NEW APPOINTMENTS

• New President of India- Pranab Mukherjee
• Re-elected Vice President- Hamid Ansari
Secretary in National Commission for Women - Ajit Saran
• New Indian envoy to Israel – Jaideep Sarkar
• New Indian envoy to Canada – Nirmal Kumar Verma
• New MSME secretary - Vivek Rae
• New chairman of ICC Cricket Committee - Anil Kumble
• Junior pistol chief coach - Jaspal Rana
• India’s ambassador to Brazil - Ashok Kumar
• New Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau – Rajiv Mehta
• New FMC (Forward Markets Commission) Chairman – Ramesh Abhishek
• New Director on the Central Board of Directors of the RBI - Y C Deveshwar
• New President of Indian Newspaper Society – Tilak Kumar
• New Secretary Gen of Rajya Sabha – Shumsher K Sheriff
• New Chairman of Audit Bureau of Circulation – Shailesh Gupta
• New President of Indian Boxing Federation – Abhishek Matoria
• New Economic affairs secretary-Arvind Mayaram
• New Chief Economic Advisor- Raghuram Rajan
• New Clearing Corporation of India Ltd (CCIL)Chairperson - Shyamala Gopinath
• Re-appoint Deputy Governer of RBI: K C Chakrabarty
• New CBDT Chairperson- Poonam Kishore Saxena
• New Union Railway Minister- Pawan Kumar Bansal
• New Aviation Secretary- K N Srivastava
• New Election Commissioner- S Nasim Ahmad Zaidi
• New Chief Election Commissioner-VS Sampath
• New secretary to the Prez of India- Omita Paul
• Head of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award Committee - Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
• New CMD of Oriental Bank of Commerce- SL Bansal
• New Executive Director of PNB- S R Bansal
• New CEO of Prasar Bharti – Jawhar Sircar
•  New Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh- Virabhadra Singh

Olivia Culpo, Miss USA was crowned Miss Universe 2012

Olivia Culpo, Miss USA was crowned Miss Universe 2012. Olivia Culpo beat out 88 other beauty queens to take the title from Leila Lopes of Angola during the competition at the Planet Hollywood casino on the Las Vegas Strip.  Miss Philippines held the second spot, followed by Miss Venezuela, Miss Australia and Miss Brazil.
India’s hope of winning the Miss Universe 2012 crown crashed as Shilpa Singh failed to make it to the list of top 10 contestants. Ji Dan Xu, Miss China won the Best National Costume title while Laura Godoy from Guatemala grabbed the Miss Congeniality title. Diana Avdiu from Kosovo became Miss Photogenic of the year 2012. Indian beauty Shilpa Singh could not make it to the Top 10, though she succeeded in making it to the top 16 list.
As Miss Universe, Culpo will receive an undisclosed salary, a wardrobe fit for a queen, a limitless supply of beauty products, and a luxury apartment in New York City.

SUMMITS HELD ON 2012-13

BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summits

• 4th BRICS Summit 2012 – New Delhi, India
• 5th BRICS  Summit 2013 – Durban, South Africa

G-8 Annual Summits
Group of Eight (G8) Countries – France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, Russia.

• 37th G8 Meeting 2011 – Deauville, France
• 38th G8 Meeting 2012 – David camp, USA
• 39th G8 Summit 2013 –  County Fermanagh, UK
• 40th G8 Summit 2014 – Russia

G-20 Summits

• 7th G 20 Meeting 2012 – Los Cabos, Mexico
• 8th G 20 Meeting 2013 – Saint Petersburg, Russia
• 9th G 20 Meeting 2014 – Brisbane, Australia

SAARC Summits
SAARC – South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

• 17th SAARC Summit 2011– Addu, Maldives
• 18th SAARC Summit 2013 – Kathmandu,Nepal

ASEAN Summits
ASEAN – Association of South East Asian Nation

• 19th ASEAN Summit 2011 (November) – Bali, Indonesia
• 20th ASEAN Summit 2012 (April) – Phnom penh, Cambodia
• 21th ASEAN Summit 2012  (November)– Phnom penh, Cambodia

ASEAN-India Summit

• 9th ASEAN-India Summit 2011 – Bali, Indonesia
• 10th ASEAN-India Summit 2012 – Phnom penh, Cambodia

East Asia Summit (EAS)

EAS meetings are held after annual ASEAN leaders’ meetings.

• 6th East Asia Summit 2011 – Bali, Indonesia
• 7th East Asia Summit 2012 – Phnom penh, Cambodia

IBSA Summits
IBSA Dialogue Forum - India, Brazil, South Africa.

• 5th IBSA Summit 2011 – Pretoria, South Africa
• 6th IBSA Summit 2013 – India

APEC Summits
APEC – Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation

• 23rd APEC  summit 2011 – Honolulu, USA
• 24th APEC Summit 2012 – Vladivostok,Russia
• 25th APEC Summit 2013 – Medan/Jakarta, Indonesia
• 26th APEC Summit 2014 – China
• 27th APEC Summit 2015 – Philippines
• 28th APEC Summit 2016 – Lima, Peru

OPEC Seminars
OPEC – Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

• 4th OPEC International Seminar 2009 – Vienna, Austria
• 5th OPEC International Seminar 2012 – Vienna, Austria

NAM Summits
NAM – Non-aligned Movement

• 16th NAM Summit 2012 – Tehran, Iran
• 17th NAM Summit 2015 – Caracas,Venezuela

SCO Meetings
SCO – Shanghai Cooperation Organization

• SCO Meeting 2011 – Astana, Kazakhstan
• SCO Meeting 2012 – Beijing, China
• SCO Meeting 2013 – Kyrgyzstan

NATO (North Atlantic treaty organization) international conference on Afghanistan will be held in Chicago (USA)

Asian Development Bank (ADB) Annual Meetings
Annual meeting of the board of governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) held every year.

• ADB Annual Meeting 2012 – Manila, Philippines
• ADB Annual Meeting 2013 – New Delhi, India

WTO Ministerial Conferences

• 8th WTO Ministerial Conferences 2011 – Geneva, Switzerland
• 9th WTO Ministerial Conferences 2013 (Expected) -Bali, Indonesia

Other Important Summits

• United Nations framework convention on Climate, 2011 – Durban, South Africa
• 10th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change – New Delhi, India
• Arab summit 2012 – Baghdad, Iraq
• Nuclear security summit 2012 – Seoul, South Korea
• 12th Annual summit of European Union and India – New Delhi, India
• G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting – Mexico City, Mexico
• Friends of Syria Meeting – Istanbul,Turkey
• 5th Ministerial level India-UK Economic Financial Dialogue – New Delhi
• United Nation Conference on Sustainable Development 2012 – Rio de janeiro,Brazil
• 17th National youth Festival – Mangalore, Karnataka
• World Economic Forum – Davos, Switzerland
• World Polio Summit 2012 – New Delhi, India
• India, Russia Inter-Governmental Commission meet 2012 – New Delhi, India
• The sixth conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians held in Islamabad on 4th November 2012.
• E-9 countries review meeting held in New Delhi on 9th and 10th November 2012.The E-9 countries are India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Nigeria and Mexico.
• The 8th meeting of the India-UK Joint Working Group (JWG) on counter terrorism was held on 20 November 2012 in New Delhi.
• The 3rd Worldwide Cybersecurity Summit organized by East West Institute, a New York based think-and-do tank, kick-started in the New Delhi on 30th October 2012.
• South Korea will host the 12th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP12) to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2014.
• The XI Conference of Parties (CoP-11) on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) being hosted by India at Hyderabad starts on 1st October 2012.
• The 9th World Hindi Conference to be held in Johannesburg ,South Africa from 22-24 September 2012.The first world Hindi Conference was held in Nagapur from 10-12 January 1975.
• The APEC Russia 2012 Summit is the 24th annual gathering of APEC leaders of 21 countries.Leaders from the member economics are currently meeting on Russky Island off the Coast of Vladivostok, Russia from September 2-9 ,2012 .
• The world’s largest meeting on HIV/AIDS opened on 22nd July in Washington.
• The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Summit held in HICC, Novotel Hyderabad. The summit was held between 22 August 2012 to 25 August 2012.
•  7th ASEAN education Ministers meeting on July 4 with the 1st Asean plus three education Minister Meeting and the 1st East Asia Summit Education Minister meeting from July4-5 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
•  A One day International conference in Kabul took place on June 14,2012 to discuss ways to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan and boost regional cooperation.
•  101 st session of International Labour Conference  organized by International Labour Organization(ILO), concluded on June 14 ,2012 in Geneva.
•  The Rio+20 Conference, world leaders, along with thousands of participants from governments took place in Brazil on 20-22 June 2012
•  India To Host Alternative International AIDS conference
•  World Agriculture Congress mega event will be hosted by the Hyderabad city for the first time in the country.
•  The 6th Summit of the Americas was held At Cartagena, Colombia on 14 and 15 April 2012.
•  The Russia, India and China (RIC) trilateral conference was held in Mascow on 13 April 2012.
•  The seventh meeting of the India-Russia Joint Working Group was held in New Delhi on 11 April 2012.
•  Two-days national agricultural conference held at New Delhi.
•  The international exhibition-cum conference ” Indian Aviation 2012 held at Hyderabad from 14-18 March 2012.
• The 23rd Arab summit was held on 29 March 2012 Baghdad, half of the Arab world’s 22 heads of states had to meet for the summit in former president Saddam Hussain’s palace, but only few leaders gathered.
•  India, the independence accreditation agency organized its 1st world summit on Accreditation from 25 -28 March 2012 in New Delhi.
•  The I’st World summit on Accreditation is going to be held in March 2012 at New Delhi.
•  A seven days Turkey World Trade Bridge International Business Summit is going to be organized by the confederation of Businessman and Industrialists of Turkey (TUSKON) and the Indo-Turkish Business Association (ITBA) from 3 June to 10 June 2012 in Istanbul.
• AIMA’s second Knowledge summit was held in Bangalore on 7March 2012.
• The 9th three day International conference & exhibition was hosted by the society of Petroleum Geophysicists (SPG),which was inaugurated on 16 feb 2012 in Hyderabad.
• The 44Th session of Indian Labour conference was held on 14 and 15 Feb 2012, under the chairmanship of Shri Mallikajun Kharge, Union minister of Labour and Employment.
• The Association of South East Nations (Asean ) summit had held in New Delhi on 12 Feb 2012 with the theme of India and Asean partners for peace, progress and stability. 
• The 12th India – EU summit was held in New Delhi on 10 Feb 2012.
• The 4th ” International Conference on Luminescence and its Application’s” (ICLA) 2012 conference had been organised by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies on 8 Feb2012 in Hyderabad.
•  The 15th National conference on e-Governance conference had been inaugurated by the chief minister of Odisha M.Naveen Patnaik on 8 Feb 2012
• The 10th International Kimberlite conference meeting was held from 6 to 11 Feb 2012 at Bangalore (GSI).
• The 58th annual meeting of the Indian Association of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons (IACTS) was held from 8 to 12 Feb 2012 in Kolkata
• The national conference on Governance’ was held on 29 Jan  2012 at the NCUI auditorium in New Delhi.
• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated 15th Global Sanskrit Meetings in New Delhi on 4 January 2012.
• 99th Science Congress Conferences were inaugarated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Bhuvaneswar, Odisha on 3 January 2012. 

IMPORTANT AWARDS 2012

• Israeli Scientist Daniel Hillel has won World Food Prize 2012 .
• ITC conferred world business & development award 2012.
• Life Time Achievement Award for Ratan Tata by Rockefeller Foundation
• Vijay Kumar conferred Himachal Gaurav award
• Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Puraskar for DR Mehra,
• Ashoke Sen wins Yuri Milner Prize.
• Sachin Tendulkar was presented the Wisden India Outstanding Achievement award.
• Ondaatje Prize 2012 for Rahul Bhattacharya.
• Sudarshan Pattnaik won the Copenhagen Sand Art Championship-2012.
• Binayak Sen and Bulu Imam honored with the International Peace Award  by the Gandhi Foundation at the House of Lords.
• Shalini Singh won Prem Bhatia award
• Kulandei Francis won Magsaysay award.
• Miss China Wenxia Yu won the title of Miss World 2012
• Mamta Kalia gets Sita puraskar.
• Shiv Bhatia gets Rashtriya Ekta Puraskar.
• Mr. Baba Kalyani was conferred an honorary ‘Doctor of Science’ (honoris causa) by the President of India Pranab Mukherjee at the 58th Annual Convocation of IIT Kharagpur.
• Paraguay’s Highest Civilisation Award ‘National Order of Merito de Comuneros’ for Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
• Lifetime achievement award for Waheeda Rehman at Mumbai Film Festival.
• Bangladesh honours Jagjivan Ram as 1971 war hero.
• Hilary Mantel wins Booker Prize for 2012.
• Gulzar gets Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration 2012.
• C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for Sunil Gavaskar.
• Sharmila Tagore was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts by the Edinburgh Napier University.
• Member of Order of Australia – Sachin Tendulkar
• IT giant Infosys founder, N.R. Narayan Murthy honoured with Hoover Medal for promoting science at Global Humanitarian Technology Conference in Washington.
• Aishwarya Rai was honoured with French Civilian Award
• Dr Madhav Chavan has won the WISE Prize, which has been likened to a “Nobel prize for education”.
• Urdu Scholar Gopi Chand Narang Awarded Moortidevi Award for 2010 
• Chinese movie ‘11 Flowers’, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Wang Xiaoshuai has won the prestigious NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) award at the 18th Kolkata International Film festival (KIFF).
• President of the Republic of Liberia Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf got the  Indira Gandhi peace prize for 2012 for her Excellency, Peace,Disarmament and Development.
•  “Andhey Ghorey Da Daan” a Punjabi film directed by Gurvinder Singh and produced by National Film Development Cooperation was bagged the Golden Peacock award of the International  Film Festival of India, IFFI.

ICC Awards 2012

• Emerging Player of the Year – Sunil Narine
• LG People’s Choice Award – Kumar Sangakkara
• ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year – Virat Kohli
• ICC Test Cricketer of the Year -Kumar Sangakkara
• ICC Cricketer of the Year – Kumar Sangakkara

IIFA Awards 2012

13th IIFA Awards 2012 schedule  from 7th Jun to 9th Jun, 2012 as held in the beautiful city of Singapore . The list of winners has just been announced and as expected, Ranbir Kapoor and Vidya Balan have once again won the Best Actor and Best Actress award respectively. The Best movie and director too have been predictable this year, as Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, which swept the IIFA 2012 technical awards, has won in both categories.
Winners of IIFA Awards 2012
Best Actor – Ranbir Kapoor (Rockstar)
Best Actress – Vidya Balan (The Dirty Picture)
Best Movie – Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Best Director – Zoya Akhtar (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara)
Best Story – Zoya Akhtar and Reema Katgi (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara)
Best Music – A R Rahman ( Rockstar)

84th Academy Awards 

The 84th Academy Awards Ceremony/ Oscars was hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science ( AMPAS). The ceremony which took place at the Hollywood Highland center in Hollywood, California on 26 Feb 2012 honoured the best film and  performances of 2011. The ceremony was hosted by Billy Cristal who hosted this ceremony for the ninth time. Best Motion Picture: The Artist ,Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist Best Actor : Jean Dujardin, The Artist  ,Foreign Language Film : A separation      , Original Screenplay:       Woody Allen Best Actress : Meryl Streep, Iron Lady ,  Adapted screenplay:Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash Best Supporting Actor :Christopher Plummer, Beginners,      Cinematography : Hugo. Art direction: Hugo Best Supporting Actress :Octavia Spencer, The Help .Original Score : The Artist.  Visual Effects: Hugo Film Editing: The girl with the dragon tattoo.   Sound mixing:Hugo.   Sound  Editing: Hugo. Costume Design:The Artist Original Song: Man or Muppet, from Muppets.  Make Up: The Iron Lady . Live Action Short Film:The Shore Animated Feature Film: Rango.   Animated Short: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Documentary Features: Undefeated.  Documentary Short: Saving Face.

Nobel Prize 2012 Winners

• Nobel Prize in Physics 2012 – Serge Haroche and David Wineland
  
• Nobel Peace Prize for 2012: European Union
  
• Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2012: Robert J Lefkowitz and Brian K Kobilka
• Nobel Prize in Literature 2012: Chinese author Mo Yan
• Nobel Prize in Economy 2012: Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley
• Nobel Prize in Medicine 2012: John Gurdon, Shinya Yamanaka

GENERAL AWARENESS MCQs FOR ALL EXAMS

1. What is the gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter (July-September) of 2012-13?
1) 5.5 %
2) 6.7 %
3) 5.3%
4) 7.5%
5) 6.5%

2. The General Assembly granted which of the following states non-member observer State status in the United Nations on November 29, 2012?
1) Tuvalu
2) Palestine
3) Israel
4) Switzerland
5) Montenegro

3. Who was sworn in as President of Mexico for a six-year term on December 1, 2012?
1) Felipe Calderon
2) Josefina Vazquez Mota
3) Enrique Pena-Nieto
4) Santiago Creel
5) None of these

4. Who became the eighth batsman and first Indian to score three triple centuries in first class cricket in December 2012?
1) Wasim Jaffer
2) VVS Laxman
3) Virender Sehwag
4) Ravindra Jadeja
5)Virat Kohli

5. Identify the incorrect statement?
1) Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) PSLV-C21 rocket blasted off into space on its 100th mission on September 9, 2012.
2) It was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
3) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C21 (PSLV-C21) carried two foreign satellites-the French SPOT-6 remote sensing satellite and the Japanese PROITERES micro-satellites.
4) Aryabhatta, India's first satellite, was launched by the Soviet Union on April 19, 1975.
5) The PSLV-C21 launch was witnessed by the President Pranab Mukherjee.

6. Who became the fastest player to score 3000 runs in one day internationals on August 29, 2012?
1) Virat Kohli (India)
2) Hashim Amla (South Africa)
3) Kevin Pietersen (England)
4) David Warner (Australia)
5) None of these

7. Which of the following statements about FDI is not true?
1) The government has allowed 100% FDI in single brand retail and 51% in multi-brand retail.
2) In civil aviation it is 49%.
3) In broadcasting sector the limit increased from 49% to 74%.
4) FDI in insurance sector will be hiked to 49% from the existing 26%.
5) The FDI cap on pension would be 74%.

8. BHEL has signed an agreement with which of the following countries for setting up a 100 MW hydro-electric power project on the Zeravshan river?
1) Tajikistan
2) Russia
3) Kazakhstan
4) Ukraine
5) Kyrgyzstan

9. The government has proposed to set up a National Investment Board(NIB) to monitor and advise ministries on expediting projects entailing investments in excess of Rs. 1000 crore. It will be chaired by the?
1) Finance Minister
2) Agriculture Minister
3) Prime Minister
4) UPA Chairperson
5) Commerce Minister

10. The Justice Shah Commission has indicted Digambar Kamat for allowing illegal mining. He was the Chief Minister of which of the following states between 2007 and 2012?
1) Karnataka
2) Goa
3) Maharashtra
4) Jharkhand
5) Chhattisgarh

11. The ability of an asset to be converted into cash quickly is called?
1) Credit
2) Cash crunch
3) Liquidity
4) Marketability
5) None of these

12. Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are established to?
1) Promote exports of goods and services
2) Promote investment from domestic and foreign sources
3) Create employment opportunities
4) Develop infrastructure facilities
5) All the above

13. Which of the following terms is not used in Banking/Finance?
1) Call Option
2) Blue Chip
3) Dividend
4) Jacksonian Seizure
5) Bid Price

14. Who represented India in Miss Earth 2012 beauty pageant that was held in Philippines on November 24, 2012?
1) Vanya Mishra
2) Nikita Dutta
3) Prachi Mishra
4) Priyanka Verma
5) Rochelle Maria Rao

15. The Agricultural Census is conducted?
1) Every year
2) Once in ten years
3) Once in five years
4) Once in two years
5) No fixed term

16. Vyas Samman is given for excellence in which of the following fields?
1) Music
2) Films
3) Literature
4) Sports
5) Journalism

ANSWERS:
1) 3 2) 2 3) 3 4) 4 5) 5 6) 2 7) 5 8) 1 9) 3 10) 211) 3 12) 5 13) 4 14) 3 15) 3 16) 3 

GENERAL AWARENESS MCQs FOR BANK EXAMS

1. What is meant by Repo Rate?
1) At what rate of interest banks offer the funds to Reserve Bank of India.
2) At what rate of interest World Bank offer the funds to Central Government for not less than the period of 364 days.
3) At what rate of interest banks barrow the funds from Reserve Bank of India for short term.
4) At what rate of interest banks barrow the funds from the other banks for long term.
5) At what rate of interest central government barrow the funds from the other banks for long term.

2. Present Repo Rate is?
1) 8.00 percent
2) 8.25 percent
3) 7.00 percent
4) 9.00 percent
5) 23 percent

3. If the Repo Rate increases by Reserve Bank of India, rate of interest of the loans offered by the banks?
1) Decrease
2) Become Zero
3) Become 100 percent
4) Increase
5) None of above

4. To control Inflation?
1) RBI decreases the Repo Rate
2) RBI ask the Central Government to increase the Repo Rate
3) RBI cancels the option of Repo Rate
4) RBI declares Repo Rate as Zero Percent
5) RBI increases the Repo Rate

5. Reverse Repo Rate means?
1) the rate at which Reserve Bank of India (RBI) borrows money from Central Government.
2) the rate at which state governments borrows money from banks.
3) the rate at which Reserve Bank of India (RBI) borrows money from banks.
4) the rate at which Reserve Bank of India (RBI) borrows money from State Government.
5) the rate at which Reserve Bank of India (RBI) borrows money from World bank.

6. The present Reverse Repo Rate is?
1) 8.25 percent
2) 8.50 percent
3) 9.00 percent
4) 23.00 percent
5) 7.00 percent


7. …………………… reappointed as RBI Deputy Governor till 31 December 2012.
1) Dr. K.C.Chakrabarty
2) Anand Sinha
3) Subir Gokarn
4) H.R.Khan
5) Kaushik Basu

8. Who among the following is not one of the 20 Directors of the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India?
1) Anil Kakodkar
2) Y.H.Malegam
3) Ratan Tata
4) Kumar Mangalam Birla
5) Ela Bhatt

9. Syndicate Bank details are given below. Pick up correct one.
a) Syndicate Bank was established in 1925 in Udupi, Karnataka.
b) Upendra Ananth Pai, a businessman; Sri Vaman Kudva, an engineer and Dr.T M A Pai, a physician can be called the founders of this bank.
c) One of the main attractive points of this bank is “Pigmy Deposit Scheme”, which accepts as low as Rs. 5 at the door steps of depositors through its agents.
d) The present chairman is Madhukant Girdharlal Sanghvi.
e) The bank was nationalized by Indira Gandhi in 1980.
1) b, c, d
2) a, b, c, e
3) a, b, d, e
4) a, b, c, d
5) a, b, d

10. SBI SMILE provides interest-free seed capital to?
1) Large Scale Industries
2) Farmers
3) Establish International schools in Metros
4) Small and medium enterprises
5) Non Resident Indians

GENERAL AWARENESS MODEL PRACTICE MCQs

1. 'UDAAN' is a special industry initiative of the Centre aimed at imparting skills to youth from Jammu and Kashmir to help them with their careers. Which is the first public sector undert-aking to implement UDAAN?
1) NTPC
2) BHEL
3) NMDC
4) ONGC
5) SAIL

2. Who replaced Amar Pratap Singh as the CBI Director on November 30, 2012?
1) S.C.Sinha
2) Ranjit Sinha
3) Sanjeev Tripathi
4) Syed Asif Ibrahim
5) Nehchal Sandhu

3. Francois du Plessis scored a century on his Test debut in November 2012. He plays for?
1) Australia
2) England
3) South Africa
4) New Zealand
5) West Indies

4. Miss Universe 2012 pageant will be held on December 19, 2012 in which of the following cities?
1) Manila (Philippines)
2) Las Vegas (USA)
3) Beijing (China)
4) London (UK)
5) Nicosia (Cyprus)

5. Le Luong Minh has been appointed ASEAN Secretary General for the next 5-year term. He is the Deputy Foreign Minister of?
1) Vietnam
2) Cambodia
3) Thailand
4) Laos
5) Philippines

6. The Government of India will implement the direct cash transfer scheme in how many districts from January 1, 2013?
1) 200
2) 66
3) 51
4) 74
5) 100

7. Which country has terminated a contract given by the previous government to GMR Group for developing Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) at its capital city?
1) Indonesia
2) Pakistan
3) Afghanistan
4) Maldives
5) Iran

8. Joseph Murray of USA died on November 26, 2012. In 1954 he performed the first successful human?
1) Liver transplant
2) Heart transplant
3) Kidney transplant
4) Bone-marrow transplant
5) Pancreas transplant

9. Stockholm Water Prize recognizes outstanding achieve-ments in water related activities. The 2012 prize was awarded to the International Water Manage-ment Institute (IWMI), a non- profit research organization with headquarters in?
1) Colombo (Sri Lanka)
2) Tehran (Iran)
3) Jakarta (Indonesia)
4) Jerusalem (Israel)
5) Cairo (Egypt)

10. Which of the following banks acquired Centurion Bank of Punjab in 2008?
1) ICICI Bank
2) HDFC Bank
3) Axis Bank
4) OBC
5) IDBI Bank

11. Which of the following is not the name of a foreign bank?
1) HSBC
 2) BNP Paribas
3) Barclays
4) JP Morgan Chase
5) Cathay Pacific

12. Which of the following terms is not related to banking?
1) Overdraft
2) SME Finance
3) Drawing power
4) Equinox
5) Sanctioning authority

13. Which country will maintain a military base in Kant in Kyrgyzstan for 15 years starting 2017?
1) Russia
2) USA
 3) China
4) UK
5) France

14. Kelkar Committee cautioned that in absence of corrective measures, the fiscal deficit of the government could shoot up to what per cent of the GDP in the current financial year?
1) 6.1
2) 5.5
3) 6.5
4)7.5
5) 6.7

15. RBI carries out open market operations (OMO), which means?
1) Issuance of different types of bonds
2) Sale or purchase of government securities
3) Auction of gold
4) Issue of currency notes
5) None of these

16. Which of the following statements is not correct?
1) The objective of Financial Inclusion is connecting every Indian to the country's banking system.
2) RRBs have limited area of operation and have access to refinance from NABARD.
3) Money laundering refers to conversion of illegally obtained money into accountable money.
4) SARFAESI Act was launched to facilitate banks in recovery of bad loans.
5) One who is not earning regularly cannot open an account in any bank in India.


17. "Sub-prime" refers to?
1) Lending done by banks at rates below PLR
2) Lending to the people who are high value customers
3) Lending to those who are not regular customers of a bank
4) Lending done by banks to customers not meeting with normally required credit appraisal standards
5) None of these

18. Inflation in India is measured on which of the following indexes/ indicators?
1) Consumer Price Index
2) Gross Domestic Product
3) Gross National Product
4) Cost of Living Index
5) Wholesale Price Index

ANSWERS:
1) 1 2) 2 3) 3 4) 2 5) 1 6) 3 7) 4 8) 3 9) 1 10) 2 11) 5 12) 4 13) 1 14) 1 15) 2 16) 5 17) 4 18) 5