Current Affairs Question Bank - Amazon Web Servicesmedia.careerlauncher.com.s3.amazonaws.com/clzone/apps...20. Scientist known for his ‘Test tube baby’ discovery is: (a) Roberts

Current Affairs Question Bank© LST 2010Replication or other unauthorised use of this material is prohibitedby the copyright laws of India

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1. Vishwanathan Anand won the world chesschampionship by defeating Veselin Topalovwho belongs to:(a) Russia (b) Hungary(c) Poland (d) Bulgaria

2. The Present chief justice of India is:(a) K.G. Balkrishnan(b) S.H. Kapadia(c) Y.S. Sabharwal(d) R.C. Lohati

3. Which state has made voting compulsory inlocal body elections?(a) Madhya Pradesh(b) Uttar Pradesh(c) Gujarat(d) Maharashtra

4. Recently ICICI bank acquired :(a) Bank of Maharashtra(b) Bank of Rajasthan(c) State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur(d) South Indian Bank

5. The agitation of Naga students disruptednormalcy in which state?(a) Tripura (b) Meghalaya(c) Manipur (d) Arunchal Pradesh

6. Khel Ratna Award 2010 was given to:(a) Mahendra Singh Dhoni(b) Vijendra Singh(c) Sushil Kumar(d) Saina Nehwal

7. Who is not in the list of Forbe’s world’s 30most inspiring women ?(a) Arundhati Roy (b) Sonia Gandhi(c) Indira Nooyi (d) Mother Teresa

8. The name of the British Prime Minister is:(a) David Miliband (b) David Comeroon(c) Tony Blair (d) Gordon Brown

9. The interim President of Hockey India is:(a) M.S. Gill (b) Vidya Stokes(c) Sharad Pawar (d) K.P.S. Gill

10. Virus H1N1 is responsible for:(a) Bird Flu (b) Swine Flu(c) Common Flu (d) Herpes

11. The Srilankan player who recently announcedhis retirement from test cricket is :(a) Muttiah Muralitharan(b) M. Attapattu(c) Dilshan(d) Malinga

12. Deep water horizon recently in news is thename of :(a) Oil Rig(b) Space Shuttle(c) Communication Satellite(d) Remote Sensing Satellite

13. Name of the space shuttle which completedits last mission to International space station:(a) DELTA (b) Atlantis(c) Endeavour (d) Columbia

14. Person who conquered Everest for 20th timeis:(a) Apa Sherpa(b) Chewang nema sherpa(c) Tenzing Sherpa(d) Dolma Sherpa

15. Which country fired torpedo which sank anaval warship of South Korea ?(a) North Korea (b) Japan(c) China (d) Russia

16. Which country’s former Army chief got jailterm for arm’s case ?(a) Malaysia (b) Bangladesh(c) Srilanka (d) Pakistan

17. Nobel Peace Prize 2010 has been awardedto -(a) Liu Xiabo (b) Barak Obama(c) Marti Ahitasaari (d) Robert Edwards

Current Affairs Question Bank

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copyright laws of India

18. Nobel Prize for literature 2010 has beenawarded to -(a) Herta Mueller(b) Mario Vargas Llosa(c) Doris Lessing(d) Jean-Marie Gustav de clezio

19. The capsule used to rescue miners trappedin San Jose mine was named as:(a) Phoenix (b) Orange(c) Delta (d) Jupiter

20. Scientist known for his ‘Test tube baby’discovery is:(a) Roberts Edwards(b) Jack Szostak(c) Elizabeth H. Blackburn(d) Carol Grieder

21. Aang San Suu Kyi a democratic leaderbelongs to which country ?(a) Myanmar (b) Vietnam(c) Singapore (d) Cuba

22. Paul Kagame has been sworn in as thepresident of :(a) Rwanda‘ (b) Zimbabwe(c) Zambia (d) Uganda

23. ICC suspended, 3 Pakistani players, overallegations of match fixing except -(a) Salman Butt (b) Md. Amir(c) Md. Asif (d) Shoaib Malik

24. Name of the China’s lunar probe is -(a) Change’ 2 (b) Venera 7(c) Mariner 9 (d) Rosetta

25. Kamla Prasad Bissesar, is the Prime Ministerof -(a) Trinidad (b) Fizi(c) Mauritius (d) Nepal

26. Ground Zero Mosque (United States) whichhas got approval, will be situated in whichstate?(a) New York (b) California(c) Columbia (d) Florida

27. ‘Top Kill’ is the name of the operation to :(a) Plug ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico(b) Rescue San Jose miners(c) Naval Exercise of India and U.S.(d) Rescue flood victims of Pakistan

28. Present prime minister of Japan is :(a) Naoto Kan(b) Wen Jiabao(c) Yukio Hatoyama(d) Taro Aso

29. Official Mascot of football world cup 2010 was:(a) Shera (b) Zakumi(c) Vuvuzela (d) Jabulani

30. Who was recently voted 2010 “Best footballeron earth” ?(a) Lionel Messi(b) Wayne Rooney(c) Cristiano Ronaldo(d) David Beckham

31. Julia Gillard is first woman prime minister of :(a) Australia (b) Columbia(c) Brazil (d) Germany

32. Bronislow Komorowski is newly electedpresident of :(a) Poland (b) Bulgaria(c) Italy (d) Germany

33. Spain defeated which country to win worldcup football ?(a) Holland (b) Italy(c) Germany (d) Brazil

34. ‘Golden Boot’ in football world cup 2010 awardwas won by :(a) Lionel Messi (b) Critiano Ronaldo(c) Wayne Rooney (d) Thomas Mueller

35. Storm Agatha devastated, which among thefollowing place ?(a) North California(b) South Columbia(c) Central America(d) Malaysia


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36. Choe Yong Rim has been recently electedprime minister of :(a) North Korea (b) South Korea(c) Singapore (d) Hongkong

37. Research in motion (RIM) developer ofBlackberry belongs to:(a) United States (b) Norway(c) Canada (d) Brazil

38. Kim Hwang Sik has been recently electedprime minister of :(a) South Korea (b) North Korea(c) Vietnam (d) Singapore

39. Ximena Navarrete, Miss Universe 2010, isfrom :(a) Brazil (b) Columbia(c) Australia (d) Mexico

40. World’s largest solar cooker is located at :(a) Shirdi Shrine Maharashtra(b) Ajmer Dargah(c) Tirupati Temple Andhra Pradesh(d) Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu

41. Common Wealth games recently held in Delhiwere numbered:(a) XIXth (b) XXth (c) XXIth (d) XXIIth

42. How many countries participated inCommonwealth Game 2010 ?(a) 69 (b) 70 (c) 71 (d) 72

43. Calcutta University has awarded Honorarydegree ‘Doctor of law’ to:(a) Ratan Tata(b) A.P.J. Abdul Kalam(c) Manmohan Singh(d) Jigme Khesar Nangyel Wang Chuck

44. Fast Breeder Test Reactors at Kalpakkamare constructed by ;(a) Indira Gandhi center for atomic research(b) BARC(c) (a) and (b) both(d) None

45. Country’s first Holographic portait studio isto be set up in -(a) Tamil Nadu (b) Kerala(c) Andhra Pradesh (d) Karnataka

46. Proposed date for Implementation of DirectTax Code is -(a) 1 April 2011 (b) 1 Jan 2012(c) 1 April 2012 (d) 1 April 2013

47. Most capped player in cricket test history is:(a) Steve Waugh(b) Brian Lara(c) Sachin Tendulkar(d) Kapil Dev

48. Chandrayean -2 is proposed to be launchedin :(a) 2012 (b) 2013 (c) 2014 (d) 2015

49. Women reservation bill recently passed inRajya Sabha is to provide 33% to womenreservation in :(a) Legislative assembly at states elections(b) Lok Sabha Elections(c) (a) and (b) both(d) Local elections

50. World classical Tamil Conference wasrecently held at-(a) Chennai (b) Coimbatore(c) Newyork (d) Singapore

51 Recently tested Astra Missile is:(a) Air to Air ballistic missile(b) Surface to Air ballistic missile(c) Surface to surface ballistic missile(d) Anti Tank missile

52. Who was the then CEO of US based UnionCarbide at the time of Bhopal gas tragedy?(a) Keshub Mahindra(b) Warren Anderson(c) Kishor Kamdar(d) Vijay Gokhale



53. Jantar Mantar listed in UNESCO Heritage listis located at -(a) Jaipur (b) Delhi(c) Ujjain (d) Mathura

54. At present women reservation in localgovernment is -(a) 33% (b) 50%(c) 25% (d) 49%

55. Period of adoption and implementation of 13thFinance Commission recommendation is :(a) 2010-2015 (b) 2007-2012(c) 2015-2020 (d) 2012-2017

56. According to Union Budget 2010 -11, largestpercentage of revenue comes from -(a) Borrowings and other liabilities(b) Corporation tax(c) Non-tax revenue(d) Union Excise duties

57. Which state in india has highest suicide rate?(a) Uttar Pradesh (b) Sikkim(c) Tamil Nadu (d) Goa

58. ‘Dispute free village scheme’ is being run bywhich state government ?(a) Himachal Pradesh(b) West Bengal(c) Tamil Nadu(d) Maharashtra

59. Which state government has recentlylaunched’ play 4 India ‘scheme?(a) Maharashtra (b) Tamil Nadu(c) Haryana (d) Uttar Pradesh

60. Saina Nehwal has been appointed as Brandambassador of -(a) Punjab (b) Haryana(c) Maharashtra (d) Andhra Pradesh

61. World’s first Homeopathy University will beset up in which Indian state?(a) Rajasthan (b) Himachal Pradesh(c) Uttar Pradesh (d) Jammu & Kashmir

62. Which Indian state has recently adoptedsanskrit as its 2nd official language for thefirst time in the world?(a) Himachal Pradesh(b) Tamil Nadu(c) Uttarakhand(d) Uttar Pradesh

63. Recently signed TAPI pipeline project doesnot include which on of the following country?(a) Tajikistan (b) Afghanistan(c) Pakistan (d) None

64. According to World Economic forum’s GlobalCompetitive index, India has been ranked:(a) 50th (b) 51st(c) 52nd (d) 53rd

65. Allahabad High Court Bench which deliveredAyodhya verdict excludes -(a) Justice Dharam Vir Sharma(b) Justice S.V. Khan(c) Justice Sudhir Agarwal(d) None

66. Justice Saumitra Sen is alleged formisappropriation of public auction moneywhen he was -(a) Chief Justice of Kolkata high court(b) A Lawyer(c) Chief Justice of Mumbai(d) Chief Justice of Sikkim high court

67. India has taken Nerpa, an Akula class Nuclearsubmarine from -(a) France (b) U.S(c) Russia (d) Israel

68. START-II Strategic Reduction Arms Treaty wassigned at a meeting in -(a) Prague (b) Washington(c) Moscow (d) New York

69. Recently tested Agni-II has range of -(a) 500 - 1000 km (b) 1000 - 1500 km(c) 2000 - 2500 km (d) 5000 km


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70. Only Supersonic cruise missile in world is -(a) Babar (b) Brahmos(c) Agni-III (d) Prithvi-III

71. In December 2009 ,President PratibhaDevisingh Patil boarded India’s only aircraftcarrier -(a) INS Virat (b) INS Vishwant(c) INS Vikrant (d) INS Vikramaditya

.72. Who is the head of National Integration

Council?(a) Prime Minister (b) Home Minister(c) Governor (d) Chief Minister

73. Who has been awarded with Bharat Ratnafor 2008?(a) Bhimsen Joshi(b) Bismillah Khan(c) Lata Mangeshkar(d) Gopinath Bordoloi

74. Which of the following committee was notformed to study centre state relations?(a) Setalvad Committee(b) Raja Mannar Committee(c) Punchi Commission(d) Arjun Sen Gupta committee

75. Which country will develop an instrumentname ‘Lander’ for Chandrayaan II?(a) India (b) USA(c) Russia (d) Israel

76. Which gas was leaked in Bhopal gas tragedy?(a) Methyl Isocyanate (MIC)(b) Mustard gas(c) Phosgene(d) Nerve gas

77. Adarsh Gram Yogana was recently launchedin which state?(a) Uttar Pradesh (b) Maharashtra(c) Rajasthan (d) Tamil Nadu

78. Which film is India’s official entry in Oscar for2010?(a) Peepli Live (b Dabang(c) Udan (d) 3 Idiots

79. In 2010 the G-20 Summit was held in :(a) Canada (b) Singapore(c) Brazil (d) Thimpu, Bhutan

80 In April 2010, the 16th ASEAN Summit(April 2010) was held in(a) Cambodia (b) Vietnam(c) Singapore (d) Thailand

81. Russia has a Customs Union with which ofthe following countries?(a) Kazakhstan (b) Belarus(c) (a) and (b) (d) Ukraine

82. Which of the following country’s presidentwas charged with Genocide?(a) Sudan (b) Ethiopia(c) Somolia (d) Nigeria

83. South Asian University is situated in :(a) Bangkok (b) Singapore(c) New Delhi (d) Colombo

84. In which of the following matters JointParliamentry Committee was formed ?(a) Bofors scam(b) Irregularities in SEBI(c) Pesicide residues in soft drink(d) All of these

85. ‘ZEPHYR’ is a -(a) Super Computer(b) Software(c) Solar powered unmanned aerial vehicle

of US(d) Nuclear reactor

86. International Congress of Mathematicianswas held in August, 2010 at :(a) Bangaluru (b) Hyderabad(c) Delhi (d) Chennai

87. Nikki Haley is an Indian-American who hasbeen elected as Governor of which of thefollowing US State?(a) South Carolina (b) Illinois(c) Columbia (d) North Carolina



88. Who has been recently appointed as fourthwoman judge of the Supreme Court?(a) Fatima Bibi (b) Sujata Manohar(c) Ruma Pal (d) Gyan Sudha Mishra

89. Who among the following has not won 2010Nobel prize for Economics?(a) Peter Diamond(b) Dale Mortensen(c) Cypriot Christopher Pissarides(d) Robert Edwards

90. 18th Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavna Awardwas given to -(a) Maulana Wahiduddin Khan(b) Mother Teresa(c) Ustad Bismillah Khan(d) Lata Mangeskar

91. 2010 Sydney Peace Prize was awarded to-(a) Ela Bhutt (b) Vandana Shiva(c) Arundhati Roy (d) Medha Patekar

92. Rabindra Nath Tagore Award 2010 was givento -(a) Iron Sharmila (b) Arundhati Roy(c) Vandana Shiva (d) Medha Patekar

93. Bharat Asmita Award 2010 was awarded to -(a) P. Sainath(b) N Ram(c) Rita Sarin(d) Shama Choudhary and Monalisa

94. Asian Banker Achievement 2010 award wasgiven to -(a) State Bank of India(b) ICICI(c) HSBC(d) HDFC

95. Abel Prize 2010, for mathematics, has beengiven to -(a) John Torrence Tate(b) Gregoriy Perelman(c) Shankar Bala Subramanium(d) Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa

96. International Mathematics Prize is namedafter Bhaskaracharya’s treatise name -(a) Padmavati (b) Leelavathi(c) Mudrarakshas (d) Mrichakatikum

97. ‘Bold Kurukshetra’ is the joint military exerciseof -(a) India and France(b) India and US(c) India and Singapore(d) India and Japan

98. Book named ‘The Rediscovery of India’ iswritten by -(a) Jawahar Lal Nehru(b) Meghnad Desai(c) Khushwant Singh(d) Dominique Lapiere

99. Borneo, Asia’s biggest island comprises ofparts of how many countries?(a) 1 (b) 2(c) 3 (d) 4

100. In Direct Tax Code, corporate tax has beenproposed to be reduced to-(a) 25% (b) 20%(c) 30% (d) 35%

101. Recently Tritium-havoc occurred in whichatomic power station of India?(a) Kaiga, Karnatak(b) Narora, U.P.(c) Rawatbhata, Rajashtan(d) Tarapore, Maharashtra

102. Operation Triton is related to the coastalsecurity of -(a) Kerala(b) Gujarat(c) Andhra Pradesh(d) Karnataka

103. During 1994 – 2007, Green House Gasemissions in India fell by -(a) 20% (b) 25% (c) 30% (d) 50%


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104. According to Sport’s Illustrated ,mostinfluential Indian in sports is-(a) Kapil Dev(b) P. Gopichand(c) Mohinder Amarnath(d) Sachin Tendulkar

105. Kumharia (Haryana) and Bargi (M.P.), recentlyapproved by Union government are :(a) Special Economic Zone(b) Ultra Mega Power(c) Nuclear reactor sites(d) Sites for Jatropha cultivation

106. Recently, world statesman award has beenconferred on :(a) Barack Obama(b) Dalai Lama(c) A.P.J Abdul Kalam(d) Dr. Manmohan Singh

107. The Bollywood actress who has been madeUNICEF brand ambassador is :(a) Aishwarya Rai (b) Deepika Padukon(c) Preeti Zinta (d) Priyanka Chopra

108. The country which recently adopted newconsitution is :(a) Kenya (b) Uganda(c) Somalia (d) Eritrea

109. Basque separatist group ETA is active in -(a) Poland (b) France(c) Spain (d) Kosovo

110. The first European Country to ban ‘Burqa’ is -(a) Belgium (b) France(c) Spain (d) Germany

111. Presently all time highest earning film is -(a) Avatar (b) Titanic(c) 3 idiots (d) Robot

112. ‘A Journey’ is an autobiography of :(a) Tony Blair(b) Nelson Mandela(c) M.S. Swaminathan(d) Barack Obama

113. “Conversations with Myself” is authored by -(a) Tony blair (b) Nelson Mandela(c) Barack Obama (d) Dalai lama

114. “The Feast of the Goat” has been written by -(a) Herta Meuller (b) Amartya Sen(c) Arundhati Roy (d) Mario Vargas Llosa

115. According to International Food policyResearch Institute’s annual ‘Global HungerIndex’ for 2010 India ranks at which place :(a) 67th (b) 68th(c) 69th (d) 70th

116. 16th Asiad Games were held in -(a) China (b) Japan(c) Malaysia (d) India

117. In 16th Asiad Games medals tally China isfollowed by -(a) Japan (b) India(c) Iran (d) South Korea

118. “Indradhanush” held recently in west Bengalis a joint Air Force exercise of :(a) India & France (b) India & Singapore(c) India & U.K (d) India & U.S

119. Time Magazine has ranked Indira Gandhi atwhich number as most powerful woman ofthe century?(a) 8 (b) 9 (c) 10 (d) 11th

120. Alexindria Mills who was crowned Miss World2010 belongs to -(a) Australia (b) Columbia(c) U.S.A (d) Mexico

121. Sangita Kalanidihi Award 2010, highest awardin Carnatic Music has been awarded to -(a) Bombay Sisters(b) Sapuna Vardachari(c) Radha dance guru(d) Parassala Ponnammal

122. Which day is observed as National Voter’sDay?(a) January 25 (b) December 25(c) January 20 (d) December 20



123. Who was the chief guest at Republic Dayparade 2011?(a) Indonesian President(b) South Korean(c) Japanese Prime Minister(d) British Prime Minister

124. Who is the head of recently appointedNational Innovation Council?(a) Man Mohan singh(b) Sam Pitroda(c) Ratan Tata(d) Narain Murthy

125. In 2010 corruption perception Index, India isranked -(a) 78th (b) 87th(c) 54th (d) 67th

126. Which country recently overtook Japan tobecome No.2 Economic power in world?(a) China (b) Russia(c) India (d) South Korea

127. ‘The Masque of Africa’ is a book written by -(a) V.S. Naipaul(b) Raghav Bahl(c) Nelson Mandela(d) Jacob Zuma

128. Which day was observed as world HabitatDay in 2010?(a) October 4, 2010(b) October 15, 2010(c) October 8, 2010(d) October 9, 2010

129. ICPS stands for -(a) International Community Protection

Service(b) Integrated Community Protection Scheme(c) Integrated Child Protection Scheme(d) None of the above

130. Saraswati Samman is an award given forexcellence in the filed of -(a) Sports(b) Social services(c) Literature(d) Science and technology

131. Alberto Contador is world famous -(a) Tennis player (b) Cyclist(c) Chess player (d) Snooker player

132. National Law Day is observed on -(a) 26th January (b) 15th August(c) 26th May (d) 26th November

133. The wenlock is the mascot of -(a) The Commonwealth games 2014(b) The Olympic GamesLondon 2012(c) 17th Asian Games(d) None of the above

134. India recently signed MOU for High-techDisease Detection centre with-(a) South Korea (b) USA(c) Russia (d) Japan

135. India is purchasing the gigantic C-17Globemaster - III giant strategic airlift-aircraftfrom -(a) Japan (b) USA(c) Australia (d) England

136. Which magazine has been selected forInternational Press Institute Award?(a) India today (b) Tehalka(c) Outlook (d) Frontline

137. Dilma Rouseff has been elected as the newPresident of -(a) Brazil (b) Argentina(c) Peru (d) Chile

138. Which year has been set as a dead line forwithdrawal of troops by NATO fromAfghanistan?(a) 2013 (b) 2015(c) 2014 (d) 2016

139. According to International Association ofAthletics Federation (IAAF),Male Athletics ofthe year 2010 is -(a) Usain Bolt (b) David Rudisha(c) Lin Dan (d) Michael Phelps


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140. According to International Association ofAthletics Federation (IAAF), Female Athleteof the year 2010 is-(a) Blanka Vlasic(b) Saina Nehwal(c) Aselefech Mergia(d) None of the above

141. The most valuable player of 16th Asiad 2010was -(a) Lin Dan (b) Swimmer Park(c) Gagan narang (d) Sushil Kumar

142. Which of the following was recently inscribedin UNESCO’s intangible heritage list ?(a) Kerala’s Mudiyetu(b) Chhau of East India(c) Kalbelia of Rajasthan(d) All of the above

143. “Decisions Point” is a book written by -(a) Barack Obama (b) George Bush(c) Bill Clinton (d) Dr. Manmohan Singh

144. As per the Human Development Report 2010released in November 2010, India has beenplaced at -(a) 120th rank (b) 119th rank(c) 118th rank (d) 115th rank

145. The winner of Durand Cup (Football) 2010 is -(a) Chirag United(b) Dempo sports club(c) Churchill Brothers SC(d) Mahindra United

146. Aung San Suu Kyi-Prodemocracy leader ofMyanmar was released from house arrest bymilitary rule in -(a) September 2010(b) November 2010(c) October 2010(d) December 2010

147. The state of Orissa has been renamed as -(a) Odisha (b) Orisa(c) Odisa (d) Orrisha

148. Name of Orissa has been changed by whichof the following constitutional amendment bill?(a) 110 (b) 111(c) 112 (d) 113

149. Recently the Cabinet Committee onEconomic Affairs (CCEA) approved thecommencement of an Integrated Action Planin how many naxal hit districts?(a) 60 (b) 80(c) 50 (d) 40

150. In October 2010, India was elected to securitycouncil as a Non-Permanent member after:(a) 10 years (b) 19 years(c) 5 years (d) 8 years

151. Indian Navy on October 14, 2010 inducted itslatest Fast-Attack Craft (FAC) at the SouthernNaval Command in Kochi The craft is:(a) INS Tarang (b) INS Kalpeni(c) INS Viraat (d) None of the above

152. In Global Gender Gap Report India has beenranked :(a) 50th (b) 112th (c) 20th (d) 90th

153. India retained Border- Gavaskar Trophy 2010,after defeating :(a) England (b) Australia(c) New Zealand (d) Kenya

154. ‘Minorities Rights Day’ in India is celebratedon which day ?(a) December 15 (b) December 18(c) October 25 (d) October 30

155. Who has been given ICC test player of theyear award 2010 ?(a) Gautam Gambhir(b) Virendra Sehwag(c) A.B. de Villiers(d) None of the above

156. Recently India has signed cultural accord with:(a) Japan (b) Malaysia(c) Germany (d) South Korea



157. La Nino is -(a) Warm ocean current(b) Cold ocean current(c) Hot local wind(d) Cold local wind

158. Theme of 17th ASEAN summit was:(a) Towards the ASEAN community from

vision to action.(b) Action oriented approach of ASEAN

community.(c) ASEAN with new actionable approach.(d) None of the above.

159. Geoffrey Mutai champion of Delhi HalfMarathan is from which country?(a) Kenya (b) Suden(c) Ethiopia (d) Egypt

160. Hiroshima -Nagasaki street is situated inwhich country?(a) U.S.A (b) France(c) Germany (d) Italy

161. How many nations had participated in 16thAsian Games?(a) 43 (b) 44 (c) 45 (d) 46

162. ‘Yeonpyeong Island’ is disputed betweenwhich two countries?(a) North Korea and South Korea(b) Japan and Russia(c) Japan and China(d) China and Vietnam

163. The first phase of Ballistic Missile Defencesystem (BMD) is proposed to be operationalby:(a) 2011 (b) 2012 (c) 2013 (d) 2014

164. What is India’s ordinal position in adapting acurrency symbol?(a) 4th (b) 5th (c) 6th (d) 7th

165. According to world’s Best awards reader’spoll, Best hotel in the world is :(a) Oberoi Vanyavilas, Ranthambore(b) Oberoi Amarvilas, Jaipur

(c) Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur(d) Oberoi Amarvilas, Udaipur

166. Where is the headquarters of “Organizationfor security and co-operation in Europe”located?(a) Paris (b) Astana(c) Vienna (d) Auckland

167. The World Military Cup organised by theInternational Military Sports Council (CISM)involves which among the following sports?(a) Cricket (b) Football(c) Volleyball (d) Basketball

168. Recently a comemorative stamp was releasedby the department of posts in honour of T.N.Rajarathinam Pillai. He was world famousartist of which of the following instruments?(a) Mridangam(b) Nadaswaram(c) Saraswati Veena(d) Violin

169. Indian Army chief Vijay Kumar Singh wasrecently conferred honorary rank of Generalof which among the following armies?(a) Nepal (b) Bhutan(c) Sri Lanka (d) Bangladesh

170. Who among the following heads the committeecreated for examination of the food security.(a) C. Rangrajan(b) M.S swaminathan(c) Pranav Mukherjee(d) Dr. Manmohan Singh

171. Which country is building the world’s largesttelescope in Antarctica?(a) China (b) U.S(c) Russia (d) India

172. Who among the following has was awardedthe 2010 National Amity Award?(a) Yash chopra(b) Amir Khan(c) Amitabh bachchan(d) Sunil dutt


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173. What is the present retirement age of highcourt judges?(a) 58 (b) 60 (c) 62 (d) 65

174. Who is the winner of 64th edition of SantoshTrophy?(a) Goa (b) Punjab(c) Tamil Nadu (d) West Bengal

175. Who is the most powerful women in the worldin 2010, complied by Forbes?(a) Angela Mercel(b) Indra Nooyi(c) Michelle Obama(d) Irena Rosen feld

176. Pranab Mukherjee has recently won which ofthe following award?(a) World’s best finance minister of the year

2010(b) Asia best finance minister of the year 2010(c) India’s best finance minister of the year

2010(d) Both (b) and (c)

177. Who has become the first Indian to qualify for2012 London olympics?(a) Abhinav Bhindra (b) Saina Nehwal(c) Mary Kom (d) Gagan Narang

178. India has won 101 medals in 2010Commonwealth Games. In which sport Indiahas won maximum number of gold medals?(a) Wrestling (b) Boxing(c) Shooting (d) Badminton

179. Who won the 2010 champions league twenty20?(a) Mumbai Indians(b) Royal Challengers(c) Chennai Super Kings(d) Deccan Chargers

180. Who has been elected as the President ofIndian Newspaper Society for the year 2010-11?(a) K.N. Tilak Ram(b) Rakesh Sharma(c) Kundan R. Vyas(d) V. Shankaran

181. ‘Taj Enlighten Tareef Award 2010’ has beenconferred on:(a) Leela Naidu (b) Shabana Azmi(c) Javed Akhtar (d) Both (b) and (c)

182. Base rate of banks is fixed by:(a) RBI (b) Finance minister(c) Both (a) and (b) (d) Banks

183. Which is the only Asian country representedin the G-8 groups?(a) India (b) South Korea(c) China (d) Japan

184. Which country has overtaken US in the globalsupercomputing race by creating world’sfastest supercomputer ?(a) Japan (b) South Korea(c) China (d) Germany

185. Which country has launched the world’s firstsynthetic jet fuel?(a) U.S(b) France(c) Republic of South Africa(d) Japan

186. Which country will build world’s first industrialsolar power station near black sea?(a) Russia (b) Tajikistan(c) Kazakhstan (d) Turkey

187. Which of the following countries has test firedICBM ‘Bulava’?(a) Russia (b) China(c) India (d) Pakistan

188. Which country has become the call centrecapital of the world, (being number one in theglobal outsourcing market)(a)Philippines (b) India(c) Singapore (d) China

189. Which country has recently completed thecreation of the world’s first international nuclearfuel bank?(a) Russia (b) U.S.A(c) France (d) Germany



190. The world’s largest postal network is:(a) India Post(b) US Postal Network(c) Royal Mail Britain(d) Mexican Postal Service

191. Who got the next step foundation 2010award?(a) Veerappa moily(b) Sharad Pawar(c) Dr. Manmohan Singh(d) Sonia Gandhi

192. Dhirubhai Ambani University will beestablished at(a) New Delhi (b) Bhopal(c) Ahmedabad (d) Mumbai

193. Which state has launched an initiative callede-udyog to create transparency, promptnessand increased efficiency in governance withthe support of information technology on 12thJanuary 2011?(a) Assam (b) Maharashtra(c) Tamil Nadu (d) Rajasthan

194. Golden Peacock Environment managementaward 2010 has been given to :(a) Nokia (b) DoCoMo(c) Bharti Airtel (d) Reliance

195. Mig 21 will be replaced by which aircraft inIndian Air force :(a) Tejas (b) Nishant(c) Sukhoi M.K.I. 2 (d) Saras

196. The Second Administrative ReformCommission was headed by:(a) Brajesh Mishra (b) Verappa moily(c) Jaipal Reddy (d) S.srinivasan

197. Which country has recently brought a postagestamp on Mother Teresa on her 100th birthanniversary on August 26, 2010 ?(a) Albania (b) U.S(c) India (d) Montenegro

198. The now extinct bird Dodo was first discoveredon the Islands of:(a) Falkland (b) Greenland(c) Mauritius (d) Australia

199. World’s Oldest Zoo is located in :(a) Austria (b) Germany(c) France (d) China

200. Kerepakupai Meru is the new name of :(a) Danube river (b) Angel waterfalls(c) Everest peak (d) Niagara waterfall

201. Which of the following Indian statescelebrated its Golden Jubilee of statehood in2010?(a) Andhra Pradesh(b) Gujarat(c) Madhya Pradesh(d) Rajasthan

202. On May 9, 2010 India began year longcelebration of which famous personalty’s150th birth anniversary?(a) Mahatma Gandhi(b) Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose(c) R.N. Tagore(d) Sardar Bhagat Singh

203. What is the name of first Indigenously builtlight combat aircraft (LCA)?(a) Tejas (b) Lakshya(c) Dhanush (d) Pinaka

204. The 500 year old Rajagopuram of theSrikalahastee-swaraswamy temple whichcollapsed in 2010 is located in which district?(a) Chittoor (b) Madurai (c) Warangal (d) Kancheepuram

205. India unveiled indigenous A (H1N1) vaccine,the egg based inactive vaccine recently. Itsname is...(a) Tamiflu-A (b) Tamiflu-B(c) Vaxiflu-S (d) Vaxiflu-T


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206. Who is the newly elected president of SriLanka?(a) Sarath Fonseka(b) Mahinda Rajapaksa(c) Dayananda Dissanayake(d) Dissanayake Jayaratne

207. Who has been appointed as the newchairman of National Human RightCommission (NHRC)?(a) K.G. Balakrishnan(b) R.S. Lohati(c) S.H. Kapadia(d) Y.K. Sabharwal

208. Mukesh Ambani led RIL acquired 95% stakein which of the following broadband?(a) MTNL-Garuda 3G(b) TATA Photon(c) MTS-High speed(d) Infotel-Broadband

209. What is SOLECKSHAW?(a) Solar powered Rickshaws for Postal

Delivery(b) Solar powered car(c) A new brand name of engine of Indian-

Rail(d) New coaches of Delhi Metro

210. ISRO’s PSLV-C15 has put in orbit which ofthe following satellite built by engineeringcollege students of Andhra Pradesh andKarnatska?(a) tiny studsat-a pico-sat (b) edusat(c) micro-techno-sat(d) a tiny- earth-sat

211. Who designed the new symbol for Rupee?(a) D. Bhashkar Rao(b) Udaya Narayana(c) Nandan Nilekani (d) D. Uday Kumar

212. The disputed ‘Babli-Project’ is located acrosswhich river?(a) Godavari (b) Krishna(c) Kaveri (d) Tungbhadra

213. Who is appointed as the new Chief ElectionCommissioner?(a) Navin Chawla (b) R. Subramanyam(c) S.Y. Quraishi (d) N. Kumaraswamy

214. India has signed a pact for the supply of 57Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) air-craft tothe IAF and the Navy with which one of thefollowing country?(a) France (b) USA(c) Russia (d) U.K.

215. British Prime Minister, David Cameronbelongs to which party?(a) Liberal Party(b) Conservative Party(c) Democratic Liberal(d) Democratic Conservate

216. Recently which party has lost its recognitionas the national political party?(a) RJD (b) BSP (c) SP (d) CPI (M)

217. Who got the 42nd Jnanpith award for the year2006?(a) Ravindra Kelkar(b) A Rahman Rahi(c) Vrinda Karindkhar(d) Akhlaq Shaharyar Khan

218. Which of these two ships collided in theArabian sea off the Mumbai coast?(a) MSC Chitra and MV Khalijia(b) MV Coast Guard and MV Garuda(c) MSC vessel and MV Sarang(d) MSC Cargo and MV Sindhu

219. Which part of India was severely hit bytorrential rain in Aug 2010?(a) Leh (b) Lahaul-spiti(c) Pahalgam (d) Kyelang



220. Two school-boys of Delhi discovered the mainbelt asteroid named:(a) 2010 P024 (b) 2010 C027(c) 2010 P0025 (d) 2010 AST 024

221. Who has been appointed as the new chiefJustice of Sikkim High-court? (a) PD Dinakaran (b) Soumitra Sen (c) Brijesh Kumar (d) A.S. Aanand

222. Who became the first Indian to undertake asolo circumnavigation of the globe?(a) Commander Dilip Dhondle(b) Major Lisharam Jyotin Singh(c) Major Sumit Sharma(d) Commander Punit Bajpayi

223. Paving the way for India to have nuclearcommerce with the world, Indian Parliamenthas passed which of the following bill?(a) Civil Liability for nuclear damages bill,

2010(b) Public Liability for Nuclear Damages Bill

2010(c) Indian Nuclear Damages Bill, 2010(d) People’s Bill for Nuclear Damage 2010

224. IAF awarded Sachin Tendulkar with honoraryrank of:(a) Group Captain(b) Air-Commodor(c) Wing-Commander(d) Squadron-Leader

225. What is the name of the newly appointed chiefvigilance commissioner (CVC)?(a) PT Mishtry (b) PJ Thomas(c) Pratyush Sinha (d) K Vijay Kumar

226. Who has been awarded the Dada SahebPhalke Award 2009?(a) AR Rahman(b) Yash Chopra(c) Dilip Kumar(d) Daggubatti Ramanaidu

227. ‘Kutty-Srank’ was awarded the best featurefilm award for 2009, in 57th National filmaward, what is parent language of the film?(a) Kannada (b) Telugu(c) Malayalam (d) Tamil

228. Who received the best actor award at theNational Film Award Festival for 2009?(a) Amitabh Bachchan(b) Shahrukh Khan(c) Amir Khan(d) Nasiruddin Shah

229. Malayalam Litterateur ONV Kurup and Urdupoet Akhlaq Khan Shahryar are chosen forthe Jnapith Award for which yearsrespectively?(a) 2006-2007 (b) 2007-2008(c) 2008-2009 (d) 2009-2010

230. Who became the first woman in history ofIndian army to receive the ‘Sword of honour’at officer training academy, Chennai?(a) Chitra Sharma(b) Krishna Puniya(c) Divya Ajith Kumar(d) P. Bhanu

231. Which of the following temple celebrated themillennium year celebration?(a) Thanjavur(b) Meenakshi Mandir(c) Palitama Temple(d) Tirupati Balaji

232. What is AADHAR?(a) New name of UIDAI(b) A scheme of Central Government for

employment of Rural Youths(c) An army project under the name of the

‘The base’(d) A project for self-help groups for

empowerment of Tribal women

233. Who is the chairman of UIDAI?(a) Nandan Nilekani(b) S Ramadorai(c) Sam-Pitroda(d) R Narayamurthy


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234. Who become the first Indian to receive UIDcard?(a) Ranjana Sonawne(b) Rachna Sontake(c) Yashwant Sontake(d) Rama Gadapale

235. Union government said ‘No’ to which of themining company in Orissa to mine bauxite?(a) L & T mining(b) Hindalco(c) Hindustan Jinc Limited(d) Vedanta Alumina

236. ‘Niyamgiri Hills’ famous for bauxite ore arelocated in which of the following states?(a) Andhra Pradesh(b) Orissa(c) Jharkhand(d) Karnatka

237. How many digits are there in Aadhar -UID?(a) 11 (b) 12 (c) 13 (d) 14

238. Which famous personality received the LalBahadur Shastri National award for excellencein Public Administration, Academics &Management?(a) Sonia Gandhi(b) Pratibha Devi Singh Patil(c) Medha Patkar(d) Aruna Roy

239. Who is the newly appointed Director Generalof Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)?(a) K. Vijay Kumar(b) Raman Srivastava(c) Vikram Srivastava(d) Sanjeev Tripathi

240. Where is Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel NationalPolice Academy (SBPNPA), located?(a) Nagpur (b) Mussooie(c) Hyderabad (d) Mumbai

241. Who have been jointly chosen for the 25thIndira Gandhi Award for National Integrationin 2010?(a) Pt. Ravishankar and Ramakrishna Mission

Ashram Chhatisgarh(b) Pt. Ravishankar & AR Rahman(c) AR Rahman and PT. Bhim Sen Joshi(d) AR Rahaman and Ramakrishna Mission

Ashram Chhatisgarh

242. Who all of the following have been appointedas the Jammu & Kashmir interlocutors?(a) Dilip Padgaonkar, MM Ansari & Radha

Kumar(b) Hamid Ansari & Yasin Malik(c) Prakash Karat and Yasin Malik

(d) AB Vardhan and Arundhathi Roy

243. No. of medals India won in XIXthCommonwealth Games held at Delhi:(a) 101 (b) 102(c) 103 (d) 104

244. The XXth Commonwealth Games will be heldat:(a) London (b) Cardiff(c) Glasgow (d) Manchester

245. VK Shunglu Committee has been constitutedto probe into:(a) 2G-Spectrum Scam(b) Adarsh Housing Society(c) Commonwealth Games(d) IPL

246. Recently National Advisory Council (NAC)reached consensus with legal guarantees ona:(a) Universal Water Security System(b) Universal Food Security System(c) Universal Health Security System(d) Universal Educational Security System

247. Who bagged the Hindu Best fiction award?(a) Manu Joseph (b) Chetan Bhagat(c) Amitav Ghosh (d) Robin S. Sharma



248. Which of the following justice was held guiltyby a parliamentary probe for ‘misconducttantamount’ to misbehaviour?(a) PD Dinakaran (b) PG Narayanan(c) Soumitra Sen (d) Ajit Kumar

249. Who has been chosen for the Indira GandhiPrize for Peace, Disarmament andDevelopment for 2010?(a) Vladimir Putin (b) Mahinda Rajapakse(c) David Cameron (d) Lula da Silva

250. What is ‘Sabla’?(a) Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Adolescent Girls(b) Scheme for Rural Women Employment(c) National Scheme for Urban Labourer(d) Livelihood Scheme for Tribal Women

251. The 9900 MWE Jaitapur Nuclear Powerproject is located in which of the followingstates?(a) Maharashtra (b) Haryana(c) Andhra Pradesh (d) Karnatka

252. Who has been chosen the next chiefinformation commission (CIC)?(a) Satyendera Sinha(b) Satyendra Mishra(c) P.J. Thomas(d) Sanjeev Tripathi

253. Sachin Tendulkar scored 50th Test centuries against which country?(a) New Zealand(b) Sri Lanka(c) Australia(d) Republic of South Africa

254. ‘Jal-Hans’ refer to:(a) Indigenous stealth vessel(b) a submarine(c) first sea-plane service(d) An air-craft carrier vessel

255. The Srikrishna committee has beenconstituted for which issue?(a) Babli Project Dispute(b) Telangana issue(c) Krishna-Water Disputes(d) Gorakha Land issue

256. Krishna water Tribunal-II was constituted tosolve the disputes between(a) Andhra Pradesh & Karnatka(b) Andhra Pradesh & Maharashtra(c) Karnatka & Tamilnadu(d) Andhra Pradesh & Tamilnadu

257. Judicial standard Accountability Bill, isproviding for a mechanism:(a) to deal with complaints against judges of

high courts and supreme court.(b) to deal with complaints against the

members of the parliament.(c) to deal with complaints against the

ombudsman.(d) to deal with complaints against the

lawyers of supreme court.

258. Anand Mahindra(VC & MD), Mahindra &Mahindra has gifted $ 10M to:(a) Harvard’s Humanities Centre(b) Humanities Centre of Cambridge(c) Management faculty of Oxford(d) Wharton School of Business

259. Who led Indian contingent during XIX commonwealth Games inaugural ceremony?(a) Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore(b) Saina Nehwal(c) Sushil Kumar(d) Abhinav Bindra

260. Which film was awarded as “Best-Popularfilm’ at 57th national film award for 2009?(a) 3 idiots (b) Paa(c) Moner Manush (d) Kutty Srank

261. Which of the following persons has beenpredicted by Forbes to be World’s Richestman by 2014?(a) Lakshmi Niwas Mittal(b) KP Singh of DLF(c) Vijay Malya of UB corp(d) Mukesh Ambani of RIL

262. Which of the following states cancelled dailydraw of state lotteries in the wake of HighCourt verdict?(a) Karnatka (b) Kerala (c) Tamilnadu (d) Andhra Pradesh


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263. After ‘Taxes Code Bill got cabinet approval,exemption unit has to be raised to:(a) Rs.200000 (b) Rs.225000(c) 250000 (d) 275000

264. First ever cloned male buffalo calf was bornat National Dairy Research Institute(NDRI)located at:(a) Karnal (b) Manesar(c) Hissar (d) Panipat

265. The first Indian woman shooter to clinch agold medal at the world championships is:(a) Janu Hansda(b) M C Mary Kam(c) Jhhulan Goswami(d) Tejaswini Sawant

266. RBI has issued the polymer notes indenomination of:(a) Rs.5 (b) Rs.10(c) Rs.20 (d) Rs.50

267. Which -famous Indian origin personality wonthe best supporting actress award at Prime-Time Emmy awards?(a) Padma Lakshmi(b) Archie Punjabi(c) Gurinder Chaddha(d) Jhumpa Lahiri

268. Who is the head of state of military ruledMyammar?(a) Jigme Khesar Wangchuk(b) Ang San Suu Kyi(c) General Than Shwe(d) General Thein Sein

269. Who was the chairperson of the committeeconstituted for the selection of National sportsawards for the year 2010?(a) Milkha Singh (b) Vishwanathan Anand(c) PT Usha (d) Dhanraj Pillai

270. Which of the following is India’s first stealthwarship?(a) INS Vikrant (b) INS Vikramaditya(c) INS Arihant (d) INS Shivalik

271. “Stock-exchanges are not under RTI” thisverdict was given by:(a) Mumbai High Court(b) Delhi High Court(c) Kolkata High Court(d) Madras High Court

272. The supreme court-ruled that the use of whichof the following is unconstitutional?(a) narco analysis (b) brain mapping(c) polygraph tests (d) all of the above

273. A national defence university is to be set-upat:(a) Gurgaon (b) Mohali(c) Greater Noida (d) Faridabad

274. In May 2010 the cyclone which stormed southIndia was:(a) Laila (b) Maria(c) Saniya (d) Lily

275. President Pratibha Patil recently gave assentto the revival of the legislative council of:(a) Kerala (b) Madhya Pradesh(c) Tamilnadu (d) Maharashtra

276. Gujarat and Rajasthan were affected by acyclone in June 2010, the name of the cyclonewas?(a) Aila (b) Phet(c) Laila (d) Mack

277. Bharti - Airtel completed deal to buy-out Zain-Telecom’s African business, the latter isbased in:(a) UAE (b) Qatar(c) Kuwait (d) Oman

278. “Keeping even a photocopy of a fake documentis an offence”, which of the following highcourts held this verdict?(a) Delhi High Court(b) Madras High Court(c) Chennai High Court(d) Kolkata High Court



279. Recently tested Nag-missile is?(a) Anti-Tank missile(b) air-to-air missile(c) surface-to-surface missile(d) Surface-to-air missile

280. Army’s firing range Shamirpet is located near:(a) Bangalore (b) Chandipur(c) Pune (d) Hyderabad

281. Integrated Test Range (ITR) is located at:(a) Wheeler Island(b) Sri Harikota(c) Lake Pulikat(d) Thiruvananthpuram

282. What are INS Chankarso and INS Kondul?(a) New generation offshore Patrol Vessel

(OPV)(b) Ist Anti-submarine warfare corvette(c) Ist stealth warships(d) Water-Jet-Propelled fast attack craft

(FAC)

283. The Defence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO) signed a MOU withDefence Acquisition and procurement agency(DAPA), which belongs to:(a) North Korea (b) South Korea(c) Japan (d) Russia

284. ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) along with itspartners singed an agreement to develop $20-Billion project with which of the followingcountry?(a) Venezuela (b) Iran(c) Saudi Arabia (d) Malaysia

285. What is the name of the president of SouthAfrica who recently visited India?(a) Pakalitha Mosisili(b) Ellen-Johonson-Sirleaf(c) Jacob Juma(d) Umaru Musa Yaradua

286. Council for scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR) Academy will has its headquarters at:(a) Chandigarh (b) Bangalore(c) Noida (d) Hyderabad

287. Air-Borne-version of Nag is called:(a) Felina (b) Helina(c) CELINA (d) Yelina

288. The government has approved theestablishment of a National Mission onEnhanced Energy efficiency with the aim ofbuilding:(a) Safeguard measures for the Energy

Efficient Appliances(b) Rs.75000 crore market for Energy Efficient

Products(c) Norms to cut emissions from the

equipment(d) Eco-friendly solar plants

289. For the development of micro, small & medianEnterprises (MSME), National smallIndustries corporation (NSIC) has signed MOUwith:(a) Botswana (b) Bolivia(c) Venezuela (d) Brazil

290. Who has been elected as the New chairmanof Indian Banks’ Association (IBA)?(a) O P Munjal (b) O P Bhatt(c) R S Sharma (d) Y K Jain

291. Aditya Puri is MD/country head of:(a) HDFC (b) ICICI(c) HSBC (d) RBS

292. Which film was given the best film award inInternational Indian film academy (IIFA)?(a) 3 idiots (b) Paa(c) Delhi 6 (d) Love Aaj Kal

293. Poulomi Ghatak is associated with:(a) Table Tennis (b) Tennis(c) Swimming (d) Shooting

294. Gagan Narang is famous for:(a) Boxing (b) Wrestling(c) Billiards (d) Shooting

295. Pankaj Advani is related to:(a) Badminton (b) Tennis(c) Billiards (d) Shooting


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296. In 2010 Gagan Jeet Bhullar won the AsianTour International, he is related to:(a) Golf (b) Racing(c) Shooting (d) Cycling

297. Chetan Anand and Trupti Murugunde arerelated with:(a) Badminton (b) Table Tennis(c) Tennis (d) Track & Field event

298. Recently India won the Asia Cup for the fifthtime by defeating:(a) New Zealand (b) Sri Lanka(c) South Africa (d) Pakistan

299. Tejaswini Sawant is an ace:(a) Swimmer (b) Shooter (c) Wrestler (d) Boxer

300. Arjun Atwal is a famous sports person of whicharena?(a) Boxing (b) Polo

(c) Golf (d) Wrestler

301. Richa Mishra who was found positive for aprohibited substance is a:(a) swimmer (b) cueist(c) sprinter (d) discus thrower

302. Krishna Poonia is a:(a) swimmer (b) cueist(c) sprinter (d) discus thrower

303. Where is Kennedy space centre located?(a) Florida (b) Pennsylvania(c) New York (d) Louisiana

304. A volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glaciererupted in 2010 is located in:(a) Ireland (b) Scotland(c) Iceland (d) Wales

305. Which of the following social activist receivedthe Niwano Peace Prize in May 2010?(a) Medha Patkar (b) Vandana Shiva(c) Ela Bhatt (d) Aruna Roy

306. Who became the youngest person tocircumnavigate the globe solo, non-stop andwithout help?(a) Jessica Simpson(b) Jessica Watson(c) Emmy Brown(d) Eva Green

307. Who created synthetic life by building theartificial genome of a bacterium?(a) Craig Ventor(b) Richard Holbrooke(c) Dr. Robert G. Edwards(d) Stephan Hawking

308. Who has been recently awarded a special‘lost’ Booker prize?(a) Salman Rushdie(b) Cunter Grass(c) J.G. Farrell(d) Mario Vargas Llosa

309. Which space shuttle completed its 25-yearscareer in May 2010?(a) Discovery (b) Columbia(c) Atlantis (d) Phoe

310. Who has been recently awarded the GershwinPrize, the highest American award for popularsong?(a) Sir Paul McCartney(b) Sir Elton John(c) Michael Jackson(d) Ricky Martin

311. Orange Prize for Fiction is given by?(a) USA (b) UK(c) France (d) Germany

312. Flemish Separatists belong to which country?(a) Belarus (b) Spain(c) Czech Republic (d) Belgium

313. Which one of the following country faced anethnic strife in June 2010?(a) Kyrgyzstan (b) Kazakhstan(c) Uzbekishtan (d) Turkmenistan



314. Which African nation held its first democraticelection since its independence in 1958?(a) Ghana (b) Siera Leone(c) Liberia (d) Guinea

315. Who became Germany’s youngest everpresident?(a) Christian Wulff (b) Angela Merkel(c) Horst Koehler (d) Nicolas Sarkozy

316. In which central Asian country first time evera woman became the head of the state?(a) Kyrgyzstan (b) Mongolia (c) Turkenistan (d) Kazakhstan

317. A solar impulse airplane took-off on apioneering round the clock flight in:(a) Switzerland (b) Germany(c) France (d) Japan

318. Where is the International Criminal Courtlocated?(a) The Hague (b) Vienna(c) Geneva (d) Rome

319. The disputed region Darfur is in which of thefollowing country?(a) Iraq (b) Iran(c) Egypt (d) Sudan

320. Which country became the first county tolegalise the same sex-marriage in Latin-American region?(a) Venezuela (b) Columbia(c) Brazil (d) Argentina

321. Nelson Mandela International day iscelebrated on:(a) 17 July (b) 18 July(c) 19 July (d) 20 July

322. In July 2010 the independence of whichcountry was declared legal by InternationalCourt of Justice?(a) Serbia (b) Kosovo(c) Montnegro (d) Czech Republic

323. Recently which one of the following has playedthe role of one line whistle blower?(a) Wikipedia (b) Wikileaks(c) Facebook (d) Twitter

324. With which country India has signed anagreement to reprocess spent nuclear fuel?(a) Russia (b) Canada(c) USA (d) France

325. Who is the CEO of Facebook?(a) Marc Mezvinsky(b) Marc Zuckerberg(c) Jeffery Immelt(d) John Chambers

326. From which date ‘The Convention on ClusterMunitions’ did take effect?(a) Aug 1, 2010(b) September 1, 2010(c) October 2, 2010(d) January 1, 2011

327. British researchers announced a new classof antibiotic-resistant superbug named:(a) NBM–I (b) NCM-–I(c) NDM–I (d) NAM–I

328. Sinabung Volcano which recently erupted islocated in which of the following place?(a) Java (b) Sumatra(c) Borneo (d) Malaysia

329. Basque separatist group is active in which ofthe following country?(a) Denmark (b) Portugal(c) Spain (d) Israel

330. ’Blue-on’ refers to:(a) a super computer developed by IBM(b) a robot developed by Sony(c) first full-speed electric motor car unveiled

by Hyundai(d) a micro-processor developed by Intel


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331. Which two countries signed ‘The Treaty onMaritime Delimitation and Co-operation’ onSeptember 15, 2010?(a) Norway and Finland(b) Finland and Russia(c) Sweden and Norway(d) Norway and Russia

332. Who received the ‘pride of India award 2009’instituted by the Indian InternationalFoundation, London?(a) Lord Swaraj Paul(b) Vijay Patel(c) Mota Singh(d) Indira Nooyi

333. Tahrir Square, recently in news is located in:(a) Tehran (b) Televiv(c) Cairo (d) Cancun

334. What is the name of first test-tube baby bornin 1978?(a) Iva Brown (b) Laura Dekker(c) Iva Simpson (d) Louise Brown

335. Graphene is:(a) World’s thinnest & strongest nano-material(b) a highly poisonous gas(c) a smart Vth generation antibiotic(d) a Bt-bringal gene

336. Which capital city celebrated the Millenniumyear in 2010(a) Beijing (b) Hanoi(c) Cairo (d) Role

337. Who received the first Hans ChristianAndersan Literature Prize?(a) Orhan Pamuk (b) Salman Rushdie(c) JK Rowling (d) Noam Chomsky

338. In China which of two places are connectedby world’s fastest bullet train?(a) Beijing and Tianjin(b) Shanghai and Nanjing(c) Shanghai and Hangzhou(d) Hongkong and Macau

339. ‘Paul’ which was recently in news, refers to:(a) an elephant whose entire genome has

been decoded(b) a cloned tiger(c) an octopus who predicted during FIFA

World Cup football-2010(d) a parrot who predicted the result of the

final match of the world cup football

340. Volcano Mount Merapi erupted in which ofthe following country?(a) Indonesia (b) Malaysia(c) Vietnam (d) Laos

341. Which India-American won election forAttorney-General of California?(a) Nimrata Nikki Randhawa Haley(b) Indira Noogi(b) Bobby Jindal(d) Kamala Harris

342. Where did the 16th United Nations frameworkconvention on climate change take place inNovember 2010?(a) Cancun (b) Caracas(c) Copenhagen (d) Cairo

343. Founder of Wikileaks is(a) Jimmy Wales(b) Jullian Assnage(c) Marc Zuckerberg(d) Craig Barnett

344. Who has been named as 2010 person of theyear by Time Magazine?(a) Steve Jobs (b) Jack Welch(c) Bill Gates (d) Marc Zuckerberg

345. ‘Honorary Tiger’ is a title given to:(a) Jim Corbett (b) Billy Arjan Singh(c) Mike Pandey (d) Lala Lajpat Rai

346. Billy Arjan Singh was instrumental in theformation of which of the following nationalpark?(a) Ranthambhore (b) Kanha(c) Kaziranga (d) Dudhwa



347. Who was the winner of ICC T20 world cup inMay 2010?(a) England (b) Australia(c) India (d) Sri Lanka

348. Tennis Ace Rafael Nadal belongs to whichcountry?(a) Spain (b) Switzerland(c) Slovania (d) USA

349. Who became the youngest formula 1champion by winning the Abu-Dhabi GrandPrix?(a) Sebastian Vettel(b) Lewis Hamilton(c) Mark Webber(d) Fernando Alonso

350. Francesca Schiavone is related with which ofthe sports activity?(a) Racing (b) Tennis(c) Swimming (d) Shooting

351. Leweis Hamilton is related with:(a) Mc Laren (b) Ferrari(c) Red Bull (d) Mercedes Benz

352. Lionel Messi is related with:(a) Barcelona (b) Real Madrid(c) Inter-milan (d) Chelsea

353 . Black Shark Torpedo is related with:(a) Cluster Munitions(b) Nuclear submarine missile(c) An anti-war ship missile(d) A patrol vessel of coast guard

354. “Swabhiman “ refers to bring:(a) basic sanitation facilities to rural India(b) Education at your door step for poor girls(c) Basic banking services to all 73000

unbanked villages(d) Identity card to Indian citizens under UIDAI

355. ”Swabhiman“ scheme is under whichMinistry?(a) Ministry of Rural Development(b) Ministry of Finance(c) Ministry of Social Justice and

Empowerment(d) Ministry of Human Resource Dvelopment

356. “UIDAI” is functioning under which of thefollowing authority?(a) Ministry of Home Affairs(b) Planning Commission(c) Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)(d) National Development Council (NDC)

357. Government of India (Go I) has chosen whichof the following famous personalities asCensus Ambassadors?(a) Shahrukh Khan & deepika Padukone(b) Mahendra Singh Dhoni & Sakshi Rawat(c) Sachin Tendulkar & Priyanka Chopda(d) Amir Khan & Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

358. Which of the following district was recently innews for upcoming asbestos plant?(a) Muzaffarpur (b) Medinipur(c) Patna (d) Madhubani

359. The use of which of the following substanceis known to cause lung cancer & silicosis?(a) Silicon (b) Antimony(c) Asbestos (d) Nitrates

360. Who has been declared as “Ernst & Young”(E & Y) Entrepreneur of the year 2010?(a) Vinod Khosla(b) Vijay Patel(c) Dilip Sanghvi(d) Kiran Majumdaar Shaw

361. The International Wrestling Federation haschosen which one of the following as Coachof the Year 2010?(a) Yashvir Singh(b) Satpal Guru(c) Guru Ranvir Singh(d) Sishil kumar

362. Where did Sushil Kumar won ‘The WorldWrestling Championship in 2010?(a) Beijing (b) Delhi(c) Moscow (d) Tokyo


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363. The concept of ‘Rainbow Nation’ was givenfor which of the following nations by itsPresident?(a) Brazil(b) Singapore(c) Republic of South Africa(d) Japan

364. Who is the author of the book, “India-Pakistan:Coming To Terms”?(a) Shashi Tharoor(b) Nirupama Rao(c) Ashutosh Mishra(d) Brajesh Mishra

365. Global Vision Award“ has been conferred to:(a) Ratan Tata(b) Sunil Bharti Mittal(c) Mukesh Ambani(d) Kushal Pal Singh

366. “I Predict: A century of hope towards an eraof harmony with nature and freedom formhunger” is a book by:(a) MS Swaminathan(b) P Sainath(c) Verghese Kurian(d) Man Mohan Singh

367. India has signed a Comprehensive EconomicCooperation Agreement (CECA) with whichof the following countries?(a) Nepal (b) Sri Lanka(c) Malaysia (d) Bhutan

368. Which of the following organization haslaunched “Awaj Do” with the Government ofIndia?(a) UNICEF (b) UNO(c) WHO (d) RED CROSS

369. Which of the following scheme has beenimplemented for better deliverance of servicesto people by the Government of Kerala?(a) Helping Hand(b) Friends(c) SOS 24 x 7(d) Awaj Do

370. Which one of the following countries hasconferred honorary citizenship to Dalai Lama?(a) France (b) India(c) Canada (d) Germany

371. Which one of the following persons has beenrelated with the EVM research?(a) KM Panikkar(b) VB Srikhande(c) MV Kamath(d) Hari Krishna Prasad Verma

372. The ‘Nalanda proposal’, proposing Nalandaas an ideal site for establishing a 21st centurylearning institution is an idea of which one ofthe following country?(a) India (b) Singapore(c) UK (d) China

373. Eustace Fernandes is known for the creationof :(a) Garfield(b) Tom & Jerry(c) Air India Maharaja(d) Amul Girl

374. NDM-1 stands for:(a) National Defence Missile(b) New Delhi Metallo-Lactamase-1(c) New Direction in Management-1(d) New Policy for Disaster Management

375. Which one of the following couples won theMagsaysay Award?(a) Pranoy and Radhika Roy(b) Prakash and Mandakini Amte(c) Prakash and Vrinda Kara(d) Bill and Melinda Gates

376. Country’s first Special Economic Zone (SEZ)for Aerospace Industry is located at:(a) Hassan (b) Hossur(c) Hattargi (d) Hyderabad

377. The 11th five year plan has been termed as “India’s Education Plan” by:(a) Manmohan Singh(b) Sam Pitroda(c) Pranab Mukherji(d) Montek Singh Ahluwalia



378. Which two of the following milestones wereachieved by Sachin Tendulkar in the year2010?(a) 50 centuries in Test Cricket as well as in

ODI cricket(b) 50 centuries in Test Cricket and 200* in

ODI cricket(c) 200 in ODI cricket and 300 in test cricket(d) 200 wickets in test as well as in ODI

cricket

379. Clinton Foundation has planned to set upworld’s largest solar park in which of thefollowing Indian States?(a) Odisha (b) Bihar(c) Gujarat (d) Rajasthan

380. Operation Green Hunt is related with:(a) Illegal forest dwellers(b) Naxalite Movements(c) herbicides(d) to increase the forest cover in India

381. Which three public sector banks have enteredinto a joint venture (JV) for setting up of abanking subsidiary, India BIA Bank (Malaysia)Bhd, in Malaysia?(a) Andhra Bank, Bank of India & Indian

Overseas Bank(b) Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank &

Bank of India(c) Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda & Indian

Overseas Bank(d) Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda & Indian

Bank

382. Nitin Noharia was recently in news for whatreason?(a) He became the dean of Massachusetts

Institute of Technology(b) He became the dean of Harvard Business

School(c) He became the Head of the NASA(d) He became the dean of Wharton Business

School

383. Which one of the following bank became thefirst bank going to work as first Registrar forUIDAI?(a) SBI (b) ICICI(c) HDFC (d) Bank of Baroda

384. Who is the current Managing Director ofInternational Monetary Fund (IMF)?(a) Ban-Ki-Moon(b) Pascal Lamy(c) Robert Zoellick(d) Dominique Strauss Kahn

385. International Atomic Energey Agency isheaded by:(a) Hosni Mubarak (b) Mohd. Elbardei(c) Yukio Amanao (d) Jacques Diouf

386. Who is the chairman of Confederation of IndianIndustry (CII)?(a) Aditya Puri (b) Sajjan Jindal(c) Kuldeep Goyal (d) Hari S Bhartiya

387. The Chairman of the 13th financial commissionis:(a) KC Pant (b) N Rangarajan(c) Vijay L Kelkar (d) Amartya Sen

388. The Chairman of the NASSCOM is:(a) Kiran Kranik (b) Som Mittal(c) Nandan Nilekani(d) Harsh Manglik

389. Who is the chairman of NABARD?(a) UC Sarangi (b) YSP Thorat(c) Dr D Subbarao (d) RS Sharma

390. From which date the new bank base rateregime came into effect?(a) July 1, 2010 (b) Aug 1, 2010(c) Sep 1, 2010 (d) Oct 1, 2010

391. The new base rate declared by SBI is:(a) 7.5 (b) 8.0 (c) 7.25 (d) 8.5

392. In which of the following bank the stake ofGovernment of India is 100%?(a) United bank of India(b) Punjab & Sind Bank(c) Both a & b(d) SBI

393. Which of the following banks have highestgross non performing assets (NPAs)?(a) SBI (b) PNB(c) Bank of India (d) Canara Bank


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394. The ex-officio secretary of NationalDevelopment Council (NDC) is:(a) Secretary of Finance Ministry(b) Secretary General of Lok Sabha(c) Secretary of Planning Commission(d) Vice Chairman of Planning Commission

395. What is NIKKEI?(a) Share Price Index of Tokyo Share market(b) Name of Japanese Central Bank(c) Foreign Exchange Market of Japan(d) Japanese name of country’s Planning

Commission

396. Government has announced an ordinanceannouncing ULIPs as Insurance products, theregulation of ULIPs will now be done by:(a) SEBI only (b) IRDA only(c) Both SEBI & IRDA (d) Government itself

397. Which is a credit rating agency in India?(a) CRISIL (b) CARE(c) ICRA (d) All of the above

398. CRISIL:(a) Evaluates the credit documents of a

company(b) Provides financial assistance to industries(c) Provides financial assistance to rural areas(d) Promote exports

399. Which Indian bank became the first bank toopen its branch in China?(a) IDBI Bank (b) HDFC Bank(c) SBI (d) BoB

400. Which Indian commercial bank became thefirst bank in providing mobile ATM sevices?(a) ICICI Bank (b) IDBI Bank(c) HDFC Bank (d) SBI

401. Present Prime Minister of Malaysia is:(a) Hussein Onn(b) Najib Tun Razak(c) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi(d) Mahathir Mohamad

402. India and Bangladesh have agreed to set up‘Border Haats’ along the:(a) Meghalaya- Bangladesh border(b) West Bengal- Bangladesh border(c) Manipur- Bangladesh border(d) Nagaland-Bangladesh border

403. Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry hadpushed the target date for achievingpopulation stabilization from 2045 to:(a) 2060 (b) 2050 (c) 2070 (d) 2065

404. India and South Korea signed a new socialsecurity agreement (SSA, which will benefitthe:(a) Old age persons (b) IT professionals(c) Cotton Trade (d) Nuclear trade

405. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs(CCEA) recently approved Indira GandhiMatritva Sahyog Yojana which is a monetaryscheme for:(a) Pregnant women and lactating mothers(b) Old age women(c) Upliftment of rural women(d) None of above

406. What is the name of world’s largest diamondbourse (exchange)?(a) Antwerpsche Diamantkring CVBA

(Belgium)(b) Bangkok Diamonds and Precious Stones

Exchange (Thailand)(c) Beurs voor Diamanthandel CVBA

(Netherlands)(d) Bharat Diamond Bourse (India)

407. India and Bangladesh are in discussion toconstruct a bridge across which river to beginthe trade between Sabroom in Bangladeshand Ramgarh in India?(a) Feni River (b) Karnaphuli River(c) Kopothakho River (d) Atrai River



408. India was recently elected as a non-permanentmember of the United Nations SecurityCouncil, who was the other contender fromAsia?(a) Pakistan (b) Saudi Arabia(c) Indonesia (d) No other contender

409. A group of American researchers haveidentified and recorded a “hidden” languagein the remote interiors of Arunachal Pradeshnamed:(a) Aiton (b) Phakyal(c) Turung (d) Koro

410. Which countries would be the new membersof East Asia Summit in 2011?(a) USA and United Kingdom(b) USA and Russia(c) Russia and South Africa(d) Mongolia and Russia

411. Who has been elected as the Vice- Presidentof the world body for the sport of chess, FIDEat Russia recently?(a) D.V. Sundar(b) Gary Kasparov(c) Vishwanathan Anand(d) None of the above

412. 10th meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on MilitaryTechnical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) was heldin:(a) Moscow (b) New Delhi(c) Hyderabad (d) Vladivostok

413. 5th East Asia Summit (EAS) was held recentlyin 2010 at:(a) Bangkok (b) Java(c) Hanoi (d) Manila

414. Which is the instrument used to isolate andidentify new isotopes?(a) Berkley Gas-filled Separator(b) Telescope(c) Magnetic resonance imaging instrument(d) Electron microscope

415. How many isotopes of the superheavyelements 104 through 114A have beendetected by scientists recently?(a) 4 (b) 6(c) 5 (d) 7

416. French Parliament has granted approval to abill that raises the retirement age from 60 to:(a) 65 (b) 62(c) 70 (d) 68

417. Iran recently began fuelling the reactor coreof its Russian built nuclear power located in:(a) Bushehr (b) Tehran(c) Natanz (d) Manjil

418. G20 Finance Ministers’ Meet was held inwhich South Korean City in 2010 to reformthe International Monetary Fund(IMF)?(a) Daegu (b) Ulsan(c) Gyeongju (d) Busan

419. Myanmar’s ruling military junta has changedthe name of Myanmar from Union of Myanmarto:(a) Republic of Myanmar(b) Republic of Union of Myanmar(c) Union of Burma (d) Federal Union of Myanmar

420. Who among the following has topped the“World’s Most Powerful People 2010’ listreleased by Forbes recently?(a) Hu Jintao (b) Barack Obama(c) Angelina Merkel (d) Jacob Zuma

421. Myanmar has recently started work on arailway line from its planned deep-sea port atKyaukphyu to:(a) Chittagong (b) Yunnan(c) Kolkata (d) Kohima


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422. P.L. Punia is appointed the new Chairman ofthe(a) National Commission for Scheduled

Castes (NCSC)(b) National Commission for Scheduled Tribes

(NCST)(c) National Commission for Backward

Classes (NCBC)(d) Minority commission

423. The world’s longest rail tunnel, named theGotthard Base Tunnel, was completedrecently. In which country is it located?(a) Sweden (b) Finland(c) Switzerland (d) Austria

424. 8th Asia- Europe Meeting (ASEM) was hostedin 2010 in the city of:(a) Athens (b) Istanbul(c) Beijing (d) Brussels

425. 193 members of the UN’s Convention onBiological Diversity(CBD) gathered for the 10th

meeting of the Conference of theParties(COP10) to try to work out strategiesto head off a man- made mass extinction.Where was the meet held?(a) Japan (b) South Korea(c) Indonesia (d) Cancun

426. Rustom, the medium-altitude long enduranceunmanned aircraft, has been developed bywhich country?(a) Iran (b) India(c) Pakistan (d) Turkey

427. British author Mr. Howard Jacobson wasdeclared the winner of the prestigious Manbooker prize in 2010 for his comic novel:(a) Oscar and Lucinda(b) True History of the Kelly Gang(c) Parrot and Olivier in America(d) The finkler question

428. Which International Cricketer won the maiden2010 ICC Cricketer of the year trophy alsoknown as Sir Garfield Sobers Cricketer of theyear?(a) Mahendra Singh Dhoni(b) Shane Watson(c) Sachin Tendulkar(d) Virendra Sehwag

429. According to ‘The Global Governance2025’ report, India has been placed at whichof the following position?(a) Ist Position (b) 2nd Position(c) 3rd Position (d) 4th Position

430. The first Jatinga International Festival openedin Jatinga, known for the mysteriousphenomenon of birds committing masssuicide during winters. In which state isJatinga located?(a) Orissa (b) West Bengal(c) Assam (d) Meghalaya

431. Which is the first Indian state to experiencemobile number portability?(a) Punjab (b) Haryana(c) Tamil Nadu (d) Andhra Pradesh

432. Which animal has been recently declared asnational heritage animal by the IndianGovernment with an aim to step up measuresfor its protection?(a) Rhinoceros (b) Elephant(c) Cheetah (d) Lion

433. Why was Harishankar Brahma been in newsrecently?(a) Chairman of National Commission of

Scheduled Castes(b) New election commissioner of India(c) Renowned Tabla player(d) Famous Flute player

434. Name the first Indian golfer to have won a USPGA tour event(a) Chinnaswamy Muniyappa(b) Shiv Chowrasia(c) Gaganjeet Bhullar(d) Arjun Atwal



435. According to Platts, one of the mostrespected global providers of energy andmetals information which company/corporation has become Asia’s top oil andgas exploration and Production Company?(a) ADNOC (b) ONGC(c) CNOOC (d) Inpex Corporation

436. India plans to develop indigenous AdvancedMedium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), a fifth-generation aircraft by:(a) 2025 (b) 2017 (c) 2012 (d) 2015

437. Boeing is making a special spy plane for USmilitary named, that can fly non-stop for fiveyears. What is the name of the plane?(a) Solar Jet (b) Solar Aircraft(c) Solar Eagle (d) Hyper Jet

438. Stockholm Water Prize, 2010 has beenconferred to:(a) Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak(b) Ms. Rita R. Colwell(c) John Anthony Allan(d) Asit K. Biswas

439. Who won the Palme d’Or top prize at Cannesfilm festival?(a) Apichatpong Weerasethakul(b) Michael Haneke(c) Laurent Cantet(d) Cristian Mungiu

440. The European Space Agency (ESA) hasreleased the first ever image of the entireuniverse produced by space telescopenamed:(a) Hubble (b) Planck(c) Spitzer (d) Kepler

441. What is the name of the car which can takein Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and produceoxygen?(a) YeZ concept car (b) Citycab(c) Mustang (d) Pontiac Bonneville

442. Who recently won the Leelavati Award?(a) M. S. Narasimhan(b) Laszlo Lovasz (c) John Ball (d) Simon Lehna Singh

443. What is the name of German parliament?(a) Kneisset (b) Duma(c) Bundestag (d) Riigikogu

444. The Personal Laws Amendment Bill pavingway for the women to get equal rights inguardianship and adoption of children hasbeen passed by the Rajya Sabha, whichseeks to amend the:(a) Guardians and Wards Act, 1890(b) Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act,

1956(c) Both (a) and (b)(d) Neither (a) nor (b)

445. The government has recently extended theZero-duty Export Promotion Capital Goods(EPCG) scheme till:(a) March 31, 2013 (b) March 31, 2012(c) March 31, 2014 (d) March 31, 2015

446. The National Innovation Council has beengiven the mandate to:(a) Evolve an Indian model of innovation

focussing on inclusive growth and creatingan appropriate eco-system conducive tofostering inclusive innovation.

(b) Delineate appropriate policy initiativeswithin the government required to spurinnovation.

(c) Promote the setting up of sectoralinnovation councils and state innovationcouncils

(d) All of these

447. The revised Nuclear liability bill has hiked theliability of operator from Rs. 500 crore to:(a) 1000 crore (b) 2000 crore(c) 1500 crore (d) 2500 crore


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448. India and Switzerland in August 2010 signeda revised Double Tax avoidance Agreement(DTAA) that will enable exchange ofinformation on tax evaders, considered a mustfor getting details on unaccounted fundsstashed away by Indians in Swiss banks. Theagreement,(a) has been ratified by the Switzerland

Parliament(b) is yet to be ratified by the Switzerland

Parliament(c) is rejected by the Switzerland Parliament(d) None of these

449. Parliament recently has made a decision toincrease the salaries of MPs. Retiredmembers will now get a monthly pension of:(a) rupees 25,000 (b) rupees 15,000(c) rupees 20,000 (d) rupees 30,000

450. “How India Earns, Spends and Saves”, is thename of the report made by(a) Planning Commission(b) National Council of Applied Economic

Research (NCAER)(c) National Development Council(d) International Monetary Fund

451. Rajpal Singh was the captain of the Indianhockey squad during Commonwealth Games,he represents which of the following PSUs/Banks?(a) Indian Oil (b) Air India(c) Canara Bank (d) BPCL

452. Who among the following has beenposthumously given the Ashok Chakra, thehighest peacetime gallantry award recently?(a) Hav. Dayal Singh(b) Major Laishram Jyotin Singh(c) Capt. Manendra Pratap Singh(d) Lt. Vikram Bahadur Singh

453. Which of the following is the second largestprivate sector employer in India after TCS?(a) IBM (b) Wipro(c) Infosys (d) Google

454. According to a statement in the Parliament,India has slipped to the fifth position in termsof global steel production in 2010, whichcountry tops the list?(a) Japan (b) China(c) USA (d) Russia

455. The Union Government has decided to releaseRs. 4,868 crore to public sector lenders forproviding concessional loans to farmers, it willhelp lenders provide farmers short-term croploan at:(a) 9 per cent interest (b) 8 per cent interest(c) 5 per cent interest (d) 7 per cent interest

456. New inflation index which came into effectfrom August, 2010 has changed base yearfrom 1993-94 to:(a) 2004-05 (b) 2002-03(c) 2000-01 (d) 2003-04

457. Which Indian industrialist has been electedas Member to the Board of World EconomicForum recently?(a) Mukesh Ambani (b) Anil Ambani (c) Nandan Nilekeni (d) Deepak Parekh

458. According to the data compiled by oil andmetal information provider Platts, whichcountry is now the largest petroleum productsexporter in Asia, surpassing South Korea?(a) China (b) India(c) Japan (d) Indonesia

459. According to NHAI, the social cost of roadaccidents in India has been estimated at:(a) 4 per cent of the GDP(b) 3 per cent of the GDP(c) 2 per cent of the GDP(d) 1 per cent of the GDP

460. According to finding of a study jointly carriedout by the Chartered Institute of Personneland Development and the accounting firmKPMG, two-thirds of British companiesintending to outsource jobs offshore prefer towhich country?(a) India (b) China(c) Eastern Europe (d) South East Asia



461. Who won the first LG People’s Choice Award?(a) Mike Hussey(b) Mahela Jayawardene(c) Sachin Tendulkar(d) Andrew Strauss

462. Who became the sixth Indian batsman toscore 7000 Test runs recently?(a) Mahendra Singh Dhoni(b) Virender Sehwag(c) Rahul Dravid(d) VVS Laxman

463. According to Social Justice andEmpowerment Minister Mukul Wasnik, post-matric scholarships for SC students belongingto scheduled castes will be raised by(a) 60 per cent (b) 70 per cent(c) 80 per cent (d) 40 per cent

464. Which State government has recentlyannounced a scheme to provide financialassistance to 30 lakh families that have neitherreceived the Below Poverty Line (BPL) rationcard nor any type of pension, to fulfill theirdaily needs?(a) Himachal Pradesh (b) Maharashtra(c) Uttar Pradesh (d) Rajasthan

465. The Central Government has decided to seekfrom Dow Chemicals and its subsidiary UnionCarbide how much more compensationmoney?(a) more than Rs 1,500 crore extra(b) more than Rs 2,500 crore extra(c) more than Rs 2,000 crore extra(d) more than Rs 1,000 crore extra

466. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 13thAugust, 2010 directed core investmentcompanies (CICs) to register themselves withthe central bank in case their asset size is atleast:(a) Rs. 100 crore (b) Rs.1000 crore(c) Rs. 500 crore (d) Rs. 200 crore

467. Which of the following is the CentrallySponsored Plan Scheme where there is aproposal to provide broadband connectivity toover 18000 colleges in the country?(a) Information and Communication

Technology in Schools Scheme(b) National Mission on Education through

Information and CommunicationTechnology

(c) Rural Wire-line Broadband Scheme(d) None of the above

468. The University Grants Commission (UGC) hadconstituted a Committee on the norms forteacher to student ratio for various disciplines/programmes and teaching to non-teachingratio in Central Universities and UGCmaintained Deemed to be Universities. Whois the chairman of this committee?(a) Usha Thorat (b) Vijay Kelkar(c) Makhan Jha (d) J.A.K. Tareen

469. In order to strengthen the local banks, theReserve Bank on 11th August, 2010suggested lowering the foreign investmentlimit in new private sector banks from 74 percent currently to:(a) below 50 per cent(b) below 49 per cent(c) below 51 per cent(d) below 26 per cent

470. Federation of Indo-Israel Chambers ofCommerce recently bestowed the title of‘Businessman of the Decade’ to:(a) KV Kamath(b) Ratan Tata(c) Mukesh Ambani(d) Deepak M Satwalekar

471. The Border Security Bill – which has beenpassed by the US Senate seeks to:(a) impose a steep $2000 increase in H-1B

and L-1 visa fee over the current account.(b) Improve security in Iraq’s border with Iran.(c) Increase security at American airports(d) None of the above


31

472. According to estimates made by NationalCouncil of Applied EconomicResearch (NCAER) survey how much percent of Indian households belong to themiddle class?(a) 35 per cent (b) 55 per cent (c) 62 per cent (d) 75 per cent

473. How many new sites have been addedto UNESCOs World Heritage List, bringingthe total to 911?(a) 11 (b) 12 (c) 21 (d) 25

474. India, has developed world’s cheapest laptopwhich was unveiled recently, has beendesigned by experts at:(a) IIT Kanpur and IIT Kharagpur(b) IIT Madras(c) Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore(d) All of above

475. According to new Catering Policy 2010of Indian Railways been introduced recently,the management of providing onboard cateringservices to the railway passengers on IndianRailways is now to be done by:(a) Zonal Railways(b) IRCTC(c) Both (a) and (b)(d) None of the above

476. To guard against misuse of data collectedfor allotment of a Unique Identity Card, theUnion Cabinet has cleared a new law titledthe National Identification Authority of IndiaAct, providing for strict penal action and heftyfines going up to:(a) Rs 2 crore (b) Rs 50 Lakhs(c) Rs 25 Lakhs (d) Rs 1 crore

477. According to the Ma Foi RandstadEmployment Trends Survey, which sectorleads with the highest growth in number ofpeople employed?(a) Real estate and construction(b) Healthcare(c) Information technology and IT-enabled

services(d) Education, training and consulting

478. The National Innovation Council (NIC) hasannounced the setting up of a Rs 1,000 crorefund to encourage innovation. A major portionof the fund will come from the:(a) Private sector(b) Union government(c) State Government(d) IMF

479. The highest honour of Sangeet Natak AkademiFellowship (Akademi Ratna) was notconferred in 2010 on:(a) Lalgudi Jayaraman(b) Shreeram Lagoo(c) Kishori Amonkar(d) M.F.Hussain

480. Reliance Capital plans to enter the bankingsector once the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)is ready with its final guidelines for newbanking licence. Reliance Capital is thefinancial services arm of the:(a) ADAG(b) Reliance Retail(c) Reliance Ventures Ltd.(d) Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited

481. Recently in a big relief to dissatisfied healthinsurance policyholders, InsuranceRegulatory and Development Authority (IRDA)allowed them portability — shifting policiesfrom one insurer to another on same termsfrom:(a) July 1, 2011(b) June 1, 2011(c) August 1, 2011(d) April 1, 2011

482. Indian railways has replaced the existing fourdigit numbering system for passenger trainsby a five-digit system with only a prefix ofnumeral:(a) “4” (b) “1”(c) “2” (d) “3”



483. Europe’s first major school of governmentat Oxford University, has been funded with a£75 million donation from:(a) Leonard Blavatnik(b) Warren Buffet(c) Bill Gates(d) Anand Mahindra

484. Agni-V will be a three-stage solid fuelledmissile that will be test-fired in 2011, will carrya conventional nuclear warhead and willreportedly have a range of more than(a) 5,000 km (b) 2500 km(c) 10,000 km (d) 7000 km

485. The expert group headed by Dr. Suresh

Tendulkar, former chairman of the PrimeMinister’s Economic Advisory Council, hasestimated how much percentage of Indianslive below poverty line (BPL)?(a) 27 per cent (b) 35.7 per cent(c) 41.8 per cent (d) 37.2 per cent

486. Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) whichwill be incorporated in the forthcoming HumanDevelopment Report has been worked out bythe:(a) United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP)(b) Oxford University(c) Both (a) and (b)(d) IMF

487. According to a study by the National Councilof Applied Economic Research (NCAER) thetop 20 per cent of India’s population had howmuch per cent share of the national incomein 2009-10?(a) 28.4 per cent (b) 34 per cent(c) 52.3 per cent (d) 53.2 per cent

488. Who is the Registrar-General and CensusCommissioner of Census 2011, billed as thelargest peacetime mobilisation in the world?(a) P. Chidambaram(b) Nandan Nilekeni(c) C. Chandramouli(d) G.K. Pillai

489. Cyclone Yasi has recently striked which ofthe following country?(a) Australia (b) Philippines(c) Japan (d) Indonesia

490. A 3rd World Trade Center in country afterMumbai and Bangalore centre is beingproposed. What is the proposed place for theaforesaid project?(a) Chennai (b) Hyderabad(c) Kochi (d) New Delhi

491. Who among the following celebrities will bethe first Bollywood actor to fly F-16 SuperViper combat aircraft?(a) Salman Khan(b) Priyanka Chopra(c) Aamir Khan(d) Shahid Kapoor

492. The Supreme Courts of the two countries, byfar the most conservative neighbours, haverecognised transgenders’ right to get jobs andvoting rights and have ruled againstdiscrimination based on sexual orientation. Identify the countries out of the followingoptions?(a) Pakistan and Bangladesh(b) Nepal and Bangladesh(c) Pakistan and Nepal(d) Nepal and Bhutan

493. According to Deloitte, which club has toppedthe league table of the world’s 20 richestfootball clubs for the sixth straight year?(a) Real Madrid(b) Barcelona(c) Manchester United(d) Bayern Munich

494. Which Indian Football Club will set up afootball academy at Cana Bednaulim inassociation with former Liverpool midfielder-turned-commentator Steve McMohan?(a) Mohan Began(b) Chirag United(c) Dempo(d) Churchill Brothers


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495. What is the name of the first womanSecretary-General of SAARC in its silverjubilee year?(a) Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed(b) Sheel Kant Sharma(c) Nirupama Rao(d) None of the above

496. Newly-elected Prime Minister of Nepal is(a) Jhalanath Khanal(b) Narayankaji Shrestha ‘Prakash’(c) Pushpa Kamal Dahal(d) Madhav Nepal

497. In a boost to organic farming in Bihar, Sohdihvillage in Bihar has found a place on the globalmap through the global positioning system(GPS) for sowing potato over an area of 160acres by using natural fertilizers only. In whichdistrict is this village located?(a) Nalanda (b) Siwan(c) Darbhanga (d) Samastipur

498. Which river of Arunachal Pradesh has nowbeen thrown open for all anglers, which hasbeen out of bonds for outsiders at a ceremonyheld at Subu village nestled beneath thepicturesque Thrizino circle?(a) Sipu River (b) Bichom River(c) Siyom River (d) Siang River

499. Southern Sudan is slated to become theworld’s newest country, its proposed capitalwill be:(a) Khartoum (b) Juba(c) Kordofan (d) Merowe

500. Two Indian-Americans were appointed by U.S.Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to serveon the Civil Nuclear Trade Advisory Committeefor two years. Name them:(a) Ganpat Mani and Vijay Sazawal(b) Narayan Hosmane and Vijay Sazawal(c) Ganpat Mani and Narayan Hosmane(d) Raghuram Rajan and Narayan Hosmane

34 © LST 2010Replication or other unauthorised use of this material is prohibited by the



Answers and Explanations1 d 51 a 101 a 151 b 201 b 251 a 301 a 351 a 401 b 451 a2 b 52 b 102 a 152 b 202 c 252 b 302 d 352 a 402 a 452 b3 c 53 a 103 c 153 b 203 a 253 d 303 a 353 b 403 c 453 a4 b 54 a 104 d 154 b 204 a 254 c 304 c 354 c 404 b 454 b5 c 55 a 105 c 155 b 205 c 255 b 305 c 355 b 405 a 455 a6 d 56 a 106 d 156 c 206 b 256 d 306 b 356 b 406 d 456 a7 b 57 b 107 d 157 b 207 a 257 a 307 a 357 c 407 a 457 a8 b 58 d 108 a 158 a 208 d 258 a 308 c 358 a 408 d 458 b9 b 59 c 109 c 159 a 209 a 259 d 309 c 359 c 409 d 459 b

10 b 60 d 110 a 160 d 210 a 260 a 310 a 360 c 410 b 460 a11 a 61 a 111 a 161 c 211 d 261 d 311 b 361 a 411 a 461 c12 a 62 c 112 a 162 a 212 a 262 b 312 d 362 c 412 b 462 b13 b 63 a 113 b 163 a 213 c 263 a 313 a 363 c 413 c 463 b14 a 64 b 114 d 164 a 214 d 264 a 314 d 364 c 414 a 464 a15 a 65 d 115 b 165 a 215 b 265 d 315 a 365 c 415 b 465 a16 c 66 b 116 a 166 c 216 a 266 b 316 a 366 a 416 b 466 a17 a 67 c 117 d 167 b 217 a 267 b 317 a 367 c 417 a 467 b18 b 68 a 118 c 168 b 218 a 268 c 318 a 368 a 418 c 468 d19 a 69 c 119 b 169 a 219 a 269 c 319 d 369 b 419 b 469 a20 a 70 b 120 c 170 a 220 a 270 d 320 d 370 a 420 a 470 b21 a 71 a 121 a 171 c 221 a 271 b 321 b 371 d 421 c 471 a22 a 72 b 122 a 172 d 222 a 272 d 322 b 372 b 422 a 472 c23 d 73 a 123 a 173 c 223 a 273 a 323 b 373 d 423 c 473 c24 a 74 d 124 b 174 d 224 a 274 a 324 c 374 b 424 d 474 d25 a 75 c 125 b 175 c 225 b 275 c 325 b 375 b 425 a 475 a26 a 76 a 126 a 176 b 226 d 276 b 326 a 376 c 426 b 476 d27 a 77 c 127 a 177 d 227 c 277 c 327 c 377 a 427 d 477 a28 a 78 a 128 a 178 c 228 a 278 a 328 d 378 b 428 c 478 a29 b 79 a 129 c 179 c 229 b 279 a 329 c 379 c 429 c 479 d30 a 80 b 130 c 180 c 230 c 280 d 330 c 380 b 430 c 480 a31 a 81 c 131 b 181 b 231 a 281 a 331 d 381 c 431 b 481 a32 a 82 a 132 d 182 d 232 a 282 d 332 c 382 b 432 b 482 b33 a 83 c 133 b 183 d 233 a 283 b 333 c 383 a 433 b 483 a34 d 84 d 134 b 184 c 234 a 284 a 334 d 384 d 434 d 484 a35 c 85 c 135 b 185 c 235 d 285 c 335 a 385 c 435 b 485 d36 a 86 b 136 b 186 c 236 b 286 c 336 b 386 d 436 b 486 c37 c 87 a 137 a 187 a 237 b 287 b 337 c 387 c 437 c 487 d38 a 88 d 138 c 188 a 238 d 288 b 338 c 388 d 438 b 488 c39 d 89 d 139 b 189 a 239 a 289 a 339 c 389 a 439 a 489 a40 a 90 a 140 a 190 a 240 c 290 b 340 a 390 a 440 b 490 c41 a 91 b 141 a 191 a 241 d 291 a 341 d 391 a 441 a 491 d42 c 92 a 142 d 192 b 242 a 292 a 342 a 392 c 442 d 492 c43 d 93 a 143 b 193 a 243 a 293 a 343 b 393 a 443 c 493 a44 c 94 a 144 b 194 a 244 c 294 d 344 d 394 c 444 c 494 d45 b 95 a 145 a 195 a 245 c 295 c 345 b 395 c 445 b 495 a46 b 96 b 146 b 196 b 246 b 296 a 346 d 396 b 446 d 496 a47 c 97 c 147 a 197 b 247 a 297 a 347 a 397 c 447 c 497 a48 b 98 b 148 d 198 c 248 c 298 b 348 a 398 a 448 b 498 b49 c 99 c 149 a 199 a 249 d 299 b 349 a 399 c 449 d 499 b50 b 100 c 150 b 200 b 250 a 300 c 350 b 400 a 450 b 500 a

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35 Current Affairs Question Bank

1. d V. Anand became India’s first grandmaster in 1987. Hewas also the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi KhelAward in 1991-92. In 2007 he was awarded India’ssecond highest civilian award the Padma Vibhushan,making him the first sports person to receive the award.

2. b S.H. Kapadia is 38th Chief Justice of India. K.G.Balkrishnan was the 37th Chief Justice of India. Hewas the first person of dalit origin to ascend to thehighest office. From 2010 after his retirement he isserving as chairman of the National Human RightsCommission.

3. c

4. b

5. c Naga students had seized national highways 39 and53, which are supposed to be lifeline of Manipur. Nagastudents had been fighting for the introduction of thesixth schedule of the Indian constitution in district hills.Sixth Schedule (Articles 244 and 275) relates withprovisions for the administration of tribal areas inAssam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram

6. d Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award is India’s highesthonour given for achievement in sports. It wasinstituted in 1991-92. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award2009 was awarded to M.C. Marykom (boxer).

7. b Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy is ranked thirdand PepsiCo’s India-born chief Indira Nooyi 10th inForbes list of the world’s 30 most inspiring womenthat also features Mother Teresa and US Secretary ofState Hillary Clinton.

8. b David Cameroon is leader of Conservative party ofBritain.

9. b Vidya Stokes was elected president of Hockey Indiabut later resigned and Mariamma Koshi was electedas its interim president.

10. b Virus H5N1 - Bird Flu

11. a

12. a Deepwater Horizon oil spill is also referred as BP oilspill in Gulf of Mexico which flowed for 3 months in2010.

13. b Space shuttle Atlantis (Orbiter Vehicle Designation:ov-104) is one of the 3 operational space shuttleorbiters in the space shuttle fleet belonging to theNASA other two are the Discovery and theEndeavour).

14. a Chhewang Nima Sherpa- 19 times Everest conquerorwas caught in an avalanche in 2010. His body has notrecovered yet .

15. a North Korean torpedo sank a South Korean navy shipon 26th March 2010 causing the death of 46 sailors.

16. c General Sarath Fonseka, former army chief of Srilankagot jail term.

17. a Liu Xiabo is Chinese dissident, honoured by noblepeace prize 2010 in absentia.

18. b Mario Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian writer.

19. a

20. a Robert Edward has won noble prize for medicine 2010,for his discoveries of in-vitro fertilization.

21. a She remained under house arrest in Myanmar foralmost 15 of the 21 years from July 20, 1989 until herrelease on 13 November 2010.

22. a Capital of Rawanda is Kigali

23. d

24. a Venera 7 (USSR) is first human made spacecraft tosuccessfully land on another planet. Mariner 9- isNASA’s mars probe (search for life). Rosetta isEuropean space agency mission to study origin ofcomets.

25. a Kamla Prasad Bisesar is Trinidad’s first female primeminister. She is of Indian origin. She was also the firstwoman to serve as Attonery General of Trinidad andTobago.

26. a Ground Zero Mosque- Park 51 originally named Corbodahouse is a planned 13 story Muslim community centreto be located two blocks from the World Trade Centresite in lower Manhattan.

27. a Top kill is the operation of British petroleum to stop theoil spill in gulf of Mexico in May 2010.

28. a Noato Kan, Finance minister of Japan was elected asprime minister. He belongs to democratic party ofJapan.

29. b Jabulani was the name of the ball used in world cupfootball 2010. Vuvuzela is a musical instrument ofSouth Africa. Shera was a mascot of commonwealth2010.

30. a Lionel Messi is from Argentina. According to a surveyin 2010 he is voted as a ‘Best footballer on earth’ with39% support. Portugal’s Cristiano Ronalado camesecond with 15% support followed by England’sWayne Rooney with 13%.

31. a Julia Gillard is the 27th prime minister. She belongs tolabor party.




32. a Bronislow Kimorowski earlier served as a speaker ofparliament of Poland. He already exercised the powersand duties of head of state after the death of presidentLech Kaczynski in a plane crash on 10th April 2010.

33. a Spain won the football world cup after defeating theDutch scoring 1-0 (0-0). The only goal of the meetingwas marked by Andres Iniesta in minute 117.

34. d Golden Boot is an award given to the individual playerwho scores the most goals in a tournament. In 2010football world cup, German striker Thomas Muller wonGolden Boot as well as Best Young player of thetournament.

35. c Tropical Storm Agatha was a tropical cyclone. In May-June 2010 it devastated Central America.

36. a Choe Yong Rim belongs to Workers’ Party of NorthKorea.

37. c Research in Motion (RIM) is headquartered in Waterloo,Ontanio, Canada. It was founded by Mike Lazaridiswho currently serves as its Co-CEO along with JimBalsille.

38. a Former chairperson of the Board of Audit andInspection became the prime minister of South Koreaon 1 Oct. 2010.

39. d Miss Universe 2010, 59th pageant was held at theMandalay Bay Events centre in the Mandalay Bayresort, Las Vegas, Nevada, US. The Miss Universecontest was founded in 1952. Its logo reads ‘Thewoman with stars’. Miss universe organization is aNew York based partnership between NBC and DonaldTrump. Current president of organisation is PaulaShugart.

40. a Deepak and Shirin Gadhia with the help of Germantechnology gave concept of World’s largest cookerlocated at Shirdi Shrine.

41. a XIXth Commonwealth games were held in Delhi, Indiafrom 3 to 14 October 2010. Total 6081 athletes from 71countries completed 21 sports and 272 events. It wasthe first time that commonwealth games were held inIndia and second time it was held in Asia after KualaLumpur Malaysia in 1998. All commonwealth nationsparticipated except Tokaleu which didn’t send a teamand Fiji which is suspended from the commonwealth.

42. c

43. d

44. c The FBTR is a liquid metal fast breeder reactor basedon the French ‘Rap sodie’ design. The reactor uses aplutonium-uranium mixed carbide fuel and liquid sodiumas a coolant.

45. b Technopark based light logistics is a holographytechnology company has opened India’s firstholographic potrait studio in Kerala. A holographicpotrait is a unique 3 dimensional image that capturesthe living presence of a person in light. Scientists usethis technology to perform stem analysis, non-destructive testing create head up displays and toducrypt information. Designers have createdcommercial applications such as point of purchasedisplays, record labels, credit cards security featuresetc.

46. b Direct tax code will replace the archaic income tax act1961.

47. c Sachin Tendulkar overtook former Australian captainSteve Waugh after taking field for his 169th matchagainst Srilanka.

48. b Chandrayaan II is a joint lunar exploration missionproposed by ISRO and Russian federal space agency.It will be launched by GSLV. It will include lunar orbiterand lunar rover made in India as well as area landerbuilt by Russia. Project will be headed by M. Annaduraiwho was also behind the success of the ChandrayaanI mission.

49. c The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, is a pendingbill in India which proposes to provide ‘thirty three percent of all seats in the Lower house of Parliament ofIndia the Lok Sabha and state legislative assembliesshall be reserved for women. The Upper House RajyaSabha passed it on 9 Mar 2010.

50. b The World classical Tamil Conference wasinaugurated on 23rd June 2010 at Kovai in Coimbatoredistrict. Tamil was declared as classical language in2004. Classical languages of India are (1) Tamil (2)Sanskrit (2005), (3) Kannada (4) Telugu (2008).

51.a Astra is beyond-visual range air to air missile(BVRAAM) developed by the DRDO. This is the firstair to air missile developed by India. Tests of Astramissile carried out in July 2010 at both night and daytime under inclement weather conditions weresuccessful. Maximum range of Astra is to be 80 km inhead as chase and 20 km in tail chase.

52. b Tragedy was occurred on the night of December 2-3,1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticideplant. UCIL was the Indian subsidiary of Union CarbideCorporation (UCC) was purchased by Dow ChemicalCompany in 2001. UCIL factory was built in 1969 toproduce pesticide sevin (UCC’s brand name forcompany).

53. a Between 1727 and 1734 Maharajah Jai Singh II ofJaipur constructed five astronomical observatories inwest and central India at Jaipur, Delhi, Varanasi,Mathura, Ujjain.



54. a Women reservation in local government according to73rd constitutional amendment is 33%.

55. a 13th Finance Commission Chairperson- Vijay Kelkar

56. a Revenue share is a follows (Union budget 2010-11):• Borrowings and other liabilities 29%

• Corporation tax 23%

• Non tax revenue 11%

• Union excise duties 10%

• Customs 9%

• Income tax 9%

• Service tax 6%

• Non debt capital receipts 3%

57. b

58. d Mahatma Gandhi dispute free village scheme waslaunched in 2007. It is a village level alternative disputeresolution system which seeks to prevent theoccurrence of disputes and resolve them at the villagelevel itself through people’s participation.

59. c ‘Play 4 India’ is a movement of Haryana government tocreate adequate income and employment opportunitiesas career for sports person.

60. d

61. a University will be set up in Jaipur Rajasthan.

62. c

63. a TAPI is a natural gas pipeline being developed by theAsian Development Bank. This pipeline will transportCaspian Sea natural gas from Turkmenistan-Afganistan - Pakistan to India.

64. b Switzerland leads the ranking followed by Sweden,Singapore and United states respectively. India hasslipped by two places to 51st.

65. d

66. b

67. c India has taken Nerpa, an Akula class Nuclearsubmarine from Russia. Submarine is to be leased tothe Indian Navy as the INS Chakra.

68. a START - bilateral nuclear disarmament treaty betweenthe United States and Russia. START was signed onApril 8, 2010. Treaty calls for limiting most dangerousweapons each side to about 1550.

69. c Agni II is a medium range ballistic missile. Agni I has arange of 700-800 km. Agni III has a range of 3500 km.

70. b Brahmos has a range of 290 km and is a joint ventureof India and Russia.

71. a INS Viraat, the Centaur class aircraft carrier, wasoriginally commissioned in the British Royal Navy asHMS Hermes Nov 18, 1959. The Indian Navy acquiredit in 1987.

72. b Home Minister P. Chidambaram is the head of NationalIntegration Council.

73. a Bharat Ratna is highest civilian award of India. BhimsenJoshi was a Carnatic vocalist. Prior to this, LataMangeshkar and Ustad Bismillah Khan got Bharat Ratnajointly in the year 2001. Bharat Ratna was not awardedbetween 2001 – 2008.

74. d Committees to study centre state relations are:• Setalwad Committee 1966

• Raj Mannar Committee 1969

• Punchhi Commission 2007Arjun Sen Gupta is chairman of National Commissionsfor enterprises in the Unorganized sector.

75. c Dr K. Radhakrishnan, chairman of Indian Spaceresearch Organization (ISRO), has said that ISROexpects to launch Chandrayan-2 in 2013. After thelaunch of Chandrayaan-2, ISRO plans to launch amanned mission to the moon, by 2015.

76. a Methyl isocyanate (MIC) is an organic compound alsoknown as isocyanatomethane, methyl carbylamine,and MIC. Methyl isocyanate is an intermediate chemicalin the production of carbamate pesticides (such ascarbaryl, carbofuran, , and aldicarb). It has also beenused in the production of rubbers and adhesives. It isa highly toxic and irritating material,

77. c Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana for the integrateddevelopment of scheduled castes dominated villagesin the country i.e. Villages where SC population ismore than 50% has launched in Sriganganagar,Rajasthan in July 2010.

78. a Anusha Rizvi directed ‘Peepli Live’ was India’s officialentry for best foreign language film in Oscar. It wasnot nominated. Indian entries till 2010 which gotnominations are:(1) Mother India (1957) directed byMehboob Khan (2) Salaam Bombay (1988) directedby Meera Nair (3) Lagaan (2001) directed by AshutoshGowariker

79. a G-20 summit 2010 was held in Toronto, Canada, G-20as the group of twenty finance ministers and centralbank governors, was established in 1999 to bringtogether systematically important industrialized anddeveloping economies to discuss key issues in theglobal economy. Members are: Argentina, Australia,Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India,Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia,South Africa, Republic of Korea, Turkey, UnitedKingdom, United States of America and EU.




80. b Association of Southeast Asian Natives (ASEAN) is ageo-political and economic organization of 10 countrieslocated in Southeast Asia which was formed on 8thAugust 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,Singapore and Thailand. Gradually membership hasexpanded to include Brunei, Myanmar (1997),Combodia (1999), Loos (1997) and Vietnam 1995).

81. c Customs Union between Russia, Belarus andKazakhstan became fully operational in July 2010.States plan to scrap their customs borders on July 1,2011. Kyrguzstan is also interested in joining the union.

82. a International criminal court has issued an arrestwarrant for president of Sudan, Omar Hassan atBashir. Since April 2003 Sudanese forces attemptedgenocide against the Darfur tribal groups- Fur, Masalitand Zaghawa.

83. c At the thirteenth SAARC summit held in Dhaka inNovember 2005, Indian Prime Minister proposed theestablishment of South Asian University. Eight SAARCnations are - Afganistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Srilanka. First academicsession started in August 2010.

84. d 1st joint parliamentary committee was formed in 1987to inquire into Bofors scam, it was headed by B.Shankarananda. 2nd JPC was formed in 1992, toinquire into securities and banking transactionirregularities, it was headed by Ram Niwas Mirdha.3rd investigative JPC was assigned to probe the stockmarket scam in 2001, it was headed by Lt. Gen PrakashMani Tripathi. 4th JPC was set up in August 2003 tolook into pesticide residues in soft drinks, it was headedby Sharad Pawar. 5th JPC is proposed on 2G spectrumallocation.

85. c

86. b International congress of Mathematician is an eventheld once every four years. This is the first time theevent is to happen in India and only third time in Asia(after Kyoto 1990 and Beijing 2002).

87. a Earlier Bobby Jindal was elected Governor ofLouisiana.

88. d Justice Fathima Bibi was the first woman judge ofSupreme Court of India [1989-19992]. The secondwoman judge was Justic Sujata V Manohar [1994-99]. Third was Justic Ruma Pal who became a SupremeCourt judge in 2000 and continue to hold office. JusticeGyan Sudha Mishra is 4th woman to hold this position.No female judge has yet been appointed as ChiefJustice of India.

89. d Robert Edwards has been awarded Noble prize forliterature. Noble prize in Economics for 2010 wasgiven to study unemployment, wages and jobvacancies in labor market.

90. a Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavna Award is given on the birthdayof late prime minister Shri Rajiv Gnadhi. It is given foroutstanding contribution towards the promotion ofcommunal harmony, peace and goodwill.

91. b Sydney peace prize is international peace prizeawarded by Australia.

92. a Iron Sharmila is on fast unto death for last nine yearsfor restoration of human rights in Manipur. She isstruggling for withdrawal of armed forces specialpowers act 1958.

93. a P. Sainath, rural affairs editor of ‘The Hindu’ was giventhe Bharat Asmita National Award 2010 instituted bythe Maharashtra Institute of Technology group ofinstitutions. He shared the award with film directorJabbar Patel for using cinema as a medium for publicawakening.• Bharat Asmita National awardees for 2011

• Bharat Asmita Acharya Shreshta Award - Directorof IIM Bangalore Prof. Pankaj Chandra.

• Bharat Asmita Jana Pratinidhi Shreshta best youngexponent of parliamentary practices - MP ofhamirpur in Himachal Pradesh - Anurag Thakur.

• Bharat Asmita Jana Jagran Shreshta- AuthorGurucharan Das, film director Ashutosh Gorirkar,dancer- Mallika Sarabhai.

94. a Asian Banker Achievement award was established in2001,by Qatar Financial Centre Authority and the AsianBanker magazine.

95. a Abel prize is an international prize presented annuallyby the king of Norway to one or more outstandingmathematicians - The prize is named after Norwegianmathematician, Niels Henrik Abel. It has often beendescribed as the ‘Mathematician’s Nobel Prize’.

96. b ‘Leelawathi’ is a mathematic book written byBhaskaracharya II.

97. c ‘Bold Kurukshetra’ army exercise took place at Babinafield firing range near Jhansi, U.P.

98. b

99. c Borneo comprises parts of - (1) Indonesia (2) Malaysia(3) Brunei

100. c

101. a On 24th November 2009, an employee poured tritiuminto a water cooler, about 50 personnel were effected.

102. a This was third edition of Triton in October for 3 days.

103. c India has released its first greenhouse gas emissionsinventory since 1994 — showing a 30 per cent fall inthe emissions intensity of the GDP from that date till2007



104. d Sport’s illustrated is a sport’s magazine, according tosport’s illustrated power list, most influential personsin India sports - (1) Sachin Tendulkar (2) Lalit modi (3)Vijay Malya.

105. c Nuclear power reactors of 700 MWe capacity eachwill come up at two new inland sites – at Kumharia inHaryana and Bargi in Madhya Pradesh.These reactorswill be indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors(PHWRs) that will use natural uranium as fuel andheavy water as both moderator and coolant. The Uniongovernment has also approved building importedreactors of a minimum of 1,000 MWe each atChhayamithi Virdi in Gujarat, Kovvada in AndhraPradesh and Haripur in West Bengal.These reactorswill use enriched uranium as fuel and light water asboth coolant and moderator. All these reactors will bebuilt by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited(NPCIL).

106. d Annual award granted by the New York-based Appealof Conscience Foundation, to statesmen and womenconsidered to have made a positive and significantimpact on promoting peace, tolerance and ethnicconflict resolution. The Foundation was formed in 1965by Rabbi Arthur Schneier. In addition, people influentialin business, non-government organisations and otherfields may be awarded the Appeal of ConscienceAward or the Appeal of Conscience Public ServiceAward.

107. d Aishwarya Rai is the brand ambassador of - SmileTrain. Preeti Zinta is the brand ambassador of HimachalTourism. Deepika Padukone is the brand ambassadorof BSNL.

108. a Kenya on 27 Aug 2010 adopted a new constitution.National referendum for new constitution was held on4 Aug 2010.

109. c ETA – Euskadi Ta Askatasuna group was found in1959 with the goal of gaining independence for thegreater Basque country ETA in Jan 2011 has declaredceasefire.

110. a Belgium in April 2010 made a law to ban burqa.

111. a All time highest earning film – (1) Avatar (2) Titanic (3)The lord of the rings : The return of the king.

112. a Nelson Mandela’s autobiography is called “Long Walkto Freedom.”

113. b

114. d He was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literaturefor his cartography of structures of power and histrenchant images of the individual’s resistance, revolt,and defeat

115. b In Global Hunger Index total countries were 84 andIndia ranks below China (9th) and Pakistan (52nd) IndexIndicators are – Prevalence of child mal nutrition, rateof child mortality and the proportion of people whoare calorie deficient.

116. a 16th Asian Games were held in Guangzhou Chinafrom 12–27 Nov 2010. Host cities were Shanwei,Dongguan, Foshan. Vision of Games was ‘ThrillingGuangzhou Harmonious Asia’. 42 Competitions wereheld – 28 Olympic and 14 non–Olympic. Severaldebutant sports were added this time like–twenty20cricket, dancesports, dragon boat, weiqi &roller sports.

117. d 16th Asian Games medal tally(1) China 199 Gold, 119Silver, 98 Bronze (2) South Korea 76 Gold, 65 Silver,91 Bronze (3) India 14 Gold, 17 Silver, 33 Bronze

118. c (i) Indradhanush – Air force exercise of India – UK atthe Kalaikunda Air force station in west Midnapur (WestBengal) in October 2010. (ii) India – France joint airexercise GARUDA (iii) Singapore had also joinedGARUDA (iv) India–US joint air exercise – COPE INDIA

119. b Time Magazine has also listed Mother Teresa at 22ndposition. An outspoken advocate for women’sSuffrage Jane Adams has been ranked 1st.

120. c

121. a Bombay sisters include – C.Saroja and C.Lalitha.

122. a Jan ‘25’ is Election commissions formation day whichwill be observed as National Voters Day.

123. a Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyonowas the chief guest at Republic Day parade 2011.

124 b National Innovation Council will draw a roadmap forthe Decade of Innovation (2010–2020).

125. b India has slipped 3 places in global rankings of mostcorrupt countries, from 84 in 2009 to 87 in the year2010.

126. a China has recently overtook Japan to become No.2Economic power in world. No.1 economic power isUSA.

127.a

128. a United Nations has designated the first Monday ofOctober every year as world Habitat Day.

129. c Integrated Child Protection Scheme is a centrallysponsored scheme.

130. c 2010 Saraswati samman has been conferred onPunjabi Poet Surjit Patar for his collection ‘Lafzan DiDargah’. Samman was instituted in 1991 by the K . K .Birla Foundation.




131. b Alberto contador is a Spanish professional roadbicycle racer. He is the fifth racer in the history andthe first spaniard to win all three Grand Tours of roadcycling, which are Vuelta a Espana, Giro d’Italia andTour de france

132. d National law day is observed on 26th Novemberbecause on this date constitution was adopted in 1949.

133. b Wenlock is named after the village of ‘Much wenlock’where ‘Pierre de Coubertin’ visited in 1890 and hisidea for a modern Olympics was born. Another mascotfor Olympics 2012 is ‘Mandeville’ which is named afterthe stoke Mandeville Hospital where the Paralympicmovement began shortly after world war II.

134. b High–tech disease detection centre will be set up inIndia.

135. b C–17 Globemaster III is cargo aircraft and ismanufactured by Boeing (U.S).

136. b International Press Institute is a global organisationfounded in 1950. IPI has members in over 120countries.

137. a Dilma Rouseff is the 36th and first female president ofBrazil, She was included in the Forbe’s list of the mostpower full people in the world at the 16th position.

138. c

139. b David Rudisha is from Kenya and middle distancerunner with a world record in 800 meters.

140. a Blanka Vlasic is a croatian athlete who Specialises inhigh jump and is current world champion in both indoorsand outdoors.

141. a Lin Dan is a badminton player from China. He is thefirst player to achieve all super and Golden grandslam.

142. d Kerala Mudiyetu is a ritualistic dance – drama presentedin Bhadrakali Temple. Chhau is folk dance practiced inEastern India. Kalbelia is folk dance practiced inRajasthan.

143. b ‘My Life’ is an autobiography of Bill Clinton. ‘Dreamsfrom my father’ is an autobiography of Barack Obama.

144. b The report was first launched in 1990 by the worldrenowned Pakistani Economist Mahbub ul Haq andIndian Nobel laureate Amartya Sen HumanDevelopment Report is an independent report,commissioned by the UNDP. The 2010 HumanDevelopment Report introduced three new indices theInequality-adjusted Human Development Index, theGender Inequality Index, and the MultidimensionalPoverty Index. Each Report has its own focus drawnfrom contemporary debate.

145. a (i) Durand football Tournament was started by thenIndia’s foreign secretary Mortimer Durand at Shimla in1888. (ii) Durand cup 2010 was 123rd (iii) Chirag uniteddefeated JCT to win Durand cup 2010

146. b

147. a

148. d 113th Constitutional Amendment Bill – Change of nameof language ‘Oriya’ to ‘odia’ and change of name of thestate ‘Orissa’ as ‘odisha’. 112th ConstitutionalAmendment Bill – It seeks to provide for 50%reservation in Urban local bodies. 111 ConstitutionalAmendment Bill – State shall promote formation ofcooperative societies. 110th Constitutional AmendmentBill – To increase reservation for women in panchayatsfrom one-third to one-half of the total seats in thePanchayat Shipyard in Kolkota.

149. a The Integrated action plan would be given as anadditional central assistance scheme on 100% grantbasis. It is aimed at quick resolution of problemsconcerning healthcare, drinking water, education androads.

150. b India secured emphatic win with 187 of the 191 memberstates in the General Assembly. India has been memberof council six times lastly 1992. In 1996, India lost toJapan by a huge margin of 100 votes. This time it istaking over the Asia seat from Japan, being the solecandidate in the race as Kazakhastan pulled out.

151. b I N S Kalpeni is built at the Garden Reach Shipyard inKolkota.

152. b Global gender Gap report was first published in 2005 by the world economic forum. The report examinesfour critical areas of inequality: (a) Economicparticipation (b) Education attainment (c) Politicalempowerment (d) Health and survival. Global gendergap report 2010 ranks 134 nations. India is among thelowest ranked countries at the 112th position.

153. b The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is a test cricket seriesplayed between India and Australia. The series isnamed after Australian cricketer Allan Border andIndian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar.

154. b 10 December is ‘International Human Rights Day’ 12January is celebrated as ‘National Youth day’.

155. b ICC test player award for 2011 - Mahela Jaywardhane

156. c India is celebrating a year of Germany in India in 2011-12 and year of India in Germany in 2012-2013.

157. b La Nina Southern Oscillation that occurs across thetropical pacific ocean. These are cold phase at ElNino. El Nino stands for warming of surface oceanwater in the eastern tropical pacific.



158. a 17th ASEAN summit was held in Hanoi in October2010.

159. a Delhi half Marthon is an annual half marathon footrace held in New Delhi. Established in 2005, Airtel heldthe sponsor role in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

160. d Hiroshima -Nagasaki street is situated at Rome in Italy.

161. c

162. a Yeonpyeong Island is a group of South Korean Islandsin the yellow sea. Islands is renewed for its Kumouuri,a speciality spiced crab. First battle for yeongpyeongtook place between the navies of South and NorthKorea in 1999. Second battle for Yeonpyeong tookplace in 2002.

163. a Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Program is an initiativeto develope and deploy a multi layered ballistic missiledefence system to protect India from ballistic missileattacks. It is a double fired system consisting of twointerceptor missiles namely the Prithvi Air Defence(PAD) missile for high altitude interception and theAdvanced Air Defence Missile for lower altitudeinterception.

164. a After US (Dollar), UK (Pound), Japan (Yen), Euro. Indiais fourth country to have its currency symbol.

165. a

166. c Organization for security and cooperation in Europe isthe world’s largest security oriented intergovernmentalorganization. It is an adhoc organization under theUnited Nations. Its headquarter is at Vienna Austria.- OSCE has 56 participating states. It was createdduring the cold war era as an east-west forum.

167. b The world military cup is football competition for nationalmilitary teams. The tournament was first held in 1946.2007 world military cup were held in Hyderabad, India,champion was Egypt (defeated Cameroon).

168. b

169. a

170. a The C. Rangrajan Committee on the proposed foodsecurity bill in January 2011 favoured legal entitlementof subsidised foodgrains to the poor (BPL). Thecommittee has proposed the price of subsidisedfoodgrains for the poor (BPL) be linked to inflation andindexed to the consumer price index in the comingyears.

171. c The construction of the world’s largest telescope inAntarctica will be completed in 2011 by Russia. Thetelescope will be looking for neutrinos from the mostviolent astrophysical sources, such as star explosions,gamma ray bursts and cataclysmic phenomenainvolving black holes and neutrons stars.

172. d

173. c 114th amendment bill 2010 is to increase the retirementage of high court judges from 62 to 65.

174. d Santosh Trophy is an annual Indian football tournamentwhich is contested by states. The trophy named afterthe late Maharaja Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Choudharyof Santosh which is now in Bangladesh, who hadbeen the president of the Indian football Association,the football organisation of Bengal and the donatorsof the trophy. The runners-up trophy, Kamla GuptaTrophy. The third place teams receive the Sampangicup which was presented by the Mysore FootballAssociation in 1952, in the memory of Sampangi arenowned footballer from Mysore.

175. c List of the most powerful women complied by Forbes(1) Michelle Obama (2) Irene Rosenfield (3) OprahWiafreq Klintrey (4) Angela Merkel (5) Hillary Clinton(6) Indira Nooyi (7) Lady Ganga (8) Gail Kelly (9)Beyonce Knowles (10) Ellen DeGeneses

176. b In 1984 Pranab Mukherjee was rated one of the bestfinance ministers in the world. Xiu Xuren Chinesefinance minister was named Asia’s best financeminister for 2009.

177. d Gagan Narang bagged the bronze medal in men’s 10mair rifle in the world shooting championship in Munich,this medal ensured India place in London Olympics.

178. c India has won maximum number of gold medals inshooting. Following shooters participated in the event(1) Abhinav Bindra (2) Gagan Narang (3) AnisaSayyed (4) Rani Sarnobat (5) Omkar Singh (6)Gurpreet Singh (7) Vijay Kumar (8) Imraan hassanKhan (9) Harpreed Singh (10)Anuraj Singh (11)HeenaSidhu

179. c Twenty20 cricket format was originated in England.Two new teams Pune and Kochi will be added in 4thIPL session.

180. c Indian newspaper society acts as the centralorganisation of the press of India. The Indian andEastern newspapers society since renamed as IndianNewspaper Society, was founded in 1939 withmembership spread over South Asia Countries.

181. b Brook Bond Taj Mahal in association with the EnlightenFilm Society confers the prestigious Taj Enlighten TareefAward.

182. d Base rate system is for the banks to set a level ofminimum interest rates changed while giving out theloans. It has replaced prime lending rate. Base ratesystem will not be applicable for the following type ofloans. (a) Agricultural loans. (b) Loans given to ownemployees. (c) Loans against deposit. (d) ExportCredit. Advantages of base rate system are- (a)Transparency in banking system (b) Reduction in loandifficulties.




183. d G-8 created in 1975 as G-6 (France, Germany, Italy,Japan, UK, US). In 1976 Canada Joined the group. In1997 the group added Russia. Out reach 5 includesdeveloping nations Brazil, People’s republic of China,India, Mexico and South Africa. These five countriesparticipate as guests in G8 meetings.

184. c China’s Tianhe - 1A(Milky way) is world’s fastest supercomputer. It has knocked America’s Jaguar system tosecond place.

185. c South African petrochemical giant ‘SASOL’ has set aworld record after flying the world’s maiden commercialpassenger flight powered solely by the company’s100% synthetic Jet fuel, which is made by convertingcoal into liquid fuel.

186. c Russia’s high-tech companies Rusnano and Renovahave announced plans to build the country’s firstindustrial solar power station near the black sea.World’s first industrial -size solar power plant wassetup in 1913 in Maadi near Cairo(Egypt).

187. a “Bulava” is an Inter continental ballistic missile of Russia.Bulava is a submarine launched ballistic missile. Itsdesignation is RSM-56 Bulava. Inter continental ballisticmissile has a long range(more than 5500 km), typicallydesigned for nuclear weapons delivery.

188. a Philippines has overtaken India as the number oneplayer in the global business outsourcing market.

189. a Russia has created the world’s first internationalnuclear fuel bank under an agreement with theInternational Atomic Energy Agency. It is situated in theSiberian city of Angarsk.

190. a

191. a In recoginition for his outstanding contribution toInternational Legal Cooperation, Veerappa Moily gotnext step foundation 2010 award. Next-step foudationis licensed by the Pennsylvania department of health,division of drug and alcohol program licensure.

192. b

193. a

194. a World Environment foundation center gives GoldenPeacock Environment Management Award.Organizations which are eligible for this prestigiousaward are:(a) All sectors of industry and commerce of both

public and private undertakings.(b) Organisations in voluntary sector.(c) Government and semi-government departments.(d) Educational, Service and research establishment

including monitoring laboratories.

195. a The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL’s) Tejas is aLight Combat Aircraft (LCA). The programme wasbegun in the 1980s to replace India’s ageing MIG-21fighters.

196. b First Administrative Reform Commission was appointedin 1966 and was headed by Morarji Desai. SecondAdministrative reform commission was appointed in2005.

197. b

198. c The dodo was a flight less bird endemic to the IndianOcean Island of Mauritius.

199. a Schonbrunn palace in Vienna Austria (TiergartenSchonbrunn) is the oldest zoo in the world.

200. b Angel falls is the highest waterfall in the world. It islocated in Venezuela. Niagara waterfalls arevoluminous waterfalls on river Niagara straddling theinternational border between the Canadian provinceof Ontario and US state of New York.

201. b Gujarat was formed on May 1, 1960. The State ofBombay was bifurcated into Maharashtra & Gujaraton May 1, 1960. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan andAndhra Pradesh were formed on 1st Nov. 1956. InDec. 1953 Nehru appointed the State ReorganisationCommission headed by Fazal Ali – Fazal Ali commission.

202. c Rabindra Nath Tagore was born in 1860 and got NobelPrize in 1913 for Literature. Mahatma Gandhi wasborn in 1869, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was bornin 1897 and Sardar Bhagat Singh was born in 1907(Centenary in 2007). ‘Sanskriti Express’ was startedto celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of GurudevRabindra Nath Tagore by the Indian Railways.

203. a Tejas is a light combat aircraft developed by HindustanAeronautics Ltd. (HAL) to replace MIG–21. Lakshya isa Microlight Pioletless Target Aircraft drone developedby DRDO. DHANUSH is an indigenous nuclear capablenaval version of Prithvi – short range of ballistic missile,surface to surface. PINAKA is multibarrel rocketlauncher developed by DRDO for the Indian Army.

204. a Srikalahastee-swaraswamy temple is also known as‘Dakshin Kashi’ and is located in Chittor district of AndhraPradesh. Tirupati Balaji Temple is located in Chittordistrict in Andhra Pradesh. Meenakashi Temple islocated in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Kancheepuram on thePalar river is famous for its temples and silk.

205. c Vaxifluss has been developed by Cadila, it is first everindigenous vaccine for HINI or swine flue. Tamiflu isused to prevent Influenza virus A and Influenza virusB infection. Chemical name of the Tamilflu vaccine isOseltamivir Phosphate, marketed by Swiss base Rochecompany and is used against bird flu.



206. b Mahinda Rajapaksa is President of Sri lanka. Sarathfonseka is ex-Army Chief of Sri Lanka, contestedagainst Rajpaksa and now is in jain. Dayanandadisanayaka was election commissioner of Sri Lankaat the time of Presidential Elections. DissanayakeJayaratne is Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.

207. a KG Balakrishnan is new Chairman of National HumanRight Commission, it is the office held by Ex-ChiefJustice of India only. He was 37th Chief Justice ofIndia(CJI). H.S. Kapadia is 38th and current Chief Justiceof India. RS Lohati was 35th CJI and Harilal J. Kaniawas the first CJI of India.

208. d Infotel Broadband has been promoted by MahendraNahata. Reliance Industries Limited has decided tobuy 95% of infotel shares. Unlisted infotel is the onlyfirm to win the broadband spectrum in all 22 zones inIndia.

209. a Soleckshaws are solar powered ‘rickshaws’ launchedfor postal delivery by the Govt of NCT, Delhi.

210. a ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) – C-15on July 12, 2010 successfully placed into orbit remotesensing satellite cartosat-2B and four other satellites.5 satellites are ISRO’s Cartosat-2B, Algeria’s Aisat2A, Nano Satellite named NLS6.1AISSAT-1 of Canadaand Nano Satellite, NLS 6.2 TISAT-1 of Switzerland.Tiny stud satellite has been built by 35 students ofdifferent engineering colleges of Karnataka andAndhra Pradesh. Present Chairman of ISRO is K.Radhakrishnan. Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC),is located in Sri Harikota near Lake Pulicat, Nellore,Andhra Pradesh.

211. d D. Uday Kumar, is an alumni of the department of designat IIT Guwahati. Now Indian Rupee joins the club of USdollar, British Pound, European Euro and Japaneseyen. Design of Rupee is an amalgam of the Devanagri‘Ra’ and the Roman capital ‘R’. Parallel lines symbolize‘equal to’ the sign.

212. a ‘Babli project is a barrage being built by Maharashtraacross the river Godavari river in the Pochampad Damarea, in Nanded dist. Andhra Pradesh is opposing it.

213. c Sahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi is 17th Chief ElectionCommissioner (CEC). Chief Election Commissioner isappointed under clause 2 of the Article 324 of theconstitution. Navin Chawla was 16th CEC. N.Gopalaswami was 15th CEC and Sukumar Senwas first CEC from 1950-1958. V.S. Ramadeviwas 1st woman CEC of India.

214. d The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single engine,advanced Jet Trainer Aircraft

215. b David Cameron belongs to Conservative Party of GreatBritain. Nick Clegg is current deputy PM and belongsto Liberal Democrat party of Great Britain.

216. a Currently six parties are recognised as National PoliticalParty- Bahujan Samaj Party – BSP headed byMayawati, Bharatiya Janta Party headed by NitinGadkari, Communist Party of India(CPI) headed by ABBardhan, Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI (M)headed by Prakash Karat, Indian NationalCongress(INC) headed by Sonia Gandhi andNationalist Congress Party(NCP) headed by SharadPawar. For a party to be recognised as National party,party must get at least 6% of valid votes polled in anyfour or more states.

217. a Konkani Litterateur Ravindra Kelkar received 42ndJnanpith Award for 2006. 43rd Jnanpith Award for2007 was given to Malayalam Litterateur ONV Kurup.44th Jnanpith Award for the year 2008 has been givento Urdu Poet, Aklaq Khan Shaharyar. Selection Boardwas chaired by Oriya writer Sitakant Mahapatra.Jnanpith is country’s highest literary award, given inany of the 18 languages.

218. a Oil spill from MSC Chitra effected the mangroves alongthe Mumbai coast recently, whereby mangroves wereblack sick due to oil spill.

219. a Affected by flash floods during cloud bursting, Leh isa cold-desert city in Ladakh, having minimum rain fallin India.

220. a Amanjot Singh and Sahil Wadhwa, both students ofRyan International School in Rohini (Delhi), created ahistory of sorts by discovering main Belt Asteroid2010P024.

221. a PD Dinakaran was recently in news primarily for LandScam. Bar Association of India (BAI)’s president FaliNariman asked Supreme Court collegium not to elevatethe rank of Dinakaran from Karnataka High Court’sChief Justice to Supreme Court. Supreme Court JudgeVS Sirpurker headed the probing committee related toDinakaran issue.

222. a Commander Dilip Dhonde of Maharashtra completedhis voyage by INS Mhadei, 1st Indigenous fibre glassyacht, on May 22, 2010. He received Shaurya Chakra,highest gallantry award during peace time.

223. a Indian Parliament has passed Civil Liability for nucleardamages bill, 2010. After it, India will join theInternational convention on liability in the civil nucleararena. This bill seeks to create a mechanism forcompensating victims of nuclear damages arising froma nuclear incident.

224. a Commissioned Rank of IAF are: Flying officer – FlightLieutenant – Squadron Leader – Wing Commander –Group Captain – Air Commander – Air Vice Marshal –Air Marshal – Air Chief Marshal.

225. b PJ Thomas, ex-telecom secretary was the ChiefVigilance Commissioner(CEC) who was removedrecently.




226. d Daggubatti Ramanaidu was awarded Dada SahebPhalke Award for 2009. D. Ramanaidu, India’s mostpolitic film producer, has entered the Guinness Bookof World Records for producing maximum number offilms (130).

227. c ‘Kutty Srank’, a Malayalam film has been judged as thebest film in the 57th National Film Awards.

228. a Amitabh Bachchan has been given as the ‘Best ActorAward’ for the Movie – Paa in the 57th National FilmAwards. R. Balki is Director of ‘Paa’ .

229. b 2007 – 2008Refer to Question Number 17 for more explanations

230. c Divya Ajith Kumar became the first woman in historyto receive the sword of honour at Officer TrainingAcademy (OTA) located at Chennai.

231. a Thanjavur Temple constructed by King Raja – RajaCholan in 1010 AD. Temple is in Thanjavur district TamilNadu. Meenakshi Mandir is in Madurai dist. PalitanaTemple is in Bhavnagar dist., Gujarat

232. a Chairman of UIDAI is Nandan Nilekani, ex-CEO ofInfosys. Nandan Nilekani has authored a book – ‘Emerging India’.

233. a Refer to Question 232

234. a Ranjana Sonawne has got first UID card with ID as782474317884. With this number, Ranjana has becamethe first Indian to get the UID (Unique Identification).Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UnitedProgressive Allaince Chairperson Sonia Gandhilaunched the Aadhar project and presented UIDs toten people.

235. d Vedanta Alumina, a bauxite mining company wasbarred from mining activities in Niyamagiri Hills, famousfor bauxite ore in Orissa, due to environmental andecological concerns. Vedanta Alumina is primarilyowned by BALCO (Bharat Aluminium Company).

236. b

237. b UID would be a biometric ID – Card.

238. d Aruna Roy is an ex-civil servant, a RTI activist famousfor founding ‘Majdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan’. Shewon Raman Magsaysay Award in 2000.

239. a K. Vijay Kumar ex-head of Sardar Vallabh Bhai PatelNational Police Academy, has been appointed as newDirector General of Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF). Central Reserve Protection Force is theworld’s largest paramilitary force. Raman Srivastavais Director General (DG) of Border Security Force.Vikram Srivastava is ex-DG of CRPF. Sanjeev Tripathiis Director General (DG), RAW (Research andAnalysis Wing).

240. c Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel National Police Academy(SVPNPA) is located in Hyderabad. In 1959, TrainingCentre of Recruits of Indian Police Service wasestablished. In Mussoorie, Lal Bahadur Shastri NationalAcademy of Administration (LBSNAA) is premierinstitute to train the Civil Servants.

241. d Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration wasfounded by Indian National Congress on 31st Oct.1985, to commemorate the martyrdom of Indira Gandhi.

242. a Central Govt has appointed Dilip Padgaonkar, MM Ansariand Prof. Radha Kumar as the Jammu & Kashmirinterlocutors, to monitor the sensitive situations ofKashmir and to negotiate with the separatistsections. Dilip Padgaonkar is executive ManagingDirector of The Times of India. MM Ansari is InformationCommissioner. Radha Kumar is Delhi Policy GroupTrustee.

243. a India won 101 Medals in XIX – Commonwealth Games.Medal tally include Gold – 38, Silver – 27 and Bronze– 36. India’s Rank was 2nd in medals tally just behindAustralia. XXth commonwealth games will be held in2014 in Glasgow, the city of Scotland.

244. c GlasgowRefer to question number – 243

245. c Former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) VKShunglu probed into the allegations related withCommonwealth Games.

246. b Universal Food Security System has been set up withan interface with civil society. The National AdvisoryCouncil would provide policy and legislative inputs tothe Central Government. It would also monitor the UPA’scommon minimum programme and is chaired by SoniaGandhi.

247. a Manu Joseph’s debut Novel ‘Serious Men’ bagged theHindu Best Fiction award. Chetan Bhagat was aninvestment banker and columnist known for his work‘five-point someone’. Robin S. Sharma is famous forhis best seller ‘The Monk who sold his Ferrari’. AmitavGhosh has authored ‘Sea – of Poppies’.

248. c Rajya Sabha Chairman, Hamid Ansari has startedprocess to impeach Soumitra Sen. He was found toguilty of misappropriating large sum of funds. Judicialcommittee has been formed to probe the fraud.

249. d Ex- Brazilian President Lula da Silva received the IndiraGandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Developmentfor 2010. Sheikh Hasina received award for 2009.Mohd. El Bardei was awarded Indira Gandhi Prize forPeace, Disarmament and Development for 2008. Theaward is given on the 19th Nov. every year, on birthanniversary of Indira Gandhi by Indira Gandhi MemorialTrust.



250. a ‘Sabla’ is a scheme launched by Ministry of Womenand Child Development for adolescent Girls’ Health. Itcovers girls between 11 – 18 years of age

251. a Jaitapur Power Plant is located in Ratnagiri district inMaharashtra with the help of France. France’s ArevaSA and Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL)signed the deal. Kumaharia Nuclear Power Plant isproposed to be set up in Fatehabad district, Haryana,

252. b Satyendra Mishra is new Chief InformationCommissioner.

253. d On Dec. 19, 2010 Sachin Tendulkar became the firstbatsman to score 50 Test centuries during his unbeatenknock (107*) at Centurion in Republic of South Africa. Itis important to notice that Sachin scored 1st ever 200runs not out, on Feb 24, 2010 at Gwalior against RSAitself.

254. c ‘Jal Hans’ is first Sea Plane Service of India. Nation’s1st Sea-Plane Service was launched on Dec. 27, 2010at Juhu aerodrome in Mumbai. It is a service of PawanHans Helicopters Limited. Jal Hans is a Cessna Carvan208A Amphibian.

255. b Justice BN Srikrishna committee was established togive report on Telangana issue of Andhra Pradesh. Itsuggested recommendations on how to handle thethree parts of the state: Coastal Andhra, Telanganaand Rayalseema.

256. d Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal (KWDT)-II allocatedthe maximum share of water of the River Krishna toAndhra Pradesh, followed by Karnataka and thenMaharashtra, on Dec. 30, 2010. KWDT – II wasconstituted in 2004. Award will valid up to May, 2050.Almati Dam is located in Karnataka on Krishna River.

257. a According to Judicial standard Accountability Bill, thehigher judges would now be made accountable to thepublic for alleged acts of misconducts and corruption.Judicial standards and accountability bill 2010 woncabinet approval.

258. a Anand Mahindra, VC & MD of Mahindra & Mahindrahas gifted $10-M to his alma mater Harvard’sHumanities Centre.

259. d Abhinav Bindra became the 1st Indian to win GoldMedal in any individual event in 2008 Beijing OlympicGames.

260. a 3 idiots (Hindi), was awarded best popular filmproviding wholesome entertainment.

261. d With a net worth of USD 62 billion, Indian businesstycoon Mukesh Ambani could be the richest man onearth in 2014, according to a forecast issued by theprestigious Forbes magazine on Sep 12, 2010. “One

of the predictions is that Reliance Industries’ ChiefMukesh Ambani, who currently has a net worth of 29billion dollars, pips the world’s richest man Mexicanbusinessman Carlos Slim to top Forbes’ rich list in2014,” it said. Ambani’s net worth swells to USD 62billion while Slim is “hit hard by Mexican political,financial chaos,” according to the prediction by Forbes.53-year-old Ambani currently ranks fourth on Forbes’list of the world’s billionaires.

262. b The state government has cancelled the daily drawsof Kerala lotteries and instead there will only be oneweekly draw. This followed the Kerala High Courtverdict on the conduct of lotteries.

263. a It is proposed to raise the income tax exemption limitfrom the present Rs 1.6 lakh to Rs 2 lakh, a move thatcould leave more money in the hands of tax payers.The officials said the tax rates would be made knownonly in the proposed Act.

264. a The National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) locatedat Karnal (Haryana) has achieved another landmarkby facilitating the birth of the world’s first cloned malebuffalo calf, which was born through normal delivery.

265. d On Aug 09, 2010 Tejaswini Sawant created historyafter she became the first Indian woman shooter toclinch a gold medal at the World Championship byfinishing on top with a world-record equalling score inthe 50m Rifle Prone event in Munich, Germany.

266. b Polymer notes of Rs. 10 denomination worth Rs 100crore will be issued by the Reserve bank of Indiawhich will be more durable and also it will preventforgery.

267. b Indian origin British Actress Archie Panjabi, whostarred in Films like ‘’Bend it like Beckham’’ and ‘’East isEast’’, has bagged the Best supporting Actress in adrama series for her role in ‘’The Good Wife’’ at the62nd Primetime Emmy Awards. Panjabi was pittedagainst the likes of Rose Byrne (“Damages”), SharonGless (“Burn Notice”), Elisabeth Moss and ChristinaHendricks (both for “Mad Men”) and co-star ChristineBaranski for “The Good Wife”.

268. c In September 18, 1988, the current military governmentin Myanmar (called the State Peace and DevelopmentCouncil, or SPDC) came to the power for first time.Chairman of the SPDC Senior General Than Shwe isthe current head of state. Prime Minister Thein Sein isthe head of government.

269. c Former star athlete P.T.Usha has been declared tohead the selection committee for the year 2010 Arjunaand Dhyanchand Awards and also the Rajiv GandhiKhel Ratna.




270. d First indigenously-built stealth warship is INS Shivalik,it is fitted with sophisticated features to hoodwinkenemy radars and gained entry into a top club ofdeveloped countries having such capability. Inducting‘INS Shivalik’, the first of the three-ship Project-17frigates, at the Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks (MDL),Defence Minister A K Antony called it a red letter dayfor the armed forces.

271. b The Delhi High Court had stayed its order of bringingstock exchanges within the ambit of right to informationact. A division bench headed by acting Chief JusticeMadan B Lokur stayed the operation of a single benchorder which had on April 15 2010, held that stockexchanges are “quasi” governmental bodies whichare bound to disclose information to the public underthe transparency law. The court passed the order onan appeal filed by National Stock Exchange (NSE)which contended that it cannot be forced to revealinformation under the RTI Act as it is a company andthe government has no control over it.

272. d All of the above, On May 5, 2010 The Supreme Courtruled that the use of narco analysis,brain mappingand polygraph tests on accused are unconstitutional.

273. a The cabinet has sanctioned Rs 295 crore forestablishing an Indian National Defence University(INDU) to create synergy between existing institutesof learning in the sector and address strategic securitychallenges. The Cabinet accorded approval foracquisition of 200 acres of land at Binola in Haryana’sGurgaon district for the proposed site of Indian NationalDefence University (INDU) at an estimated cost of Rs100 crore. Indian National Defence University (INDU)will bring together existing institutes like the NationalDefence College (Delhi), College of DefenceManagement (Secunderabad), Defence Services StaffCollege (Wellington) and National Defence Academy(Khadakwasla), which are currently affiliated todifferent universities, under its umbrella.

274. a The Cyclone Laila which stormed south India in May2010 was the worst storm in 14 years and had beenclassified as “severe” and was closer to hit Andhracoast. It was started earlier in Chennai in India’sTamilnadu state on 19 May, 2010 with Heavy rains andstrong gales. Due to heavy rains and strong windscaused by cyclone `Laila’, Andhra Pradesh’s EastGodavari district was very much affected taking awaylives of the people.

275. c At present six Indian states are with legislative councili.e. vidhan parishad, they are Jammu & Kashmir, UttarPradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar , Karnataka and AndhraPradesh. Hence now Tamilnadu will be the 7th statewith the bicameral legislature.

276. b Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Phet was the third cycloneof the 2010 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. Phetdeveloped from a low pressure area in the ArabianSea that organized into a tropical cyclone. In IndiaGujarat and Rajasthan were most affected.

277. c Zain Group is a mobile telecommunications companyfounded in 1983 in Kuwait as MTC or MobileTelecommunications Company, and was laterrebranded to Zain in 2007. Zain has commercialpresence in 8 countries across Africa and the MiddleEast with about 34.2 million customers as on June 30,2010. It employs over 5000 people. India’s Sunil BhartiMittal’s multi-billion dollar African acquisition has beenfinalized. The board of Zain, Kuwait’s largest mobilefirm has approved the sale its African assets to India’slargest telecom firm for Rs.49000 crore.

278. a

279. a Nag is a third generation “Fire-and-forget” anti-tankmissile developed in India. It is one of five missilesystems developed by the Defence Research andDevelopment Organisation (DRDO) under the IntegratedGuided Missile Development Program (IGMDP). Naghas been developed at a cost of 300 crore (US$ 65.1million).The missile has a weight of 42 kg and canengage targets at ranges 4–5 km. The Nag is claimedto be first anti-tank missile which has a completefiberglass structure. Nag missile carrier is Namica andNag Project Director is S.S. Mishra.

280. d Army’s Field Firing Range is at Shamirpet, nearHyderabad where the anti tank missile Nag wasrecently tested.

281. a Integrated Test Range (ITR) is located at the WheelerIsland which is an island off the coast of Orissa, India.It is approximately 150 km from the state capitalBhubaneshwar. India maintains a missile testing facilityon the island. Wheeler Island is located approximately10 kilometers off the East coast of India on the Bay ofBengal and about 70 kilometers south of Chandipur inOrissa. The island is approximately 2 kilometers longand occupies about 390 acres (1.6 km2). WheelerIsland is the missile test facility for the most of Indianmissiles including long range ones. Access to the testfacility is by ship as there is no bridge or airportconnecting the island to the mainland. There is a smallhelipad, but missile airframes and all supplies,construction materials and heavy equipment arrive byship.

282. d INS Chankarso and INS Kondul are fifth and the sixthin a series of Water Jet Propelled Fast Attack Craft(WJFACs) of the Indian Navy were commissioned byShri ESL Narasimhan, Honourable Governor of AndhraPradesh on 29th June 2010. M/s Garden ReachShipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Limited, Kolkata,manufactured these crafts.



283. b India and South Korea entered into a five-year defencecooperation accord by signing two memorandums ofunderstandings on sharing of military expertise andtechnology.

284. a The Union Cabinet approved an ONGC Videsh-ledIndian consortium to invest over $2 billion in an oilfieldthey won in Venezuela and cleared award of 33exploration acreages — half of which were won byONGC and its partners.

285. c Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is the President of SouthAfrica,elected by parliament following his party’svictory in the 2009 general election. Zuma is thePresident of the African National Congress (ANC), thegoverning political party of Republic of South Africa.

286. c The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR) is all set to start an Academy that will enable itaward post-graduate and doctoral degrees, itsheadquarters will be located at Noida.

287. b First flight-test of air-borne version of Nag is calledHELINA. The Nag (Helina) anti-tank missile is one ofseveral Indian weapons programmes launched underthe national Integrated Guided Missile DevelopmentProgramme of 1983. The prime contractor forproduction is Bharat Dynamics, working alongsideIndia’s Defence Research and DevelopmentLaboratory, based in Hyderabad.

288. b The Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Changeapproved “in principle” the National Mission onEnhanced Energy Efficiency. The Mission will enableabout Rs. 75,000 crore worth transactions in energyefficiency. In doing so, it will, by 2015, help save aboutfive per cent of our annual energy consumption.

289. a India’s National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) andLocal Enterprise Authority (LEA), a statutory authorityof the government of Botswana, both of which supportmicro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs) in thecorresponding countries, signed an agreement ofmutual cooperation for the development MSME sectorsin the two countries.

290. b Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), formed on 26September, 1946 as a representative body ofmanagement of banking in India operating in India - anassociation of Indian banks and financial institutions.With an initial membership representing 22 banks inIndia in 1946, IBA currently represents 150 bankingcompanies operating in India. IBA was formed fordevelopment, coordination and strengthening of Indianbanking, and assist the member banks in various waysincluding implementation of new systems and adoptionof standards among the members. Indian Banks’Association is managed by a managing committee,and the current managing committee consists of onechairman (current chairman is O. P. Bhatt, previous

notable chairmens include V. P. Shetty and M. V. Nair),four deputy chairmen, one honorary secretary, and31 members.

291. a Banks : MD/Country HeadHDFC : Aditya PuriICICI : Ms. Chanda D. KochharHSBC : Naina Lal Kidwai

292. a Aamir Khan starrer 3 Idiots swept the IIFA awards inthe year 2010 bagging eight honours including BestFilm and megastar Amitabh Bachchan took home theBest Actor trophy for his role as a progeria-afflictedchild in Paa in Colombo, on June 6, 2010.

293. a Poulomi Ghatak is a table tennis player from WestBengal, India. She won three junior nationalchampionships (1996, 1998 and 1999) as well as fivesenior national championships between 1998 and2007. In 1998 she won both the senior national andjunior national championships.

294. d Hyderabad based Gagan Narang is an Indian shooter.He is the first Indian who qualified for London Olympics.Gagan Narang won Gold in the men’s 10 metre air rifleevent with a world record score in 2008 ISSF WorldCup Final. He broke Austria’s Farnik Thomas’s record,set in the 2006 World Cup final in Granada, Spain.

295. c India’s ace cueist is Pankaj Advani.

296. a Gaganjeet Bhullar is an Indian professional golfer whoplays on the Asian Tour.

297. a Chetan Anand Buradagunta is a badminton player fromIndia. He is considered to be one of the best malebadminton players in the country after PrakashPadukone, Syed Modi and Pullela Gopichand. ChetanAnand is the current reigning National champion andhighest ranked player from India in the world ofbadminton. He has won the prestigious Indian ArjunaAward. Trupti Murugunde is also a Badminton player.

298. b After fifteen years, team India finally lifted the glitteringAsia Cup Cricket trophy at Rangiri DambullaInternational Stadium on June 24. India defeated SriLanka by a margin of 81 runs. It was fifth Asia Cuptrophy for India and the fourth win in seven tournamentfinals under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.

299. b (refer to ques. No. 265)

300. c Arjun Atwal became the first Indian and just the sixthAsian-born player to win on the PGA Tour when hesecured a one-stroke victory at the WyndhamChampionship on Aug. 23, 2010

301. a

302. d Discus thrower Krishna Punia won athletic gold forthe country at the Commonwealth games held in Delhiin 2010.




303. a The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is the U.S.government installation that manages and operatesAmerica’s astronaut launch facilities. Serving as thebase for the country’s three space shuttles, the NASAfield center also conducts unmanned civilian launchesfrom adjacent Cape Canaveral Air Force Station(operated by the 45th Space Wing).Located on MerrittIsland, Florida, the center is north-northwest of CapeCanaveral on the Atlantic Ocean, midway betweenMiami and Jacksonville on Florida’s Space Coast.

304. c Eyjafjallajökull also known as E15, is one of the smallerice caps of Iceland, situated to the north of Skógarand to the west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap coversthe caldera of a volcano with a summit elevation of1,666 metres (5,466 ft) . The volcano has eruptedrelatively frequently since the last glacial period, mostrecently in 2010 and from 1821 to 1823.

305. c The Tokyo based Niwano Peace Foundation wasinitiated by the Japanese citizen Nikkyo Niwano,founder of the buddhist lay organisation Rissho KoseiKai; he was one of the few non-Christian observersof the Second Vatican Council. His son Nichiko Niwanois his successor as chairman of the movement, whichis dedicated to the interreligious dialogue. Winnersfrom India are: Ela Bhatt (2010), M. Aram (1995)

306. b Jessica Watson, became youngest ever single-handedcircumnavigator to complete non-stop and unassistedtour around the globe, she was aged 16 years and362 days.

307. a John Craig Venter is an American biologist andentrepreneur, most famous for his role in being one ofthe first to sequence the human genome and for hisrole in creating the first cell with a synthetic genome in2010.Venter founded Celera Genomics, The Institutefor Genomic Research and the J. Craig Venter Institute,now working at the latter to create synthetic biologicalorganisms and to document genetic diversity in theworld’s oceans. He was listed on Time magazine’s2007 and 2008 Time 100 list of the most influentialpeople in the world. In 2010, the British magazine NewStatesman listed Craig Venter at 14th in the list of “TheWorld’s 50 Most Influential Figures 2010". Craig Venterand his team had built the genome of a bacterium fromscratch and incorporated it into a cell to make whatthey called the world’s first synthetic life form.

308. c Forty years after it was first published, Troubles, by JG Farrell was announced as the winner of the LostMan Booker Prize - a one-off prize to honour the bookspublished in 1970, but not considered for the prizewhen its rules were changed.

309. c Space shuttle Atlantis thundered into orbit on May14,2010 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on itslast scheduled mission, STS-132, the 32nd flight of its25-year service history.

310. a Paul McCartney, former frontman of the legendary rockband “The Beatles” was presented the Library ofCongress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song at theWhite House in early June, 2010.

311. b The Orange Prize for Fiction (known as the OrangeBroadband Prize for Fiction from 2007 to 2008) is oneof the United Kingdom’s most prestigious literary prizes,annually awarded to a female author of any nationalityfor the best original full-length novel written in English,and published in the United Kingdom in the precedingyear. American author Barbara Kingsolver has wonthe 2010 Orange Prize for Fiction with her sixth novelThe Lacuna (Faber and Faber). Her Royal Highness,the Duchess of Cornwall, presented the author withthe Prize at an awards ceremony at the Royal FestivalHall, Southbank Centre in central London, hosted byOrange Prize for Fiction Co-Founder and HonoraryDirector, Kate Mosse. The Orange Prize for Fictionwas set up in 1996 to celebrate and promote fictionwritten by women throughout the world.

312. d The Flemish Movement is a popular term used todescribe the political movement for emancipation andgreater autonomy of the Belgian region of Flanders,for protection of the Dutch language, and for the over-all protection of Flemish culture and history.

313. a A succession of corrupt, repressive regimes andchronic poverty were at the root of Kyrgyzstan’stroubles in the summer of 2010.

314. d Guinea on 27th June, 2010 held its first free electionsince independence more than half a century ago.Alpha Conde was declared winner of Guinea’spresidential election in a vote that marked the firstdemocratic transfer of power in the country that holdsthe world’s biggest bauxite reserves since it wonindependence in 1958.

315. a Christian Wulff, who on July 1, 2010 becameGermany’s youngest-ever president after a nail-bitingelection, has long been a potential rival to ChancellorAngela Merkel.

316. a Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva is the first female Presidentof Kyrgyzstan.

317. a The Solar Impulse airplane landed in Switzerland onJuly 07, 2010 after a 26-hour flight that proved that asolar-powered airplane can fly in darkness. Thepropeller plane has nearly 12,000 solar cells on its207-foot lightweight carbon-fiber wings. Solar Impulseis a European long-range solar powered plane projectbeing undertaken at the École Polytechnique Fédéralede Lausanne. The project eventually hopes to succeedin the first circling of the earth with a piloted fixed-wing aircraft using only solar power. The project ispromoted by Bertrand Piccard, who co-piloted the firstballoon to circle the world non-stop.



318. a The International Criminal Court commonly referred toas the ICC or ICt) is a permanent tribunal to prosecuteindividuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, warcrimes, and the crime of aggression (although it cannotcurrently exercise jurisdiction over the crime ofaggression). The official seat of the court is in TheHague, Netherlands, but its proceedings may takeplace anywhere. The International Court of Justice(French: Cour internationale de justice; commonlyreferred to as the World Court or ICJ) is the primaryjudicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in thePeace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Its mainfunctions are to settle legal disputes submitted to it bystates and to provide advisory opinions on legalquestions submitted to it by duly authorized internationalorgans, agencies, and the UN General Assembly. TheICJ should not be confused with the InternationalCriminal Court, which potentially also has globaljurisdiction.

319. d Darfur is a region in Sudan. An independent sultanatefor several hundred years, it was incorporated intoSudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916.

320. d Argentina became the first Latin American nation tolegalize gay marriages.

321. b The United Nations has declared 18 July as “NelsonMandela International Day” in recognition of the formerSouth African President’s contribution to the culture ofpeace and freedom.

322. b “Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia in2008 was legal and did not violate any internationallaw” the UN’s International Court of Justice said in July2010. Rejecting Serbia’s argument that Kosovo’sdeclaration of independence from it had no legal basis,the International Court of Justice’s president HisashiOwada said the declaration did not violate anyinternational law.

323. b WikiLeaks is an international non-profit organisationthat publishes submissions of private, secret, andclassified media from anonymous news sources andnews leaks. Its website, launched in 2006 under TheSunshine Press organisation, claimed a database ofmore than 1.2 million documents within a year of itslaunch. WikiLeaks describes its founders as a mix ofChinese dissidents, journalists, mathematicians, andstart-up company technologists from the United States,Taiwan, Europe, Australia, and South Africa. JulianAsange, an Australian Internet activist, is generallydescribed as its director.

324. c On March 29, 2010, the United States and India reachedan agreement on the reprocessing of U.S.-obligatedspent nuclear fuel in India, in accordance with thebroader Agreement for Cooperation in the area ofpeaceful uses of nuclear energy that the two countriessigned in August 2007.

325. b Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (born May 14, 1984) is anAmerican computer scientist, software developer andphilanthropist best known for creating the socialnetworking site Facebook, of which he is CEO andpresident. It was co-founded as a private company in2004 by Zuckerberg and classmates Dustin Moskovitz,Eduardo Saverin, and Chris Hughes while they werestudents at Harvard University. In 2010, Zuckerbergwas named Time magazine’s Person of the Year.

326. a “The Convention on Cluster Munitions” became bindinginternational law for the States Parties when it enteredinto force on 1 August 2010. The First Meeting ofStates Parties took place in Vientiane, Laos, inNovember 2010.

327. c New Delhi Metallo beta lactamase-1 is the name givento an enzyme which destroys the most recentlyintroduced class of antibiotics called carbapenems .This makes some of the bacteria turn into superbugs.Enzymes that destroy the widely used antibiotic classknown as beta lactams are named by the researcherswho first identify them. Some researchers name theseenzymes present among the bacteria by the structureand function , or the initials of the patient , or the citywhere the patient came from.

328. d Mount Sinabung is in the Karo plateau of Karo Regency,North Sumatra, Indonesia, 25 miles from Lake Tobasupervolcano. Many old lava flows are on its flanksand the last known eruption, before recent times,occurred in the year 1600.

329. c The Basque separatist group Eta has announced apermanent ceasefire in its fight for independence fromSpain in January 2010.

330. c The BlueOn is an electric version of the Hyundai i10hatchback. Hyundai first showcased an all-electrici10 prototype at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.

331. d On 15 September 2010 Norway and Russia signedthe treaty on maritime delimitation and cooperation inthe Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean. Under theprovisions of the treaty Norway and Russia will receiveapproximately equal parts of the disputed sea area inthe Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean.

332. c Sir Mota Singh, the United Kingdom’s first Sikh andAsian judge was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in2010, earlier he received the ‘Pride of India Award’2009, instituted by the India International Foundation(IIF).

333. c Tahrir Square is a major public town square inDowntown Cairo, Egypt. It came in news recentlyduring the public uprising in Egypt.

334. d On July 25, 1978, Louise Joy Brown, the world’s firstsuccessful “test-tube” baby was born in Great Britain.




335. a Graphene, Just one atom thick is the world’s thinnestand strongest nano-material, almost transparent andable to conduct electricity and heat. As a result,graphene is described as the candidate material toreplace silicon semi-conductors.

336. b The capital of the Viet Kingdom was moved to Hanoi inthe year 1010. And while the exact date of that eventwas not known, Oct. 10 was the day that Hanoi wasliberated from French colonial rule. And hence theVietnamese choose the 10/10/10 to celebrate theMillennium Year day.

337. c JK Rowling has become the first winner of a newDanish award, the Hans Christian Andersen literatureprize. The author accepted the 500,000 kroner(£60,000) award at a ceremony in Odense, Denmark,the birthplace of the fairy tale writer Hans ChristianAndersen.

338. c The Chinese-made CRH380 train will run at an averagespeed of 220 m.p.h. on a shiny new railway connectingShanghai’s western suburb of Hongqiao and the cityof Hangzhou.

339. c Paul the Octopus (reportedly hatched January 2008;died on 26 October 2010) was a common octopusfrom Weymouth, England. Paul lived in a tank at acommercial attraction, the Sea Life Centre inOberhausen, Germany and became internationallyfamous after his feeding behaviour was used tocorrectly predict the winner of each of the Germanynational football team’s seven matches in the 2010FIFA World Cup, as well as the outcome of the final.

340. a Mount Merapi, Gunung Merapi (literally Fire Mountainin Indonesian/Javanese), is an active stratovolcanolocated on the border between Central Java andYogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano inIndonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548.

341. d Endorsed by the US President Barack Obama, Indian-American Kamala Harris won the election for attorneygeneral of California, soon after Indian origin Nikki Haleyof Republican party scripted history by winning thegovernorship of South Carolina. Harris will be the firstwoman to hold the office of attorney general inCalifornia.

342. a The United Nations Climate Change Conference tookplace in Cancun, Mexico, from 29 November to 10December 2010. It encompassed the sixteenthConference of the Parties (COP) and the sixthConference of the Parties serving as the Meeting ofthe Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP).

343. b Refer to Question No. 223

344. d Refer to Question No. 225

345. b Honorary Tiger Book Description: Popularly known asIndia’s latter-day Jim Corbett and tiger man, eighty-seven-year-old Billy Arjan Singh was, by any standardsan extraordinary man. Duff Hart Davis wrote a bookon him by the title ‘Honorary Tiger’.

346. d Dudhwa National Park is located in the Terai of UttarPradesh, India. Its headquarters are located inLakhimpur Kheri District. The nearest town withservice facilities is Palia.The area was established in1958 as a wildlife sanctuary. Thanks to the efforts of‘Billy’ Arjan Singh the area was notified as a nationalpark in January 1977. In 1988, the park was declaredas a tiger reserve, and forms the Dudhwa TigerReserve together with the Kishanpur WildlifeSanctuary.

347. a After defeating Australia England were crowned theICC T20 World Cup 2010 Winner.

348. a Rafael “Rafa” Nadal Parera is a Spanish professionaltennis player currently ranked No. 1 by the Associationof Tennis Professionals (ATP). He is regarded as oneof the greatest players of all time.

349. a Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull was crowned theyoungest world champion in Formula One history afterwinning the Abu Dhabi grand prix.

350. b Francesca Schiavone is an Italian tennis player who

turned professional in 1998. She won the 2010 FrenchOpen singles title, becoming the first Italian woman towin a Grand Slam event in singles. Her career highranking is World No. 4, achieved on January 31, 2011.She is currently ranked World No. 5.

351. a Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton is a British Formula Oneracing driver from England, currently racing for theMcLaren team, and was the 2008 Formula One WorldChampion.

352. a Lionel Andrés “Leo” Messi is an Argentine footballerwho currently plays for FC Barcelona and theArgentina national team as a forward or winger. Healso holds Spanish citizenship, which makes him eligibleas a EU player. He is considered one of the best footballplayers of his generation.

353. b Black-Shark “stealth” Dual purpose Wire-Guidedheavyweight Torpedo. The BLACK-SHARK AdvancedHeavyweight Torpedo is a multipurpose weapondesigned to be launched from submarines or surfacevessels. It is meant to counter the threat posed by anytype of surface or underwater target for the next 20years. The BLACK-SHARK is a new generationpowerful, long-range, fully stealth, wire guided andself- homing heavyweight torpedo.



354. c The government under its financial inclusion programme‘Swabhiman´, in which five crore households wouldbe provided access to banking services in unbankedareas, has been rolled out on Feb 10, 2011. At EconomicEditors’ Conference in New Delhi, finance ministerPranab Mukherjee said, “Swabhiman - a nationwideprogramme on financial inclusion would coverapproximately five crore households”

355. b Refer to Question No. 254.

356. b Unique identification project was initially conceived bythe Planning Commission as an initiative that wouldprovide identification for each resident across thecountry and would be used primarily as the basis forefficient delivery of welfare services. It would alsoact as a tool for effective monitoring of variousprograms and schemes of the Government.

357. c Cricket genius Sachin Tendulkar and BollywoodActress Priyanka Chopra will promote the Census2011 campaign through the television advertisements,in which they will be seen encouraging people of thecountry and spreading mass awareness. Tendulkarand Chopra have not charged for appearing in theadvertisements.

358. a Public protests was high in Muzaffarpur over anupcoming asbestos plant. The use of asbestos, whichis known to cause lung cancer and silicosis, is bannedin many countries around the world, including Australia,New Zealand, Egypt, Argentina, South Africa andSwitzerland. In India, though mining of asbestos isbanned, units are allowed to manufacture asbestosproducts.

359. c Refer to Question No. 258

360. c Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries won “The Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010”. Dilip Shanghviwas conferred with the Entrepreneur Of The Yearaward and Brijmohan Lall Munjal was declared thelifetime achievement award winner. The Ernst & YoungEntrepreneur Of The Year Award has become a symboland measure of entrepreneurial success around theworld. What started as an event to recognise thestars of the entrepreneurial galaxy in NorthernAmericas has now spread into a movement that iscelebrated today across 140 cities in 50 countries.

361. a World Championship gold-medallist wrestler SushilKumar’s coach Yashvir Singh became the first Indianto win the International Wrestling Federation’s ‘Coachof the Year’ award.

362. c Sushil Kumar won the gold medal at the World WrestlingChampionship in Moscow. Sushil became the first Indianwrestler to win gold at a senior world championshipafter outclassing Alan Gogaev of Russia 3-1 in straightrounds in the final of the 66 kg freestyle category atthe Olympiskiy Sports Centre in Moscow.

363. c Republic of South Africa’s president JacobGedleyihlekisa Zuma has called his nation a rainbownation.

364. c The Vice President of India, Shri M. Hamid Ansarireleased a book entitled “India-Pakistan – Coming toterms” written by Shri Ashutosh Misra who is aResearch Fellow at Griffith Asia Institute.

365. c Billionaire businessman and Reliance IndustriesChairman Mukesh Ambani has received the GlobalVision Award instituted by the Asia Society for helpingto promote understanding between Asians andAmericans.

366. a “I Predict: A century of hope towards an era of harmonywith nature and freedom form hunger” book is writtenby MS Swaminathan, the father of Indian Greenrevolution.

367. c In yet another indication of the country’s strengtheningLook East policy, India signed a comprehensiveeconomic cooperation agreement (CECA) withMalaysia. The trade treaty, which was signed bycommerce minister Anand Sharma and Malaysianminister for international trade & industry MustapaMohamed in Kuala Lumpur, would be operational fromJuly 1, 2011.

368. a The campaign “Awaj Do” is being launched by UNICEF,with the support of the Government of India, atwww.awaazdo.in. “Awaaz Do” means “Speak Up” inHindi and is symbolised by a megaphone logo. Usingtechnology and social networking allows citizens toget actively involved and demand the rights for childrenwho are excluded and marginalised.

369. b Adopting an easy-to-recall acronym, FRIENDS (FastReliable Instant Efficient Network for Disbursement ofServices) has been designed as a single-windowfacility where citizens can make Government relatedtransactions at ease and comfort, without having toinch forward in serpentine queues. Now operationalin all 14 districts of Kerala, FRIENDS accepts paymentsof the Kerala University, Local Body, Kerala StateElectricity Board, Kerala Water Authority, Revenue,Civil Supplies, Motor Vehicles, Electrical Inspectorateand BSNL.

370. a Paris city council voted to award honorary citizenshipto the Dalai Lama, in a move sure to add to tensionswith China as fresh anti-French rallies erupted in citiesacross the country.

371. d Mr. Hari. K Prasad, Managing Director of NetIndia GroupOf Companies demonstrated that the Indian EVMs couldbe easily hacked and questioned the integrity of themachines.




372. b Singapore-The Governing Board of new NalandaUniversity which was earlier functioning as theNalanda Mentor Group is headed by Nobel laureateAmartya Sen. Foreign Minsiter of Singapore is also amember of the governing body.

373. d Eustace Fernandes, the creator of the Amul girl, passedaway at the age of 75. Fernandes is best rememberedas a cartoonist and an illustrator and was living aretired life for some time. Since 1966, the Amul girl,dressed up in polka dots with blue hair and orangeface, has ruled the hearts of millions of Indians.

374. b Refer to Question No. 227.

375. b Prakash Amte, son of well-known social activist BabaAmte and his wife Mandakini Amte have been awardedthe 2008 Ramon Magsaysay Award for communityleadership. Prakash Amte grew up in Anandwan, anashram and rehabilitation center for lepers inMaharashtra founded by his father, the renownedGandhian humanitarian Murlidhar Devidas Amte, orBaba Amte.

376. c Country’s first Special Economic Zone dedicated tothe aerospace industry at Hattargi, 37 km fromBelgaum. The SEZ is promoted by Quest Global, anaerospace engineering and manufacturing company.

377. a Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has termed the 11thfive year plan as “India’s educational plan”. The 11thPlan, approved at the meeting of the NationalDevelopment Council in December 2007, places thehighest priority on education as a centred instrumentfor achieving rapid and inclusive growth. At INR 2.70lakh crore, it constitutes 20% of the Plan, representinga credible progress towards the target of 6% of GDP.The 11th Five Year Plan presents a comprehensivestrategy for strengthening the education sectorcovering all segments of the education pyramid. It isthrough universal literacy, access to education andknowledge-based industrial development that India willbelievably march ahead to join the front ranks of thegreat nations of the world overcoming the challengesof ensuring that everyone has an access to educationand skill building in their activity.

378. b Sachin Tendulkar on Feb 24, 2010 scored his 200*against South Africa at Gwalior & on 19 Dec, 2010 hescored his 50th test century at Centuarian against SouthAfrica again.

379. c Clinton Foundation has decided to chip in the GujaratSolar Market progress. Clinton Foundation inpartnership with the Gujarat government will set up asolar thermal power station in Banaskantha district inNorth Gujarat.

380. b The first phase of the much talked about concertedoperation against the Maoist rebels’ jungle bases — Operation Green Hunt —has begun in the Naxal-infested Gadchiroli district. As many as 18 companiesof central paramilitary forces (CPMF) have beendeployed in key Naxal infested areas identified for theoffensive, close to the tri-junction of Maharashtra,Andhra paradesh and Chhatisgarh.

381. c Hyderabad-based Andhra Bank along with its publicsector peers Chennai-based Indian Overseas Bankand Mumbai-based Bank of Baroda are planning tofloat a unique joint venture bank in Malaysia.The bankwill be locally registered in Malaysia and Bank of Barodawill be holding the maximum stake.

382. b Nitin Nohria became the tenth dean of HarvardBusiness School on 1 July 2010. He previously servedas co-chair of the Leadership Initiative, SeniorAssociate Dean of Faculty Development, and Head ofthe Organizational Behavior unit.

383. a The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) hasroped in the country’s largest bank - the State Bank ofIndia to be its 1st registrar.

384. d The Managing Director of the International MonetaryFund (IMF) Managing Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn,who visited India on Dec 2, 2010 and had meetingswith Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and FinanceMinister Pranab Mukherjee, and described India as a“leading power” and an ”economic powerhouse”.

385. c Yukiya Amano is the current Director General of theInternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), havingbeen elected to the position in July 2009. Amanopreviously served as a Japanese diplomat andinternational civil servant for the United Nations and itssubdivisions.

386. d The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) hasannounced the appointment of Mr Hari S Bhartia, Co-Chairman and Managing Director of Jubilant OrganosysLtd, as the President of CII for 2010-11 while Mr BMuthuraman, Vice Chairman, Tata Steel, has beenelected as the Vice President.

387. c Dr Vijay Kelkar is the Chairman of the ThirteenthFinance Commission.

388. d Information Technology industry body, the NationalAssociation of Software and Services Companies,NASSCOM announced Mr. Harsh Manglik as the newChairman of its Executive Council for the year 2010-2011.Mr Harsh Manglik who succeeds Mr. PramodBhasin, Chairman for the year 2009-10, had taken onhis new role with effect from April 20, 2010.



389. a Umesh Chandra Sarangi has taken over as theChairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (NABARD). He is the first Oriya to headNABARD. A gold medalist in M Sc (Botany), he joinedthe Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1977.

390. a A new interest rate regime, aimed at improvingtransparency and disallowing big corporations to getloans at rates below established benchmarks, haskicked in from July 1, 2010 as part of a new rule thatrequires banks to set their minimum lending rates.

391. a As per the direction of RBI-Reserve Bank of India thecountry’s largest bank SBI declared its base rate. SBIhas set his annual base rate as 7.5 per cent. As perfixing SBI will not give loans below the base rates (ason Nov 17, 2010).

392. c Both United Bank of India & Punjab & Sind Bank arelisted with 100% stake with Government of India.

393. a State Bank of India 17061Bank of India 3801PNB 3165Indian Overseas Bank 3044(NPAs in crore) as on Dec 31, 2009

394. c Secretary of Planning Commission works as ex-officiosecretary of planning commission.

395. c It is Foreign Exchange Market of Japan, the value ofshares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

396. b For the insurer fraternity, Unit Linked Insurance Plan(ULIPs) category of products have been in the limelight because of the turf between InsuranceRegulatory Authority of India (IRDA) and Securities &Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on who should have ahand over regulating it. After much talk and confusion,the issue was put to rest by the government when itissued an ordinance which clarified that ULIPS wouldbe under the jurisdiction of the insurance regulator,IRDA.

397. c The credit rating agencies in India mainly include ICRAand CRISIL. ICRA was formerly referred to theInvestment Information and Credit Rating Agency ofIndia Limited. Their main function is to grade the differentsector and companies in terms of performance andoffer solutions for up gradation.

398. a CRISIL, a STANDERD & POOR’S COMPNAY is a globally-diversified analytical company providing ratings,research, and risk and policy advisory services. It isIndia’s leading ratings agency. Also the foremostprovider of high-end research to the world’s largestbanks and leading corporations. With sustainablecompetitive advantage arising from its strong brand,unmatched credibility, market leadership acrossbusinesses, and large customer base, it deliversanalysis, opinions, and solutions that make marketsfunction better.

399. c State Bank of India has become the first Indian bank tostart commercial operations in China, confident oftapping and aiding the booming trade and commerciallinkages between the two Asian giants.

400. a ATM-on-Wheels, India’s first mobile ATM, launched inMumbai by ICICI.

401. b Dato’ Sri Haji Mohd. Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak isthe sixth and current Prime Minister of Malaysia. Hepreviously held the post of Deputy Prime Minister fromJanuary 7, 2004 until he succeeded Tun AbdullahAhmad Badawi as Prime Minister on April 3, 2009.Najib is President of the United Malays NationalOrganisation (UMNO). He is the son of Malaysia’ssecond Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak.

402. a India and Bangladesh will soon set up ‘haats’ (markets)along their international border in the northeast to boostlocal business and trade between the two neighbours.Two ‘border haats’ would be set up along the Indo-Bangla border in Meghalaya while eight such‘haats’ would be established along Tripura’s borderwith Bangladesh. ‘The first ‘border haat’ is expectedto be opened along the Meghalaya border in WestGaro Hills,’. The commodities to be traded in these‘haats’ would include locally produced agriculture andhorticulture products, spices, minor forest productsexcluding timber, fresh and dry fish, dairy, fishery andpoultry products, products of cottage industries,wooden furniture and cane products, handloom andhandicraft items besides materials useful for farmers.The ‘haats’ would operate within 1.5 km radius of bothsides of the border under close supervision of theborder guards and customs officials of both thecountries.

403. c With the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) continuing at 2.8 percent, the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry haspushed back the target date for achieving populationstabilisation to 2070 from 2045, stipulated in the NationalPopulation Policy (NPP) 2000. Health and FamilyWelfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told members ofthe National Commission on Population that it isextremely difficult to achieve it by 2045. At the currentrate of implementation, he expects populationstabilisation to be achieved only in 2070, with apopulation of 170 crore. National Commission onPopulation was chaired by Prime Minster ManmohanSingh. The NPP 2000 laid down meeting the unmetneed for family planning and health care infrastructureas an immediate objective; its mid-term objective wasto achieve a TF R of 2.1 per cent by 2010 and the long-term goal was to attain population stabilisation by2045.

404. b India has signed a reciprocal social securityagreement (SSA) and protocol with Korea that willbenefit a huge number of Indians —particularly thoseworking in the fields of Information Technology,




medicine and finance — was signed in Seoul. An socialsecurity agreement (SSA) with Korea would enhancethe movement of professionals, and strengthen thetrade and investment, between the two countries.

405. a To improve maternal and child health, the CabinetCommittee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on October20, 2010 approved the Indira Gandhi Matritva SahyogYojana (IGMSY) — a monetary scheme for pregnantwomen and lactating mothers — on a pilot basis in 52districts in the current Five-Year Plan. The scheme, tobe implemented through the Integrated ChildDevelopment Services (ICDS) Scheme infrastructureand personnel, will cost Rs. 1,000 crore. Somepersonnel will be hired on a contractual basis. Thescheme will be fully funded by the Centre and Rs. 390crore and Rs. 610 crore have been allocated for 2010-11 and 2011-12 respectively. Under the scheme, cashtransfers will be made to all pregnant and lactatingwomen as incentives based on fulfilment of specificconditions relating to mother and child health andnutrition. Each pregnant and lactating woman willreceive Rs. 4,000 in three instalments between thesecond trimester of pregnancy until the child is sixmonths old. However, government employees andCentral and State Public Sector employees have beenexcluded from the scheme as they are entitled to paidmaternity leave.

406. d Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) is world largest diamondbourse (exchange) based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Spread over 20 acre plot, the Complex is designedto house around 2,500 small and large Diamond Tradersin addition to Custom House, Banks and other serviceproviders who will cater to the Gem and JewelleryTrade.

407. a Feni River originates in south Tripura district and flowsthrough Sabroom town and then entersBangladesh.Muhuri River, also called Little Feni, fromNoakhali District joins it near its mouth. The river isnavigable throughout the year by small boats up toRamgarh, some 80 km upstream.Sabroom in SouthTripura, in India, is only 18–20 km from Bay of Bengal,but it is a virtually a land locked territory. There is athinking that an inland harbour could be built atSabroom, connected to the sea through a canal, ifBangladesh allows it.

408. d The United Nations General Assembly elected India,Germany, South Africa and Colombia to two-year seatson the UN Security Council, while Canada and Portugalwent to a second round of voting. There are five veto-holding permanent members of the Security Council— the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China,the victors of World War Two — and 10 temporaryelected members without vetoes. But the electedmembers have some power because a councilresolution needs nine votes in favour as well as novetoes. The five rotating members serving on the

council until the end of 2011 are Bosnia, Brazil, Gabon,Lebanon and Nigeria. The five nations leaving thecouncil at the end of year 2011 are Austria, Turkey,Mexico, Japan and Uganda. Germany is one of the topcontributors to the United Nations and of severalcountries, along with India, Japan and Brazil that areconsidered prime candidates for permanent seats onthe council if UN member states can ever agree on aformula for expanding it.

409. d A “hidden” language “Koro” spoken by only about 1200people has been discovered by researchers in aremote corner of Arunachal Pradesh, the home todiverse ethnic tribes and the cauldron of languagediversity. Koro, a Tibeto-Burman language on the vergeof extinction, has been discovered recently in WestKameng district during a National Geographicexpedition for its ‘Enduring Voices’ project. Accordingto researchers, the Northeast is known as a hot spotof language diversity.

410. b ASEAN has agreed to invite the United States andRussia to join the group the East Asia Summit (EAS)from 2011. The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a forum heldannually by leaders of, initially, 16 countries in the EastAsian region, with a stated intention to increase thisto 18 countries at the Sixth EAS in 2011. EAS meetingsare held after annual ASEAN leaders’ meetings. Thefirst summit was held in Kuala Lumpur on December14, 2005.

411. a Shri.D V Sundar was elected as the vice-President ofthe World Chess Federation, FIDE at Russia. Acommunication received from International Arbiter Shri.Anantharam to Cyber Chess further gave that Shri. RM Dongre was elected as Asia Zone President.Readers are already aware that Shri. Bharat SinghChauhan has been elected earlier as President ofCommonwealth Chess Federation. Shri.D.V.Sundar’selevation to the post of Vice President-Fide may giveIndia a chance to press for seperate Zone in FIDE. TheFédération Internationale des Échecs or World ChessFederation is an international organization thatconnects the various national chess federationsaround the world and acts as the governing body ofinternational chess competition. It is usually referredto as FIDE. FIDE was founded in Paris, France on July20, 1924. Its motto is Gens una sumus, meaning “Weare one people”. Its current president is KirsanIlyumzhinov, who for a long time was also the presidentof Kalmykia, an autonomous Republic in Russia.

412. b The 10th annual meeting of the Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission on Military-TechnicalCooperation (IRJGC-MTC), was held in New Delhi,highlighted the dramatic progress the two countrieshave made in their defence ties since the first sessionof the commission in 2001.Two thrust-area projectsdiscussed at the 10th IRJGC-MTC will define theagenda of Indo-Russian defence cooperation in the



years to come: the fifth-generation fighter aircraft(FGFA) and a multi-role medium transport aircraft(MTA).The FGFA will become India’s biggest-everdefence project. The IAF plans to acquire 250 to 3005th-generation stealth fighters. They will give the IAFunquestionable air supremacy in Asia, according todefence experts. The FGFA is tipped to be superior tothe comparable F-22 Raptor while costing just overhalf the price of the American 5th-generation plane.

413. c The East Asia Summit is a nominally annual meeting ofnational leaders from the East Asian region andadjoining countries. The Fifth East Asia Summit waschaired by Vietnamese capital Hanoi, on 30 October2010. The participants issued a Chairman’s Statementcalled the Hanoi Declaration commemorating the fifthanniversary of the EAS and summarizing the summit’sdiscussion. The United States and Russia attendedthe 2010 EAS as ‘Guests of the Host’ with formalentry at the head-of-government/head-of-state levelscheduled for 2011.

414. a A team of scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’sLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has detectedsix isotopes, never seen before, of the superheavyelements 104 through 114. Starting with the creationof a new isotope of the yet-to-be-named element 114,the researchers observed successive emissions ofalpha particles that yielded new isotopes ofcopernicium (element 112), darmstadtium (element110), hassium (element 108), seaborgium (element106), and rutherfordium (element 104). Rutherfordiumended the chain when it decayed by spontaneousfission. Information gained from the new isotopes willcontribute to a better understanding of the theory ofnuclear shell structure, which underlies predictionsof an “Island of Stability,” a group of long-lastingisotopes thought to exist amidst a sea of much shorter-lived, intrinsically unstable isotopes of the superheavyelements. The group that found the new isotopes isled by Heino Nitsche, head of the Heavy ElementNuclear and Radiochemistry Group in Berkeley Lab’sNuclear Science Division (NSD) and professor ofchemistry at the University of California at Berkeley.Ken Gregorich, a senior staff scientist in NSD, isresponsible for the group’s day-to-day researchoperation at the 88-inch Cyclotron and the BerkeleyGas-filled Separator, the instrument used to isolateand identify the new isotopes.

415. b U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence BerkeleyNational Laboratory has detected six isotopes.

416. b France’s parliament has given final approval to a bill toraise the retirement age from 60 to 62, a change thathas sparked weeks of strikes and street protests.The National Assembly approved the final text of thebill in a 336-233 vote, marking its final hurdle inparliament. Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozywas not expected to sign it for several weeks.

417. a An official launch ceremony of Iran’s first nuclearpower plant, Bushehr I reactor was held on 21 August2010. There are no current plans to complete theBushehr II reactor, although the construction of 19nuclear power plants is envisaged. Iran hasannounced that it is working on a new 360 MWe nuclearpower plant to be located in Darkhovin. Iran has alsoindicated that it will seek more medium-sized nuclearpower plants and uranium mines for the future.

418. c The Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and CentralBank Governors (G-20, G20, Group of Twenty) is agroup of finance ministers and central bank governorsfrom 20 economies: 19 countries plus the EuropeanUnion, which is represented by the President of theEuropean Council and by the European Central Bank.Their heads of government or heads of state havealso periodically conferred at summits since their initialmeeting in 2008. Collectively, the G-20 economiescomprise 85% of gross national product, 80% of worldtrade (including EU intra-trade) and two-thirds of theworld population. The G-20 was proposed by formerCanadian Finance Minister Paul Martin (later, PrimeMinister) for cooperation and consultation on matterspertaining to the international financial system. Itstudies, reviews, and promotes discussion (amongkey industrial and emerging market countries) of policyissues pertaining to the promotion of internationalfinancial stability, and seeks to address issues that gobeyond the responsibilities of any one organization.With the G-20 growing in stature since the 2008Washington summit, its leaders announced onSeptember 25, 2009, that the group will replace theG8 as the main economic council of wealthy nations.

419. b The official name of Myanmar used by the governmentis the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, which wasestablished as part of the 2008 Constitution and formallyadopted in 2010. Prior to this, the country had beenknown formally as the Union of Myanmar since 1989.This had itself replaced the previous designation ofthe Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma used inthe 1974 Constitution, which in turn had replaced the1947 Constitution adopted following independence,which had referred simply to the Union of Burma.

420. a Forbes is an American publishing and media company.Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, ispublished biweekly. Its primary competitors in thenational business magazine category are Fortune,which is also published biweekly, and Business Week.The magazine is well-known for its lists, including itslists of the richest Americans (the Forbes 400) and itslist of billionaires. The motto of Forbes magazine is“The Capitalist Tool.” Its editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes.Forbes’s Top Ten List Of World’s Most Powerful People–20101. Hu Jintao : 2. Barack Obama : 3. Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud




4. Vladimir Putin 5. Pope Benedict XVI 6. Angela Merkel7. David Cameron8. Ben Bernanke 9. Sonia Gandhi 10. Bill Gates

421. c Myanmar has started work on a railway line from itsplanned deep-sea port at Kyaukphyu to south-westernChina’s Yunnan province, Chinese media reported.The line, which will be completed in 2015, will transportChinese goods for export, and also be used by Chinato expand its access to Myanmar’s natural resources.The two countries, began work on an oil pipeline fromKyaukphyu to Ruili in Yunnan. The planned railroadwill also run from Kyaukphyu, which is in Myanmar’swestern Rakhine state, to Ruili and Yunnan’s capitalKunming. China’s official Xinhua agency said Chinaalso planned to invest in a special industrial zone atKyaukphyu.

422. a P L Punia, ex bureaucrat of Uttar Pradesh cadre hasbeen appointed chairman of the National Commissionfor Scheduled Castes. The post had been lying vacantsince Buta Singh’s term ended. The NationalCommission for Scheduled Castes (hereinafter calledthe Commission) has been constituted under Article338 of the Constitution of India as amended by theConstitution (Eighty-Ninth Amendment)Act, 2003. TheCommission shall consist of a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and three other Members.

423. c The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) is a railway tunnelbeneath the Alps in Switzerland. With a route length of57 km (35.4 mi) and a total of 151.84 km (94.3 miles) oftunnels, shafts and passages, it is the world’s longestrail tunnel, surpassing the undersea Seikan Tunnel inJapan.

424. d The 8th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM 8) came to anend in the Belgian capital of Brussels on October 5after adopting the “ASEM Chairs Declaration onhappiness and dignity” and the “ASEM 8 Declarationon strengthening the efficiency of global economicgovernance”. The meeting approved 16 initiatives,designed to boost cooperation in a wide range offields, including food security, transport, forestmanagement, water resource, development andeducation. It also welcomed Laos’ proposal to hostthe 9th ASEM Summit in 2012.

425. a The tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties(COP 10) was held in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan,from 18 to 29 October 2010. The Convention onBiological Diversity (CBD), known informally as theBiodiversity Convention, is an international legallybinding treaty. The Convention has three main goals:1. conservation of biological diversity (or

biodiversity);

2. sustainable use of its components; and3. fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from

genetic resourcesThe Convention was opened for signature at the EarthSummit in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992 and enteredinto force on 29 December 1993. 2010 was theInternational Year of Biodiversity. The Secretariat ofthe Convention on Biological Diversity is the focal pointfor the International Year of Biodiversity. At the 201010th Conference of Parties to the Convention onBiological Diversity in October in Nagoya Japan, theNagoya Protocol was adopted. On 22 December 2010,the UN declared the period from 2011 to 2020 as theUN-Decade on Biodiversity. They, hence, followed arecommendation of the CBD signatories during COP10at Nagoya in October 2010.

426. b “RUSTOM” the Medium altitude long enduranceUnmanned Arial Vehicle being developed byAeronautical Development Establishment, a DRDO labspecializing in UAVs and flight control systems, wassuccessfully flown in its maiden flight on Oct 16, 2010.Rustom has been developed for the three services,Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force ofthe Indian Armed Forces. Rustom is derived from theNational Aeronuatics Lab (NAL’s) LCRA (Light CanardResearch Aircraft) developed by a team under theleadership of late Prof. Rustom B. Damania in the 1980s.The UAV will have structural changes and a newengine. Rustom will replace/supplement the HeronUAVs in service with the Indian armed forces.

427. d “The Finkler Question” is a novel written by Britishauthor Howard Jacobson in 2010. The novel won theMan Booker Prize in 2010 and was the first comicnovel to win the prize since Kingsley Amis’s The OldDevils in 1986.

428. c On Oct 06, 2010 India’s Sachin Tendulkar has becomethe seventh player to win the coveted Sir GarfieldSobers Trophy after being named as the 2010 ICCCricketer of the Year at the LG ICC Awards ceremonyin Bengaluru. Tendulkar fought off stiff competition totake the award from fellow short-list nominees VirenderSehwag of India, Hashim Amla of South Africa andEngland’s Graeme Swann. Tendulkar follows in thefootsteps of India’s Rahul Dravid (2004), AndrewFlintoff of England and South Africa’s Jacques Kallis(joint winners in 2005), Ricky Ponting of Australia (2006and 2007), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (2008) and MitchellJohnson (2009) to take the top award.

429. c A US official report on Global governance has declaredIndia as the third most powerful country in the worldafter the US and China. The new global power lineupfor 2010 also predicted that New Delhi’s clout in theworld will further rise by 2025. Among the powerfulbloc, the country has been rated fourth most powerfulafter the US, China and the European Union. “GlobalGovernance 2025” was jointly issued by the National



Intelligence Council (NIC) of the US and the EuropeanUnion’s Institute for Security Studies (EUISS).

430. c Jatinga is a village on a ridge, which is located in theNorth Cachar Hills district of Assam State in India.Jatinga is the only hill station in the State, located at thefoothills of the Borail range. It is located 330 km southof Guwahati city and it proudly hosted the first three-day International Jatinga Festival. The main attractionof the festival is the decades old rare bird phenomenonthat occurs every year in the village. On a moonlessnight, when the mist and fog bearing south-westerlywinds blow over the Jatinga valley, different speciesof local migratory birds are believed to get attracted tostrong light sources or bird trap lights. It is believedthat birds get caught in the fog and wind, get disorientedand seek solace of the light sources put up by thevillagers. They hit against trees or other objects andget injured in their flight towards the light source anddrop dead.

431. b India has witness another milestone in Communicationhistory. The much awaited Mobile Number Portabilityservice has been launched on Nov 25, 2010. PressInformation Bureau, India had confirmed the launchingdate for 25th November, 2010. This big step wasflagged off by our honorable Union Minister ofCommunications & IT Shri Kapil Sibal with ShriBhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Minister of Haryana.Haryana has become the first state of India toencounter this big launch. Rest of the Indian statepeople will have to wait until any announcement byPress Information Bureau.

432. b The environment ministry on Oct 22, 2010 declaredthe elephant a national heritage animal in order to stepup measures for its protection. The ministry issued anotification in this regard after the Standing Committeeof the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) approvedthe proposal in its meeting held on Oct 13, 2010. TheElephant Task Force in its report had recommendedthe special status to elephants, saying the move willhelp in protecting the jumbos. Environment MinisterJairam Ramesh during the release of the report hadsaid that elephants have been “part of our heritagesince ages” and there is need to give the same degreeof importance to them as given to the tiger in order toprotect the big animal.

433. b Former bureaucrat Harishankar Brahma wasappointed as Election Commissioner on Aug. 24, 2010.A 1975 IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, Brahma(60), who hails from Assam, is a former Union PowerSecretary.

434. d Arjun Atwal scripted history by becoming the firstIndian golfer to clinch a US PGA Tour title as he liftedthe Wyndham Championship trophy in Greensboro,regaining his playing card on the elite tour within weeksof losing it to poor form in a remarkable turnaround of

fortune. Atwal, who had a three-shot lead going intothe final round, returned a steady three-under 67 toclinch the title by a stroke with a total of 20-under 260.The Indian took home $918,000 for his effort on Aug03, 2010.

435. b Beyond the resilience of the Indian economy, here’sone more global success story that has been pennedin India. At the receiving end of relentless criticismfrom most quarters at home, flagship explorer Oil andNatural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has beaten China’sCNOOC to the global top explorer slot. Rankings ofenergy and coal firms released in Singapore by Platts,on Nov.04, 2010 the global energy and metalsinformation provider, saw ONGC, led by chairman R SSharma, climb three notches to take the top slot andCNOOC slipping to the second position.

436. b India has embarked upon an ambitious project toindigenously design and develop a fifth generationAdvanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) by 2017.The government released Rs. 100 crore the Bangalore-based Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), whichwill spearhead the project, to prepare feasibility studiesin 18 months. The ADA is an autonomous organisationunder the Ministry of Defence. Disclosing this toreporters in Hydearbad, on Nov 21, 2010, ADA Directorand Programme Director (Combat Aircraft) P.S.Subramanyam said AMCA, when developed andproduced, would probably be the first medium combataircraft with 20 tonne weight in the world. Similaraircraft being developed by the United States andRussia are in the range of 30 to 35 tonnes.

437. c US aircraft manufacturer Boeing is developing a solar-powered unmanned aircraft The Solar Eagle, that willbe able to fly non-stop for more than five years. TheSolar Eagle is designed to soar in the upper atmospherefor years on end, constantly sending surveillance andintelligence information back to the ground. Accordingto the Daily Mail, the US military has given Boeing an 89million dollar contract to develop a Solar Eagledemonstrator vehicle, which will make its first flight in2014. The aircraft will have highly efficient electricmotors and propellers and a 400-foot wing forincreased solar power and aerodynamic performance.

438. b Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf on Sep. 11, 2010conferred the Stockholm Water Prize on US scientistRita R. Colwell for her pioneering research onprevention of waterborne diseases, the second mostcommon cause of death among children underfive. Colwell, a scientist with the University of Marylandand John Hopkins University in Stockholm, has madeoutstanding contributions to control the spread ofcholera which affects some five million peopleworldwide and causes deaths to an estimated 120,000people annually.




439. a Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul won thePalme d’Or top prize at the Cannes film festival on May24, 2010 for a surreal reincarnation tale, UncleBoonmee who can recall his past lives.Spanish actorJavier Bardem, who plays a terminally-ill hustler inBiutiful by Mexico’s Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, sharedthe best actor award with Italy’s Elio Germano,France’s Juliette Binoche was named best actressfor her role as an unhappy antiques dealer in Certifiedcopy by Iran’s Abbas Kiarostami.

440. b European Space Agency has released what it says isthe first ever image of the entire universe which willgive scientists new insight into how the stars andgalaxies form. The all-sky image produced by spacetelescope Planck can also tell how the Universe itselfcame to life after the Big Bang some 13.7 billion yearsago. The satellite was launched by the ESA under a600-million euros project to record the origins of theuniverse.

441. a Taking clue from the plants’ ability to photosynthesise,Chinese automaker Shanghai Automotive IndustryCorporation has developed a new concept car thatcould take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.SAIC, which has a partnership wtih General Motors inChina, showed designs for the photosynthesising YeZConcept Car recently at Expo 2010 in Shanghai. YeZ(pronounced “yea-zi”) is Mandarin Chinese for “leaf,”and it is the apt title for the open buggy-like vehicle,which has a roof shaped like a leaf.

442. d Well-known physicist-turned author, journalist andtelevision producer of Indian origin Simon Lehna Singhhas been selected by the International MathematicalUnion for the Leelavathi Award in recognition of hisoutstanding contribution to public outreach inmathematics. Named after the immortal mathematicaltreatise of the great Indian mathematicianBhaskaracharya, the award carries a cash prize ofRs.10 lakh and a citation.

443. c The name of the parliament of Germany is Bundestag.

444. c A bill paving way for the women to get equal rights inguardianship and adoption of children was passed bythe Rajya Sabha on Aug 17, 2010. The Personal LawsAmendment Bill, 2010 seeks to amend the Guardiansand Wards Act (GWA), 1890 and the Hindu Adoptionsand Maintenance Act (HAMA), 1956. It seeks to allowthe mother along with the father to be appointed as aguardian, making the process gender-neutral. Besides,it aims at removing hurdles in the way of a marriedwoman to adopt. She can give a son or daughter foradoption. “The amendment will make both the motherand father the natural guardians of the child,” LawMinister Veerappa Moily said while replying to thedebate on it. He said the Centre also proposes tomake marriage registration compulsory and the stategovernments are taking steps in this regard. For

adoption and guardianship, under the existing Act,only the father is considered to be the natural guardianof the child in a Hindu family and only unmarried,divorced women and widows are allowed to adopt achild. Women separated from their husbands andengaged in lengthy divorce battles cannot adopt achild.

445. b The government in the review of the Foreign TradePolicy (FTP) 2009-2014 extended sops worth Rs 1,050crore for exporters in sectors like capital goods andtextiles to help them mitigate the impact of “fragile”recovery of global economy on Aug 23,2010.

Highlights:

• Government confident of $200 billion exports thisfiscal.

• Zero duty Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG)scheme extended by one year to March 31, 2012;more products added.

• Duty Entitlement Passbook (DEPB) schemeextended by six months till June 30, 2011.

• Number of additional products from sectors likeleather, engineering, textiles, jute added to 2percent interest subvention scheme.

• Additional benefit of 2 percent bonus for 135products under Focus Product Scheme.

• One percent Status Holder Incentive Scheme(SHIS) for technology up-gradation extended till2011-12; more products added in the scheme.

• Benefits under Market Linked Focus ProductScheme to garment exports to EU extended tillMarch, 2011.

• Barmer (handicrafts), Bhiwandi (textiles) and Agra(leather goods) declared Towns of ExportExcellence.

446. d

447. c The parliamentary standing committee on science andtechnology looking into the bill finalised its report whichrecommends raising of the compensation cap from Rs500 crore, as provided in the earlier draft, to Rs 1,500crore or “such other enhanced amount notified by thegovernment from time to time,” well-placed sourcessaid. With a view to fast-tracking the passage of thelegislation in the ongoing monsoon session ofparliament, the Congress called for forging consensuson the bill, a prerequisite for implementing the landmarkIndia-US civil nuclear deal.

448. b India and Switzerland on Aug 30, 2010 signed a treatythat will enable exchange of information on taxevaders, considered a must for getting details onunaccounted funds stashed away by Indians in Swissbanks. The treaty is a revised version of the existingDouble Taxation Avoidance Agreement between India



and Switzerland and was signed by visiting SwissForeign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey and FinanceMinister Pranab Mukherjee.

449. d

450. b How India Earns, Spends and Saves: Unmasking theReal India – a book by Rajesh Shukla, gave the ideasthat rural India today contributes 56 per cent to totalnational income, 57 per cent to total expenditure and33 per cent to surplus income, marketers are morethan justified in reaching out to rural households. Thebook cites NCAER (National Council for AppliedEconomics Research) data on how product ownershipis on the rise in rural households. Such as, that nearly74 per cent of all black-and-white televisions, 46 percent of colour televisions, 29 per cent of refrigerators,54 per cent of two wheelers, and 44 per cent oftelephone instruments have been purchased by thesehouseholds.

451. a Younger son of a retired police personnel, Rajpal Singhrepresented Chandigarh in Junior Nationals. After theHobart Junior World Cup gold, he joined Indian OilCorporation. A long wait for his senior debut endedwhen, under the tutelage of Rajinder Singh Jr., hetravelled to the 2005 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.

452. b Major Laishram Jyotin Singh, an army doctor who diedfighting a suicide bomber in Kabul, was conferred thecountry’s highest peacetime gallantry medal, AshokChakra, posthumously at the 62nd Republic Day paradein Delhi on Jan 26, 2011.

453. a Tata Consultancy Services is the largest private sectoremployer in the country. It had 1,63,700 employees ason June 30. The honour of second rank went to IBM.The fact that IBM has over one lakh people on its rollsin this country is one of India Inc’s best-kept secrets.No one in US-headquartered IBM will admit that itemploys such a large number of people in India — forfear of a backlash at home.

454. b This is the list of countries (In descending order) bysteel production in the year 2009, based on dataprovided by the World Steel Association, accessed inAugust 2010. In the terms steel production crude steelproduction in (million tonnes):1.People’s Republic ofChina 2.European Union3.Japan 4.Russia 5.UnitedStates 6.India

455. a In an attempt to further subsidise short-term crop loanto farmers, the Union Cabinet on July 31, 2010approved release of Rs 4,868 crore to public sectorbanks. The decision will ensure that farmers, in general,receive short-term crop loan at 7% per annum (5% forprompt payers) with an upper limit of Rs 3 lakh on theprincipal amount during 2010-11.

456. a The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) released by thegovernment had 1993-94 as the base year orreference point for calculating inflation but on 14September 2010, the government released the WPIIndex for the month of August with the new base yearof 2004-05. The year-on-year (Y-o-Y) inflation withthe new base year (2004-05) stood at 8.5%, whilethe Y-o-Y inflation with the old base year (1993-94)stood at 9.5%. The 1% drop in inflation cheered by themarkets was essentially due to the change in baseyear. Basically, the WPI Index measures the changesthrough time in the price of the goods commonly usedas inputs in industry or sold at wholesale level. This isthe index that the policy makers and the marketsgenerally refer before taking actions. It helps uscompare the rise in prices of various commoditieswith respect to that year. The index value of the baseyear is always pegged at 100, so that it’s easier tomeasure the changes in inflation.

457. a The Foundation Board of the World Economic Forumhas elected Reliance Industries’ Chairman andManaging Director, Mukesh Ambani, to its Board. Otherselected to the Board are Alcatel-Lucent’s CEO, Ben JVerwaayen and Zhu Min, Special Adviser, InternationalMonetary Fund ( IMF) and a former Deputy Governor,People’s Bank of China.

458. b India has become the largest petroleum productsexporter in Asia, surpassing South Korea, accordingto the data compiled by oil and metal informationprovider Platts. Significantly, the Consumer AffairsMinistry has allowed 49 per cent foreign directinvestment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. India currentlyallows 100 per cent FDI in cash-and-carry operationand 51 per cent in single-brand retailing. With thecommissioning of a new refinery by RelianceIndustries at Jamnagar and Essar Oil increasingrefinery output at Vadinar, India overtook South Koreaby mid-2009 and has since then consistentlymaintained the lead position.

459. b

460. a Two-thirds of British companies intending to outsourcejobs offshore prefer India over China. This is the findingof a study jointly carried out by the Chartered Instituteof Personnel and Development and the accountingfirm KPMG. The remaining one-third will go to Chinaand eastern Europe. The corporates are seeking toexport call centre, IT and finance jobs abroad. Asignificant number of such employers called on theUK government to rethink the immigration cap imposedby home minister Theresa May in the presentConservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government,illustrating that one out of 10 jobs in the UK’s privatesector will be relocated abroad in the next year.




461. c Sachin Tendulkar has become the first-ever recipientof the LG People’s Choice Award at the LG ICC Awardsin Bangalore. Tendulkar was voted to the award bythe general public and beat off strong competition forthe inaugural award from South Africa’s AB de Villiers,Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardena, Australia’s MichaelHussey and England’s Andrew Strauss. This award,which was included for the first time, was be chosenby cricket fans around the world who, over the courseof four weeks. Tendulkar was presented the awardby Dr. Y. Y. Verma who is the Chief Operating Officerof LG India.

462. b Virender Sehwag became the sixth Indian batsman toscore 7000 Test runs during his unbeaten knock of 97on the second day of the third and final Test againstSri Lanka. Sehwag reached the milestone during thefinal session when he scored a single off Sri Lankanpaceman Lasith Malinga to mid-off area to bring up his70 at the P Sara Oval. The dashing Indian opener is the38th batsman overall to have scored 7000 runs.

463. b The cash amount of post-matric scholarships meantfor students belonging to scheduled castes will beraised by 70 per cent. Social Justice andEmpowerment Minister Mukul Wasnik stated, thegovernment has taken a decision to revise and increasethe cash amount of post-matric scholarships keepingin view the rise in consumer price index.

464. a The Uttar Pradesh government will implementMahamaya Gareeb Aarthik Madad Yojna – a schemeto provide financial assistance to poor and destitutefrom 1st October 2010. Under the scheme, financialassistance will be extended to 30 lakh families, thathave neither received the Below Poverty Line (BPL)ration card nor any type of pension, to fulfill their dailyneeds, the beneficiaries will get financial assistanceat the rate of of Rs 300 per month in two half-yearlyinstalments.

465. a The Central Government is expected to file a curativepetition in the Supreme Court seeking enhancement ofthe compensation paid by Dow Chemicals and itssubsidiary Union Carbide to the victims of the December3, 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy by Rs 1500 crore.It has been reported that the Government’s petition inthis regard is complete and is awaiting the consent ofa senior law officer. The petition that will be filed bythe Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers has pointedout that the 470 million US dollar settlement arrived atby the apex court in its decision in February, 1989,was allegedly based on incorrect calculation andreasoning.

466. a The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 13th August, 2010directed core investment companies (CICs) to registerthemselves with the central bank in case their assetsize is at least Rs. 100 crore. CICs are non-bankingfinance companies (NBFCs), which invest in shares

for the purpose of owning a stake in a company, ratherthan for trading. They also do not carry out any otherfinancial activities. The RBI also asked thesecompanies to keep aside minimum capital at all times toensure that their “adjusted net worth shall not be lessthan 30 per cent of aggregate risk weighted assetson balance sheet and risk adjusted value of off-balance sheet items as on the date of last auditedbalance sheet as at the end of the financial year”.

467. b Under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme “ICT inSchools” there is a provision for internet connectivityincluding broadband in Government and Governmentaided secondary and higher secondary schoolssubject to availability of telecom infrastructure in thevicinity and based on viable proposals from the StateGovernment. Under the Rural Wire-line BroadbandScheme of Department of Telecommunication, there isprovision for providing broadband connectivity toindividual users and Government Institutions, includingschools in rural and remote areas. Under the CentrallySponsored Plan Scheme “National Mission on Educationthrough Information and Communication Technology(NMEICT)”, there is a proposal to provide broadbandconnectivity to over 18000 colleges in the countryincluding each of the Departments of 419 Universities/Institutions of higher learning by the end of the 11thFive Year Plan.

468. d The University Grants Commission (UGC) hasconstituted a Committee under the Chairmanship ofProf. J.A.K. Tareen on the norms for teacher to studentratio for various disciplines/programmes and teachingto non-teaching ratio in Central Universities and UGCmaintained Deemed to be Universities.

469. a The Reserve Bank on 11th August, 2010 suggestedlowering the foreign investment limit in new privatesector banks to below 50 per cent from 74 per centcurrently, in order to strengthen the local banks. RBIreleased the paper on issuing new banking licensesto foster greater competition and expand the bankingsystem. It listed pros and cons of various norms suchas minimum capital requirements and caps onpromoters as well as foreign shareholding. The paperdid not say whether the 50 per cent cap on foreigninvestment in private sector banks should apply to thenew units only, or will hold true for the existing onesas well.

470. b The Federation of the Indo-Israeli Chambers ofCommerce (FIICC), on August 6, bestowed the‘Businessman of the Decade’ honour upon Ratan Tata,who heads the $71-billion Tata empire. Incidentally,Tata is set to retire in December 2012 when he turns75, and speculation over his successor to the multi-billion dollar empire is rife with names like Ratan Tata’shalf brother Noel Tata, former Vodafone chief ArunSarin, PepsiCo chief Indra Nooyi, and the chairman ofthe Unique Identification Authority of India NandanNilekani.



471. a U.S. Border Security Bill, which has been passed bythe US Senate is based on flawed logic and isdiscriminatory in nature. It (this Bill) shows the factthat the Indian IT industry is posing significantcompetition to the US companies. The Bill seeks toincrease application fee for H-1B and L visas by atleast $2,000 for the next five years. The move is aimedat raising funds for the $600 million spending plan toboost security at the porous U.S.-Mexico border. Thefee hike would help in mopping up about $550 millionof the total amount. Further, the increase would beapplicable only for companies with more than 50employees and for whom the majority of theirworkforce are visa-holding foreign workers.

472. c India has 46.7 million high income households ascompared to 41 million in the low income category, theNational Council of Applied Economic Research(NCAER) estimates on Earnings and Spendings haverevealed. “For the first time, the number of high incomehouseholds is set to exceed the number of poorhouseholds in 2009-10,” the NCAER said, adding thatthe middle income class continued to grow. Householdsearning less than Rs 40,000 per annum (at 2001-02prices) are dubbed as low income, whereas thosewith earnings over Rs 1.80 lakh fall in the high incomecategory. Those earning between Rs 45,000-Rs 1.80lakh per annum are considered middle incomehouseholds, whose number surged to 140.7 millionout of the total of 228.4 Indian million families at the endof 2009-10.

473. c The UNESCO has added 21 new sites to its WorldHeritage List, bringing the total to 911.Among the sitesadded after a ten day meeting in the Brazilian capitalof Brasilia were the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands,the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long-Hanoi in Vietnamand the historic villages of Hahoe and Yangdong inSouth Korea. Also included were the Episcopal city ofAlbi in France, the prehistoric caves of Yagul and Mitlain Mexico, the historic monuments of Dengfeng inChina, and the 17th century canal ring in Amsterdam.The Everglades National Park in the United States wasadded to UNESCOs list of sites in danger, while theGalapagos Islands in Ecuador was removed from it.The UNESCO meeting would be held in 2011 in Bahrain.

474. d India has developed world’s cheapest laptop. Designedby experts at IIT, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras and IndianInstitute of Science, Bangalore, the device wasunveiled recently. This low-cost computer comes witha price tag of Rs 1,500 or $35. This has been aimedfor students and probably to change the class roomeducation across the country. This sleek lookingdevice is no bigger than a iPad, equipped with touch-screen and built in keyboard, wi-fi connectivity, USBport, have a 2 GB RAM memory, and is supported by a2-watt system for areas with poor supply. The devicehas an alternate solar battery support.

475. a A new Catering Policy 2010 of Indian Railways hasbeen introduced w.e.f. 21st July, 2010 which hasrevised policy guidelines regarding management ofmobile as well as static catering units. The managementof providing onboard catering services to the railwaypassengers on Indian Railways is now to be done bythe Zonal Railways instead of IRCTC, in a phasedmanner.

476. d The Union Cabinet has cleared a new law providingfor strict penal action and hefty fines going up to Rs 1crore to guard against misuse of data collected forallotment of a Unique Identity Card or a Aadhar numberto Indian citizens. The proposed legislation, titled theNational Identification Authority of India Act, seeks togive statutory powers to the Unique IdentificationAuthority of India (UDAI), created as an attached officeunder the Planning Commission. The decision to enacta legislation was taken after fears were expressedover the privacy and security of data collected by theUDAI. In addition, several civil rights groups had alsopointed out that actions of the UDAI could well bequestioned in the absence of a legal framework.

477. a As per the Employment Trends Survey conducted byMa Foi Randstad, the organised sector in India wasexpected to create about 320,000 jobs between Julyand September in the year 2010. The services sectoris leading the job creation space buoyed by theoptimism in the economic scenario of the country.Conducted among 650 companies across 13 industrysegments in eight cities, the survey revealed that418,000 jobs were created between January and June,with the healthcare sector creating 121,000 jobs, withanother 63,000 in the hospitality sector. The top fivesectors leading the boom are healthcare, hospitality,real estate and construction, information technologyand IT-enabled services, and education, training andconsulting. Real estate and construction leads withthe highest growth in number of people employed. Italso expects growth in average salary by about fourper cent, followed by pharma (3.5%) and healthcare(3.4%) during the third quarter.

478. a The National Innovation Council (NIC), a body set up topromote new ideas for inclusive development, met forthe first time on Sep. 10, 2010. The NIC announced thesetting up of a Rs 1,000-crore corpus fund toencourage innovation. Chairman of the Council is MrSam Pitroda. The NIC has been set up by the PrimeMinister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and is aimed at energisinginnovation initiatives to make them a part of the nationaleffort aimed at reducing poverty, improving governanceand making development more inclusive. The NIC alsocomprises Planning Commission members Mr ArunMaira and Mr K. Kasturirangan, the former NASSCOMchief, Mr Kiran Karnik, and Tata Sons ExecutiveDirector, Mr R. Gopalakrishnan. Among others, theindustry representatives of FICCI and CII, Mr Amit Mitraand Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, are also on the NIC board.




479. d As a multi-faceted genius, revered Guru and violinmaestro : Lalgudi G. Jayaraman. President PratibhaPatil on Sep.28, 2010 conferred the Sangeet NatakAkademi Fellowship on well-known actor ShreeramLagoo, Carnatic violinist Lalgudi Jayaraman,Bharatanatyam dancer Yamini Krishnamurti, Hindustaniclassical vocalist Kishori Amonkar and theatrepersonality Kamlesh Dutt Tripathi. They received apurse of Rs 300,000 besides an “angavastram” and a“tamrapatra”. Vocalist Pandit Jasraj, who was also tobe conferrred with the fellowship, could not attendthe function to receive it. The fellowship, or AkademiRatna, is the highest honour of the Sangeet NatakAkademi, which was established by the Governmentin May 1952 and is the National Academy of Music,Dance and Drama.

480. a Reliance Capital Ltd., part of the Reliance Anil DhirubhaiAmbani Group. Reliance Capital is one of India’s leadingand fastest growing private sector financial servicescompanies, and ranks among the top three privatesector financial services and banking groups, in termsof net worth. Reliance Capital has interests in assetmanagement and mutual funds, life and generalinsurance, private equity and proprietary investments,stock broking, depository services, distribution offinancial products, consumer finance and otheractivities in financial services.

481. a The portability facility will allow policy holders to switchover to another insurance company with the sameconditions. The accepting insurer shall provide cover,at least up to the sum assured in the previous insurancepolicy according to the IRDA. The new facility willalso help those policy holders who stick to one insurerthroughout life for fear of losing the cover for PreExisting Diseases (PED).

482. b Indian railways has replaced the existing four digitnumbering system for passenger trains by a Five-digitsystem. Ministry of Railways in an official releasestated that the five digit numbering scheme hasbecome necessary in view of the four digit numberingsystem having got exhausted as the railways runmore than ten thousand trains everyday. Only a prefixof numeral “1” will be added to the four digit numbersof the existing trains to make the transition smooth andsimple. The new numbering system will enable scientificand logical numbering of all trains on nationwide basiswhich was earlier confined to express trains only.The new system will come into effect from 20thDecember 2010.

483. a University of Oxford’s new Blavatnik School ofGovernment, will train graduates in the skills andresponsibilities of government. The school, launchedin Oxford on Sep. 20, 2010 has been supported byseveral world leaders and a 75 million pounds grantby American industrialist and philanthropist Leonard

Blavatnik. Blavatnik’s gift is one of the most generousin the university’s 900-year history. The university iscontributing an additional 26 million pounds as well asland in the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, where theschool will be located.

484. a 5000 km

485. d A report by an expert group headed by SureshTendulkar, former chairman of Prime Minister ’sEconomic Advisory Council, now estimates poverty at37.2 per cent, an increase of roughly 10 per cent overthe estimates of 27.5 per cent in 2004-05. This means,an additional 110 million people have slipped below thepoverty line in just four years.

486. c The new international Multi-dimensional Poverty Index(MPI) has published in its report that 645 million peopleor 55% of India’s population is poor. India’s inability toensure basic levels of nutrition is the greatestcontributor to its poverty. The new measure says thatthat acute poverty prevails in eight Indian states,including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal,together accounting for more poor people than in the26 poorest African nations combined. The MPI hasbeen developed by the Oxford Poverty and HumanDevelopment Initiative (OPHI) for the United NationsDevelopment Programme’s (UNDP) forthcoming 2010Human Development Report. It is composed of tenindicators measuring health, education and standardof living.

487. d A study by the National Council of Applied EconomicResearch (NCAER) shows that the top 20 per cent ofIndia’s population had 53.2 per cent share of thenational income in 2009-10, up from 36.7 per cent in1993-94. The bottom 60 per cent had a mere 27.9 percent share in total income in 2009-10, down from 38.6per cent at the start of the reform process. It is, ofcourse, understandable that in the initial years of reformthere will be an increase in income inequalities, asthose with access to resources and better equippedwith qualifications and skills would make better use ofthe opportunities. However, over time, a largerproportion of the population should have benefitedfrom the near double-digit growth rate in national GDP.

488. c Registrar-General and Census Commissioner ofCensus (1). 1989 - 1994- A. R. Nanda (2). 1994 -1999- Dr. M. Vijayanunni (3). 1999 – 2004- J. K. Banthia(4). 2004 - 2009 D.K. Sikri (5). 2009- Dr. C.Chandramouli

489. a Australia’s worst ever cyclone ‘Yasi’ hit the country’sflood-ravaged northern Queensland provincewreaking havoc and damaging houses on Feb 2, 2011.Yasi of category five travelling at 29 km per hour andwas estimated to be 150 km east north-east of Innisfailand 175 km east of Cairns.



490. c Time is perfect for World Trade Centers (WTCs) tocome up in India, with Kochi taking the lead, accordingto Kofi A. Boateng, Chief Operating Officer of WorldTrade Centers’ Association (WTCA). The City-basedMather Group holds a licence from WTCA to establisha centre. The Kochi WTC will connect well withprojects like the SmartCity, Vallarpadam InternationalContainer Transhipment Terminal and the LNG terminalas well as the growing tourism ventures.

491. d Indian film actor Shahid Kapoor, who is playing therole of an air force officer in his upcoming flick ‘Mausam’,has become the first bollywood actor to fly theAmerican Lockheed Martin F-16 Super Viper combataircraft at the Aero India show in Bangalore.

492. c Judiciary in Pakistan and Nepal seems to have stolena march over Indian courts on the prickly issue ofguaranteeing rights to transgenders or eunuchs. TheSupreme Courts of the two countries, by far the mostconservative neighbours, have recognisedtransgenders’ right to get jobs and voting rights andhave ruled against discrimination based on sexualorientation. These events surely are putting pressureon the Indian judiciary as well. With the Supreme Courtof India hearing an appeal against a historic Delhi HighCourt decision which de-criminalised gay sex, judges,lawyers and social activists got together to discussand deliberate on the social and legal interventionsrequired to give transgender community the deservedspace and respect in society.

493. a Real Madrid has topped the league table of the world’s20 richest football clubs for the sixth straight yearwith a fortune of 438.6 million euros, according toDeloitte. According to the rich list, Real’s arch-rivalsBarcelona (398.1 million euros) retained second spotin the list, ahead of Manchester United (349.8 millioneuros) and Bayern Munich (323 million euros). Arsenal(274.1 million euros), Chelsea (255.9 million euros)and Liverpool (225.3 million euros) were fifth, sixthand eighth respectively. Manchester City were thebiggest climbers, up from 20th to 11th place. Seven ofthe top 20 in Deloitte’s list were from England, theother two being Tottenham Hotspur (12th), and AstonVilla (20th).

494. d Goan heavyweights Churchill Brothers will set up afootball academy at Cana Bednaulim near Panaji inassociation with former Liverpool midfielder-turned-commentator Steve McMohan.

495. a SAARC will get its first woman Secretary-General inits silver jubilee year — the former Maldivian Attorney-General, Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed, is all set to succeedIndian diplomat Sheel Kant Sharma. Incidentally,Maldives will host the next SAARC summit in November2011.

496. a Nepal has successfully elected a new prime ministerafter the seven-month-long deadlock in the primeministerial elections. The newly elected 34th PrimeMinister is Jhalanath Khanal, chairman of CommunistParty of Nepal (Unified Marxist -Leninist) ( CPN-UML),the third largest party with 109 seats in ConstituentAssembly.

497. a In a boost to organic farming in Bihar, Sohdih village inNalanda district has found a place on the global mapthrough the global positioning system (GPS) for sowingpotato over an area of 160 acres by using naturalfertilizers only.

498. b Arunachal Pradesh’s Bichom river in West Kamengdistrict, which has been out of bonds for outsiders,has now been thrown open for all anglers. As per acommon practice among all tribal communities of thestate, angling is not permissible to those living outsidethe district as local people consider rivers as communityassets. Anglers had for long wanted to catch theelusive Golden Masheer fish found only in the Bichomriver - a trophy for the anglers.

499. b The mud-hut town of Juba has earned a promotion toworld capital in 2010. In a little more than five months,Southern Sudan is slated to become the world’s newestcountry. Final results of independence referendumannounced showed that 98.8% of the ballots castwere for secession from Sudan’s north.

500. a Two Indian-Americans - Ganpat Mani and VijaySazawal - were appointed by US secretary ofcommerce Gary Locke to serve on the Civil NuclearTrade Advisory Committee for two years. Mani andSazawal along with 28 others will makerecommendations to the Secretary of Commerceconcerning trade policy development, improving thecompetitiveness of US industry and its ability tocompete for international contracts for civil nuclearproducts and services. The 30-member committee willalso identify priority markets for US civil nuclearproducts and services in the short- and long-terms.

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Current Affairs Question Bank - Amazon Web Servicesmedia.careerlauncher.com.s3.amazonaws.com/clzone/apps...20. Scientist known for his ‘Test tube baby’ discovery is: (a) Roberts