General Awareness Test (July - 15) - Set 5

ANSWER: Raghuvir Singh ‘Arvind’

Explanation:
The book highlights that Raja Mahendra Pratap never compromised with his political thoughts and was very influenced with the Gadar Revolution of 1913-15. He migrated to Afghanistan leaving all his lands and properties in India and in 1915 he established first provincial Government of India in Kabul along with his accomplice Barkatullah Khan and Maulavi Abaidullah Sindhi. He returned to India after World War –II when India was about to get Independence. He was of the view of the formation of a Great Union from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka which was not possible due to partition.

ANSWER: Civil Aviation

Explanation:
The MoU will help in deepening the bilateral cooperation and enhancing the experience and technical knowledge in the field of Civil Aviation between India and Canada.

ANSWER: World Bank

Explanation:
The objective of the project is to restore, improve and enhance resilience of public services, environmental facilities, and livelihoods in targeted Communities of Andhra Pradesh, and increase the capacity of the State to respond promptly and effectively to an eligible crisis or emergency.

ANSWER: Repealing and Amending (Fourth) Bill, 2015

Explanation:
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on 16th July’15 gave its ex-post facto approval for Repealing and Amending (Third) Bill, 2015, which was introduced in Lok Sabha on 13th May, 2015 for repealing 187 Acts. The Cabinet also approved introduction of a new Bill, namely, the Repealing and Amending (Fourth) Bill, 2015 in the Lok Sabha for the repeal of 295 Acts, identified for repeal by the concerned Ministries/Departments and the Legislative Department.

ANSWER: RailTel

Explanation:
This award is organized by The Institute of Cost Accounts of India. RailTel has won the award in the category of Public- Service Sector (Medium). RailTel Corporation a "Mini Ratna (Category-I)" PSU is one of the largest neutral telecom services providers in the country owning a Pan-India optic fiber network covering all important towns & cities of the country and several rural areas covering 70% of India’s population.

ANSWER: Raipur

Explanation:
The One Stop Centre at Raipur is located in the premises District Hospital, Raipur. It will provide access to integrated range of services under one roof including medical aid, police assistance, legal aid/case management, psychosocial counseling, temporary support services to women affected by violence.

ANSWER: Deepak Mohanty

Explanation:
Deepak Mohanty is the RBI Executive Director. The Committee will work to spread the reach of financial services to unbanked population. The committee was constituted in reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address on the occasion of the Reserve Bank’s 80th anniversary wherein he asked the Bank to take the lead in encouraging financial institutions and to set a medium-to-long term target for sustainable financial inclusion.

ANSWER: 563 lakh hectare

Explanation:
Crops sowing data released by the Agriculture Ministry reveals that the total area of over 563 lakh hectare has been covered till date as against 346 lakh hectare at this time last year. Rice has been sown in over 132-lakh hectare, which is about six-lakh hectare more than last year. About 56 lakh hectare area has been covered under the cultivation of pulses which is more than double of the sown area under the crop last year.

ANSWER: 18th July

Explanation:
Nelson Mandela International Day (or Mandela Day) is an annual international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on 18 July, Mandela's birthday. The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day held on 18 July 2010.

ANSWER: Carlos Chavez

Explanation:
Carlos Chavez is also the treasurer of the South American Football Confederation, Conmebol. He is accused of alleged corruption in the management of resources. Bolivia began investigating its football federation after a major corruption scandal broke out involving the sport's world governing body FIFA.

ANSWER: Tiruchirapalli

Explanation:
The RVTIs are being established all over the country by central government’s Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. There are till now 11 RVTIs all over India including Tura, Hissar, Jaipur, Kolkata, Bangalore, Mumbai and the twelfth one has been started now in Trichy.

ANSWER: China

Explanation:
Rajiv Mohan Kulshrestha, who travelled along with 19 other foreigners from Gift of the Givers, a South African charity, was taken into custody at Ordos’s in China’s Inner Mongolia province on July 10 for allegedly watching videos of a banned terror group in their hotel rooms.

ANSWER: Limited public following

Explanation:
As the championship has been scrapped, the 2015 CLT20, scheduled for September and October, will not go ahead as planned. The GC consists of representatives of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket South Africa (CSA) and Cricket Australia (CA). CLT20 is an annual international Twenty20 cricket competition played between the top domestic teams from major cricketing nations and was launched in 2008 with the first edition held in October 2009.

ANSWER: Sunita Viswanath

Explanation:
She was selected for her work to encourage Hindus to take care of the environment. She was among 12 other faith leaders who were awarded for their efforts in protecting environment and communities from the effects of climate change.

ANSWER: 229

Explanation:
Out of total 300 strength of the unicameral legislature, the legislation was approved with 229 votes in favor, 64 against and six abstentions and won the support of three pro-European opposition parties. The approval of legislation by the Parliament gives much needed relief to Greece as people have been reeling under severe capital controls as their ATM withdrawals limited to 60 euro per day and banks and the stock exchange shut since 29 June 2015.

ANSWER: 31 years

Explanation:
It was commissioned in Indian Navy in 1984 at Visakhapatnam.

ANSWER: Seven

Explanation:
The seven states include Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. In this seven states, activities envisaged under the project includes establishment of 48 new Grid sub-stations of different voltage levels with total transformation capacity around 17100 MVA (Mega Volt Ampere) by installing over 7800 ckt-kms (Circuit Kilometers) of transmission lines.

ANSWER: Panagariya Committee

Explanation:
The expert group will be chaired Arvind Panagariya, Vice-Chairperson of NITI Aayog and will be serviced by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and Ministry of Tribal Welfare. The approval was given in lieu of the failure of the states in consolidating different categories and is in line with the one taken by the UPA government on 19 May 2011.

ANSWER: Swiss Challenge Method

Explanation:
Swiss Challenge Method means a Private Sector Participant submits an unsolicited or suo-motu proposal and draft contract principles for undertaking a project, not already initiated by the Government Agency or the Local Authority. The Government Agency or the Local Authority then invites competitive counter proposals in such manner as may be prescribed by the Government.

ANSWER: A K Bhargava Committee

Explanation:
The Committee unhesitatingly recommended for adherence of the core principles of Net Neutrality, it also suggested few exceptions in the interests of national security and businesses.

ANSWER: Three

Explanation:
The direction has been given against the backdrop of government expressing concern over adverse impact of any reduction in direct credit, given the adverse weather conditions. To increase direct lending to agriculture, the RBI in April 2015 revised the target for direct lending to small and marginal farmers under priority sector norms to 7 percent for 2015-16 and to 8 percent for 2016-17.

ANSWER: 46th

Explanation:
The two day Conference will deliberate on social security for workers, both in organised and unorganised sectors, and job creation. Prime Minister will dedicate the National Career Service, NCS portal to the nation and launch health reforms of the Employees' State Insurance Corporation of India, ESIC on the occasion.

ANSWER: J&K High Court

Explanation:
The observation was made by the bench comprising Justices M A Attar and A M Magray while ruling that the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002 cannot be enforced in the state. It was enacted by Indian Parliament in 2002.

ANSWER: Meghalaya

Explanation:
The marathon, named after the Cherrapunji’s historical name Sohra, started and ended at Mawkdok crossing through 13 destinations. It witnessed the participation of thousands of people from all walks of life including ministers, bureaucrats, officials, bankers, policemen, tourists, parents, children and persons with disabilities.

ANSWER: 3 weeks

Explanation:
Greeks will be able to withdraw 420 euros a week at once instead of just 60 euros a day, but the limit will effectively remain the same and capital controls will also stay in place. The shutdown is estimated to have cost the economy some 3 billion euros in market shortages and export disruption. Greece prepared yesterday to restart its struggling economy with a revamped government, a bank reboot and a new round of tax hikes agreed after months of fraught confrontation with its creditors.

ANSWER: Iran-Nuclear Deal

Explanation:
With all five permanent members of the Security Council involved in the marathon negotiations with Iran, the resolution's adoption is almost certain. The UN vote will come as US lawmakers begin their own review of the historic deal. The Obama administration sent the nuclear agreement to Congress.

ANSWER: Urdu

Explanation:
He was a prolific writer who penned more than a dozen fiction books in Urdu. Retired as director from state PWD of Uttar Pradesh, he was a native of a place near Pakistan's Faisalabad and migrated to India after partition. He was awarded with ' Urdu Hindi Sahitya Akademi Award' in 1996. He was best known for his 'Afsana Nigari', the fiction writing form in Urdu.

ANSWER: Delhi

Explanation:
The clinic has been set up at a very low cost of around Rs 15 to Rs 20 lakh, whereas earlier a dispensary used to cost much higher. The Chief Minister said that the clinics will be able to cure 95 percent of the patients and will reduce the rush at hospitals.

ANSWER: 1512

Explanation:
This helpline will serve as a very useful mechanism for rail passengers. Any person can make calls on this all-India Helpline Number from anywhere across the country.

ANSWER: Prashant Pathrabe

Explanation:
He succeeded incumbent Director DJ Narain who superannuated the office on 4 July 2015. He is Maharashtra-based senior Indian Information Service (IIS) officer of 1992 batch.

ANSWER: Sri Lanka

Explanation:
Under the arrangement, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka can draw up to 1.1 billion US dollar for a maximum period of six months. This special arrangement is in addition to the existing Framework on Currency Swap Arrangement for the SAARC Member Countries.

ANSWER: NCS

Explanation:
The move is aimed at modernising all government-run employment exchanges and providing an online platform to job seekers and employers. According to a Labour Ministry press release stating way forward for the NCS project, the government has planned integration (of portal) with CBSE database for verification of candidate academic performance. Under the NCS project, Labour Ministry is transforming the National Employment Service comprising a network of 978 employment exchanges into NCS by leveraging information technology to improve the delivery of services.

ANSWER: Haryana

Explanation:
While laying the foundation stones of Ambala-Kaithal and Yamunanagr -Barwala four lane highways at Saha in district Ambala, Mr Gadkari announced that road projects costing Rs 25,000 crore would be initiated in the State by December 2015.

ANSWER: Kailash Satyarthi

Explanation:
Noble laureate Kailash Satyarthi said that his organization Kailash Satyarthi Children Foundation will launch campaign for the uplift of 100 million deprived children. Delivering the K K Handiqui memorial lecture in Guwahati on 20th July’15, he appealed youth to be the part of his campaign.

ANSWER: Amitabh Bachchan

Explanation:
Amitabh Bachchan said in a statement that he neither entered into any contract with Doordarshan, for DD Kisan, nor did he receive any money from them. There were reports that Bachchan was roped in for Rs 6.31 crore in the most expensive endorsement deal ever by an actor.

ANSWER: Swati Maliwal

Explanation:
Mrs Maliwal, wife of AAP leader Navin Jaihind, has been associated with Arvind Kejriwal since India Against Corruption days. She was working as adviser to Delhi Chief Minister on public grievances and handling Janta Samwad, before assuming the new responsibility. Promila Gupta, Farheen Malik and Sarika Chaudhary are members of the commission.

ANSWER: Haryana

Explanation:
However, the fuel pumps, which are directly owned by oil companies like Indian Oil, BPCL and HPCL, are open. The petroleum dealers are demanding that tax on diesel should be lowered by 1-2 percent than the rates prevailing in neighbouring states. Dealers have been demanding removal of 5 percent surcharge on VAT and landing cost of crude oil at Panipat refinery from the state government.

ANSWER: Both B and C

Explanation:
BCCI has decided to change the format of the Deodhar Trophy Inter-zonal one day tournament making it into a three-team affair from current five zones vying for top spot. The BCCI decided to implement the suggestions given by the Anil Kumble-led technical committee where in the Deodhar Trophy will feature four 50-overs matches across five days between 24th January to 28th January. Just like Challenger series, the Vijay Hazare Trophy champions will be one of the teams. It will compete with two other teams which will be selected by the national selectors from the performance of Vijay Hazare Trophy.

ANSWER: Sepp Blatter

Explanation:
FIFA will hold a special election on February 26 to replace President Sepp Blatter, football's scandal-tainted world body said as French football great Michel Platini moved closer to launching a campaign.

ANSWER: Paul Van Ass

Explanation:
The outspoken Dutchman says he was conveyed that his services were no longer required. Van Ass told PTI from The Netherlands that he was fired one week after the Hockey World League Semi-finals in Antwerp, Belgium. He, however clarified that he is yet to get official confirmation. Hockey India has outrightly denied that Van Ass has been sacked and said that he had not reported for his duty on the stipulated date.