Current Affairs - 24 April 2015

Arvind Kejriwal's apology will not bring back my son: Gajendra Singh's father

• 

  NEW DELHI/DAUSA: Banne Singh, father of farmer Gajendra Singh who hanged himself from a tree in full public gaze at an AAP rally in Delhi, refused to accept Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's apology for continuing with his speech after the incident. 
  
  "If something happens to his son, I will also go and apologize. Will apology bring back my son? All this is a sham. Such a big incident took place and he is apologizing. How is he going to run the government?...Gajendra left behind three small kids. Who will take care of them?" Gajendra's father Banne Singh told ANI. 
  
  Meanwhile, Gajendra's uncle, Gopal Singh, simply said that his family cannot take action against those in power. 
  
  "If Kejriwal has apologized, then it means that something wrong has been done. We do not have any power to take action against those responsible. He said that he could not see Gajendra because of the banners, but then there must have been others of his party and from the administration who would have seen him climbing the tree. Why did not they stop him?" Gajendra's uncle said. 
  
  Arvind Kejriwal on Friday apologized for not calling off the event and admitted that his making a speech was a "mistake".

Disturbance In Rajya Sabha Over Land Bill

• 

  NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha on Thursday met after a month-long break, but the Opposition members created a ruckus when the government sought to give reasons for re-promulgating the Land Acquisition Ordinance , with a TMC member dramatically tearing up a copy of the agenda paper and throwing it into the Well.

  Minister of State for Rural Development Sudarshan Bhagat laid a statement, which explained the circumstances that necessitated the immediate legislation by promulgation of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rahabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015. Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh, who was in the House in the morning, had left minutes before Bhagat laid the statement. Members from the TMC and the SP vociferously opposed the statement. They shouted slogans like “the anti-farmer government won’t be allowed to continue” and trooped into the Well.

  Noisy scenes led to repeated adjournments in the first half of the session.

Add 'Third Gender' Column in All Forms: RBI to Banks

• 

  In a move aimed at helping transgender persons open bank accounts and avail related services, the Reserve Bank on Thursday directed banks to include a separate column 'third gender' in all their forms and applications.

  It has been brought to our notice that transgender persons face difficulties in opening accounts as there is no provision for them in the account opening and other forms, the RBI said.

  "Banks are, therefore, directed to include 'third gender' in all forms/applications etc. prescribed by the Reserve Bank or the banks themselves, wherein any gender classification is envisaged," it said in a notification.

  As per a judgment on April 14, 2014, the Supreme Court had upheld transgender persons' right to decide their self-identified gender and directed the centre and state governments to grant legal recognition of their gender identity such as male, female or as third gender.

Net neutrality: DoT calls advisory group meet on April 27

• 

  NEW DELHI: The Department of Telecom has called a meeting of Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) to discuss net neutrality on April 27.
  
  "A committee has been constituted in Department of Telecommunications to examine various aspects of net neutrality.
  
  The committee has decided to have interaction with MAG representatives. Accordingly, a meeting will be organized on April 27," a DoT circular sent to MAG members said.

No need for outrage yet: MHA decision to put Ford Foundation on watch-list is no a big deal

• 

  Back in 1999, during the Lok Sabha elections, when it was apparent that the BJP may again win elections to be the single largest party and form the government, Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand ran an aggressive ad campaign against the party. This campaign was run through Communalism Combat - a periodic magazine published by Sabrang Communications & Publishing Pvt. Ltd.

  Here are some excerpts from an interview that Teesta and Anand gave (an archive link can be read here):

  "With that (asking people to vote for a "secular democracy" to combat increasing communalism) in mind, we approached political parties that are opposed to the BJP ideology"

  
  

  "For the first time large sections of what had been the third front were moving in droves to the BJP. This was paralleled by the ominous and dangerous attempt of the BJP trying to communalise the armed forces  post-Kargil  as they'd done with the police. Sending rakhis to soldiers, draping bodies of martyrs in saffron flags."

NASA takes search for extraterrestrial life to the next level

• 

  NASA is bringing together from across the country some of the top minds in a variety of scientific fields as it prepares to embark on an unprecedented search for life on planets outside of our solar system.
  The ambitious endeavor, dubbed the Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS), deals with the study of exoplanets – or planets around other stars. 
  
  Dark Side of the Force: NASA Hopes to Unravel Secrets of Dark Energy
  “This interdisciplinary endeavor connects top research teams and provides a synthesized approach in the search for planets with the greatest potential for signs of life,” said Jim Green, NASA’s Director of Planetary Science. “The hunt for exoplanets is not only a priority for astronomers, it’s of keen interest to planetary and climate scientists as well.”
  The relatively new field of exoplanets emerged in 1995 with the discovery of the first exoplanet around a star similar to the sun. Since the launch of NASA’s Kepler space telescope six years ago, more than 1,000 exoplanets have been found, and thousands more candidates are waiting to be confirmed as exoplanets.
  The experts of NExSS will study the various components of an exoplanet in the hopes of discovering how these planets interact with neighboring planets and stars to support life.

IOC chief to meet PM Modi, refuels speculations of 2024 Olympic bid

• 

  IOC supremo Thomas Bach will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, reaffirming growing speculations that India may make its first bid to host the Olympic Games.

  Even if hosting the Olympics in 2024 appears unlikely, observers say Modi may sanction a bid for further down the line, although he will be anxious to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing headlines that accompanied the shambolic 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

  With Beijing having played host in 2008 and Tokyo due to do the honours for a second time in 2020, there is a growing sense that an Indian bid to stage the world's biggest sporting competition is overdue.

  Speculation that Modi could approve a bid was fuelled by recent reports which said the nationalist premier would raise the issue when he meets Bach, the International Olympics Committee (IOC) president, in Delhi.

  Randhir Singh, India's only IOC member since 2001, said interest in a bid would be welcomed by his colleagues, while playing down talk of 2024 as "wishful thinking".
  "The IOC would love to see India host the Games," Singh told AFP in an interview.
  "Everything will depend on how the talks between Modi and Bach go because ultimately it is the government that has to make a call."

  "But why not? If it is not 2024, it could be 2028 or even 2032. There is more awareness when you organise a Games. The interest grows, there is more sponsorship, there is benefit all round." Singh said.

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

• 1.The famous Grand Trunk (GT) Road from Peshawar to Kolkata was built by
  

  (a) Akbar      

  (b) Ashok     

  (c) Sher Shah Suri       

  (d) Chandragupta

• 2. The Ashoka Pillar whose Lion Capitol (Carving) was adopted by the Government of India as   National Emblem is  situated at
  

  (a) Varanasi     

  (b) Puri    

  (c) Prayag        

  (d) Sarnath

• 3.The Preamble of the Constitution of India was prepared by
  

  (a) Member of Constituent Assembly

  (b) BR Ambedkar

  (c) Jawaharlal Nehru

  (d) Dr. Radhakrishna

• 4. The two great revolutionaries who threw a bomb in Legislative  Assembly were
  

  (a) Bhagat Singh & BK Dutt

  (b) Bhagat Singh & Chandrashekhar Azad

  (c) Chandrashekar Azad & Bismil

  (d) Bhagat Sing & Ashfak  Ullah Khan

• 5.‘Duckworth Lewis Rule’ is used in the game of
  

   (a) Lawn Tennis 

   (b) Cricket

   (c) Basketball 

   (d) Rugby

• 6. Dronacharya award is given for outstanding contribution in the field of
  

  (a) Sports                     

  (b) Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan    

  (c) Anganwadi  

  (d) Music

• 7. Who was the first Indian woman to climb  Mount Everest?
  

  (a) Junko Tabei            

  (b) Bachendri Pal     

  (c) Dola Banerjee       

  (d) Sanamacha Chanu

• 8. The first Olympic Games held in 1896 at
  

  (a) Rome   

  (b) Athens   

  (c) Paris          

  (d) London

• 9. India tops the world in production of
  

  (a) Aluminium 

   (b) Copper  

   (c) Chromite  

   (d) Mica

• 10. . DPT vaccine does not give protection to a child from
  

  (a) Tetanus           

  (b) Polio         

  (c) Diphtheria     

  (d) Whooping Cough

• 11. What will be the colour of a red rose when it is seen through green glass?
  

  (a) White   

  (b) Black     

  (c) Pink      

  (d) Brown

• 12. Which one of the following is the exclusive power of  the Lok Sabha?
  

  (a) To introduce Money Bill.

  (b) To ratify declaration of Emergency.

  (c) To impeach the President

  (d) To pass No Confidence Motion against Council of Ministers.

• 13. Indigenously build supersonic cruise missile is known as
  

  (a) Brahmos     

  (b) Prithvi     

  (c) Nag       

  (d) Astra

• 14.Which one of the following crops enriches nitrogen nitrogen content in the soil?
  

  (a) Pea  

  (b) Sunflower   

  (c) Potato       

  (d) Wheat

• 15. Which of the following periodical winds blowing from sea to land cause summer monsoon in India?
  

  (a) East West                           

  (b) North East

  (c) South West                    

  (d) South East

• 16. India’s permanent research station ‘Dakshin Gangotri’’ is situated in the
  

  (a) Great Himalayas  

  (b) Indian Ocean     

  (c) Arabian Sea         

  (d) Antarctica

• 17. Which one of the following is the busiest ocean route in the  world?
  

  (a) Indian Ocean             

  (b) Pacific Ocean      

  (c) North Atlantic Ocean  

  (d) South Atlantic Ocean

• 18. Defence Services Staff College is located at
  

  (a) Khadakvasala    

  (b)Secunderabad   

  (c) Dehradun                

  (d) Wellington

• 19. The United Nations Organisations responsible to maintain international peace & security, was established on 24 October in the year
  

  (a) 1920        

  (b) 1945            

  (c) 1939        

  (d) 1942
• 20.Who authored the book “Freedom at Midnight”?
  

  (a) Salman Rushdie    

  (b) Charles Dickens

  (c) Mahatma Gandhi        

  (d) Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre

• ANSWERS:
  

  1.C 2.D 3.A 4.A 5.B 6.A 7.B  8.B 9.D 10.B 11.B 12.A

  13.A 14.A 15.C 16.D 17.C 18.D 19.D 20.D