Current Affairs - 4 February 2016

General Affairs 

India, Sri Lanka Ties Have Matured Over Time: President Pranab Mukherjee

• NEW DELHI:  The relationship between India and Sri Lanka has matured over time to include all areas of contemporary relevance, President Pranab Mukherjee said today.
  
  Mr Mukherjee has extended his greetings and felicitations to the government and people of Sri Lanka on the eve of the 68th anniversary of their independence.
  
  "The ties of friendship between India and Sri Lanka go back centuries and have matured over time to include all areas of contemporary relevance.
  
  "I am confident that the renewed vigour in the Sri Lankan polity under your leadership will not only allow you to realise your vision for Sri Lanka but also strengthen the partnership between India and Sri Lanka for the mutual benefit of the people of our two countries," he said in a message to Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena.
  
  "I would like to take this opportunity to assure you that, as a close friend and neighbour, we support your vision for Sri Lanka," Mr Mukherjee said.

Oommen Chandy Challenges Opposition Parties To Prove Charges Against Him

• 

  THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  Unfazed by allegations against him in the solar scam, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy today challenged opposition parties to prove the charges against him and said he will quit public life "if there is one per cent truth" in the allegations.
  
  "Truth will come out. People of the state will know what really happened," he told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram after a Cabinet meeting.
  
  "I will quit public life, if there is one per cent truth in the allegations," he said.
  
  Terming as 'undemocratic' the CPI(M)-led LDF's move to attack the government in the Assembly over the allegations, Mr Chandy said, "Opposition has become nervous due to the popularity of the five-year rule of the UDF and there is no threat to the government."
  
  Hitting out at the LDF for taking up charges levelled by Saritha S Nair, prime accused in the solar case, Mr Chandy said, "Those who go after the charges made by a person with no credibility will only disgrace themselves."
  
  Mr Chandy said the government would soon take a decision on conducting a probe into the conspiracy behind the charges levelled by the solar accused against him and others.
  
  Saritha, deposing before the Justice Sivarajan Commission, had alleged that bribe of Rs. 1.90 crore had been paid to a close aide of Mr Chandy and Rs. 40 lakh to Power Minister Arayadan Mohammed for helping her 'Team Solar Company'. Both have denied the allegations.
  
  Mr Chandy maintained that the state has not incurred even a rupee's loss due to the scam and that no undue concession had been given to the Team solar company. Government took all legal steps to bring before law the culprits behind the fraud after it came to light, he asserted.
  
  Mr Chandy also flayed CPI(M) on the attack on former diplomat and state higher education council vice-chairman TP Sreenivasan by activists of that party's students wing SFI, and said, "CPI(M) will have to pay heavy price for that."
  
  On the charge that two Congress leaders Benny Behanan, legislator, and Thampanoor Ravi, both chief minister's confidants, had tried to influence Saritha, Mr Chandy said, "The matter is before the Commission. Let it take a decision. Not only that, both leaders have reacted to the charge of Saritha."
  
  Saritha had produced an audio tape containing telephone conversation purportedly between the two leaders and her on the issue.
  
  Meanwhile, LDF leaders met Governor Justice P Sathasivam and urged him not to deliver the customary policy address of the government in the House in the wake of solar and bar bribery scams rocking the government.
  
  In a memorandum submitted to the Governor, LDF said, "We painfully submit that this state has never in the past passed through such deplorable situation of legal and moral breakdown."
  
  Talking to reporters after meeting the Governor, Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan said they asked the Governor not to deliver the policy address.

Karnataka Has Ability To Outpace India's Growth: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

• BENGALURU:  Finance Minister Arun Jaitley expects Karnataka to surpass the national growth rate, saying it has the potential to grow at least 2-3 per cent ahead of India's GDP.
  
  Speaking after inaugurating the global investors' meet 'Invest Karnataka-2016', Mr Jaitley said: "... given its natural advantage, first-grade human resource and the natural technology inclination of entrepreneurs... Karnataka has to grow at least 2-3 per cent ahead of India's GDP."
  
  Complementing the state government for organising the meet, he said, "Karnataka has the capacity, and I think it is that capacity which we have to fully realise."
  
  Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar, among others, attended the meet.
  
  Acknowledging that Karnataka is the leader as far as education is concerned, the finance minister said the state will continue to produce best human resource in India.
  
  "One of the best things that happened to Karnataka over the last 2-3 decades was that even at the age of regulated economy, some wisdom dawned on this country and we decided to leave the IT sector alone. Since we left the IT sector alone free from any interference of the government, they prospered. They became in fact a face of India s growth potential," Mr Jaitley added.
  
  With natural innovation, start-ups growing in the state, and a lot more potential in aerospace, the state should look at large manufacturing investment potential, he suggested.
  
  "Manufacturing is where jobs are... if we are able to concentrate on this with natural advantage of R&D centres worldwide coming into the state, I think we can exploit all these potential and really convert Karnataka into a destination of investment of economic activity of growth," Mr Jaitley added.
  
  "I think every rupee that goes into Karnataka, investment goes into India's growth..."
  
  Stating that nobody could have expected China to grow indefinitely at a double digit growth rate, Mr Jaitley said China's "slowdown itself doesn't directly impact us, except for some indirect consequences.
  
  "Under these circumstances when comparable economies are struggling we have an important and powerful opportunity in front of us in order to make sure that our own domestic economic systems are strengthened."
  
  "In this strengthening we have been able to maintain a macroeconomic situation which is far more favourable than it had been in the past and this is what makes India the fastest growing economy in the world," the minister added.
  
  Mr Jaitley further said that global investors are looking at India and "It is important for India to respond and respond in one voice". We can never allow our federalism or our democracy to become an obstacle in the process, he said.
  
  The Finance Minister further said that merely organising investor meets will not get states the required investments.
  
  "States which have a consistent track record of a stable administration, a good governance, clean administration, stable politics, stable policies, easy availability of land, natural resources, easier prospects of doing business... it is those states which will then become the primary destinations as far as the investments are concerned," he said.
  
  Appreciating Karnataka for innovating with time, Mr Jaitley said it has kept the state at the centre stage of India's development.
  
  Referring to cooperative federalism, he said governance is a shared responsibility of the Centre and the states, while the ultimate objective of the shared sovereignty is how "we empower people, how we make India grow faster and how we make sure that rates of poverty get depleted very fast".
  
  "India is a case where the Centre and states have to compete with each other, then cooperate with each other, in order to make sure that the cooperative federalism brings out a model of economic governance in the country," he said.
  
  Mr Jaitley said there is no other cure for depletion of poverty and its final elimination other than making India grow.
  
  "It is only when India grows faster that we are going to pull out a large number of people out of the poverty levels," he said.

Ban Ki-moon Appoints Major General Jai Shanker Menon As Head Of Key UN Force

• UNITED NATIONS:  Major General Jai Shanker Menon of the Indian Army, a veteran of peacekeeping operations, has been appointed as the head of a key UN force stationed in Golan to maintain the ceasefire between Israeli and Syrian forces.
  
  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named Mr Menon as the Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).
  
  He succeeds Nepal's Lieutenant General Purna Chandra Thapa, who will complete his assignment on February 7, 2016.
  
  The UN, in a statement, said Mr Menon brings to his new position extensive command experience and knowledge of peacekeeping affairs at the national and international levels.
  
  Till now, Mr Menon was Additional Director General Equipment Management in the Indian Army. From 2012 to 2013, he was General Officer, Commanding an Infantry Division.
  
  The UNDOF was established on May 31, 1974, by UN Security Council following the agreed disengagement of the Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan.
  
  Since then, UNDOF has remained in the area to maintain the ceasefire between the Israeli and Syrian forces and to supervise the implementation of the disengagement agreement.
  
  Mr Menon has held a number of command positions in the Indian Army, including Commandant of Regimental Training Centre, Brigade Commander and Battalion Commander.
  
  He has also served at the international level, including in the United Nations as a Military Observer in the United Nations Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ) in 1993 and United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) from 2007 to 2009.
  
  He holds a Master of Management Studies degree from Osmania University in Hyderabad, a Master of Defence Studies degree from Madras University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Jawahar Lal Nehru University.
  
  Mr Menon graduated from the National Defence Academy in Khadakvasla, Army War College in Mhow, Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, and the College of Defence Management in Secunderabad.

Higher Temperatures Makes Zika Mosquito Spread Disease More

• WASHINGTON:  The mosquito behind the Zika virus seems to operate like a heat-driven missile of disease. The hotter it gets, the better the mosquito that carries Zika virus is at transmitting its buffet of dangerous illnesses, scientists say.
  
  Although it is too early to say for this outbreak, past outbreaks of similar diseases involved more than just biology. In the past, weather has played a key role, as have economics, human travel, air conditioning and mosquito control. Even El Nino sneaks into the game. Scientists say you can't just blame one thing for an outbreak and caution it is too early to link this one to climate change or any single weather event.
  
  As the temperature rises, nearly everything about the biology of the Aedes aegypti mosquito - the one that carries Zika, dengue fever and other diseases - speeds up when it comes to spreading disease, said entomologist Bill Reisen of the University of California Davis.
  
  

  "With higher temperatures you have more mosquitoes feeding more frequently and having a greater chance of acquiring infection. And then the virus replicates faster because it's hotter, therefore the mosquitoes can transmit earlier in their life," Reisen said. The thermodynamics of mosquitoes are "driven by temperature."
  
  The hotspots for this Zika outbreak also have been temperature and drought hotspots recently. Recife, Brazil, the largest city in the Zika-struck region, saw its hottest September-October-November on record, about 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal, according to NASA data. The state of Pernambuco had its hottest and driest year since 1998, according to the state weather agency. And globally, last year was the hottest on record.
  
  Scientists have studied Zika far less than other mosquito-borne diseases, so for guidance they often look at dengue fever or chikungunya, which are transmitted by the same species of mosquito. Dengue infects as many as 400 million people a year, with a quarter of them sick enough to be hospitalized.
  
  Zika was just declared a global public health emergency after being linked to brain deformities in babies in South America. Several thousand cases of microcephaly have been reported in Brazil since October, although researchers have so far not proven a definitive link to the virus. No vaccine exists for Zika.
  
  In general, mosquitoes don't live long, maybe 10 to 12 days on average, said Tom Scott, a University of California Davis professor of both entomology and epidemiology. That's also about how long it takes a virus to grow in the mosquito gut, making the bug infectious and able to spread the disease. Often the insect will die before it can get a chance to spread the disease.
  
  Warmer air incubates the virus faster in the cold-blooded mosquito. So the insect has more time to be infectious and alive to spread the disease, Scott said.
  
  Warmer temperatures also make the mosquito hungrier, so it takes more "blood meals" and can spread the disease to more people, Scott, Reisen and others said. And warmer temperatures generally increase the mosquito population.
  
  Kristie Ebi, a professor of global health at the University of Washington, calls it "a temperature-driven eruption."
  
  That's not the only role of weather.
  
  El Nino, a natural warming of parts of the central Pacific Ocean that changes weather worldwide, usually puts northeastern Brazil into a drought, as it did last year. Aedes aegypti does well in less-developed regions in droughts, because it lives in areas where poorer people store water in outdoor containers, said Jonathan Patz, director of the global health institute at the University of Wisconsin.
  
  "As with all mosquito-borne viruses, climate is one of many factors that influence Zika transmission," said Andy Monaghan, a scientist who works on public health impacts of climate change at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. "I think it is too early to say anything about the role of climate change in the ongoing Zika outbreak."
  
  However, Monaghan earlier this year presented a paper to the American Meteorological Society's annual convention that predicts that eventually Aedes aegypti "will move northward in the U.S. due to future warming, which would expose people to the mosquito on a regular seasonal basis in states like Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia and D.C."

Business Affairs 

Sensex closes 316 points down on global sell-off; Nifty below 7,400

• Equities remained under pressure for a third day as the BSE Sensex saw a deep plunge, falling by 316 points to end at a two-week low of 24,223.32 on sustained foreign fund outflows amid global rout on renewed concerns over slowing growth after oil prices resumed slide.

  Moreover, the rupee, which again breached the 68-mark against the dollar also had its bearing on the market.

  Global sentiment, already dampened by concerns over China's economic growth, took a further hit after oil again dipped below $30 a barrel in Asian trade.

  Meanwhile, a monthly PMI survey showing that India's services sector activity touched a 19-month high in January failed to lift the market mood.

  Resuming lower at 24,393.59, the Sensex touched the day's low of 24,187.54 following widespread losses in blue-chip stocks as selling activity accelerated.

  However, the index later recovered a bit to touch a high of 24,409.26 before winding up at 24,223.32, a fall of 315.68 points or 1.29 per cent. This is the lowest closing since January 21.

  The gauge has lost 647 points in the three straight days.

  The NSE Nifty also remained under pressure and slipped below the 7,400-level by dropping 93.75 points or 1.26 per cent to close the day at 7,361.80.

  Out of the 30-share Sensex pack, 26 scrips ended lower.

  BHEL was the worst-hit, down 4.86 per cent followed by NTPC at 4.10 per cent. Others laggards included Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Cipla, RIL, SBI, Asian Paints, Wipro, ONGC and Adani Ports.

  Bucking the trend, HUL gained the most by surging 2.66 per cent, while TCS rose 0.77 per cent, while Sun Pharma and Bajaj Auto rose by up to 0.24 per cent.

  Sectorwise, the BSE power index suffered the most by falling 4.16 per cent, followed by capital goods 2.79 per cent, realty 2.63 per cent, infra 2.30 per cent, metal 2.03 per cent, PSU 1.96 per cent, banking 1.63 per cent, auto 1.62 per cent and oil&gas 1.58 per cent.

  The broader markets also performed weak with the BSE small-cap index ending 2.25 per down while the mid-cap fall 1.30 per cent.

  Elsewhere, key indexes in Asia, like Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, China, South Korea and Taiwan moved down by up to 3.15 per cent.

  In Europe, France, Germany and the UK based indexes fell by up to 2.47 per cent in early trade.

Services growth hits 19-month high in January: PMI

• India's services sector activity touched a 19-month high in January driven by strengthening underlying demand and improved weather conditions, a monthly survey showed today.

  The Nikkei Business Activity index climbed to a 19-month high of 54.3 last month from 53.6 in December, pointing to a marked expansion of activity across the sector.

  The overall increase in services output was mainly driven by a seventh successive monthly expansion of new business orders.

  "The services sector gained traction and posted its strongest monthly gain in activity for over one-and-a-half years," Pollyanna De Lima, economist at Markit, which compiles the survey, said.

  Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Composite PMI Output index, which maps both manufacturing and services sectors, climbed from 51.6 in December to an 11-month high of 53.3 in January.

  "The Indian economy shifted into a higher gear in January, supported by a quick rebound in manufacturing production following last month's (Chennai) floods," Lima added.

  Lima further noted that a strong upturn in new business is a positive note from January's survey, which underpins hopes for further growth of activity across the country s private sector in the near-term.

  The survey respondents were also bullish about the output growth. Amid forecasts of further improvements in demand and favourable government policies, service providers in India expect output to continue to increase over the course of the next year.

  "This upswing in demand may boost the labour market and help end the long run of subdued employment trends," Lima added.

  During January, higher workloads encouraged service providers to hire additional staff in January, following a stagnation in the prior month. Manufacturing jobs also rose at a marginal rate.

  Meanwhile, Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan yesterday left the key interest rate unchanged citing inflation risks and growth concerns, while pegging further easing of monetary policy on government's budget proposals.

  Rajan said RBI "continues to be accommodative" but would look forward to the government's budget proposals on February 29 as also the inflation trend.

  According to official figures, WPI as well as retail inflation has been on a rising trend. In December, WPI-based inflation stood at (-)0.73 per cent, while retail inflation moved up to 5.61 per cent.

Indian economy on higher, stabler footing: Arun Jaitley

• 

  Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said that since India is on a stabler and higher footing when compared to other nations it should emerge out of the global crisis much stronger. The FM was speaking at the Invest Karnataka 2016 summit.

  "Unpredictability and volatility have become the new global norm. In these circumstances, it is extremely important for India to emerge and emerge out of the crisis even stronger," he said while addressing the Invest Karnataka 2016 summit.

  Jaitley said that India is "relatively unimpacted" by some of the factors that have caused the global crisis.

  "Lower prices of oil and metal commodities substantially suit us. It indirectly impacts us because it shrinks our exports; it makes our markets more volatile, currency more volatile. But compared to the rest of the world, we are still on a much higher and stabler footing," he said.

  The Minister said that while looking down the tunnel over the next two to three years, it is still not clear which way the global situation will be moving.

  The Indian economy is expected to grow between 7-7.5 per cent in the current fiscal. Last fiscal, it grew 7.2 per cent.

  "The world faces a very difficult and challenging situation... In the global situation, India is being distinctively noticed. It is being noticed for the reason, that even in the midst of global slowdown, India has comparatively stood out," he said.

  He said that while looking back at 2001, 2008 and 2015 global crises, India can take some satisfaction in the fact that the country displayed a considerable amount of resilience during those times.

  Since the 2008 crisis, the global economy has not been able to pick up momentum, with some country or the other facing problems. 

Cabinet clears plan to auction coal for non-power sectors

• The cabinet has cleared a proposal to auction coal to non-power sectors like steel, iron and cement, Coal Secretary Anil Swarup told Reuters, ending the past practice of selective allocation and potentially raising costs for users.

  State-controlled Coal India Ltd will put up a quarter of its production for auction to non-power companies following Wednesday's decision by the cabinet, which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

  But companies that had long-term fuel contracts with Coal India will continue to get supplies until their term expires.

  "The aim is to remove discretion," said Swarup, who has also been instrumental in auctioning coal mines to private companies.

  India has launched a round of auctions of mines so that private firms can extract coal for their own use, after the Supreme Court in August 2014 cancelled more than 200 illegal coal block awards made over two decades.

Wall Street slides with Exxon, oil; Chipotle dips after close

• US stocks dropped on Tuesday after another steep fall in oil prices and a disappointing spending forecast from Exxon Mobil.

  Shares of Exxon fell 2.2 percent to $74.59 after the oil major reported its smallest quarterly profit in more than a decade, forecast a 25-percent drop in capital spending from 2015 levels and suspended share repurchases.

  With Exxon, "not only did the earnings disappoint people, but the fact that they slashed capex so much and they (suspended) their share repurchase programme. It's a good indication that one more large oil company is not seeing an improvement in the environment," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut.

  Data so far this earnings period shows the capital spending slump that originated in the hard-hit energy sector was spreading more widely across other US industries.

  Earlier Tuesday, BP Plc reported an annual loss of $6.5 billion, its largest ever.

  The S&P energy index slid 3.3 percent, the biggest drag on the S&P 500. Oil prices slid sharply as hopes faded for a deal between OPEC and Russia to cut output. The S&P utility index rose 0.4 percent, the only sector to end in positive territory.

  The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 295.64 points, or 1.8 percent, to 16,153.54, the S&P 500 lost 36.35 points, or 1.87 percent, to 1,903.03 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 103.42 points, or 2.24 percent, to 4,516.95.

  The Dow Jones transportation average ended 2.9 percent lower following news of the first US transmission of the Zika virus.

  The S&P 500 is down 6.9 percent since the start of the year. Investors have been concerned about a China-led global economic slowdown, tepid US economic data, the pace of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and weak earnings. Fourth-quarter S&P 500 earnings are expected to have fallen 4.4 percent from a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters data.

  Bucking the day's trend, Alphabet was up 1.3 percent at $780.91. Quarterly profit beat estimates late Monday and the Internet major surpassed Apple as the most valuable US company.

  After the bell, shares of Chipotle fell 3 percent after it reported its first fall in quarterly sales at established restaurants since it went public. The stock ended the regular session up 0.6 percent at $475.67.

  Also, Yahoo dipped 1 percent in extended trading following its results.

  Investors are keeping an eye on the US election cycle. Iowa results created greater uncertainty because there were no clear winners, said Rick Meckler, president of LibertyView Capital Management in Jersey City, New Jersey.

  "The bottom line for people who are investing is they prefer a little more certainty than they are seeing right now in either the election or in the energy markets," he said.

  About 8.5 billion shares changed hands on US exchanges, below the 9.2 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

  NYSE declining issues outnumbered advancers 2,478 to 603 and on the Nasdaq, 2,237 issues fell and 577 advanced. The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and 28 lows; the Nasdaq recorded 22 new highs and 143 lows.

General Awareness

GENERAL AEARENESS PRACTICE QUESTIONS FOR ALL COMPETITIVE EXAMS

• • 1. Who is the author of the book "The Turbulent Years 1980-1996"?
    1) Sharad Pawar
    2) Hamid Ansari
    3) Pranab Mukherjee
    4) L.K. Advani
    5) Sonia Gandhi
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    2. Who won the 2016 Australian Open women's singles tennis title on January 30, 2016?
    1) Serena Williams
    2) Angelique Kerber
    3) Victoria Azarenka
    4) Zhang Shuai
    5) Maria Sharapova
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    3. Who won the Syed Modi International Grand Prix Gold Championship Badminton men's singles title on January 31, 2016?
    1) Huang Yuxiang
    2) Parupalli Kashyap
    3) Kidambi Srikanth
    4) Shi Yuqi
    5) None of these
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    4. The President's Rule was imposed in which of the following States on January 26, 2016?
    1) Manipur
    2) Sikkim
    3) Meghalaya
    4) Arunachal Pradesh
    5) Tripura
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    5. Shiv Prakash Mishra was given the 2015 Dhyan Chand Award. He is associated with?
    1) Hockey
    2) Volleyball
    3) Golf
    4) Football
    5) Tennis
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    6. Which of the following organizations is headquartered in London?
    1) International Maritime Organization
    2) World Meteorological Organization
    3) Food and Agriculture Organization
    4) United Nations Environment Program
    5) International Atomic Energy Agency
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    7. Who was elected Chairman of the Press Trust of India in September 2015?
    1) Riyad Mathew
    2) Prabhu Chawla
    3) Hormusji N. Cama
    4) N. Ram
    5) Vineet Jain
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    8. Who was appointed as a full-time member in the NITI Aayog in September 2015?
    1) M.S. Swaminathan
    2) Kaushik Basu
    3) Raghuram Rajan
    4) Ramesh Chand
    5) Avinash Chander
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    9. Which of the following teams won the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup cricket tournament in September 2015?
    1) India Cements
    2) Hyderabad Cricket Association
    3) ONGC
    4) Air India
    5) FCI
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    10. The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated the new bank note paper line of 6,000 tonnes capacity in?
    1) Indore
    2) Bhopal
    3) Hoshangabad
    4) Nasik
    5) Noida
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    11. Who is the author of the novel "A Strangeness in My Mind"?
    1) Orhan Pamuk
    2) V.S. Naipaul
    3) P.H. Newby
    4) Doris Lessing
    5) None of these
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    12. Which of the following statements is not correct?
    1) Karnataka is the highest coffee growing State in India
    2) London is situated on the banks of the river Thames
    3) Graphite is used in making pencils
    4) The first Indian to give a speech in Hindi in the United Nations General Assembly is Narendra Modi
    5) Disguised Unemployment means more people working than required
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    13. Identify the mismatched pair?
    Country - Prime Minister
    1) Sri Lanka - Ranil Wickremesinghe
    2) Australia - Malcolm Turnbull
    3) Greece - Alexis Tsipras
    4) England - David Cameron
    5) China - Xi Jinping
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    14. India has gifted its former Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ship "Varaha" to?
    1) Maldives
    2) Sri Lanka
    3) Mauritius
    4) Myanmar
    5) Seychelles
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    15. Which of the following banks has launched a mobile wallet app "Buddy"?
    1) HDFC Bank
    2) Axis Bank
    3) Corporation Bank
    4) State Bank of India
    5) None of these
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    16. Which of the following statements about Bandhan Bank is not correct?
    1) Bandhan Bank was inaugurated on August 23, 2015
    2) It is headquartered in Kolkata
    3) Its Chairman is Ashok Kumar Lahiri
    4) Its tag line is "Aapka Bhala, Sabki Bhalai"
    5) Bandhan is the second microfinance company to transform into a bank
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    17. Who among the following is not an archer?
    1) Abhishek Verma
    2) Rajat Chauhan
    3) Sandeep Kumar
    4) Chekrovolu Swuro
    5) Aditi Ashok
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    18. Who is the present Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)?
    1) Shanta Sinha
    2) Deepika Shrivastava
    3) Stuti Narain Kacker
    4) Krishna Tirath
    5) Preet Verma
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    19. INS Vajrakosh has been commissioned at Karwar Base in?
    1) Karnataka
    2) Odisha
    3) Tamil Nadu
    4) Kerala
    5) Gujarat
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    20. The Union Cabinet has approved what per cent of Foreign Direct Investment in White Label Automated Teller Machines (WLAs)?
    1) 26%
    2) 49%
    3) 74%
    4) 100%
    5) None of these
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    21. Who was awarded the prestigious 2015 SASTRA Ramanujan Prize?
    1) Manjul Bhargav
    2) Jacob Tsimerman
    3) Wei Zhang
    4) Ben Green
    5) None of these
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    22. Which country's Prime Minister was selected for the United Nations Champions of the Earth Award in September 2015?
    1) Canada
    2) Singapore
    3) Bangladesh
    4) UK
    5) China
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    23. Baba Farid Gold Cup is associated with which of the following sports?
    1) Cricket
    2) Football
    3) Hockey
    4) Shooting
    5) Boxing
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    24. Which of the following is the majority stakeholder in the capital of Regional Rural Banks?
    1) Sponsor Bank
    2) Reserve Bank of India
    3) State Government
    4) Central Government
    5) NABARD
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    25. Madison Square Garden is an indoor arena in?
    1) London
    2) Paris
    3) Sydney
    4) Ankara
    5) New York
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    26. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has entered into a partnership with which of the following banks for a payments bank?
    1) ICICI Bank
    2) HDFC Bank
    3) State Bank of India
    4) Bank of Baroda
    5) Union Bank of India
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    27. Aqueela Asifi won the 2015 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Nansen Refugee Award. She belongs to?
    1) Afghanistan
    2) Syria
    3) Iran
    4) Lebanon
    5) None of these
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    28. The 18th Asian Games will be held from August 18 to September 2, 2018 in which of the following cities?
    1) Hanoi, Vietnam
    2) Dubai, UAE
    3) Bangkok, Thailand
    4) Jakarta, Indonesia
    5) Tokyo, Japan
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    29. The World Pneumonia Day is observed every year on?
    1) May17
    2) November 12
    3) May 13
    4) November 14
    5) May 20
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    30. Ratan Watal has been appointed as the new?
    1) Home Secretary
    2) Revenue Secretary
    3) Finance Secretary
    4) Financial Services Secretary
    5) Economic Affairs Secretary
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    31. Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad recently released a Rs 5/-postal stamp in honor of the Indian emperor?
    1) Ashoka
    2) Bimbisara
    3) Bindusara
    4) Chandragupta Maurya
    5) Harshavardhana
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    32. Which of the following countries is not a member of the United Nations Organization?
    1) Sudan
    2) Kosovo
    3) South Sudan
    4) Rwanda
    5) Bahrain
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    33. Where are the headquarters of UCO Bank located?
    1) Mumbai
    2) New Delhi
    3) Kolkata
    4) Chennai
    5) Pune
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    34. Which bank has recently launched mCASH facility, where in a sender needs to know only the
    mobile number or email ID of the recipient to transfer money?
    1) ICICI Bank
    2) Punjab National Bank
    3) Bank of India
    4) State Bank of India
    5) Corporation Bank
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    35. The recently launched IDFC Bank is a scheduled?
    1) Public sector bank
    2) Regional rural bank
    3) Commercial bank
    4) Cooperative bank
    5) Local Area bank
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    36. Which one of the following is not a capital city of a country?
    1) Copenhagen
    2) Bern
    3) Helsinki
    4) Brussels
    5) Milan
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    37. Veer Savarkar International Airport is located in?
    1) Kolkata
     2) Chennai
    3) Port Blair
    4) Kochi
    5) Jaipur
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    38. Which of the following is the currency of Italy?
    1) Lira
    2) Franc
    3) Krona
    4) Euro
    5) Peso
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    39. Who is the author of the book "Making India Awesome"?
    1) Vikram Seth
    2) Neil Mukherjee
    3) Chetan Bhagat
    4) Amitav Ghosh
    5) Salman Rushdie
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    40. Who acts as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee?
    1) President
    2) Prime Minister
    3) Defense Minister
    4) Defense Secretary
    5) None of these
    ----------------------------------------------------------------ANSWERS:
    1) 3; 2) 2; 3) 3; 4) 4; 5) 5; 6) 1; 7) 3; 8) 4; 9) 1; 10) 3;
    11) 1; 12) 4; 13) 5; 14) 2; 15) 4; 16) 5; 17) 5; 18) 3; 19) 1; 20) 4;
    21) 2; 22) 3; 23) 3; 24) 4; 25) 5; 26) 3; 27) 1; 28) 4; 29) 2; 30) 3;
    31) 1; 32) 2; 33) 3; 34) 4; 35) 3; 36) 5; 37) 3; 38) 4; 39) 3; 40) 5.