IAS / IPS STUDIES - 10

RAPID GK SERIES

QUESTIONS

1. The Indian to beat the computers in mathematical wizardry is
2. The great Victoria Desert is located in
3. Which scientist discovered the radioactive element radium?
4. Who has been awarded the first lifetime Achievement Award for his/her contribution in the field of Cinema?
5. Who is the author of the book 'Forbidden Verses'?
6. The year 1995 is the Golden Jubilee year of which of the following international organisations?
7. Tripitakas are sacred books of
8. The members of the panchayat are
9. Devaluation of a currency means
10. The pass located at the southern end of the Nilgiri Hills in south India is called
11. Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology is located at
12. The words 'Satyameva Jayate' inscribed below the base plate of the emblem of India are taken from
13. January 15 is celebrated as the
14. Which of the following is used in pencils?
15. The absorption of ink by blotting paper involves
16. The most electronegative element among the following is
17. Pine, fir, spruce, cedar, larch and cypress are the famous timber-yielding plants of which several also occur widely in the hilly regions of India. All these belong to
18. 'OS' computer abbreviation usually means ?
19. Track and field star Carl Lewis won how many gold medals at the 1984 Olympic games?

ANSWERS

1. Shakunthala Devi
2. Australia
3. Marie Curie
4. Ashok Kumar
5. Abu Nuwas
6. UNO
7. Buddhists
8. The electorates of the respective territorial constituencies
9. Reduction in the value of a currency vis-a-vis major internationally traded currencies
10. The Palghat gap
11. Dehradun
12. Mundak Upanishad
13. Army Day
14. Graphite
15. Capillary Action Phenomenon
16. Fluorine
17. gymnosperms
18. Operating System
19. Four



RAPID GK SERIES 66
Posted: 05 Mar 2012 07:14 PM PST





1. The Indian to beat the computers in mathematical wizardry is
2. The great Victoria Desert is located in
3. Which scientist discovered the radioactive element radium?
4. Who has been awarded the first lifetime Achievement Award for his/her contribution in the field of Cinema?
5. Who is the author of the book 'Forbidden Verses'?
6. The year 1995 is the Golden Jubilee year of which of the following international organisations?
7. Tripitakas are sacred books of
8. The members of the panchayat are
9. Devaluation of a currency means
10. The pass located at the southern end of the Nilgiri Hills in south India is called
11. Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology is located at
12. The words 'Satyameva Jayate' inscribed below the base plate of the emblem of India are taken from
13. January 15 is celebrated as the
14. Which of the following is used in pencils?
15. The absorption of ink by blotting paper involves
16. The most electronegative element among the following is
17. Pine, fir, spruce, cedar, larch and cypress are the famous timber-yielding plants of which several also occur widely in the hilly regions of India. All these belong to
18. 'OS' computer abbreviation usually means ?
19. Track and field star Carl Lewis won how many gold medals at the 1984 Olympic games?

ANSWERS

1. Shakunthala Devi
2. Australia
3. Marie Curie
4. Ashok Kumar
5. Abu Nuwas
6. UNO
7. Buddhists
8. The electorates of the respective territorial constituencies
9. Reduction in the value of a currency vis-a-vis major internationally traded currencies
10. The Palghat gap
11. Dehradun
12. Mundak Upanishad
13. Army Day
14. Graphite
15. Capillary Action Phenomenon
16. Fluorine
17. gymnosperms
18. Operating System
19. Four


India launches infrastructure debt fund

The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that setting up of Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF) through public private partnership would meet the long term need of infrastructure sector funding.
Mr. Mukherjee said this after presiding over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in New Delhi this evening between the ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda, CITI Bank and Life Insurance Corporation of India to Set-Up India’s First Infrastructure Debt Fund. He expressed confidence that the establishment of IDF through Public Private Partnership model would be a guiding principle for future activities.
The Finance Minister said funds to the tune of 1 Trillion US Dollars would be required for Infrastructure Sector funding in next five years and fifty percent of which would come from private sector through PPP model. Our correspondent reports that, India’s First Infrastructure Debt Fund is structured as a Non-Banking Finance Company (IDF-NBFC).
Speaking to All India Radio, Ms. Chanda Kochar, Managing Director, of ICICI Bank said the IDF size will total about 2 billion dollars, and equity is to be contributed by the ICICI Group 31 %, Bank of Baroda 30 %, Citi Bank 29 % and LIC 10 %. She said the total equities would amount to 300 crores, and the rest will be geared through capital and borrowed funds.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his Budget Speech for 2011-12 had announced setting-up of Infrastructure Debt Funds to accelerate and enhance the flow of long term debt in infrastructure projects for funding the government’s ambitious programme of infrastructure development.

Mild tremors hit parts of North India

Mild tremors measuring 4.9 on Richter scale hit parts of North India today on march 5. The tremors were felt at around 1.10 pm in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and some areas in Delhi.
Reports of tremors are coming in from other parts of North India. No immediate report of any damage has been recieved so far.
In Indonesia, a 5.1 magnitude earthquake today hit Northern Sumatra. The quake hit the region around 1226 hrs.

Haryana Govt presents tax free budget for 2012-2013

Haryana Finance Minister Harmohinder Singh Chatha presented the tax free state budget for 2012-2013 projecting Fiscal deficit of 7596.82 crore rupees in the Vidhansabha.
In the budget estimates total receipts are projected at 44708.47 crore rupees whereas the total projected expenditure is 45318.93 crore rupees. As per budget proposals the government will spend 100 crore rupees for improvement of water supply in Shivalik area, southern Haryana as well as Mewat area.
Minister has proposed 2807.74 crore rupees for scheduled caste sub plan. Minister has allocated 1653.03 crore rupees for the health sector. There is a proposal of enhancing the maintenance allowance for the mentally disabled children from 300 rupees per month to 700 per month.
The government has proposed to extend the benefits of Indira Gandhi Priyadarshani Vivah Shagun Yojna to the girls from all families whose land holding is less than 2.5 acres or have a income of less than 1 lakh rupees per annum. A grant of 10000 rupees will be given to girls from these families at the time of their marriage.

Mirage 2000 crashes in Rajasthan, pilot safe

A Mirage 2000 fighter plane of the Indian Air Force (IAF) today crashed near a village in Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur district, soon after taking off from an airbase in Gwalior, in a second mishap involving the aircraft type in 11 days.
The pilot managed to eject safely, IAF officials said. This is the second crash involving a Mirage-2000 aircraft since February 24.
"The crash took place 100 kilometres south-west of Jaipur near Baman Baas village in Sawai Madhopur district. Soon after taking off from Gwalior, the plane crashed at 1245 hours. The pilot managed to bail out safely," the officials said.
IAF and Army teams have reached the site of the accident and the pilot is being attended to for his injuries, they said, adding that the aircraft was on a routine sortie.
A court of inquiry (CoI) has been ordered to ascertain the reason for the crash.
Superintendent of Police, Sawai Madhopur, Anshuman Singh said a police party had been dispatched to the crash spot which was located in a hilly area.
This is the third crash involving an IAF aircraft this year. A Kiran MK II trainer plane had crashed in Chennai on January 30.
The second crash involving a Mirage-2000 aircraft took place on February 24 near Bhind in Madhya Pradesh.
The aircraft was being flown by Air Marshal Anil Chopra and Wing Commander Ram Kumar who had got airborne from Gwalior airbase for a routine flying sortie at 1201 hours. Within five minutes of taking off, the plane developed a technical snag and crashed in a forested area.

Pak test-fires Hatf-II ballistic missile

Pakistan test-fired the nuclear-capable Hatf-II short range surface-to-surface ballistic missile that can hit targets in India as part of the process of validating its land-based missile systems.
The test was conducted successfully, a military statement said.
The Hatf-II or Abdali has a range of 180 km and can carry nuclear and conventional warheads with "high accuracy".
The Hatf-II "provides an operational level capability to Pakistan's Strategic Forces, additional to the strategic and tactical level capability which Pakistan already possesses", the statement said. The authorities did not say where the test was carried out.
The test was witnessed by Strategic Plans Division chief Lt Gen (retired) Khalid Kidwai, Army Strategic Force Command chief Lt Gen Tariq Nadeem Gilani, senior officers of the armed forces, scientists and engineers of strategic organisations.

India, Indonesia agree to fast track FTA talks

India and Indonesia agreed to fast track the ongoing negotiations for early conclusion of the proposed comprehensive market opening pact, aimed at enhancing bilateral economic engagement between the countries.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, who is in Indonesia for a three-day visit, met Indonesian Economy Minister Hatta Rajasa and discussed about the progress of the free-trade agreement.
In October last year, both the sides started negotiations for CECA, which would cover trade in goods, services and investment.
The bilateral trade stood at over USD 20 billion in 2010-11.
He said that the bilateral trade target of USD 25 billion by 2015 would be achieved well before the time so both sides have felt the need to revise it.
Both the sides also deliberated on the widening the scope of free trade agreement between India-Asean, which would include services and investments. Indonesia is a member of Asean.
India and the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) has already implemented free trade pact in goods and are engaged in intense negotiations to widen the scope of the pact.
Sharma also met his Indonesian commerce counterpart Gita Irawan Wirjawanand and Industry Minister Mohamad S Hidayat.
Both the sides emphasised on increasing economic cooperation in sectors like mining, energy and infrastructure building.
India and Indonesia have identified five areas - manufacturing and skill training; healthcare and pharmaceuticals; mining, agro and food proc ssing; R&D – where joint working groups will be set up.

MRPL, HPCL to cut Iranian crude oil imports

Mangalore Refinery and Hindustan Petroleum are likely to cut crude oil imports from Iran next fiscal as western sanctions against the Persian Gulf nation forces them to diversify their oil sourcing basket.
MRPL, which is India's largest buyer of Iranian crude oil at 142,000 barrels per day, is likely to trim down its imports from Tehran to just about 100,000 bpd next fiscal, industry sources said.
India has already made pleas with Saudi Arabia and Iraq to supply more crude next fiscal to help MRPL and other cut their Iranian purchases.
Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy last month made a passionate plea for up to 5 million tons a year or 100,000 bpd of oil over and above the current purchase of 27.361 million tons from Saudi Arabia. Last week he sought 3-4 million tons additional oil from Iraq, which currently supplies 17.158 million tons a year.
Sources said Essar Oil, the nation's second largest buyer of Iranian oil, is renewing its contract to buy 100,000 bpd of oil and the same is the case with Indian Oil Corp (IOC) for its 30,000 bpd of purchases.
IOC would cut Iranian imports if Saudi Arabia were to increases exports.
HPCL plans to double crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia next fiscal and cut purchases from Iran by over 14 percent. HPCL in 2012-13 has proposed to buy 3.5 million tons of crude oil from Saudi Aramco of Saudi Arabia against 1.75 million tons of oil bought in current year.
It will cut down purchase from Iran to 3 million tons from 3.5 million tons in the current year.
Indian refiners fear problems in paying for crude oil they buy from Iran after the US and European Union imposed fresh sanctions to deter the Islamic regime for its nuclear programme.
Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) is not renewing its 20,000 bpd contract with Iran as it has not been able to open an account with a Turkish bank that currently routes payments made by Indian refiners to Iran.
MRPL, they said, may end up purchasing about 120,000 bpd of crude from Iran this fiscal as against 142,000 bpd contracted volumes.
Iran is India's second largest supplier of crude oil behind Saudi Arabia. It in 2010-11 supplied 18.499 million tons of oil or about 11.3 percent of the nation's total import of 163.594 million tons.
This fiscal, these imports are likely to fall by at least 10 percent. The decline would be more drastic next year, they said.

J& K Govt presents zero-deficit budget for 2012-13

Jammu and Kashmir government presented a zero-deficit budget for 2012-13, with emphasis on strengthening the backbone of its economy-- tourism and agriculture.
It also proposed multi-sectoral concessions like VAT,service Tax and stamp duty exemptions but hiked tax on cigarettes and liquor for additional resource mobilisation.
Presenting a 33,853 crore rupees budget, the fanance minister imposed tax on security and placement services, pandal and shamiana services and annual maintenance contracts. State Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather told reporters after presenting the budget in J&K Assembly in Jammu that it aimed at serving the interest of the common man.
He said the current financial year has been witness to the consolidation of peace and order in our state, which increased the state's revenue from 3,400 crore rupees to 4,600 crore rupees. So, government wants to share the dividends of peace with people in J&K so that they get a feel of it .

Govt bans cotton exports to increase domestic supply

Amid fears of shortfall in domestic market and apprehensions of hoarding in warehouses abroad, the government imposed a ban on cotton exports -- a move that took the textile industry by surprise.
The Textile Ministry said the ban on further cotton exports was imposed after taking into account "the trend of domestic consumption and depletion of domestic availability".
Explaining the reasons behind export ban, the ministry said the country has already shipped 10 lakh bales more than the exportable surplus, reducing the domestic availability.
Pointing out that there was sudden rush for registration of export contract after the figure of 84 lakh bales was reached, the ministry found that "in some cases L/Cs have been registered where the name of exporting and importing party is same. This is indicative of a tendency of hoarding in bonded warehouses abroad".
Asked about the government's decision to ban exports, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said: "I have not heard about it and I am coming to know about it from you."
Reacting on the ban, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry said that it was surprised by the government's decision as there is slowdown in demand in both domestic and global markets.

Country to record highest ever production of Rice, Wheat and cotton

India is going to record highest ever production of Rice, Wheat and cotton during 2011-12. Foodgrain is likely to reach a record level of 250.42 million tonnes.
Addressing a two-day Kharif Conference in New Delhi today, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said, it happened due to tremendous efforts of the farming community supported by government initiatives and participation of stakeholders.
The minister said several new initiatives to increase agricultural production from existing cultivated area especially from high potential rainfed agriculture have been taken. The minister informed that his ministry is proposing a large programme for agricultural mechanisation during the 12th five year plan to increase farm production.
The Minister informed that 2012 is being launched as the year of Horticulture for bringing horticulture development in the country to centre stage. More focus and attention for successful implementation of various horticulture programme in the country is required in this direction.
Mr. Pawar said that soil health is crucial for ensuring farm productivity high priorty is needed towards soil health and nutrient management.