Current Affairs Current Affairs - 9 July 2015 - Vikalp Education

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Current Affairs - 9 July 2015


Worried over Vyapam deaths, Indore jail wants to shift 17 accused to safety
  • Worried over Vyapam deaths, Indore jail wants to shift 17 accused to safety
    INDORE: Concerned over the increasing number of deaths of Vyapam scam accused under suspicious conditions, jail authorities in Indore now want to shift 17 inmates allegedly involved in the scam to safe and secure place.

    Jail authorities have written a letter in this regard to the special judge of Indore for shifting the inmates to other jail. "We have written a letter to special judge for shifting the inmates as jail in Indore do not have elaborate medical facilities for more than 900 prisoners," said superintendent of Indore district jail, Sanjay Pandey adding that till now they have not received any reply from the court. He, however, refused to elaborate about the place where they are planning to shift the scam accused inmates.

    On June 27, Vyapam scam accused veterinarian Narendra Singh Tomar (30) fell ill and was rushed to MY Hospital where he was declared dead. Alleging foul play, family members of the deceased alleged that Tomar was brought dead from jail.

    Tomar was posted as assistant veterinary officer at Raisen before being embroiled in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) scam, also known as Vyapam scam.

    He was an accused in the Pre-Medical Test conducted by MPPEB in 2009. Tomar was said to have arranged for impostors who had written the papers in place of genuine aspirants.

    One jail official said in the wake of the recent incidents they want to shift the scam accused inmates to other place. Elaborating further he said district jail has more than 900 inmates, including 17 accused in Vyapam scam, but only one part-time doctor, who is normally not available in night.

Home ministry declares whole of Nagaland as 'disturbed area'
  • Home ministry declares whole of Nagaland as 'disturbed area'NEW DELHI: The Union home ministry has declared whole of Nagaland as a "disturbed area" for a further period of one year from June 30, 2015. Its notification in this regard states that the Central government is of the opinion that the entire state is in such a "disturbed" and "dangerous" condition that the use of armed forces in aid of civil power is "necessary". 

    Declaring whole of Nagaland as a "disturbed" area under Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 will give the armed forces powers to search, raid and arrest without a warrant. Also, it would allow use of force by the Army personnel even to the extent of causing death, against one who puts law and order in a 'disturbed' area, in peril. 

    Incidentally, the Nagaland government has been seeking removal of the 'disturbed' area tag since 2005, citing the falling levels of insurgency-related incidents or deaths. 

    The declaration of Nagaland as a disturbed area comes a month after the Naga rebel outfit, NSCN(Khaplang), launched an ambush in adjoining Manipur, killing 18 Army personnel. The attack led the Army to retaliate with cross-border surgical strikes against camps of NSCN(K) and allied outfits like PLA in Myanmar. Further joint operations on the insurgents' hideouts in Myanmar are currently being discussed with the Myanmar government.

    The government is meanwhile preparing to reimpose the ban on NSCN(K) under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. This, said home ministry sources, would aid the security establishment to crack down upon the outlawed elements located in India and also seek freezing of assets and properties of the outfit's top leadership here. 

Food regulator has created an environment of fear, Union minister Harsimrat Badal says
  • Food regulator has created an environment of fear, Union minister Harsimrat Badal says
    NEW DELHI: Amidst FSSAI ordering recall of several products including Maggi from market, food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday said the food regulator has created an environment of "fear" in the industry.

    Addressing a conference here, Badal said the action taken by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is discouraging innovations in the food processing sector, which is vital for the country's food security.

    "...a lot needs to be done as the FSSAI has created environment of fear in the industry. It needs to streamline its regulations ... provisions as its steps are stopping innovations in the processing sector," Badal said at a conference organised by the CII.

    "Without mentioning the big elephant in the room of food processing industry, the FSSAI; I would say that a lot needs to be done to remove the recent road blocks or I would say fear psychosis in the industry," the minister added.

    Last month, the FSSAI had banned Nestle's Maggi saying it was 'unsafe and hazardous' after tests found presence of lead and Monosodium glutamate above permissible limits.

    Following the Maggi fiasco, FSSAI had ordered testing of noodles, pastas and macaroni brands such as Top Ramen, Foodles and Wai Wai sold and manufactured by seven companies, to check compliance with the norms.

    The growth of food processing sector is very vital as it ensures food security and better remuneration to farmers for their produce, the minister said here.

    Harsimrat added that the government is keen and committed for growth of domestic food processing sector as well create a environment for its progress.

    She also mentioned about a task force formed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on her request for the growth of the sector which will also look into the regulatory issues.

    The task force would analyze the various existing impediments and bottlenecks and provide expert guidance on key policy interventions to her ministry and states also, she added.

    "I would even create a special committee within my ministry, with the representatives of the CII and the respective state heads in this task force as the members, in order to resolve the issues and help the food processing industry realise its desired potential," the minister said.

    The FSSAI is an agency established under the Food Safety and Standards Act and comes under the purview of health ministry.

    It has a mandate to look into the quality standards of food articles and regulate their manufacture, storage, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for consumption.

Will request Supreme Court for CBI probe into Vyapam scam, Shivraj Singh Chouhan says
  • Will request Supreme Court for CBI probe into Vyapam scam: Shivraj ChouhanNEW DELHI: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday said that he will request Supreme Court for CBI probe into Vyapam scam.

    Earlier today, Madhya Pradesh high court refused to hear MP government's plea for CBI inquiry on the grounds that a similar plea was pending for hearing in the Supreme Court on July 9.

    The high court said that no decision will be taken till the Supreme Court hears the matter.

    Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is in Delhi, slammed the opposition for their sustained campaign over the issue even as he parried demands for his resignation.

    "Congress has been demanding my resignation from the beginning. Opposition is bringing disrepute to Madhya Pradesh," he said.

    Shivraj Singh Chouhan is expected to meet top BJP leaders to discuss various issues related to the controversy.

    The visit assumes significance given that the Supreme Court will hear on Thursday the plea of Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and three whistleblowers seeking an apex court-monitored CBI probe into the scam.

    However, the official reason cited for Chouhan's visit is his meeting with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj regarding the preparations for the World Hindi Conference to be held in Bhopal later this year.

    Chouhan, who is facing an Opposition onslaught on the Vyapam professional services recruitment scam, had yesterday made a U-turn and agreed to approach the state high court requesting it to order a CBI probe in the matter.

    The Opposition has alleged that nearly 45 people having links with the Vyapam admission and recruitment scam have died since the investigation into the scandal began in July 2013. At least five people, including a journalist covering the scam, have died under mysterious circumstances in last one week.

PM has no plans to host iftar in Srinagar
  • PM has no plans to host iftar in Srinagar
    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has no plans to host an iftar party in Srinagar on July 17 as was wrongly reported in sections of the media. 

    Highly-placed sources refuted reports in this regard as totally without basis and speculative.

New York Stock Exchange halts trading, with no explanation
  • NYSEThe New York Stock Exchange unexpectedly shut down trading in all of its listed stocks late Wednesday morning. 

    The exchange did not immediately give an explanation for what caused the shutdown. In an alert on its website it wrote: "Additional information will follow as soon as possible." 

    The New York Stock Exchange, which is now owned by Intercontinental Exchange, has been hit, like other stock exchanges, by technical difficulties in the past, but the scale of the problem on Wednesday has little precedent. 


    Nearly 45 minutes after the outage, there was still little clarity on what was causing the problem. Stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange continued trading on other exchanges, such as Nasdaq. 

    In a statement, a Nasdaq spokesman said: "Nasdaq systems are operating normally and are trading all symbols including Tape A (NYSE) securities." 

    Other exchanges operated by the New York Stock Exchange, such as its options exchange, continued operating normally on Wednesday. 

    Law enforcement agencies with federal government are monitoring the situation but as of midday Wednesday there was no indication of anything malicious with the troubles at the N Y S E, said several people briefed on the situation. 

Microsoft fires 7,800, writes off $7.6 billion Nokia buy
  • Microsoft fires 7,800, writes off $7.6 billion Nokia buy
    WASHINGTON: Microsoft on Wednesday announced plans to cut 7,800 jobs along with a reorganization of its Windows Phone unit which has struggled in the mobile market.

    The move represents the second major round of layoffs in a year for Microsoft, which cut some 18,000 jobs a year ago as part of its effort to integrate the Nokia handset division.

    Most of the cuts at the US tech giant will be in the phone division, and the company will write down the value of its phone business acquired from Nokia by some $7.6 billion.


    A Microsoft statement said it would "restructure the company's phone hardware business to better focus and align resources."

    Microsoft has failed to get much traction for its Windows Phone platform even with the acquisition of Nokia. A survey by IDC said Windows was expected to capture just 3.2% of the global smartphone market this year.

    "I am committed to our first-party devices including phones. However, we need to focus our phone efforts in the near term while driving reinvention," chief executive Satya Nadella said in a memo to staff.

    "We are moving from a strategy to grow a standalone phone business to a strategy to grow and create a vibrant Windows ecosystem that includes our first-party device family."

    Microsoft had about 1,18,000 employees worldwide at the end of March, according to its website, with about half in the United States.

    Microsoft plans to start rolling out Windows 10 in late July, introducing a new operating system which can be used to power not only personal computers but a range of mobile devices.

    While it still dominates the market for personal computers, Microsoft has struggled in the market for mobile devices, the majority of which are powered by the Android system or Apple's iOS.

    Last month, Microsoft announced a shakeup of top management including the departure of Stephen Elop, the former Nokia chief who came on board with the US giant's acquisition of the Finnish firm's handset unit.

LIC AAO Exam General Awareness and Current Affairs Solved Paper (Exam Held On: 22-03-2015)
  • 1. The United Nations University established in 1973 is the academic and research arm of the United Nations.  It is headquartered in–
    (a) New York, USA (b) Washington DC, USA 
    (c) Tokyo, Japan (d) Geneva, Switzerland 
    (e) Manila, Philippines (Ans : c)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    2. Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, the Union Minister for Mines and Steel is a Member of Parliament from the Indian State of–
    (a) Bihar (b) Maharashtra (c) Rajasthan 
    (d) Madhya Pradesh (e) Chattisgarh (Ans : d)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    3. PM Shri Narendra Modi has recently dedicated to the nation two units, each of 600 MW of the Shree Singaji Thermal Power Plant in–
    (a) Ujjain District (b) Khandwa District (c) Ratlam District 
    (d) Bhopal District (e) Indore District (Ans : b)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    4. The committee recently set up by the Central Government to interact with industry on tax laws to give recommendations to CBDT and CBEC for issuance of clarifications when necessary, is headed by–
    (a) Arvind Goswami (b) Arvind Subramaniam (c) Arvind Mayaram 
    (d) Vijay Kelkar (e) Ashok Lahiri (Ans : e)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    5. According to the Public Enterprises Survey recently tabled in Parliament, the most profitable Public Sector Enterprise during 2013-2014 was–
    (a) BSNL (b) ONGC (c) NTPC (d) NMDC (e) NPCL (Ans : b)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    6. In terms of the Motor Vehicle Agreement signed between the two countries during the recent 18th SAARC Summit at Nepal, a direct bus service has recently been launched in March 2015 between Varanasi and–
    (a) Lahore, Pakistan (b) Kathmandu, Nepal (c) Thimphu, Bhutan 
    (d) Kabul, Afghanistan (e) Dhaka, Bangladesh (Ans : b)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    7. The 'Armed Forces Flag Day' is observed every year on the– 
    (a) 26th October (b) 21st November (c) 18th December 
    (d) 7th December (e) 21st September (Ans : d)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    8. 'Vishu' is the New Year day and a Hindu festival celebrated in the Indian State of–
    (a) Karnataka (b) Goa (c) Telangana (d) Odisha (e) Kerala (Ans : e)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    9. Sushil Kumar is associated with the sports of–
    (a) Tennis (b) Basketball (c) Football (d) Wrestling (e) Golf (Ans : d)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    10. The 'Shwedagon Pagoda' also known as 'Great Dagon Pagoda' and the 'Golden Pagoda' is situated in–
    (a) Mumbai, India (b) Tokyo, Japan (c) Yangon, Myanmar 
    (d) Kyoto, Japan (e) Thimphu, Bhutan (Ans : c)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    11. The capital of the Myanmar is– 
    (a) Thimphu (b) Putrajaya (c) Langkawi (d) Naypyidaw (e) Punakha (Ans : d)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    12. The World's largest and tallest Indian National flag was recently unfurled in–
    (a) Faridabad (b) Gurgaon (c) Kamal (d) Ghaziabad (e) Panipat (Ans : a)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    13. As per 2011 census, the total number of children in the age-group 0-6 years was–
    (a) 185. 8 million (b) 198. 8 million (c) 221. 8 million 
    (d) 189. 8 million (e) 158. 8 million (Ans : e)
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
    14. 'G.  Karthikeyan', who recently passed away at Bengaluru was the speaker of the Legislative Assembly of–
    (a) Karnataka (b) Kerala (c) Telangana (d) Tamil Nadu (e) Andhra Pradesh (Ans : b)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    15. In the budget for 2015-2016, the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley has proposed to set up a centre for film production, animation and gaming in the State of–
    (a) Haryana (b) Meghalaya (c) Andhra Pradesh 
    (d) Jammu and Kashmir (e) Arunachal Pradesh (Ans : e)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    16. The film 'Ida' named as the 'Best Foreign Language Film' at the 87th Academy Awards 2015 is– 
    (a) a Polish drama film (b) a French family drama film 
    (c) an American comedy film (d) a Russian short story film 
    (e) a British documentary film (Ans : a)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    17. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, India's largest drug maker, has recently announced that it would acquire the oplates business of British drug maker Glaxo Smith Kline(GSK) in–
    (a) Europe (b) USA (c) New Zealand (d) Asia (e) Australia (Ans : e)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    18. The first woman to be appointed as a Director on the board of Reliance industries- the nation's largest private sector company is– 
    (a) Tina Anil Ambani (b) Meera Sanyal (c) Nita Mukesh Ambani 
    (d) Usha Thorat (e) Kokilaben Ambani (Ans : c)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    19. The Lok Sabha recently passed the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015, that proposes to raise the foreign investment cap in the insurance sector from 26 percent to–
    (a) 69 percent (b) 51 percent (c) 59 percent (d) 55 percent (e) 49 percent (Ans : e)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    20. Who amongst the following has recently been elected as the new President of BCCI ? 
    (a) N. Srinivasan (b) Rajiv Shukla (c) Sanjay Patel 
    (d) Jagmohan Dalmiya (e) Anurag Thakur (Ans : d)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    21. 880 MW Kaiga Atomic Power Plant is situated near the river Kali in the Indian State of–
    (a) Tamil Nadu (b) Kerala (c) Andhra Pradesh (d) Karnataka (e) Maharashtra (Ans : d)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    22. The currency of the 'Republic of South Africa' is–
    (a) Rand (b) Rial (e) Ruble (d) Riyal (e) Rial (Ans : a)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    23. 'Fugdi' is a traditional folk dance popular in the Indian State of– 
    (a) Goa (b) Bihar (c) Odisha (d) Chattisgarh (e) Gujarat (Ans : a)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    24. The 'CNSA' is the national space agency of–
    (a) Soviet Union (b) Republic of Singapore (c) Russian Federation 
    (d) People's Republic of China (e) United States of America (Ans : d)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    25. In the recent Union Budget 2015, the Union Minister of Finance has proposed to support the 'Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana' which aims to boost– 
    (a) Floriculture Production (b) Drip Irrigation (c) Watershed Development 
    (d) Minor Irrigation (e) Organic Farming (Ans : c)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    26. The RBI has recently allowed Indians to carry high value denomination notes while travelling to Nepal and Bhutan within a limit of–
    (a) Rs. 20,000/- (b) Rs. 30,000/- (c) Rs. 35,000/- 
    (d) Rs. 25,000/- (e) Rs. 40,000/- (Ans : d)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    27. Reliance infrastructure with its wholly-owned subsidiary Reliance Defence Systems Private Ltd.  has.  recently announced the acquisition of Pipavav Defence Company Limited based in–
    (a) Tamil Nadu (b) Maharashtra (c) Goa (d) Kerala (e) Gujarat (Ans : b)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    28. Tile abbreviation 'CSR' stands for– 
    (a) Collective Social Responsibility (b) Collective Shared Responsibility 
    (c) Corporate Social Responsibility (d) Corporate Shared Responsibility 
    (e) Commercial Shared Responsibility (Ans : c)
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
    29. For highlighting women's safety, the National Insurance of gender justice has recently honoured film actress–
    (a) Rani Mukherji (b) Vidya Balan (c) Jaya Bachchan 
    (d) Priyanka Chopra (e) Hema Malini (Ans : a)
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    30. The global meet on countering Violent Extremism was recently held in–
    (a) London, UK (b) New York, USA (c) Washington, USA 
    (d) Ottawa, Canada (e) Paris, France (Ans : c) 



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