Daily Current Affairs Updates: 23 May 2015

1) Jayalalithaa sworn in as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister:

--> Ms. Jayalalithaa took oath as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the fifth time at a ceremony held at the Centenary Hall of the University of Madras on 23 May 2015.

--> Her return to office comes less than a fortnight after the Karnataka High Court acquitted her and three others of corruption charges in a disproportionate assets case.

--> Governor of Tamil Nadu K. Rosaiah administered the oath of office and secrecy to her.

--> Apart from Jayalalithaa, 28 other ministers also took oath of office and secrecy.

2) Ireland becomes first country in the world to approve same-sex marriage:

--> Republic of Ireland on 23 May 2015 became first country in the world to constitutionally legalise same-sex marriage.

--> The referendum on this issue to amend country’s written constitution was passed with a resounding 62.1 per cent ‘Yes’.

--> Off the total voter turnout of 60.5 per cent, 1,201,607 people voted in favour of same-sex marriage, while 734,300 voted against it.

--> With this passage of same-sex marriage referendum, now Irish constitution gives equal status to marriage between two people of the same sex as compared to a marriage between a man and a woman.

3) India-Singapore bilateral naval exercise began:

--> Bilateral naval exercise SIMBEX-15 between India and Singapore commenced on 23 May 2015 in Singapore.

--> SIMBEX-15 will be held between May 23-26, 2015.

--> Indigenously-built guided missile stealth frigate INS Satpura and anti-submarine corvette INS Kamrota are participating in SIMBEX-15.

--> The annual bilateral exercise SIMBEX started in 1999.

4) Masaan won critics prize at 68th Cannes film festival:

--> debutant director Neeraj Ghaywan’s Masaan won the prestigious critics prize in the Un Certain Regard category, which runs parallel to the competition for the main prize, Palme d’Or, at the 68th Cannes Film Festival, the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI).

--> It stars Vicky Kaushal, Shweta Tripathi along with Richa Chadda and Sanjay Mishra.

--> The film is a narrative set based in Varanasi and its characters connected with the Ganga.

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Pattern of Civil Services Preliminary Exam 2015

Friends.. last day we have posted the detailed notification of Civil Service Preliminary Exam 2015 published by UPSC. In case you missed that post don't worry Click Here. Eligible candidates may apply online from 23-05-2015 o 19-06-2015 till 11.59 PM. Many of you might be still wondering about the pattern of Civil Service Preliminary Exam this year, as UPSC had made a lot of changes, of late. So in this post, we are discussing about the pattern of Civil Services Preliminary Exam 2015. Pattern of Mains Exam will be discussed in another post.

Here are the important things that you should know about Civil Services Preliminary Exam 2015.

* Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2015 will be of objective type.

* The Preliminary Examination will consist of two papers of Objective type (multiple choice questions) and carry a maximum of 400 marks (200 marks for each paper).

* This examination is meant to serve as a screening test only; the marks obtained in the Preliminary Examination by the candidates who are declared qualified for admission to the Main Examination will not be counted for determining their final order of merit.

* The number of candidates to be admitted to the Main Examination will be about twelve to thirteen times the total approximate number of vacancies to be filled in the year through this examination.

* Only those candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified in the Preliminary Examination in the year will be eligible for admission to the Main Examination of that year provided they are otherwise eligible for admission to the Main Examination.

Scheme and subjects for the Preliminary are as follows:

* The Examination shall comprise of two compulsory papers of 200 marks each.

* Both the question papers will be of the objective type (multiple choice questions).

* The General Studies Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%. The question papers will be set both in Hindi and English.

* Each paper will be of two hours duration.

* There will be negative marking for incorrect answers for all questions except some of the questions where the negative-marking will be inbuilt in the form of different marks being awarded to the most appropriate and not so appropriate answer for such questions.

* There are four alternatives for the answers to every question. For each question for which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, one-third (0.33) of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty.

Syllabi for the Preliminary Examination 2015

 Preliminary Examination- Paper I - (200 marks) Duration : Two hours

1) Current events of national and international importance.

2) History of India and Indian National Movement.

3) Indian and World Geography - Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.

4) Indian Polity and Governance - Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

5) Economic and Social Development - Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc.

6) General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialisation.

7) General Science.

Paper II- (200 marks) Duration: Two hours

1) Comprehension.

2) Interpersonal skills including communication skills;

3) Logical reasoning and analytical ability

4) Decision-making and problemsolving

5) General mental ability

6) Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs,tables, data sufficiency etc. -Class X level)

It is mandatory for the candidate to appear in both the Papers of Civil Services (Prelim) Examination for the purpose of evaluation. Therefore a candidate will be disqualified in case he/she does not appear in both the papers of Civil Services (Prelim) Examination. In case of any further doubts, please feel free to comment.

Civil Services (Preliminary) Exam 2015 Notification: Click Here

Apply Online: Click Here

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Know about Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana for Bank/Insurance Exams

Friends..As you know Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9 May 2015 launched three ambitious social security schemes, relating to the insurance and pension sector and intended at widening the process of financial inclusion. The three schemes were "Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana" (accident insurance), "Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana" (life insurance) and "Atal Pension Yojana". It's important to keep in mind the features of these schemes as they will surely be part of upcoming bank exams. Hence today we are going to look into the important aspects of each schemes, in detail. So starting, in this post we have chosen the first one "Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana".

1. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana 

When announced: In Union Budget 2015-16 presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Loksabha on 28 February 2015.

When launched: 9 May 2015

Who launched: Prime Minister of India Shri.Narendra Modi

Launched from where: Kolkata

Note: Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana is meant for Accidental Death Insurance. Here are the features of this scheme.

Eligibility: Available to people in age group 18 to 70 years with bank account.

Premium:  Rs.12 per annum.

Payment Mode: The premium will be directly auto-debited by the bank from the subscribers account. This is the only mode available.

Risk Coverage:  For accidental death and full disability - Rs.2 Lakh and for partial disability – Rs.1 Lakh.

Eligibility: Any person having a bank account and Aadhaar number linked to the bank account can give a simple form to the bank every year before 1st of June in order to join the scheme.  Name of nominee to be given in the form.

Terms of Risk Coverage: A person has to opt for the scheme every year. He can also prefer to give a long-term option of continuing in which case his account will be auto-debited every year by the bank.

Who will implement this Scheme?: The scheme will be offered by all Public Sector General Insurance Companies and all other insurers who are willing to join the scheme and tie-up with banks for this purpose.

Government Contribution:

(i)       Various Ministries can co-contribute premium for various categories of their beneficiaries from their budget or from Public Welfare Fund created in this budget from unclaimed money. This will be decided separately during the year.

(ii)     Common Publicity Expenditure will be borne by the Government.

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Current Affairs PDF: May 2015 (Third Week)

Do u want this as PDF : Click Here

1) Name the Hungarian writer who on 19 May 2015 won the prestigious Man Booker International Prize for 2015? - Laszlo Krasznahorkai

Note: Man Booker International Prize is an international literary award given every two years to a living author of any nationality for a body of work published in English or generally available in English translation. 

2) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 19 May 2015 returned to India after completing his tour to three nations namely? - China, Mongolia and South Korea

3) Who was on 23 May 2015 sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for fifth time? - J Jayalalithaa

Note: She succeeded O Panneerselvam who resigned on 21 May 2015 following her acquittal on 11 May 2015 in the disproportionate assets case by the Karnataka High Court.

4) Who was appointed as the new Defence Secretary? - G Mohan Kumar

Note: He succeeds Radha Krishna Mathur who completes his tenure on 28 May 2015.

5) Which Indian cricket player was placed at sixth position in the World’s 50 Most Marketable 2015 report released by British magazine SportsPro? - Virat Kohli

6) Which fighter jet of Indian air force (IAF) on 21 May 2015 landed successfully on Yamuna Expressway as part of developing road runaway for emergency landing? - Mirage 2000

7) US President Barack Obama recently entered Guinness Book of World Record for what reason? - Reaching a million followers within 5 hours after going live on Twitter with @POTUS account.

8) V Shanmuganathan on 20 May 2015 was sworn in as 15th Governor of which state? – Meghalaya

9) Who has sworn in as the Governor of Tripura on 20 May 2015? - Tathagata Roy

10) Name Indian Navy’s latest anti-submarine warfare class stealth corvette which was launched on 19 May 2015 in Kolkata? - INS Kavaratti

11) Which state will host the Paragliding World Cup from 23 October to 31 October 2015 at Bir Billing in Kangra valley as announced recently? - Himachal Pradesh

12) Union Government on 18 May 2015 launched official website of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog. Name the URL of the website? - http://www.Niti.gov.in.

13) What was India's rank in the first Environmental Democracy Index (EDI) for the year 2015 released recently? - 24^th

14) Union Cabinet on 21 May 2015 approved Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) Continuation Programme consisting of fifteen operational flights from? - PSLV-C36 to PSLV-C50

15) Name the Indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile which was successfully test fired at the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur in Odisha on 20 May 2015? – Astra

16) Anti-Terrorism Day was observed across India on? - May 21

Note: The day is annually observed on the death anniversary of seventh Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

17) President Pranab Mukherjee on 20 May 2015 inaugurated the ___th anniversary of India’s first historic climb of Mount Everest in 1965? - 50^th

18) Who was on 18 May 2015 appointed as the chairman of Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) (Amendment) Bill, 2015? - SS Ahluwalia, BJP Lok Sabha Member

19) Who was on 18 May 2015 sworn in as the first woman Governor of Jharkhand? - Draupadi Murmu

 Prepared by: www.currentaffairs4examz.com

20) Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 16 May 2015 inaugurated the first branch of ICICI Bank in China at? – Shanghai

21) Name the Australian wicketkeeper batsman who on 17 May 2015 retired from One Day International (ODI) cricket? - Brad Haddin

22) Who was on 20 May 2015 appointed as the new Director General of Police (DGP) of Kerala? - TP Senkumar

23) Name the Indian-American professor who was on 21 May 2015 appointed as a member of the prestigious National Council on Humanities of United States (US) by President Barack Obama? - Akhil Amar

24) Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 19 May 2015 announced that ASTROSAT will be launched in which month? - October 2015

25) Who was elected as the eighth President of the Federated States of Micronesia on 11 May 2015? - Peter M Christian

26) Who won the women’s singles of Italian Open for the third time on 17 May 2015? - Maria Sharapova

27) Who won his fourth Rome Masters Tennis title on 17 May 2015? - Novak Djokovic

28) Which temple in India on 20 May 2015 received International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001-2008 certification for best quality practices? - Siddhivinayak temple of Mumbai

29) International Day for Biological Diversity (IBD) was observed on 22 May 2015 with the theme? - Biodiversity for Sustainable Development

30) Which company on 20 May 2015 launched LiteOS operating sytem meant for Internet of Things (IoT) based devices? - Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd

31) International Day of Families was observed on 15 May 2015 with the theme? - Men in Charge? Gender Equality and Children’s Rights in Contemporary Families.

32) Which state government on 19 May 2015 decided to launch Pay & Play Scheme at the designated stadiums or sports complexes to promote sports? – Delhi

33) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on 16 May 2015 launched the official website of 10th World Hindi Conference. 10th World Hindi Conference will be held at? – Bhopal

34) Mamata Banerjee recently inaugurated the new headquarter of Coal India Ltd at? - Rajarhat in West Bengal

35) Name the nurse who was in a vegetative state for 42 years after being sexually assaulted and the face of mercy killing who passed away recently? - Aruna Shanbaug

36) Name the eminent economist and academics who passed away on 20 May 2015 in Pune? - Mrinal Datta Chaudhuri

37) Who were on 18 May 2015 named as England men’s and women’s cricketers of the year 2014-15 respectively? - Joe Root and Charlotte Edwards

38) Researchers have recently discovered the driest place on the Earth in the Atacama Desert in Chile and named it as? - Maria Elena South (MES)

39) Name the Veteran jazz musician who passed away on 20 May 2015 after suffering a heart attack? - Bob Belden

40) Nelong Valley in which state was recently opened for tourists for the first time since its closure in 1962 during war between India and China? - Uttarakhand

Check PDF of Previous Weeks: Click Here

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Current Affairs Quiz: 23 May 2015

1) Who was recently appointed as the new chairman of National Safety Council?

(A) Apurvi Chandela

(B) Ajay Shankar

(C) Arun Kumar Jha

(D) Satish Reddy 

2) Union Minister Ravi Shanker Prasad has officially launched India Post’s first Android app recently named?

(A) India Post

(B) Post Shoppe

(C) PostInfo

(D) FingerPost

3) Kolkata-born writer Neel Mukherjee recently won the UK's Encore Award for his novel?

(A) Family Life

(B) Life of Nagas

(C) The Lives of Others

(D) None of these

4) Droupadi Murmu, the former Odisha Minister was recently appointed as the governor of?

(A) Bihar

(B) Karnataka

(C) Jharkhand

(D) Odisha

5) Who was recently appointed as MD & CEO of Bharti AXA General?

(A) Vivek Krishna

(B) Deepak Iyer

(C) Sunil Sood

(D) Ratan Singh

6) International Nurses Day was observed across the world on?

(A) May 12

(B) May 13

(C) May 14

(D) May 15

7) Indian-origin MP Priti Patel was recently appointed minister of state for employment in which country's new cabinet?

(A) USA

(B) South Korea

(C) Russia

(D) Britain

8) Supreme Court has recently restricted the use of photographs of political leaders and government functionaries in government advertisements. As per the latest order central government advertisements cannot include the photographs of?

(A) Chief Minister's

(B) President

(C) Prime Minister

(D) Chief Justice of India

9) Government on 13 May 2015 approved a ___% stake sale in the country's biggest refiner and fuel retailer, Indian Oil Corp., (IOC)?

(A) 15%

(B) 26%

(C) 5%

(D) 10%

10) Which city in India is set to become the first Indian City to offer Google Street View?

(A) Varanasi

(B) Ahmedabad

(C) Hyderabad

(D) Thiruvananthapuram

Answers

1) Ans. (D) Satish Reddy

2) Ans. (C) PostInfo

3) Ans. (C) The Lives of Others

4) Ans. (C) Jharkhand

5) Ans. (B) Deepak Iyer

6) Ans. (A) May 12

7) Ans. (D) Britain

8) Ans. (A) Chief Minister's

9) Ans. (D) 10%

10) Ans. (C) Hyderabad

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22nd May 2015 Daily Current Affairs Updates

1) Mohan Kumar appointed new defence secretary:

--> G Mohan Kumar, a 1979 batch Odisha cadre IAS officer, has been appointed the next defence secretary with a fixed two-year tenure.

--> He will replace RK Mathur who retires on May 24.

--> The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet also appointed Ashok Kumar Gupta, a 1981 batch Tamil Nadu cadre officer, as the new secretary (defence production) to succeed Mohan Kumar.

2) PM Modi inaugurated golden jubilee of Ramdhari Singh Dinkar's works:

--> The golden jubilee of Ramdhari Singh Dinkar’s works 'Sanskriti ke Chaar Adhyaye' and 'Parshuram ki Pratiksha' was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Vigyan Bhawan on 22 May 2015.

--> Ramdhari Singh ‘Dinkar’ (1908-1974) is considered as one of the most important poets of the modern Hindi era.

--> He won the prestigious Bharatiya Jnanpith award in 972 and the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1959.

--> He was hailed as Rashtrakavi (national poet) due to patriotic nature of his innumerable works.

3) Gujarat government signs pact with ZTEsoft for smartcity projects:

--> Gujarat government and Chinese software firm ZTEsoft have entered into an agreement for smartcity projects in the state.

--> The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in Shenzhen during visit Gujarat Chief Minister Anandi Ben Patel with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to China, ZTEsoft said.

4) SBI ties up with Snapdeal, PayPal:

--> State Bank of India on 21 May 2015 tied-up with two of the biggest online retail and payment solution companies, Snapdeal and PayPal respectively.

--> The partnership with PayPal will not only help in international trade but also facilitate overseas funding for the government ‘Clean Ganga’ and ‘Swachh Bharat’ programmes.

--> The agreement with Snapdeal will allow State Bank of India (SBI) to roll out a capital assistance programme for sellers using the online retailer’s platform.

5) India ranked 24th in the first Environmental Democracy Index:

--> India has ranked 24th out of 70 countries in the first Environmental Democracy Index that is topped by Lithuania.

--> Index evaluates nations' progress in enacting laws to promote transparency, accountability and citizen engagement in environmental decision making.

--> Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, the US, South Africa, the UK, Hungary, Bulgaria, Panama and Colombia are the top 10 nations in the list launched by Washington-based World Resources Institute (WRI) and Access Initiative.

6) International Day for Biological Diversity observed:

--> International Day for Biological Diversity was observed on 22 May 2015.

--> The United Nations has proclaimed May 22 The International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues.

--> On May 22, 1992, the text of the Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted by the of the United Nations at a conference in Nairobi, Kenya.

--> "Biodiversity for Sustainable Development" was the theme for International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) 2015.

7) Union Cabinet approved PSLV Continuation Programme:

--> Union Cabinet has approved continuation of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) programme for another fifteen operational flights of PSLV-C36 to PSLV-C50.

--> The decision in this regard was taken at a Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

--> All the fifteen operational flights under this programme will be completed during the period 2017-2020. 

8) Virat Kohli named sixth most marketable athlete in the world:

--> British Sports business magazine 'SportsPro' has named Indian Test cricket captain Virat Kohli as the sixth most marketable athlete of this year ahead of the likes of sprint king Usain Bolt and football superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

--> The monthly magazine, which reports on the business and financial aspects of sports across the world, has placed 26-year-old Kohli just a rung below British Formula One reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton while Brazilian football superstar Neymar was named second most marketable sportsperson.

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