4th February 2015 Current Affairs Updates

1) LC Goyal appointed as new home secretary:

--> The government on 4 February 2015 appointed L.C. Goyal as the new home secretary in place of Anil Goswami who resigned.

--> Anil Goswami was given the marching orders after he admitted that he had called up CBI officers to dissuade them from summoning former Union minister Matang Sinh in the Saradha scam.

--> Goyal, a 1979 batch IAS officer belonging to the Kerala cadre, was secretary, rural development ministry.

2) World Cancer Day observed:

--> 4th February in every year was observed as World Cancer Day.

--> This day is dedicated to spread awareness about one of the deadliest diseases in the world, Cancer.

--> This Day was founded by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) to support the goals of the World Cancer Declaration, written in 2008.

--> The theme for the day this year was 'Not Beyond Us'.

3) Sri Lanka celebrated its 67th Independence Day:

--> President Maithripala Sirisena promised to bridge the ethnic divide that still exists following the end of the country’s civil war five years ago.

--> He also called for a process of national reconciliation between the Sinhalese in the south and the Tamils in the north and east of the country.

4) India ranked second last in Intellectual Property Index:

--> India has improved its rank marginally on the intellectual property (IP) index released by the US Chamber of Commerce on 4 February 2015.

--> The US body has moved India to the second last place from rock bottom in its ranking order last year.

--> This year, Thailand has been ranked at the last place while US retains the top spot.

5) Infosys appointed CRISIL MD Roopa Kudva as independent board member:

--> IT major Infosys has appointed Roopa Kudva, the managing director of ratings company CRISIL as an independent board member, the company informed the stock exchange. 

6) Micromax is now India's No.1 smartphone maker, overtakes Samsung:

--> Budget smartphone maker Micromax overtook South Korea's Samsung Electronics to become the leading supplier in India's booming smartphone market for the first time in the fourth quarter, research firm Canalys said.

--> In a report issued on February 3, Canalys said Micromax, based near New Delhi, accounted for 22 per cent of smartphone sales in India in the October-December quarter, ahead of Samsung's 20 per cent.

7) Bank of Maharashtra launched MahaMobile app:

--> Bank of Maharashtra has launched its new mobile banking app - MahaMobile.

--> This app will enable the bank's customers to view all their deposit and loan accounts, do fund transfers, bill payments and raise a variety of service requests on their mobile.

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Daily GK Updates: 5 February 2015

1) Who is the author of the book "We Indians"? - Khushwant Singh

2) Who was the world's first woman President? - Marma Estela 'Isabel' Martinez Cartas de Peron of Argentina

3) World Computer Literacy Day is observed on? - December 2

4) Kalinga Award is given in which field? - Science

5) World Family Day is celebrated on? - May 15

6) First Indian state to declare Tourism as an industry? - Kerala

7) Indian National Congress was founded in? - 1885 

8) Pulse Polio Immunization was launched in which year in India? - 1995

9) Study of Fungus is called? - Mycology

10) Pahari language is spoken in which state of India? - Himachal Pradesh

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Current Affairs Quiz: 4 February 2015

1) Which country on 1 February 2015 appointed Justice K Sripavan, an ethnic-Tamil, its new Chief Justice?

(A) Singapore

(B) Sri Lanka

(C) Indonesia

(D) Bangladesh

2) Which private airlines co-owner Kal Airways recently decided to sell and transfer their entire holding of 58.46 per cent in the airline to co-founder Ajay Singh?

(A) Indigo

(B) Vistara

(C) Deccan Charters

(D) SpiceJet

3) Australia recently won the cricket tri-series title involving England and India. Who was named Man of the Series?

(A) Ian Bell

(B) Steve Smith

(C) Mitchell Starc

(D) Glen Maxwell

4) PETA -an international animal rights and conservation group -and the Bannerghatta Biological Park in which state, have joined hands to create India's first `fenced' elephant sanctuary in a forested space?

(A) Karnataka

(B) Kerala

(C) Assam

(D) Madhya Pradesh

5) 17th edition of Bharat Rang Mahotsav known as Asia’s biggest theatre festival was recently began at?

(A) Kochi

(B) Pune

(C) Gandhinagar

(D) New Delhi 

6) Leander Paes along with whom recently won the Australian Open 2015 mixed doubles title?

(A) Martina Hingis

(B) Sania Mirza

(C) Cara Black

(D) Elena Vesnina

7) Lydia Ko recently became the youngest world number one in golf history by reaching the top of the women’s ranking. She is from which country?

(A) Egypt

(B) New Zealand

(C) Pakistan

(D) Australia

8) Second Phase of JNNURM Project is set to be named after which former Prime Minister of India as reports suggested recently?

(A) Rajiv Gandhi

(B) Moraji Desai

(C) Atal Bihari Vajpayee

(C) Lal Bahadur Shastri

9) IRCTC recently announced plans to offer cash-on-delivery (CoD) option for railway tickets booked online in association with which entity?

(A) Telespace

(B) Anduril Technologies

(C) Datawind Technologies

(D) India Post

10) World wetland day (WWD) was observed every year on?

(A) 31 January

(B) 4 February

(C) 1 February

(D) 2 February

Answers

1) Ans. (B) Sri Lanka

2) Ans. (D) SpiceJet

3) Ans. (C) Mitchell Starc

4) Ans. (A) Karnataka

5) Ans. (D) New Delhi

6) Ans. (A) Martina Hingis

7) Ans. (B) New Zealand

8) Ans. (C) Atal Bihari Vajpayee

9) Ans. (B) Anduril Technologies

10) Ans. (D) 2 February

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Daily Current Affairs Updates: 3 February 2015

1) Usha Thorat, Nachiket Mor to head RBI panels for differentiated bank licenses:

--> Usha Thorat, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will chair the External Advisory Committee (EAC) to evaluate applications received for small finance banks.

--> Dr. Nachiket Mor, Director, Central Board of the Reserve Bank will chair the EAC for payment banks.

--> RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said that 72 applications for Small Finance Banks and 41 applications for Payments Banks were received up to the deadline for submission.

--> Two External Advisory Committees (EACs) will evaluate the applications received for setting up of small finance and payments banks and thereafter make their recommendations to the Reserve Bank.

2) Saloni Dalal became youngest medal winner in National Games 2015:

--> Saloni Dalal, a school girl of Karnataka became the youngest medal winner in the ongoing 35th National Games in Kerala on 3 February 2015.

--> The 12-year-old, Saloni won a Bronze medal in the 200 meter breast stroke swimming event.

--> Beside her bronze in breast stroke swimming event, Dalal also won silver in women’s 4x100 meter Relay Medley by teaming up with Anisha Gaonkar, Malika A Honagekar and Rutuja Pawar.

3) Bihar to provide free education till PG to SC/ST and girl students:

--> Bihar government on 3 February 2015 decided to provide free education to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and girl students till Post Graduation (PG) level in the state.

--> The decision, taken at a meeting of the state cabinet, said no fee would be taken from the SC/ST and girl students at the time of admission in government universities and colleges in Bihar.

--> The government would reimburse the financial loss to such universities/colleges after gathering the actual information about it. 

4) RBI released its 6th Bi-monthly Monetary Review:

--> Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 3 February 2014 released its 6th Bi-monthly Monetary Review.

--> It decided to keep the most important Repo Rate unchanged at 7.75%.

--> RBI reduced the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) of scheduled commercial banks by 50 basis points from 22.0% to 21.5% of their net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) with effect from the fortnight beginning 7 February 2015.

--> The reduction in SLR is expected to release more funds in the economy.

5) Indian in Hayek Prize shortlist:

--> Journalist-writer Hindol Sengupta's book on entrepreneurial ventures in India has been shortlisted for the US' prestigious Hayek Prize this year.

--> "Recasting India: How Entrepreneurship is Revolutionizing the World's Largest Democracy" is among the six books in race for the USD 50,000 prize awarded by the Manhattan Institute each year to writers whose work best celebrates the principles of Austro-Hungarian Nobel laureate in economics, Friedrich von Hayek.

6) UK becomes the first country to legalize creation of babies from three people:

--> UK is set to become the first country to introduce laws to allow the creation of babies from three people.

--> In an historic move, MPs have voted in favour of the creation of babies with DNA from two women and one man.

--> The technique is currently illegal across the world and was pioneered by researchers in Newcastle, where the first of the procedures will be carried out.

7) Sculptor and artist Mrinalini Mukherjee died:

--> Noted sculptor Mrinalini Mukherjee passed away in New Delhi on 2 February 2015 after a brief illness.

--> She was 65. Mukherjee, the only daughter of acclaimed artists from Santiniketan, Benode Behari and Leela Mukherjee, was best known for her sculptures using knotted hemp fibre and cast bronzes.

8) India replaced Russia as number 3 on Hurun Rich list:

--> India has scaled 27 places to replace Russia and is now Number 3 in the Hurun Global Rich List 2015, a ranking of the dollar billionaires across the world.

--> The US and China make up half of the world’s billionaires. It is the first time that India has broken into the top three, the report said.

9) Government's low cost generic drugs from July 1:

--> Government set to launch its own brand to sell low cost generic medicines from July 1.

--> The Centre will procure medicines in bulk from public as well as private drug manufacturing firms and rebrand them under 'Jan Aushadhi'.

10) RBI increased limit for foreign spending:

--> The central bank on 3 February 2015 doubled the amount of foreign exchange that an individual can remit in a year under a scheme that allows asset purchase outside India.

--> An individual can now remit up to $250,000 a year under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, which was started in 2004 with a view to simplify foreign exchange avenues available to Indians.

--> This is the second time the limit has been raised since a drastic 62.5 per cent cut in the limit to $75,000 in August 2013, when the RBI was fighting hard to stem the free fall in rupee against the dollar.

11) Petrol, diesel prices cut by over Rs 2:

--> State-run fuel retailers on 3 February 2015 reduced petrol price by Rs 2.42 per litre and diesel by Rs 2.25.

--> Revision marks the tenth straight cut in petrol since last August and sixth in diesel rates since October.

--> The petrol price is lowest since September 2010, while diesel is cheapest since March 2013.

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LIC AAO Exam 2015 dates postponed

Friends.. Life Insurance Corporation of India has postponed the dates of its AAO Exam from 20th February 2015 to 15th, 21st & 22nd of March 2015. The notification issued by LIC in this regard, read as follows:

DUE TO THE OVERWHELMING RESPONSE, IT HAS BEEN DECIDED TO CONDUCT ONLINE EXAMINATION FOR THE ABOVE RECRUITMENT ON 15TH MARCH 2015, 21ST MARCH 2015 and 22nd MARCH 2015 INSTEAD OF 20TH FEBRUARY 2015.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD CALL LETTERS FOR ONLINE EXAMINATION FROM THE SECOND WEEK OF MARCH 2015 ONWARDS FROM THE LINK HOSTED ON OUR WEBSITEwww.licindia.in/careers.htm.

INTIMATION FOR DOWNLOADING CALL LETTER WILL ALSO BE SENT THROUGH REGISTERED EMAIL/SMS.

Read official notification: Click Here

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GK Daily Updates: 4 February 2015

1) India Tourism Day is celebrated on? - January 25th

2) Where is John F. Kennedy International Airport situated? - New York City

3) Which is the highest airport in India? - Leh Airport

4) Khasi and Garo languages are spoken by the people of which state? - Meghalaya 

5) The first Indian to share the Oscar award was? - Bhanu Athaiya

6) Where was the 1st ODI match played in India? - Ahmedabad

7) Which one of the following states of India is surrounded by Bangladesh on three sides? - Tripura

8) Longest Dam in India? - Hirakud Dam

9) Sayam was the old name of which country? - Thailand

10) Juma Masjid in New Delhi was built by? - ShahJahan

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Latest Current Affairs Questions: 3 February 2015

1) Who won the Australian Open women's singles title 2015?

(A) Maria Sharapova

(B) Madison Keys

(C) Ekaterina Makarova

(D) Serena Williams

2) Robert Mugabe who was appointed as the new chairman of the 54-nation African Union on 30 January 2015 is the president of which African Nation?

(A) Kenya

(B) South Africa

(C) Zimbabwe

(D) Nigeria

3) Which former DRDO chief on 30 January 2015 assumed charge as a full-time member of the NITI Aayog?

(A) V K Saraswat

(B) Avinash Chander

(C) Bibek Debroy

(D) Krishna Kumar

4) Sergio Mattarella was recently elected as the new President of?

(A) Greece

(B) Italy

(C) France

(D) Canada

5) 35th National Games 2015 which started on 31 January 2015 is hosted by which state?

(A) Goa

(B) Jharkhand

(C) Kerala

(D) Haryana

6) Who among the following on 31 January 2015 took charge as chairman of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL)?

(A) R K Tyagi

(B) Jiji Thomson

(C) T Suvarna Raju

(D) None of these

7) Who among the following was the goodwill ambassador for the 35th National Games 2015?

(A) Milkha Singh

(B) P T Usha

(C) Amitabh Bachchan

(D) Sachin Tendulkar 

8) India on 31 January 2015 successfully carried out the maiden canister-based trial of its most potent missile Agni-V from?

(A) Wheeler Island, Odisha

(B) Sreeharikota, Andhra Pradesh

(C) Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu

(D) Thumba, Kerala

9) 60th Filmfare Awards ceremony was held on January 31, 2015, at the Yash Raj Studios in Mumbai. Which was adjudged the Best Film?

(A) PK

(B) Queen

(C) Haider

(D) Two States

10) Carl Djerassi, 91, the chemist widely considered the father of the ______, died on 31 January 2015?

(A) Anti-Biotics

(B) Birth control pill

(C) Band Aid

(D) Injection Needle

Answers

1) Ans. (D) Serena Williams

2) Ans. (C) Zimbabwe

3) Ans. (A) V K Saraswat

4) Ans. (B) Italy

5) Ans. (C) Kerala

6) Ans. (C) T Suvarna Raju

7) Ans. (D) Sachin Tendulkar

8) Ans. (A) Wheeler Island, Odisha

9) Ans. (B) Queen

10) Ans. (B) Birth control pill 

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Current Affairs PDF in Question Format: January 2015

Friends.. Here we bring you the much liked Current Affairs Question format of January 2015. As per the suggestions received from the Question Bank of December 2014, in this one we have highlighted the answers in the questions itself instead of giving it at the end of each set. We have tried our level best to make this PDF error free, but anyhow, if you notice any mistakes please bring it to our notice so that we will revise it. We are much excited to learn that most of the Current Affairs Questions asked in latest exams could be attended reading our previous Question Banks PDF. As said always, please comment your suggestions which take our journey forward in the right path. Thank You guys for your support & do continue the same. Thank You.

Download Question format PDF: Click Here

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2 February 2015 Daily Current Affairs

1) Second Phase of JNNURM to be named after Vajpayee:

--> Narendra Modi government is all set to name its scheme to rejuvenate 500 cities and towns after the first BJP Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. 

--> This new avatar of JNNURM, named after first PM Jawaharlal Nehru will now be known as Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).

--> It will be a 10-year programme with total investment of about Rs 2 lakh crore.

--> The extended tenure of JNNURM-I ended last year and soon after coming to power the urban development minister M Vnekaiah Naidu had announced to launch the new scheme. 

2) IRCTC brings CoD for Online Railway Ticket Bookings:

--> You can now book a rail ticket online and get it delivered at home where the payment can be made.

--> Initiating this "cash on delivery" (CoD) system rail ticketing, IRCTC is targeting those customers who are reluctant to use their credit or debit cards as well as those who don't have net-banking facility.

--> One has to just book the ticket online and payments will be made at the time of delivery of tickets.

--> This scheme has been launched on pilot basis and the service will be available in more than 200 cities initially. Customers can book a ticket 5 days prior to commencement of journey.

--> Anduril Technologies will use its website and its app called BookMyTrain.com for providing this scheme.

3) Dr.Nandita Chatterjee took over as new Secretary(Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation):

--> Dr.Nandita Chatterjee on 2 February 2015 took over as the new Secretary in the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA).

--> Her last assignment was as Member-Secretary, National Commission for Women.

4) MNREGA Day celebrated:

--> MNREGA Day was celebrated across the country on 2 February 2015.

--> Madhya Pradesh has been awarded the 10th national award for excellent work in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).

5) World Wetlands Day observed:

--> World wetland day (WWD) was observed every year on 2 February.

--> The theme for the world wetland day 2015 is Wetlands for our future.

--> The day marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands also called as Ramsar Convention on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar.

6) Nicol David sets world number one record:

--> World squash champion Nicol David (Malaysia) has set a new record for topping the world rankings when she secured top spot for the 106th month.

--> The 31-year-old Malaysian, who first headed the Women’s Squash Association (WSA) list in January 2006, overtook the 105-month record set in February 1993 by Susan Devoy, the four-time world champion from New Zealand.

7) Reliance Industries Limited teamed up with SBI for payments bank licence:

--> Reliance Industries has teamed up with state-run behemoth SBI to apply for a payments bank licence.

--> RIL and SBI put in a joint application to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a payment bank that can offer services such as remittances and deposits but not loans.

--> SBI, which being a commercial bank could not apply for a payment bank license, will hold 30 per cent in the joint venture. RIL will be the promoter and hold the balance 70 per cent.

8) Deadline for applying for the payments banks ended:

--> RBI's deadline ended on 2 February 2015 for those seeking licences to set up so-called small banks and payments banks.

--> India's biggest companies including Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla Group, Future Group and Bharti Airtel along with lesser-known aspirants such as Fino Paytech and Oxigen in partnership with RBL Bank — all seeking to set up payments banks.

9) Angelina Jolie named most admired woman in the world:

--> Actress-director Angelina Jolie has been named the most admired woman in the world, leaving behind Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Hillary Clinton, Queen Elizabeth II and even India's Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

--> This was as per a poll over 23 countries conducted by YouGov!

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Daily GK Updates: 3 February 2015

1) Bor Wildlife Sanctuary is located in which state? - Maharashtra

2) International Tiger Day is observed on? - 29 July

3) Which film produced by Irani is considered to be the first indigenous Indian colour film? - 'Kisan Kanya' (1937)

4) What is the chief official language of Israel? - Hebrew

5) Who were the founders of Whatsapp? - Jan Koum and Brian Acton

6) Which online encyclopedia was launched by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger in 2001? - Wikipedia

7) World Water Day was celebrated on? - March 22

8) Gas evolved in Bhopal Gas tragedy was? - Methyl Isocyanate

9) Which is the longest railway platform in India? - Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh

10) Yakshagana is an art form of which state? - Karnataka

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Clarification on Maharashtra Circle - Result of PA/SA Exam 2014

Friends.. As you know Maharashtra Postal Circle has published the result of its PA/SA Exam 2014 on 8 January 2015 in its official website (http://www.maharashtrapost.gov.in/). But to the surprise of all, the result disappeared from the website the very next day putting the candidates in utter dismay. But now the authorities have come out with clarification on the reason for withdrawing the result from the website. The note uploaded in the official website read as follows:

"The Postal Directorate, New Delhi vide letter dated 9th January 2015 and 14th January 2015 have informed that the Result of PA/SA Direct Recruitment Examination 2013-14 of Maharashtra Circle submitted by the Outsourced Agency was having some discrepancies because of malfunctioning of computer at tabulation stage of Paper-II. The entire result of Maharashtra Circle is being revaluated/recast by the Outsourced Agency. Hence, the result has been withdrawn from the website for time being and held in abeyance."

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