Current Affairs Quiz: 20 March 2015

1) Name the chief of the International Monetary Fund who was on a two day visit to India recently?

(A) Christine Lagarde

(B) Jim Yong Kim

(C) Takehiko Nakao

(D) Oprah Winfrey

2) Paul van Ass on 16 March 2015 took charge as the chief coach of?

(A) Indian men’s football team

(B) Indian men’s hockey team

(C) Indian men’s kabbadi team

(D) None of these

3) Which company recently appointed Abid Ali Neemuchwala as group president and chief operating officer?

(A) Infosys

(B) TCS

(C) Google

(D) Wipro

4) Which state government recently passed 'Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan' Bill, under which cow slaughter and the sale of beef have been banned in the state?

(A) Karnataka

(B) Maharashtra

(C) Haryana

(D) Gujarat

5) Veteran singer and music composer Bombay S. Kamal who passed away recently was famous in which language?

(A) Hindi

(B) Malayalam

(C) Kannada

(D) Tamil

6) Who recently took over as CEO of Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL)?

(A) Roopa Kudva

(B) Radhika Roy

(C) Jyotsna Suri

(D) Ashu Suyash

7) Which country has raced ahead of Germany to become the world's third largest arms exporter as per Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) recent report?

(A) India

(B) Saudi Arabia

(C) China

(D) Russia

8) Supreme Court on 17 March 2015 set aside the notification to include which community in the Central list of Other Backward Classes (OBC)?

(A) Jats

(B) Jews

(C) Lodha

(D) Gorkha

9) Union government has recently approved setting up of an All India Institute of Ayurveda at?

(A) Palakkad

(B) New Delhi

(C) Bhubaneswar

(D) Visakhapatnam 

10) Which cricketer was recently voted as the greatest ODI player in the history of cricket in a voting conducted by ESPNcricinfo?

(A) Sachin Tendulkar

(B) Don Bradman

(C) Steve Waugh

(D) Viv Richard

Answers

1) Ans. (A) Christine Lagarde

2) Ans. (B) Indian men’s hockey team

3) Ans. (D) Wipro

4) Ans. (C) Haryana

5) Ans. (B) Malayalam

6) Ans. (D) Ashu Suyash

7) Ans. (C) China

8) Ans. (A) Jats

9) Ans. (B) New Delhi

10) Ans. (D) Viv Richard

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19th March 2015 Daily Current Affairs Updates

1) Ratan Tata to head railways' innovation council Kayakulp:

--> Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata has been appointed as the head of an innovation council of Indian Railways called ‘Kayakalp’, the government said on 19 March 2015.

--> Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu constituted the council and appointed Tata to head it, an official statement said.

--> The purpose of the council will be to recommend innovative methods and processes for the improvement, betterment and transformation of Indian Railways.

2) Mahendra Singh Dhoni becomes first Indian captain to register 100 ODI wins:

-->  Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on 19 March 2015 became the first Indian captain to register 100 One Day International wins, after leading Men in Blue to a 109-run victory over Bangladesh in their 2015 ICC World Cup quarter-final match in Melbourne Cricket Ground.

--> He reached the milestone of 100 wins in 178th ODI.

--> The 33-year-old is also the first non-Australian to lead a national side to 100 wins in the 50 overs match.

--> Ricky Ponting with 165 ODI wins and Allan Border with 107 wins are ahead of Dhoni.

3) Former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar’s book released:

--> Former Lok Sabha Meira Kumar’s book entitled “Indian Parliamentary Diplomacy – Speaker’s Perspective” was released on 19 March 2015.

--> The book was released by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and its first copy was presented to the President Pranab Mukherjee at a function held in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.

--> The book features an account of the parliamentary diplomacy and its role in furthering foreign policy and strengthening international relations.

--> It is also a collection of select speeches and reports by Kumar during her stint as Lok Sabha speaker and as leader of Indian parliamentary delegations at several international fora.

4) International Conference on Counter Terrorism began at Jaipur:

--> Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a three-day international conference on counter terrorism that began in Jaipur on 19 March 2015.

--> During the three-day conference, issues like illegal migration and border security, Cyber space, social media and terrorism, terror trade weapons, narcotics and fake currency would be discussed in separate sessions. 

5) India entered Semis of WC 2015, beat Bangladesh by 109 runs:

--> India stormed their way into the Semi-Finals after beating Bangladesh by 109 runs in Melbourne on 19 March 2015.

--> Rohit Sharma's century and Suresh Raina's half century ensured India's victory over Bangladesh in their Quarter Finals.

--> Rohit Sharma was named man of the match.

6) Nobel laureate Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan to head Royal Society in UK:

--> India-born Nobel laureate Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan has been confirmed as president elect of Britain's prestigious Royal Society.

--> His appointment was confirmed by the society’s council met on 19 March 2015 and will assume the charge on 1 December 2015.

--> He will succeed eminent geneticist Sir Paul Nurse who had taken on the role in 2010 and will step down after the customary 5-year term.

--> Ramakrishnan, who will be the first Indian-origin scientist to hold the post, was born in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, and studied biology in the US.

7) India successfully test-fired air-to-air missile 'ASTRA':

--> India's Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile Astra was on 19 March 2015 successfully test fired from a Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft for the second day in a row.

--> The missile, which was fired off Odisha coast near the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Balasore, has been indigenously designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

--> The missile can reach up to 110 km when fired from an altitude of 15 km and 44 km when launched from an altitude of 8 km and 21 km when fired from sea level.

8) Maharashtra government to rename Mumbai's Girgaum Chowpatty as 'Swaraj Bhoomi':

-->  The BJP-led Maharashtra government on 18 March 2015 decided to rename the area at Girgaum Chowpatty in the city where veteran freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak was cremated, as 'Swaraj Bhoomi'.

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Current Affairs Multiple Choice Quiz: 19 March 2015

1) Which team lifted the 69th edition of Santosh Trophy on 15 March 2015?

(A) Mizoram

(B) Kerala

(C) Punjab

(D) Services

2) Which social networking site recently acquired shopping search engine TheFind.com?

(A) Facebook

(B) Twitter

(C) Whatsapp

(D) Instagram 

3) Young Indian shuttler K. Srikanth on 15 March 2015 won which among the following major badminton championship?

(A) China Grand Prix Gold

(B) Australian Grand Prix Gold

(C) Swiss Grand Prix Gold

(D) Indonesian Grand Prix Gold

4) Indian women recently won the FIH Hockey World League Round 2 at Major Dhyan Chan stadium in New Delhi defeating which country?

(A) Netherlands

(B) Poland

(C) Malaysia

(D) Australia

5) World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) 2015 was recently observed on?

(A) March 15

(B) March 14

(C) March 13

(D) March 12

6) Narayan Desai who passed away on 15 March 2015 was a veteran _____?

(A) Historian

(B) Gandhian

(C) Scientist

(D) Sculptor

7) Powerful cyclone Pam on 14 March 2015 hit the south Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu. Name the capital of the Oceanian island nation Vanuatu?

(A) Victoria

(B) Accra

(C) Conakry

(D) Port Vila

8) Who won the Australian Grand Prix 2015, the first Formula 1 (F1) Grand Prix of the season on 15 March 2015?

(A) Nico Rosberg

(B) Sebastian Vettel

(C) Lewis Hamilton

(D) Felipe Massa

9) Which Snooker player recently won the first ranking title at Indian Open?

(A) Michael White

(B) Ricky Walden

(C) Mark Williams

(D) Thepchaiya Un-Nooh

10) Recently in which country did Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first of the eight Coastal Surveillance Radar Systems (CSRS) being set up by India?

(A) Mauritius

(B) Maldives

(C) Sri Lanka

(D) Seychelles

Answers

1) Ans. (D) Services

2) Ans. (A) Facebook

3) Ans. (C) Swiss Grand Prix Gold

4) Ans. (B) Poland

5) Ans. (A) March 15

6) Ans. (B) Gandhian

7) Ans. (D) Port Vila

8) Ans. (C) Lewis Hamilton

9) Ans. (A) Michael White

10) Ans. (D) Seychelles

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Daily Current Affairs Updates: 18 March 2015

1) Benjamin Netanyahu's party won Israel Parliamentary elections:

--> Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party swept past its main rival, the centre-left Zionist Union, after nearly all votes were counted in Israel's election on 18 March 2015.

--> Official results gave Likud 29 seats compared with 24 for Isaac Herzog's Zionist Union in the 120-member parliament, a gap wider than the one projected in exit polls and likely to ease Netanyahu's way towards building a governing coalition.

--> A fourth term for Netanyahu would make him Israel's longest serving leader.

2) Gunmen stormed Tunisian museum, killed foreign tourists:

--> Gunmen wearing military uniforms stormed Tunisia's national museum, killing 17 foreign tourists and two Tunisians on 18 March 2015 in one of the worst militant attacks in a country that had largely escaped the region's "Arab Spring" turmoil.

--> The incident happened at Tunisia’s national museum named Barbo Museum.

3) South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by 9 wickets to enter WC semis:

--> South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 9 wickets to enter the semi finals after bundling out the Lankans for just 133 runs in the first quarterfinal of the ICC cricket World Cup in Sydney on 18 March 2015.

--> South African all-rounder JP Duminy became the 9th player to claim a hat-trick in the history of the World Cup.

--> He dismissed Angelo Mathews (19) with the final ball of the 33rd over and returned to send back Nuwan Kulasekara (1) and debutant Tharindu Kaushal (0) with the first two deliveries of the 35th.

4) Electronic Voting Machines will have photographs of candidates from 1 May 2015:

--> Election Commission has decided that ballot papers will also carry pictures of the contestants besides their names and party symbols.

--> An EC direction to all Chief Electoral Officers of states and UTs said that for elections to be held from May 1, 2015 onwards, the ballot papers, postal ballot papers and ballot papers to be displayed on EVMs will also carry the photographs of the candidates.

--> To allow CEOs add photographs to ballot papers, the EC has modified its existing directions issued under the Conduct of Election Rules.

--> The photograph will appear between the name of the candidate and his or her election symbol.

5) BJP's Kavinder Gupta elected J&K Assembly speaker:

--> Kavinder Gupta, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator, was on 18 March 2015 elected as the speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly.

--> Mr. Gupta is an MLA from Gandhi Nagar constituency of Jammu district.

--> Mr. Gupta replaces the Protem Speaker Muhammad Shafi of the regional National Conference.

6) NGT announced Rs 5000 fine for littering on railway property:

--> National Green Tribunal on 18 March 2015 announced a fine of Rs 5,000 on individuals spotted littering or throwing waste on the platforms and tracks.

--> A bench, headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, passed a slew of directions to Railways and other authorities for maintaining cleanliness on railway tracks.

7) Air Marshal Sohail Aman appointed as Chief of Pakistan Air Force:

--> Air Marshal Sohail Aman, an accomplished fighter pilot, was on 18 March 2015 appointed as the chief of Pakistan Air Force.

--> The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) said in a statement that the new air chief will take over on 19 March 2015 after his predecessor Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt retires.

8) Policy Portal launched by IT Minsiter Ravi Shankar Prasad:

--> Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on 18 March 2015 launched Bharatniti.in, a public policy portal that attempts to put into perspective policy matters using an “ancient yet contemporary” approach.

9) WEF named Smriti Irani as Young Global Leader from India:

--> Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani was on 17 March 2015 named Young Global Leader from India by the World Economic Forum (WEF), which said she "rose from sweeping floors in a fast food restaurant to become a top politician in India".

--> Others who have been named Young Global Leader (YGL) in the past include British Prime Minister David Cameron, Alibaba Group chief Jack Ma, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, Google chief Larry Page, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

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Current Affairs Quiz: 18 March 2015

1) Name the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers who launched the Pharma Jan Samadhan Scheme on March 12, 2015, to address the grievances of consumers (related to the prices of drugs and the availability of medicines)?

(A) Ananth Kumar

(B) Harsha Vardhan

(C) Rajnath Singh

(D) Nirmala Sitharaman

2) A historic bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled on 14 March 2015 at the Parliament Square in which country?

(A) USA

(B) France

(C) Canada

(D) Britain

3) Who recently became the fastest cricketer to reach 20 centuries in one day International matches?

(A) Virat Kohli

(B) Hashim Amla

(C) Kumar Sangakkara

(D) Misbah ul Haq

4) Statue of Mahatma Gandhi was recently unveiled in Parliament Square of Britain jointly by the British Prime Minister David Cameron and?

(A) Gopalkrishna Gandhi

(B) Amitabh Bachchan

(C) Arun Jaitley

(D) Narendra Modi

5) Lia van Leer who passed away on 13 March 2015  was a pioneer of _____cinema?

(A) Israeli

(B) Italian

(C) British

(D) French

6) Astronomer's have recently found the most conclusive evidence yet that a large watery ocean lies beneath the surface of Ganymede. Ganymede is the moon of?

(A) Mars

(B) Venus

(C) Jupiter

(D) Saturn

7) Who is proposed to be appointed as the brand ambassador of the Northeast as per recent news reports?

(A) Baichung Bhutia

(B) MC Mary Kom

(C) Sania Mirza

(D) MS Dhoni

8) Pi Day is observed every year on?

(A) March 14

(B) March 15

(C) March 16

(D) None of these

9) Bhaiyyaji Joshi was recently elected general secretary of which organization?

(A) BJP

(B) Shiva Sena

(C) ABVP(D) RSS

10) Arjun Kapoor and _____ were recently awarded Golden Kela awards (for the worst performance of 2014)?

(A) Sonam Kapoor

(B) Katrina Kaif

(C) Sonakshi Sinha

(D) Rani Mukherjee

Answers

1) Ans. (A) Ananth Kumar

2) Ans. (D) Britain

3) Ans. (B) Hashim Amla

4) Ans. (C) Arun Jaitley

5) Ans. (A) Israeli

6) Ans. (C) Jupiter

7) Ans. (B) MC Mary Kom

8) Ans. (A) March 14

9) Ans. (D) RSS

10) Ans. (C) Sonakshi Sinha

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Daily Current Affairs: 17 March 2015

1) SC quashed extension of OBC reservation to Jats:

--> Supreme Court on 17 March 2015 set aside the notification to include Jats in the Central list of Other Backward Classes (OBC) for according benefits of reservation to them.

--> The judgement, reserved on December 17, 2014, was pronounced by a bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman.

--> The bench also found fault with the Centre's decision to overlook the findings of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), stating that Jats need not be included in the Central list of OBC as they don't form socio-economic backward class.

--> The decision to include Jats in OBC was taken by erstwhile UPA government.

2) Union Cabinet cleared new bill on black money:

--> Cabinet on 17 March 2015 cleared introduction of the black money bill later this week, including a provision to allow the government to launch a one-time compliance scheme for those with black money abroad to come clean before the new law kicks in.

--> The details of the compliance scheme, including the penalty, are expected to be announced as part of the rules.

3) Govt approved setting up of All India Yoga institute:

--> The government has approved setting up of an All India Institute of Ayurveda, the first referral-cum-teaching facility in the world's oldest health care system in Sarita Vihar, New Delhi.

--> "The Government has approved for establishment of All India Institute of Ayurveda at Sarita Vihar in New Delhi. The Institute has been conceived as an apex institute of Ayurveda with 200 bedded referral hospital for imparting education in the field of Ayurveda at MD and Ph.D levels," Minister of State, AYUSH, Shripad Yesso Naik said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

4) Indian researcher won woman of the year 2015 in New South Wales:

--> A 56-year-old Indian pancreatic cancer researcher in Australia has been named New South Wales Woman of the year 2015 for her contributions to medical research, tertiary education and the Indian community.

--> Minoti Apate, researcher at University of New South Wales (UNSW) received the award from NSW Premier Mike Baird and Minister for Women Pru Goward during a reception at NSW Parliament House recently. 

5) HDFC Bank Launched Chillr Money Transfer App:

--> HDFC Bank on 17 March 2015 announced the launch of Chillr, a mobile app which allows users to instantly transfer money to any contact in their phone book.

--> HDFC has partnered with MobME, a Kochi-based technology firm to launch this app, the bank officials said.

--> Chillr is a first of its kind application that is linked directly to the customer's bank account, so there is no need to worry about filling up a prepaid wallet, they said, adding that no passwords are stored on the phone and it can be accessed only with M-PIN known to the customer alone.

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Madhya Pradesh Circle: Question Paper of PA/SA Re-Exam held on 15 March 2015

Friends.. Here is the Question Paper of Postal/Sorting Assistant Re-Exam 2015 held at Madhya Pradesh Postal Circle on March 15, 2015 under Shift II. This will serve as a model for those having re-exams in coming days. This Question Paper has been shared by our friend Deepak Lodhi from MP Circle. We thank him & wish him all the very best for good result. You can download the question paper as PDF from the below link.

Download Question Paper as PDF: Link 1 & Link 2

Check More Study Materials for PA/SA: Click Here 

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Current Affairs MCQ Quiz: 17 March 2015

1) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 13 March 2015 became the first Indian PM to visit Sri Lanka in 28 years. Who was the last Indian Prime Minister to visit Sri Lanka?

(A) Rajiv Gandhi

(B) Atal Bihari Vajpayee

(C) P. V. Narasimha Rao

(D) H. D. Deve Gowda

2) The national tourism agency of Britain has recently roped in which Bollywood actor for promoting an India-centric tourist campaign?

(A) Aamir Khan

(B) Saif Ali Khan

(C) Sharukh Khan

(D) Salman Khan

3) On 13 March 2015, which country has withdrawn its application to join the European Union, with the government saying that its interests are best served outside the 28-nation EU?

(A) Ireland

(B) Hungary

(C) Greece

(D) Iceland 

4) INS Alleppey, one of the six Ponchicherry class coastal minesweepers purchased from which country was on 13 March 2015 decommissioned?

(A) USA

(B) France

(C) Russia, erstwhile USSR

(D) Italy

5) Reserve Bank of India has recently agreed for a $1.5-billion currency swap agreement with which country's central bank to help the island nation keep its currency stable?

(A) Sri Lankan

(B) Maldives

(C) Mauritius

(D) Phillipines

6) World Sleep Day 2015 was recently observed on?

(A) 11 March

(B) 10 March

(C) 12 March

(D) 13 March

7) Which country recently won a unanimous vote to host the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup in 2019?

(A) Bangladesh

(B) India

(C) UAE

(D) Nepal

8) Which country on 13 March 2015 successfully tested its first indigenously built all-weather armed drone named Burraq and a laser guided missile named Barq?

(A) China

(B) Pakistan

(C) South Korea

(D) Indonesia

9) Mohamed Nasheed who was on 13 March 2015 sentenced to 13-year imprisonment by a criminal court under the anti-terrorism laws, was the former president of which country?

(A) Jordan

(B) Kenya

(C) Afghanistan

(D) Maldives

10) Name the Scientific Director of National Dope Testing Laboratory who has been nominated to the Executive Board of WAADS (World Association of Anti Doping Scientists) recently?

(A) Dr. Ali Neemuchwala

(B) Dr. Ashu Suyash

(C) Dr. Alka Beotra

(D) None of these

Answers

1) Ans. (A) Rajiv Gandhi

2) Ans. (B) Saif Ali Khan

3) Ans. (D) Iceland

4) Ans. (C) Russia, erstwhile USSR

5) Ans. (A) Sri Lankan

6) Ans. (D) 13 March

7) Ans. (C) UAE

8) Ans. (B) Pakistan

9) Ans. (D) Maldives

10) Ans. (C) Dr. Alka Beotra

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