination. A total of 1,42,642 candidates were qualified in Tier-I for appearing in Tier-II.

The Combined Graduate Level (Tier-II) Examination 2014 is scheduled to be held tentatively on 11.04.2015 and 12.04.2015. You can check the result from the below link. All the Best.

List of Qualified Candidates: Click Here

Write Up & Cutoff details: Click Here

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