BANKING AWARENESS PRACTICE MCQs

1. What is ‘Special Crossing’?
a) Not Negotiable words in two parallel lines
b) Account Payee words in two parallel lines
c) & Co. words in two parallel lines
d) Any bank’s name with or without two parallel lines and payable to collecting banker only.
e) None of these

2. What is the rate of penalty applicable for payment of term deposit Pre maturely to legal heirs of a decreased customer on the request of the legal heirs?
a) 1% less than applicable rate for the period of deposit
b) 1% less than the rate mentioned in the receipt
c) No penalty is to be applied
d) As per discretion of Branch Manager
e) None of these

3. A person introducing an account to a bank is liable for_________
a) Establishing proper identity of the account holder only and no financial accountability in case
of any fraud etc.
b) Making good the loss that the account holder may cause
c) Ensuring that the customer maintains the account properly
d) Tracing the account holder as an when bank desires
e) None of these

4. Which of the following does not find mention in the Negotiable Instrument Act?
a) General Crossing
b) Special Crossing
c) Not Negotiable Crossing
d) Double crossing
e) Account Payee Crossing

5. The Financial Results of the banks and other organisations normally are expressed in quarters. What does Q-I mean?
a) Results of January-March
b) Performance during April- June
c) The period when the profits are highest
d) Period where the turnover is more
e) The period when the profits are highest

6. Who is the regulator of payment and settlement system in India?
a) SEBI
b) IRDA
c) RBI
d) Central Government
e) None of these

7. The Gilt-Edged security market is the market for which of the following?
a) Market for trading in gold
b) Market for trading in sliver
c) Market for government securities
d) Market for industrial securities
e) All the above

8. The IT firm which has launched, BaNCS Digital, specifically for American retail banks:
a) Infosys
b) Reliance
c) TCS
d) Mahendra
e) None of these

9. The international bank which has announced to cut up to 50,000 jobs globally
a) IDBI
b) HDFC
c) HSBC
d) AXIS
e) ICICI

10. The stake the RBI has allowed banks to acquire in companies defaulting after restructuring of their loans upto:
a) 81 percent
b) 61 percent
c) 51 percent
d) 41 percent
e) None of these

11. The reserve Bank of India will be assisting banks as a temporary measure, by providing additional liquidity support under LAF. What is the full form of LAF?
a) Loan Adjustment Fund
b) Liquidity Adjustment Facility
c) Long Awaited Funds
d) Loan against Funds
e) None of these

12. Net Working Capital means:
a) Current Assets only
b) Current Assets minus Current Liabilities
c) Capital plus Reserves minus Intangible Assets
d) Current Assets minus Stocks
e) None of these

13. The Indian scheme ranked as the world’s largest public works programe by the world bank
a) Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana
b) MGNREGA
c) Janani Suraksha Yojana
d) National Pension System
e) Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana

14. The Indian insurance Company granted permission to start operations in Bangladesh recently:
a) LIC of India
b) Oriental Insurance company
c) United India Insurance company
d) All of the above
e) None of these

15. India’s economic growth forecast for 2015-16 as announced by the RBI on 2nd June
a) 6.6 percent
b) 8.6 percent
c) 4.6 percent
d) 7.6 percent
e) None of these

16. The present Repo rate as announced by the RBI is:
a) 7.25 percent
b) 6.25 percent
c) 2.25 percent
d) 4.25 percent
e) None of these

17. The bank which has launched a voice recognition service to identify and authenticate customers –
a) IDBI
b) HDFC
c) HSBC
d) AXIS
e) ICICI

18. The annual remuneration on nonexecutive director of private banks fixed by the RBI recently –
a) 10 lakhs
b) 20 lakhs
c) 30 lakhs
d) 40 lakhs
e) None of these

19. In Call money markets _______ are allowed to trade:
a) Only Banks
b) Only Primary dealers
c) Mutual funds
d) All of the above
e) None

20. KYC guidelines have been framed on the basis of four core components. Which of the following is not core component:
a) Customer Acceptance Procedure
b) Customer Identification Procedure
c) Monitoring of Transaction
d) Risk Management
e) Management of Operational risk

21. The loan values in Retail banking generally range between:
a) Rs.20,000-Rs.One crore
b) Rs. One crore - Rs. Ten crore
c) Depends on each Bank
d) Up to Rs.1,00,000 only
e) All the above

22. Participatory notes are Contract notes issued by Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) to other entities that want to invest in Indian markets but are not interested in registering themselves with:
a) IRDA
b) RBI
c) SEBI
d) ECGC
e) EGCS

23. In Internet banking, without involving another bank, what can be done?
a) FD can be issued
b) Intimation regarding LC
c) Issue of cheque
d) Customer funds can be transferred
e) None of the above

24. The aim of a Balanced Mutual Fund is:
a) Growth or Price appreciation
b) Regular Income (dividends)
c) Investment Both in a growth and regular fund balancing the risk
d) Investing both in shares & Bank deposits
e) None of the above

25. As per RBI guidelines which of the following is/are correct in respect of classification criteria for opening Bank Branches
a) Rural: population less than 10,000
b) Semi-Urban: 10,000 and above and less than 1 lakh
c) Urban: 1 lakh and above and less than 10 lakh
d) Metropolitan: 10 lakh and above
e) All the above

26. Garnishee order is issued by a __
a) Police officer
b) Revenue officer
c) CID
d) Bank
e) Court

27. What is the Full form of MUDRA?
a) Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd
b) Modern Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd
c) Micro Units Development and Reconstruction Agency Ltd
d) All the above
e) None

28. The head of the RBI’s Committee on financial inclusion is:
a) H.R. Khan
b) Satish Kalra
c) Deepak Mohanty
d) Sharad Sharma
e) Rakesh Bhatia

29. The new MD and CEO of Credit information Bureau India Ltd (CIBIL) is :
a) Rakesh Sharma
b) Rajiv Rishi
c) P.G. Jaya Kumar
d) Satish Pillai
e) Aditya Puri

30. The new MD and CEO of the National Housing Bank (NHB)
a) Shikha Sharma
b) Sriram Kalyanram
c) Mustaq Ahmad
d) K. Venkataraman
e) P. Srinivas

Answers
1) d; 2) c; 3) a; 4) d; 5) b; 6) c; 7) c; 8) c; 9) c; 10) b;
11) b; 12) b; 13) b; 14) a; 15) d; 16) a; 17) c; 18) a; 19) a; 20) e;
21) a; 22) c; 23) d; 24) c; 25) e; 26) e; 27) a; 28) c; 29) d; 30) b.

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE MCQs

1. How many entities got permission from RBI to start non-lending payment banks including
the Department of Posts, Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel as declared on 19 August 2015?
1) 18
2) 7
3) 11
4) 15
5) 50

2. The 11 entities were given how much time to comply with all the conditions laid out by the
RBI to start Payment Banks?
1) 24 months
2) 8 months
3) 12 months
4) 15 months
5) 18 months

3. Which of the following giants did not get permission to launch Payment Banks announced on 19 August 2015?
1) Vodafone
2) Cholamandalam Distribution Services
3) Videocon d2h
4) Aditya Birla Nuvo
5) Fino Paytech

4. Which of the following banking service cannot be offered by payment banks as per present rules?
1) accept deposits
2) internet banking
3) issue credit cards
4) issue debit cards
5) provide ATM services

5. The payment banks, while offering both savings and current accounts cannot accept deposits more than ........
1) Rs.2 Lakhs
2) Rs.12 Lakhs
3) Rs.4 Lakhs
4) Rs.5 Lakhs
5) Rs.1 Lakh

6. NSDL also got permission to open the payment
bank. NSDL stands for ...........
1) National Stock Depository Limited
2) National Securities Documentary Limited
3) National Share Depository Limited
4) National Securities Depository Limited
5) None

7. Largest depository in India NSDL established in .......
1) 2013
2) 1996
3) 1990
4) 1935
5) 1982

8. The NSDL provides various services to investors and other participants in the capital market like clearing members, stock exchanges, banks and issuers of securities. Which of the following service not provide by NSDL?
1) Dematerialization
2) Account maintenance
3) Settlement of trades through market transfers
4) None of above services provide by NSDL
5) All above services offered by NSDL

9. IDeAS is a facility available on the SPEED-e website of NSDL for viewing balances and transactions in demat accounts. IDeAS stand for .......
1) Idea based Demat Account Statement
2) Internet based Demat Adopted Statement
3) Internet biased Demat Account Statement
4) Internet based Demat Account Statement
5) None of above

10. Which bank had raised Rs.315 crore through the issue of Green Infrastructure Bonds to International Finance Corporation (IFC), Washington, on a private placement basis, for a tenure of 10 years?
1) ICICI Bank
2) SBI
3) YES Bank
4) Corporation Bank
5) Punjab National Bank

11. Smart Humsafar, a unique plan which offers multiple benefits of savings and insurance cover for husband and wife under a single policy launched by ........
1) ICICI Prudential
2) LIC
3) United Insurance Company
4) SBI Life
5) HDFC ERGO

12. RBI relaxed Branch Authorisation Policy to allow banks .......
1) to merge or close branches in rural areas
2) to merge Small private banks with big private banks
3) to merge or close branches in urban areas
4) to close any branch in rural area where the village population is less than 1000
5) All of above options correct

13. Which board will be setup as a super authority for public sector unit lenders to recommend board level appointments and advise on strategies for raising funds as well as mergers and acquisitions?
1) Banking Selection Committee (BSC)
2) RBI Appointments Board (RAB)
3) Banks Board Bureau (BBB)
4) Banks Core Committee (BCC)
5) None of above

14. Third Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Review (BMPR) recently announced by RBI on ......
1) 7 April 2015
2) 2 June 2015
3) 14 May 2015
4) 20 June 2015
5) 4 August 2015

15. In the RBI Monetary Policy Review, the Policy Repo Rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) unchanged at .....
1) 4.0%
2) 6.25%
3) 21.5%
4) 7.25 %
5) 8.25%

16. Present Reverse Repo Rate stands at .......
1) 6.25%
2) 21.5%
3) 8.25%
4) 4.0%
5) None

17. CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) unchanged at ........ of net demand and time liability (NDTL) in the recent RBI Monetary Policy Review.
1) 3.5%
2) 3.75%
3) 4.0%
4) 4.25%
5) 4.5%

18. The highlights of Third Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Review of RBI given. The correct statement is .........
1) Banks have passed on an average 0.3 % interest rate cut as against RBI's 0.75 % rate cut since January 2015
2) Weak global demand conditions restrained exports
3) Most worrisome is sustained hardening of inflation except food and fuel
4) New investment demand emanating from private sector and government remains subdued
5) All of above

19. Present SLR (Statutory liquidity ratio) .......
1) 21.5%
2) 20.5%
3) 14.5%
4) 7.5%
5) 12.5%

20. RBI provides liquidity under overnight repos at 0.25 percent of bank-wise NDTL at the LAF repo rate and liquidity under 14-day term repos as well as longer term repos of up to .......... of NDTL of the banking system through auctions.
1) 0.25%
2) 0.50%
3) 0.75%
4) 1.00%
5) 4.00%

21. RBI retains growth target at ........ for 2015- 16 in the third monetary policy review?
1) 7.4%
2) 6.6%
3) 7.6%
4) 10.6%
5) 8.6%

22. Which bank launched 'Dhanchayat', an educational film to raise awareness on the
dangers of borrowing money from unorganised sources.
1) SBI
2) RBI
3) HDFC
4) Lakshmi Vilas Bank Ltd
5) YES Bank

23. Which telecom company launched 4G mobile services in 296 towns across the country on 6 August 2015?
1) IDEA
2) VODAFONE
3) AIRTEL
4) AIRCEL
5) MTS

24. In 2012, AIRTEL launched its first 4G mobile services in which city?
1) Chennai
2) Hyderabad
3) Pune
4) Kolkata
5) Mumbai

25. Union Government and Delhi Government on 8 Aug 2015 agreed to set-up a Special
Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the cleaning-up and rejuvenation of the .........
1) Yamuna river
2) Ganga river
3) Brahmaputhra river
4) Sutlej river
5) None of above

26. The investor who provides capital for small business start-ups and holds ownership equity in exchange is known as ..........
1) Fidelity investor
2) Shadow investor
3) Real Estate Investment Trusts
4) Common investor
5) Angel investor

27. Kamayani Express and Janta Express derailed in ........
1) Madhya Pradesh
2) Odisha
3) Maharashtra
4) Sikkim
5) Assam

28. Which river sudden floods caused the derail of two express trains in Madhya Pradesh as per statement given by Railway minister Suresh Prabhu?
1) Shipra
2) Bhima
3) Machak
4) Gandak
5) Yamuna

29. Which operation launched to trace missing and destitute children and reunite them with their parents?
1) Operation Bacchi
2) Operation Search
3) Operation Muskaan
4) Operation EYE
5) Operation CRY

30. Which portal launched that providing single window for students to access information and make applications for educational loans provided by banks and also government scholarships?
1) www.dhanalakshmi.eduloan.in
2) www.bhagyalakshmi.co.in
3) www.vidyalakshmi.co.in
4) www.vidyasaraswathi.co.in
5) None of above

31. SAMANVAY launched on 4 August 2015 is a ............
1) Programme launched to provide 24 X 7 electricity supply to rural areas
2) Bank launched to benefit Medium Enterprises
3) Scheme relating to the transforming the urban infrastructure burdened with evergrowing population
4) Compilation of all schemes of both Union and State governments for Gram Panchayats
5) Insurance scheme providing the Life insurance coverage at low premium

32. Fully revamped IT application for the purpose of adoption of children that became operational from 1st Aug' 15 is ........
1) CARINGS
2) ADOPT
3) LITTLE KRISHNA
4) Janma Taraka
5) None

33. Vikas Swarup assumed charge as spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry on 18 April 2015. Which of his novels made into Oscar winning film, the Slumdog Millionaire?
1) Bombay Salam
2) Q&A
3) Kaun Banega Karorpathi
4) Lakshyam
5) IAS

34. Om Prakash Rawat appointed as ..........
1) Chief Election Commissioner
2) CBI Director
3) UGC chairman
4) RBI deputy Governor
5) Election Commissioner

35. World Breast Feeding Week is .........
1) 1-7 Oct
2) 1-7 July
3) 1-7 Aug
4) 1-7 Dec
5) 1-7 Jan

36. 70th Hiroshima Day was observed on .......
1) 9 Aug
2) 6 Aug
3) 1 Sep
4) 2 Sep
5) 24 Oct

37. First International Special Olympics summer Games held in 1968 in .........
1) USA
2) Ireland
3) China
4) Greece
5) South Africa

38. 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games host by ........
1) Greece
2) USA
3) China
4) India
5) France

39. 13-year old autistic boy Yash Singh won the first medal for the country in the Special Olympics. He won the medal in which event?
1) Swimming
2) Discuss Throw
3) Cycling
4) Chess
5) Foot ball

40. Prabhroop Sekhon won two gold medals in Special Olympics World Summer Games in which event?
1) Roller Skating
2) Sailing
3) Cycling
4) Cross-Country Skiing
5) Judo

41. The Winter Special Olympics World Games 2017 will be held in ...........
1) Canada
2) Japan
3) USA
4) South Korea
5) Austria

42. Which day is celebrated as the National Doctors' Day as a tribute to the legendary Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, a physician, former West Bengal CM?
1) 1 Jan
2) 1 Feb
3) 1 July
4) 1 Aug
5) 1 Dec

43. Norway Chess 2015 tournament recently won by .........
1) Vishwanathan Anand
2) Ludvig Hammer
3) Magnus Carlsen
4) Veselin Topalov
5)None of above

44. Fergusson College got the special heritage status by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The college is situated in ..........
1) Pune
2) Mumbai
3) Kolkata
4) Chennai
5) Hyderabad

ANSWERS:
1-3, 2-5, 3-3, 4-3, 5-5, 6-4, 7-2, 8-5, 9-4, 10-3
11-4, 12-3, 13-3, 14-5, 15-4, 16-1, 17-3, 18-5, 19-1, 20-3
21-3, 22-3, 23-3, 24-4, 25-1, 26-5, 27-1, 28-3, 29-3, 30-3
31-4, 32-1, 33-2, 34-5, 35-3, 36-2, 37-1, 38-2, 39-1, 40-1
41-5, 42-3, 43-4, 44-1

United India Insurance Company (UIIC) Assistant exam General Knowledge Solved Paper (exam Held on: 03-01-2013)

1. The alphabet ‘C’ in the abbreviation CRR stands for–
(a) Cash (b) Currency (c) Credit (d) Commercial (e) Capital 
(Ans : a)

2. The Minister for ‘Food Processing Industries’ in the Union Cabinet Is–
(a) Shri Thawar Chand Gehlot (b) Shrimati Harsimrat Kaur (c) Shri Ananat Geete 
(d) Shri Radha Mohan Singh (e) Dr. Harsh Vardhan 
(Ans : b)

3. Which of the following Indian Universities has a unique tradition of having the incumbent Prime Minister as its Chancellor ? 
(a) The Visva Bharati University (b) The Kurukshetra University (c) The Banaras Hindu University 
(d) The Jawahar Lal Nehru University (e) The Baba Saheb Ambedkar University 
(Ans : a)

4. Who amongst the following holds the majority’ stake in the share capital of the recently opened ‘Bhartiya Mahila Bank’ ?
(a) LIC of India (b) Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India 
(c) Government of India 
(d) Reserve Bank of India (e) General Insurance Corporation of India 
(Ans : c)

5. The ‘Brabourne Stadium’; which is India’s first permanent sporting venue is situated in–
(a) Mumbai, Maharashtra (b) New Delhi, India (c) Kolkata, West Bengal 
(d) Bangalore, Karnataka (e) Chennai, Tamil Nadu 
(Ans : a)

6. A representative of the insurance company licensed by the state who solicits, negotiates or effects contact of insurance and provides service to the policyholder for the insurer is known as…... 
(a) Insurance Trader (b) Insurance Agent (c) Insurance Broker 
(d) Stock Broker (e) Insurance Executive 
(Ans : b)

7. Approximately half of all anaemia cases worldwide are found to be caused due to– 
(a) Iron Deficiency (b) Potassium Deficiency (c) Calcium Deficiency 
(d) Iodine Deficiency (e) Sodium Deficiency 
(Ans : a)

8. The ‘International Worker’s Day’ (also known as labour day) is observed every year on the–
(a) 1st April (b) 1st May (c) 31st May (d) 10th May (e) 10th April 
(Ans : b)

9. ‘Lee Kuan Yew’ who recently died at the age of 91, was the founder and first Premier of– 
(a) Japan (b) Hong Kong (c) South Korea (d) Singapore (e) Australia 
(Ans : d)

10. The ‘PMJDY’ launched by the Government of India is a Massive–
(a) Tribal Welfare Programme (b) Financial Literacy Programme (c) Infrastructure Development Programme 
(d) Financial Inclusion Programme (e) Social Security Programme 
(Ans : d)

11. The largest producer of cotton in the world is– 
(a) Malaysia (b) Mexico (c) India (d) Canada (e) China 
(Ans : e)

12. Who amongst the following has recently been named as the head of the ‘task force set up by the Government of India to define poverty and prepare a road map to alleviate it ? 
(a) Dr. Bimal Jalan (b) Sindhushree Khullar (c) Arvind Panagariya 
(d) V. K. Saraswat (e) Bibek Debroy 
(Ans : c)

13. ‘The Sun’ is a daily tabloid newspaper published in–
(a) USA and Canada (b) United States of America (c) Russia 
(d) Europe (e) United Kingdom and Ireland 
(Ans : e)

14. An application for obtaining an insurance cover’ or for obtaining quotations of’ the premium chargeable is known as the–
(a) Proposal (b) Brochure (c) Catalogue (d) Pamphlet (e) Prospectus 
(Ans : a)

15. ‘Dublin’ is the national capital of the– 
(a) Republic of Israel (b) Republic of Iran (c) Republic of Iraq 
(d) Republic of Ireland (e) Republic of Iceland 
(Ans : d)

16. ‘Playing It My Way’ is the autobiography of–
(a) Yuvraj Singh (b) Saurabh Ganguly (c) Sunil Gavaskar 
(d) Sachin Tendulkar (e) Kapil Dev 
(Ans : d)

17. Singapore’s Central Bank and Financial Regulatory Authority is known as–
(a) Monetary Authority of Singapore (b) Reserve Bank of Singapore 
(c) Other than those given as options 
(d) State Bank of Singapore (e) Federal Reserve of Singapore 
(Ans : a)

18. The Chutak Hydroelectric Plant is a run-of-the-river power project on the Suru River (a tributary of Indus) in–
(a) Kathua District of Jammu and Kashmir (b) Leh District of Jammu and Kashmir 
(c) Baramulla District of Jammu and Kashmir (d) Doda District of Jammu and Kashmir 
(e) Kargil District of Jammu and Kashmir 
(Ans : e)

19. A life Insurance policy wherein the policyholder receives a fixed amount at specific intervals throughout the duration of the policy is known as–
(a) Whole life plan (b) Unit Linked Insurance Plan (c) Money-back Policy 
(d) Fixed term plan (e) Double cover plan 
(Ans : c)

20. The ‘Bandipur National Park’ established in 1974 as a tiger reserve under Project Tiger is located in the Indian state of– 
(a) Tamil Nadu (b) Kerala (c) Karnataka (d) Telangana (e) Andhra Pradesh 
(Ans : c)

21. According to the recent data compiled by the World Steel Association (WSA), India is ranked as– 
(a) third largest producer of steel in the world (b) fourth largest producer of steel in the world
(c) fifth largest producer of steel in the world (d) largest producer of steel in the world 
(e) second largest producer of steel in the world 
(Ans : a)

22. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) is an autonomous apex– 
(a) Consultative Body (b) Statutory Body (c) Advisory Body 
(d) Cooperative Body (e) Corporate Body 
(Ans : b)

23. Who amongst the following is the first Indian woman badminton player to achieve world number one ranking? 
(a) Meena Shah (b) Jwala Gutta (c) Saina Nehwal 
(d) Sania Mirza (e) Aditi Mutatkar 
(Ans : c)

24. At the 62nd National Film Awards, the award for the Best Feature Film has been given to the film–
(a) Chotushkone (b) Queen (c) MaryKom (d) Court (e) Haider 
(Ans : d)

25. The minimum lock in period under the recently re-launched ‘Kisan Vikas Patra’ Scheme is– 
(a) One year and six months (b) One year (c) Two years and six months 
(d) Two years (e) Two years and three months 
(Ans : e)

26. Aviva India is an Indian Life Insurance Company. It is a joint venture between Aviva pic., a British Insurance Company and the Indian conglomerate–
(a) Bajaj Group (b) Dabur Group (c) Kotak Mahindra Group 
(d) Tata Group (e) Bharati Group 
(Ans : b)

27. ‘Steve’ Smith’ is associated with the game of– 
(a) Cricket (b) Hockey (c) Football (d) Tennis (e) Wrestling 
(Ans : a)

28: ‘Itanagar’ is the capital of the Indian state of– 
(a) Assam (b) Meghalaya (c) Tripura (d) Arunachal Pradesh (e) Manipur 
(Ans : d)

29. Kedarnath Main and Kedarnath Dome are two mountains in the Gangotri Group of peaks in the Indian state of–
(a) Uttarakhand (b) Arunachal Pradesh (c) Uttar Pradesh (d) Meghalaya 
(e) Jammu and Kashmir 
(Ans : a)

30. Which of the following organizations has recently been selected for the Gandhi Peace Prize 2014? 
(a) Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (b) Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) 
(c) Satish Dhawan Space Centre (d) Other than those given as options 
(e) Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology 
(Ans : b)

31. The person, corporation or trust named in the insurance policy as the recipient of insurance proceeds upon the death of the life insured is known as–
(a) Key man (b) Franchisee (c) Insured (d) Nominee (e) Beneficiary 
(Ans : e)

32. Who amongst the following has recently been conferred the ‘Stockholm Water Prize 2015’ for his innovative water restoration efforts and extraordinary courage to empower communities in Indian villages ? 
(a) AkhileshYadav (b) Sunder Lal Bahuguna (c) Naseeruddin Shah 
(d) Rajendra Singh (e) Chandi Prasad Bhatt 
(Ans : d)

33. The ‘World Food Programme’ is the food assistance branch of the United Nations and is the world’s largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and food security. It is headquartered in–
(a) Paris, France (b) Vienna, Austria (c) New York, USA 
(d) Geneva, Switzerland (e) Rome, Italy 
(Ans : e)

34. Which of the following institutes presided over by the Union Minister of Agriculture is an autonomous body responsible for coordinating agricultural education and research in India? 
(a) Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR) (b) Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) 
(c) Indian Institute of Agriculture Research and Education (IIARE) 
(d) Institute of Agricultural Research in India (IARI) 
(e) Indian Council of Agriculture Research and Education (ICARE) 
(Ans : a)

35. With the government notifying changes in the Public Provident Scheme (PPF), Investors can now deposit upto– 
(a) Rs. 1.50 lac annually (b) Rs. 1.00 lac monthly (c) Rs. 1.5 lac quarterly 
(d) Rs. 1.00 lac quarterly (e) Rs. 1.00 lac annually 
(Ans : a)

36. An account can be opened under the recently launched ‘Sukanya Samridhi Yojana’ at any time from the birth of a girl child till she attains the age of–
(a) Fifteen years (b) Eighteen years (c) Twenty-one years 
(d) Thirteen years (e) Ten years 
(Ans : e)

37. An unstamped document issued in advance by an insurance company pending the issue of the policy, which is normally required if the policy cannot for some reason or other be issued straight away is known as a–
(a) Commercial Invoice (b) Covering Letter (c) Draft Policy 
(d) Cover Note (e) Pro Tern Policy 
(Ans : d)

38. The official currency of Philippines is–
(a) Philippine Ringgit (b) Philippine Shekel (c) Philippine Peso 
(d) Philippine Won (e) Philippine Riyal 
(Ans : c)

39. The ‘NPS’ launched by the Government of India with effect from January 1, 2004 is a defined contribution–
(a) Mutual Fund System (b) Accident Insurance Scheme (c) Pension System 
(d) Life Insurance System (e) Fixed Deposit Scheme 
(Ans : c)

40. Who amongst the following was the Brand Ambassador for the 2015 ICC World Cup Tournament? 
(a) Shane Warne, Australia (b) Brian Lara, West Indies (c) Sachin Tendulkar, India 
(d) Steve Waugh, Australia (e) Betty Wilson, Australia 
(Ans : c) 

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE MCQs FOR BANK EXAMINATIONS

1. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a package of Rs 1.25 lakh crore for which of the following States on 18th August 2015?
1) Odisha 
2) Andhra Pradesh
3) Bihar 
4) Jharkhand
5) West Bengal

2. Which of the following banks has launched 'Smart Vault', the first of its kind fully automated digital locker? 
1) SBI 
2) ICICI Bank
3) Axis Bank 
4) HDFC Bank
5) SBH

3. Kishor Piraji Kharat is the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of?
1) Union Bank of India
2) Canara Bank 
3) IDBI Bank
4) Bank of India
5) Bank of Baroda

4. Who is the new Chief Executive Officer of the technology giant Google?
1) Satya Nadella 
2) Ajay Banga
3) Nikesh Arora
4) Sundar Pichai
5) Shantanu Narayan

5. Pedro Cateriano assumed office as the Prime Minister of which of the following countries on April 2, 2015?
1) Chile 
2) Uruguay
3) Bolivia 
4) Argentina
5) Peru

6. Who is the head of a new innovative council of Indian Railways called 'Kaya Kalp',
formed to turnaround the ailing railways?
1) Shiv Gopal Mishra
2) M. Raghuvaiah
3) Ratan Tata 
4) Suresh Prabhu
5) Sunil Mittal

7. Who has been appointed the brand ambassador of the Northeastern region?
1) Saina Nehwal
2) Sushil Kumar
3) Saurav Ganguly
4) Mary Kom 
5) None of these

8. Northeast India's first Kisan call centre was opened in?
1) Agartala 
2) Shillong
3) Kohima 
4) Imphal
5) Gangtok

9. Who is the Chairman of the NITI Aayog task force on Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS)?
1) Naveen Patnaik
2) Shivraj Singh Chouhan
3) Raman Singh
4) K. Chandrasekhar Rao
5) None of these

10. Who is the Chairman of the NITI Aayog's sub-group on Skill Development?
1) Siddaramaiah
2) Akhilesh Yadav
3) Manik Sarkar
4) Nitish Kumar
5) Manoharlal Khattar

11. Malwa Trophy is associated with which of the following sports?
1) Hockey 
2) Cricket
3) Football 
4) Kabaddi
5) Chess

12. Which of the following is the capital of Cambodia?
1) Battambaug
2) Kampong Chan 
3) Putrajaya
4) Phnom Penh 
5) Hanoi

13. Which is the only country where the Prime Minister, Parliament Speaker and Leader of the Opposition are all women?
1) Argentina 
2) Liberia
3) Chile 
4) Lithuania
5) Bangladesh

14. Identify the mismatched pair with regard to the 62nd National Film Awards?
1) Best Direction - Srijit Mukherjee
2) Best Actor - Vijay Sanchari
3) Best Actress - Kangana Ranaut
4) Best Popular Film - Queen
5) Best Music Director - Vishal Bharadwaj

15. Abel Prize is given by which of the following countries?
1) Sweden 
2) Norway
3) USA 
4) Germany
5) Finland

16. The Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary is located in which of the following States?
1) Sikkim 
2) Assam
3) Nagaland
4) Jammu and Kashmir
5) Arunachal Pradesh

17. The Gobi desert covers parts of southern Mongolia and the northern parts of?
1) Kazakhstan 
2) China
3) Russia 
4) Myanmar
5) Afghanistan

18. Who is the author of the book "Modi-Incredible Emergence of a Star"?
1) Lokesh Chandra
2) S.K. Sopory 
3) Tarun Vijay
4) Arnab Goswami
5) Rajat Sharma

19. The Rashtriya Kavi Pradeep Samman was introduced by which of the following States?
1) Uttar Pradesh
2) West Bengal
3) Jharkhand
4) Madhya Pradesh
5) Rajasthan

20. Who was awarded with the first Rashtriya Kavi Pradeep Samman on 24th March 2015?
1) Kamal Kishore Goyanka
2) Kedarnath Singh
3) Gopaldas Neeraj
4) Viswanath Tripathi
5) None of these

21. Which country has won the prestigious Women in Parliaments (WIP) Award for regional leadership in the South and Southeast Asia category for reducing the gender gap in politics?
1) India 
2) Sri Lanka
3) Myanmar 
4) Bangladesh
5) Thailand

22. Who topped the Fortune magazine's list of the World's 50 Greatest Leaders?
1) Tim Cook 
2) Mario Draghi
3) Xi Jinping 
4) Pope Francis
5) Mary Barra

23. Fortune magazine's list of the World's 50 Greatest Leaders include?
1) Narendra Modi
2) Kailash Satyarthi
3) Chanda Kochchar
4) Both 1 and 2
5) All 1, 2 and 3

24. The inaugural Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award was given on March 28, 2015 to?
1) V. Bhaskaran
2) Balbir Singh senior
3) Mukesh Kumar
4) Sardar Singh
5) Harendra Singh

25. Asia, Africa and Latin America belong to the?
1) First world
2) Second World
3) Third World
4) Developed World
5) None of these

26. The first session of the Indian National Congress was held in?
1) Calcutta 
2) Madras
3) New Delhi 
4) Bombay
5) Nagpur

27. The International Day of Cooperatives is observed every year on
the first Saturday of?
1) June 
2) July
3) August 
4) September
5) October

28. Which is the first State in India to present a paperless budget?
1) Punjab 
2) Haryana
3) Himachal Pradesh
4) Jharkhand 
5) None of these

29. Which country suspended work on the construction of a controversial Chinese port city project?
1) India 
2) Sri Lanka
3) Pakistan 
4) Afghanistan
5) Maldives

30. Burraq is an unmanned combat aerial vehicle developed by?
1) Pakistan 
2) Afghanistan
3) Iran 
4) Syria
5) Yemen

31. Ashu Suyash is the MD and CEO of?
1) NSE 
2) CRISIL
3) IndusInd Bank 
4) BSE
5) CARE

32. Who was voted as the greatest ODI cricketer in an online poll conducted by ESPNcricinfo's magazine Cricket Monthly?
1) Sachin Tendulkar
2) Wasim Akram
3) Viv Richards
4) Adam Gilchrist
5) Mahendra Singh Dhoni

33. Who was appointed the Chairman of the Indian Premier League's governing council by the BCCI?
1) Anurag Thakur
2) Jagmohan Dalmiya
3) Rajeev Shukla
4) N. Sreenivasan
5) Saurav Ganguly

34. Kudremukh National Park has been declared a tiger reserve. It is in?
1) Maharashtra 
2) Goa
3) Tamil Nadu 
4) Karnataka
5) None of these

35. The Government resumed the printing of one rupee currency notes recently. Printing of these notes was discontinued in?
1) 1994 
2) 1995
3) 2004 
4) 2005
5) 2001

36. Which team won the Irani Cup Cricket in March 2015?
1) Rest of India
2) Mumbai 
3) Karnataka
4) Tamil Nadu 
5) Uttar Pradesh

37. The IntelCenter's "Top 10 Most Dangerous Countries" list is topped by?
1) Iraq 
2) Syria
3) Nigeria 
4) Somalia
5) Afghanistan

38. Jaitapur nuclear power plant is being set up in?
1) Gujarat 
2) Rajasthan
3) Maharashtra
4) West Bengal 
5) Odisha

39. The United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) was held in March 2015 in?
1) South Korea 
2) China
3) Malaysia 
4) Japan
5) Philippines

40. IDBI Bank is a?
1) Public sector bank
2) Private sector bank
3) Foreign bank
4) Cooperative bank
5) None of these

ANSWERS: 
1) 3 2) 2 3) 3 4) 4 5) 5 6) 3 7) 4 8) 1 9) 2 10) 3
11) 3 12) 4 13) 5 14) 4 15) 2 16) 5 17) 2 18) 3 19) 4 20) 3
21) 4 22) 1 23) 4 24) 2 25) 3 26) 4 27) 2 28) 3 29) 2 30) 1
31) 2 32) 3 33) 3 34) 4 35) 1 36) 3 37) 1 38) 3 39) 4 40) 1

CURRENT AFFAIRS AT A GLANCE 2015

❖ Lithuania adopted the Euro currency on January 1, 2015 and became the 19th member of the Eurozone.

❖ A.B. de Villiers of South Africa scored the fastest century in One Day International cricket history on January 18, 2015. He scored a hundred in just 31 deliveries against the West Indies. He broke
the previous record of 100 off 36 balls set by Corey Anderson of New Zealand in 2014.

❖ Alexis Tsipras was sworn in on January 26, 2015 as the Prime Minister of Greece.

❖ S. Jaishankar was appointed as India's new Foreign Secretary on January 28, 2015. He replaced Sujatha Singh.

❖ NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India Aayog) replaced Planning Commission
on January 1, 2015. Its Chairperson is the Prime Minister. Arvind Panagariya is the first Vice Chairman. Sindhushree Khullar is the Chief Executive officer. Economist Bibek Debroy and former DRDO Chief V.K. Saraswat are the two full time members.

❖ A.S. Kiran Kumar was appointed the Chairman of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on January 12, 2015. He succeeded K. Radhakrishnan.

❖ Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha was appointed the first Hindu Chief Justice of Bangladesh on January 12, 2015.

❖ Maithripala Sirisena was sworn in as the President of Sri Lanka on January 9, 2015. He succeeded Mahinda Rajapaksa. Ranil Wikramasinghe is the new Prime Minister.

❖ Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe took over the post of African Union Chairman on January 30, 2015.

❖ Dineshwar Sharma is the new Intelligence Bureau (IB) Chief and Krishna Chaudhary is the new
Director General of the Indo- Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

❖ The first canister-based Agni V trial was successful. It was launched from Wheeler Island off Odisha coast on January 31, 2015. It has a strike range of 5,000 km.

❖ The first indigenously-built Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) was handed over by Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar to the Indian Air Force on January 17, 2015.

❖ Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) entered the Guinness World Records for opening the highest number of bank accounts in the least time. 11.5 crore new bank accounts have been opened under PMJDY as on January 17, 2015. It was launched by the Prime Minister on August 28, 2014.

❖ ICICI Bank launched India's first contactless debit and credit cards on January 7, 2015 that use the near field communication (NFC) technology.

❖ The government announced the names of 104 recipients of Padma Awards on January 25, 2015. This year's list comprises 9 Padma Vibhushan, 20 Padma Bhushan and 75 Padma Shree awardees. L.K. Advani, Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar and Prakash Singh Badal are among the Padma Vibhushan winners.

❖ The President conferred Ashok Chakra on the occasion of the 66th Republic Day to Major Mukund
Varadarajan (posthumous) and Naik Neeraj Kumar Singh (posthumous). Ashok Chakra is the highest gallantry award given during peacetime.

❖ Eminent Hindi scholar Kamal Kishore Goenka has been selected for Vyas Samman for 2014 for his research work "Premchand Kee Kahaniyo aa Kaalkramanusar Adhyapan".

❖ Paulina Vega of Colombia was crowned 63rd Miss Universe on January 25, 2015 in Miami, USA.

❖ Indian American author Jhumpa Lahiri won the prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2015 for her book "The Lowland". This prize was announced at the Jaipur Literature Festival on January 23, 2015.

❖ Arundhathi Subramaniam won the inaugural Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for Poetry for her work "When God is a Traveller" on January 24, 2015.

❖ Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala won the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) biennial award on January 22, 2015.

❖ M.Y.S. Prasad, Director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota, was selected for the
Vikram Sarabhai Memorial Award 2015.

❖ RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan won the Governor of the Year Award in the Central Banking Awards for 2015.

❖ Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" programme in Panipat, Haryana on January 22, 2015 in a bid to encourage birth and education of girls. Actress Madhuri Dixit is the brand ambassador. On the same day Sukanya Samriddhi Account was launched for the girls aged below 10.

❖ Saina Nehwal clinched the women's singles crown of the Syed Modi International Masters Badminton Tournament on January 25, 2015. She defeated Carolina Marin of Spain in the final in Lucknow. In the men's singles final Parupalli Kashyap of India beat compatriot K.Srikanth.

❖ Portugal footballer Cristiano Ronaldo won the FIFA Ballon d'Or 2014 Award. It is his second year running and third overall award.

❖ Legendary cartoonist R.K. Laxman died on January 26, 2015. He created "Common Man" cartoon.

❖ Wing Commander Pooja Thakur became the first lady
officer on January 25, 2015 to lead the Inter- Service Guard of Honor for the visiting US President Barack Obama at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan. Barack Obama is the first US President to be the Chief Guest for India's Republic Day.

❖ The French satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo's Paris office was attacked by gunmen on January 7, 2015. In the attack 12 persons were killed.

❖ The 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) was celebrated between January 7-9, 2015 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. It marked the 100th year of Mahatma Gandhi's return to India from South Africa. The Chief Guest was Guyana President Donald Ramotar. The theme of the 13th PBD was Bharat ko jano, Bharat ko mano. The Vice President Hamid Ansari presented the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards to 15 persons on January 9. The awardees include plant scientist Sanjay Rajaram and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

❖ The 102nd Indian Science Congress (ISC) was held from January 3 - 7, 2015 in Mumbai. The theme was Science and Technology for Human Development.

❖ The 60th Filmfare Awards were presented on February 1, 2015. "Queen" bagged highest number of awards i.e. 6. "Shahid Kapoor" is the best actor for the film "Haider" and "Kangana Ranaut" best actress for "Queen".

❖ Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic was sworn in as the first female President of Croatia on February 15, 2015.

❖ Sergio Mattarella took over as the President of Italy on February 3, 2015.

❖ Ashton Carter replaced Chuck Hagel as the Defense Secretary of the United States.

❖ Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party became the Chief Minister of Delhi on February 14, 2015.
Manish Sisodia is the Deputy Chief Minister.

❖ Nitish Kumar of Janata Dal (United) took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar on February 22,
2015. He succeeded Jitan Ram Manjhi.

❖ L.C. Goyal replaced Anil Goswami as the Union Home Secretary.

❖ Dr.Y. Nayudamma Memorial Award 2014 was conferred on two women scientists- Tessy Thomas (DRDO) and Geeta Varadan (ISRO).

❖ Eminent Marathi writer Bhalachandra Nemade was chosen for the Jnanpith Award 2014. He is the 50th recipient of Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary honor.

❖ Nobel Economics laureate Amartya Sen has been awarded the inaugural Charleston-EFG John Maynard Keynes Prize 2015.

❖ Ricky Kej of India won the Grammy award for his album "Winds of Samsara" in the Best New Age Album category.

❖ ICICI Bank launched first digital bank in India "Pockets" on a mobile phone.

❖ Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Serena Williams of USA won the men's and women's singles titles respectively, in the 2015 Australian Open tennis championship. Indo-Swiss pair Leander Paes and Martina Hingis won the Mixed Doubles title.

❖ Virat Kohli became the first Indian batsman to score a century in a World Cup game against Pakistan on February 15, 2015.

❖ Kerala hosted the 35th National Games from January 31 to February 14, 2015. Sachin Tendulkar was the brand ambassador. Ammu, the Great Hornbill, was the mascot. Services Sports Control Board (SSCB)
won 159 medals with 91 gold, 33 silver and 35 bronze and topped the medals tally.

❖ Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu presented Railway budget on February 26, 2015 that did not announce any passenger fare hike.

❖ Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Economic Survey 2014- 15 on February 27, 2015. He presented the Union Budget for 2015- 16 on February 28, 2015.

❖ The 87th Academy Awards ceremony was held on February 22, 2015. The Best Picture Award was given to "Birdman". Its director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu won the Best Director Award. Eddie Redmayne was given the Best Actor Award for "The Theory of Everything" and the Best Actress Award was given to Julianne Moore for "Still Alice".

❖ Nobel laureate Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan was named as the President of Britain's prestigious Royal Society. He will take up the post on December 1, 2015. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009.

❖ IFS officer Vikas Swarup was appointed as the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on March 25, 2015. He is the author of the novel "Q & A" on which the Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionaire was based.

❖ Kerala Finance Minister K.M. Mani was appointed as the Chairman of the Empowered Committee
of State Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax (GST) on March 24, 2015.

❖ Mufti Mohammad Sayeed of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir on March 1, 2015. Nirmal Singh of BJP is the Deputy Chief Minister.

❖ Aditi Arya of Chandigarh was crowned Miss India 2015. She will represent
India at the Miss World pageant.

❖ The 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) took place in Sendai, Japan from March 14 to 18, 2015.

❖ According to a report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on March 16, 2015, India is the world’s largest importer of weapons and military equipment.

❖ Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar undertook SAARC Yatra and visited four SAARC nations Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan from March 1 to 4, 2015.

❖ India banned dreaded terror group The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

❖ The Supreme Court struck down the centre's controversial decision to grant reservation to the Jat community in jobs and educational institutions.

❖ The government has launched a new National Action Plan for Skill Training of Persons with Disabilities on March 21, 2015. National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) will be the implementing agency for this Plan.

❖ Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar launched a scheme for girl child "Aap ki Beti Humari Beti" with an aim to combat the problem of declining child sex ratio in the state on March 8, 2015. March 8 is International Women’s Day.

❖ Maharashtra government launched "Bhagyashree" scheme for girls on March 8, 2015. Bollywood actress
Bhagyashree is the brand ambassador.

❖ The indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile, Astra, was launched from
Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft on March 18, 2015.

❖ The 8th edition of India-Nepal combined exercise Surya Kiran VIII was held at Salijhandi in Nepal.

❖ India launched its fourth navigation satellite on March 28, 2015. The PSLV-C27 ejected the 1,425 kg IRNSS-1D.

❖ Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertook a five-day tour of three Indian Ocean countries Seychelles,
Mauritius and Sri Lanka from March 10 to 14, 2015.

❖ As per the IntelCenter's "Top 10 Most Dangerous Countries" list released in March 2015, Pakistan is the eight most dangerous country. The list is topped by Iraq.

❖ The President Pranab Mukherjee conferred country's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on March 27, 2015. Educationist and freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malviya was honored with Bharat Ratna posthumously on March 30, 2015.

❖ Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has been selected for the Gandhi Peace Prize for the
year 2014.

❖ Veteran actor and film producer Shashi Kapoor has been named
for the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2014. He is the 46th film
personality to receive India's highest award in cinema.

❖ Former Union Minister Veerappa Moily was selected for the Saraswati Samman for 2014 for his
Kannada book "Ramayana Mahanveshanam".

❖ John Nash and Louis Nirenberg of USA shared the 2015 Abel Prize for Mathematics. The prize was announced by the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters.

❖ Rajendra Singh of India won the 2015 Stockholm Water Prize. He is popularly known as
"Waterman of India". He is an eminent water conservationist from Rajasthan.

❖ Indian ecologist Madhav Gadgil has won the Tyler Prize 2015 for environmental achievement. He shared the prize with American marine ecologist Jane Lubchenco.

❖ National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has linked 15 crore Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)
accounts with the Aadhaar numbers.

❖ Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth won women's and men's singles titles in the Indian Open Badminton
Championship in New Delhi on March 29, 2015.

❖ K. Srikanth of India won the Swiss Grand Prix Gold Badminton Championship title in Basel on
March 15, 2015. He beat Viktor Axelson of Denmark in the final.

❖ Carolina Marin of Spain won the All England Badminton Championship women's singles title by defeating Saina Nehwal in the final on March 8, 2015. Saina is the first Indian woman to reach the final.
Men's singles title was won by Chen Long of China.

❖ Services beat Punjab to win the Santosh Trophy football championship in Ludhiana on March 15, 2015.

❖ Karnataka clinched their eighth Ranji Trophy cricket title by defeating Tamil Nadu in the final in
Mumbai on March 12, 2015. Karnataka retained the Irani Cup also by beating Rest of India on March 20, 2015.

❖ Former Sri Lankan Army Chief Sarath Fonseka was conferred the highest military rank of Field
Marshal by the Government of Sri Lanka.

❖ Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first Prime Minister, passed away on March 23, 2015.

❖ India launched a massive air and sea operation-"Operation Raahat"- to evacuate over 4,000 Indian
nationals from Yemen in April 2015.

❖ Tennis star Novak Djokovic and athlete Genzebe Dibaba were named Laureus Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year on April 15, 2015. The German football team was named "World Team of the Year".

❖ Sachin Tendulkar was inducted as a Laureus World Sports Academy member.

❖ Former Chief Minister of Odisha J.B. Patnaik died on April 21, 2015. He was also the former Governor
of Assam.

❖ Former Nepal Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa passed away on April 15, 2015.

❖ German Nobel laureate Gunter Grass died on April 13, 2015. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1999. His most famous book is "The Tin Drum".

❖ Former Australia Cricket captain and renowned commentator Richie Benaud died on April 10, 2015.

❖ Ace Indian mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu who went missing in the Andes Mountains on March 24 was
found dead on April 4, 2015.

❖ Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA Bank) on April 8, 2015. It is set up with a corpus of Rs. 20,000 crore.

❖ RBI approved the merger deal between Kotak Mahindra Bank and ING Vysya Bank.

❖ Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy was won by Gujarat on April 7, 2015. It beat Punjab in the final.

❖ New Zealand lifted the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Hockey tournament after defeating Australia in the final in Malaysia.

❖ Chris Gayle of West Indies became the first batsman to make double century in ICC World Cup history on February 24, 2015. He scored 215 runs against Zimbabwe. New Zealand's Martin Guptill hit the highest score of 237 in ICC World Cup. He achieved this feat against the West Indies on March 21, 2015.

❖ Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka became the first batsman to score four consecutive One Day International centuries. He created this record in the 11th ICC World Cup.

❖ Viswanathan Anand was granted the honor of having a minor planet named after him on April 1, 2015.
It is called 4538 Vishyanand.

❖ Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai won the Man Booker International Prize for 2015. This prize is given every two years. Indian author Amitav Ghosh is one of the ten short listed authors.

❖ David Cameron became the Prime Minister of United Kingdom for the second term on May 8, 2015. David Cameron-led Conservative Party won 331 seats out of total 650 seats in House of Commons.

❖ J. Jayalalithaa was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the fifth time on May 23, 2015.

❖ Actor Mukesh Khanna was appointed as the Chairperson of the Children's Film Society of India (CFSI).
He is known for his iconic role as Shaktimaan on Television.

❖ Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev won his fifth successive term in the Presidential election. Karim Masimov is the Prime Minister.

❖ Indian-American Vivek Murthy was sworn in as the US Surgeon General. He is the youngest ever in-charge of America's public health.

❖ Neel Mukherjee's "The Lives of Others" won the UK's Encore Award for the best second novel on May 12, 2015.

❖ UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize for 2015 was awarded to Mazen Darwish, a Syrian journalist.

❖ Two Indians Ananda Kumar and Pramod Patil were awarded the Whitley Awards, dubbed "Green Oscar", for their contribution to wildlife conservation.

❖ Siddhartha Gigoo won the 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Asian region for "Umbrella Man".

❖ Aruna Shanbaug, a former hospital nurse, brutally raped in 1973, died on May 18, 2015. She was at the centre of euthanasia or mercy killing issue.

❖ The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Liberia Ebolafree on May 9, 2015.

❖ Francois Hollande visited Havana on May 10, 2015, the first French President to visit Cuba in more than a century.

❖ Seychelles became the 161st member of World Trade Organization (WTO) on April 26, 2015.

❖ India ranked at a low 100th position on global Human Capital Index 2015. Finland topped the 124 nation list.

❖ Switzerland topped the World Happiness Index 2015 and India ranked 117 out of 158 countries.

❖ India signed an agreement with Iran for the development of Chabahar Port on May 6, 2015. It will give India sea-land access route to Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan.

❖ Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani visited India from April 27 to April 29, 2015.

❖ India assumed Presidency of the 68th session of the World Health Assembly (WHA), the top decision making body of the World Health Organization (WHO).

❖ The Union Cabinet cleared the "Namami Gange" integrated conservation mission to clean river Ganga on May 13, 2015. Budget allocated is Rs. 20,000 crore for the next 5 years.

❖ The Lok Sabha passed the Goods and Services Tax Constitutional (122nd Amendment) Bill on May 6, 2015. GST is proposed to be implemented from April 1, 2016. It will subsume excise, service tax, state
VAT, entry tax, octroi, etc.

❖ Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda launched "Kayakalp" –an initiative for awards to public health facilities.

❖ Nadia in West Bengal became the first Open Defecation Free (ODF) district in India. Nadia has more than 3.47 lakh toilets.

❖ Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) won the Asian Banker Achievement Award 2015 for Technology Implementation in the category of Best Outsourcing Project (New Bank). The award was received by Usha Ananthasubramanian, CMD of BMB in Hong Kong.

❖ Bilateral naval exercise SIMBEX- 15 between India and Singapore was held from May 23 to 26, 2015 in Singapore.

❖ The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was presented with the 2015 Freedom of Expression Courage Award of the PEN American Centre at the American Museum of Natural History.

❖ Four Indians have been named in Forbes magazine's 12th annual list of World's 100 Most Powerful
Women. They are- Arundhati Bhattacharya (SBI Chairperson), Chanda Kochchar (MD and CEO of ICICI
Bank), Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (MD of Biocon) and Shobhana Bhartia (Chairperson of Hindustan Times
Group). The list is topped by Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany.

❖ China defeated Japan in the final of the Sudirman Cup badminton tournament in Dongguan, China on May 17, 2015.

❖ Mohun Bagan won the I-League football title on May 31, 2015. Bengaluru FC ended as runners-up.

❖ The trial of Pinaka Mark-II missile cum multi barrel rocket launcher system was successfully conducted at Pokhran on May 30, 2015.

❖ The Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited three Asian nations i.e. China, Mongolia and South Korea
from May 14 to 19, 2015.

❖ Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated the New Bank Note Paper Line unit of 6,000 metric tonne capacity at Security Paper Mill in Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh.

❖ India topped in World Hunger List with around 194 million people according to a UN report.

❖ Maharashtra Government has launched Swachhata Saptapadi Scheme on the lines of Union Government's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

❖ Former Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo succeeded Amartya Sen as the Chancellor of Nalanda University in Bihar.

❖ S. Christopher is the new Director General of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). G. Sateesh Reddy is the new Scientific Advisor to the Defense Minister.

❖ Veteran actor Michael Douglas received the Genesis Prize on June 18, 2015. This prize is nicknamed "Jewish Nobel Prize".

❖ Delhi Law Minister Jitender Singh Tomar of Aam Aadmi Party was arrested for possessing fake academic documents on June 9, 2015. Later he resigned.

❖ Sepp Blatter resigned as the President of FIFA on June 2, 2015, four days after being elected to a fifth term.

❖ Sister Nirmal Joshi, who succeeded Mother Teresa as the head of the Missionaries of Charity, died on June 23, 2015.

❖ K.V. Chowdary, former Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), was appointed the
new Central Vigilance Commissioner on June 8, 2015. He is the first
non IAS to head the Central Vigilance Commission. Indian Bank CMD T.M. Bhasin was appointed the Vigilance Commissioner.

❖ Repo Rate: 7.25% Reverse Repo Rate: 6.25% Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR): 4% Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR): 21.5%

❖ Britain celebrated the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta accord on June15, 2015.

❖ China unveiled the world's first facial recognition ATM on June 1, 2015.

❖ The first International Yoga Day was celebrated on June 21, 2015. 192 countries celebrated.

❖ The 41st G7 Summit was held in June 2015 in Krun city in Germany.

❖ Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland beat Novak Djokovic of Serbia to win his first French Open singles title. Serena Williams of USA defeated Lucie Safarova of Czech Republic to win the women's singles title of French open.

❖ Australia won the ICC World Cup for the fifth time beating New Zealand by seven wickets in the final in Melbourne on March 29, 2015. James Faulkner of Australia was declared the Man of the Final and Mitchell Starc of Australia the Player of the Tournament.

❖ IPL 8 Mumbai Indians clinched their second Indian Premier League (IPL) title defeating ChennaiSuper Kings by 41 runs in the final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on May 24, 2015.