GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE MCQs

1.Who would step down as a director on the board of Bank of America and instead join its Global Advisory Council in May 2013?
1) Ratan Tata
2) Lakshmi Nivas Mittal
3) Vikram Pandit
4) Mukesh Ambani
5) N.R.Narayana Murthy

2.Pope Francis was elected as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church on March 13, 2013. His birth name is Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He is a native of?
1) Italy 
2) Argentina 
3) Austria 
4) Spain 
5) Belgium 

3.Who succeeded Wen Jiabao as the new Premier of the People's Republic of China on March 15, 2013?
1) Zhang Gaoli 
2) Liu Yandong
3) Li Keqiang
4) Ma Kai
5) Wang Yang 

4.The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, was the Chief Guest at the 45th Indepen-dence Day celebrations of which of the following coun-tries on March 12, 2013? 
1) Bangladesh
2) Sri Lanka
3) Nepal
4) Mauritius
5) Maldives 

5.Anand Kumar was named the 'People's Hero' by People magazine of the TIME maga-zine group. He is the founder of Super 30 coaching institute in?
1) Mumbai
2) Kolkata
3) Kota 
4) Hyderabad 
5) Patna

6.Who has been crowned the "King of Boxing" at the World Boxing Council's 50th annual convention in Mexico in December 2012?
1) Joe Louis 
2) Rocky Marciano 
3) George Foreman 
4) Muhammad Ali
5) Sugar Ray Robinson

7.Who was honored with the National Book Award, a US literary award, in November 2012 for her work 'Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Under city'?
1) Shirley Hazzard
2) Tea Obreht 
3) Katherine Boo
4) Dorothy Allison 
5) None

8.Which of the following words was named Word of the Year by the Oxford English Dict-ionary in November 2012?
1) Eurogeddon 
2)Green-on-Blue
3) Games Maker
4) Omnishambles
5) Second Screening

9. Travel guide book Lonely Planet has named which of the following Indian cities as the world's third best city to visit in 2013?
1) Bangalore
2) New Delhi
3) Hyderabad 
4) Mumbai 
5) Chennai 

10. The World Bank has agreed to grant Rs 800 crore for the 2nd phase of the watershed develo-pment program, Gram-ya, in which of the following states? 
1) Chhattisgarh
2) Uttarakhand
3) Odisha
4) West Bengal
5) Uttar Pradesh

11.Who retained the National women's chess championship title in Jalgaon, Maharashtra in November 2012?
1) Mary Ann Gomes 
2) Nisha Mohta
3) Bhakti Kulkarni
4) Eesha Karavade
5) Soumya Swaminathan

12.Which team retained the title of the 117th all India Beighton Cup hockey tournament in Kolkata in November 2012? 
1) Indian Oil
2) Punjab National Bank 
3) Punjab Police 
4) CRPF 
5) Indian Airlines

13.Which of the following terms is used in more than one game/ sport?
1) Caddie 
2) Silly Point
3) Googly
4) Love 
5) Grand Master

14.Which of the following countr-ies unveiled its 2nd stealth figh-ter jet, named J-31, recently?
1) Vietnam 
2) China 
3) Japan 
4) Philippines 
5) North Korea

15.The World Bank has resumed its aid to which of the following countries after a gap of 25 years?
1) Cuba 
2) Sudan 
3) Myanmar 
4) Nigeria 
5) Ethiopia 

16.Which of the following districts in Haryana is the first district in the country where all villa-ges have solar lights?
1) Sirsa 
2) Ambala 
3) Karnal
4) Rohtak 
5) Yamunanagar

17.What is the full form of FINO?
1) Farmers Inclusion News and Operations
2) Financial Investment Network and Operations
3) Financial Inclusion Network and Operations
4) Farmers Investment in National Organization
5) None of these

18.Which of the following state-ments is not correct?
1) Subsidy is given to the poor/ farmers on fertilizer, kerosene and LPG.
2) Bhagyam oil fields are in Rajasthan.
3) Portugal is a member of the TAPI pipeline project.
4) START is between the USA and Russia.
5) Goodluck Jonathan is the President of Nigeria.

19.What does the letter 'L' denote in the term LAF?
1) Liability
2) Leveraged
3) Linear 
4) Liquidity
 5) None

20.Who among the following veteran journalists is the author of the book 'Durbar'?
1) Aaarti Dhar 
2) Shalini Singh
3) Tavleen Singh 
4) Smita Gupta
5) Swapan Dasgupta

21.Dr. Madhav Chavan has been awarded the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) Prize at the WISE Summit in Doha, Qatar in November 2012. He is the co-founder and CEO of?
1) Pratham
2) Goonj
3) Deepalaya
4)HelpAge India 
5) Smile Foundation

22.'11 Flowers' has won the prestigious NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) award at the 18th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF). It is a? 
1) Bengali movie 
2) Chinese movie 
3) Thai movie
4)Malay movie 
5) Hebrew movie

23.The Sonepur Cattle Fair, also known as Harihar Kshetra Mela, is Asia's biggest cattle fair. Sonepur is a town in?
1) Rajasthan 
2) Haryana 
3) Bihar
4) Gujarat 
5) Madhya Pradesh 

24.MESSENGER is a NASA spac-ecraft orbiting the planet? 
1) Mars 
2) Uranus 
3) Neptune 
4) Mercury 
5) Jupiter 

25.The Royal Indian Open is a tournament organized for female professional tennis players. Elina Svitolina won the title in Pune on November 11, 2012. She belongs to?
1) Russia 
2) Belarus 
3) Ukraine 
4) Croatia 
5) Czech Republic

26.Which of the following cities is the capital of Colombia?
1) Santiago 
2) Lima 
3) San Jose
4) Bogota 
5) Podgorica 

27. Dirham is the currency of?
1) Algeria 
2) Jordan 
3) Iraq 
4) Kuwait 
5) None of these

28.Who became the first player to hit a six off the first ball of a Test match in November 2012?
1) Virender Sehwag
2) David Warner 
3) Chris Gayle
4) Alastair Cook
5) Nick Compton

29.Cris Valdez was awarded the 2012 International Children's Peace Prize in Hague, Nether-lands. He is from? 
1) Argentina 
2) Spain 
3) Singapore 
4) Philippines 
5) Brazil 

30.Who won the IAAF Women's World Athlete of the Year Award for 2012?
1) Allyson Felix 
2) Valerie Adams 
3)Jessica Ennis
4) Tianna Madison 
5) None

31.Which of the following has presented its second annual 'Report to the People 2012'?
1) Planning Commission
2) UIDAI
3) National Integration Council 
4) National Innovation Council
5) None of these

32.The Centre cleared road proje-cts worth Rs.3, 432 crore main-ly in the three Maoist affected districts of Purulia, Bankura and Paschim Medinipur in?
1) Odisha
2) Maharashtra 
3) Chhattisgarh
4) Jharkhand
5) West Bengal

33.The allocation for the health sector during the 12th Plan is fixed at?
1) Rs.1 lakh crore
2) Rs.2 lakh crore
3) Rs.3 lakh crore
4) Rs.4 lakh crore 
5) None

34.Naya Raipur is the new capital city of?
1) Uttarakhand
2) Tripura
3) Assam
4) Chhattisgarh
5) Madhya Pradesh

35.Col.C.K.Naidu Lifetime Achi-evement award was recently given by the BCCI to?
1) Ravi Shastri
2) Dilip Vengsarkar
3) Sunil Gavaskar
4) Mohinder Amarnath
5) Kapil Dev

36.Who became only the third Indian-American ever to be elected to the US House of Representatives on November 6, 2012?
1) Autar Kaw
2) Ami Bera
3) Nikki Haley
4) Indra Nooyi 
5) None of these

37.'Awaz Do' is an initiative taken by which of the following orga-nizations to mobilize Indian society to speak up for more than eight million childr-en currently out of school in the country?
1) UNHCR
2) WHO
3) CRY
4) UNESCO
5) UNICEF

38.Which of the following is the currency of Israel?
1) Real 
2) Rial 
3) Dinar
4) New Shekel 
5) Dirham

39.Who is the author of the book 'I Predict: A Century of Hope towards an Era of Harmony with Nature and Freedom from Hunger"?
1) P.Sainath
2) Amartya Sen
3) M.S.Swaminathan
4) Norman Borlaug
5) A.P.J. Abdul Kalam 

40.The rivers Doyang, Jhanji, Dhansiri and Dikhu flow through which of the following states?
1) Manipur
2) Nagaland
3) Sikkim 
4) Tripura
5) Arunachal Pradesh

41.Which of the following is the capital city of Yemen?
1) Sanaa 
2) Tripoli 
3) Cairo 
4) Manama 
5) Ankara 

42.The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) consists of a total of?
1) 5 members
2) 10 members
3) 15 members
4) 18 members
5) None of these

43.The holy city of Ujjain is situated on the banks of river?
1) Narmada
2) Shipra
3)Son 
4) Tapti
5) Betwa

44.Which country is known as "Rainbow Nation"?
1) South Sudan
2) Sudan
 3) Japan 
4) South Africa
5) USA

45."India-Pakistan: Coming to Terms" is written by?
1) Khushwant Singh
2) L.K.Advani
3) Jaswant Singh
4) Ashutosh Misra 
5) None


ANSWERS:
1) 4; 2) 2; 3) 3; 4) 4; 5) 5; 6) 4;  7) 3; 8) 4; 9) 3; 10) 2; 
11) 1; 12) 1; 13) 4; 14) 2; 15) 3; 16) 1; 17) 3; 18) 3; 19) 4; 20) 3; 
21) 1; 22) 2;  23) 3; 24) 4; 25) 3; 26) 4; 27) 5; 28) 3; 29) 4; 30) 1;
31) 4; 32) 5;  33) 3; 34) 4; 35) 3; 36) 2; 37) 5; 
38) 4; 39) 3; 40) 2;  41) 1; 42) 3; 
43) 2; 44) 4; 45) 4;

National Film Awards 2013 Winners List

60th National Film Awards for the films released in the year 2012 have been announced. Here are the list of winners-

 ● Best Actor : Irfan Khan for Pan Singh Tomar and Vikram Gokhale for Anumati (Marathi).

 ● Best Actress : Usha Jadhav for Marathi film 'Dhag'.

 ● Best Hindi Feature Film : - Paan Singh Tomar.

 ● Best Film for Wholesome Entertainment: Vicky Donor & Ustad Hotel (Malayalam).

 ● Best Special Effects: Eega

 ● Best Non-Feature Film: Shepherd's of Paradise.

 ● Best Film on Environment: Black Forest (Malayalam).

 ● Best Telugu film: Eega

 ● Best Tamil film: Vazhakku En 18/9

 ● Best Hindi Film: Filmistan

 ● Best Investigative Film: Inshallah Kashmir

 ● Best Playback Singer: Shankar for Bolo Na (Chittagong).

 ● Best Song: Bolo Na (Chittagong).

 ● Best Choreography : Birju Maharaj (Viswaroopam).

 ● Best Art direction: Lalgudi Ilayaraja (Viswaroopam).

 ● Best Original Screenplay - Sujoy Ghosh (Kahaani).

 ● Best Dialogue Writer: Anjali Menon (Ustad Hotel).

 ● Best Sound Recording: Gangs of Wasseypur.

 ● Best Direction - Shivaji Lotan Patil (Dhag - Marathi Film).

 ● Best Editing: Celluloid Man (Non-feature section).

 ● Best Makeup Artist: Raja (Vazahkku En 18/9).

 ● Best Costume Designer: Poornima (Paradesi).

 ● Best Supporting Actor: Annu Kapoor (Vicky Donor').

 ● Best Supporting Actress: Dolly Ahluwalia (Vicky Donor).

 ● Best Film on Social Issues: Spirit (Malayalam).

 Special jury mention for Parineeti Chopra (Ishaqzaade), Tanishta Chatterjee (Dekh Indian Circus) and Nawazuddin Siddhique (4 films).

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE MCQs

1. India signed a social security agreement with which country on November 26, 2012?
1) Norway
2) Russia
3) Sweden
4) Denmark
5) Germany

2. Ajmal Kasab, the sole surviving perpetrator of the terrorist attack on Mumbai in November 2008, was hanged at Pune's Yerawada central prison on which of the following dates in 2012?
1) Nov 26
2) Nov 24
3) Nov 14
4) Nov 25
5) Nov 21

3. According to a UNICEF report released on November 16, 2012, which country topped the global pneumonia mortality charts, with four lakh children dying each year from the disease?
1) Nigeria
2) India
3) Bangladesh
4) Tanzania
5) Pakistan

4. The 2G mobile telephony spectrum auction fetched the government how many crores of rupees in November 2012?
1) 7,504.64
2) 8,504.64
3) 9,407.64
4) 7,407.64
5) 8,322.64

5. India and Canada held talks recently in New Delhi. The focus was on?
1) Defense
2) Counter-terrorism
3) Cooperation in cyber security
4) Cooperation in coal
5) Supply of Uranium

6. The Foreign Ministers of the member countries of the Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) held a meeting in November 2012 in?
1) Mysore
2) Gurgaon
3) Dehradun
4) Chandigarh
5) New Delhi

7. William Hague visited India in November 2012. He is the Foreign Secretary of?
1) Canada
2) Australia
3) UK
4) USA
5) Netherlands

8. "Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story" is the autobiography of?
1) Brad Pitt
2) Will Smith
3) Bruce Willis
4) Denzel Washington
5) Arnold Schwarzenegger

9. Ernest Bai Koroma was re-elected the President of which of the following African countries in November 2012?
1) Angola
2) Lesotho
3) Cape Verde
4) Sierra Leone
5) Swaziland

10. Who was appointed the British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) Director- General recently?
1) Tony Hall
2)Graham Norton
3) James Purnell
4) Tim Davie
5) None of these

11. Alok Joshi has been appointed the new Chief of?
1) IB
2) CBI
3) RAW
4) CRPF
5) ITBP

12. The 21st Summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations(ASEAN) was held in which of the following countries in November 2012?
1) Vietnam
2) Cambodia
3) Laos
4) Thailand
5) Malaysia

13. Jackie Janmohammed is the first female to head a national cricket board. She is the Chairperson of which of the following cricket boards?
1) Kenya
2) Zimbabwe
3) South Africa
4) Bangladesh
5) West Indies

14. Which name has been chosen for the armadillo mascot for the 2014 FIFA world cup to be held in Brazil?
1) Zuzeco
2) Fuleco
3) Amijubi
4) Armada
5) None of these

15. Which company has won the title sponsorship rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket for the next five seasons?
1) Sahara
2) Idea
3) Pepsi
4) Bharti Airtel
5) Vodafone

16. BP Plc is a major international company in the field of?
1) Atomic Energy
2) Heavy Machinery
3) Oil Exploration
4) Information Technology
5) None of these

17. Shunglu Committee is related to?
1) Jan Lokpal Bill
2) Commonwealth Games Scam
3) Telecom Scam
4) Financial Inclusion
5) None of these

18. Farkhor Air Base is operated by the Indian Air Force. It is a military air base located in?
1) Kazakhstan
2) Uzbekistan
3) Kyrgyzstan
4) Tajikistan
5) Afghanistan

19. The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is an organiza-tion under?
1) IMF
2) ADB
3) World Bank
4) UNO
5) World Economic Forum

20. Who is the author of the biography "Sonia Gandhi: An Extraordinary Life, An Indian Destiny"?
1) Rani Singh
2) Anita Desai
3) Anjali Joseph
4) Moni Mohsri
5) None of these

21. What is 'Jhum'?
1) A tribe
2) A folk dance
3) A type of cultivation
4) A type of music
5) None of these

22. Japan has decided to shut down all 50 of its nuclear reactors by?
1) 2020
2) 2025
3) 2040
4) 2030
5) 2050

23. Former Navy Chief Nirmal Kumar Verma has been appointed India's High Commissioner to which of the following countries?
1) UK
2) Canada
3) Australia
4) Pakistan
5) New Zealand

ANSWERS:

1) 3 2) 5 3) 2 4) 4 5) 5 6) 2 7) 3 8) 5 9) 4 10) 1 11) 3 12) 2 13) 1  14) 2 15) 3 16) 3 17) 2 18) 4 19) 4 20) 1  21) 3 22) 3 23) 2

Highlights of Railway Budget 2013-14

The Railway Budget 2013-14 presented by the Railway Minister Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal in the Parliament lays thrust on safety, consolidation, improving passenger amenities and fiscal discipline.

The budget has absorbed the increase in passenger tariff due to increase in diesel prices but has proposed minor increase in supplementary charges for super fast trains and Tatkal charges etc. It has proposed FAC-linked revision in freight tariff only.

The Budget has proposed working expenses of Rs. 96,500 crore against the Gross Traffic Receipts of Rs. 1,43,742 crore for the year. The Railway Minister has proposed that appropriation to the Pension Fund of Railway Employees to Rs. 22,000 crore while appropriation to Depreciation Reserve Fund to Rs. 7,500 crore. With these proposals Railways expected to close the year 2013-14 with a balance of Rs. 12,506 crore in the Railway Fund.

The budget has proposed number of measures to improve passenger amenities including IT enable services for reservations and new trains.

The Minister informed that the Indian Railways is set to achieve the milestone of entering the select club of railways with over 1 million ton freight loading. At present, only the Chinese, Russian and the US Railways have this distinction. The Indian Railways have joined another select club of railways which run freight trains of more than 10,000 tones load.

Major highlights of the budget

a) New railway projects to be taken up during 2013-14: introduction of 67 new express trains, 26 new passengers services and extension of 57 trains besides increase in frequency of 24 trains. For the first time an AC EMU rake will be introduced on Mumbai suburban network and rake length will be increased from 9 cars to 12 cars in 80 services in Kolkata and 30 services in Chennai. The Minister proposed a target to complete 500 km of new lines and to convert 450 km lines to broad gauge during 2013-14.
b) Contribution for promotion of sports in the country: All the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Dhyan Chand Awardees will be provided Complimentary Passes for traveling by 1st Class/2nd AC. Complimentary Passes will be provided to Olympic Medalists and Dronacharya Awardees for travel in Rajdhani/Shatabadi Express. Passes for freedom fighters will now be renewed once in three years instead of every year.
c) Staff Welfare measures: Enhanced fund allocation for staff quarters to Rs. 300 crore and setting up of hostels for single women railway employees at all divisional headquarters.
d) Proposed new lines from Rama Mandi to Maur Mandi via Talwandi Sabo and issuing ‘Yatra Parchis’ for Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine at the time of Railway ticket booking to facilitate pilgrims.
e) A multi-disciplinary training institute will set up at Nagpur for training in rail related electronics technologies.
f) For the first time the State of Arunachal Pradesh has been brought into the rail network and the railways will commission the Harmuti-Naharlagun line this year.
g) To strengthen the security of rail passengers, especially women passengers, Railways have already created four companies of women RPF personnel and another eight would be set up.
h) Identification of 104 stations, serving a population of more than one mission or those serving places of religious/tourist importance for immediate attention to all aspects related to cleanliness.
i) Progressive extension of bio-toilets on trains.
j) Provision of concrete aprons on platforms with mechanized cleaning facilities. 200 stations have already been covered.
k) Extension of On Board Housekeeping Scheme (OBHS) and Clean Trains Stations (VTSs) to more stations and trains.
l) Extension of unreserved Ticketing System (UTS), Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs), Coin-operated Ticket Vending Machines (CO-TVMs) and scheme of Jan-Sadharan Ticket Booking Sevaks (JTBSs).
m) Setting up of six more Rail Neer bottling plants at Vijayawada, Nagpur, Lalitpur, Bilaspur, Jaipur and Ahmedabad.
n) Launching of a pilot project on select trains to facilitate passengers to contact on-board staff through SMS/phone call/e-mail for prompt response for coach cleanliness and also to provide real time feedback.
o) Setting up of 8-10 more mechanized laundries for quality washing of linen.
p) Provision of announcement facility and electronic display boards in trains for disseminating information to on-board passengers about approaching stations, train running, arrival platforms, etc.
q) Providing free Wi-Fi facility on several trains to cater to the increasing aspirations and requirement of youth and other valued customers.
r) Upgrading another 60 stations as Adarsh Stations in addition to 980 already selected.
s) Associate voluntary organizations for providing first aid services etc. at railway stations.
t) An educational tourist train called ‘Azadi Express’ to enable youth of the country to travel to important places connected with the freedom movement will be launched.
u) The Indian Railways will introduce one such coach in select trains which will provide an excellent ambience and latest modern facilities and services. Such coaches will be named ‘Anubhuti’ and will have commensurate fare structure.
v)  To facilitate the boarding of trains and exit from the stations for the differently-abled and the elderly, the Railways propose to take several measures. These include provision of 179 escalators and 400 lifts at A-1 and other major stations, affixing Braille stickers indicating the layout of coaches including toilets, provision of wheel chairs and battery operated vehicles at more stations and making coaches’ wheel-chair friendly.
w) State-of-the-art base kitchens are proposed to be set up in railway premises for better monitoring of quality of meals. ISO certification will now be insisted upon for all base-kitchens. A Centralized Catering Services Monitoring Cell with a toll free number – 1800 111 321 has started functioning from 18th January, 2013 to facilitate redressal of complaints/suggestions on realtime basis.
x) Ministry will put in place a Next Generation e-ticketing system to bring about a paradigm shift in internet rail ticketing. It will support 1, 20,000 simultaneous users at any point in time against the present capacity of 40,000 users with capability to easily scale up as demand increases in future. The system will make use of advanced fraud control and security management tools thereby further improving fairness and transparency in disbursal of tickets.

BUDGET 2013-14 PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1)Pavan Kumar Bansal represents, which of the following Constituencies?
1. Amritsar 
2. Ahmedabad 
3. Chandigarh 
4. Sangrur

2)Which of the following state has been bought into the railway net work for the first time?   
1. Manipur 
2. Assam
3. Tripura 
4. Arunachal Pradesh

3)A8ording to Railway Budget Freight earning to go by?
1. 7% 
2. 8%
3. 9% 
4. 10%

4)Which of the following is true?
1. Steep increase in input costs have been met with hike in Freight rates
2. Indian Railways is aware of the problems of the IRCTC website, and will create a next generation e-ticketing system by end of this year, Bansal said.
3. Aadhar can be helpful for Railways in much respect, from booking tickets to tracking pension of rail employees.
4. All the above

5)Railway Minister has said that a special luxury coach, with the best of ameneties, will run, in selected trains and named it as?
1. Anubhuti 
2. Safety
3. Vikas 
4. Samardh

6)The amount allocated by Planning commi-ssion (budgetary support to Railways)?
1. 3.19 lakhs 
2. 4.19 lakhs
3. 5.19 lakhs 
4. 6.19 lakhs

7)Which of the following is true about Indian Railways?
1. Railways were first introduced to India in 1853 from Bombay to Thane.
2. In 1951 the systems were nationalized as one unit, the Indian Railways
3. Indian Railways is the worlds ninth largest commercial or utility employer
4. All the above

8)The Rail Neer Bottling plants would be set up in
1. Vijayawada, Mumbai, Lalitput, Bilaspur, Patna, Ahmedabad
2. Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Vijayawada, Nagpur, Lalitpur, Bilaspur
3. Bilaspur, Vijayawada, Kolkata, Nanded, Lalitpur, Jaipur
4. Nanded, Kolkata, Vijayawada, Ludhiana, Lalitpur, Jaipur

9)Which of the following is/are true as per new Railway budget?
1. Year hike of 5% of charges proposed for 10 years
2. In future, ticket charge may be indexed to fuel price
3. Train protection warning in automatic systems will be introduced
4. All the above

10)How much percentage of RPF vacancies reserved for women?    
1. 10% 
2. 15% 
3. 20% 
4. 25%

11)Which of the following is true about recent General Budget 2013-14?
1. The total expenditure for 2013-14 is the Rs 16, 65, 297
2. The plan expenditure is the Rs 5, 55, 322 crore
3. Non-plan expenditure Rs 11, 09, 975crore
4. All the above

12)Which of the following is true?
1. Chidambaram presented the his eighth Annual budget in Parliament, second highest by any other in the country
2. It was 82nd Budget, which includes interim and special-situation budgetary proposals
3. Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai presented budget for 10 times.
4. All the above

13)How much is allocated for Nirbhaya fund?
1. Rs 800 crore 
2. Rs 900 crore 
3. Rs 1000 crore 
4. Rs 1100 crore

14)How many private radio FM stations will be covered in this financial year?
1. 289 
2. 290 
3. 291 
4. 292

15)The first Independent India’s budget was presented by? 
1. Morarji Desai 
2. Shankumham chetty 
3. Deshmukh 
4. Nehru

16)Income limit for tax saving Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings scheme is raised to Rs 12 lakh from?
1. Rs 8 lakh 
2. Rs 9 lakh
3. Rs 10 lakh 
4. Rs 11 lakh

17)Which of the following is true?
1. Rs 532 crore to make post offices part of core banking
2. Proposal to launch inflation indexed bonds or inflation indexed national security certificates to protect savings from inflation
3. India’s first women’s bank as a PSU proposed, Rs 1000 crore working capital announced
4. All the above

18)How much amount is allocated for Drinking water and Sanitation?
1. Rs 80, 194 crore 
2. Rs 81, 194 crore
3. Rs 82, 194 crore 
4. Rs 83, 195 crore

19)In which of the following place an Institute for agricultural Bioteechnology will be set up?
1. Patiala 
2. Ahmedabad
3. Ranchi 
4. Patna

20)As per Economic Survey the India’s economy expected to grow between 6.1% to
1. 6.5% 
2. 6.6% 
3. 6.7% 
4. 6.8%

21)Inflation expected to fall between 6.2% and by March?
1. 6.6% 
2. 6.7% 
3. 6.8% 
4. 6.9%

22)As per survey report, which of the following sector amounted for the largest share?
1. Health 
2. Sports
3. Education 
4. Employment

23)A8ording to survey, the food inflation mainly driven by
1. Cereal Prices 
2. Subsidies 
3. Oil 
4. None of these

24)As per Economic Survey, which of the following is true about Indian Tourism?
1. The Indian tourism sector needs an urgent image makeover and higher investment in infrastructure, including through Public-Private Partnership
2. Global tourist arrivals are expected to increase by 43 million every year on an average from 2010 to 2030.
1. Only 1 correct 
2. Only 2 correct
3. Both correct 
4. Both wrong

25)Which of the following is true as per Economic survey, tabled in the parliament?
1. As per 12th Five Year Plan approach paper, Indias travel and tourism sector is estimated to create 78 jobs per million rupees of investment compared to 45 jobs per million rupees in the manufacturing sector
2. As per Tourism Satellite A8ount (TSA) data 2009-10, the contribution of tourism to Indias GDP was 6.8 per cent (3.7 per cent direct and 3.1 per cent indirect) and its contribution to total employment generation was 10.2 percent
3. At present Indian Tourism has a paltry share of 0.64 per cent in world tourist arrivals
4. All the above

26)Who among the following is the Chief advisor to the Finance Minister?
1. Rangarajan 
2. Raghuram Rajan
3. Kaushik Basu 
4. Shome

27) The Economic Survey says that the Fiscal Deficit in Financial Year 2013, to be contained at? 
1. 5.1% 
2. 5.2% 
3. 5.3% 
4. 5.4%

28)Fiscal Consolidation road map says that deficit at 3% by Financial year?    
1. 2014 
2. 2015 
3. 2016 
4. 2017

ANSWERS:

1) 3 2) 4 3) 3 4) 4 5) 1 6) 3 7) 4 8) 2 9) 4 10) 1 11) 4 12) 4 13) 3  14) 1 15) 2 16) 3 17) 4 18) 1 19) 3 20) 3  21) 1 22) 3 23) 1  24) 3 25) 4 26) 2 27) 3 28) 4

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE MCQs

1. Economic Survey 2012-13 proje cted a growth rate of what percent for 2013-14?
1) 5.5-5.7
2) 6.3-6.5
3) 6.1-6.7
4) 8.1-8.5
5) 5.5-6.1

2. Who received the Ernst &Young Lifetime Achievement Award in February 2013?
1) T.T.Jagannathan
2) Ratan Tata
3) Rahul Bajaj
4) Francisco D' Souza
5) None of these

3. Which team won the 67th Santosh Trophy Football tourna ment in Kochi on March 3, 2013?
1) Services
2) Kerala
3) Goa
4) Tamil Nadu
5) Bengal

4. Chuck Hagel has been appointed as the US?
1) Secretary of State
2) Treasury Secretary
3) Vice President
4) Defense Secretary
5) Ambassador to India

5. Who won the Best Actress Award at the 85th Academy Awards in February 2013?
1) Jessica Chastain
2) Quvenzhane Wallis
3) Naomi Watts
4) Jennifer Lawrence
5) None of these

6. Which of the following films won the Best Foreign Language Film Award at the 85th Oscar awards?
1) Kon-Tiki (Norway)
2) No (Chile)
3) Amour (Austria)
4) A Royal Affair (Denmark)
5) War Witch (Canada)

7. India's GDP growth in the third quarter of 2012-13 slipped to what per cent?
1) 5.5%
2) 5.3%
3) 4.5%
4) 4.9%
5) 5.2%

8. Manik Sarkar has been the Chief Minister of which of the follow ing states since March 1998?
1) Mizoram
2) Assam
3) Nagaland
4) Tripura
5) Manipur

9. India's first all-women bank will start operations from November this year. The government announced an initial capital of how many crores of rupees for this purpose?
1) 2,000crore
2) 2,500crore
3) 1,000crore
4) 1,500crore
5) None of these

10. How many crores will be made available to NABARD to finance construction of godowns and warehouses, as per the 2013-14 Union Budget?
1) Rs 5,000cr
2) Rs 10,000cr
3) Rs 1,000cr
4) Rs 2,000cr
5) Rs 20,000cr

11. Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) elected Mir eille Ballestrazzi as its first fe male President. She belongs to?
1) France
2) Italy
3) UK
4) Germany
5) Poland

12. The 10th ASEAN-India Summit was held on November 19, 2012 at?
1) Singapore
2) Bangkok
3) Phnom Penh
4) Bali
5) Jakarta

13. ASEAN-India trade reached how many billion dollars in 2011-12?
1) 75.5
2) 79.3
3) 82.5
4) 81.3
5) None of these


ANSWERS:

1) 3 2) 2 3) 1 4) 4 5) 4 6) 3 7) 3 8) 4 9) 3 10) 1 11) 1 12) 3 13) 2

OSCAR AWARDS 2013

Ben Affleck's Iranian hostage drama 'Argo' won the Best Picture Oscar while Ang Lee pulled off a big surprise by taking home the Best Director trophy for 'Life of Pi' at the 85th Academy Awards.

British actor Daniel Day-Lewis, 55, scored a historic third Best Actor Oscar for his turn as the 16th US President Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's civil-war set drama 'Lincoln'.

He has become the first actor to win the most number of Best Actor Oscars. His previous Oscars were for 'My Left Foot' in 1989 and 'There Will Be Blood' in 2007.

22-year-old Jennifer Lawrence emerged a winner for 'Silver Linings Playbook' in a tight best actress race by tripping strong contenders like Jessica Chastain, Emmanuelle Riva, Naomi Watts and Quvenzhane Wallis.

'Argo' saw off tough competition from eight other films --including 'Lincoln', 'Life of Pi', 'Amour', 'Django Unchained' and 'Zero Dark Thirty'-- to walk away with the top award.

'Argo' was declared a winner by Jack Nicholson and First Lady Michelle Obama, who tuned in through a videolink, making an unprecedented appearance from White House in a shimmery silver gown.

The film, based on real incidents, narrates the near impossible escape story when CIA pulled out six US diplomats from Iranin 1979 by posing as a fake film crew.

List of Oscar Winners from the 2013 Academy Awards:

1. Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained."

2. Animated Short Film: "Paperman."

3. Animated Feature Film: "Brave."

4. Cinematography: "Life of Pi."

5. Visual Effects: "Life of Pi."

6. Costume: "Anna Karenina."

7. Makeup and Hairstyling: "Les Miserables."

8. Live Action Short Film: "Curfew."

9. Documentary (short subject): "Inocente."

10. Documentary: "Searching For Sugar Man."

11. Foreign Language Film: "Amour."

12. Sound Mixing: "Les Miserables."

13. Sound Editing (TIE): "Skyfall," "Zero Dark Thirty."

14. Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables."

15. Editing: "Argo."

16. Production Design: "Lincoln."

17. Score: "Life of Pi."

18. Song: Adele, "Skyfall."

19. Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio, "Argo."

20. Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, "Django Unchained."

21. Director: Ang Lee, "Life of Pi."

22. Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook."

23. Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln."

24. Picture: "Argo."

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE MCQs

1. Who was appointed as the Solicitor General of India on February 13, 2013?
 1) Mohan Jain
2) P.P.Malhotra
3) G.E.Vahanavati
4) Mohan Parasaran
5) Gopal Subramaniam

2. Who was given The Hindu Literary Prize 2013 for his novel "Em and the Big Hoom"?
1) Jeet Thayil
2) Jerry Pinto
3) Kiran Nagarkar
4) Shashi Tharoor
5) None of these

3. Rafael Correa was re-elected for third term as the President of which of the following South American countries in February 2013?
1) Peru
 2) Chile
3) Ecuador
4) Venezuela
5) Uruguay

4. Who was conferred the 2011 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development on February 18, 2013?
1) Sheikh Hasina
2) Sonia Gandhi
3) Medha Patkar
4) Ela Bhatt
5) Shanta Sinha

5. Ratu Epeli Nailatikau was sworn in for a second three-year term in November 2012 as the President of?
1) Cyprus
2) Fiji
3) Latvia
4) Burkina Faso
5) Malta

6. E. Donnall Thomas of USA died recently. He won the 1990 Nobel Prize in which of the following fields?
1) Physics
2) Chemistry
3) Medicine
4) Literature
5) Economics

7. Which of the following is a voluntary force that serves as auxiliary to the police and helps in maintaining internal security?
1) Home Guards
2) CISF
3) CRPF
4) RAF
5) National Security Guard

8. Which of the following is a statutory, quasi-judicial body set up in 1966 by the Parliament with the object of preserving the freedom of the press and of maintaining and improving the standards of press in India?
1) United News of India
2) Press Trust of India
3) Press Information Bureau
4) Press Council of India
5) None of these

9. State Bank of India opened its second Kohinoor premium banking centre for very high net worth individuals on November 7, 2012 in which of the following cities?
1) Mumbai
2) Chennai
3) Pune
4) Vijayawada
5) Visakhapatnam

10. Stock Holding Corporation of India (SHCIL), one of the largest security custodians to financial institutions, will be merged with?
1) IFCI
2) GIC
3) IDBI Bank
4) LIC
5) SBI

11. An indirect tax levied on those goods which are manufactured in India is called?
1) Sales Tax
 2) Income Tax
3) Excise Duty
4) VAT
5) None of these

12. Outlook.com is a web mail service launched by?
1) Google
2) Rediff
3) Apple
 4) Microsoft
5) None of these

13. Naresh Chandra Task Force is related to?
1) Black Money
2) Corruption
3) National Security
4) Income Tax
5) None of these

14. India won the inaugural Asian Cricket Council's Women T-20 Asia Cup by defeating which of the following teams in the final in Guangzhou, China?
1) China
2) Thailand
3) Sri Lanka
4) Bangladesh
5) Pakistan

15. The Art of Living Foundation is one of the world's largest volunteer-based, humanitarian and educational non-govern men tal organizations (NGO). It was founded in 1981 by?
1) Baba Ram Dev
2) Acharya Rajneesh
3) Sri Narayan Guru
4) Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
5) None of these

16. Kanha National Park is a Tiger Reserve in?
1) Odisha
2) Rajasthan
3) Bihar
4) Uttar Pradesh
5) Madhya Pradesh

17. Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is Asia's first stock exchange. It was established in?
1) 1882
2) 1887
3) 1875
4)1897
 5) 1895

18. World Consumer Rights Day is observed on?
1) May 25
2) March 15
3) June 25
4) May 15
5)January 15

19. Which of the follow ing scientific research institutions is located in Bangalore?
1) National Institute of Nutrition
2) Indian Institute of Geomagne tism
3) Agarkar Research Institute
4) Indian Institute of Astro physics
5) None of these

20. 'Associated Press' is the main news agency of?
1) UK
2) France
3) Russia
4) Australia
5) USA

ANSWERS:
1) 4 2) 2 3) 3 4) 4 5) 2 6) 3 7) 1 8) 4 9) 5 10) 3
11) 3 12) 4 13) 3 14) 5 15) 4 16) 5 17) 3 18) 2 19) 4 20) 5

IBPS PO EXAM - GENERAL AWARENESS SOLVED PAPER (EXAM HELD ON: 17-06-2012)

1.Which of the following was issue over which India decided to vote against Sri Lanka in the meeting of one of the UN governed bodies/agencies ?   
a) Violations of human rights in Sri Lanka
b) Allowing china of human rights in Sri Lanka
c) Issue of subsidy on agricultural products in the meeting of the WTO
d) Allowing part of Sri Lanka to become an independent country governed by LTTE.
e) Sri Lanka ‘s claim to become a permanent member of UN security council.
Ans : A  

  

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE about political situation in Mali, where a military coup burst out recently 
a) General elections were due there in March / April 2012 but did not take place
b) The Country was under the control of US army since last 18 months
c) Army of the country was not happy as Amadou Toure was made president without elections for the next five years
d) Coup broke out in Mali when Amadou Toure, the military chief got seriously injured in a bomb blast.
e) NATO and its associates had panned a coup there.
Ans: D   

3. In the summit of which if the following organizations/group of Nations it was declared that all members should enforce Budget discipline?  
a) G-8

b) OPEC

c) European Union

d) SAARC

e) G-20
Ans : C   

4. A per newspaper reports, India is planning to use ‘SEU’ as fuel in its 700 MW nuclear reactors being developed in new plants. What is full form of ‘SEU’ as used here ?    (science & technology)
a) Safe Electrical Units

b) Small Electrical units

c) Slightly enriched Uranium

d) Sufficiently Enriched Units

e) Safely enriched uranium
Ans : C    

5. The Golden Jubilee of Afro-Asian Development organization was organized in which of the following places in March 2012 ?   
a) Dhaka

b) Tokya

c) Cairo

d) kualalumpur

e) New Delhi
Ans :E  

  

6. The present Foreign Trade policy of India will continue till   
a) December 2012

b) march 2013

c) march 2014

d) June 2014

e) December 2014
Ans : C  

  

7. What was the reasons owing Enrica Lexie , an Italian ship was detained by the port Authorities in Kerala and was bought to Cochin port for inspection and search?  

a) It was carrying in objectionable material
b) It was involved in sea piracy
c) It was detained as the crew killed two India fishermen
d) The ship started sailing without making payments of Iron ore it loaded
e) It was detained as it was dumping nuclear waste in deep sea.
Ans : C   

8. Which of the following agencies/ organizations recently gave ‘go-head’ verdict to India’s one of the most controversial project of Inter linking rivers?( some of the rivers international rivers )                                                                                                                                                                                             
a) UN Food and Agriculture Organization
b) World Meteorological Organization
c) International Court of Justice
d) Central Water Commission
e) Supreme Court of India
Ans : E 

   

9. Who among the following was the captain of the Australian Team which played 4 Test matches against India in January 2012 and won all of them ?    (sports and games)
a) Ricky Pointing

b) Michael Clarke

c) Nathan Lyon

d) Stuart Clark

e) Andrew Symonds
Ans : B 

   

10. The committee on review of Small saving fund (NSSF) was headed by   
a) Dr.C.Rangarajan

b) Mr.U.K.sinha

c) Dr.Y.V.Reddy

d) Mrs,shyamala Gopinath

e) Dr. Usha thorat
Ans : D  

  

11. The 5th Asian Indoor Athletics Championship was organized in February 2012 in 
a) Bangladesh

b) India

c) Qatar

d) China

e) South Korea
Ans : D

    

12. Who among the following was the chief Guest at the three -day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas held in January 2012?   
a) kamla Persad – Bissessar

b) Ram Baran Yadav

c) Lakshmi Mittal

d) Salman Rushdie

e) Benjamini Netanyahu
Ans : A  

  

13. As per revised RBI Guidelines, Provision on secured  portion of loan accounts classified as Doubtful assets for than one year and up to 3 (three) years is to be made at the rate of     (economy)
a) 15%

 b) 20% 

c) 40 % 

d) 25% 

e) 30%
Ans : E    

14. As per the provisions in the food Security Bill -2011, per month how much food grain should be given to each person of the target group?   
a) 5kg

b) 7 kg

c) 9kg

d) 10 kg

e) 20kg
Ans : B    

15. Which of the following states has launched ‘panch parmeswar Yojana’ Under which panshayats are allowed to use the fund for developing infrastructure and basic amenities in villages ?  
a) UttarPradesh

b) Maharastra

c) Gujarat

d) Madhya Pradesh

e) Tamilnadu
Ans : D

    

16. National table tennis championship was organized in January 2012 in   
a) Mumbai

b) Delhi

c) Hyderabad

d) Luknow

e) Jaipur
Ans : D    

17. Who among the following is the author of the book ‘Nirbasan’?
a) Mahasweta devi

b) Taslima Nasreen

c) Sunil Gangopadhyay

d) Vikram Seth

e) Kiran Desai
Ans : B 

   

18.Who maong the following Indian Lawn Tennis layer won a Doubles of Australian Open 2012 ?          
a) Mahesh Bhupati

b) Kamlesh Mehta

c) Leander paes

d) Sania Mirza

e) Achanta sarath kamal
Ans : C   

19.’Akula -11′class’K-152 Nepra ‘ was included in Indian Navy recently. These are   
a) Air crafts

b) Radar System

c) Submarines Missiles

d) Warships

e) Submarines
Ans : E    

20. Which of the following awards was conferred upon Late Mario De Miranda(Posthumously)in January 2012?   
a) Padma Vibhushan

b) bharat Ratna

c) kalidas Samman

d) Saraswati Samman

e) Padmashri
Ans : A  

  

21. Which of the following schemes in launched to provide pension to people in unorganized sectors in India    
a) Swabhiman

b) Jeevan Dhara

c) Jeevan Kalyan

d) ASHA

e) Swavalamban
Ans : E

22. The 10th basic Ministerial Meeting on climate change was organized in February 2012 in     
a) Tokyo

b) Beijing

c) manila

d) Moscow

e) New Delhi
Ans : E 

   

23. Finance Ministry has asked the Reserve Bank of India to allow Common ATM’s taht will be owned and managed by non-banking entities hoping to cut transaction costs for banks, such ATM’a are known as  
a) black Label ATM’s

b) Offsite ATM’s

c) On site ATM’s or red ATM’s

d) Third Party ATM’s

e) White label ATM’s
Ans : E    

24. Ranbir Kapoor was awarded Best Actor Award in 57th Film Fare function for his performance in?            
a) No One Killed Jessica

b) Stanley Ka Dabba

c) 7 khoon Maaf

d) Rockstar

e) Zindagi na milendi Dobara
Ans : D

‘Electoral Trust Scheme

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has come out with an ‘Electoral Trust Scheme’, which lays down the procedure for grant of approval to an electoral trust. With this move, such trusts are set to get more popular with corporate India. The taxman’s approval is important for electoral trusts to avail themselves of tax exemption on voluntary contributions received by them. Once this is done, donors to such trusts will get 100 per cent tax deduction for their contributions. However, these tax breaks will be available only when the electoral trusts distribute 95 per cent of their annual contribution to eligible political parties. To reform the system of funding of political parties, the UPA Government had, in its 2009 Budget, extended
tax breaks for ‘electoral trusts’. It was seen as a win-win arrangement as it would encourage creation of such trusts and help corporates avoid getting into an embarrassing situation of supporting only certain political parties. Prior to the 2009 move, corporates did not get any tax breaks on contributions made to electoral
trusts.

Assam’s Computerisation of Registration (Panjeeyan) Project

Assam’s Computerisation of Registration (Panjeeyan) Project has earned laurels for the state. The Project has won the prestigious Gold Icon National Award by the Union department of administrative reforms and public grievances for 2012-13. The state-wide Computerisation of Registration (Panjeeyan) Project in Assam was implemented by the revenue and disaster management department with support of the finance department, under the Assam Governance and Public Resource Management Project (AGPRMP) funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Under the Project, all 75 sub-registrar offices across the state have been computerised replacing the earlier manual system of maintaining records and registers. The registration process carried out in sub-registrar offices is a means of recording documents like sale deed, mortgage, agreement, lease deed, power of attorney, will, etc., as provided for in the Registration Act, 1908. It confers a legal status to the document and provides a measure of security to the transaction and minimises scope of disputes.

Vajpayee Arogyasri Yojana

Vajpayee Arogyasri Yojana is the Karnataka State government’s flagship health insurance scheme, which helps families living below the poverty line (BPL) to avail themselves of medical benefits. World Bank will fund 80 per cent of the project, while state government will fund the remaining 20 per cent. The scheme, which will provide free treatment for 402 procedures including cardiovascular diseases, cancer treatment, burns and neo-natal cases, will also consist of 55 post operative procedures. Accidents, if not covered by insurance will also be taken up under the Yojana.

JEEVika - Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project

JEEVika - Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project, is a Government of Bihar Project assisted by the World Bank, aims to empower the rural poor by creating self managed community institutions and enhancing incomes through sustainable livelihoods. The project is striving to bring a change in the lives of about 5 lakh poor families of Bihar by promoting livelihoods through community institutions, their federation and producer's groups. The five year project was launched on 2nd October 2007.

Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram launched in Thane, Maharashtra

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on 6 February 2013 launched a new health initiative called Rashtriya Bal Sawsthya Karyakram at Palghar town in Thane district of Maharashtra. The Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram, is a part of the National Rural Health Mission of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The Main Features of Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram are as following:
• The Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram is aimed at improving overall quality of life of children through early detection of birth defects, diseases and deficiencies, which are among key factors for child mortality.
• The new initiative would assure a package of health services for all children up to 18 years of age. The programme will also prove economical for poor and marginalized.
• The services will be provided through dedicated mobile health teams placed in every block. The scheme, which will be implemented in a phased manner, is expected to benefit approximately 27 crore children across the country.

Birth defects account for 9.6 per cent of all new-born deaths and 4 per cent of under-five mortality. According to the programme, a set of thirty common conditions have been identified for screening and further management of child health.

National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) is an Indian health program for improving health care delivery across rural India. It was launched on 12 April 2005 for a period of 7 years.

Merger of National Lake Conservation Plan and National Wetlands Conservation Programme into a new scheme

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs  approved the proposal for the merger of National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) and National Wetlands Conservation Programme (NWCP) into a new scheme called the `National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems` (NPCA). 

The merged scheme shall be operational during the XII Plan Period at an estimated cost of Rs.900 crore on 70:30 cost sharing between the Central Government and respective State Governments (90:10 for North-East States). 

For conservation of lakes and wetlands, the Ministry of Environment and Forests is presently, implementing two separate Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS), namely the NWCP and the NLCP. To avoid overlap, promote better synergies and to ensure conservation and management works, an integrated scheme, NPCA is proposed, with the objective of conserving aquatic ecosystems (lakes and wetlands), through implementation of sustainable conservation plans and governed with application of uniform policy and guidelines. 

The principal objectives of the new scheme will be holistic conservation and restoration of lakes and wetlands for achieving desired water quality enhancement, besides improvement in biodiversity and the ecosystem, through an integrated and multidisciplinary approach with a common regulatory framework, The scheme would contribute to reduction of pollution loads and improvement in goods and services provided by these water bodies to stakeholders.

The new scheme will have conservation and management of lakes and wetlands in the country within its scope, to include inventory and information system on lakes and wetlands national level directive on criteria for lakes and wetlands, regulatory framework, capacity building at state government and local body levels, evaluation etc.

Amendments to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Act, 1981

The Union Cabinet gave its approval to the amendments to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Act 1981.

The following amendments to the NABARD Act 1981 are proposed:-

1.      Raising the authorized capital of NABARD to Rs. 20,000 crore from Rs. 5,000 crore.

2.      The meaning of cooperative society is proposed to be enlarged to include multistate cooperative societies registered under any Central law or any other Central or State law relating to cooperative societies.

3.      Change of ownership to facilitate the transfer of the remaining share capital of NABARD from the Reserve Bank to the Central Government.

4.      Increasing the scope of operations of NABARD under short term funding purposes and other changes.

The following benefits are projected by this amendment:-

1.  By increasing the authorized capital of NABARD to Rs 20,000 crore from Rs 5,000 crore, the ability of NABARD to mobilize resources from the market will be enhanced thereby new credit products, new credit linkages and new clients will be developed.

2.  The amendments allow NABARD to lend to new institutions, mainly Societies covered under multistate cooperative societies act and other central laws, producer organizations or such class of financial institutions which are approved by the Central Government. This is likely to benefit a larger segment of the financially excluded farmers in the country.

3.  The amendments allow combination of credit, creation of short term operations fund and swapping of debt of farmers.

4.  The decision of the Government to transfer the balance one percent shares to the Govt. of India from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in NABARD shall be carried out, which will provide for increased public accountability, as the Government will acquire the equity held by RBI.

5.  NABARD will combine the post of Chairman and the post of Managing Director, into one, therefore Chairman and Managing Director, under the provisions of the NABARD Act relating to these two posts. This shall ensure a distinct line of command.

Background

        NABARD was established on 12 July 1982 to provide sharp focus to agriculture credit and rural development. NABARD adopted, as its mission, the promotion of sustainable and equitable development of agriculture and rural prosperity through effective credit support, related services, institution development and other innovative initiatives.

Major Abup J Manjali Selected For Second- Highest Peacetime Gallantry Award Kirti Chakra

Major Abup J Manjali of the Rashtriya Rifles was selected for the award of Kirti Chakra for his extraordinary bravery efforts in counter- terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir. Major Manjali will be awarded on 26 January 2013.

Major Manjali is the only soldier to receive this second- highest peacetime gallantry award Kirti Chakra on the Republic Day. Apart from him, eight other jawans as well as officers were selected to be awarded with the Shaurya Chakra.

Major Abup J Manjali belongs to the Bihar Regiment and at present is deputed to Rashtriya Rifles. It is important to note that the Kirti Chakra can be given away to military personnel as well as the civilians. This award is the peacetime gallantry award which is equivalent to Mahavir Chakra.

Shaurya Chakra, on the other hand, is being given away to Major Sandeep Kumar of 13 Sikh Regiment for his bravery act in Northeast area. Apart from him, Navy officer will also receive Shaurya Chakra for saving lives in Mumbai fire incident.

National Communal Harmony Award 2012

The Foundation for Amity & National Solidarity, Delhi has been selected for the National Communal Harmony Award for the year 2012 by the Jury headed by the Vice-President of India.

Formed in 1984, the Foundation for Amity & National Solidarity (FANS) is a Delhi based Trust which works for spreading amity and communal harmony. It has organized numerous seminars, workshops, symposiums, inter-religious meets, youth camps, sadbhavana sabhas and rallies to promote social amity. The Foundation has instituted 'National Amity Award', which is given every year to an eminent personality. A serial 'Yeh Gulistan Hamara' produced by the Foundation on national integration was telecast on Doordarshan. It has awarded numerous scholarships under its Amity Scholarship Scheme to promote education amongst the economically backward students. It has extensively contributed for promoting solidarity and communal harmony.

The National Communal Harmony Awards were instituted in 1996 by the National Foundation for Communal Harmony (NFCH), an autonomous organization set up by the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, for promoting communal harmony and national integration. The ward has been instituted with a view to demonstrating due appreciation and recognition of the efforts of individuals and organisations for promotion of communal harmony and national integration in a sustained manner over a sufficiently long period of time. In addition to a citation, the award carries a cash prize of Rupees five lakh for the Organisation.