CURRENT AFFAIRS & GK QUIZ

CURRENT AFFAIRS & GK  QUIZ - 142

1. The Indian and which among the following has decided to enhance the bilateral currency swap arrangement from 15 billion dollars to 50 billion dollars?

[A]Japan          

[B]China         

[C]Russia        

[D]Iran

2. India’s Shiva Keshavan is a popular personality in which of the following sports/events?

[A]Cycling                              

[B]Luge

[C]Hockey                             

[D]Shooter

3. Who among the following has won the Al-Ain Classic International Open Chess tournament? 

[A]Abhijeet Gupta                         

[B]Baadur Jobava

[C]Murali Karthikeyan            

[D]Girish Kaushik

4. Rosetta is a robotic spacecraft launched by the European Space Agency to perform a detailed study of a / an __?

[A]Asteroid                             

[B]Comet

[C]Galaxy                               

[D]Neutron Star

5. The “Kamtapur Liberation Organisation” is a banned outfit engaged in an armed struggling for a separate statehood movement in ___?

[A]Tripura                               

[B]West Bengal

[C]Andhra Pradesh                 

[D]Nagaland

6. Consider the following awards:

1.Basha Samman                        2.Premachand Fellowships               3.Anand Coomarswamy Fellowships

Which of the above mention award is/are given by Sahitya Akademi of India?

[A]Only 1 & 2                         

[B]Only 2 & 3

[C]Only 3 & 4                         

[D]1, 2 & 3

7. The “White Army” an ethnic militant organisation belongs to which of the following countries?

[A]South Sudan                      

[B]Turkey

[C]Pakistan                            

[D]Egypt

8. Which one of the following countries does not share border with China?

[A]Mongolia                           

[B]Kazakhstan

[C]Thailand                             

[D]Vietnam

9. “Aotearoa” is an alternative name for which one of the following entities?

[A]Pitcairn Island                   

[B]Fiji

[C]Vanuatu                            

[D]New Zealand

10. Which among the following has been voted World’s Leading Luxury Hotel, 2013 by the World Travel Awards?

[A]The Taj                               

[B]The Oberoi

[C]The Leela Palace                

[D]The Sher Bagh

           ANSWER

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

CURRENT UPDATE :RBI - THIRD QUARTER REVIEW OF MONETARY POLICY 2013-14

THIRD QUARTER REVIEW OF MONETARY POLICY 2013-14

 On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation, it has been decided to:

A  Increase the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 7.75 per cent to 8.0 per cent

A  Keep the cash reserve ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks unchanged at 4.0 per cent of net demand and time liability (NDTL).

Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted at 7.0 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 9.0 per cent.

CURRENT RATES
POLICY RATES	BANK RATE	9%
	REPO RATE	8%
	REVERSE REPO RATE	7%
	MARGINAL STANDING FACILITY RATE	9%
RESERVE RATIO	CRR	4%
	SLR	23%
LENDING RATE	BASE RATE	9.80% - 10.25%

CURRENT UPDATE : 56th GRAMMY AWARDS – 2014

MACKLEMORE, RYAN LEWIS WIN 2014 BEST NEW ARTIST GRAMMY

Rapper duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis took home the first of the major awards at the 56^th  Grammys beating the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Jay Z, Kanye West and Drake.

Macklemore, 30, and Lewis, 25, both from Seattle, won best new artist, following their phenomenal success with hits like 'Same Love', 'Can't Hold Us' and 'Thrift Shop' on Sunday night at LA's Staples Center.

They also bagged awards for best rap album, best rap performance and best rap song for 'Thrift Shop'. 

"Wow, we're here on the stage right now. I want to say we made this album without a record label, we made it independently and we appreciate all the support," Macklemore said after receiving the awards. 

They have been nominated for seven honours in total, including album of the year for 'The Heist'.

Grammys 2014 kicked off with a scintillating performance by Beyonce and Jay Z.

The couple selected a duet-track from Beyonce's last album, 'Drunk in Love' for their performance. A black lingerie-clad Beyonce, 32, started the show as she straddled a chair, surrounded by smoke. 

'Royals' gets song of the year at Grammy Awards 2014

Rising singer Lorde won the song of the year trophy at the 56^th  Grammy Awards for her track 'Royals' after edging out other works like 'Just Give Me a Reason', 'Locked Out of Heaven', 'Roar' and 'Same Love'. 

The 17-year-old songstress also earned the best pop solo performance for her debut album 'Pure Heroine' last night at LA's Staples Center.

"This is the one thing I didn't expect tonight. I also thank fellow nominees and category losers, Bruno Mars, Justin Timberlake and Katy Perry for being inspirational vocal artists," Lorde said while receiving the best pop solo performance award. 

She missed out on a hat trick by losing her third nomination, record of the year to Daft Punk's 'Get Lucky' featuring Pharrell and Nile Rodgers. 

Bruno Mars' 'Unorthodox Jukebox' took home the best pop vocal album. 

Other works in the category included 'Paradise' by Lana Del Rey, 'Pure Heroine' by Lorde, 'Blurred Lines' by Robin Thicke and 'The 20/20 Experience - The Complete Experience' by Justin Timberlake. 

Best country album award went to Kacey Musgraves for her 'Same Trailer Different Park'. The awards show was hosted by LL Cool J.

CURRENT UPDATE : AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2014

AUSTRALIAN OPEN - 2014 SUMMARY

AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2014
EVENTS	PLAYER	WINNER
MEN’S SINGLES	RAFAEL NADAL (SPAIN)	STANISLAS WAWRINKA
	STANISLAS WAWRINKA (SWITZERLAND)
WOMEN’S SINGLES	NA LI (CHINA)	NA LI
	DOMINIKA CIBULKOVA (SLOVAKIA)
MEN’S DOUBLES	ERIC BUTORAC (USA), RAVEN KLASSEN (SOUTH AFRICA)	LUKASZ KUBOT , ROBERT LINDSTEDT
	LUKASZ KUBOT (POLAND), ROBERT LINDSTEDT (SWEDEN)
WOMEN’S DOUBLES	SARRA ERANI (ITALY), ROBERTA VINCI  (ITALY)	SARRA ERANI , ROBERTA VINCI
	EKATERINA MAKAROVA (RUSSIA), ELENA VESNINA (RUSSIA)
MIXED DOUBLES	KRISTINA MLADENOVIC (FRANCE) , DANIEL NESTOR (CANADA)	KRISTINA MLADENOVIC , DANIEL NESTOR
	SANIA MIRZA (INDIA), HORIA TECAU (ROMANIA)

CURRENT UPDATE :GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT PERFORMANCE LIST

INDIA RANKED 155^th  IN GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT PERFORMANCE LIST

India has been ranked at a low 155^th  position in a global list that evaluates countries on how well they perform on high-priority environmental issues. 

The country is also behind neighbouring China, Pakistan and Nepal. 

The 2014 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) has ranked a total of 178 countries. 

India is placed at the 155th position, with an index score of 31.23 points. Its rank is also much lower than BRICS peers. 

Besides, India has fared poorly compared to neighbouring countries like Nepal and Pakistan -- which are ranked 139th and 148th, respectively. 

Among the BRICS, South Africa was placed at 72nd position, followed by Russia (73), Brazil (77) and China (118). 

The list is topped by Switzerland and is followed by Luxembourg, Australia, Singapore, and Czech Republic. 

"Emerging economies, including China, India, Brazil, Russia, and South Africa, have had modest improvement over the past decade, but they have also paid an environmental price for their rapid growth," the report released on Saturday in Davos aid.

The emerging economies represent 55 per cent of global growth from the end of 2009 to 2012. 

Urbanisation without sufficient investment in environmental safeguards is a key reason for emerging economies' poor showing when it comes to air quality, biodiversity and habitat protection. 

The 178 nations in the index represent 99 per cent of the global population, 98 per cent of the world's total land area, and 97 per cent of the global GDP, the report said.

REPUBLIC DAY

HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY

CURRENT UPDATE : PADMA AWARDS 2014

 PADMA AWARDS 2014

Padma Awards - one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in various disciplines/ fields of activities, viz.- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.

 These awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/ April every year. This year the President of India has approved conferment of 127 Padma Awards including one duo case (counted as one) as per the list below. The list comprises of 2 Padma Vibhushan, 24 Padma Bhushan and 101 Padma Shri Awardees. 27 of the Awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs and Posthumous Awardees.

Note:

 * indicates awardees in the category of Foreigners / NRIs/ PIOs.

# indicates awardees in the posthumous category.

$ indicates one duo case. (treated as one award.)

PADMA VIBHUSHAN
Sl No.	Name	Discipline	State/ Domicile
1.	Dr. Raghunath A. Mashelkar	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
2.	Shri B.K.S. Iyengar	Others-Yoga	Maharashtra

PADMA BHUSHAN
Sl No.	Name	Discipline	State/ Domicile
1.	Prof. Gulam Mohammed Sheikh	Art - Painting	Gujarat
2.	Begum Parveen Sultana	Art - Classical Singing	Maharashtra
3.	Shri T.H. Vinayakram	Art - Ghatam Artist	Tamil Nadu
4.	Shri Kamala Haasan	Art-Cinema	Tamil Nadu
5.	Justice Dalveer Bhandari	Public Affairs	Delhi
6.	Prof. Padmanabhan Balaram	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
7.	Prof. Jyeshtharaj Joshi	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
8.	Dr. Madappa Mahadevappa	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
9.	Dr. Thirumalachari Ramasami	Science and Engineering	Delhi
10.	Dr. Vinod Prakash Sharma	Science and Engineering	Delhi
11.	Dr. Radhakrishnan Koppillil	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
12.	Dr. Mrityunjay Athreya	Literature and Education	Delhi
13.	Ms. Anita Desai	Literature and Education	Delhi
14.	Dr. Dhirubhai Thaker	Literature and Education	Gujarat
15.	Shri Vairamuthu Ramasamy Thevar	Literature and Education	Tamil Nadu
16.	Shri Ruskin Bond	Literature and Education	Uttarakhand
17.	Shri Pullela Gopichand	Sports - Badminton	Andhra Pradesh
18.	Shri Leander Paes	Sports - Tennis	Maharashtra
19.	Shri Vijayendra Nath Kaul	Civil Service	Delhi
20.	Late Justice Jagdish Sharan Verma	Public Affairs	Uttar Pradesh #
21.	Late Dr. Anumolu Ramakrishna	Science and Engineering	Andhra Pradesh #
22.	Prof. Anisuzzaman	Literature and Education	Bangladesh*
23.	Prof. Lloyd I. Rudolph	Literature and Education	USA*$
	Prof. Susanne H. Rudolph	Literature and Education	USA*$
24	Dr. (Smt.) Neelam Kler	Medicine - Neonatology	Delhi

PADMA SHRI
Sl No.	Name	Discipline	State/ Domicile
1.	Shri Mohammad Ali Baig	Art - Theatre	Andhra Pradesh
2.	Ms. Nayana Apte Joshi	Art -	Maharashtra
3.	Shri Musafir Ram Bhardwaj	Art - Instrumental Music - Pauna Manjha	Himachal Pradesh
4.	Ms. Sabitri Chatterjee	Art - Film	West Bengal
5.	Prof. Biman Bihari Das	Art - Sculptor	Delhi
6.	Shri Sunil Das	Art - Painting	West Bengal
7.	Smt. Elam Endira Devi	Art - Manipuri Dance	Manipur
8.	Shri Vijay Ghate	Art - Instrumental Music - Tabla	Maharashtra
9.	Smt Rani Karnaa	Art - Kathak	West Bengal
10.	Shri Bansi Kaul	Art - Theatre	Jammu & Kashmir
11.	Ustad Moinuddin Khan	Art - Instrumental Music-Sarangi Player	Rajasthan
12.	Ms. Geeta Mahalik	Art - Odishi Dance	Delhi
13.	Shri Paresh Maity	Art - Painting	Delhi
14.	Shri Ram Mohan	Art - Film Animation	Maharashtra
15.	Shri Sudarsan Pattnaik	Art - Sand Artist	Orissa
16.	Shri Paresh Rawal	Art - Cinema and Theatre	Maharashtra
17.	Shri Wendell Augustine Rodricks	Art - Fashion Designing	Goa
18.	Prof. Kalamandalam Sathyabhama	Art – Mohini Attam	Kerala
19.	Shri Anuj (Ramanuj) Sharma	Art - Performing Art	Chhattisgarh
20.	Shri Santosh Sivan	Art - Film	Tamil Nadu
21.	Ms. Supriya Devi	Art-Bengali Cinema	West Bengal
22.	Ms. Sooni Taraporevala	Art- Script Writing	Maharashtra
23.	Ms. Vidya Balan	Art-Cinema	Maharashtra
24.	Smt. Durga Jain	Social Work	Maharashtra
25.	Dr. Rama Rao Anumolu	Social Work	Andhra Pradesh
26.	Dr. Brahm Dutt	Social Work	Haryana
27.	Shri Mukul Chandra Goswami	Social Work	Assam
28.	Shri J.L. Kaul	Social Work	Delhi
29.	Shri Mathurbhai Madhabhai Savani	Social Work	Gujarat
30.	Shri Tashi Tondup	Public Affairs	Jammu and Kashmir
31.	Dr. Hasmukh Chamanlal Shah	Public Affairs	Gujarat
32.	Shri Sekhar Basu	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
33.	Shri Madhavan Chandradathan	Science and Engineering	Kerala
34.	Prof. Sushanta Kumar Dattagupta	Science and Engineering	West Bengal
35.	Dr. Ravi Bhushan Grover	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
36.	Prof. Eluvathingal Devassy Jemmis	Science and Engineering	Karnataka
37.	Shri Ramkrishna V. Hosur	Science and Engineering	Maharashtra
38.	Dr. Ajay Kumar Parida	Science and Engineering	Tamil Nadu
39.	Dr. Malapaka Yajneswara Satyanarayana Prasad	Science and Engineering	Andhra Pradesh
40.	Shri Kiran Kumar Alur Seelin	Science and Engineering	Gujarat
41.	Dr. Brahma Singh	Science and Engineering	Delhi
42.	Prof. Vinod Kumar Singh	Science and Engineering	Madhya Pradesh
43.	Dr. Govindan Sundararajan	Science and Engineering	Andhra Pradesh
44.	Ramaswamy R. Iyer	Science and Engineering	Delhi
45.	Dr. Jayanta Kumar Ghosh	Science and Engineering	West Bengal
46.	Shri Ravi Kumar Narra	Trade and Industry	Andhra Pradesh
47.	Shri Rajesh Saraiya	Trade and Industry	Maharashtra
48.	Ms. Mallika Srinivasan	Trade and Industry	Tamil Nadu
49.	Shri Pratap Govindrao Pawar	Trade and Industry	Maharashtra
50.	Dr. Kiritkumar Mansukhlal Acharya	Medicine - Dermatology	Gujarat
51.	Dr. Balram Bhargava	Medicine - Cardiology	Uttar Pradesh
52.	Prof. (Dr.) Indra Chakravarty	Medicine - Health & Hygiene	West Bengal
53.	Dr. Ramakant Krishnaji Deshpande	Medicine - Oncology	Maharashtra
54.	Prof. (Dr.) Pawan Raj Goyal	Medicine - Chest Disease	Haryana
55.	Prof. Amod Gupta	Medicine - Opthalmology	Haryana
56.	Prof. (Dr.) Daya Kishore Hazra	Medicine	Uttar Pradesh
57.	Prof. (Dr.) Thenumgal Poulose Jacob	Medicine - Vascular Surgery	Tamil Nadu
58.	Prof. (Dr.) Shashank R. Joshi	Medicine - Endocrinology	Maharashtra
59.	Prof. Hakim Syed Khaleefathullah	Medicine - Unani Medicine	Tamil Nadu
60.	Dr. Milind Vasant Kirtane	Medicine - ENT Surgeory	Maharashtra
61.	Dr. Lalit Kumar	Medicine - oncology	Delhi
62.	Dr. Mohan Mishra	Medicine	Bihar
63.	Dr. M. Subhadra Nair	Medicine - Gyneacology	Kerala
64.	Dr. Ashok Panagariya	Medicine - Neurology	Rajasthan
65.	Dr. Narendra Kumar Pandey	Medicine - Surgery	Haryana
66.	Dr. Sunil Pradhan	Medicine - Neurology	Uttar Pradesh
67.	Dr. Ashok Rajgopal	Medicine - Orthopaedics	Delhi
68.	Dr. Kamini A. Rao	Medicine - Reproductive Medicine	Karnataka
69.	Dr. Sarbeswar Sahariah	Medicine - Surgery	Andhra Pradesh
70.	Prof. Om Prakash Upadhyaya	Medicine -	Punjab
71.	Prof. (Dr.) Mahesh Verma	Medicine - Dental Science	Delhi
72.	Dr. J.S. Titiyal	Medicine- Opthalmology	Delhi
73.	Dr. Nitish Naik	Medicine- Cardiology	Delhi
74.	Dr. Surbrat Kumar Acharya	Medicine- Gastroentrology	Delhi
75.	Dr. Rajesh Kumar Grover	Medicine-Oncology	Delhi
76.	Dr. Naheed Abidi	Literature and Education	Uttar Pradesh
77.	Prof. Ashok Chakradhar	Literature and Education	Delhi
78.	Shri Chhakchhuak Chhuanvawra	Literature and Education	Mizoram
79.	Shri Keki N. Daruwalla	Literature and Education	Delhi
80.	Prof. Ganesh Narayandas Devi	Literature and Education	Gujarat
81.	Prof. Kolakaluri Enoch	Literature and Education	Andhra Pradesh
82.	Prof. (Dr.) Ved Kumari Ghai	Literature and Education	Jammu and Kashmir
83.	Smt. Manorama Jafa	Literature and Education	Delhi
84.	Prof. Rehana Khatoon	Literature and Education	Delhi
85.	Dr. Waikhom Gojen Meeitei	Literature and Education	Manipur
86.	Shri Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri	Literature and Education	Kerala
87.	Prof. Dinesh Singh	Literature and Education	Delhi
88.	Dr. (Mrs.) P. Kilemsungla	Literature and Education	Nagaland
89.	Ms. Anjum Chopra	Sports - Cricket	Delhi
90.	Ms. Sunil Dabas	Sports - Kabbadi	Haryana
91.	Shri Love Raj Singh Dharmshaktu	Sports - Mountaineering	Delhi
92.	Ms. Dipika Rebecca Pallikal	Sports - Squash	Tamil Nadu
93.	Shri H. Boniface Prabhu	Sports - Wheelchair Tennis	Karnataka
94.	Shri Yuvraj Singh	Sports - Cricket	Haryana
95.	Smt. Mamta Sodha	Sports - Mountaineering	Haryana
96.	Ms Parveen Talha	Civil Service	Uttar Pradesh
97.	Late Dr. Narendra Achyut Dabholkar	Social Work	Maharashtra#
98.	Shri Ashok Kumar Mago	Trade and Industry	USA*
99.	Dr. Siddharth Mukherjee	Medicine-Oncology	USA*
100.	Dr. Vamsi Mootha	Medicine - Biomedical Research	USA*
101.	Dr. Sengaku Mayeda	Literature and Education	Japan*