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April 2, 2014

1) The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) on 1 April 2014 released its
monetary policy statement in which
left the short-term lending rate and
the cash reserve ratios were
unchanged. What was an important
aspect associated
with announcement of this policy
statement? This was RBIs first
bimonthly monetary policy
statement (Prior to this the RBI
used to announce monetary
policystatements for three months)

2) In its first bi-monthly monetary
policy statement issued on 1 April
2014, the RBIannounced which
major relief for saving bank
account holders? It asked banks
to cut down services on low-
balance accounts and do away
with fines (In this regard the RBI
said that it proposes to frame
comprehensive consumer
protection regulations based on
domestic experience and best
global banking practices. Instead of
levying penal charges for non-
maintenance of minimum balance
in ordinary savings bank accounts,
banks should limitservices
available on such accounts to those
available to basic savings bank
deposit accounts and restore the
services when the balances improve
to the minimum required level)

3) Which communication satellite
of India expired recently after
being in the orbit for around ten-
and-a-half years? - INSAT-
3E (INSAT-3E was a third-
generation satellite which was
launched during September 2003. It
was built to last 15 years)

4) Which country was forbidden
from whale-hunting and grant of
further whaling permits by the
International Court of Justice (ICJ)


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in its judgment of 31 March 2014?
Japan (The ICJ in its ruling said
that Japans whaling program is not
for scientific purposes and thus
forbade the granting of further
permits to it)

5) Nancy Powell, who resigned as
the Ambassador of the United
States to India on 31 March 2014,
was appointed Ambassador in
which year? In 2012 (Her
resignation followed a row over the
arrest of a junior Indian diplomat
Devyani Khobragade in New York.
This issue pushed relations between
India and the US to their lowest
ebb in more than a decade)

6) Who was appointed as the third
arbitrator in the dispute between
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)
and the petroleum ministry by
the Supreme Court on 31 March
2014? - James Spigelman (James
Spigelman is a former chief justice
of the New South Wales Supreme
Court. The other two arbitrators in
this case are Justices (retd.) VN
Khare and (retd.) S.P. Bharucha)

7) What is the name of the 14-year
old Indian-American student who
came to limelight after he
suggested to the US government
that it could save $136 million a
year by simply switching fonts
from Times New Roman to
Garamond ingovernment printing?
- Suvir Mirchandani (He came up
with this suggestion after analysing
ink use for his school project and
later expanded his research to
government, which spends a
whopping $1.8 billion annually on
printing)

8) Which government department
of India was chosen for UN
Environment Programmes
(UNEPs) prestigious ECA Ozone
Protection Award for Customs
& Enforcement Officers (3rd
Edition) as announced during
March 2014? - Directorate of
Revenue Intelligence (DRI) DRI
was chosen for its record seizure of
over 2.4 lakh kg of ozone-depleting
restricted refrigeration gas R-22
being smuggled into India. DRI is
Indias premier intelligence agency
dealing with matters relating to
violation of customs law)

9) Who took over as the new
Chairman of Tata group firm Trent
Ltd on 31 march 2014? - Noel N
Tata (Noel Tata, who has been
Vice-Chairman of the company,


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assumed the new role following the
retirement of F H Kavarana.
Established in 1998, Trent runs
lifestyle chain Westside,
hypermarket chain Star Bazaar
and Landmark, a books and music
chain)
10) Which domestic airline
company on 1 April
2014 announced offering a chance
of travelling at a base fare of Rs 1,
an announcement which was later
forced to be withdrawn by the
Directorate General of Civil
Aviation (DGCA)?
SpiceJet (SpiceJet announced the
bonanza for domestic air travellers
under which they were offered a
chance of travelling at a base fare
of Rs 1. The actual cost of travel
however would have been more as
a traveller will also have to pay
statutory taxes. Indian domestic
aviation regulator DGCA felt that
by pricing the ticket at Rs. 1, the
airline was selling its tickets below
cost, which was a predatory
practice)

April 3, 2014

1) The Reserve Bank of India on 2
April 2014 granted in-principle
approval of bank licences to
which two entitites? IDFC
Limited and Bandhan Financial
Services Private Limited(These
two firms pipped to post 23 other
applicants, which included some
well-known financial and
industrial houses like Muthoot
Finance, Reliance Capital, Tata
Sons, IFCI, Aditya Birla Nuvo,
Bajaj Finserv, LIC Housing
Finance, L&T Finance Holdings
and Shriram Capital. IDFC was
established in 1997 and acts as a
specialized financial intermediary
for infrastructure projects.
Bandhan Financial is Indias
largest micro finance institution
with over 4.5 lakh borrowers and
was set up in 2002)

2) The Finance Ministry released
a draft of the Direct Taxes Code


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(DTC) on 1 April 2014. This draft
focuses on raising more revenue
from high net worth individuals,
while leaving the slabs unchanged
for others. In this draft high slab
of income-tax has been
proposed for individualsand
Hindu Undivided Family (HUF)
belonging to super-rich
category. What is the criterion of
income for this super-rich
category? Annualincome above
Rs. 10 crore

3) What is the proposed tax slab
for super-rich individuals and
Hindu Undivided Family (HUF)
inthe draft of the Direct Taxes
Code (DTC), which was released
on 1 April 2014? 35%

4) What is the proposed additional
tax on those earning over Rs 1
crore through dividend income
in the draft of the Direct Taxes
Code (DTC), which was released
on 1 April 2014? 10%

5) According to the
latest Annual Survey of Industries
(ASI) findings for 2011-12, which
state of India had the maximum
number of factories? Tamil
Nadu (According to this report,
Tamil Nadu had the maximum
number of factories during 2011-
12, accounting for 17% of the
2.17 lakh units in India. It was
followed by Maharashtra (13% of
the total factories), Andhra
Pradesh (12.7%), Gujarat (10.2%)
and Uttar Pradesh (6.5%).
However, the report is yet to be
made public by the Central
Statistics Office)

6) Oil Ministry recently rejected
British energy major BP
plc.s application for which
category of fuel market, for which
the company had submitted
its application through BP
Explorer (Alpha) Ltd during
December 2013? Aviation Fuel
market or Aviation Turbine
Fuel (ATF) market (The Oil
Ministry rejected BPs application
for the lucrative ATF market
saying the company did not fulfill
conditions for retailing
transportation fuel. BP has an
MoU with state-run Indian Oil
Corporation (IOC) for
collaboration in jet fuel retailing.
IOC has the largest ATF service
network in the country at present.
The government is also in the


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process of opening up the aircraft
re-fuelling infrastructure of the
country)

7) What is the approximate
number of US citizens who signed
up for President Barack Obamas
highly ambitious health care
programme, the deadline for
which ended on 31 March 2014?
7.1 million (The White House on
1 April 2014 announced that
around 7.1 million Americans
have signed this health care
programme, which is officially
known as The Affordable Care
Act. About 50 million Americans
lacked health care coverage as the
law began taking effect, and
supporters hope it will
significantly reduce the ranks of
the uninsured)

8) Which countrys highest court
on 2 April 2014 gave official
recognition to a third category of
sex other than male or female?
Australia (The High Court of
Australia gave its ruling on a case
brought by Norrie May-Welby,
who identifies as neuter, and had
fought for years to have an option
other than male or female on
official records, preferring the
term non-specific. The ruling
only applies to what a person can
put on their official certificate for
births, deaths and marriages.
Eleven years ago Australia issued
the first passport to a person of
indeterminate sex with just an X
marked in the gender column)
April 4, 2014
1) Which firm became the first
Indian retail e-commerce to file
for an initial public offering (IPO)
on NASDAQ and to be listed on
this US stock exchange?
HomeShop18 (Homeshop18 has
filed for a $75 million (Rs. 460
crore) IPO on NASDAQ via its
venture NW18 HSN holding.
With this it became the first
ecommerce firms in India to hit
the capital market in the US.
Other Indian e-commerce
companies such as Flipkart and
Snapdeal are also going through
their due diligence for getting
listed on the US stock exchange)



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2) The UNHCR (United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees)
on 3 April 2014 stated that
the number of Syrian refugees in
Lebanon has reached a new
milestone mark. The UNHCR also
called it a devastating milestone
for the tiny Arab country with
depleted resources and an
explosive sectarian mix of its
own. What milestone is this? 1
million (The UNHCR (also
known as the UN Refugee
Agency) stated that this milestone
figure of 1 million refugees is a
huge burden for Lebanon, which
has 4.5 million people)

3) Union Minister K. Sambasiva
Rao, who tendered his resignation
to the Prime Minister on 3 April
2014, was holding which
portfolio? Union Textiles
Minister (Rao was upset over the
division of Andhra Pradesh for the
creation of a separate state of
Telangana. He has served in the
state Congress and has been on
several parliamentary panels in
the past, including the crucial
Public Accounts Committee)

4) Who was appointed as the new
Deputy Governor of the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) on 3 April
2014? R. Gandhi (He was
appointed by the Union Govt. for
a period of three years.
Theappointment follows Anand
Sinha relinquishing his charge as
Deputy Governor in mid-January
2014. The RBI now has four
Deputy Governors KC
Chakrabarty, HR Khan, Urjit Patel
and R. Gandhi. However, KC
Chakrabarty too had announced
his retirement and RBI is also
seeking a replacement for him)

5) Which international drug
manufacturer took Indian firm
Biocon to court for allegedly
infringing the patent on one of
its diabetes drug? Novartis
AG (Novartis AG is a Basel-based
Swiss drug manufacturing come.
It sued Biocon for allegedly
infringing the patent on
its diabetes drug Galvus. Novartis
sought an injunction against
Biocon at the Delhi High Court to
try to stop it from launching a
generic version of Galvus)



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6) In an attempt to increase
Windows market share on mobile
devices, Microsoft Inc. on 2 April
2014 announced to make the
operating system available free of
cost for smart phones and
tablets that have screen size
smaller than 9 inches. Till now
approximately how much was
Microsoft charging from phone
and tablet makers to use its
Windows system? Between 5 to
15 dollars (Microsofts move is
targeted to give a tough
competition to other major
operating systems available in the
market including iOS of Apple
and Googles Android)

7) Which internationally-
renowned trackingsystem made its
debut in Indian badminton circuit
at the ongoing India Open Super
Series in New Delhi? Hawk-
Eye technology (Hawk-Eye
technology is a tracking system
used in sports like tennis to
determine line calls. This system
is used to provide instant-reviews
for major events)


April 5, 2014
1) Who is heading the 5-member
committee constituted on 4 April
2014 to recommend a site for
the capital of successor state of
Andhra Pradesh following the
formation of Telangana? K.
Sivaramakrishnan, who is the
former UnionUrban
Development Secretary
(Hyderabad, which will be
the capital of Telangana, will be
the jointcapital of the two states
for ten years and within that
period the residuary Andhra
Pradesh state will have to build
a new capital)

2) An Indian rocket carrying the
countrys second navigation
satellite, IRNSS-1B, on 4 April
2014 successfully placed this
satellite in earths orbit.What is
the name of the ISRO rocket
which took IRNSS-1B into space?
PSLV-C24 (PSLV-C24 stands


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for Polar Satellite Launch
Vehicle-C24 while IRNSS-1B
stands for Indian Regional
Navigational Satellite System -1B.
IRNSS is a seven satellite
programme of ISRO. This launch
was executed from the Satish
Dhawan Space Centre at
Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh)

3) Three men convicted in two
gang-rapes in Mumbais Shakti
Mills in 2013 and charged with
being repeat sexual offenders,
were sentenced to death by a
Mumbai sessions court on 4 April
2014. This was the first case in the
country where the death sentence
has been awarded under Section
376 E of Indian Penal Code
introduced after the Delhi gang-
rape of December 2012.What is
the name of the
principal sessions judge who
delivered this sentence? Justice
Shalini Phansalkar
Joshi (Principal sessions judge
Shalini Phansalkar Joshi
sentenced to death Vijay Jadhav,
Qasim Sheikh alias Bengali and
Salim Ansari. They had been
convicted for the gang-rape of a
young photo-journalist and a
telephone operator at Shakti Mills
last year. A fourth accused Siraj
Sheikh was sentenced to prison till
the rest of his natural life)

4) What is the name of the Indian-
American who was nominated by
US President Barack Obama to a
key administration post as the US
Alternate Executive Director at
the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) on 3 April 2014? Sunil
Sabharwal(Sabharwal is an
independent investor in the US)

5) What is the name of the CEO
and co-founder of Mozilla (which
makes the popular Firefox web-
browser), who resigned recently
following protests over his
support of a gay marriage ban in
California? Brendan Eich (At
issue was Eichs $1,000 donation
in 2008 to the campaign to pass
Californias Proposition 8, a
constitutionalamendment that
outlawed same-sex marriages in
the state)

6) A vast liquid ocean was found
on which moon of Saturn by
NASAs Cassini probe as
published by Science magazine


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on 3 April 2014?
Enceladus (Cassini probe found
sea up to 10 kilometres deep lies
beneath 40 kilometres of ice at the
south pole of Enceladus, which is
one of the several moons of
Saturn planet. Enceladus is the
sixth-largest moon of Saturn.
Water is considered one of the
essential criteria for a planet or
moon to support life. It has also
been found in our solar system on
Titan, also orbiting Saturn, and
Europa, one of Jupiters moons.
Cassini has been exploring Saturn
and its satellites since 2004. The
spacecraft measured the gravity
and movement of Enceladus
during three flybys to calculate its
internal structure)

April 6-7, 2014
1) What is the name of the Prime
Minister of Hungary who
was declared victorious in the
Hungarian parliamentary election
held on 6 April 2014? - Viktor
Orban (Orbans centre-right
Fidesz won around 45% votes
while centre-left opposition
alliance trailed with around 25%.
The far-right Jobbik party
garnered around 21% votes. The
Hungarian left has never fully
recovered from its heavy defeat in
the 2010 ballot, in which Viktor
Orban swept to power with a two-
thirds majority)

2) Approximately how much
amount worth of tax evasions was
detected during fiscal-year 2013-
14 by the Directorate General of
Central Excise Intelligence
(DGCEI)? Rs. 8,000 crore (The
DGCEI registered 1,144 cases
of service taxevasion during 2013-
14. The amount involving the
cases of service tax evasion was
Rs 7,928.22 crore during the
period. The DGCEI had detected
841 service tax evasion cases
involving governments revenue
of Rs 4,693 crore in 2012-13)

3) Indias foreign exchange
(forex) reserves soared by $5.03
billion to $303.67 billion for the
week ended 28 march 2014. What
was the last time when the
reserves were over the $300
billion mark? December


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2011 (This was the fifth
consecutive week of increase in
the countrysforex reserves as
overseas investors poured
inmoney in local bonds and stock
markets. Divestment of union
govt.s stake in Axis Bankduring
the period also contributed to
increase in
countrys forex reserves)

4) Who was crowned as the new
Miss India in the 51st Femina
Miss India contest, which
culminated on 5 April 2014 at
Mumbai? - Koyal Rana (Jaipurs
Koyal Rana won the Miss India
contest while Jhataleka Malhotra
from Mumbai and Gail Nicole Da
Silva from Goa were first and
second runners-up respectively.
Koyal has been crowned Miss
Teen India 2008 when she was 15.
Miss India 2014s finals was held
at the Yash Raj Studios, Mumbai)

5) Sri Lanka won the fifth edition
of the ICC T-20 World Cup on 6
April 2014 after defeating India
convincingly by six-wicket in the
finals at the Sher-e-Bangla
National Stadium, Dhaka. Sri
Lanka won the coveted title of T-
20 cricket after consecutively
featuring in how many ICC finals?
Four (They featured in ICC
ODI World Cup of 2011 and were
defeated by India in the finals.
They were beaten in the finals of
ICC T-20 WorldCup of 2012 by
West India. They had also lost in
the finals of 2009 T-20
World Cup to Pakistan)

6) Which country won the ICC T-
20 Womens World Cup 2014,
final of which was played on 6
April 2014?
Australia (Australia won the
4
th
edition of ICC T-20 Womens
World Cup by defeating England
by 6 wickets. This tournament
was also held in Bangladesh and
the final was held at Mirpurs
Shere Bangla National Stadium.
Australia had also won the 2012
and 2010 editions of ICC T-20
Womens World Cup)


April 8, 2014


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1) Who gave Sahara Force India
team its second podium finish
by coming third in the Formula 1
Bahrain Grand Prix 2014 on 6
April 2014? - Sergio Perez of
Mexico (Sahara Force India
recorded their best result of the
season as Sergio Perez drove a
brilliant race to hand the team just
their second podium finish, while
his teammate Nico Hulkenberg
ended an impressive fifth at the
Bahrain GP. Italian Giancarlo
Fisichella had secured Sahara
Force Indias maiden podium in
2009 Belgium Grand Prix by
finishing second)

2) Who won the F1 Bahrain
Grand Prix 2014 title on 6 April
2014? - Lewis Hamilton (Great
Britain) for Mercedes
Team (His teammate Nico
Rosberg (Germany) was second in
a thrillingly close battle. Mercedes
is leading 2014 F1 season in
constructors standing with 111
points from three races)

3) Which company will acquire
RanbaxyLaboratories Limited for
$3.2 billion, asannounced by
the two companies on 7 April
2014? Sun Pharmaceuticals
Limited (Sun Pharmaceuticals,
which is promoted by Dilip
Sanghvi, will take full control of
Ranbaxy in an all-stock deal. The
combination of these two Indian
companies will create the fifth-
largest specialty generics
company in the world and the
largest pharmaceutical company
in India. It is worth mentioning
that Ranbaxys all
four plants have been banned by
the USDFA for violations of
manufacturing norms)

4) Doyen of cinematography and
Dada Saheb Phalke award
recipient V.K. Murthy (91) passed
away in Bangalore at his residence
on 7 April 2014. He was the
favourite cinematographer of ace
director Guru Dutt and shot some
of the most memorable shots of
Indian film industry for his films.
What was the name of Indias first
cinemascope film that he shot for
Guru Dutt? Kagaz Ke
Phool (Murthy was the only


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cinematographer to have
been honoured with the Phalke
award)

5) What is the name of the biblical
epic movie which was banned by
Malaysia and Indonesia on 7 April
2014 for its visual depiction of the
prophet? Noah (Much of the
Muslim world, including the
UAE, Qatar and Bahrain, has
already banned the film, which is
a box-office hit in the U.S. This
Russell Crowe movie has been
banned in Muslim countries as
depictions of any prophet are
shunned in Islam to avoid worship
of a person rather than God.
Indonesia is worlds most
populous Muslim country while
Malay Muslims make up about
60% of Malaysias 30 million
people)

April 9, 2014
1) In an important decision, the
Union Govt. on 8 April 2014
decided to allow use of bulls in
south Indias famous
Jallikattu festivals by amending
the list of animals prohibited from
being trained for performances.
While allowing the use of bulls in
Jallikattu, the govt. emphasized on
the historic, cultural and religious
significance of the event.
Jallikattu festival is held in which
South-Indian state? Tamil
Nadu (The animal welfare
activists are up in arms against
Jallikattu for the past several
years. They want the age-old sport
to be banned for what they call it
as massive cruelties to animals)

2) Which two international
cement companiesannounced their
merger on 7 April 2014, which
would now create worlds largest
cement manufacturing company?
Holcim of Switzerland and
Lafarge of France (Holcim and
Lafarge would merge to create a
new company which would be
called LafargeHolcim. It would
have cement manufacturing
operations in around 90 countries
and sales of around $44 billion.
The deal will give the group a
market value of close to $60
billion)



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3) Indian Navy during April 2014
sold its now decommissioned first
aircraft carrier ship to a ship-
breaking company of Mumbai for
Rs. 63.2 crore. What is the name
of this iconic ship which was
commissioned into the India Navy
in 1961 and was decommissioned
in 1997? INS Vikrant(INS
Vikrant (formerly HMS Hercules)
was purchased by India from the
United Kingdom in 1957. It was
operated from 1961 to 1997)

4) What is the name of a new tool
launched on 8 April 2014 by
Internet giant Google as part of its
elections portal offering which
will give citizens access to
relevant information about
political candidates contesting
from their constituency and their
incumbent Member of
Parliament? Know your
candidate (The tool will
integrate publicly available
information, such as educational
background, financial details and
social media presence, sourced
from Indian organizations such as
the Association for Democratic
Reforms (ADR), PRS Legislative
Research and Liberty Institute
India)

5) What is the name of the
Venezuelan daredevil who during
April 2014 set a new Guinness
record for skydiving 14,000 feet
with worlds smallest parachute?
Ernesto Gainza (Gainza
performed this daredevil act in the
Palm Drop Zone at the Skydive
Dubai Club. His jump took 0.18
sq m off the previous record for
smallest parachute canopy, set by
Brazilian Luigi Cani in 2006)

6) Who won the mens singles
title of the Yonex-Sunrise
India Open Badminton 2014 on 6
April 2014? Lee Chong Wei of
Malaysia (World No.1 Lee Chong
Wei defeated Chinas Chen Long
by 21-13, 21-17 to win this
prestigious title. Defending
champion Lee Chong Wei
produced one of his finest
performances to retain the mens
singles title with a straight-game
victory over Long. Chinas
Wang Shixian emerged Womens
Singles champion. She defeated
Olympic champion and top seed
fellow Chinese Li Xuerui by 22-
20, 21-19 to win the title)


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April 10, 2014

1) Which North-eastern state
capital on 7 April 2014 became
the second in the region to have
rail-connectivity? Itanagar, the
capital of Arunachal Pradesh
(Itanagar received the
first passenger train on this day
from Dekargaon. This became
possible after commissioning of
the newly built 20-km Harmuti-
Naharlagun railway line that
connects Itanagar. Till now
Assamese capital Guwahati was
the only North-Eastern state
capital with direct train
connectivity)

2) Microsoft Corporation on 8
April 2014 ended the support
system for its highly
popularWindows XP operating
system. This meant a final
goodbye to Windows XP as the
company had already stopped
shipping XP-based PCs during
2010. When was Windows
XP launched? In
2001 (The Windows XP operating
system was released to
manufacturing on 24 August 2001
and was released for retail sale on
25 October 2001. It was
withdrawn as a boxed software in
2008 and its sale as a bundled
operating system was held-up in
2010 by Microsoft)

3) Who took over as the new
Chairman of software industry
association NASSCOM on 9 April
2014? R Chandrasekaran (R
Chandrasekaran is the Executive
Vice-Chairman of Cognizant India
and he succeeded Mindtrees CEO
and MD Krishnakumar Natarajan.
BVR Mohan Reddy, the founder,
Chairman and Managing Director


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of Infotech Enterprises, took over
as the Vice-Chairman of the body.
NASSCOM represents the $108
billion Indian IT-BPO sector and
has played an instrumental role in
propelling the industry to a
leadership position in the global
sourcing arena as well as the
domestic market)

4) Which Indian brand was the
only Indian retail brand to be
listed in the 30 Best Retail Brands
in Asia Pacific of the prestigious
Interbrands Best Retail Brands
list for 2013? Tanishq (Tanishq
is the jewellery brand from the
house of Tatas and it stood at
number 13 in the list Asia Pacific
list with a brand value of $670
million)

5) What is the name of the famous
character featured in the iconic
Archie Comics, whose character
will end in the forthcoming issue
of this comic as announced on 8
April 2014? Archie
Andrews (Archie Andrews is the
famous lead character in Archie
Comics beloved by millions
around the globe for over 70
years. He will sacrifice himself
heroically while saving the life of
a friend in the pages of July 2014
edition of LIFE WITH
ARCHIE. The fictional character
of Archie Andrews was created by
Vic Bloom and Bob Montana in
1941)

6) Which English Premier League
club was denied the permission to
change its name by the Football
Association Council (FAC) on 9
April 2014? Hull City (Assem
Allam-owned Hull City club had
applied for changing its name to
Hull Tigers. However, FAC
rejected this application by a
63.5% vote of the councils
members. Hull City is a 110-year
old English football club and
wanted the name change to boost
marketing potential for it)


April 11-12, 2014


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1) What is the title of the book
written by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singhs former media
advisor Sanjaya Baru which
created a storm as soon as it was
released on 11 April 2014 with
controversial claims on the
equation between the PM and
Congress President Sonia Gandhi?
Accidental Prime Minister :
The making and unmaking of
Manmohan Singh (In this book
Baru claimed that the PM had
accepted Sonia Gandhi as the
centre of power and the equation
between the two had crippling
effect on countrys governance)

2) Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha
was on 11 April 2014 appointed
as the next Chief Justice of India
and he will assume his charge
on 27 April 2014. Lodha, who
will succeed Justice Sathasivam,
will be .Chief Justice
of India? 41st

3) How much amount was
collected by Indias largest
banking group the State Bank of
India (SBI) recently in overseas
debt sale through a dual tranche
bond programme, which make it
the largest ever offering from a
domestic issuer? - $1.25
billion (The bank raised $750
million in 5-year money at US
treasury interest rate plus 205
basis points, while it priced the
10-year $500 million issue at 225
bps over the treasury. The
overseas debt sale programme was
completed on 10 April 2014)

4) What is the name of the deadly
virus for which the Computer
Emergency Response Team of
India (CERT-In) issued an
advisory on 11 April 2014 to all
Internet users in the country?


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Heartbleed (Heartbleed
primarily attacks the openSSL of
an online system which is the
most essential protocol which
encrypts information and data
transfer over the Internet. CERT
in its advisory said vulnerability
of this virus had been witnessed in
OpenSSL, which could be
exploited by a remote attacker to
disclose potentially sensitive
information. The virus has made
anumber of countries sit up and
take notice of its destructive and
threatening activities in the recent
days)

5) Which international
financial institution on 11 April
2014 completed its first global
rupee bond programme worth $ 1
billion? - International Finance
Corporation (IFC) Washington
D.C. headquartered-IFC
completed this huge issue in three
rounds and the third and final
round of bond issue totalling Rs
12 billion (about $ 194 million)
was completed on 11 April. Under
its global rupee bond programme,
IFC has also issued three-year
bonds totalling Rs 30 billion and
five-year bonds totalling Rs 20
billion. This issue was launched to
strengthen Indias capital markets
and attract greater foreign
investment)

6) Which leading banking
luminary was appointed as the
special advisor of the interim
President of BCCI-IPL Sunil
Gavaskar on 11 April 2014?
Deepak Parekh, Chairman of
HDFC (Parekh will be a special
invitee during the IPL governing
council meeting as his vast
experience in financial affairs will
enable Gavaskar to ensure smooth
functioning if IPL for
next two months)

7) British telecom
major Vodafone Group took full
control of its Indian unit by
buying the remaining 10.97%
stake in the unit on 10 April 2014.
This stake was acquired from
which enterprise? - Piramal
Enterprises (With this acquisition
Newbury-based Vodafone Group
took 100% control
of Vodafone India Ltd (VIL) , its
Indian unit. In March
2014, Vodafone Group had
bought indirect equity interests in
VIL held by Analjit Singh and


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Neelu Analjit Singh, taking its
stake to 89.03% in
VIL. Vodafone Group had
acquired its original interest in
India from Hutchison in 2007)

April 13-14, 2014

1) India retained the top spot in
the world in foreign exchange
remittances from its migratory
workforce during 2013. How
much remittance was received by
India during the year? $70
billion (India was followed by
China ($60 billion), Philippines
($25 billion), Mexico ($22
billion), Nigeria ($21 billion),
Egypt ($17 billion), Pakistan
($15 billion), Bangladesh ($14
billion), Vietnam ($11 billion)
and Ukraine ($10 billion) in
the top 10 remittance recipient
nations in the world. This data
was disclosed in a World Bank
report on remittances, which is
an annual exercise that
underscores the point that
remittances are an important
source of foreign exchange. One
important fact is that remittance
received by India was more than
the $65 billion it earned from
countrys flagship software
services exports)

2) Renowned poet-lyricist and
filmmaker Gulzar was on 12 April
2014 selected for the prestigious
Dada Saheb Phalke award for
2013. He would be 45
th
recipient
of this award. What is the real
name of Gulzar? Sampooran
Singh Kalra (Sampooran Singh
Kalra was his original name and
he took thepen name of Gulzar
Deenvi after becoming an author.
Dada Saheb Phalke award is
Indias highest award for
contribution in film industry. It
was first instituted in 1969)

3) According to a series of papers
published recently in the Lancet


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Oncology journal, what is the
reason for 40% of all types of
cancers in India? Tobacco
use (These papers prepared by
Richard Sullivan of Kings
College London and others
claimed that tobacco use alone
accounts for about 40% of all
cancers in India. Almost three of
five cancer deaths in India are
associated with tobacco or
infectious diseases. The most
common, nearly half of all, are
cancers of the lung and oral cavity
in men, and of the breast and
cervix in women. Every year
nearly one million new cancer
cases are diagnosed in India. With
mortalities of 6 to 7 lakh a year,
cancer causes six per cent of all
adult deaths in the country)
4) Indian Navys decommissioned
submarine INS Vagli would be
established as a permanent exhibit
at which historic town of Tamil
Nadu, where it reached on 13
April 2014?
Mamallapuram (Mamallapuram,
also known as Mahabalipuram, is
a famous temple town in
Kancheepuram district of the state
and is around 60 km from
Chennai. INS Vagli is a Vela-
class diesel-electric submarine and
was decommissioned in December
2010 after it served the Navy for
36 years. Visakhapatnam was the
first city in the country to have a
similar facility, where INS
Kurusura has been converted into
a submarine museum)

5) Which unseeded player
shocked badmintons
world number one Lee Chong Wei
to win the Singapore Open title
for 2014 on 13 April 2014?
Simon Santoso of
Indonesia (The 28-year-old
Simon Santoso, considered a rank
outsider against Malaysias Lee
Chong Wei, scored an emphatic
21-15, 21-10 victory in just 48
minutes in the mens singles final
of Singapore Open. Santoso is a
former No. 3 player who dropped
out of the top 100 last year
following back problems. In the
womens singles final Olympic
champion Li Xuerui of China was
defeated by team-mate and arch-
rival Wang Yihan for the second
year in a row by 21-11, 21-19)
April 15-16, 2014


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1) In a landmark judgement
theSupreme Court on 15 April
2014 gave the recognition of
third gender to transgenders and
asked the Centre to treat
transgenders as socially and
economically backward so as to
enable them to get reservations in
jobs and education. This ruling
was given on a public interest
litigation (PIL) filed by which
entity? The National Legal
Services Authority
NALSA (The NALSA had
petitioned the apex court seeking
equal rights for this group of
people, saying that even hospitals
did not admit them)

2) A new round of India-China
Strategic Dialogue was held at
Beijing on 14 April 2014 between
Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh
and Chinese Vice Foreign
Minister Liu Zhenmin. The talks
aimed at maintaining the
momentum of India-China
relations and implementing
agreements reached at the
leadership level. These talks were
which round of the India-China
Strategic Dialogue series?
6th (Intensive consultations on
bilateral, regional
and international issues were held
in these talks)

3) Who became the 5
th
Indian-born
person to win the
prestigious Pulitzer Prize on 14
April 2014? Vijay
Seshadri (Vijay Seshadri,
presently a
Columbia University professor
was awarded the
2014 Pulitzer Prize in the poetry
category for his collection of
poems 3 Sections. Before him
Gobind Behari Lal (1937),
Jhumpa Lahiri (2000), Geeta
Anand (2003) and Siddhartha
Mukherjee (2011) have also won
this award)
4) Who was appointed the new
Finance Secretary on 15 April
2014? Arvind
Mayaram(Arvind Mayaram is
presently the Economic Affairs
Secretary and replaced Sumit


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Bose who retired on 31 March
2014)

5) What is the title of the book
written by former Coal Secretary
P.C. Parakh in which he claimed
that Prime Minister Manmohan
Singhs inability to take on vested
interests led to the coal block
row? Crusader or Conspirator
: Coalgate and other truths (In
this book Parakh also targetted the
CBI and said it is not equipped to
find the truth)
6) Usha International, the leading
household consumer durables
company, has become the
official partners of which
franchisee team for the 7th season
of the Indian Premier
League (IPL)? Mumbai
Indians (This collaboration is a
part of Ushas efforts in
promoting sports and engaging
with the younger audience)

7) Which team won the National
T20 title for the Syed Mushtaq Ali
Trophy on 14 April 2014?
Baroda (In a thrilling final played
at Mumbais Wankhede Stadium,
Baroda defeated Uttar Pradesh by
3 runs to regain the title)

April 17-18, 2014

1) Which member of the
Commonwealth organisation
recently announced its decision to
withhold funding to the
Commonwealth Secretariat,
pointing to the Secretariats
silence on alleged war crimes and
rights abuse in Sri Lanka?
Canada (Canada on 14 April
2014 announced that it would not
contribute its funding to the
Commonwealth Secretariat as it
has unable to stand for the
defence of the basic principles of
freedom, democracy and respect
for human dignity in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka, which currently chairs
the international association, has
been charged with serious human-


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rights violations while fighting the
LTTE)

2) Robin K. Dhowan, who took
over as the new Chief of the
Indian Navy on 17 April 2014, is
the Chief of the Naval
Staff? 22
nd
(Admiral R.K.
Dhowan was the acting Chief
since Admiral D.K. Joshi quit the
post on 26 February 2014 in the
wake of a series of mishaps. He
will have tenure of 25 months and
will retire in May 2016)

3) The Supreme Court on 17
April 2014 dismissed telecom
operators plea against allowing
the Comptroller & Auditor
General (CAG) to audit their
revenues. The telecom operators
had moved the Supreme Court to
overturn the High Courts verdict
allowing the CAGs decision to
audit private companies. In which
year the Department of Telecom
(DoT) had first hired CAG-
empanelled auditors to look into
the books of private telecom
operators? 2009 (DoT had hired
CAG-empanelled auditors to look
into the books of Bharti Airtel
Ltd, Vodafone India Ltd, Idea
Cellular Ltd and Reliance
Communications Ltd for the years
2006-07 and 2007-08. DoT then
issued notices to recover almost
Rs 1,600 crore in unpaid dues
from the five telecom companies
in June 2012 after it was found
that they had allegedly under-
reported revenues)

4) Which film was selected as the
Best Film for 61
st
National Film
Awards announced on 16 April
2014? Ship of Theseus (This
film was directed by debutant
director Anand Gandhi and was
produced by Kiran Rao)

5) Which noted director was the
Chairman of the 11-member
61
st
National Film Awards
selection committee
which announced the winners on
16 April 2014? Saeed Akhtar
Mirza

6) Pakistan became the fourth
country to publish name and
shame tax directory in a bid
toembarrass tax evaders. Cash-
strapped Pakistan on 17 April
2014 published its first tax


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directory showing income tax
details of all its registered
taxpayers. Which are the other
three countries who already
follow this practice? Sweden,
Finland and Norway (Pakistan
has been waging a battle against
tax evaders under pressure from
international lending houses and
financial institutions. The tax
directory will act as a recognition
for genuine tax payers and an
embarrassment for those who
dont pay tax at all or those whose
tax returns do not match their
lifestyles)
7) With the implementation of
new Companies Act from 1 April
2014, a majority of the top 200
listed companies will need to
change their auditors over the next
three years. According to the new
Companies Act, it is now
mandatory for the companies to
change their auditors after how
many years? 10 years (The
recently notified section 139 of
the Companies Act 2013 makes it
mandatory for audit firms to be
changed after every 10 years. This
has been done in a bid toensure
objectivity and prevent the alleged
cozy relations between
management and auditors)


April 19-21, 2014

1) U.S.President Barack
Obamasigned a law on 18 April
2014 that allows Washington to
deny visas to anyone (including
United Nations envoys) who has
engaged in terrorist acts against
the United States. This law would
apparently deny a visa to Irans
designated ambassador to the New
York-based United Nations. What
is the name of this Iranian
diplomat? Hamid


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Abutalebi (Hamid Abutalebi was
a member of an Iranian student
group that seized the US embassy
in 1979 in Tehran and held 52 US
citizens hostage for 444 days. He
is effectively prevented from
becoming Irans ambassador to
the UN. Under the law, which
passed Congress on 10 April 2014
the US already notified the UN
that it would not issue a visa to
Irans designated ambassador to
the New York-based world body)

2) In a surprising development
Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen
Tan Dung on 17 April 2014
announced backing out from
hosting the Asian Games of 2019.
Which Vietnamese city was to
host the 18
th
edition of Asian
Games? Hanoi(Lack of
preparedness and economic
recession were cited as the main
reasons for Vietnam pulling out
from hosting these games. Hanoi
was awarded hosting of these
games during 2012)

3) What is the name of Indian
Navys Vice-Admiral who on 17
April 2014 put in his papers
seeking voluntary retirement after
his junior Admiral RK Dhowan
superseded him to take over as
Navy chief? Shekhar
Sinha (Vice Admiral Shekhar
Sinha, who is six months senior to
newly appointed Navy chief
Robin Dhowan shot off a letter to
the Defence Ministry seeking
voluntary retirement just months
before his tenure was to end in
August this year. Sinha was the
senior-most Vice Admiral but he
was edged out of the race,
apparently because majority of the
14 mishaps, including two major
submarine accidents, took place
under his command during the last
10 months. He was heading the
Western Naval Command)

4) Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the
Nobel Prize winning Latin-
American author, who passed
away on 17 April 2014, was
citizen of which LatinAmerican
country? Colombia (Marquez
was often considered one of the
greatest writers of 20th century
and his 1967 novel One Hundred
Years of Solitude sold over 30
million copies)



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5) What is the date for providing
permanent or universal account
numbers (UAN) to subscribers of
retirement fund body Employees
Provident Fund Organisations
(EPFO) as stated by the body
recently? 15 October
2014 (EPFO will provide UAN on
the pattern of core banking
services to its over five crore
active subscribers by October 15
this year. Under core banking
services, a customer can avail the
bank services in any of its branch
through his allotted unique
account number. The UAN will
facilitate subscribers in avoiding
filing of provident fund transfer
claims on changing jobs)

6) Noted Indian woman squash
player Joshna Chinappa defeated
Australias former world
champion Rachael Grinham in the
final of which inaugural
tournament to win the title?
Richmond Open (World No.21
Chinappa beat her 16th-ranked
opponent 11-9, 11-5, 11-8 for the
first time in six meetings to bag
her ninth Womens Squash
Association (WSA) tour title at
theCountry Club of Virginia,
Richmond on 19 April 2014. For
Grinham, it was the 65th final
appearance since making her first
tour final back in March 1998
while it was the 16th final for the
Indian)

7) Who won the Chinese F1
Grand Prix on 20 April 2014?
Mercedes Lewis
Hamilton (With this win Great
Britains Hamilton won three
races in a row for the first time in
his career. His Mercedes
teammate Nico Rosberg
(Germany) was second while third
spot was claimed by Ferraris
Fernando Alonso of Spain. Force
Indias Nico Hulkenberg
(Germany) was sixth)







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April 22-23, 2014

1) In an important development
the Supreme Court on 22 April
2014 appointed a panel to suggest
measures to prevent road
accidents and to ensure
accountability. The bench of Chief
Justice P. Sathasivam and Justices
Ranjan Gogoi and N.V. Ramana,
gave this direction acting on a
public interest writ petition (PIL)
filed by renowned orthopaedician
Dr. S. Rajasekaran. Which three
persons were nominted as
members of this panel? Justice
K.S. Radhakrishnan, S. Sundar
and Dr. Nishi Mittal (Justice
K.S. Radhakrishnan retires as
Supreme Court judge on 14 May
2014. S. Sundar is a former
TransportSecretary and Dr. Nishi
Mittal is a former HoD Traffic
Engineering and Safety (TES))

2) Which state has achieved the
highest rate of increase in
the number of electors in the
country in the past five years as
stated in the electoral data
released early this year? Tamil
Nadu(Tamil Nadus electorate has
grown by 29.15%. In 2009, it was
4.16 crore and in 2014 it stood at
5.37 crore. The increased
enrolment is largely due to intense
measures taken in the past two
years to cover eligible voters left
out of enrolment. Haryana was
second with 29.01% increase in
electorate during the
corresponding period and was
followed by Madhya
Pradesh (24.84%), Meghalaya
(21.55%) and Sikkim (20.54%))

3) Which international drug
company on 22 April
2014 announced a multi-billion
dollar revamp plan in which it will
swap assets with
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and will
sell some business to Eli Lilly?
Novartis AG (Switzerland-based
Novartis AG will buy GSKs
oncology business for $14.5
billion and will sell its vaccine
business to GSK for $7.1 billion.
The firm will also sell its animal


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health arm to Eli Lilly & Co. for
around $5.4 billion. The revamp
has beenannounced as a part of
realignment in a sector that is
presently coping with steep govt.
spending cuts)

4) What is the name of NASAs
Moon probe which recently
crashed into the lunar surface thus
closing the six-month mission?
Lunar Atmosphere and Dust
Environment Explorer
LADEE (LADEE was launched
in September 2013 and it started
sending important data from 10
November 2013. LADEEs
mission ended as it lacked fuel to
maintain the mission)

5) What is the new name of
leading confectionary and
chocolate manufacturer Cadbury
India Limited which was adopted
by the company recently?
Mondelez India Foods
Ltd. (Cadbury India Limited is a
subsidiary of $35 billion
Mondelez International Inc. and
the name was changed to conclude
the process of transition that
began over two years ago after
Mondelez International acquired
Cadbury. The change in
companys name will however,
have no impact on the names or
packaging of its popular products
like Cadbury Dairy Milk, 5 Star,
Gems, Bournville, Perk,
Celebrations, Choclairs, Halls,
Bournvita, Tang and Oreo)

6) Which football club recently
created history by winning the I-
League title in their debut season?
Bengaluru FC (First-timers
Bengaluru FC on wrote a new
chapter in Indian football by
clinching the prestigious I-League
title in their debut season on 20
April 2014 after a 4-2 win over
Dempo Sports Club. Bengaluru
needed a win to snatch the title.
Bengaluru FC is owned by the
Jindal Steel Works (JSW) and its
Chief Coach is Ashley Westwood,
the former assistant manager of
Blackburn Rovers)





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April 24, 2014
1) The Supreme Court on 23 April
2014 set up a four-member
committee for framing guidelines
to prevent misuse of public funds
by the government and its
authorities in giving
advertisements in newspapers and
television to get political mileage.
The court ruled that substantive
guidelines are needed to regulate
such advertisements at the cost of
public exchequer. The order to
constitute this committee was
passed while the apex court heard
a public interest litigation (PIL)
by twoNGOs. Which two NGOs
are these? Common
Cause and Centre for Public
Interest Litigation (CPIL)
These two NGOs had pleaded
before the Supreme Court to
frame guidelines in this respect)

2) What is the name given to the
newest mineral discovered
recently in Australia?
Putnisite(Putnisite was
discovered at Lake Cowan, north
of Norseman in Western
Australia. The mineral appears as
dark pink spots on dark green and
white rock which, under the
microscope, appears as square,
cube-like crystals. However, no
practical use of Putnisite has
been determined yet)

3) What was the name of the
naval exerciseconducted by
Chinas Peoples Liberation Army
(PLA) on 23 April 2014 to
celebrate 65th anniversary of its
Navy in which naval ships from
India and Pakistan also
participated? Maritime
Cooperation 2014 (This was a
rare multilateral
maritime exercise conducted by
China held off the coast of the
eastern Chinese city of Qingdao.
Apart from host China, India and
Pakistan ships from four other
countries (Bangladesh, Brunei,
Malaysia and Singapore) also took
part in theexercise. Indian Navys
stealth frigate INS Shivalik took
part in this exercise, which
focused on joint search and
rescue, and included task force
communication, formation
movement, maritime
replenishment supply, joint
rescue, joint anti-hijacking and
small firearms shooting)


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4) Indian Air Force (IAF) has
initiated a project for DNA
profiling of its personnel,
selecting a high-risk group of air
crew that undertakes dangerous
missions for the first round. Under
this project the DNA samples of
nearly 2,500 crew members who
face potential threat to life during
everyday operations are being
collected. A database of the DNA
records will be established at
which place? Pune (The
project will be part of the
repository at the Forensic
Department of the Armed
ForcesMedical College (AFMC)
in Pune)
5) Sherpa guides, who assist in
undertaking summit expeditions to
Mt. Everest in Nepal, started the
boycott of climbing season for
2014. These guides packed up
their tents and left Mount
Everests base camp on 23 April
2014. What is the reason for their
boycott? To honour the death
of 16 of their colleagues who
were killed on 18 April 2014 in
the deadliest avalanche ever
recorded on the
mountain(Thirteen bodies were
recovered after the avalanche and
three Sherpas still missing are
presumed dead. Without Sherpa
help, it would be nearly
impossible for climbers to scale
the mountain as they help as
guides as well as porters in the
difficult expedition to world
highest peak)


April 25-27, 2014

1) In a path breaking order
the Supreme Court on 24 April
2014 constituted a 5-member
committee to look after the
administration of Keralas Sree
Padmanabhaswamy temple. With
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all secret vaults to the new
committee. This order was given
based on a report by which
famous lawyer, in which it was
alleged that the trustees had failed
very miserably in bringing
transparency in managing the
affairs of the temple? Gopal
Subramaniam

2) Who on 26 April 2014 took
over as the head of 5-member
temple administration committee
of Sree Padmanabhaswamy
temple,Thiruvananthapuram?
K.P. Indira (K.P. Indira is
the district principal additional
sessions judge. His assuming
charge of this committee marked a
historic departure in the
governance of Sree
Padmanabhaswamy temple.
Wealth in various forms of
jewellery worth Rs. 1 lakh crore is
believed to be stashed in the six
vaults of this temple)

3) The South Korean Prime
Minister Chung Hong-won on 27
April 2014 offered to resign over
which issue? After criticism of
the governments response
to the ferry disaster (This ferry
named Sewol sank on 16 April
2014 on a routine trip from the
port of Incheon to the traditional
holiday island of Jeju. More than
300 people, most of them students
and teachers from one high
schoolon a field trip, have died or
are missing and presumed dead.
There has been criticism that the
pace of the recovery has been too
slow, and that conflicting
information has been given by the
South Korean government)

4) NTT Docomo recently
announced its decision to exit the
Indian telecom market by selling
its entire stake in its Indian joint-
venture partner Tata Teleservices
Limited (TTSL). The two entities
were operating in the Indian
market with the Tata Docomo
brand name. NTT Docomo is
which countrys No.1 telecom
company? Japan (NTT
Docomo is the dominant player in
the Japanese telecom industry. It
has proposed to sell its entire
26.5% stake in TTSL due to
certain performancerelated issues)

5) Microsoft on 25 April 2014
completed the acquisition of
Nokias Devices & Services
business. The deal, which was


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announced in September 2013
means Nokias mobile business
has become a subsidiary of
Microsoft. What is the name of
this subsidiary? Nokia
Mobile (The change from Nokia
Corporation to Microsoft
Mobile meant that for many
employees 25 April was their last
day as employees of Nokia
Corporation. Nokia Corporation
of Finland had on 3 September
2013 announced signing an
agreement to sell substantially all
of its Devices & Services
business, license and patents to
Microsoft Corp. in an all-cash
deal of $7.5 billion)
6) Which country was rated
lowest for average internet speed
in the Asia Pacific region in a
recently conducted study done by
US firm Akamai? India (In this
study the lowest average
connection speed was seen in
India at 1.5Mbps (megabits per
second). Akamai analysed
17,844,839 connections in India
for the study. South Korea was
once again the only country with
an average connection speed of
over 20Mbps. Though there is no
regulation of wireless Internet
connection speeds in the country,
Indian telecom regulator TRAI
has decided to prescribe a
minimum rate for wireless
Internet services)



April 28, 2014

1) Which country overtook
Mauritius as the top gateway
ofmoneybeing brought in by
overseas investors through the
foreign direct investment (FDI)
into Indian markets? The
United States(According to the
latest data available with the
Indian capital markets regulator
SEBI, the US accounted for the


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largest chunk of assets under the
FDI mode being invested in the
Indian equity and debt markets
at the end of 2013 with over Rs
4.37 lakh crore worth funds. The
US was followed by Mauritius
with over Rs 3.31 lakh crore
worth assets under custody
(AUC) of FIIs and their sub-
accounts as on 31 December
2013)

2) The United States signed
Enhanced Defense Cooperation
Agreement with which country on
28 April 2014, which would give
American forces temporary access
to selected military camps and
allow them to preposition fighter
jets and ships? The
Philippines (This agreement is for
10-year period and was signed at
the Department of Defense in the
Philippine capital, Manila, shortly
before the arrival of President
Barack Obama)

3) Which two former Popes
were declared Saints by the Pope
Francis at the Vatican on 27 April
2014? John XXIII and John
Paul II (Pope John XIII reigned
from 1958-1963 and is perceived
as a hero by the liberal Catholics
for having convened the Second
Vatican Council. Pope John Paul
IIhad reigned from 1978-2005.
The event was also attended by
retired Pope Benedict XVI which
was seen as an unprecedented
event in Vaticans history)


4) Who took oath as the 41
st
Chief
Justice of theSupreme Court on 27
April 2014? Justice Rajendra
Mal Lodha (He was sworn in as
the new Chief Justice of India
(CJI) by President Pranab
Mukherjee. Lodha took over from
Justice (retd) P. Sathasivam who
demitted office on 26 April after
nine months as the head of the
judiciary. Lodha will have a brief
tenure of five months as the CJI
and is due to retire on 27
September 2014)

5) The 15th edition of IIFA was
held from 24 to 26 April 2016 at
Tampa Bay, Florida (IIFA 2014
culminated at the Raymonds
James Stadium where the Indian
film fraternity had gathered to
award the best performances of
last year. Bhaag Milka Bhaag
was among the pick of


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the winnerswhile Shatrughan
Sinha was given the Lifetime
Achievement Award at this years
IIFA. Hollywood actor John
Travolta was honored the most
popular Hollywood star)

April 29-30, 2014

1) The International Olympic
Committee (IOC) entered into a
historic agreement with which
organisation to use the power of
sports to promote peace and
economic development? The
United Nations UN (This
historic agreement between
the two is seen as a move that
strengthens collaboration
between two of the worlds major
organizations. The agreement
calls for joint sporting initiatives
between the IOC, national
Olympic committees, international
sports federations, organizing
committees and international
athletes and the 193 U.N. member
states, U.N. agencies, envoys and
goodwill ambassadors)
2) Three leading mobile operators
got relief from the Telecom
Dispute Settlement Appellate
Tribunal (TDSAT) after it allowed
intra-circle roaming deals for 3G
services on 29 April 2014.
The Department of Telecom had
issued orders in March 2013 to
stop 3G services in circles where
these operators did not have
spectrum. Which three operators
are these? Airtel, Idea Cellular
and Vodafone (Airtel, Idea
Cellular and Vodafone had
entered into an intra-circle
roaming agreement to offer 3G
services across the country using
one anothers spectrum. This was
because none of these players had
won pan-India spectrum
individually. However, the
TDSAT order also named all the
other telecom service operators to
be extended this relief)

3) Which India-born business
leader was appointed as the new
CEO and President of Nokia?
Rejeev Suri (Finnish firm Nokia,


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which recently sold its mobile unit
to Microsoft, has appointed
Rajeev Suri as the companys new
CEO and President. Risto
Siilasmaa, who has been serving
as the interim CEO, will now
return to his role as Chairman of
Nokias Board)
4) Approximately how many
investors were lost by Indias
mutual fund industry during the
lastfinancial year (2013-14) as
disclosed in recently released
SEBI data? 33 lakh (When
measured in terms
of individual accounts or folios,
the Indian mutual fund industry
lost around 33 lakh investors
during 2012-13. On total investor
accounts with 44 fund houses, the
number of folios fell to around
3.95 crore at the end of 2013-14,
from 4.28 crore in the last fiscal
(2012-13). It was the fifth
consecutive year of loss of folios
by mutual funds and it was
primarily on account of volatility
in equity market)
5) Which famous American bank
came to news recently for
miscalculating a measure of the
capital on its books which reduced
its capital level by $4 billion?
Bank of America (Bank of
America (BoA) is the second-
largest U.S. bank. It on 28 April
2014 announced that regulators
had suspended its plan to buy
back more shares and raise its
dividend after the bank realized it
had miscalculated a measure of
the capital on its books. The bank
said fixing the mistake reduced a
capital level by $4 billion, or
about three-quarters of the
extra money that the Federal
Reserve hadapproved its returning
to shareholders over the next year)
6) Former Indian Air Force (IAF)
chief Norman Anil Kumar
Browne was appointed Indias
next Ambassador to which
country? Norway(Browne had
served as IAF chief between 31
July 2011 and 31 December 2013.
He will succeed R. K. Tyagi as
Indias envoy in Norway)

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