Daily Current Affairs Updates: 20 March 2015

1) Karnataka won Irani Trophy 2015:

-->  Ranji Trophy champions Karnataka retained the Irani Cup by defeating Rest of India by 246 runs on the fourth and penultimate day on 20 March 2015.

--> A fine unbeaten 123 by Man-of-the-Match Manish Pandey, who spent 287 minutes in the middle, helped Karnataka set ROI a stiff target of 403.

--> Chasing a victory target of 403, Rest of India were bowled out for 156 after opening bowler Abhimanyu Mithun ripped through the top order.

--> This was the first time that Karnataka successfully defended their Irani Cup title while they also became only the third team after ROI and Mumbai to win the trophy in two successive years.

2) France to host the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2019:

--> France will host the 2019 women's World Cup and the Under-20 women's tournament in 2018 after beating off competition from South Korea for the hosting rights, FIFA said on 19 March 2015.

--> Five countries had originally declared an interest in staging the events but England, New Zealand and South Africa fell by the wayside last year leaving France and South Korea to battle it out.

3) Justice Uma Nath Singh sworn in as new Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court:

--> Justice Uma Nath Singh was sworn in as Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court at the Raj Bhavan in Shillong on 19 March 2015.

--> Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi administered the oath of office and secrecy to Justice Singh at a ceremony.

--> Justice Singh had earlier served at the High Court in Shillong as acting Chief Justice replacing Justice PC Pant.

--> He is the third Chief Justice of the state's High Court set up in 2013.

4) Cabinet approved Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana:

--> Union Cabinet on 20 March 2015 approved the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) with an outlay of Rs 1,500 crore to provide skills training to youth, including Class 10 and 12 drop outs.

--> The flagship scheme, which will cover 24 lakh persons, will be implemented by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship through the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).

5) Dehradun-Varanasi Janta Express derailed in Rae Bareli:

--> Two coaches and engine of the Dehradun-Varanasi Janta Express were derailed at Bachhrawan railway station near Rae Bareli on 20 March 2015 morning.

--> At least 36 people were killed and over 150 were injured in the accident. 

--> Brake failure was reported to be the cause of the accident.

6) World Sparrow Day observed:

--> March 20 is observed as World Sparrow Day every year since 2009, to create awareness of the house sparrows and other birds to the rapidly changing environments, and of threats to their populations.

--> The theme for WORLD SPARROW DAY 2015 was I LOVE Sparrows.

--> The Sparrow Day is an international initiative by the Nature Forever Society of India in collaboration with the Eco-Sys Action Foundation (France) and numerous other national and international organisations across the world.

7) Union Cabinet approved 33% women reservation in police forces of all Union Territories:

--> Union Cabinet on 20 March 2015 approved 33 per cent reservation for women in police forces of all union territories, including the Delhi Police, through direct recruitment in non-gazetted posts.

--> The move aims at increasing representation of women in police and to make the force gender sensitive.

8) Lata Mangeshkar won the 'Laadli Voice of the Century' award:

--> Singer Lata Mangeshkar was on 20 March 2015 presented the ‘Laadli Voice of the Century’ award in Mumbai during the sixth edition of the national Laadli Media and Advertising Awards for Gender Sensitivity.

--> Queen won the best movie award, while advertising agency Ogilvy and Mather won the “Laadli Grand Prix” for its Titan Raga — ‘tum nahi badle’ advertisement.

--> Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was the chief guest at the awards ceremony.

9) Bard of Maharashtra Shahir Krishnarao Sable passed away:

--> Bard and Marathi folk legend Krishnarao Sable, popularly known as Shahir Sable, who brought Maharashtra’s folk singing and theatre traditions to the centre stage, passed away at his central Mumbai residence on 19 March 2015.

10) 4th National Photography Awards conferred on 13 noted photojournalists:

--> The fourth National Photography Awards were conferred on 13 eminent photojournalists in New Delhi on 20 March 2015.

--> The award were conferred by Secretary (Information & Broadcasting) Bimal Julka.

--> The theme for 4th edition Professional Photographer category was “Hamara Bharat Swachh Bharat” and for the Amateur Category was “Mother and Child”.

--> The jury for this edition of awards was headed by well-known photographer Anil Risal Singh.

Read More

Today's (21 March 2015) LIC AAO Exam Questions: Morning Shift

Friends.. Here are the GA questions asked in today's (21 March 2015) morning shift LIC AAO exam. These questions were shared by Yedu Krishna and Mukesh Kumar. This will be useful for those having exam in coming days. If anybody would like to share more questions, kindly mail us at currentaffairs4examz@gmail.com. We will publish them here. 

1) Name the Union Health Minister? - Jagat Prakash Nadda

2) Gangaur is a festival celebrated in the Indian state of? - Rajasthan

3) Whose birthday is observed as National Youth Day? - Swami Vivekananda

4) Economic Survey 2015-16 prepared by? - Aravind Subramanian (Chief Economic Adviser) and team

5) T-20 world cup 2016 will be held at? - India

6) Capital of Iraq? - Baghdad

7) Latest Euro member? - Lithuania

8) AB de villers hit the fastest 150 in ODI against which country? - West Indies

9) Which Tax was abolished in Budget 2015? - Wealth Tax

10) NATO headquarters? - Brussels, Belgium

11) Madan Mohan Malviya was the Chairman of which newspaper from 1924 to 1946? - Hindustan Times

12) Gyan Sangam or Bankers' Retreat in January 2015 was held at? - Pune

13) World Health Day? - April 7
14) Apart from Rewari-Rohtak section India's first CNG train runs between which other section? - Rewari and Bikaner 
15) NITI Aayog vice-chairman? - Arvind Panagriya
16) First chairman of in BRICS New Development Bank will be from? - India

17) Currency of Finland? - Euro

Read More

GK Daily Updates for March 20, 2015

1) Gahir Matha Turtle sanctuary is situated at? - Odisha

2) The only state in India to have both coastline and Himalayan ranges is? - West Bengal

3) Pyridoxine is the chemical name of the vitamin? - Vitamin B6 

4) First city in India to have a metro railway? - Kolkata

5) Neset is the parliament of which country? - Israel

6) Marine National Park is situated in which state? - Gujarat

7) Smallest country in Africa? - Seychelles

8) Largest country in Africa? - Algeria

9) Iceland is located in which ocean? -  Juncture of the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans

10) The book 'The Life of Mahatma Gandhi' is written by? - Louis Fischer

Read More

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

Read More

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'.

Read More

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

Read More

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.

Read More

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

Read More