GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE MCQs

1. The Reserve Bank of India in its mid-quarter monetary policy review on March 19, 2013 cut the repo rate by 25 basis points. What is the present repo rate?
1) 8% 
2) 8.25%
3) 7.25% 
4) 7.5% 
5) 7%

2. Who was crowned Femina Miss India 2013?
1) Navneet Kaur Dhillon
2) Sobhita Dhulipala 
3) Zoya Afroz
4) Srishti Rana
5) Anushka Shah 

3. According to the Human Development Report 2013 released by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), what is India's rank on its human development index (HDI)?
1) 126 
2) 124
3) 136 
4) 139 
5) 144

4. The International Day of Happiness is celebrated on? 
1) May 13 
2) August 11
3) August 9 
4) March 20
5) May 25 

5. What is the present reverse repo rate?
1) 6% 
2) 6.25%
3) 6.75% 
4) 7% 
5) 6.5%

6. Chinua Achebe, the father of African literature, passed away on March 21, 2013. He belonged to?
1) Sudan 
2) Zambia 
3) Zimbabwe 
4) South Africa 
5) Nigeria 

7. INS Tarkash, a new warship, joined the Indian Navy in December 2012. It is built by?
1) Israel 
2) China 
3) Russia 
4) France 
5) USA

8. Who was given the Polly Umrigar Award for Cricketer of the Year for 2011-12?
1) Ravindra Jadeja
2) Gautam Gambhir
3) Yuvraj Singh 
4) Virat Kohli
5) Rahul Dravid

9. Who was elected President of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) in November 2012?
1) K.P.S.Gill
2) V.Dinesh Reddy
3) R.K.Shetty 
4) Ranjit Sinha
5) None of these

10. Viktor Yanukovych visited India in December 2012. He is the President of?
1) Georgia 
2) Ukraine 
3) Belarus 
4) Kazakhstan 
5) Kyrgyzstan 

11. South African President Jacob Zuma was re-elected leader of which of the following parties on December 18, 2012?
1) Democratic Alliance 
2) Congress of the People
3) African National Congress
4) African Peoples' Convention
5) Pan Africanist Congress

12. John Dramani Mahama won a new term as President of which of the following African countries in December 2012?
1) Nigeria 
2) Algeria 
3) Kenya 
4) Ghana 
5) Uganda 

13. Congress leader Virbhadra Singh took oath as the Chief Minister of which of the following states for a record sixth time on December 25, 2012? 
1) Haryana 
2) Punjab 
3) Rajasthan 
4) Madhya Pradesh 
5) Himachal Pradesh 

14. Who has taken over as Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to decide on cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and natural resources?
1) Justice Swatanter Kumar
2) Justice P. Jyothimani
3) Justice L.S.Panta 
4) Justice R.V.Raveendran
5) None of these

15. Who was re-elected Chairman of the panel of external auditors of the United Nations in December 2012?
1) V.K.Shunglu 
2) Vinod Rai
3) H.S.Brahma 
4) V.S.Sampath
5) None of these

16. Who was awarded the Brand Laureate Legendary Award in Malaysia in December 2012?
1) Aamir Khan 
2) Salman Khan
3) Shah Rukh Khan
4) Hrithik Roshan
5) Amitabh Bachchan

17. Leslie Claudius passed away on December 20, 2012. He was one of the legends of the game of?
1) Hockey 
2) Cricket
3) Lawn Tennis
 4) Chess
5) Table Tennis

18. Who was presented with the K.Karunakaran Foundation award, instituted in memory of late congress leader, in December 2012?
1) A.K.Antony
2) P.Chidambaram
3) Vayalar Ravi
4) K.V.Thomas
5) S.Jaipal Reddy

19. Who won the inaugural T20 World Cup for the Blind in Bangalore on December 13, 2012?
1) India 
2) Pakistan 
3) Sri Lanka 
4) England 
5) South Africa 

20. Who was named the All India Football Federation (AIFF) Player of the Year on December 20, 2012?
1) Sunil Chhetri
2) Syed Rahim Nabi
3) Nirmal Chhetri
4) Robin Singh 
5) Manandeep Singh 
 
21. "My Decade in the Premier League" is written by which of the following soccer players?
1) David Beckham 
2) Wayne Rooney
3) Lionel Messi
4) Criastino Ronaldo
5) Iker Casillas

22. The aim of Janani Suraksha Yojana Program is to?
1) Promote institutional deliveries 
2) Provide monetary assistance to the mother to meet the cost of delivery 
3) Provide for wage loss due to pregnancy and confinement
4) Both 1 and 2
5) All 1, 2 and 3

23. 'Opening Up: My Autobiogra-phy' is written by?
1) Nasser Hussain 
2) Mike Atherton 
3) Andrew Strauss 
4) Alastair Cook 
5) Alec Stewart 

24. World Post Day is celebrated on?
1) January 30 
2) August 6 
3) September 9 
4) October 9 
5) November 26

25. Dudhwa National Park is located in?
1) Gujarat 
2) Maharashtra 
3)Uttar Pradesh 
4) Madhya Pradesh 
5) Uttarakhand 

26. Monisha Kaltenborn is associ-ated with?
1) Golf 
2) Cycling 
3) Formula One 
4) Tennis 
5) Athletics 

27. Which Indian IT company has acquired Lodestone Manage-ment Consultants, a Swiss company? 
1) TCS 
2) Infosys 
3) Wipro 
4) HCL
5) Mahindra Satyam

28. Steve Ballmer is the CEO of?
1) Google 
2) Vodafone 
3) Microsoft 
4) Oracle 
5) Apple 

29. Which is the only public sector company in the field of life insurance?
1) GIC
2) Sahara Life Insurance
3) New India Assurance
4) LIC 
5) Oriental Insurance

30. Which of the following is an example of micro finance?
1) Letter of credit
2) Insurance for life
3) Self Help Groups 
4) Investment in Mutual Funds 
5) None of these

31. Which of the following terms is not used in the world of ban-king/finance?
1) Devaluation 
2) Hard currency 
3) Sinking fund 
4) Amnesty 
5) Preference share 

32. ULIP is a product offered by?
1) Banks 
2) RBI
3) NABARD 
4) TRAI 
5) Insurance companies

33. Which of the following corporates is the India partner of American coffee company Starbucks?
1) Godrej 
2) Tata 
3) RIL 
4) ADAG 
5) Aditya Birla 

34. CBDT stands for?
1) Central Board of Direct Tariffs 
2) Central Board of Direct Taxes
3) Central Board of Daily Taxes
4) Central Board of Direct Taxation 
5) None of these 

35. Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research is located in?
1) Lucknow 
2) Pune 
3) Nasik 
4) Kasargod 
5) Kochi 

36. Which of the following is not a part of infrastructure?
1) Ports 
2) Railways 
3) Power 
4) Food processing
5) Roads 

37. Which of the following is the oldest development financial institution in India?
1) NABARD 
2) UTI
3) IDBI 
4) IFCI
5) ICICI 

38. Tata Prima is a?
1) Car 
2) Tractor 
3) Truck 
4) Motorcycle
5) SUV

39. Which of the following is an Indian origin banking firm?
1) HSBC 
2) Citibank
3) Barclays 
4) RBS 
5) None of these 

40. Sandy is a?
1) Missile 
2) Tank 
3) Hurricane 
4) Ship 
5) Planet

41. What is the percent of FDI allowed in insurance and pension sector?
1) 20% 
2) 49% 
3) 51% 
4) 100% 
5) 74%

42. Which of the following is a direct tax?
1) VAT 
2) Road tax
3) Infrastructure tax
4) Income tax 
5) None of these

43. Which of the following is a common man's account?
1) Current account
2) Savings account
3) Demat account
4) Temporary account
5) None of these
 
44. Money earned from stocks is called?
1) Monetary gain 
2) Stocks gain 
3) Capital gain 
4) Fringe benefit
5) None of these

45. Who is the Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports?
1) Manish Tiwari
2) Sachin Pilot
3) Jayanthi Natarajan 
4) Ajay Maken
5) Jitendra Singh

46. Malathion is?
1) An Instrument
2) An Explosive
3) An Insecticide
4) A Vitamin
5) A Protein

47. What does the letter 'S' denote in 'AFSPA'?
1) State 
2) Security 
3) Sovereign 
4) Special 
5) None of these

48. 'Free throw' is a term associated with?
1) Volleyball 
2) Football 
3) Basketball 
4) Baseball 
5) Table Tennis

49. The social infrastructure of an economy consists of?
1) Transport, Banking
2) Education, Health
3) Industry, Trade
4) Industry, Agriculture
5) None of these

50. Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary is a Tiger Reserve in the state of?
1) Kerala 
2) Karnataka 
3) Tamil Nadu
4) Odisha
5) Andhra Pradesh
 

ANSWERS:

1) 4 11) 3 21) 2 31) 4 41) 2
2) 1 12) 4 22) 5 32) 5 42) 4
3) 3 13) 5 23) 2 33) 2 43) 2
4) 4 14) 1 24) 4 34) 2 44) 3
5) 5 15) 2 25) 3 35) 1 45) 5
6) 5 16) 3 26) 3 36) 4 46) 3
7) 3 17) 1 27) 2 37) 4 47) 4
8) 4 18) 2 28) 3 38) 3 48) 3
9) 2 19) 1 29) 4 39) 5 49) 2
10) 2 20) 2 30) 3 40) 3 50) 3

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