Thursday, December 29, 2016

Solved General Studies Q&A

1.Who was the first person to use the term ‘hartal’ in 1919?
B.G. Tilak P.C. Joshi S.N. Banerjee Gandhi

2.Who described the 1935 Act as “thoroughly rotten, fundamentally bad and totally unacceptable”?
J.L. Nehru V.B. Patel M.A. Jinnah M.K. Gandhi

3.Absence of true nucleus and membrane bound organells - these are the characters of
actinomycetes and cyanobacteria actinomycetes and fungi fungi and cyanobacteria fungi and protista

4. Find the wrong pair.
Puccinia - Parasite 
Rhizopus - Saprophytic 
Spirillum - Chemosynthetic 
Euglena - Myxotrophic

5.A can type 30 words in 1 minute and B 25 words in 1 minute. First A typed for 1 minute then B typed for 1 minute and so on. In this way, typing alternatively they 600 words. The time taken by them in typing these 600 words was:
22 minutes 21 minutes 21 min 48 sec 21 min 25 sec

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Dynamical Monsoon Model

The dynamical monsoon model works by simulating the weather on powerful computers (supercomputers) and extrapolating it over particular time frames.

This modern forecasting model is being tested at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune.

The dynamical monsoon model is also called the Coupled Forecast System version 2. So far it has achieved only 60% accuracy in forecasting the monsoon.

This method is widely used in forecasting weather over a few days. But using it to forecast the annual monsoon over 3 or 4 months has proved difficult.

Ensemble model

Currently, IMD relies on an ensemble model for forecasting monsoon. This traditional model uses a statistical technique.

It uses an average of 6 meteorological values correlated to the monsoon such as sea surface temperatures in the Pacific, and North Atlantic sea level pressure.

These meteorological values are traditionally derived from century-old meteorological data linked to the historical performance of the monsoon.

However, this traditional approach in has failed to predict monsoon recent decades (for instance in 2002 and 2004) leading meteorologists to call for a new, modern forecasting system.

India Meteorological Department (IMD): It is an official national weather forecaster of India. It was established in 1875. It is a division of Union Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

General Science Quiz - TNPSC

1.Under which Amendment Act was Article 349A inserted into Part XXII of the Constitution?
55th Amendment Act 
56th Amendment Act 
57th Amendment Act
58th Amendment Act

2.Name the Indian who received maximum number of Grammy Awards
A.R. Rehman 
Pandit Ravishankar 
Zakir Hussain 
Ustad Bismillah Khan

3.Mention the hills present in Vellore District 
i. Javvadu hills
ii. Elagiri hills 
iii. Ratnagiri hills
 iv. Kalvarayan hills
i alone 
i, ii 
i, ii, iii 
All of these

4.Which country has became the first country to eliminate the transmission of HIV and syphilis from mother to baby as announced by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on 1 July 2015?
India Cuba Canada South Africa

5.Which Indian City was in July 2015, chosen as “City of Music” by UNESCO under the Creative Cities Network?
Guwahati Chennai Varanasi Kolkata

Monday, December 26, 2016

18 July: Nelson Mandela International Day

Every year Nelson Mandela International Day (also known as Madela Day) is observed across the world on 18 July to mark birth anniversary of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former South African President Nelson Mandela.

2016 Theme: “Take Action, Inspire Change”

India’s first e-court opened at Hyderabad High Court

Parliament passes Regional Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2016

Objectives of the Regional Centre: 
(i) Disseminate knowledge by providing teaching and research facilities in biotechnology and related fields, 
(ii) create a hub of biotechnology expertise, 
(iii) facilitate transfer of technology and knowledge in the SAARC region and generally Asia and 
(iv) Promote cooperation at the international level.

Key Features of Tri-NETRA system

The device uses infrared and radar technology to collect signals up to a distance of 2-3 km and displays the information (composite video image) on a screen fitted inside the locomotive.
 The Tri-Netra will alert the drivers of any physical obstruction on railway tracks ahead and thus give ample time for the driver to apply the brakes to prevent train accidents.
It will be very useful during fog, heavy rain and nights, when drivers have to constantly look outside the locomotive to judge the condition.
 Three components of the system: It is made of high sensitivity infra-red video camera, 
 high-resolution optical video camera and a radar-based terrain mapping system. These three components shall act as three eyes (Tri-Netra) of the Locomotive Pilot.

Model QP - TNPSC

1.The diurnal range of temperature is maximum in the
Jaisalmer Delhi Mumbai Chennai

2.Inclusive growth as enunciated in the 11th Five year plan does not include one of the following
reduction of poverty 
extension on employment opportunities 
strengthening of capital market 
reduction of gender inequality

3.Consider the following statements
 1. 1st Five Year Plan was based on Harrod Domar Strategy. 
2. 2nd Five Year Plan was based on Nehru-Mahalanobis Strategy 
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2

4.Proclamation of emergency is based on
Recommendation of Council of Ministers 
Written Recommendation of Council of Ministers 
Written Recommendation of Cabinet 
Recommendation of Cabinet

5.Under which Amendment Act, Article 43B and Part IX-B were incorporated
96th Amendment Act 
97th Amendment Act 
94th Amendment Act 
98th Amendment Act

Thursday, December 22, 2016

HDFC becomes first Indian Company to issue masala bonds

The Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) has become the first Indian company to issue rupee-denominated bonds “masala bonds” on London Stock Exchange (LSE).
 The bond will help HDFC, India‟s biggest mortgage lender (home finance company) to diversify its borrowing profile and access global investors.
 With this issuance of masala bonds, HDFC is planning to raise 750 million dollars from the overseas market during the current financial year.

What are masala bonds?
 The Masala bond refers to a rupee-denominated bond through which Indian entities can raise money from foreign markets in rupee, and not in foreign currency.
 Basically, bonds are instruments of debt that are typically used by corporates to raise money from investors.
 By issuing bonds in rupees, an Indian entity is protected against the risk of currency
 fluctuation, typically associated with borrowing in foreign currency.
 Masala bonds also help in internationalization of the rupee and in expansion of the Indian bond markets. These bonds are usually traded on the LSE and not in India.

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Group 1 Model QP

1.A sphere and a cylinder have equal volume and equal radius. The ratio of the curved surface area of the cylinder to that of the sphere is
4:3 2:3 3:2 3:4

2.Two numbers are in the ratio 3 : 5. If 9 is subtracted from each number, then there are in the ratio of 12 : 23. What is second number?
44 55 66 77

3.A bag contains coins of Rs1, Rs2 and Rs5 denomination in the ratio 2 : 3 : 4. If total amount is Rs280.Find the number of coins of Rs5
20 30 35 40

4.The present ages of A, B and C are in the ratio 8 : 14 : 22 respectively. The present ages of B. C and D are in the ratio 21 : 33 : 44 respectively. Which of the following represents the ratio of the present ages of A, B, C and D respectively?
12:21:33:44 12: 22: 31: 44 12: 21: 36: 44 None of These

5.A started a work and left after working for 2 days. Then B finished the remaining work in 9 days. Had A left the work after working for 3 days, B would have finished the remaining work in 6 days. In how many days B alone can finish the work?
5 days 6 days 10 days 15 days

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

UNESCO announces 9 new World Heritage Sites

9 new World Heritage Sites are
Old city of Ani (Turkey): It is Turkish province of Kars. Once it had served as the capital of the Armenian kingdom in the 10th century.
Zuojiang Huashan rock art cultural landscape (China): Dates back to the 5th century 
 BC. The landscape straddles steep cliffs in southwest China and represent the only trace left of the Luoyue people.
Qanat (Iran): They are ancient aqueducts trapped into alluvial aquifer and transported water
 underground across vast valleys. It helps in sustaining agricultural life and settlements in the
arid areas.
Nalanda Mahavihara (India): It is an archaeological site having remains of a monastic and
 scholastic institution dating from the 3rd century BC to the 13th century AD.
Artificial islets of Nan Madol (Micronesia): They are 99 artificial islets made of basalt
 and coral boulders. They are home to ruins ranging from temple to tombs dating between 1200 and 1500 AD.
Stecci Sites: Located in Bosnia, central and western Montenegro, southern Croatia and 
western Serbia.They are medieval tombstones and graveyards carved from limestone, they feature decorative motives and inscriptions.
Ancient Philippi (Spain): It is Greek archaeological site founded in 356 BC by the Macedonian King Philip II. It is located in the present-day region of eastern Macedonia and Thrace.
Antequera Dolmens (Spain): It is comprises of three megalithic monuments as well as two natural mountainous formations.
Gorham’s Cave Complex (Britain): They are natural sea caves in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The site provides evidence of Neanderthal occupation over a span of more than 125,000 years.

Monday, December 19, 2016

TNPSC - Group 1 QP Model 2016

1.When you travel in the Himalayas, you will see the following :
1.Deep gorges 
2. U-turn river courses 
3. Parallel mountain ranges 
4. Steep gradients causing land sliding
Which of the above can be said to be the evidences for the Himalayas being young?
1 and 2 only 1, 2 and 4 only 3 and 4 only 1, 2, 3 and 4 only

2.Which among the following incorrect with regard to dance form
Meghalaya - Laho 
Mizoram – Khantumm 
Uttarpradesh – Navtanki 
Bihar – Jhora

3.Which instrument is Pudukottai Dakshinamurthy Pillai associated with?
Kanjira Mridangam Flute Violin

4.Pick out the wrong statement.
Leydig cells are found in ovaries 
The accessory reproductive organ is prostate gland 
The ovum develops inside the Graffian follicles 
Oestrogen is secreted by ovary

5.Pick out the item which has sequential arrangements.
1. Zygotene 2. Leptotene 3. Pachytene 4. Diplotene 5. Diakinesis
1. Diakinesis 2. Zygotene 3. Leptotene 4. Diplotene 5. Pachytene
1. Leptotene 2. Zygotene 3. Pachytene 4. Diplotene 5. Diakinesis 
1. Pachytene 2. Zygotene 3. Leptotene 4. Diplotene 5. Diakinesis

Sunday, December 18, 2016

RBI sets up Sudarshan Sen-headed Working Group on Fin Tech and Digital Banking

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up an inter-regulatory Working Group to study the 
 regulatory issues relating to Financial Technology (Fintech) and Digital Banking in India
 The inter-regulatory Working Group will be headed by RBI‟s Executive Director Sudarshan Sen and
 consist of 12 members. It will submit its report within six months from date of its first meeting. It was constituted based on the recommendation of sub-committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) in view of the growing significance of Fintech innovations and their interactions with the financial sector as well as financial sector entities.

World Youth Skills Day
The World Youth Skills Day is observed globally on 15 July every year to raise awareness about the
 importance of investing in youth skills development.
Significance of Day: Create more awareness on training and the development of skills for the youth of today. Create better employment opportunities for the youth.
2016 Theme: “Skills Development to Improve Youth Employment”.

Thursday, December 15, 2016

GK Quiz - TNPSC

1.Who appointed Harihara and Bukka to deal with rebellions in the Kampili Kingdom?
Alauddin Khilji 
Muhammad bin Tughlaq 
Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq 
Firuz Tughlaq

2.Who was the President of the Madras Home Rule League in 1916?
G. Subramania Iyer 
Annie Besant 
V. Shastri Chiplunkar 
George Arundale

3. Which of the following constitute capital account? 
1. Foreign loans 
 2. Foreign direct investment 
3. Private remittances 
4. Portfolio investment
 Select the correct answer using the codes given below
1, 2 and 3 
1, 2 and 4 
2, 3 and 4
1, 3 and 4

4.Disguise unemployment generally means
large numbers of people remain unemployed 
alternative employment is not available 
marginal productivity of labour is zero 
productivity of workers is low

5.The highest peak K2 of India is located at
Karakoram range 
Ladakh range
Zaskar range 
Pirpanjal range

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

ADB is multilateral lending agency based in Manila, Philippines. It is dedicated to reduce poverty in
 Asia and the Pacific region through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth,
 and regional integration. It is collectively owned by 67 members – 48 from the region including India.

11th ASEM summit begins in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

The eleventh edition of Asia-Europe Meeting Summit (ASEM11) or ASEM2016 began inUlaanbaatar, the capital
of Mongolia.
 The theme of the Summit is „20 Years of ASEM: Partnership for the Future through Connectivity‘.

About Asia-Europe Meeting Summit (ASEM)
ASEM is an informal process of dialogue and cooperation that brings 53 entities – including
 51 countries (including India) from Asia and Europe and two regional bodies European Union (EU) and the ASEAN.
 It was officially established in March 1996 at the first summit in Bangkok, Thailand.
 The dialogue addresses political, economic and cultural issues between the two regions.
 It also seeks to strengthen the relationship between the two regions in a spirit of mutual respect and equal partnership.
ASEM represents around 62.3% of the world‟s population, 57.2% of the global GDP and most 60% of the world‟s trade.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE QUIZ - TNPSC

1.A hollow sphere of internal and external diameters 4 cm and 8 cm respectively is melted into a cone of base diameter 8 cm. What is the height of the cone?
12 cm 14 cm 17 cm 18 cm

2.The debris of the Indian Coast Guard’s Dornier aircraft that went missing off the Tamil Nadu Coast on 8 June 2015 were located on 10 July 2015, some 1,000 metres under the sea. The search of the air craft became possible after first of its kind of search operation carried out in India at such depths. What was the name given to this search operation?
Operation Talash 
Operation Sagar 
Operation Rescue 
Operation Needle

3. Which among the following is wrongly matched?
Dadra & Nagar Haveli - 10th Amendment Act 
Goa, Damman and Diu - 12th Amendment Act 
Puducherry - 14th Amendment Act 
Meghalaya as Autonomous State - 20th Amendment Act

4.Consider the following statements 
 I. 52nd Amendment Act, 1985 – Anti-defection Law 
II. 52nd Amendment Act - Xth Schedule to Constitution
 III. 91st Amendment Act 2003 - made change in Xth Schedule
 IV. Defectors have no protection on Ground of splits
I only correct II, III correct I, II, III correct All are correct

5. Which Amendment Act empowered state to make special provision for Advancement of socially and economically backward class
93rd Amendment Act 
1st Amendment Act 
38th Amendment Act
44th Amendment Act

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana


 PMKVY is the flagship outcome-based skill training scheme of the Union Ministry of Skill

Development & Entrepreneurship. It is skill certification and reward scheme.

Objective of the scheme is to enable and mobilize a large number of Indian youth to take up outcome based skill
training and become employable and earn their livelihood.

Under the scheme, trainees who are successfully trained, assessed and certified in skill courses

run by affiliated training providers will be provided with monetary reward

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Solved General Science Q&A

1.The use of ‘I knife’ in the medical field is
to detect cardiac disease to detect cholera to detect common cold to detect cancer

2.Which city, in July 2015, emerged as the first one to send its nomination to the Centre for the ‘Smart City’ Mission that was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier?
New Delhi Chandigarh Puducherry Ahmedabad

3.The length of a plot is three times its breadth. A playground measuring 800m2 occupies one sixth of the total area of the plot. What is the length of the plot?
130m 120m 40m 160m

4.What is the least number of square tiles required to pave the floor of a room 16 m 25 cm long and 9 m 10 cm broad?
315 175 350 530

5.Three solid spheres of metal whose radii are 1 cm, 6 cm and 8 cm are melted to form another solid sphere. The radius of new sphere is:
10.5cm 9.5 cm 10 cm 9 cm

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Union Cabinet allocates Rs 12,000 crore to Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana

The Union Cabinet has given its approval for allocation of Twelve thousand crore rupees to Pradhan 
Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).
 The funds will be used to impart skill training to 60 lakh youths and certify skills of 40 lakh persons acquired non-formally. It is the revamped version of the PMKVY, which includes a mechanism to revive the traditional Guru-Shishya approach to train youth with the help of local craftsmen and trade practitioners.

Key Facts
 Under this scheme, skill training would be done based on industry led standards aligned to the National Skill Qualification Framework. Besides catering to domestic skill needs, the scheme will also focus on skill training aligned to international standards for overseas employment in European and Gulf countries etc. There will be scholarship for student undergoing training in high end job roles.
Training centres will be categorised on the basis of their infrastructure and past performance. Third party agencies will be also deployed to validate their training efforts and placement records.
Residential programmes will be promoted to youths from north-eastern States, Kashmir Valley, Leh region and Left-wing extremism-affected districts 

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

2016 Group 1 QP Model

1.Consider the following statements about Preamble
 I. Ernest Barker – Key note 
II. Palkhivala – Identity card 
III. K.M. Munshi –horoscope of our sovereign democratic republic
 IV. Thakur Das Bhargava – Soul of the constitution Choose the correct code:
I, III correct I, II, III correct I, IV correct All are correct

2.The police of which State/Union Territory, on 21 May 2015, proposed to reserve 33 percent of the seats for the posts of constable and Sub-Inspector for women?
Andaman & Nicobar Delhi Lakshadweep Puducherry

3.Which fighter jet of Indian air force (IAF), on 21 May 2015, landed successfully on Yamuna Expressway as part of developing road runaway for emergency landing?
Sukhoi Mirage Rafale Dassault

4.Which among the following statement is incorrect
Alcohol is a stimulant and it slows down the activity of the nervous system 
ill effects of tobacco are considered to be due to the absorption of nicotine 
Drug abuse refer to any use of an illicit drug 
None of these

5.Consider the following 
Assertion (A) : Non-communicable diseases are caused due to defective metabolic processes within the body.
Reason (R): They can also be caused due to life style and changes in the environment.
(A) is right and (R) is wrong 
(A) is wrong but (R) is right 
(A) and (R) are both correct 
(A) and (R) are wrong

Union Government launches Operation ‘Sankat Mochan’ to evacuate Indian citizens from South Sudan

The Union Government has started the operation ‘Sankat Mochan’ to evacuate Indian citizens stranded in South Sudan‟s capital Juba. Sankat Mochan in Hindi means reliever from troubles.
 The operation is being undertaken by Indian Air Force (IAF) and will be headed by Union Minister of State (MoS)for External Affairs General (Retd.) VK Singh.

Key Facts
 Two heavy-lift C-17 military transport aircrafts have been deployed by UIAF in service to make the evacuation.
The Indian Ambassador in South Sudan Srikumar Menon and his team is organising this operation on the ground. The Indian Embassy in South Sudan already has alerted stranded Indians in Juba about the evacuation plan.
 The flight route for evacuation is Juba-Kampala-Trivandrum-Delhi. Passengers can also deboard at Trivandrum.


Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Model QP - TNPSC

1.In India, how many states share the coastline?
7 8 9 11

2.Arrange the events in chronological order regarding Indian Economy. 
1. First phase of nationalization of 16 banks. 
2. Establishment of Narashimhan Committee on the Banking System.
3. Enactment of FEMA Act in India. 
4. Establishment of EXIM Bank in India.
1, 3, 4, 2 1, 4, 2, 3 1, 3, 2, 4 1, 4, 3, 2

3. The Reserve Bank of India regulates the commercial banks in matters of 1. liquidity of assets 2. Branch expansion 3. merger of banks 4. Winding-up of banks
1 and 4 2, 3 and 4 1, 2 and 3 All of these

4.Who was the Hindi poet during Akbar’s time who pleaded for a modified caste system based not on birth but on individual qualities?
Tulsidas Surdas Narasimha Mehta Maharji Rana

5.Which among the following is wrongly matched?
4th Schedule – Article 4 & 80 
9th Schedule – Article 31C 
10th Schedule – Article 102 & 191 
8th Schedule – Article 344 & 351

Sunday, December 4, 2016

National Intelligence grid (NATGRID)

NATGRID is a central agency that aims to have an integrated intelligence grid that will link and store sensitive personal information on citizens from different government agencies for counter-terror investigations. It was established to bolster India‟s counter-terrorism capabilities by combining 21 sensitive databases of personal information related to various domains.

The domains are banks, credit cards, cellphone usage, immigration records, motor vehicle registrations, Income Tax records and National Crime Records Bureau.

The single database will be accessed by authorised officers from 10 central agencies like IB, IB, R&AW, CBI, ED and DRI.

 Thus it is essentially a data transfer tool that seeks to give investigators a 360 degree profile of a suspect.


Thursday, December 1, 2016

TNPSC Model QP 2016

1.Which of the following was declared as World Heritage sites in India in 2014?
Kaziranga National Park 
India Gate, Mumbai 
Bandipur National Park
Rani – Ki – Vav and Great Himalayan National Park

2.Who was the first Indian to Receive Ramon Magsaysay Award?
Vinoba Bhave J.P. Narayan Medha Patkar Aruna Roy

3.Selling price of a commodity is increased by 15% in a year and then the new price is decreased by 15% in the next year. Find net increase or decrease in the selling price.
no effect 2% decrease 2.25% decrease 2.25% increase

4.Price of sugar having been fallen by 10%, a consumer can buy 10 kg more of sugar than what he was buying originally. Find the quantity he was buying originally.
80 kg 90 kg 100 kg 110 kg

5.Consider the following statements regarding “Earth Hour”. 
 1.It is an initiative of UNEP and UNESCO. 
2.It is movement in which the participants switch off the lights for one hour on a certain day every year. 
3. It is a movement to raise the awareness about the climate change and need to save the planet.
 Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1 and 3 only 2 only 2 and 3 only 1, 2 and 3