General Awareness Test (March - 15) - Set 2

1)   Which state government is contemplating on framing a law under which registration of pregnancy would be made compulsory within first three months of pregnancy?

a. Haryana
b. Karnataka
c. Uttar Pradesh
d. Maharashtra
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Haryana

Explanation:
The aim of the law is to check female foeticide in the state. Haryana government has also decided to give cash prize of one lakh rupees to a person giving information about sex determination cases and of those indulging in practice of female foeticide


2)   Name the country's umbrella body for all retail payments system that has reached a new milestone with successful linking of 15 crore bank accounts with the Aadhaar numbers?

a. National Retail Corporation
b. Reserve bank of India
c. National Securities Depository Ltd
d. National Payments Corporation
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: National Payments Corporation

Explanation:
NPCI chief A P Hota, in a statement said this electronic benefit transfer programme will not only be unique but also be one of the largest in the world. NPCI is the nodal agency for all retail payment system under the Jan Dhan scheme.


3)   Name the project which will be the first transit oriented development (TOD) smart city in Delhi?

a. South Delhi Hub Project
b. Combine Delhi Hub Project
c. East Delhi Hub Project
d. Unique Delhi Hub Project
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Unique Delhi Hub Project

Explanation:
An agreement for developing the first smart sub-city in East Delhi was signed between National Building Construction Corporation Ltd (NBCC) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on 4 March 2015. The sub-city will be pedestrian-friendly, integrated by multiple modes of transport, walk to work concept, reducing the need to travel for daily needs.


4)   Which day was celebrated as Safe Motherhood Day as announced by Health Ministry of India?

a. 7th March
b. 8th March
c. 9th March
d. 10th March
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: 8th March

Explanation:
8th March is also celebrated as International Women’s Day. Hence this day would be celebrated as Safe Motherhood Day.


5)   As per the Mercer’s Quality of Living Report 2015, which city has the world’s best quality of living?

a. New York
b. Tokyo
c. Vienna
d. Canberra
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Vienna

Explanation:
Zurich, Auckland and Munich are in second, third, and fourth place respectively. In fifth place, Vancouver is the highest-ranking city in North America and the region’s only city in the top 10. Singapore (26) is the highest-ranking Asian city, whereas Dubai (74) ranks first across the Middle East and Africa. Montevideo in Uruguay (78) takes the top spot for South America.


6)   As per the Mercer’s Quality of Living Report 2015, which Indian City has the best quality of living?

a. Mumbai
b. New Delhi
c. Pune
d. Hyderabad
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Hyderabad

Explanation:
In South Asia, Colombo (132), ranks highest and is followed by emerging Indian cities Hyderabad (138) and Pune (145). Both cities rank higher for quality of living than the country’s more traditional business centres, Mumbai (152) and New Delhi (154).


7)   Name the person re-nominated as the Alternate Executive Director of International Monetary Fund?

a. Kewal Sharma
b. Sunil Sabhrawal
c. Rahul Jindal
d. None of these
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Sunil Sabhrawal

Explanation:
He is an independent business investor and advisor of Indian-Hungarian descent who escaped from The People's Republic of Hungary in 1983 and returned in 1992 after the collapse of communism to set up the Budapest office of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).


8)   Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni becomes the most successful captain in terms of ODI victories on foreign shores. He surpassed the record of _____.

a. Kapil Dev
b. Mohd. Azharudeen
c. Sunil Gavaskar
d. Sourav Ganguly
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Sourav Ganguly

Explanation:
Under his leadership, India won the 2007 World T20 and the 2011 World Cup at home, besides the Champions Trophy in England two years ago. Dhoni record his 59th ODI victory away from home as captain, beating Sourav Ganguly's record of 58 wins in 110 matches.


9)   Which state has launched the ‘Aapki Beti, Hamari Beti’ scheme on the occasion of Int’l Women’s Day?

a. Delhi
b. Haryana
c. Madhya Pradesh
d. Maharashtra
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Haryana

Explanation:
On International Women Day in a state level function at Panchkula, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal khattar on 8th Mar’15 launched several schemes to improve sex ratio in the state. These schemes include "Aapki Beti Hamari Beti", Haryana Kanya Kosh of 100 crore rupees and "Haryana Kuposhan Mission".


10)   Name the separatist leader of Jammu & Kashmir released from the jail by Jammu & Kashmir Government?

a. Shahid Mansoor
b. Masarat Alam
c. Mohamed Aamir
d. Alam Maqsud
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Masarat Alam

Explanation:
Masarat Alam was responsible for widespread anti-India protests and unprecedented stone pelting incidents in Jammu and Kashmir in 2010 that led to death of 112 people.


11)   Name the senior journalist and editorial chairman of Outlook Magazine who passed away in New Delhi on 8th Mar’15?

a. Harshad Mehta
b. Mayank Gandhi
c. Sanjay Gupta
d. Vinod Mehta
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Vinod Mehta

Explanation:
The 72-year-old journalist was the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the magazine. One of the eminent journalists of the country, Mehta has been editor of several publications, including Pioneer, The Sunday Observer, The Independent and The Indian Post.


12)   Which State’s Archives body is publishing three volumes of rare documents on Shaheed Bhagat Singh?

a. Haryana
b. Punjab
c. Bihar
d. Delhi
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Bihar

Explanation:
Rare documents and images, including a graphic depiction of the hanging of Bhagat Singh and his two aides Rajguru and Sukhdev, which were banned during the colonial era, are now being published in three huge volumes by the Bihar State Archives, BSA.


13)   By what percent, the Foreign Direct Investment into the services sector increased during April - Dec’2014?

a. 15%
b. 50%
c. 33%
d. 44%
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: 44%

Explanation:
The Foreign Direct Investment into the services sector jumped 44 per cent to 2.29 billion dollars in the April to December period of the current fiscal. The services sector contributes over 60 percent to India’s GDP.


14)   Name the player who became the winner of the women’s singles All England Badminton Championship on 8th Mar’15?

a. Saina Nehwal
b. P V Sindhu
c. Carolina Marin
d. None of these
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Carolina Marin

Explanation:
In the women's final, world champion Carolina Marin of Spain fought back from a set down to beat India's Saina Nehwal.


15)   Name the player who became the winner of the Men’s singles All England Badminton Championship on 8th Mar’15?

a. Jan Jorgensen
b. Chen Long
c. Zhao Yunlei
d. Tontowi Ahmad
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Chen Long

Explanation:
World champion Chen Long of China beat Jan Jorgensen in the final of the All England Championship in Birmingham.


16)   Name the awards presented by the President of India on the occasion of International Women’s Day?

a. Naari Samman Puruskar
b. Naari Shasakt Samman
c. Stree Shakti Puruskar & Naari Shakti Puruskar
d. All the above
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Stree Shakti Puruskar & Naari Shakti Puruskar

Explanation:
The President congratulated the winners of Stree Shakti and Nari Shakti Puruskar and thanked the Ministry of Women and Child Development for organizing this event and encouraging the distinguished awardees to work towards a noble cause.


17)    The first Indo-Nepal Friendship Motor Rally which was flagged off at Puri, Odisha on February 27 concluded at which place on 8th Mar’15?

a. Kathmandu
b. Gateway of India
c. Beijing
d. India Gate
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: India Gate

Explanation:
Twenty four teams and about 90 participants from India and Nepal covered 3060 Km during the ten-day rally in both countries. The rally aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between India and Nepal and spreading message of road safety.


18)   Shri G. Karthikeyan, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly passed away on 7th Mar’15. He was the speaker of which state’s assembly?

a. Karnataka
b. Assam
c. Rajasthan
d. Kerala
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Kerala

Explanation:
Shri Karthikeyan made immense contribution to the State of Kerala as a senior Congress leader, six term MLA, Minister and Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly.


19)   Name the company that announced the acquisition of management control of Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company Ltd (PDOE) for 2082.3 Crore rupees?

a. ONGC
b. Reliance Infrastructure Ltd
c. Tata Consultancy Services
d. ESSAR
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Reliance Infrastructure Ltd

Explanation:
After the change in management and control, the company will be renamed Reliance Defence Ltd. and Anil Ambani will be its Chairman.


20)   Which bank became the first major bank to announce rate cut after RBI’s second Repo rate cut of the year was announced on March’2015?

a. State Bank of Travancore
b. State Bank of India
c. Punjab National Bank
d. ICICI Bank
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: State Bank of Travancore

Explanation:
It is a associate bank of the State Bank Group announced a 10 basis-point cut in the base rate to 10.15% on 8th Mar’15.


21)   Name the player who became the first batsman to score hundreds in three consecutive World Cup matches?

a. Glen Maxwell
b. Chris Gayle
c. Kumar Sangakkara
d. Sachin Tendulkar
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Kumar Sangakkara

Explanation:
He scored his century against Australia on 8th Mar’15 in the ICC World Cup.


22)   Upto what limit Reserve Bank of India eased the norms for home loans by allowing banks to include stamp duty and registration charges to the cost of a unit?

a. 20 Lakh
b. 10 Lakh
c. 15 Lakh
d. 30 Lakh
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: 10 Lakh

Explanation:
At present, Banks do not include stamp duty, registration and other documentation charges in the cost of housing property.


23)   Against which virus PM Narendra Modi has launched the first indigenously developed and manufactured vaccine on 9th Mar’15?

a. Swineflu
b. H1N1
c. Rotavirus
d. HIV
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Rotavirus

Explanation:
The Rotavirus vaccine will boost efforts to combat infant mortality due to Diarrhoea. Each year, Diarrhoea caused by rotavirus causes 10 lakh hospitalizations and kills nearly 80 thousand children under the age of 5 years.


24)   On 9thMar’15, Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi was removed as the President of which state’s Cricket Association?

a. Rajasthan
b. Maharashtra
c. Gujarat
d. Delhi
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Rajasthan

Explanation:
A no-confidence motion was passed against him by office bearers of the rival Amin Pathan group in an Extraordinary General Body Meeting in Jaipur.


25)   Which country expelled a senior North Korean diplomat on 9th Mar’15 after he was caught smuggling 1.4 million US dollars worth of gold?

a. South Korea
b. Saudi Arabia
c. Qatar
d. Bangladesh
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Bangladesh

Explanation:
Bangladeshi customs officers found Son Young Nam, the First Secretary of the North Korean Embassy in Dhaka, trying to smuggle 27 kg of gold into the country on Friday. North Korea is under tight international sanctions that restrict its ability to move money through conventional means.


26)   Name the Sri Lankan Cricketer who announced his retirement from Test Cricket after the three match series against India in Aug’15?

a. Mahela Jayawardhane
b. Lasith Malinga
c. Kumar Sangakkara
d. Dilhara Fernando
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Kumar Sangakkara

Explanation:
The 37-year-old, who has been in prime form in the ongoing World Cup has already announced his retirement from One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty-20 cricket. He became only the second batsman to complete 14,000 runs in the 50-over format.


27)   CISF Raising Day 2015 is celebrated on _____.

a. 9th March
b. 10th March
c. 11th March
d. 12th March
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: 10th March

Explanation:
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is celebrating its 46th Raising Day on 10th March, 2015.


28)   Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi formally launched ‘Beti bachao, Beti Padhao’ in Northeast and selected the district in Mizoram among 100 districts from across India for this unique initiative. Which district was selected in Mizoram?

a. Aizawl
b. Lunglei
c. Champai
d. Saiha
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Saiha

Explanation:
No explanation is available for this question!


29)   Name the new schemes launched by the government to promote tourism in India?

a. PARYATAN
b. PARIVARTAN
c. PRASAD
d. PRASAD & SWADESH DARSHAN
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: PRASAD & SWADESH DARSHAN

Explanation:
National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) and SWADESH DARSHAN are the two new schemes of Govt. of India. Under PRASAD, initially, twelve cities namely Amritsar, Ajmer, Amaravati, Dwaraka, Gaya, Kanchipuram, Kedarnath, Kamakhya, Mathura, Puri, Varanasi and Vellankani have been identified for development.


30)   Which edition of Surya Kiran exercise concluded between India and Nepal on 7th Mar’15?

a. Sixth
b. Seventh
c. Eight
d. Tenth
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Eight

Explanation:
The exercise was conducted under the aegis of Nepalese Army and it had started on 23 February 2015 and concluded at Salijhandi, Nepal.


31)   Which state of India won the silver prize of Golden Gate award at the Internationale Tourismus-Borse Berlin (ITB-Berlin) 2015, Germany?

a. Rajasthan
b. Delhi
c. Goa
d. Kerala
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Kerala

Explanation:
Kerala won the award for its global multimedia campaign to promote the backwaters of Kerala.


32)   Which edition of the Delhi Dialogue began in New Delhi on 11th Mar’15?

a. Second
b. Tenth
c. Seventh
d. Third
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Seventh

Explanation:
The dialogue process, aimed at further strengthening the ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership will brainstorm on all aspects of the relationship. The theme of this year’s conference is 'ASEAN-India: Shaping the Post 2015 Agenda'.


33)   Name the aircraft that became the first to fly day and night without a drop of fuel, propelled solely by the sun’s energy?

a. Solar Plane
b. Solar Impulse-2
c. Solar Impulse-3
d. SunCraft-2
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Solar Impulse-2

Explanation:
On 9th mar’15 Solar Impulse-2 took off from Abu Dhabi on its 5-month long journey in which it will skip from continent to continent, crossing both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans in the process. Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard are the two pilots of this mission.


34)   Name the country that topped the list of world’s biggest weapons importer in 2014 as disclosed by research company IHS on 8th Mar’15?

a. Iraq
b. India
c. China
d. Saudi Arabia
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Saudi Arabia

Explanation:
The top five importers in 2014 were Saudi Arabia, India, China, UAE and Taiwan.


35)   Name the former union minister who was awarded with the prestigious Saraswati Samman 2014 for his Kannada poem Ramayana Mahanveshanam?

a. R.V. Deshpande
b. Siddaramaiah
c. T. Parmeshwar Naik
d. M. Veerapa Moily
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: M. Veerapa Moily

Explanation:
Saraswati Samman was established by the KK Birla Foundation in 1991.


36)   With which e-commerce Company, has India’s real estate company has tied-up to sell it apartments?

a. Flipkart
b. Amazon
c. Snapdeal
d. Commonfloor
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Snapdeal

Explanation:
No explanation is available for this question!


37)   Name the web portal launched to facilitate Monitoring of Supply of Cement and Expedite its purchase?

a. Cement Monitor
b. INAM-PRO
c. INFRA-PRO
d. None of these
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: INAM-PRO

Explanation:
“INAM-PRO” is a web based application (www.inampro.nic.in) for Infrastructure and Materials Providers and would act as a common platform for Infrastructure materials providers’ viz. Cement Companies, Infrastructure providers, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and other stakeholders.


38)   In which state First Kisan Call Centre (KCC) of North-East was opened on 9th Mar’15?

a. Tripura
b. Assam
c. Manipur
d. Mizoram
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Tripura

Explanation:
KCC was financed by the Tripura government. It will be run by a private enterprise with experts of agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and animal husbandry.


39)   Which state has launched the ‘Bhagyashree’ Scheme for Girl child on 8th Mar’15?

a. West Bengal
b. Bihar
c. Gujarat
d. Maharashtra
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Maharashtra

Explanation:
Bollywood actress Bhagyashree is the brand ambassador of the scheme. The Bhagyashree scheme aims at providing one lakh rupee on maturity after the girl completes 18 years of age.


40)   Name the Indian company which was chosen as the top employer in Europe for the third consecutive year by Top Employers Institute, the renowned employers’ certification agency?

a. Wipro
b. Infosys
c. TCS
d. Larsen & Toubro
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: TCS

Explanation:
The TCS was ranked as the overall number one in a process that assessed 688 organisations across Europe.