General Awareness for Bank PO's and Clerks

Highlights of Union Budget 2010-11

2011-03-03T22:34:00.000+05:30

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the Union Budget 2010-11 in parliament on Monday(28-02-2011).

Here are some of the highlights:

· Exemption limit for the general category of individual taxpayers enhanced from

Rs 1,60,000 to Rs 1,80,000. For senior citizens, the qualifying age reduced to 60 years from the present 65 years and exemption limit raised to Rs 2.50 lakh. Citizens over 80 years to have exemption limit of Rs 5 lakh. No Change in women tax exemption limit i.e1,90,000.

· Total expenditure proposed at Rs 12, 57,729 crore. Increase of 18.3 per cent in total Plan allocation i.e Rs 4, 41,547 crores . Increase of 10.9 per cent in the Non-plan expenditure i.e Rs 8, 16,182 crores.

· Indian economy expected to grow at 9 per cent with an outside band of +/- 0.25 per cent in 2011-12. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimated to have grown at 8.6 per cent in 2010-11 in real terms.

· Fiscal Deficit brought down from 5.5 per cent in BE 2010-11 to 5.1 per cent of GDP in RE 2010-11. Fiscal Deficit kept at 4.6 per cent of GDP for 2011-12. Fiscal Deficit to be progressively reduced to 3.5 per cent by 2013-14.

· “Effective Revenue Deficit” estimated at 2.3 per cent of GDP in the Revised Estimates for 2010-11 and 1.8 per cent for 2011-12.

· Priority sector home loans limit raised to Rs. 25 lakh from Rs. 20 lakh.

· Current surcharge of 7.5 per cent on domestic companies proposed to be reduced to 5 per cent.

· Rate of Minimum Alternative Tax proposed to be increased from 18 per cent to

18.5 per cent of book profits.

· Central Excise Duty to be maintained at standard rate of 10 per cent.

· Disinvestment in 2011-12 seen at 400 billion rupees.

· Provision of Rs 1,64,415 crore, including Rs 69,199 crore for capital expenditure to be made for Defence Services in 2011-12.

· Rs 6,000 crore to be provided during 2011-12 to enable public sector banks to maintain a minimum of Tier I CRAR of 8 per cent.

· Rs 500 crore to be provided to enable Regional Rural Banks to maintain a CRAR of at least 9 per cent as on March 31, 2012.

· Rs 5,000 crore to be provided to SIDBI for refinancing incremental lending by banks to these enterprises.

· Rs 3,000 crore to be provided to NABARD to provide support to handloom weaver co-operative societies which have become financially unviable due to non-repayment of debt by handloom weavers facing economic stress.

· Allocation under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) increased from Rs 6,755 crore to Rs 7,860 crore.

· Credit flow for farmers raised from Rs 3,75,000 crore to Rs 4,75,000 crore in 2011-12.

· Allocation of Rs 2,14,000 crore for infrastructure in 2011-12. This is an increase of 23.3 per cent over 2010-11.This also amounts to 48.5 per cent of total plan allocation.

· National Food Security Bill (NFSB) to be introduced in the Parliament during the course of this year.

· Allocation for social sector in 2011-12 (` 1,60,887 crore) increased by 17 per cent over current year. It amounts to 36.4 per cent of total plan allocation.

· Allocation for social sector in 2011-12 (` 1,60,887 crore) increased by 17 percent over current year. It amounts to 36.4 per cent of total plan allocation.

· Allocation for Bharat Nirman programme proposed to be increased by ` 10,000 crore from the current year to Rs 58,000 crore in 2011-12.

· Plan to provide Rural Broadband Connectivity to all 2,50,000 Panchayats in the country in three years.

· From 1st April, 2011, remuneration of Anganwadi workers increased from Rs 1,500 per month to Rs 3,000 per month and for Anganwadi helpers from Rs 750 per month to Rs 1,500 per month.

· Allocation for primitive Tribal groups increased from Rs185 crore in 2010-11 to Rs 244 crore in 2011-12.

· 21,000 crore allocated to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, which is 40 per cent higher than Budget for 2010-11.

· Target of providing banking facilities to all 73,000 habitations having a population of over 2,000 to be completed during 2011-2012.

· Eligibility for pension under Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme for BPL beneficiaries reduced from 65 years of age to 60 years. Those above 80 years of age will get pension of Rs 500 per month instead of ` 200 at present.

· Rs 200 crore proposed to be allocated for Green India Mission from National Clean Energy Fund.

· Rs 200 crore proposed to be allocated for launching Environmental Remediation Programmes from National Clean Energy Fund.

· Special allocation of ` 200 crore proposed to be provided for clean-up of some more important lakes and rivers other than Ganga.

· Rs 8,000 crore provided in current year for development needs of Jammu and Kashmir.

· Allocation made in 2011-12 to meet the infrastructure needs for Ladakh (` 100 crore) and Jammu region (` 150 crore).

· A new scheme with an outlay of ` 300 crore to be launched to provide assistance to States to modernise their stamp and registration administration and roll out e-stamping in all the districts in the next three years.

· A new simplified form ‘Sugam’ to be introduced to reduce the compliance burden of small tax payers falling within presumptive taxation.

Highlights of Economic Survey 2010-11

2011-02-27T12:37:00.000+05:30

The Economic Survey of India 2010-11 was tabled by the Union Finance Minister of India Pranab Mukherjee on 25 February 2011.

Here are the some of the highlights of Economic survey:

· The Survey predicted the 9% growth for Indian economy in the next fiscal and estimated 8.6 percent growth in this financial year.

· As per the survey, the inflation stood at 8.23 per cent in January 2011.

· The economic Survey of India stated that the trade gap has narrowed to over 82 billion US dollars in the first nine months of the current fiscal and gross fiscal deficit is at 4.8 per cent which is 1.5 percent less than last fiscal(6.3%).

· The Survey stated that the spending in social sector programmes increased by five percent of the GDP over past five years.

· The Survey pointed out that Forex reserves of India are estimated to be over 297 billion US dollars. This is mainly due to growth in export sector.

· Agriculture likely to grow at 5.4% in 2010-11.(For complete details Click here)

· Industrial output grows by 8.6% ; manufacturing sector registers 9.1%.

· Exports in April-December 2010 up by 29.5 %.

Quiz on Current Affairs - 2011

2011-02-11T19:56:00.001+05:30

1. Which state government has renamed the Brookside Bungalow to Rabindranath Art Gallery?

a)Mizoram b)Assam c)Meghalaya d)Uttaranchal e)none

2. Who wrote the book “India - Pakistan: Coming To Terms”?

a)Ajit Pawar b)Ashutosh Misra c)K R Narayana d)Shashi Tharoor e)none

3. Who has been elected as President of Karnataka State Cricket Association(KSCA)?

a)Rahul Dravid b)Vijay Mallya c)Javagal Srinath d)Venkates Prasad e)Anil Kumble

4. Which animal has been declared as National Heritage Animal by GOI - Elephant.

5. Which of the following nation is the recent one to join Non Aligned Movement(NAM)?

a)Fiji b)Cuba c)Iran d)Colombia e)Egypt

6. DIPP is the nodal agency in the field of foreign investments? what is the full form of DIPP - Department Of Industrial Policy and Promotion.

7. RBI was considering the proposal to set up satellite banks and ATMs to provide banking facilities to the villagers in which state?

a)Bihar b)Jharkhand c)Uttar Pradesh d)Assam e)none

8. National Voters Day is observed on _________?

a)Jan 6th b)April 1^st c)May 25^st d)Jan 25^th e)Oct 6^th

9. Which country has opened World’s first nuclear bank - Russia?

10. Minimum Support Prices(MSP) is increased based on the recommendation of ?

a)Ministry of Finance b)Ministry of Agriculture c)Agriculture Cost and Price Commission d)both a & c e)Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs

Latest General Awareness - 2011

2011-02-05T19:40:00.001+05:30

1. Who is the Time’s Magazine Person of the year 2010?

a)Sachin Tendulkar b)A R Rehman c)Manmohan Singh d)Ratan Tata e)Mark Zuckerberg

2. What is the mascot of 16^th Asian Games?

a)Shera b)Le Yangyang c)Kutumb d)Orry e)none

3. Excise Duty is a tax levied on ____?

a)Sale of goods

b)import of goods

c)export of goods

d)both b & c

e)production of goods

4. What is the present FDI limit in Telecom sector?

a)26% b)49% c)51% d)74% e)none

5. ‘Sacred Games’ is a novel written by ________?

a)Vikram Chandra b)Arundathi Roy c)Vikram Seth d)Manglaya Swinkar e)none

6. Who is the new Chairman of SEBI?

a)C.B.Bhave b)Anand Sinha c)U K Sinha d)O P Bhatt e)none

7. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is the chief guest of India’s 62^nd Republic day. He is __________?

a)President of Malaysia

b)Prime Minister of Indonesia

c)President of Yugoslavia

d)President of Indonesia

e)none

8. At Present, the number of National Political Parties in India?

a)4 b)5 c)6 d)7 e)none

9. Makhaya Ntini who has announced his retirement from International Cricket, belongs to which country?

a)West Indies b)England c)South Africa d)New Zealand e)none

10. Which is the most corrupt country according to the ranking of global corruption index, a Transparency International report?

a)India b)Pakistan c)Iraq d)Somalia e)none

List of Padma Awards - 2011

2011-01-27T11:30:00.001+05:30

Padma Awards, the country’s highest civilian awards, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The awards are given in all disciplines/ fields of activities, viz. art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.

This year President has approved 128 awards, including one duo case (‘#’counted as one) and 12 in the category of (*)Foreigners/ NRIs/ PIOs/ Posthumous. These comprise 13 Padma Vibhushan, 31 Padma Bhushan and 84 Padma Shri Awards. There are 31 ladies among the awardees.

List of Padma Vibhusan awardees:

Sl.No.	Name	Discipline	State / Domicile
1.	Dr. (Smt.) Kapila Vatsyayan	Art - Art Administration and Promotion.	Delhi
2.	Mrs. Homai Vyarawalla	Art - Photography	Gujarat
3.	Shri A Nageshwara Rao	Art- Cinema	Andhra Pradesh
4.	Shri Parasaran Kesava Iyengar	Public Affairs	Delhi
5.	Dr. Akhlaq-ur-Rehman Kidwai	Public Affairs	Delhi
6.	Shri Vijay Kelkar	Public Affairs	Delhi
7.	Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia	Public Affairs	Delhi
8.	Shri Palle Rama Rao	Science and Engineering	Andhra Pradesh
9.	Shri Azim Premji	Trade and Industry	Karnataka
10.	Shri Brajesh Mishra	Civil Services	Madhya Pradesh
11.	Prof. (Dr.) Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup	Literature and Education	Kerala
12.	Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra	Literature and Education	Orissa
13.	Late Shri L. C. Jain	Public Affairs	Delhi *

List of Padma Bhusan awardees:

Sl.No.	Name	Discipline	State / Domicile
1.	Shri Satyadev Dubey	Art - Theatre	Maharashtra
2.	Shri Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi alias Khayyam	Art - Cinema - Music	Maharashtra
3.	Shri Shashi Kapoor	Art - Cinema	Maharashtra
4.	Shri Krishen Khanna	Art - Painting	Haryana
5.	Shri Madavur Vasudevan Nair	Art - Dance - Kathakali	Kerala
6.	Ms. Waheeda Rehman	Art - Cinema	Maharashtra
7.	Shri Rudrapatna Krishna Shastry Srikantan	Art - Music-Vocal	Karnataka
8.	Ms. Arpita Singh	Art - Painting	Delhi
9.	Dr. Sripathi Panditharadhyula Balasubrahmanyam	Art - Playback Singing, Music Direction & acting	Tamil Nadu
10.	Shri C.V. Chandrasekhar	Art - Classical Dance-Bharatanatyam	Tamil Nadu
11.	Shri Dwijen Mukherjee	Art	West Bengal
12.	Smt. Rajashree Birla	Social work	Maharashtra
13.	Mrs. Shobhana Ranade	Social work	Maharashtra
14.	Dr. Suryanarayanan Ramachandran	Science and Engineering	Tamil Nadu
15.	Shri S.(Kris) Gopalakrishnan	Trade and Industry	Karnataka
16.	Shri Yogesh Chander Deveshwar	Trade and Industry	West Bengal
17.	Ms. Chanda Kochhar	Trade and Industry	Maharashtra
18.	Dr. K. Anji Reddy	Trade and Industry- Pharmacy	Andhra Pradesh
19.	Shri Analjit Singh	Trade and Industry	Delhi
20.	Shri Rajendra Singh Pawar	Trade and Industry	Haryana
21.	Dr. Gunapati Venkata Krishna Reddy	Trade and Industry	Andhra Pradesh
22.	Shri Ajai Chowdhary	Trade and Industry	Delhi
23.	Shri Surendra Singh	Civil Services	Delhi
24.	Shri M. N .Buch	Civil Services	Madhya Pradesh
25.	Shri Shyam Saran	Civil Services	Delhi
26.	Shri Thayil Jacob Sony George	Literature and Education	Karnataka
27.	Dr. Ramdas Madhava Pai	Literature and Education	Karnataka
28.	Shri Sankha Ghosh	Literature and Education	West Bengal
29.	Late Shri K. Raghavan Thirumulpad	Medicine - Ayurveda.	Kerala*
30.	Late Dr. Keki Byramjee Grant	Medicine - Cardiology	Maharashtra *
31.	Late Shri Dashrath Patel	Art	Gujarat *

List of Padma Shri awardees:

Sl.No.	Name	Discipline	State / Domicile
1.	Ms. Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry	Art - Theatre	Chandigarh
2.	Shri Makar Dhwaja Darogha	Art- Chhau Dance	Jharkhand
3.	Shri Shaji Neelakantan Karun	Art - Film Direction	Kerala
4.	Shri Girish Kasaravalli	Art - Film making	Karnataka
5.	Ms. Tabassum Hashmi Khan alias Tabu	Art - Cinema	Maharashtra
6.	Shri Jivya Soma Mase	Art - Warli Painting	Maharashtra
7.	Guru (Ms.) M.K. Saroja	Art - Dance- Bharatnatyam	Tamil Nadu
8.	Shri Jayaram Subramaniam	Art - Cinema	Tamil Nadu
9.	Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty	Art - Music-Indian Classical Vocal	West Bengal
10.	Smt. Mahasundari Devi	Art - Mithilia/ Madhubani Painting.	Bihar
11.	Shri Gajam Govardhana	Art - Handloom Weaving	Andhra Pradesh
12.	Ms. Sunayana Hazarilal	Art - Dance - Kathak	Maharashtra
13.	Shri S.R. Janakiraman	Art - Carnatic Vocal Music	Tamil Nadu
14.	Shri Peruvanam Kuttan Marar	Art - Chenda Melam- Drum concert	Kerala
15.	Smt. Kalamandalam Kshemavathy Pavithran	Art - Dance - Mohiniattam	Kerala
16.	Shri Dadi Dorab Pudumjee	Art - Puppetry	Delhi
17.	Shri Khangembam Mangi Singh	Art - Traditional Music of Manipur (Pena)	Manipur
18.	Shri Prahlad Singh Tipaniya	Art - Folk Music	Madhya Pradesh
19.	Smt. Usha Uthup	Art - Music.	West Bengal
20.	Smt. Kajol	Art- Cinema	Maharashtra
21.	Shri Irfan Khan	Art- Cinema	Maharashtra
22.	Shri Mamraj Agrawal	Social work	West Bengal
23.	Shri Jockin Arputham	Social work	Maharashtra
24.	Ms. Nomita Chandy	Social work	Karnataka
25.	Ms. Sheela Patel	Social work	Maharashtra
26.	Ms. Anita Reddy	Social work	Karnataka
27.	Shri Kanubhai Hasmukhbhai Tailor	Social work	Gujarat
28.	Shri Anant Darshan Shankar	Public Affairs	Karnataka
29.	Prof. M. Annamalai	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
30.	Dr. Mahesh Haribhai Mehta	Science and Engineering - Agricultural Science	Gujarat
31.	Shri Coimbatore Narayana Rao Raghavendran	Science and Engineering	Tamil Nadu
32.	Dr. (Mrs.) Suman Sahai	Science and Engineering	Delhi
33.	Prof.(Dr.) E.A. Siddiq	Science and Engineering - Agricultural Science	Andhra Pradesh
34.	Shri Gopalan Nair Shankar	Science and Engineering - Architecture	Kerala
35.	Shri Mecca Rafeeque Ahmed	Trade and Industry	Tamil Nadu
36.	Shri Kailasam Raghavendra Rao	Trade and Industry	Tamil Nadu
37.	Shri Narayan Singh Bhati	Civil Services	Andhra Pradesh
38.	Shri P K Sen	Civil Services	Bihar
39.	Ms. Shital Mahajan	Sports - Adventure Sports- Para Jumping	Maharashtra
40.	Ms. Nameirakpam Kunjarani Devi	Sports - Weightlifting	Manipur
41.	Shri Sushil Kumar	Sports - Wrestling	Delhi
42.	Shri Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman	Sports - Cricket	Andhra Pradesh
43.	Shri Gagan Narang	Sports - Shooting	Andhra Pradesh
44.	Smt. Krishna Poonia	Sports - Discus Throw	Rajasthan
45.	Shri Harbhajan Singh	Sports - Mountaineering	Punjab
46.	Dr. Pukhraj Bafna	Medicine - Padeatrics	Chhattisgarh
47.	Prof. Mansoor Hasan	Medicine- Cardiology	Uttar Pradesh
48.	Dr. Shyama Prasad Mandal	Medicine - Orthopaedic	Delhi
49.	Prof. (Dr.) Sivapatham Vittal	Medicine - Endocrinology	Tamil Nadu
50.	Prof. (Dr.) Madanur Ahmed Ali	Medicine - Gastroenterology	Tamil Nadu
51.	Dr. Indira Hinduja	Medicine - Obstetrics and Gynaecology.	Maharashtra
52.	Dr. Jose Chacko Periappuram	Medicine - Cardio-Thoracic Surgery.	Kerala
53.	Prof. (Dr.) A. Marthanda Pillai	Medicine - Neurosurgery	Kerala
54.	Shri Mahim Bora	Literature and Education	Assam
55.	Prof. (Dr.) Pullella Srirama Chandrudu	Literature and Education- Sanskrit	Andhra Pradesh
56.	Dr. Pravin Darji	Literature and Education	Gujarat
57.	Dr. Chandra Prakash Deval	Literature and Education	Rajasthan
58.	Shri Balraj Komal	Literature and Education	Delhi
59.	Mrs. Rajni Kumar	Literature and Education	Delhi
60.	Dr. Devanooru Mahadeva	Literature and Education	Karnataka
61.	Shri Barun Mazumder	Literature and Education	West Bengal
62.	Dr. Avvai Natarajan	Literature and Education	Tamil Nadu
63.	Shri Bhalchandra Nemade	Literature and Education	Himachal Pradesh
64.	Prof. Riyaz Punjabi	Literature and Education	Jammu and Kashmir
65.	Prof. Koneru Ramakrishna Rao	Literature and Education	Andhra Pradesh
66.	Ms. Buangi Sailo	Literature and Education	Mizoram
67.	Prof. Devi Dutt Sharma	Literature and Education	Uttarakhand
68.	Shri Nilamber Dev Sharma	Literature and Education	Jammu and Kashmir
69.	Ms. Urvashi Butalia #	Literature and Education	Delhi
70.	Ms. Ritu Menon #	Literature and Education	Delhi
71.	Prof. Krishna Kumar	Literature and Education	Delhi
72.	Shri Deviprasad Dwivedi	Literature and Education	Uttar Pradesh
73.	Ms. Mamang Dai	Literature and Education	Arunachal Pradesh
74.	Dr. Om Prakash Agrawal	Others - Heritage Conservation	Uttar Pradesh
75.	Prof. Madhukar Keshav Dhavalikar	Others - Archeology	Maharashtra
76.	Ms. Shanti Teresa Lakra	Others-Nursing	Andaman & Nicobar
77.	Smt. Gulshan Nanda	Others - Handicrafts promotion	Delhi
78.	Dr. Azad Moopen	Social work	UAE *
79.	Prof. Upendra Baxi	Public Affairs -Legal Affairs	United Kingdom *
80.	Dr. Mani Lal Bhaumik	Science and Engineering	USA *
81.	Dr. Subra Suresh	Science and Engineering	USA *
82.	Prof. Karl Harrington Potter	Literature and Education	USA *
83.	Prof. Martha Chen	Social work	USA *
84.	Shri Satpal Khattar	Trade and Industry	Singapore *
85.	Shri Granville Austin	Literature and Education	USA *

New Current Affairs Quiz - 2011

2011-01-18T22:10:00.002+05:30

1. Recently which state has decided to set up a children's right protection commission, which will have judicial powers at par with district court - Uttarakhand.

2. What is the GDP growth of India in the second quarter of this fiscal - 8.9%.

3. Which country has became the first country to sign agreements to set up nuclear reactors in India - France.

4. Who is the new Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh - N Kiran Kumar Reddy.

5. Which country will host the 2018 FIFA World Cup - Russia.

6. Which Company has bagged the 'Golden Peacock Environment Management' award for the year 2010 - Nokia.

7. Which of the following country has offered uranium, oil, gas prospect for India - Zambia.

8. To which heavily indebted European country, European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) unveiled a 85 billion euro ($113 billion) bailout package after Greece was rescued from bankruptcy - Ireland.

9. ‘All Pakistan Muslim League’ is the new Political party launched by Pervez Musharaf.

10. Dilma Rousseff had taken over as first female president of which country- Brazil.

2010 December Current Affairs Part -II

2011-01-12T22:55:00.000+05:30

· India signed an agreement to import natural gas from Turkmenistan through an ADB-funded $7.6-billion gas pipeline passing through Pakistan and Afghanistan. Oil Minister Murli Deora signed the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) and the Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline.

· Sri Lanka has scrapped the Tamil version of its national anthem at official and state functions, a move likely to further alienate the ethnic Tamils in the country. Now the national anthem can only be rendered in the majority Sinhala language at official functions.

· Kaziranga in Assam has highest tiger density in the world.

· Iconic Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar's record-breaking ODI double century has found a place in the Time magazine's top 10 sports moments of the year.

· In order to prove its commitment to expand press freedom and the free flow of information in this digital age, US will host UNESCO's 'World Press Freedom Day' event in May 2011. UNESCO is the only UN agency with the mandate to promote freedom of expression and its corollary, freedom of the press. The theme for next year's commemoration will be "21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers”.

· Former Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar will be conferred with the prestigious Homi Bhabha Lifetime Achievement Award at the 21st Annual Conference of the Indian Nuclear Society.

· The Philippines has become the call centre capital of the world, overtaking India as the number one player in the global business outsourcing market, according to industry data and the government.

· China which spent about 580. 21 billion yuan (USD 87.25 billion) in 2009 for research and development is ranked fourth in the world after the U.S, Japan and Germany.

· Automaker Tata Motors Limited, Lucknow unit, has bagged the Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award for 2009 in the "Best of All" category. The award is instituted by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

· Despite the country's robust economic growth, the number of people living in slums is likely to cross 93 million by 2011, marking an increase of around 23 per cent since 2001. A committee set up by Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation has projected this figure.

· Russia has successfully completed the creation of the world's first international nuclear fuel bank under an agreement with the IAEA.

· A leading NRI entrepreneur, John Athwal has been chosen for the Asian of the Year 2010 Award for his outstanding success in making a Christmas decorations business into a multi-million pounds industry.

· India and Taiwan are expected to double bilateral trade to USD 10 billion by 2015 through food processing, information and communication technology and electrical engineering tie-ups.

December Current Affairs 2010

2011-01-06T22:09:00.000+05:30

· The government approved additional capital infusion of Rs 6,000 crore in 10 public sector banks with an objective to raise its holding to a minimum 58 per cent in all state-run banks. The government has already announced infusion of Rs 15,000 crore in the Budget to ensure that capital adequacy ratio of all the public sector banks increase to 7 per cent.

· The World Bank has approved a USD 45 million technical assistance loan for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to help improve its operational efficiency.

· Lt Gen A S Lamba, a senior Artillery officer, will take over as new Army Vice Chief. Lamba, replacing Lt Gen P C Bharadwaj who retired from service on November 30.

· B Saroja Devi has been chosen for the prestigious N T Rama Rao National Film Award for 2009. Noted director K Raghavendra Rao has been chosen for the B N Reddy National Film Award while media baron and film producer Ch Ramoji Rao has been chosen for the Nagireddy- Chakrapani National Award instituted by the Andhra Pradesh.

· India to provide Rs 7.83 cr in assistance to Nepal. India has stepped up efforts to boost health and educational infrastructure in Nepal, which is still reeling under the impact of the decade-long Maoists insurgency that ended in 2006, with an assistance of Rs 7.83 crore.

· Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS) was conferred with Mini Ratna status.

· World number three Novak Djokovic and the unheralded Viktor Troicki swept Serbia to an historic first Davis Cup title overturning an overnight deficit to beat nine-time winners France 3-2.

· Ace Indian marksman Gagan Narang ended the year 2010 as the number one Asian shooter, according to the latest rankings issued by Asian Shooting Confederation.

· India and the Arab Nations will soon become major trading partners, exhibiting significant improvement in two-way trade and is expected to reach $120 billion by 2010–11 and $240 billion by 2014," industry body CII today said in its report.

· India ranks fourth in Asia and tenth in the world in plant diversity.

· Saina Nehwal wins Hong Kong Super Series by defeating Shixian Wang of China to clinch her third Super Series title of the year(2010) at the Hong Kong Open.

Quiz 2010-11

2010-12-28T22:00:00.002+05:30

1. Who is the present Telecom Minister?

a)Manmohan Singh b)A Raja c)Kapil Sibal d)Sachin Pilot e)none

2. Which organization has launched ‘Awaaz Do’ with the support of GOI?

a)UNESCO b)UNICEF c)UN d)WHO e)none

3. Which Country will build country’s first industrial solar power station near Black sea?

a)Russia b)China c)India d)Japan e)none

4. Which country has supplied F-16 combat jets to Pakistan?

a)China b)Russia c)US d)France e)Britain

5. Which of the following countries has test fired intercontinental ballistic missile ‘Bulava’?

a)Russia b)China c)North Korea d)Iran e)none

6. Which country has approved world’s biggest Solar Power Project?

a)US b)India c)Britain d)China e)Russia

7. India has lifted ban on emigration clearance for employment on which of the following country?

a)Pakistan b)Australia c)Libya d)Nepal e)China

8. ‘World Food Day’ is observed on which of the following days?

a)July 16 b)September 16 c)June 16 d)October 16 e)none

9. In the recent past the name ‘Julian Assange’ has came in most of the news channels and news papers. He belongs to which of the following?

a)Facebook b)Wikipidea c)Google d)Wikileaks e)none

10. Which of the following is not a direct tax?

a)Income tax b)Wealth tax c)Corporate tax d)a,b & c e)Sales tax

Current Events - November 2010

2010-12-20T20:22:00.000+05:30

1. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has emerged as the country's largest trading partner in term of total trade exchange in the first half of 2010.

2. The Government has launched a special scheme for the health and well-being of adolescent girls as a pilot project in 200 most backward districts of the country. 'Sabla' or the 'Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Adolescent Girls' would be launched in 22 districts of Uttar Pradesh, 15 districts of Madhya Pradesh, 12 of Bihar, 12 of Sikkim, 11 districts of Maharashtra and 10 districts of Rajasthan.

3. Former Test captain Anil Kumble elected as the President of the Karnataka State Cricket Association while former pace duo of Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad were elected as Secretary and Vice President respectively.

4. Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan honoured with Teacher's People Achiever Award.

5. India and Norway joined hands to set up a centre in Chennai to protect the bio-diversity to help tackle threats of climate change.

6. India has pledged to provide a grant assistance of Rs 16.19 million to Nepal for construction of 350 tube-wells in the southern region of the country.

7. State-run Coal India has become the third most powerful Indian company with a total market capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 2,09,671.57 crore and is only lagging behind RIL and ONGC.

8. Punjab Government has brought Sain Samaj under Shagun scheme to provide financial assistance of Rs 15000 to the daughters of Sain Samaj at the time of their marriage.

9. Noted Malayalam film and stage actress Shanta Devi died.

10. Malaysia has emerged as one of the the most favourite destinations in the Asia Pacific for Indian travellers, according to a new survey.

Current Affairs Quiz 2010-11

2010-12-15T23:13:00.001+05:30

1. Who is the head of the committee constituted by Prime Minister to probe corruption in 2010 Commonwealth Games?

a)Sam Pitroda b)Shantanu Consul c)Pargat Singh d)V K Shunglu e)none

2. 2010 United Nations Climate Conference was held in ______?

a)Washington b)Geneva c)Cancun d)New York e)none

3. Which Country has launched the World’s first Synthetic jet fuel?

a)US b)France c)South Africa d)Japan e)India

4. Who won the 2010 ATP World Tour Title?

a)Rafael Nadal b)Andy Murray c)Andy Roddick d)Roger Federer e)none

5. Tertiary sector contributes maximum to Indian GDP. Tertiary sector is also known as _________ sector?

a)Banking Sector b)Primary Sector c)Secondary Sector d)Agriculture Sector e)Service Sector

6. Armando Emilio Guebuza recently visited India. He is the _______?

a)Prime Minister of Mozambique

b)President of Madagascar

c)President of Mozambique

d)Prime Minister of Madagascar

e)none

7. Who won the 2010 Mahatma Gandhi Peace Award?

a)John Brumby b)Aund San Suu Kyi c)Sheikh Hasina d)Barack Obama e)none

8. Who is the author of the book ‘The Masque of Africa’?

a)V S Naipaul b)Salman Rushdie c)K R Narayanan d)Nelson Mandela e)none

9. Which two countries have agreed to resume direct flights between their capitals for the first time in three decades?

a)India and Iran b)Egypt and Iran c)Cuba and US d)US and Iran e)none

10. Recently Shimla has been declared the fourth ‘smoking free’ city in India after Chandigarh, Kottayam and Sikkim?

November Current Affairs -2010

2010-12-07T22:37:00.000+05:30

· India has become Israel's second largest export destination after the United States, as the Jewish state focusses on tapping potential in the Asian markets.

· Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan has been named the next Maharashtra Chief Minister. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, nephew of party chief Sharad Pawar and a minister named Maharashtra's next deputy chief minister after Chhagan Bhujbal.

· Iconic Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who is set to become only the second player(After Javed Miandad) in the history of cricket to play six ODI World Cups, named the official ambassador of the event to be held in the sub-continent next year.

· Rajkumar Hirani's "3 Idiots" continued with its award-winning spree bagging top honours at the Global Indian Music Awards (GIMA) which was held in Mumbai. The movie took home the best film album.

· As part of its administrative reforms process, Punjab aims to become the first state in the country to achieve complete computerisation of land records by March 31, 2011.

· India owns over 18,000 tonnes of above ground gold stocks worth approximately $ 800 billion and representing at least 11 per cent of global stock, according to estimates of World Gold Council. In 2009, total Indian gold demand reached $ 19 billion, or Rs 974 billion, which accounts for 15 per cent of the global gold market, according to WGC.

· Noted Telugu film producer D V S Raju passed away.

· India is set to become the fastest growing major economy in the world by 2012 and will be third largest by GDP-size in the next two decades, behind China and the USA, a global study by British banking giant Standard Chartered said.

· China has overtaken US in the global supercomputing race as it has been confirmed as the creator of the world's fastest supercomputer, according to a latest survey. The Tianhe-1A, which means meaning Milky Way is capable of 2.67 quadrillions of computing operations per second, earning it the number one spot in the Top 500 list of the world's most powerful supercomputers.

· Free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Canada will help push bilateral trade to USD 15 billion in 5 years. Bilateral trade was close to USD 4.2 billion last year.

Current Affairs 2010-11

2010-11-30T23:27:00.001+05:30

1. Who has been elected as the President of Indian Newspaper Society for the year 2010-11?

a)K.N Tilak Ram b)Rakesh Sharma c)Kundan R.Vyas d)V.Shankaran e)none

2. Recently who among the following conferred with ‘Taj Enlighten Tareef Award’?

a)Leela Naidu b)Shabana Azmi c)Javed Akthar d)Both a& b e)none

3. Base Rate of banks is fixed by ______?

a)RBI b)Finance Minister c)Both a & b d)Banks e)none

4. India is the ___ Largest Producer of Vehicles in the World?

a)third b)fifth c)seventh d)second e)none of these

5. ______ is a Insurance Regulator in India?

a) TRAI b)SEBI c)BSE d)RBI e)IRDA

6. Micro Credit in India comes under ________?

a)Private Banking b)NBFC c)Rural Banking d)Cooperative Banking e)none

7. What is the present limit for money transfer in RTGS?

a)`1,00,000 b)`1,50,000 c)`2,00,000 d)`2,50,000 e)`5,00,000

8. Which is the only Asian country represented in the G-8 group?

a)India b)South Korea c)China d)Japan e)none

9. Bad Loans can be described as NPA (Non Performing Assets) in banking terminology?

10. A/c to the recent report of ADB, what is India’s urbanization rank in Asia(% of population living in urban areas)? 34th.

Gk Quiz 2010

2010-11-21T21:59:00.001+05:30

1. RBI has approved the merger of ‘Bank of Rajasthan' with ICICI bank.

2. Who got the 2010 Commonwealth Writers Prize for the book ‘Solo' - Rana Dasgupta.

3. Which day has been observed as the International Day of Older Persons(IDOP) - Oct 1st.

4. What is the India’s rank in the new Global Hunger Index by the International Food Policy Research Institute - 67.

5. ‘Gourde’ is the currency of which country?

a)Bhutan b)Haiti c)Norway d)Chile e)none

6. India has won 101 medals in 2010 Commonwealth Games. In which sport India has won maximum no. of gold medals?

a)Wrestling b)Boxing c)Shooting d)Badminton e)Weightlifting

7. Which of the following country is not elected to UNSC as a non-permanent member for a two year term on the council starting from Jan 1^st 2011?

a)India b)Kazakhstan c)South Africa d)Germany e)Portugal

8. Which of the following ministry has re-launched the PURA(Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) Scheme?

a)Ministry of Urban Development

b)Ministry of Rural Development

c)Ministry of Health & Family Welfare

d)Ministry of Finance

e)Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

9. Who among the following has been chosen for ICC Cricketer of the Year 2010?

a)Sachin Tendulkar b)A B de Villiers c)Virender Sehwag d)M S Dhoni e)none of these

10. Who won the 2010 Champions League Twenty20?

a)Mumbai Indians b)Royal Challengers Bangalore c)Warriors d)Chennai Super Kings e)none

General Awareness Quiz 76 - 2010

2010-11-16T20:03:00.003+05:30

1. Based on monthly wholesale price index (WPI), the annual rate of inflation stood at ___ percent for the month of September 2010?

a)8.51 b)5.44 c)8.6 d)11.6 e)none

2. Who is the winner of 64^th edition of Santhosh Trophy?

a)Goa b)Punjab c)Tamil Nadu d)Goa e)West Bengal

3. Who is the present Chief Minister of Jharkhand?

a)Shibu Soren b)Madhu Koda c)Arjun Munda d)Sudesh Mahto e)none of these

4. Which of the following is the first team to play 900 Test matches in cricket history?

a)Australia b)England c)India d)West Indies e)none

5. Who is the most powerful women in the world in 2010, compiled by Forbes?

a)Angela Merkel b)Indra Nooyi c)Sonia Gandhi d)Michelle Obama e)Irene Rosenfeld

6. What is the present Repo rate?

a)5.75 b)6.00 c)6.25 d)5.25 e)none

7. Howard Jacobson won the 2010 Man Booker Prize for his novel _____?

a)The Finkler Question b)The Act of Love c)Wolf Hall d)Kalooki Nights e)none

8. Recently Pranab Mukherjee has won which of the following award?

a)World’s Best Finance Minister of the year 2010

b)Asia’s Best Finance Minister of the year 2010

c)India’s Best Finance Minister of the year 2010

d)Both b & c

e)none

9. Who among the following is the world’s highest paid female athlete by Forbes magazine?

a)Maria Sharapova b)Serena Williams c)Danika Patrick d)Kim Yu-Na e)none

10. Who has become the first Indian to qualify for 2012 London Olympics?

a)Abhinav Bhindra b)Saina Nehwal c)Mary Kom d)Pankaj Advani e)Gagan Narang

11. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has released a commemorative stamp on _________?

a) J S Mohammed Ali Shihab Thangal b)Maulana Mohammad Ali c)S Ubaidur Rahman d)Syed Ahmad Khan e)none

12. Which country has won the 2010 Women's Hockey World Cup?

a)Netherlands b)England c)Germany d)Argentina e)Australia

13. What is present interest rate on Savings bank account?

a)3% b)3.25% c)3.5% d)3.75% e)4.0%

14. Who has been bagged the prestigious Akshaya Samman award for the year 2010?

a)Manna De b)Ilaiyaraja c)A R Rehman d)Hari Prasad Chaurasia e)none

15. Which of the following films has been nominated for 2011 Oscar awards in Best fim in Foreign Category?

a)Paa b)Rajneeti c)Kites d)Peepli Live e)none of these

16. Who among the following has been awarded with ‘The World Statesman Award’?

a)Manmohan Singh b)Sonia Gandhi c)Pratibha Patil d)A P J Abdul Kalam e)none

17. Who has been awarded 'Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize' 2010?

a)Nafisa Ali b)Irom Chanu Sharmila c)Jyotirmoyee Devi d)Anasuyaben Sarabhai e)none

18. Who among the following has chosen for Jnanpith Award for the year 2008?

a)O.N.V.Kurup b)Satya Vrat Shastri c)Ravindra Kelekar d)Akhlaq Khan Shahryar e)none of these

19. Who among the following has chosen for 2009 Indira Gandhi National Integration Award?

a)A R Rehman b)Balraj Puri c)Ramakrishna Mission Ashram d)Javed Akhtar e)Both a & c

20. Recently Puttaraj Gawai has been passed away. He was a famous ______?

a)Social Activist b)Hindustani Classical musician c)Journalist d)Politician e)none

Nobel Prize Winners 2010

2010-11-12T21:55:00.001+05:30

Every year since 1901 the Nobel Prize has been awarded for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and for peace. The Nobel Prize in Economics was first awarded in the year 1969. The Nobel Prize is an international award administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. Each recipient, or laureate, is presented with a gold medal, a diploma, and a sum of money which depends on the Nobel Foundation's income that year.

List of 2010 Nobel Prize Winners:

· The Nobel Prize in Peace has been given to Liu Xiaobo "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China".

· The Nobel Prize in Medicine has been given to Robert G. Edwards "for the development of in vitro fertilization".

· The Nobel Prize in Literature has been given to Mario Vargas Llosa "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat".

· The Nobel Prize in Physics has been given to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene".

· The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been given to Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki "for palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis"

· The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences has been given to Peter A. Diamond, Dale T. Mortensen and Christopher A. Pissarides "for their analysis of markets with search frictions".

Current Affairs Quiz 75 - 2010

2010-11-10T22:02:00.002+05:30

1. Which of the following Indian city has been named among the top four Livable cities in the world?

a)Mumbai b)New Delhi c)Ahmedabad d)Bangalore e)Hyderabad

2. Recntly which country has become full fledge member of Financial Action Task Force(FATF)?

a)Bangladesh b)Pakistan c)China d)India e)none

3. Which country is building the World’s largest telescope in Antarctica?

a)China b)US c)Russia d)India e)Britain

4. Who won the Next Step Foundation 2010 Award?

a)Veerappa Moily b)Sharad Pawar c)Manmohan Singh d)Sonia Gandhi e)none

5. Who has been sworn in as 59^th President of Colombia?

a)Michael Bloomberg b)Julia Gillard c)Christian Wulff d)Juan Manuel Santos e)none

6. Who has been appointed as the new vice president of ICC?

a)John Howard b)Sharad Pawar c)Alan Isaac d)Malcom Speed e)none

7. Who has been chosen for the Lal Bahadur Shastri Award for Excellence in public administration, academics and management for 2010?

a)Aditi Lahiri b)Aruna Roy c)Bharat Bhasker d)Girish Tewari e)none

8. Ravindra Kelekar has been presented the coveted 2006 Jnanpith Award for his contribution to the world in Literature. He was a famous write in which language?

a)Konkani b)Hindi c)Bengali d)Sanskrit e)none

9. Who among the following received the 2010 National Amity Award?

a)Yash Chopra b)Amir Khan c)Amitabh Bachchan d)Kareena Kapoor e)Sunil Dutt

10. Who has been conferred as Businessman of the Decade Award?

a)Narayana Murthy b)Mukhesh Ambani c)Ratan Tata d)Lakshmi Mittal e)Azim Premji

11. Which is the first state in the country to launch the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana(PMAGY)?

a)Gujarat b)Rajasthan c)Uttar Pradesh d)Bihar e)Assam

12. With which country India has inked a deal for purchase of 57 Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer Aircraft?

a)US b)Britain c)Israel d)Russia e)none

13. What is the present Retirement age of High court judges?

a)58 b)60 c)62 d)65 e)none

14. Who is the head of National Innovation Council to prepare road map for the decade of Innovation 2010-2020?

a)Kapil Sibal b)A S Murthy c)Manmohan Singh d)Sam Pitroda e)none

15. How many crores has been allocated for the Leh Cloudburst Victims?

a)50 b)75 c)100 d)125 e)150

16. ‘2010Stand Up, Take Action’ is a campaign against ______?

a)Commonwealth Games b)Poverty c)Inflation d)Per capita Income e)Illiteracy

17. The Winner of 2010 Man Booker Prize?

a)Kiran Desai b)Anne Enright c)Hillary Mantel d)Aravind Adiga e)Howard Jacobson

18. The 2010 Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit was held in ______?

a)Beijing b)Bangkok c)Seoul d)Brussels e)London

19. Which Country has won highest gold medals in XIX Common wealth Games 2010?

a)India b)China c)Australia d)Canada e)none

20. XX Commonwealth Games 2014 will be held at _____?

a)Rome b)London c)Beijing d)Glasgow e)Melbourne

Current Affairs Updates - 2010

2010-09-19T19:19:00.000+05:30

57th National Film Awards 2010:

The 57^th National film awards were announced on 16-09-2010.

Amitabh Bachchan bags his third National Award for his performance in “Paa”, previously he got for the films ‘Agneepath’(1991) and ‘Black’(2001).

List of 2010 Winners:

· Best Actor – Amitabh Bachchan for ‘Paa’.

· Best Actress – Ananya Chatterjee for Abohoman (Bengali).

· Best Director - Rituparno Ghosh for Abohoman.

· Best Film - 'Kutty Shrank'(Malayalam).

· Best Popular Film – ‘3 Idiots’.

· Best Film on Social Issues - Shyam Benegal's 'Well Done Abba'.

· Best Film on National Integration - Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's 'Dilli-6'.

· Best Music Director - Amit Trivedi for Dev D.

· Best lyrics - Swananad Kirkirey for 3 Idiots.

· Best Playback Singer (Male) - Rupam Islam.

· Best Playback Singer (Female) - Niranjana Sarkar (Housefull).

· Best Sound Engineer - Rasool Pookutty.

· Best Supporting Actor - Farooq Sheikh for 'Lahore'.

· Best Supporting Actress - Arundhati Nag for ‘Paa’.

· Best Choreography - K Shivashankar for film Magadheera.

· Best Special Effects - Kamalakannan for film Magadheera.

US OPEN 2010:

The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships is one of the four grand slam tennis tournament held every year.

List of 2010 winners:

S.no		Winners	Runners
1.	Men’s Single	Rafael Nadal(ESP)	Novak Djokovic(SRB)
2.	Women’s Single	Kim Clijsters(BEL)	Vera Zvonareva(RUS)
3.	Mixed Doubles	Liezel Huber, Bob Bryan(US)	Kveta Peschke(CZE), Aisam-Ul-Haq Quereshi(PAK)
4.	Men’s Doubles	Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan(US)	Bopanna(IND), Qureshi(PAK)
5.	Women’s Doubles	N. Petrova(RUS), L Huber(US)	Yung-Jan Chan(TPE), Jie Zheng(CHN)

Latest Current Affairs - 2010

2010-09-12T10:44:00.000+05:30

· India lags behind several developing countries in terms of doing business, but is ahead of China. It is ranked 77th in the Forbes Best Countries for Business list.

· Movie moghul D. Ramanaidu, a veteran producer with 130 films in a dozen languages in five decades, has been conferred the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2009 for rendering outstanding contribution to the world of Indian cinema.

· The Planning Commission has finalised a Rs 13,742-crore Integrated Action Plan (IAP) for Naxal-affected districts.The scope of IAP, earlier envisaged to cover 35 Naxal-affected districts, has been widened to cover governance reforms and devolution of power to grassroot institutions in 60 districts over the next three fiscal.

· Former Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman and one of the guiding lights behind India's first nuclear test, Homi Nusserwanji Sethna has died.

· The International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's concessionary lending arm, has approved a $220 million credit to support rebuilding efforts in areas affected by the 2008 Kosi floods in Bihar. The Bihar Kosi Flood Recovery Project will finance flood recovery efforts through the reconstruction of about 100,000 houses, 90 bridges and 290 kilometres of rural roads.

· Miss Mexico Jimena Navarrete, 22, was crowned Miss Universe 2010, beating off competition from 82 contestants including Miss India.

· Japan approved an $ 11 billion stimulus package to tackle deflation and shore up a recovery threatened by the surging yen, as the government heaped pressure on the central bank to do more.

· After becoming the first state to accord the status of second official language to Sanskrit, Uttarakhand has now finalised a proposal to have signboards of names of places, departments and officials in the language, a move aimed at making it popular among common people.

· Julia Gillard becomes Australia's first female and 27th prime minister prime minister.

· China successfully launched its "SinoSat-6" satellite for live radio and television broadcast from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The satellite was carried on the Long March 3B rocket which took the SinoSat-6 into a geostationary transfer orbit 26 minutes after the launch.

· Japan said it has detected its first case of an antibiotic-resistant "superbug" that surfaced in South Asia and has triggered a global health alert.

· India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was nominated as Uttarakhand's first honorary wildlife warden as part of the hill state's tiger conservation campaign.

· The Punjab government has approved a new media policy providing more facilities to journalists in the state. Under the new policy, 286 accredited journalists will get an insurance cover of Rs five lakh. The state government has also set up Rs 10 crore 'Punjab Chief Minister Relief Fund' for media persons.

· Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has been ranked second in the list of world's 10 biggest 'sustainable value creators' -- companies that have been successful in creating the most shareholder value over the last decade -- prepared by Boston Consulting Group.

· Srilanka defeated India to win the Triangular Series 2010 held in Srilanka.

· The Parliament of Sri Lanka passes the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka which removes the two-term limit on the presidency and allows him to choose the judges and commissioners monitoring elections, human rights, and other affairs.

Monetary Policy and Current Affairs of August - 2010

2010-09-05T11:35:00.002+05:30

First Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2010-11:

Monetary policy is the process by which the government, central bank of a country controls (i) the supply of money, (ii) availability of money, and (iii)cost of money or rate of interest, in order to attain a set of objectives oriented towards the growth and stability of the economy.

As expected, RBI has raised the policy rates in the first quarter review of monetary policy on 27-07-2010. This is the fourth rate hike since March this year raising the Repo by a total of 100 bps and Reverse Repo by 125 bps.

Highlights of the policy:

· Repo rates hiked by 25 bps to 5.75% with immediate effect.

· Reverse Repo rates hiked by 50 bps to 4.50% with immediate effect.

· CRR, SLR and Bank rate kept unchanged at 6%, 25% and 6%, respectively.

· Estimated for GDP growth for 2010-11 revised to 8.5% from 8%.

· Inflation projection for March 2010 increased to 6% from 5.5%.

The next mid-quarter review of Monetary Policy for 2010-11 will be announced through a press release on September 16, 2010.

The second quarter review of Monetary Policy 2010-11, including developmental and regulatory policies, is scheduled on November 2, 2010.

August Current Affairs:

· China has eclipsed Japan as the world's second-biggest economy after three decades of blistering growth that put overtaking the

U.S.

in reach within 10 years.

· Former Union Power Secretary Harishankar Brahma has been appointed as the Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India.

· Britain’s Andy Murray won the 2010 Rogers Cup over Roger Federer 7–5, 7–5 on Sunday in Toronto.

· The President Mrs. Pratibha Devisingh Patil this evening conferred the prestigious Best Parliamentarian Awards to Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, Mohan Singh and Dr. Murali Manohar Joshi at an impressive function in the Central Hall of Parliament. The Awards were given for the year 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively for their outstanding contributions to parliamentary debates.

· Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's book, "Keeping the Faith: Memoirs of a Parliamentarian", which was released by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

· The Centre cleared for implementation the Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls — known as ‘Sabla' — aimed at enhancing their nutritional and economic status. The scheme will be run along with the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) project in anganwadi centres in 200 select districts, targeting girls in the age group 11-18.

· Senior IPS officer R K Medhekar will be the new Director General of elite commando force -- National Security Guard. Medhekar, a 1975 batch officer of Kerala cadre, currently serving as Special Director General of Border Security Force. He will take over from 1972 batch IPS officer N P S Aulakh.

· Vineet Jain, Managing Director, The Times of India (TOI) Group, has been elected as the new chairman of Press Trust of India (PTI), the leading news agency of India. Jain succeeds Vjiay Kumar Chopra, Editor, Punjab Kesari Group.

· Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh launched the Green Action for National Dandi Heritage Initiative(GANDHI) project in the historic coastal village in south Gujarat. It was at Dandi that Mahatma Gandhi launched his salt Satyagraha 80 years ago.

· The postal department released a stamp(of Rs.5) in Visakhapatnam to commemorate the first death anniversary of the former chief minister late Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy.

Current Affairs July 2010(Short Answers)

2010-08-22T17:58:00.000+05:30

· Head of the Committee instituted by RBI to look into the interest rates and bank fees, charges & services – M Damodaran.

· Which committee recommended 15-20% variable component in the salary package for PSB employees, instituted by Finance minister – A K Khandelwal.

· RBI has revised the norms for __________ for giving loans to the housing and real estate segment – Urban Cooperative Banks(UCBs).

· SEBI has announced that MF distributors and agents will now need a NISM certificate to sell policies. What is the full form of NISM - National Institute of Securities Market.

· RBI has advised all banks to print IFSC on cheque leaves issued to customers. IFSC stands for- Indian Financial System Code.

India

has emerged as the ___ most preferred destination for retailers in the world - 39^th.

India

’s first Anti-submarine warfare Corvette – INS Kamorta.

· _____ banks are recently allowed by the RBI to open ATM’s at places other than their branches without prior approval – Urban Cooperative banks.

· National Florence Nightingale Award 2010 was given to – A P Subhadra.

· Government has fixed FRP of Sugarcane for the year 2010-11 at Rs. 139.12 per quintal. FRP stands for - Fair and Remunerative Price.

India

’s trade deficit during 2009-10 - $102.1 billions.

· Asian Banker Achievement award given to – SBI.

· Who is the head of the committee for comprehensive review of National Small Savings Fund(NSSF) structure , interest rates, tenor and other administrative matters – Shyamala Gopinath.

· ____ company offered to provide cloud computing solutions t Rural Banks – Polaris.

· Chairman of RBI working group on BPLR on the basis of which Base Rate System is slated to switch over by the banks – Deepak Mohanty.

Current Events in July 2010

2010-08-15T11:50:00.001+05:30

Symbol of Indian Rupee:

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the design, which includes both the Devnagiri 'Ra' and the Roman capital 'R' and has two parallel lines running at the top. The parallel lines symbolize the equal to sign. With this

India

will join an elite group of countries (like the US dollar, euro, British pound and Japanese yen) which have a distinct currency symbol. The symbol selected has been designed by an Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay postgraduate D Udaya Kumar

and was selected from among five short listed symbols. Kumar, who will join the Department of Design at IIT Guwahati on Friday, explained that the design is based on the Indian Tricolour. His entry was chosen from 3,000 designs competing for the currency symbol. He will get an award of Rs 2.5 lakh. All new notes will now bear the symbol.

Events in the month of July 2010

1. First Country in Latin America to legalize same sex marriage –

Argentina

2. With which country

India

held the first ever “2+2 dialogue” to intensify counter terrorism and anti-piracy cooperation –

Japan

3. Which country has agreed to supply Hawk pilot-trainer aircraft to

India

valued a about 700 million pounds($1.1 billion) –

Britain

4. The most popular Asian Destination – Taj Mahal.

5. According to the new International Multi Dimensional poverty Index (MPI), about _______ of

India

’s population are poor – 645 million people.

6. Which state has banned the use of plastic carry bags all over the state – Rajasthan.

7. Who is the only cricketer to take 800 wickets in the history Test matches – Muttiah Muralitharan.

8. The fourth Pakistani to be inducted formally into the ICC Cricket hall of fame – Imran Khan.

9. Which team has regained the 63^rd Rangaswamy Cup Senior National Men’s Hockey Championship – Mumbai.

10. In the Q1 Review of Monetary Policy 2010-11, RBI has revised the GDP growth for 2010-11 from 8% to ____ - 8.5%.

11. With which Organization India signed the loan and credit agreement worth of $268.15 million – World Bank.

12. The Best Public Sector Bank Award – Punjab National Bank.

13. To Whom the Lokmanya Tilak Award 2010 has been given for the contribution of Politics – Sheila Dikshit.

14. Who is the new President of Poland – Bronislaw Komorowski.

15. Who has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Slovakia - Iveta Radicova.

16. Roza Otunbayeva has became the first ever woman head of which country in Central Asia –

Kyrgyzstan

17. Who has been sworn in as

Germany

’s youngest and the tenth President – Christian Wulff.

18. Who is the the New Chief Election Commissioner – Qureshi S Y.

19. Which country has became the World Number One in Latest FIFA Rankings –

Spain

20. Who is the new President of International Cricket Council – Sharad Pawar.

Current Affairs June 2010 - III

2010-08-01T13:56:00.000+05:30

· Delhi is set to get the country's first commercial waste-to-power plant of 16 MW capacity that will convert one third of Capital's garbage into much-needed electricity for six lakh homes.

Finland

has emerged as the most prosperous country in the world after an extensive survey conducted by the Legatum Prosperity Index, which claims to be the world's only global assessment of wealth and wellbeing.

Switzerland

, one of the world's most popular tourist spots, grabbed the second slot in the index. Among 104 countries,

India

is ranked at no. 45.

· Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal continued her rampaging form as she completed a spectacular hat-trick of titles by clinching the Indonesia Open Super Series with a straight-game triumph over Japan's Sayaka Sato in Jakarta. This was Saina's third successive title, having won the Indian Open Grand Prix at home and the Singapore Open Super Series Tournament.

Russia

launched the second of three stealth frigates for the Indian Navy under USD 1.6 billion deal inked in July 2006. The first of three Project 11356 (modified Krivak III) frigates, named the Teg (Sword), was launched in last November. The third frigate, Trikand (Bow) is due to be delivered in 2011-12. The new frigates, also known as Talwar class, will be armed with eight BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles. They will be also equipped with a 100-mm gun, a Shtil surface-to-air missile system, two Kashtan air-defence gun/missile systems, two twin 533-mm torpedo launchers, and an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) helicopter. Earlier, Russia's Baltiisky Zavod shipyard had built three stealth frigates of the same class - INS Talwar, INS Trishul and INS Tabar.

India

extended the ban on import of milk and milk products from China for another six months, according to the foreign trade office.

· The government restructured the existing 10-year-old village self-employment scheme on the recommendations of various committees to rectify shortcomings pointed out by studies. Under the new plan for the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), the scheme has been renamed as National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and it would aim at reducing poverty through promotion of diversified and gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities.

· An innovative programme of Gujarat government aimed at easy governance has won a prestigious award instituted by the United Nations. The statewide Attention on Grievances with Application of Technology (SWAGAT) programme has won the United Nations Public Service Award (UNPSA).

· A 15-year-old title drought came to an end as India won the Asia Cup cricket tournament after crushing defending champions

Sri Lanka

· American John Isner outlasted Frenchman Mahut to win 6-4 3-6 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-3) 70-68 in the longest match in history, taking 11 hours and five minutes over three days.

· The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has added island nation Tuvalu located in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Australia as its 187th member.

India

's leading industrialist Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata Group, has been conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Law for his role in producing the world's cheapest car Nano.

· Sachin Tendulkar will be conferred Indian Air Force's honorary rank of Group Captain and the star cricketer said he is proud to be associated with the "dynamic" IAF.

New Zealand

has acquired the distinction of being the world's most peaceful nation for the second year running, according to the Global Peace Index.

· The G8 summit has agreed to provide a further $5bn (£3.3bn) over five years towards improving the health of mothers and young children in the developing world.

· The World Bank said its total lending to India will touch $9.3 billion for the fiscal ending June this year. The total expected lending this year includes $2.6 billion in interest-free credit and $6.7 billion in the form of a long-term, low interest loan.

· Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily has announced National Litigation Policy to reduce pendency and delay in cases which Central Government is a party. The policy aims at reducing government litigation in courts so that the valuable court time is spent on resolving other pending cases so as to achieve the goal in national legal mission to reduce average pendency time from 15 years to 3 years.

Myanmar

’s dissident political leader Aung San Suu Kyi has become the first recipient of the new Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Award for democracy instituted by the Pakistan People’s Party in the memory of the slain former premier.

· The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has assured banks it will keep agriculture loans outside the base rate ambit. The base rate guidelines, issued in April, had barred lending below base rate, except for three categories: loans to banks’ own employees, loans against deposits and small-ticket borrowers under the differential interest rate (DRI) scheme. The addition of the fourth category means agriculture loans can also be priced below the base rate.

· Freedom fighter and socialist leader Kanduri Charan Mallick died.3

India

on Friday expressed confidence to achieve trade target of 30 billion dollars with Republic of Korea (ROK) by 2014.

Central Bank Of India PO GK Paper-2010

2010-07-28T20:10:00.002+05:30

1. India has an agreement with which country regarding distribution of Indus river water?

Ans :

Pakistan

2. Which one of the following is an award given by UNO?

Ans: Kalinga Prize(UNESCO)

3. Which one of the following is associated with cricket?

Ans: No Ball

4. Which one of the following is a trophy associated with Hockey?

Ans: Rangaswamy cup.

5. Who won the Hockey world cup held in India this year?

Ans: Australia

6. Which one of the following is not related to Banking?

Ans: Radiation

7. The government has decided to provide new banking license. Which body in India issues license for banking?

Ans: RBI

8. Moorti Devi Award is given in the field of?

Ans: Literature

9. India recently applied for ___ billion SDR. SDR is associated with?

Ans: IMF

10. Surjit Patter is famous _____ poet?

Ans: Punjabi

11. Indira Gandhi Canal is in which state?

Ans: Rajasthan

12. What is the full form of NAV usually used by Mutual Fund companies?

Ans: Net Asset Value

13. What is RBI’s GDP growth prediction for the fiscal 2010-11?

Ans: 8%

14. 34th National Games will be held in which state?

Ans: Jharkhand

15. When is World Water Day celebrated?

Ans: 22nd March

16. Which of the following is used in nuclear reactor?

Ans: Uranium

17. Which company is not under defence ministry?

Ans: BHEL

18. India recently signed an agreement for supply of LNG with the country which is the largest producer of LNG in the world?

Ans: Qatar

19. Which one of the following is a not a missile developed by India?

Ans: Pinaka (is a rocket launcher)

20. Which country is not on the list of high industrial production countries?

Ans: IRAN

21. Who is the director of the movie”Oye Lucky Lucky Oye”?

Ans: Dipankar Banerjee

22. USA recently passed a resolution for protection of nuclear assets throughout the world. Which one of the following is an step taken by US in this regard?

Ans: Organized a nuclear security summit

23. The insurance by banks is better known as?

Ans: Bankassurance

24. Which one of the following is not related to finance?

Ans: Convergence(Don’t know exactly)

25. Sandra bullock has been awarded with Oscar in which category?

Ans: Best Actress.

26. RBI recently hiked the CRR by 25 basis point ?What will be the effect?

Ans: Banks have to deposit more money with RBI

27. ADAG companies were in news recently for making good profits. ADAG companies is better known as?

Ans: Reliance Companies

28. Other than CO2 which gas found in water has become a threat to living beings?

Ans: Methane(found in sea and marshy areas)

29. Ajit Wadekar has been recently honored with?

Ans: None of these

30. Who is the head of 19th Law Commission?

Ans: PV Reddy

31. What is the definition of Mutual fund?

Ans: ?

32. Who is the writer of SOLE?

Ans: Rana Gupta

33. In ONGC OPL….OPL stands for?

Ans: Oil Prospecting License

34. Vinda Karindakar is a famous personality in the field of?

Ans: Literature

35. Commonwealth Games will be held in which country this year?

Ans: India

36. Plain vanilla currency option is associated with which instrument?

Ans: Forex(Don’t know exactly)

37. India recently decided to soften the FDI norms? Which body in India is the regulatory body for FDI?

Ans: Finance Ministry (Not sure??)

38. Who won the National Women’s Football Cup 2010?

Ans: ?

39. What is the effect of increase in Repo Rate?

Ans:?

Bank PO Interview Questions - 2010

2010-07-18T11:29:00.002+05:30

Corporation Bank Interview Experience(28-06-10) - I

· The list of Questions that were asked in the three Men Interview

· Tell me something about yourself apart from the details given in the Bio-Data

· Why do you want to join bank?

· What is Banking? How is it different from Saving Bank of Post Office?

· Difference between Karnataka and Jharkhand Economy? (as I am from Jharkhand)

· Today’s Headlines?

· Similarity between

USA

and

India

in-terms of Economy?

· How many bank exams have you appeared for?

· Do you know the costing of Civil Engineering?

· What are your hobbies?

· What is NEFT?

· What is the difference between million and a billion?

· What is the buzzing word of

India

’s economy?

· What action is the RBI taking? What is the final impact on the Economy?

Submitted by Alfred.

Corporation Bank Interview Experience – II

· You have done Chemical Engg and worked in RIL, then why do you want to join a bank?

· What do you know about Corporation Bank?

· What are the functions of RBI?

· Do you have any account in any bank. Which type of account and what is the interest rate payable on it?

· What is the difference between Savings account and Current Account?

· What are your strengths and weaknesses?

· What is a debit card and what all can be done with it?

· What is your family background?

· Are you willing to work anywhere in

India

Allahabad Bank PO Interview Experience

· Tell me something about yourself?

· Why do you want to join a bank as you are a chemical engineer and worked in 2 good companies?

· If in a rural branch in which you are posted, someone asks you for loan or money on gunpoint what will you do?

· What is a Bank?

· What are various activities and functions in a bank?

· What is Distillation?

· What is Coal Tar?

· Your Hobby is reading Bhagavad gita. What do you read in it?

· Cite some slokas from Bhagvad Gita?

· How can you say that banking sector is fast growing?

Submitted by Karun Dhamija.