Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Explanation: The
Asian
Football
Confederation inducted 10 continental
superstars in its Hall of Fame in Manila
on 30 November 2014. The awards
were awarded by FIFA Chief Sepp
Blatter. Bhutia joined Irans legendary
Ali Daei and Saudi Arabias Sami Al
Jaber in the Hall of Fame. Other
prominent players to be inducted in
AFCs Hall of Fame included Harry
Kewell, regarded as one of Australias
finest football exports to Europe, thanks
to a successful career with Englands
Leeds United and Liverpool.
December 2, 2014
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5) Which
application
software
company was chosen by the ICC as its
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December 3, 2014
respiratory problems, immune and
neurological disorders. Some children
born to survivors have mental or
physical disabilities. Union Carbide
was sued by the Indian government
after the disaster and agreed to pay an
out-of-court settlement of $470 million
in damages in 1989. Union Carbide
was later acquired in 2001 by Dow
Chemical Company.
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Ratio
(CRR)
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December 4, 2014
children in government schools are
being provided free mid-day meals
and the efficacy of the Public
Distribution Scheme (PDS) which is
meant to provide poor families access
to subsidized grain. The two judges
who will handle these cases every
Friday are Justice Madan B Lokur and
Justice UU Lalit.
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Explanation: 50
railway
stations
made available for privatized clean-up
are Nasik Road, Solapur, Jalgaon,
Howrah, Sealdah, Bhagalpur, Patna,
Mughalsarai, Gaya, Visakhapatnam,
Bhubaneswar, Puri, New Delhi, Delhi,
Varanasi,
Lucknow,
Ludhiana,
Allahabad, Kanpur, Jhansi, Gorakhpur,
Lucknow Jn, Kathgodam, Rangiya,
New Bongaigaon, Kishanganj, Jaipur,
Jodhpur, Ajmer, Chennai Central,
Egmore,
Trivandrum
Central,
Secunderabad, Vijayawada, Tirupati,
Kharagpur, Tatanagar, Ranchi, Raipur,
Bilaspur, Drug, Hospet, Vasco-DaGama, Belgaum, Mumbai Central
Main, Bandra Terminus, Vadodara,
Bhopal, Jabalpur and Kota. The
Railways have stipulated the contract
should be given to a single agency
and there should be no mixed system
of management, a move to help fix
accountability. The work will also cover
rag-picking, disinfection, pest and
rodent control, garbage collection, and
segregation of waste and disposal.
Explanation: Indias
rank
has
improved from 94th last year to 85th this
year in the Corruption Perception
Index (CPI) report by TII. Indias score
stood at 38 as compared to 36 last
year. In Indias neighbourhood, China
moved to 100th place, down from
80th last year, while Pakistan and
Nepal
were
at
126th position.
Bangladesh was 145th and Bhutan
30th in the ranking. Sri Lanka was
ranked 85thwith India. Afghanistan was
at a bleak 172. Denmark retained its
position as the least corrupt country in
2014 with a score of 92 while North
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December 5, 2014
1) Eminent jurist and former Supreme
Court judge Justice Krishna Iyer
passed away on 4 December 2014 at
the age of 100 in Kochi. Apart from
being one of the foremost legal
luminary India has produced, what
was a special fact associated with
him? In between his legal practice
he also joined politics and became
an MLA of Kerala Assembly
Explanation: He became a member
of the Madras Legislative Assembly in
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the
Thirty
Metre
Telescope (TMT). This telescope will
be established at which place?
Hawaii (US)
Explanation: Institutions from the
USA, India, Canada, Japan and China
are participating in the construction of
the worlds largest telescope on Mount
Mauna Kea. This telescope, 4207 m
above sea level, may cost more than
$1.47 billion. TMT will contain 492
hexagonal mirror segments of 82
different kinds. These will behave like
a single mirror with an aperture of 30
metre diameter. This large collecting
area of 650 square metres is thrice as
sensitive as the Hubble Space
Telescope. Indias role will primarily be
to create the control systems and
software that keep the mirrors aligned
and collects the data. This project was
rapidly cleared by the Union Cabinet
and India has agreed to spend Rs.
1299.8 crores over the next decade for
this project. Besides learning about the
universe, India will gain the technology
to manufacture fine aspherical mirror
segments from the California Institute
of Technology (Caltech).
December 6, 2014
2012 the RBI had allowed corporates
to set up white label ATMs to increase
the penetration of ATMs in several
areas of the country. These ATMs are
being operated by non-banking
corporates and organisations and are
providing ATM services to customers
of all banks.
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its
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December 9, 2014
The India edition of Huffington Post
thus
becomes
its
13th edition
worldwide. This edition has been
launched in association with which
Indian media company? The Times
of India Group
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1) Which
Indian
drug
company
launched in India the first biosimilar
version of the anti-inflammatory
medicine Adalimumab, the worlds topselling drug, at a fifth of its U.S. price
on 9 December 2014? Cadila
Healthcare Ltd
Explanation: Adalimumabs branded
version is sold under the name
Humira by U.S. firm AbbVie Inc, and
costs $1,000 for a vial in the United
States. Cadila Healthcare launched
cheaper copy of this drug at a price of
$200 a vial in India and named it
Exemptia. Adalimumab is used for
treating diseases such as rheumatoid
arthritis, juvenile
idiopathic
arthritis, psoriatic
arthritis,
and ankylosing spondylitis. Biosimilars
are cheaper copies of biotech drugs
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first-of-its-kind
airline
co-branded
corporate card for owners of small and
medium enterprises (SMEs) and their
employees, as announced by Jet on 9
December
2014?
American
Express
Explanation: The card is named Jet
Airways American Express Corporate
Card and will help SMEs and their
executives to drive substantial savings
on business travel and associated
expenses. Any SME with an annual
turnover of Rs. 5 crore or more can
apply for the card, which allows them
to make the most of every business
expense they incur on either travel,
hotel stays or dining with business
associates. It allows SMEs to get
accelerated rewards and discounts on
purchasing tickets from Jet Airways
and also on Taj Group of hotels.
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Explanation: The
index
were
prepared after examining the volume
of terrorist and rebel alerts, messaging
traffic, videos, photos, incidents and
the number of killed and injured in a
country over the past 30 days. The
other countries in the top 10 are
Nigeria (second), Somalia (third)
followed by Afghanistan (fourth),
Yemen (fifth), Syria (sixth), Libya
(seventh), Pakistan (eighth), Egypt
(ninth) and Kenya (tenth). There are a
total of 45 countries with a CTI greater
than zero.
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in 2007-08 and further to 2% in 200809 after the introduction of ValueAdded Tax (VAT). The Centre had
then promised the states that it would
bear losses due to reduction of CST.
The Centre collects CST and
distributes it among states. Rs.11,000
crore is one-third of the total CST
compensation proposed to be paid to
the States.
4) Mukesh
Ambani
led-Reliance
Industries Limited (RIL) announced
selling 49% stake in its iconic textile
brand Vimal to which Chinese textile
company? Shandong Ruyi Science
& Technology Group
Explanation: Shandong Ruyi Science
& Technology Group is $3 billion
Chinese textile major and it is
purchasing 49% stake in Vimal for an
undisclosed amount. It has its own
major worldwide brands such as Harris
Tweed and Taylor & Lodge. Selling
this stake would be nostalgic for RIL
as it was the first business under
Reliance group. Reliance founder late
Dhirubhai Ambani had established the
Vimal manufacturing plant at Naroda
in Ahmedabad in 1966. The brand
Vimal was named after his elder
brother Ramaniklals son. Vimal
started as a saree brand and later
focused on suiting fabrics in the earlynineties. But it got swamped by
competition such as Raymond,
Siyaram, S Kumars, Digjam and
OCM. These players notched up better
brand recall with more ad spending.
The stake sale is being done as the
focus of RIL shifted to its other
businesses with much higher margins
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arrest
comes
as
a
major
embarrassment to the West Bengals
ruling party which had already suffered
a battering of its image on account of
several of its leaders involved in
various Ponzi scams. Madan Mitra is
holding which portfolio in West Bengal
Govt.? Transport Minister
Explanation: CBI stated that Madam
Mitra was arrested on prima facie
evidence of criminal conspiracy,
cheating and misappropriation as well
as deriving undue financial benefits
from the Saradha Scam. Mitra was
earlier summoned by the agency on
21 November 2014. However, since
he was admitted to a city hospital he
sought exemption from appearing
before the CBI. His arrest comes three
weeks after the CBI arrested
Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Srinjoy
Bose in the Saradha scam.
5) Which Crimean leaders presence
on the occasion of Russian President
Vladimir Putins state to India created
buzz with the Ukrainian President and
some Western leaders flaying his
presence? Sergey Aksyonov
Explanation: Sergey
Aksyonov,
previously an obscure nationalist
politician, was elected leader of
Crimea in a closed session of the
regional parliament after Russian
forces in February 2014 took control of
the Crimean peninsula in a bloodless
operation.
He
masterminded
a
quickfire referendum to join Russia
that was recognised by Moscow. Kiev
and the West felt that this referendum
was rigged. Aksyonovs presence in
India created a flutter in diplomatic
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1) Which
country
won
the
th
35 Champions
Trophy
Hockey
(Mens) by winning the final held on 14
December 2014? Germany
Explanation: Germany
defeated
Pakistan in the final by 2-0 to win their
tenth Champions Trophy title. This
edition of Champions Trophy was held
at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar
(Odisha) and eight teams took part in
it. Australia has won Mens Champions
Trophy for the highest 13 times
followed by Germany (10 times).
Champions Trophy is one of the most
prestigious tournaments of mens
hockey as all the top teams take part
in it. It was founded by Pakistans Air
Marshal Nur Khan in 1978.
2) What was Indias position in
35th Champions
Trophy
Hockey
on
14
3) Negotiators
from
over
190
countries, including India, on 14
December 2014 adopted a format for
national pledges to cut global carbon
emissions at the United Nations
Climate Change Conference (COP20)
held at Lima (Peru). This ended a
deadlock between rich and poor
countries to agree on a new ambitious
and binding deal to be signed in Paris
in 2015. The proposed climate control
deal is to come into effect from which
year? 2020
Explanation: The deal, dubbed the
Lima Call for Climate Action, paves the
way for what is envisioned as the
historic agreement in environmental
history. The draft approved in the deal
mentioned only that all pledges would
be reviewed a month ahead of
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focusing on
management.
support
for
waste
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1) In an important development, a
major deadlock between the Centre
and the States was broken on the
issue of Goods and Services Tax
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3) The
14th Finance
Commission
submitted its report to the President on
15 December 2014. The commission
headed by former RBI Governor
Y.V.Reddy has been constituted for
which period for which it submitted its
report? 1 April 2015 to 31 March
2020
Explanation: The
14th Finance
Commission was constituted by the
President on 2 January 2013 and was
to give its report by October 31 this
year. But its tenure was extended till
31 December. In this report the
commission gave its views on the
devolution of tax receipts from the
Centre to the states between 1 April
2015 and 31 March 2020. The
Commission had sought two more
months
to
examine
financial
projections and carry out consultations
with the Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana governments. It was also
asked to look into the issue of Goods
and Services Tax (GST). The
commissions terms of reference also
included the pricing of public utilities
such as electricity and water in an
independent manner and the sale of
non-priority public-sector units.
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5) Whose
appointment
as
the
th
19 Surgeon General of the United
States was confirmed by the Senate
on 15 December 2014 and he would
thus become the first person of Indian
origin to hold this prestigious post?
Vivek H. Murthy
Explanation: Vivek
H.
Murthys
appointment was confirmed by the
upper house of US Congress by 51
votes to 43. This confirmation came
more than a year after President
Barack Obama had nominated him to
this top administration post on public
health issues in November 2013. 37year old Murthy would also become
the youngest person to hold this post.
He was born to parents who are
originally from South India. He came to
the United States when he was three
years old and grew up in Miami,
Florida. Murthy is a Hospitalist
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Explanation: Nawaz
Sharif
announced lifting up of the moratorium
on capital punishment and approval for
the implementation of death penalty to
any and all of captives who have been
involved in terrorism or militancy. The
announcement was made in an all
party meet held in the Governor House
that was led by the PM Nawaz Sharif
and attended by all parties like PMLN, PTI,
PPP, ANP, MQM and
also Jamaat-e-Islami. 3 day national
mourning is being observed in the
country after Taliban militants killed
over 130 people nearly all of them
children, at a school in the
northwestern city of Peshawar.
2) Which prominent countrys currency
came under tremendous crisis on 16
December 2014 as the price collapsed
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2) In an important development on 19
December 2014 Indian scientists
claimed achieving self-reliance in
development of which armament after
successfully testing it? Glide Bomb
Explanation: Glide Bomb relies on
small control surfaces which direct the
weapon towards a target as it
progressively loses altitude after being
released from an aircraft. Unlike
missiles, glide bombs have no
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Explanation: RBI
is
looking
at
removing the two-factor authentication
requirement
for
small
value
transactions
up
to Rs. 3,000
to
facilitate easy transactions especially
in
the
wake
of
e-commerce
transactions gaining traction.
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Bank
report
of
2012
titled
Government-Sponsored
Health
Insurance in India: Are You Covered?
estimated that over 30 crore people, or
more than 25% of the population,
gained access to some form of health
insurance by 2010, up from 5.5 crore
during 2003-04. More than 18 crore of
them were people below the poverty
line. World Bank report found that from
2007 to 2012, government-sponsored
schemes contributed to a significant
increase in the population covered by
health insurance, at a pace possibly
unseen elsewhere in the world.
National
Rural
Employment
Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) job
cards
- Scheduled Caste (SC) and
Scheduled
Tribe
(ST)
farm
households were over-represented
among the poorest classes with the
smallest land holdings
- Large farmers were almost
exclusively OBC or forward caste
- Wheat is the most commonly
grown crop in the first half of the
year
- Paddy growing dominates the
second half
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Elano
Blumer (Chennaiyin FC)
Explanation: Brazilian striker Elano
scored eight goals in 11 matches,
apart from one assist and thus
grabbed the Golden Boot award. In
goal scoring he is followed by FC
Goas Mirosalv Slepicka (five goals/
four assists, 10 games), Kerala
Blasters Iain Hume (five/ three, 16),
Delhi Dynamos Gustavo Santos (five/
two, 15) and ATKs Fikru Lemessa
(five/ two, 11). The Golden Glove
Award for best goalkeeper was
awarded to FC Goas goalkeeper Jan
Seda who topped with 40 saves/
his team.
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BigDecisions.com
Explanation: BigDecisions.com is a
Mumbai-based financial education
website. It was founded by former Citi
banker and IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus
Manish Shah in 2013 by tying up with
a former-Arthur Andersen and KPMG
consultant-turned-techie-turnedinsurance professional Gaurav Roy. It
is worth mentioning that News-Corp
had picked up a strategic stake in
PropTiger.com, a leading residential
real estate platform, another Indian
website just a month ago.
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2) Jharkhand
got
first
stable
government since it was formed in
2000 when the results for states
Assembly Elections were declared on
23 December 2014. BJP-led coalition
was able to win 42 seats out of total 81
seats in Jharkhand Assembly. BJP
won 37 seats on its own while its
coalition partner was able to win 5
seats. What is the name of BJPs
coalition partner? All Jharkhand
Students Union (AJSU)
Explanation: AJSU was formed in
1986 and was modelled after All
Assam Students Union (AASU) of
Prafulla Mahanta. It is led by Sudesh
Mahto. Party won 5 seats despite
Sudesh Mahto losing from his Silli seat
which he represented for around 15
years. The ruling Jharkhand Mukti
Morcha (JMM) won 19 seats and its
partner in government Congress won
6 seats. While BJP numbers more
than doubled from 18 in 2009 to 37
this
election,
JMMs
numbers
improved by one from 18 to 19 despite
the loss of government. Chief Minister
Hemant Soren won from Barhait by a
good margin of 24,087 votes while lost
in Dumka by a 5,262 votes. Jharkhand
Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) of former
Chief Minister Babulal Marandi won 8
seats. Jharkhand has seen a long
series of unstable politics since it was
formed 14 years ago in 2000. It has
seen nine governments and three
stints of Presidents rule in these 14
years.
Party Name (No. of Seats out of 81)
Bharatiya Janata party ( 37 )
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha ( 19 )
Jharkhand Vikas Morcha
(Prajatantrik) ( 8 )
Indian National Congress ( 6 )
All Jharkhand Students Union
(5)
Bahujan Samaj Party ( 1 )
Others ( 5 )
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signed by
medallion.
the
President
and
Explanation: The
Treaty
was
negotiated at a global conference
under the auspices of the United
Nations from July 227, 2012, in New
York. Later the UN adopted it on 2
April 2013. It has been signed by 130
countries while 61 countries ratified it.
The ATT is part of a larger global effort
begun in 1997 by Costa Rican
President and 1987 Nobel Peace Prize
laureate Oscar Arias. However, India
is not a signatory of ATT as it feels
that the Treaty is weak on terrorism
and non-state actors and these
concerns find no mention in the
specific prohibitions of the Treaty.
Further, India said that it cannot
accept the Treaty as it could be used
as an instrument in the hands of
exporting states to take unilateral force
majeure measures against importing
states parties without consequences. It
is generally perceived that ATT would
not be able to disarm the world at it
merely puts responsibility on the
sellers of arms for their end use.
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good
governance
through
improvement
in
their
services.
However, some controversy was also
created as a circular pertaining to this
had stated that December 25 will be a
working day (for the government) as
Good Governance Day will be
observed. The principal opposition
party, the Congress, criticized the BJP
government
for
setting
Good
Governance Day on the same date as
Christmas, and for declaring this date
as a government working day.
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4) The
Parliamentary
Standing
Committee on Labour that looked into
the changes proposed in the Factories
Amendment Bill, 2014 tabled its report
in the Parliament during December
2014. One of the most important
suggestions of this committee is that
labour courts be set up within the
factory complex for on-the-spot
disposal of complaints/grievances.
Who headed this committee?
Virendra Kumar, BJP MP
Explanation: The Committee also
suggested that all factory workers be
controlled
by
the
Labour
Commissioner concerned and a
periodical audit by an independent
agency should be conducted to certify
compliance. The Committee did not
accept the amendment to raise the
threshold limit of employment (for
falling under the purview of the
Factories Act) from 10 to 20 workers
(in case of factories using power) and
from 20 to 40 workers (in case of
factories not using power). The
Factories Amendment Bill, 2014 one of
the key labour reforms being pushed
by the Narendra Modi Government,
was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 7
August 2014. It was referred to the
Parliamentary Standing Committee by
the Speaker for examination.
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2) IFCI to
Company
become
Government
Background
Industrial Finance Corporation of India
was set up in 1948 as a Statutory
Corporation under the Industrial
Finance Corporation Act, 1948. IFCI
Ltd was registered under the
Companies Act, 1956 on 31.03.1993.
The
current
shareholding
of
Government of India in IFCI is 47.93
percent. Therefore, IFCI is not a
Government
Company
as
its
shareholding is less than 51 as per
section 2(45) of the Companies Act,
2013. A contribution of Rs. 60 crore to
the capital of the company would raise
the shareholding of the Government to
51 percent.
Rehabilitation
Act2013,
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