Civil Service Exam – General Studies 2018

1.South African Government declared _______ as a "national disaster" recently?

Hurricanes Drought Floods Tornadoes

2.India has signed $100 million amount of 2nd loan agreement with New Development Bank (NDB) for this state Water Project.

Rajasthan Kerala Tamilnadu Karnataka

3.This state has issued notification to attach Super Straw Management System while using the combine harvester machines for harvesting the paddy (rice) crop.

Tamilnadu Gujarat Kerala Punjab

4.Who of the following become the new Prime Minister of Nepal?

Sushil Koirala Sher Bahadur Deuba Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli Khil Raj Regmi

5.Which country is working on developing a "soft power matrix" to foster better diplomatic traction with neighbouring countries and rest of the world?

India USA China Germany

Prelims GS 2018

1.Who has been appointed as the new interim chairman of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)?

M Balachandran B Sambamurthy K K Rao M S Jadon

2.What is the theme of 2017 International Day of Peace?

Together for Peace: Respect, Safety and Dignity for All

Together for Peace 

Together for Peace: Dignity for All 

Together initiate World Peace

3.Zannah Mustapha has won the 2017 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award. He hails from which country?

Thailand Bangladesh Israel Nigeria

4.Ajay Kumar Saroj, who won gold at the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, is associated with which category?

Boxing Race Wrestling Swimming

5.The Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary (DWS) is located in which state?

Maharashtra Bihar Jharkhand West Bengal

GK & Current Affairs Quiz

1.The 18th anniversary of ‘Kargil Vijay Diwas’ has celebrated on which day in India?

July 25 July 24 July 26 July 22

2.Which country is hosting the 2017 BRICS Youth Forum (BYF)?

India South Africa Brazil China

3.Which country has recently declared total independence from IMF and World Bank (WB)?

Bolivia Iran North Korea Vietnam

4.The United Nations has selected which city as data hub for Middle East North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) region?

Karachi Dubai New Delhi Kabul

5.Which state government has signed MoU with Airport Authority of India (AAI) for aviation development?

Uttarakhand Andhra Pradesh Tamil Nadu Karnataka

World Geography

1.In which of the following regions, maize is used as staple food ?

Western Europe Russia Middle Africa South-East Asia

2. Carajás Mine is located in which of the following countries?

Argentina Brazil Paraguay Mexico

3.Four Corners Monument is located in which of the following countries?

United States Canada China Mexico

4.Which of the following is not a feature of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)?

Periodic disruption of normal sea surface temperature in Pacific Ocean 

Reversal of Westerlies

Rise of sea level along equator

Decrease in productivity along the west coast of South America

5.Majid Gyre is a feature of which of the following Oceans?

Pacific Ocean Indian Ocean Atlantic Ocean Arctic Ocean

Civil Service Exam – General Studies 2017

1.Who has become the new brand ambassador to promote Goods and Services Tax (GST)?

Aamir Khan Amitabh Bachchan Sachin Tendulkar P T Usha

2.Which union minister has launched a mobile app “Celebrating Yoga” for scientific healthy living?

Arun Jaitley Narendra Modi M Venkaiah Naidu Harsh Vardhan

3.Who has been re-nominated by India for another term as judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ)?

Dhananjaya Chandrachud Madan Bhimrao Lokur Dalveer Bhandari Harish Salve

4.Muzoon Almellehan has been named as new Unicef Goodwill Ambassador. She hails from which country?

Pakistan Syria Israel North Korea

5.P K Kaw, an Internationally recognized plasma physicist passed away. He hailed from which country?

South Korea China India Japan

2017 Current Affairs

1.Which Indian-origin filmmaker has been honoured with the Sikh Jewel Award for 2017?

Sukhbeer Singh Sandhu Gurinder Chadha Y K Sinha Permlata Singh

2.Who has been appointed as the new Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi?

K K Sharma M C Mishra Prathap C. Reddy Randeep Guleria

3.Which Indian actor will be honoured with the Kala Ratan Award?

Anupam Kher Amitabh Bachchan Aamir Khan S Prabhakar

4.Sukant Kadam is associated with which sports?

Chess Hockey Badminton Cricket

5.India’s first vertical garden has set up in which state?

Bengaluru Chennai Pune Kochi

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

Current Affairs September 2016

The Ministry of External affairs (MEA) has recently launched a registration module “madad.gov.in” for Indian students studying abroad so they could be reached in case of emergency. Currently, there is no data available on the Indian students studying abroad.

C.K. Asnani, a chemical engineer from Osmania University, has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), an undertaking of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)

Anjum Chopra, a former Indian captain, has become the first Indian woman cricketer to get the prestigious honorary life membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

Ankur Dhama, a middle-distance runner, will be the India’s first blind athlete to represent country at 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. He will take part in the event with his partner Vipin Kumar. Earlier, Dhama took part at the 2014 Asian Para Games and won a silver medal and two bronze medals.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully launched advanced weather satellite “INSAT-3DR” into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) by the GSLV-F05 rocket vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikotta, Andhra Pradesh. The INSAT-3DR is a modern weather satellite and has a life expectancy of 10 years. It will help to predict weather patterns and also provide search and rescue information.

General knowledge

1.Who has been named as the chairman of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) committee on Rio 2016 debacle?
Jitu Rai Ganag Narang Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore Abhinav Bindra

2.Which country will be the focused country at the 2016 International Film Festival of India (IFFI)?
Iran South Korea Brazil Spain

3.The book “An Intimate History of Killing: Face to Face Killing in Twentieth Century Warfare” authored by whom?
Bhikhu Parekh Joanna Bourke Fenil Sherdiwala Kirti Rambhatla

4.Who has won the first IEI-IEEE Award for Engineering Excellence-2015?
A S Kiran Kumar G Satheesh Reddy K K Radhakrishnan Avinash Chander

5.Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary is located in which state of India?
Goa Odisha Tripura Manipur

CCEA gives nod to development of AUSC technology for thermal power plants

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CEEA) has given its approval for the development of Advanced Ultra Super Critical (AUSC) technology for thermal power plants. 

In this regard, CCEA has approved a one-time grant of 900 crore rupees spread over three years for an R&D project for the development of AUSC technology for thermal power plants.

 The project was proposed by a consortium of three government entities to reduce coal consumption as well as Carbon di-oxide (CO2) emission. They are 

• Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL)
• Indira Gandhi Centre of Atomic Research (IGCAR) 
• National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).

Key Facts 

• AUSC technology will enable Indian industries to design, manufacture and commission higher efficiency coal-fired power plants with indigenously developed technology. 
• This will be the first time large power plant equipment will be manufactured without any technological collaboration or licensing agreement with foreign companies. 
• Use of this technology in all future large coal-fired power plants will ensure energy security for the country for a longer period as well as greener environment.

Significance 

• Power generation from coal-fired power plants contributes to about 38% of CO2 pollution in the atmosphere. 
• AUSC technology which is still in research stage will help in 20% reduction in CO2 emission at source combined with 20% saving in coal consumption compared to sub-critical plants

GK 2016

1.Angela Ruggiero, who has been elected as the new chairperson for the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Athletes’ Commission, is associated with which sports?
Basketball Ice hockey Football Sprint

2.India’s first underground museum will be opened in which of the following cities?
Patna Ahmedabad New Delhi Jaipur

3.The world’s tallest girder rail bridge will come up in which state of India?
Sikkim Manipur Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir

4.Who has won the 2016 World Martial Arts championship (WMAC)?
Mohit Suri Rohit Khandelwal Vivek Teja Matthew Rose

5.Who is the newly appointed Prime Minister of Tunisia?
Mehdi Jomaa Habib Essid Youssef Chahed Beji Caid Essebsi

GK Quiz

1.Which Indian artist has won the 2016 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants?
Anita Gopalan Prashant Dixit Rishabh Kumar Mahima Gugalia

2.Which state government has launched citizen governance mobile App “HIM TCP”?
Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir Sikkim Haryana

3.The book “Until the Lions: Echoes from the Mahabharata” has been authored by whom?
Bibek Debroy Anjan Sundaram Hansda Sowendra Karthika Nair

4.The World Economic Forum (WEF) India Economic Summit will be hosted by which city of India?
New Delhi Chennai Kolkata Mumbai

5.The Shaurya Home Loan for Defence Personnel has been launched by which of the following banks?
ICICI Bank State Bank of India Axis Bank HDFC Bank

Current Affairs 2016

1.Which of the following countries has been hit by severe tropical Typhoon Nida?
Japan United States France China

2.Who is the newly elected Prime Minister of Nepal?
Khadga Prasad Oli Pushpa Kamal Dahal Khil Raj Regmi Baburam Bhattarai

3.Ahmed Zewail, who died recently, was the Nobel Laureate in which field?
Chemistry Physics Medicine Peace

4.Which union ministry has launched Twitter Sewa for addressing the complaints of common man in the telecom and postal sectors?
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Ministry of Communications Ministry of Human Resource Development Ministry of Science and Technology

5.Which state has become the first Indian state to approve sewage and waste water policy?
Madhya Pradesh Uttar Pradesh Rajasthan Odisha

GK & Current Affairs

1. The Make in India conference will be held in which city of India?
New Delhi Lucknow Bhubaneswar Chennai

2.Who has been appointed as the new chairperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)?
Varsha Sharma Abhishek Singh Rani Nair Munesh Kumar

3.The book “Tipu Sultan’s Search for Legitimacy: Islam and Kingship in a Hindu Domain” has been authored by whom?
Tony Joseph Sandi Mann Kate Brittlebank Ananta Ashisha

4.Lokesh Rahul is associated with which sports?
Badminton Cricket Boxing Wrestling

5.The 2016 Kabaddi World Cup will be hosted by which country?
Pakistan Bangladesh India Sri Lanka

GK Concepts

Anil Kumble, former Indian captain and leg-spinner, has been appointed as the new coach of the Indian Cricket Team for one-year tenure. His tenure will begin from the upcoming West Indies’s tour which starts on July 9, 2016. With this, Kumble has become the first Indian to be appointed as the head coach of the national team since Kapil Dev in 1999-2000.

Boxing 

The Asian Games champion Vikas Krishan (75kg) and Commonwealth Games gold-medalist Manoj Kumar (64kg) has recently booked their berth for 2016 Rio Olympic after advancing to the semifinals of the International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) World Qualifying Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan. Apart from them, Shiva Thapa (56 kg) has already booked his ticket to Rio Olympics 2016 during the Asian Qualifiers in March 2016 and is the Indian boxer to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The International Olympic Day is observed every year on June 23 to promote participation in sport across the globe regardless of age, gender or athletic ability.

The Vice President of India M Hamid Ansari has inaugurated “The International Conference on Social Statistics in India” in Patna, Bihar. The conference has been organised by Asian Development Research of India.

Shanay Jhaveri 

The book “Chandigarh is in India” has been authored by Shanay Jhaveri. The book is the first-ever compilation of works of art on Chandigarh, presenting a unique perspective on the city. It tells the stories of the city of Chandigarh through the works of Indian and Western artists.

Current Affairs

India and Switzerland have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish formal cooperation in the fields of skill development and vocational and professional education and training. The MoU was signed in Winterthur city in Zurich between State Secretary Mauro Dell’ Ambrogio and Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

Hydrography – the key to well-managed seas and waterways The World Hydrography Day is observed every year on June 21 to create awareness about hydrography which is an essential science before undertaking any activity on or under the sea. The 2016 theme is “Hydrography – the key to well-managed seas and waterways”.

Ken Miyauchi has been appointed as the new President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group. He succeeded Nikesh Arora.

Mahasthangarh, the 3rd century BC archaeological site in Bogra, Bangladesh, has been declared as the SARRC cultural capital for 2016-17. The historic place will host festivals on literature, films, foods and dances from October 2016 to September 2017. Every year, an archeologically and culturally rich city of one of the 8- South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries is declared the cultural capital for that year to create a bridge among the people of those countries. Bamiyan, a historic city of Afghanistan, is the current SAARC cultural capital for 2015-16. 

March 2017 

The Union Government has extended the timeline for states to join Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme by a year to March 2017. The move would help states which could not enroll in or operationalise the scheme due to various reasons such as elections and regulatory approvals. Earlier, states were required to join the scheme last fiscal and issue bonds to pay off discoms’ 50 % debt in 2015-16. The main purpose of UDAY scheme is to get these discoms out of the vicious circle of debt and enable them to purchase power to increase consumption in the country. 

GK 2016

• Master Gaurav Menon has won the award for Best Child Artist at the 63rd National film awards 2015 for Malayalam movie Ben.
• Leicester City football club has won the 2016 English Premier League (EPL) title . With this win, Leicester City has become the champions for the first time in their 132-year history. The Football Writers’ Association (FWA) Footballer of the Year 2016 has been awarded to Jamie Vardy, footballer of Leicester City.
• The book “Politics of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations” has been authored by Yeshi Choedon. This book investigate deep into military personnel and financial management by the United Nations in its peacekeeping efforts around the world, which the author claims to be the most important and evident method to control conflicts around the world.
• The United Nations’World Press Freedom Day is observed every year on May 3 to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press. The 2016 Theme is “Access to Information and Fundamental Freedoms – This Is Your Right!”. On this day, the 2016 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize has been honoured to Khadija Ismayilova, an investigative journalist from Azerbaijan, in Helsinki, Finland.
• Nico Rosberg, a German Formula One driver for Mercedes Formula One team, has won the 2016 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix in Sochi, Russia.

Mindtree co-founder Subroto Bagchi to head Odisha Skill Development Authority

IT major Mindtree co-founder Subroto Bagchi has been appointed as head of the Odisha Skill Development Authority. 

He would report directly to the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and has been given the rank of cabinet minister with a token monthly salary of Re 1. Bagchi was born in Patnagarh block of backward Bolangir district of Odisha. 

About Odisha Skill Development Authority Aims to unify the initiatives on the ground and create momentum for unemployed youth to receive skill-based training to make them employable in the state. Functions: It will be overseeing skill development programmes in the state. 

It will also guide state government to implement and oversee all skill development programmes in the state. Earlier in January 2016, Odisha Government had roped Sam Pitroda as its technology adviser for development of telecom, electronics, IT, ITES sectors.

Current Affairs 2016

• Surender Kumar Bhagat, the 1982-batch IPS officer of the Uttarakhand cadre, has been appointed as the new Director General (DG) of Railways Protection Force (RPF). He will succeed Rajiv Ranjan Verma and will serve RPF till the date of his superannuation i.e. on June 30, 2017. Presently, he is working as Special Director General in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
• The book “Param Vir: A War Diary” has been written by Manju Lodha, a well-known Indian social activist. It was recently launched in London by Navtej Sarna, Indian High Commissioner to United Kingdom. The book chronicles the lives of 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees, the highest military honour bestowed by India to those serving in the Indian armed forces.
• The Maharashtra Government has recently launched ‘Adi Praman’’ a web-based application, which will facilitate the tribal populace of the state to get the caste validity certificates online. The validity certificate will be bar-coded with a unique identification number and enable authorities to directly verify the status of validity certificate using the unique barcode number. The portal “etribalvalidity.mahaonline@gov.in” will show the real-time status of the applications through email and text messages. This initiative will make the entire process of securing caste validity certificate transparent, fast and easy and will effectively curb the menace of bogus certificates.
• The mobile app “Indian Customs- Guide to Travellers” has been launched by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) to inform traders, exporters and importers about Customs Baggage Rules, 2016. The mobile App has been developed by Bengaluru Customs and is available on Android Play store, Apple Store and Windows Store. The app is user friendly and serves as a useful tool for quick and effective dissemination of information about baggage rules and entitlements and hence serves to clarify doubts and concern of International passengers and also ensure better compliance. The CBEC is the nodal national agency responsible for administering customs, central excise, service tax and narcotics in India.
• The Kerala state branch of Indian Medical Association (IMA) has partnered with UNICEF to promote safe and healthy practices for improving maternal and child health in the state. The initiative will help Kerala to achieve world class level in reducing child mortality rate. As part of the partnership, IMA and UNICEF will orient all the 35,000 doctors of the association in the state, on the importance of prescribing good practices to their patients, besides medicine.

Countries and its Parliament

Countries	Parliaments
Afghanistan	Shoora
Andorra	General Council
Albania	People’s Assembly
Azerbaijan	Melli Majlis
Algeria	National People’s Assembly
Angola	National People’s Assembly
Argentina	National Congress
Australia	Federal Parliament
Austria	National Assembly
Bahamas	General Assembly
Bahrain	Consultative Council
Bangladesh	Jatiya Sansad
Belize	National Assembly
Bhutan	Tshogdu
Bolivia	National Congress
Brazil	National Congress
Brunei	National Assembly
Botswana	National Assembly
Britain	Parliment (House of Common’s & House of Lords)
Bulgaria	Narodno Subranie.
Cambodia	National Assembly
Congo Democratic	Rep. of National Legislative Council
Colombia	Congress
Canada	Parliament
China	National People’s Congress
Chile	Chamber of Deputies and Senate
Comoros	Legislative Council and Senate
Costa Rice	Legislative Council and Senate
Crotia	Sabor
Cuba	National Assembly of People’s Power
Czech Republic	Chamber of Deputies and Senate
Denmark	Folketing
Ecuador	Natinal Congress
El Salvador	Legislative Assembly
East Timor	Constituent Assembly
Ethiopia	Federal Council and House of Representative
Egypt	People’s Assembly
Fiji Islands	Senate & House of Representative
France	National Assembly
Finland	Eduskusta (Parliament)
Germany	Bundestag(Lower House),Bundesrat(UpperHouse)
Guyana	National Assembly
Greece	Chamber of Deputies
Hungary	National Assembly
Iceland	Althing
India	Parliament
Indonesia	People’s Consultative Assembly
Iran	Majlis
Iraq	National Assembly
Israel	Knesset
Italy	Chamber of Deputies and Senate
Japan	Diet
Jordan	National Assembly
Korea(North)	Supreme People’s Assembly
Korea(South)	National Assembly
Kuwait	National Assembly
Kenya	National Assembly
Laos	People’s Supreme Assembly
Labanon	National Assembly
Lesotho	National Assembly and Senate
Lithuania	Seimas
Luxembourg	Chamber of Deputies
Liberia	National Assembly
Libya	General People’s Congress
Malaysia	Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara
Maldives	Majlis Madagascar
Mongolia	Great People’s Khural
Montenegro	Federal Assembly
Mozambique	People’s Assembly
Myanmar	Pyithu Hluttaw
Nepal	National Panchayat
Netherlands	The State General
Norway	Storting
New Zealand	Parliament (House of Representative)
Oman	Monarchy
Pakistan	National Assembly & Senate
Paraguay	Senate & Chamber of Deputies
Philippines	The Congress
Papua New Guinea	National Parliament
Poland	Sejm
Romania	Great National Assembly
Russia	Duma & Federal Council
Serbia	Federal Assembly
Senegal	National Assembly
Seychelles	People’s Assembly
Somalia	People’s Assembly
South Africa	Rep. House of Assembly
Spain	Cortes
Sweden	Riksdag
Saudi Arabia	Majlis Al Shura
Sudan	National Assembly
Switzerland	Federal Assembly
Syria	People’s Council
Turkey	Grand National Assembly
Tunisia	National Assembly
USA	Congress
Vietnam	National Assembly
Venezuela	National Congress
Zaire	National Legislative Council
Zambia	National Assembly.