General Studies & Current Affairs for Bank, SSC, CLAT, Civil Services and other Competitive Exams

1. Human Development Index 2014     – 135 (Norway top followed by Australia). 2. Global Environment Performance Index 2014      – 155 (S...

India's Ranking in Different Indexes in 2014

1. Human Development Index 2014
    – 135 (Norway top followed by Australia).
2. Global Environment Performance Index 2014
     – 155 (Switzerland followed by Luxembourg, Australia)
3. Intellectual property (IP) environment 2014
     – 25 (US ranked on the top followed by UK and France)
4. World Press Freedom Index 2014
    - 140 in the list of 180 countries
5. World's best countries for doing business 2014
    – 134
6. Global Peace Index 2014
    – 143 (Iceland top the list while Syria the most violent place)
7. Global Innovation Index 2014
    - 76
8. World Prosperity Index 2013
    – 106.
9. Global Corruption Index 2013
    – 94 (Denmark least corrupt country.)
10. Global Competitiveness Index 2014
      -71 (Switzerland is the most competitive economy, followed by Singapore).
11. World Effective stock market regulation ranking
     – 62 (South Africa is on the top followed by Finland, Hong Kong)
12. India is among the worst- ranked countries when it comes to taxation and inflation burden on economy.
Note: India ranks 133rd in terms of inflation, 130th for taxes and 131st for starting a business. Switzerland has retained its top slot.

1. On this day in 1786: The Grand Duchy of Tuscany, under Pietro Leopoldo I, became the first modern state to abol...

This Day in History: 30th November












1. On this day in 1786: The Grand Duchy of Tuscany, under Pietro Leopoldo I, became the first modern state to abolish the death penalty (later commemorated as Cities for Life Day).   
2. On this day in 1872: The first-ever international football match took place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, between Scotland and England.  

3. On this day in 1934: The LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman became the first steam locomotive to be authenticated as reaching 100 mph. The LNER Class A3 Pacific steam locomotive No. 4472 Flying Scotsman (originally No. 1472) was built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design of H.N. Gresley. It was retired from regular service in 1963 after covering 3,341,000 km.   

4. On this day in 1936: The Crystal Palace, London was destroyed by fire. The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and plate-glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. Designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, the Great Exhibition building was 1,851 feet long, with an interior height of 128 feet.   

5. On this day in 1966: Barbados became independent from the United Kingdom. Barbados is a sovereign island country in the Lesser Antilles. It covers an area of 432 square kilometres. It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea, east of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and north-east of Trinidad and Tobago. Barbados is outside of the principal Atlantic hurricane belt.   

6. On this day in 1967: The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen became independent from the United Kingdom. It is also referred to as Yemen (Aden), was a Communist state in the southern and eastern provinces of the present-day Republic of Yemen, including the island of Socotra.   

7. On this day in 1967: The Pakistan Peoples Party was founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who became its first chairman.   

8. On this day in 1982: Michael Jackson's second solo album, Thriller was released worldwide. It became the best-selling record album in history.  

9. On this day in 1995: Operation Desert Storm came to an end. The Gulf War, codenamed Operation Desert Shield, for operations leading to the buildup of troops and defense of Saudi Arabia and Operation Desert Storm was a war waged by coalition forces from 34 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.  

10. On this day in 1999: British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems merged to form BAE Systems, Europe's largest defense contractor and the fourth largest aerospace firm in the world.

Hello Friends, We have compiled a list of new & important appointments of Heads of important Institutions from exam point of vie...

Important List of Heads of Govt. Organizations/ Institutions/ New Key Appointments in 2014

Hello Friends,

We have compiled a list of new & important appointments of Heads of important Institutions from exam point of view. We strongly feel that many of the below listed names will surface at General Awareness & Current Affairs sections of upcoming examinations. If you have any suggestion, please feel free to add those up in the list.

Happy Reading.
Team GK

Important List of Heads of Govt. Organizations/ Institutions/ New Key Appointments in 2014

1. Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India: 
H. L. Dattu (Appointed on 28.09.2014)
2. Chairman of Sangeet Natak Academy: 
Leela Samson
3. President of Sahitya Academy: 
Dr. Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari.
4. Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharti of India: 
Jawhar Sircar
5. Minister of State for Planning (Planning Commission of India) : 
Rao Inderjeet Singh
6. Secretary of the Planning Commission of India: 
Ms. Sindhushree Khullar
7. President of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII): 
Mr. Ajay S. Shriram
8. Director General of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII): 
Chandrajeet Banerjee
9. President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FICCI): Sidharth Birla
10. President of National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM): 
Mr. R Chandrashekhar


1. On this day In 1899: FC Barcelona Association football club was founded. 2. On this day in 1929: U.S. Admiral Richard...

This Day in History: 29th November













1. On this day In 1899: FC Barcelona Association football club was founded.
2. On this day in 1929: U.S. Admiral Richard E. Byrd led the first expedition to fly over the South Pole.
 3. On this day in 1943: U.S. aircraft carrier Hornet was launched.
 4. On this day in 1944: The first surgery (on a human) to correct blue baby syndrome was performed by Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas.
 5. On this day in 1961: Mercury-Atlas 5 Mission – Enos the Chimp, a chimpanzee, was launched into space. It was unmanned spaceflight of the Mercury program. The craft orbited the Earth twice and splashed down about 320 km south of Bermuda. Enos the Chimp (died November 4, 1962) was the second chimpanzee launched into space and the first chimpanzee to achieve Earth orbit. Enos was brought from the Miami Rare Bird Farm on April 3, 1960.
6. On this day in 1965: The Canadian Space Agency launched the satellite Alouette 2. It was a research satellite launched by a Thor Agena rocket with Explorer 31 from the Western test range at Vandenberg AFB in California. It was designed to explore the ionosphere.
 7. On this day in 1972: Atari announced the release of Pong, the first commercially successful video game.
8. On this day in 2012: New findings from MESSENGER, NASA's space probe, indicated almost definitively, that the north pole of Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, has water ice buried beneath the surface.
 9. On this day in 2012: A new species of freshwater fish were discovered. The new species of darter fish, Etheostoma obama, were named after U.S. President Barack Obama.


Syntheism – Creating God in The Internet Age- Alexander Bard    Crusader or Conspirator? Coalgate and other Truths - PC Parakh  The N...

Important Books & Authors for Upcoming Exams


  1. Syntheism – Creating God in The Internet Age- Alexander Bard   
  2. Crusader or Conspirator? Coalgate and other Truths - PC Parakh 
  3. The Narrow Road to the Deep North- Richard Flanagan
  4. Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna - Gautam Chintamani
  5. Hard Choices- Hillary Rodham Clinton 
  6. Untold Story of the Indian Public Sector – Dr. U.D. Choubey 
  7. Empire to Independence- Jai Krishan Kaushik 
  8. One Life is Not Enough- Natwar Singh 
  9. The Lives of Others- Neel Mukherji 
  10. The Vijay Mallya Story- K. Giriprakash 
  11. The Accidental Prime Minister: the making and unmaking of Manmohan Singh- Sanjaya Baru 
  12. Half Girlfriend- Chetan Bhagat 
  13. Final Test: Exit Sachin Tendulkar- Dilip D‟Souza 
  14. The Candidate - Anirudh Bhattacharya. 
  15. Arctic Summer- Damon Galgut 
  16. A Stamp is Born - C. R. Pakrashi 
  17. Anticipating India - The best of national interest- Shekhar Gupta 
  18. A Man and a Motorcycle, How Hamid Karzai Came to Power- Bette Dam 
  19. Playing It My Way – Sachin Tendulkar
  20. India & Malaysia: Intertwined Strands by: Veena Sikri 
  21. An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions - Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen. 
  22. A Brush with Life- Satish Gujral 
  23. A Bend in the river- V.S. Naipaul 
  24. God of Small things- Arundhati Rai 
  25. Inheritance of Loss- Kiran Desai. 
  26. Joseph Anton- Sulman Rushdie (Autobiography) 
  27. “Khushwantnama-The Lessons of My Life “ –Khushwant Singh
  28. Lajja- Taslima Nasrim. 
  29. My Unforgettable Memories-MamataBanerjee 
  30. My country My Life- L.K.Advani 
  31. My Music My Life- Pt Ravi Shankar Mahadevan 
  32. Revolution 2020- Chetan Bhagat 
  33. Runs in Ruins — Sunil Gavaskar 
  34. Satenic versus- Salman Rushdi 
  35. True Colours — Adam Gilchrist 
  36. The Heritage of Sikhs — Harbans Singh 
  37. The Jewels of Happiness – Indian spiritual guru Sri Chinmoy. 
  38. The Things About Thugs — Tabish Nair 
  39. The Test of My Life'- Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh
  40. “Those were the Day and then-The Life & Times of Lal Krishna Advani”-Mira Govind Advani 
  41. Turning Points-APJ Abdul Kalam 


1. On this day in 1520: After navigating through a strait at the southern end of South America, three ships under the command of Port...

This Day in History: 28th November

1. On this day in 1520: After navigating through a strait at the southern end of South America, three ships under the command of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean and became the first European ships to sail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.

2. On this day in 1814: The Times in London was for the first time printed by automatic, steam-powered presses built by the German inventors Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer, signaling the beginning of the availability of newspapers to a mass audience.

3. On this day in 1821: Panama declared independence from Spain and joined Gran Colombia.

4. On this day in 1893: New Zealand became the first country in which women vote in a national election.

5. On this day in 1912: Albania declared it's Independence from Turkey. Albania is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, Macedonia to the east, and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the west and on the Ionian Sea to the southwest.

6. On this day in 1919: American-born Lady Astor was elected the first female member of the British Parliament.

7. On this day in 1958: Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon became autonomous republics within the French Community.

8. On this day in 1960: Mauritania became independent of France. Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb region of western North Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, by Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest.

9. On this day in 1964: The U.S. launched the space probe Mariner IV from Cape Kennedy on a course set for Mars.

10. On this day in 1975: East Timor declared its independence from Portugal. East Timor is a country in Maritime Southeast Asia. It is one of only two predominantly Christian nations in Southeast Asia, the other being the Philippines.

11. On this day in 1983: The space shuttle Columbia took off with the STS-9 Spacelab in its cargo bay.

12. On this day in 2013: The launch of the 'Yu Tu', China's first lunar vehicle, was scheduled to take place at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center before December 10, 2013.


28 November 2014 National: LS passes bill to include more communities in SC list The Lok Sabha has passed the Constitu...

GK & Current Affair Updates: November 28 - 2014









28 November 2014

National:

LS passes bill to include more communities in SC list
The Lok Sabha has passed the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2014. The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and the Constitution (Sikkim) Scheduled Castes Order, 1978. It includes certain communities in the list of Scheduled Castes in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Tripura. The Bill also removes a community from the list of Scheduled Castes in Sikkim.

Sanskrit will be 3rd language in classes 6-8 in KV
The Centre submitted before the Supreme Court that Sanskrit will be the third language in classes 6 to 8 in Kendriya Vidyalayas. Appearing before the bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi sought its permission to file an affidavit on the controversy arising out of Centre's decision to drop German as an alternative to Sanskrit as third language in Kendriya Vidyalayas.

Historian Raychaudhuri passes away
Tapan Raychaudhuri, a distinguished historian of modern India’s economic and intellectual history, passed away. He was 90 and had suffered a stroke a year ago from which he never fully recovered. Professor Raychaudhuri was Reader in Modern South Asian History at St. Antony’s College, Oxford, from 1973 to 1992, when he was given an Ad Hominem Chair as Professor of Indian History and Civilisation. He retired from Oxford in 1993, but continued to lecture, travel and write till a year before his death.

27 November 2014 National: Home Minister to roll out E-visa facility for 43 countries Visitors from over 40 c...

GK & Current Affair Updates: November 27 - 2014









27 November 2014

National:

Home Minister to roll out E-visa facility for 43 countries
Visitors from over 40 countries including Israel, Palestine, Germany and the US, will be able to avail of the much-awaited electronic visa facility. Russia, Brazil, Thailand, UAE, Ukraine, Jordan, Norway and Mauritius, among others, would be getting the e-visa facility in the first phase. All the 12 countries currently enjoying the visa-on-arrival facility, including South Korea, Japan, Finland, Singapore, New Zealand, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos will also come under the E-visa facility. However, the facility will not be available to people from countries like Pakistan, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Somalia. An official said, it would be a historic occasion for the tourism sector and launching of e-visa system for so many countries would boost the industry. In order to get an e-visa, one would need to apply on the designated website along with the required fees.

More than 15-year-old vehicles not permitted to ply in Delhi
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has held that all vehicles which are more than 15 years old would not be permitted to ply on Delhi roads. A bench, headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, passed the order saying that it is unquestionable that air pollution of the National Capital Territory is getting worse with each passing day, and it only projects the very dismayed state of affairs with clear indication that worst is likely to follow. The bench directed the concerned authorities to take appropriate steps in accordance with law, including seizure of the vehicles, wherever such vehicles of this age are noticed.

WB to procure agricultural machines for farmers
The West Bengal government has launched a scheme for procuring big agricultural machines and tools for small and marginal farmers. Under the scheme the Government will give maximum 24 lakh rupees financial grants as subside to the Self Help Group, farmer organizations and Co-operative Societies for purchasing big agricultural equipments. These include Harvesters, Tractors, Transplanters, Seed drills and others. As these costly equipments are not affordable to purchase for the small and marginal farmers, as per scheme Self Help Groups, Co-operative Societies and farmers organizations will give those agriculture equipments on rental basis. The aim of the scheme is to reach modern farming facilities to small and marginal farmers to increase productivity.

India's first Mars orbiter successfully began a 400 million-km long journey  to Mars, making it the first Asian country and the four...

India's Mars Orbitor Mission-Salient Points

India's first Mars orbiter successfully began a 400 million-km long journey to Mars, making it the first Asian country and the fourth in the world to undertake a mission to the red planet.

Important Points.

  1. Dr. K. Radhakrishnan – ISRO Chairman
  2. Mylswamy Annadurai is the Director of Mar’s Mission.
  3. India's MOM is the cheapest inter-planetary mission, costing of Rs 450 Crore ($671 million) entered the Martian orbit on 24 September 2014. 
  4. The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan, is India’s first interplanetary mission to the planet Mars.
  5. India becomes the first country in the world to insert a spacecraft into the Martian orbit in its very first attempt.
  6. Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, India's first interplanetary probe, was launched by PSLV-C25 on November 5, 2013 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
  7. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) becomes the fourth space agency to reach Mars after Roscosmos (Russia), NASA (USA) and ESA (European).
  8. The first Chinese mission to Mars, called Yinghuo-1, failed in 2011.
  9. The project was approved by the government of India on 3 August 2012 and costs Rs. 450 crores.
  10. MOM is the cheapest and lowest-cost inter-planetary mission ever to be undertaken in the world. It cost us all a mere Rs 4 per person
  11. The mission successfully completed its 100 days in space on February 12, 2014.
  12. The satellite has carried a compact science experiment instruments, totaling a mass of 15kg to study the Martian surface, atmosphere and mineralogy.

1. On this day in 1779: The College of Pennsylvania became the University of Pennsylvania. It was the first legally recognized univers...

This Day in History: 27th November


1. On this day in 1779: The College of Pennsylvania became the University of Pennsylvania. It was the first legally recognized university in America.

2. On this day in 1895: At the Swedish–Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after his death.

 3. On this day in 1965: 1st French satellite was launched. France became 3rd nation to launch a satellite.

4. On this day in 1971: The Soviet space program's Mars 2 orbiter released a descent module. It malfunctioned and crashed, but it was the first man-made object to reach the surface of Mars.

 5. On this day in 1979: 1st day-night one-day cricket international was held in Australia between Australia and the West Indies.

 6. On this day in 1993: Lisa Hanna, 18, of Jamaica, was crowned 43rd Miss World.

 7. On this day in 1999: The left-wing Labour Party took control of the New Zealand government with leader Helen Clark. She was the first elected female Prime Minister in New Zealand's history.


 8. On this day in 2001: A hydrogen atmosphere was discovered on the extrasolar planet Osiris by the Hubble Space Telescope, the first atmosphere detected on an extrasolar planet.

26 November 2014 National: 18th SAARC Summit begins The 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation ...

GK & Current Affair Updates: November 26 - 2014









26 November 2014

National:

18th SAARC Summit begins
The 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summit is starting at Kathamandu in Nepal. The theme of the summit is 'Deeper Regional Integration for Peace and Prosperity'. The two-day summit will dwell upon on a number of crucial issues including improving transport connectivity among the member states to ensure greater flow of goods and services for boosting trade and commerce. Meanwhile, Memorandums of Understanding including development of Arun-III Hydroelectric Project, extension of one billion dollars credit, setting up a Nepal Police Academy, Tourism, Traditional Medicines and on Youth Exchange were signed between India and Nepal. Twin-city agreements between Ayodhya and Janakpur, Kathmandu and Varanasi and Lumbini and Bodh Gaya were also signed.

Govt accepts proposal to ban sale of loose cigarettes
The Union government has accepted the proposal to prohibit the sale of loose or single stick of cigarette and increase the minimum legal age for sale of tobacco products. In a written reply, Union Health Minister JP Nadda informed this to Rajya Sabha. The proposal mooted by an expert committee set up by the Health Ministry also recommended increasing the fine or penalty amounts for violations of provisions of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, as well as making such offences cognizable. The Health Ministry had set up a committee headed by former Delhi government Principal Secretary Ramesh Chandra to recommend measures to bring down the consumption of tobacco products and curb their sale.

PM gifts Nepal 200 bed trauma center
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a trauma centre in Nepal. The eight-storey National Trauma Centre at Kathmandu's Bir Hospital has a capacity of 200 beds. He said the trauma centre is the best present of India-Nepal friendship which will help in saving precious lives. He also presented a ‘Dhruv’ helicopter to Nepal at an army function at Tundikhel in Kathmandu. Prime Minister Modi said, from now on, visitors to Nepal can carry 500 and 1000 rupees denomination currency notes upto a limit of Rs 25,000 which was not the case earlier. He also announced the slashing of telephone call rates by 35 per cent from India to Nepal.

1. Book 'Road to the deep north' that won Men's Booker award is written by - Richard Flanagan 2. Why West Indies board...

100 General Awareness & Computer Questions from IBPS PO IV & SBI Associate Exam 2014



1. Book 'Road to the deep north' that won Men's Booker award is written by - Richard Flanagan
2. Why West Indies board cancelled series with india? -Salary disputes between Players and WICB
3. What is the full form of LAN? - Local Area Network
4. Who is the current Vice president of the USA? - Joe Biden
5. What is the full form of BIOS?- Basic Input Output System
6. What are the Stages in Product Life Cycle? -Introduction,Growth,Maturity and Decline
7. Ctrl+s used for? - To save the document
8. Shit+delete used for ? To Permanently delete a file
9. What does letter A dnote in NPA? – Assets
10. What is the full form of ASCII? - American Standard Codes for Information Interchange

1. OLTAS - On-line Tax Accounting System (OLTAS) for Direct Taxes 2. TIN - Tax Information Network (TIN) 3. IMPS - Interbank Mobile Pa...

60 Most Important Abbreviations for Exams

1. OLTAS - On-line Tax Accounting System (OLTAS) for Direct Taxes
2. TIN - Tax Information Network (TIN)
3. IMPS - Interbank Mobile Payment Service (IMPS).
4. CDR- Corporate Debt Restructuring
5. CAD- Capital Account Deficit
6. REITs: Real Estate Investment Trusts
7. InvITs: Infrastructure Investment Trusts
8. ALM- Asset Liability Management
9. AML – Anti Money Laundering
10. KYC – know Your Customer

1. On this day in 1778: In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook became the first European to visi Maui. 2. On this day in 1...

This Day in History: 26th November


1. On this day in 1778: In the Hawaiian Islands, Captain James Cook became the first European to visi Maui.

2. On this day in 1789: A national Thanksgiving Day was observed in the United States as recommended by President George Washington and approved by the Congress. It became an official Federal holiday in 1863.

3. On this day in 1922: Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in over 3000 years.

4. On this day in 1941: President Franklin D Roosevelt signed a bill that established the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

5. On this day in 1949: The Constituent Assembly of India adopted the constitution presented by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.

6. On this day in 1965: In the Hammaguir launch facility in the Sahara Desert, France launched a Diamant-A rocket with its first satellite, Asterix-1, on board.

7. On this day in 1968: United States Air Force helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescued an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire. He was later awarded the Medal of Honor.

8. On this day in 1990: The Delta II rocket made its maiden flight. Delta II was an American space launch system, originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas. Delta II was part of the Delta rocket family and entered service in 1989. Delta II vehicles included the Delta 6000, and two Delta 7000 variants ("Light" and "Heavy").

9. On this day in 1998: Tony Blair became the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to address the Oireachtas, the parliament of the Republic of Ireland.

10. On this day in 2008: Mumbai was attacked by Pakistan-sponsored Lashkar-e-Taiba.

11. On this day in 2012: Mikhail Korniyenko and Scott Kelly, veteran astronauts, were chosen to carry out the first year-long mission to the International Space Station in 2015.

a) ASIAN GAMES 2014 – Incheon (South Korea): The 2014 Asian Games, officially known as the XVII (17th edition) of Asiad  Games. b)...

2014 ASIAN Games at a Glance

a) ASIAN GAMES 2014 – Incheon (South Korea): The 2014 Asian Games, officially known as the XVII (17th edition) of Asiad Games.

b) Mascot of the Asian Games 2014 is the Harbour Seal Siblings - Barame, Chumuro and Vichuon means wind, dance and light in Korean language.

c) The theme of the 2014 Asian Games is Meet Asia’s Future.

d) Motto – Diversity Shines: Here.

e) Sardar Singh, captain of the men’s hockey team is the Indian contingent’s flag bearer at 17th Asian Games

f) Next Asian Games 2018 will be held in – Jakarta, Indonesia.
[Note: Vietnam had originally been picked to host the 18th Games in 2019, but withdrew blaming fallout from an economic crisis. Indonesia immediately became favourites to host the 2018 Asian Games.]
g) China topped in the medal tally in Asian Games.

h) India finished at 8th position in the 2014 Asian Games with 57 medals tally comprising 11 gold, 10 silver and 36 bronze.

25 November 2014 National: Bilal Tanweer wins Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize Lahore-based author Bilal Tanweer’s maiden novel The...

GK & Current Affair Updates: November 25 - 2014


25 November 2014

National:

Bilal Tanweer wins Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize
Lahore-based author Bilal Tanweer’s maiden novel The Scatter Here is Too Great has bagged the 2014 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize. The award carries a cash component of Rs. 2 lakh. His novel was picked from a shortlist of six books by a jury of authors Amit Chaudhuri, Aatish Taseer and Mridula Koshy. All the six books including Tanweer’s have been published by Indian publishers. He was selected as a ‘Granta New Voice’ in 2011. The award will be presented on December 2, 2014.

Legendary Kathak danseuse Sitara Devi passes away
Legendary Kathak danseuse Sitara Devi passed away in Mumbai. She was 94 years old. She was honored with prestigious awards like Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Padma Shri and Kalidas Samman.

C.K. Prasad next PCI chief
The former Supreme Court judge Chandramauli Kumar Prasad has been selected to be the next Chairman of the Press Council of India. Justice Prasad retired in mid-July. The 65-year-old judge will succeed Markanday Katju, whose three-year term ended on October 11.

Rajasthan to adopt self-attestation system
Rajasthan government will introduce a system of self-attestation of documents from January 1, 2015. Rajasthan would be the sixth State after Gujarat, Goa, Kerala, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh to adopt self-attestation system which was mooted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August 2014. The circular further says action against people wilfully filing wrong declaration has been ensured under section 177, 193, 197, 198, 199 and 200 of the Indian Penal Code. These sections include imprisonment from six months to seven years and a fine, or both.

24 November 2014 National: Country observes Guru Teg Bhadur’s Martyrdom Day today Martyrdom Day of 9th Sikh guru, Guru ...

GK & Current Affair Updates: November 24 - 2014









24 November 2014


National:

Country observes Guru Teg Bhadur’s Martyrdom Day today
Martyrdom Day of 9th Sikh guru, Guru Teg Bahadur is being observed. It was on this day in 1675 he sacrificed his life in Chandni Chowk, Delhi on the orders of the Mughal Emperor of the day. Guru Teg Bahadur who is known as “Hind Di Chadder “sacrificed his life for the unity of the society of that period and to stop religious tyranny by the rulers of the day. In Punjab, main religious congregations are being organized at Anandpur Sahib in Ropar district where Guru’s head was cremated and in the Gurudwaras which are related to the memory of 9th Guru. A special journey known as “Rin Uttar Yatra’ to pay gratitude to great guru has started from Anandpur Sahib which will conclude at Gurudwara Sis Ganj Delhi.

Canada province offers uranium
Brad Wall, Premier of the Saskatchewan province in Canada, who was on an official visit to India from November 16-23, said the province is discussing sale of uranium to India as well as partnering in agriculture and clean coal technologies. On energy cooperation, Premier Wall said that like India, Saskatchewan province too depends on coal for about 50 per cent of its needs and to minimise carbon emissions, a clean coal technology has been developed resulting in significant carbon capture and storage. India and China are globally the largest users of coal and shifting to clean coal will contribute to their carbon reduction measures.

IIT-Madras joins CERN experiment
The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment, which is part of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, is famous for its role in the discovery of the Higgs Boson a.k.a the god particle. It is expected to start collecting data once again around March 2015. But this time, it will include another member from our environs — IIT-Madras. IIT-Madras has been accepted as a full member of the collaboration and is looking forward to make best use of the opportunity. Now, PhD students from the physics department will get to work in the collider; undergraduate students can do short summer projects at CMS; members of physics, computer science and electrical engineering departments at IIT-M can work on data analysis, grid computing and high-end detector building related to the experiment.

23 November 2014 National: National Biodiversity Museum to come up in Hyderabad The State capital will soon get...

GK & Current Affair Updates: November 23 - 2014









23 November 2014


National:

National Biodiversity Museum to come up in Hyderabad
The State capital will soon get another important landmark with the Government of India deciding to set up a first-of-its kind National Biodiversity Museum (NBM). The museum is expected to be built in a six-acre site near the 15-acre Bio-diversity Park at Raidurg on the hilly landscape of the Mehdipatnam-Gachibowli stretch at an estimated cost of Rs. 200 crore. The Telangana Government has already agreed to provide land for the prestigious museum and the allotment process is in the final stages, senior officials of the Biodiversity Board, who preferred to remain anonymous. The idea was conceived during the Convention on Biodiversity (CoP-II) held in Hyderabad in 2012.

INS Vikrant fades into history
Despite last ditch attempts by activists and former navy servicemen to save it, INS Vikrant — the county’s first aircraft carrier — has finally faded away into history. In March, the Indian Navy sold Vikrant to a Mumbai-based ship breaking company for Rs. 63 crore.

22 November 2014 National: Obama to be chief guest at Republic Day celebrations In a major sign of the deepenin...

GK & Current Affair Updates: November 22 - 2014









22 November 2014


National:

Obama to be chief guest at Republic Day celebrations
In a major sign of the deepening ties between India and the U.S., Prime Minister Modi has invited President Obama to be the chief guest at the Republic Day ceremony in year 2015. Invitation was delivered by Prime Minister Modi during his visit to Myanmar and Australia, when he met with President Obama at the East Asia summit and the G-20 meeting of world leaders.

Anointment of Naib Imam has no legal sanctity
While observing that the ‘dastarbandi’ ceremony scheduled in Jama Masjid would not amount to anointment of Shahi Imam Syed Bukhari’s youngest son as the Naib Imam, the Delhi High Court said the Delhi Waqf Board had not accorded legal sanctity to the ceremony. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw, hearing a bunch of public interest petitions challenging the ‘dastarbandi’, said Mr. Bukhari had no right in law or otherwise to anoint his son as his deputy. The Court noted that the Waqf Act, 1995, provides only for the appointment of a ‘mutawalli’ (caretaker) and contains no provision for appointment of Imam of Waqf properties, even if it is a mosque.

Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system introduced
The Centre government has introduced Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system in its offices across the country. The system will be installed at all the offices in Delhi by December 31. At other places it may be installed by the Republic Day, January 26, 2015. The manual system of attendance would be phased out accordingly. The equipment will be procured by the Ministries/departments as per specifications of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) on the Directorate-General of Supplies and Disposals rate contract from authorised vendors. The DeitY will provide technical guidance for installing the system. The equipment already procured by DeitY have a built-in Annual Maintenance Contract of three years.