2nd Oct-14 : Current Affairs

Current Affairs 2nd November 2014 - Important Points

• Bangalore became Bengaluru and Mysore became Mysuru officially

• Lieutenant Colonel Issaac Zida took control in Burkina Faso

• China's Chang'e 5-T1 landed successfully after rounding Moon

Current Affairs 2nd November 2014 - Details

Bangalore became Bengaluru and Mysore became Mysuru officially

Among the Important National Current Affairs, from 1st November 2014 onwards Banglore and Mysore will be called by their old Kannada names officially, as Banglore will be called as Bengaluru and Mysore will be called as Mysuru. 

Few other cities will be also called by their old Kannada names, there are : 

• Bellary (old) - Ballari (new),
• Belgaum (old) - Belagavi (new),
• Hubli (old) - Hubballi (new),
• Tumkur (old) - Tumakuru (new),
• Bijapur (old) - Vijapura (new),
• Chikmalgalur (old) - Chikkalmagaluru (new),
• Gulbarga (old) - Kalaburagi (new),
• Hospet (old) - Hosapete (new) and 
• Shimoga (old) - Shivamogga (new).

Important to mention here that this was done on the day when Karnataka turns 68. 

Lieutenant Colonel Issaac Zida took control in Burkina Faso

Lieutenant Colonel Issaac Zida took control in Burkina Faso after the resignation of President Blaise Compaore.

China's Chang'e 5-T1 landed successfully after rounding Moon

On 1st November 2014, China successfully recovered an experimental spacecraft Chang'e 5-T1 after a eight day space trip. This mission of China was aimed at obtaining experimental data and testing technologies for re-entry through Earth's atmosphere involving guidance, navigation and control etc. It is important to mention that this was a test run for the China's mission, as China will be sending a spacecraft to the moon in 2017 and will get it returned to Earth after collecting samples from moon.

29 OCT-14 : Current Affairs

Foundation Day of Jamia Millia Islamia observed

The Jamia Millia Islamia celebrated its 94thFoundation Day on October 29. The celebrations of Foundation Day are spread out over three days.

 Chief Guest

The Foundation Day celebrations began with the Chief Guest, Dr. Karan Singh, Member of Parliament(Rajya Sabha) along with Prof. Talat Ahmad, Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia receiving the Guard of Honour by the NCC Cadets of Jamia. That will be followed by a Flag Hoisting Ceremony by the Chief Guest Dr. Karan Singh and a Foundation Day Function. The Chief Guest Dr. Karan Singh will also inaugurate ‘Talimi Mela’, which is an educational fest.

Events

The Foundation Day celebration will involve multiple and varied events like exhibitions of Paintings, Sculptures, Photography and Printmaking, Poster Making Competition, Quiz Competition, Enactment of a Play, singing competition, mehendi competition etc. Various departments of the university also set up stalls to represent their respective faculties. The Faculty of Arts had organised a photo exhibition dedicated to M.F.Hussain. The final day of the celebrations consisted of a series of special lectures.

Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI)

JMI is a public central University in New Delhi that was founded on October 29, 1920. It was established during British rule in Aligarh in the erstwhile United Provinces. The University was established by nationalist Muslim leaders. The Ali brothers, Moulana Mohammad Ali Jouhar and Moulana Shoukat Ali, especially played a major role in its founding. Dr.Zakir Hussain was the first Vice-Chancellor of JMI.

JMI was made a Central University through legislation in 1988.

SC gives free hand to NGT to whip Ganga polluting industries

The SC has asked the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to actively involve itself in the cleaning up of the Ganges river

Inactivity of other bodies

The SC asked the NGT to step in and take up the task of closing down industries polluting Ganga and take action against industries failing to install adequate anti-pollution measures to treat industrial effluents by March 2015. This responsibility had been entrusted to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and state pollution control boards (SPCBs). However, these agencies have failed to even implement SC orders which have been passed over the last 30 years to reduce pollutants in the Ganga.

Efficient functioning of the NGT

The SC opined that the NGT’s work, with its expertise in the field of environment, was impressive. The NGT would be in a better position to follow through on judgments and monitor their implementation in certain scenarios like the closure of polluting industries. Also, it can oversee the actions taken by different authorities and environmental agencies.

The SC has decided to give a free rein to NGT to take control of the cleaning-up of the Ganga. It will deal with the highly polluting industries which are discharging untreated effluents into Ganga and take appropriate measures, as it deems fit. The SC will retain control of certain matter such as those relating to ‘discharge of untreated sewage from municipalities and towns in the Ganga basin states’. The Court also asked the NGT to file status reports after intervals of six months on action being taken by it against polluting industries.

Government submits list of 627 people having illegal accounts in foreign banks to SC

The Centre has submitted a list of people having illegal accounts in foreign banks to the Supreme Court (SC), who handed it over to the SC appointed SIT (Special Investigation Team)

Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi filed a set of three documents in a sealed cover with the SC, on behalf of the Central Government. The documents contain the names of 627 persons having illegal HSBC accounts in Geneva which was provided by Franceand a status report of the investigation against them. The deadline for investigation into these accounts under the Income Tax Act is March 31, 2015.

Earlier, the government had released the names of three people from the list. The three persons whose names had been released are Pradip Burman, former executive chairman of Dabur; Pankaj Chimanlal Lodhiya, a Rajkot-based bullion trader and Radha S.Timblo, a Goa-based miner and owner of Timblo Pvt Ltd.Following this, the SC had issued an order asking the government to release all the names. The Court rejected the Centre’s argument that it would reveal the only the names against whom the Income Tax Department has evidence.

SIT

Once the documents were handed to the SC, the Bench handed the documents over to the SIT without opening the documents. The sealed cover will be opened by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the SC-appointed SIT. The further course of action will also be determined by the SIT. The Chairman of the SIT mentioned that there was no new detail in the list, and that the SIT already had the list of names.

Statistics

Though there are no official or authorised estimates, Global Financial Integrity (GFI), which is a Washington-based think-tank, has estimated that Indians have parked US $462 billion in bank accounts in overseas tax havens between 1948 and 2008.

Nokia launched OS Mobiles Nokia X and Nokia X+

OS Nokia X platform 1.0

Dual-SIM phones, 3-megapixel rear camera

4-inch 480x800 displays

1GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor

4GB internal storage with expandable support up to 32GB via microSD card

1500mAh battery 


Nokia X 512MB RAM

Nokia X+ 768MB RAM


Nokia XL dual sim phone

5-inch 480x800 display

5-megapixel camera, 720p front camera

768MB RAM and 2000mAh battery


All 3 phones support 3G and come with Micro-SIMs slot.

General Facts about Cat

Cats spend 2/3 rd of a day sleeping .On an average a cat spends 13 to 16 hours sleeping.The amount of time a cat spends sleeping depends on its age,lifestyle,health etc.Kittens sleep 16 to 18 hours per day.

If a cat is sleeping less then it is due to a condition called hyperthyroidism(when cat produces too much of thyroid hormones.)

• Cats spend 2/3 rd of the day sleeping

• A group of cats is called clower

• A group of kittens is called kindle

• Cats can make about 100 different vocal sounds while dogs can make on ly 10

• Cats can run at a top speed of 31 mph

• Cats usually have about 12 whiskers on each side of their face

• Cats have about 130000 hairs per square inch

• Cats can tolerate temperature up to 133 degree F

• Cats sweat only through their paws.

• A cats brain is biologically more similar to human brain than  dog's brain.

• Cats can jump up to 5 times its on height in a single bound

• First cat in space was a french cat called felecette

• Cats have the ability to sense a human's feelings and overall mood

• Cats prefer their food at room temperature

• A female cat is called a queen or a molly

01 Nov 2014 : Current Affairs

• SENSEX and NIFTY their at peaks.
  • Hopes of more reform measures from the Modi government, expectations of better growth in the second half of the fiscal and heavy buying by foreign funds, had a positive impact.
  • Bank of japans surprise expansion of its monetary stimulus programme.
  • Growth of U.S. at a robust pace filled Indian market with new hopes.
  National

  
  
 
• India to host a meeting of Indian and Chinese artists in jaipur.
  • The programme called Maitri , is intended for exchange of views on art and architecture.
  • Workshops on block painting and Chinese water colour art are on the agenda.
  • Its aim is to strengthen india and china relations.
  National

  
  
 
• 2nd Meeting of SAARC Education Ministers Held,emphasis on better education.
  • Education Ministers and officials of eight South Asian countries have resolved to collaborate on increased use of information technology and improving the quality of education.
  • Representatives of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka issued a joint statement titled The New Delhi Declaration on Education.
  • Enhancing the learning and development readiness of pre-school children, ensuring education for all, expanding skill development, facilitating mutual recognition of qualifications and mobility of students and teachers and expanding alternative ways of learning such as open and distance education, were identified as priority.
  • Discussions were made on India’s use of information and communication technology in education, development and sharing of e-resources, connectivity, e-learning and Massive Open Online Courses.
  International Relations

  
  
 
• New names for 12 Karnataka cities from today.
  • On 59th Karnataka Rajyotsava,the state government issued a special gazette notification to bring the new names into effect from Saturday.
  • Now, Mangalore will be called Mangaluru, Bellary will be called Ballari, Belgaum will be called Belagavi, Hubli has become Hubballi, Tumkur is Tumakuru, Bijapur has changed to Vijapura, Chikmagalur to Chikkamagaluru, Gulbarga to Kalaburagi, Hospet to Hosapete and Shimoga will now be known as Shivamogga.
  Constitution/Indian polity

  
  
 
• Bank of Japan surprises global financial markets by expanding its massive stimulus spending .
  • The government signalled its readiness to ramp up spending to boost the economy and as the government pension fund, the world's largest, was set to increase purchases of domestic and foreign stocks.
  • BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda portrayed the decision as a pre-emptive strike to keep policy on track.
  • Earlier, on Wednesday, Federal Reserve had ended its own quantitative easing, judging that the U.S. economy had recovered enough to dispense with the emergency flood of cash into its financial system.
  National

  
  
 

Quiz For Reasoning

Directions (1-4): These questions are based on the following letter/number/symbol arrangement. Study it carefully and answer the questions. 

3 D 6 $ C 4 E 8 # N 5 F 1 A P * 9 M @ K 2 B % 7 H U

1. Based on the above arrangement, #51 is related to NFA in the same as P9@is related to which of the following groups of letter/number/symbol? 

a) KB7
b) M*A
c) *M2
d) *M@
e) None of these

2. How many such consonants are there in the above arrangement each of which is immediately preceded by a number but not immediately followed by another consonant? 
a) None
b)Two
c) Four
d) Five
e) None of these

3. Four of the following are alike in a certain way based on their positions in the above arrangement and so form a group. Which is the one that does not belong to that group? 
a) A*F
b) MK9
c) 2%@
d) $4D
e) #5E

4. How many such symbols are there in the above arrangement each of which is immediately preceded by a consonant and also immediately followed by a number? 
a) None
b) One
c) Two
d) Three
e) None of these

Directions (5-9): Each question below is followed by two statements I and II. You are to determine whether the data given in the statement is sufficient to answer the question. You should use the data and your knowledge of Mathematics to choose between the possible answers. 

Give answer—
(1) If the statement I alone is sufficient to answer the question, but the statement II alone is not sufficient.
(2) If the statement II alone is sufficient to answer the question, but the statement I alone is not sufficient.
(3) If either the statement I alone or the statement II alone is sufficient to answer the question.
(4) If you cannot get the answer from the statements I and II together, but need more data.
(5) If both statements I and II together are needed to answer the question.

5. What are the codes for “green” and “apple” respectively?
I. “Khulja Ka Dabra Aabra” means “green and yellow apple”.
II. “Aabra Ka Dabra Simsim” means “apple yellow and red”

6. A cube is being cut into 64 smaller identical size cubes. How many smaller cubes have no face painted?
I. 3 faces of the bigger cube are painted blue.
II. 2 faces of the bigger cube are not painted and 1 face is painted red.

7. Is ‘x’ a leap year?
I. Chunky, was not able to celebrate his birthday in that year.
II. The year is not divisible by 4.

8. Who is the tallest among A, B, C, D and E.
I. C is shorter than D but taller than at least two people. E is shorter than B.
II. D is taller than at least 3 people. A is taller than E and C.

9. In a family of 5 people. How is Tanya related to Dhruv?
I. Rakesh is father-in-law of Tanya and Dhruv is son of Tanya.
II. Dhruv's sister is Payal who is Kapil's daughter. Dhruv is grandson of Rakesh.

Directions (10-14): Study the following information to answer the given questions: A word and number arrangement machine when given an input line of words and numbers rearranges them following a particular rule. The following is an illustration of input and rearrangement. 

Input: sum 28 have 19 96 48 luck nice 78 rope 
Step I: have sum 28 19 48 luck nice 78 rope 96 
Step II: luck have sum 28 19 48 nice rope 96 78 
Step III: nice luck have sum 28 19 rope 96 78 48 
Step IV: rope nice luck have sum 19 96 78 48 28 
Step V: sum rope nice luck have 96 78 48 28 19 

And step V is the last step of the rearrangement. As per the rules followed in the above steps, find out in each of the following questions the appropriate step for the input given below:

Input: 49 last zen 16 82 yet can vast 33 aim 87 54 

10. How many steps will be needed to complete the arrangement? 
(1) IV 
(2) V
(3) VI 
(4) VII
(5) None of these

11. Which step number would be the following output?
Vast last can aim zen 16 yet 33 87 82 54 49 
(1) III 
(2) II
(3) VII 
(4) IV
(5) There will be no such step

12. Which of the following would be step I? 
(1) aim 49 can zen 16 yet vast 33 54 87 82
(2) vast last can aim zen 16 yet 33 87 82 54 49
(3) zen 49 last 16 82 yet can vast 33 aim 54 87
(4) aim 49 last zen 82 yet can vast 33 87 54 16
(5) None of these

13. In step V, which of the following words/numbers would be at 6th position from the right? 
(1) 87 
(2) 16
(3) 33 
(4) zen 
(5) aim

14. Which of the following would be the final arrangement? 
(1) zen yet vast last can aim 16 33 49 54 82 87
(2) aim can last vast yet zen 16 33 49 54 82 87
(3) aim can last vast yet zen 87 82 54 49 33 16
(4) zen yet vast last can aim 87 82 54 49 33 16
(5) None of these


ANSWERS
Solutions (1-4)

1.(5)

2. (4) Five
D 6, 4 E 8, 5 F 1, 9 M @, 2 B %

3. Ans (2) MK9
4. Ans (3) P * 9,  B % 7

Solutions (5-9)
5. 4; Code for apple cannot be determined even by using both the statements together.
6. 4; Can’t be determined even by using both the statements together.
7. 3; By using any of the statements alone we can determine that x is not a leap year.
8. 4
9. 4; Even by using both the statements together gender of Tanya cannot be determined. So, we cannot say if Tanya is mother or father of Dhruv.

Solutions (10 – 14):
Input: 49 last zen 16 82 yet can vast 33 aim 87 54
Step I: aim 49 last zen 16 82 yet can vast 33 54 87
Step II: can aim 49 last zen 16 yet vast 33 54 87 82
Step III: last can aim 49 zen 16 yet vast 33 87 82 54
Step IV: vast last can aim zen 16 yet 33 87 82 54 49
Step V: yet vast last can aim zen 16 87 82 54 49 33
Step vi: zen yet vast last can aim 87 82 54 49 33 16


10. Ans: (3) VI step
11. Ans: 4: IV step
12. Ans: (5)
13. Ans: (2) 16
14. Ans: (4)

1st Nov-14 : Current Affairs

Current Affairs 1st November 2014 - Important Points

• Wanted in Bhopal gas tragedy, Warren Anderson passed away at 92

• Minor damages caused to INS Kora, as it was scraped by merchant vessel

• Lokesh Chandra appointed as President of Indian Council for Cultural Relations

• After 4 years captivity, Somali Pirates freed 7 Indian sailors

• Rajiv Mehrishi took charge as Economic Affairs Secretary

Current Affairs 1st November 2014 - Details

Wanted in Bhopal gas tragedy, Warren Anderson passed away at 92

Former Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson passed away in Florida at the age of 92. He was former Union Carbide chief and was wanted by India to face prosecution for his role in the Bhopal gas tragedy. 

In the year of 1984, poisonous gas leak at the company's plant in Bhopal killed thousand's and thousands were affected by it. 

Minor damages caused to INS Kora, as it was scraped by merchant vessel

On 31st October 2014, Indian Naval Ship Kora was scraped by a foreign merchant vessel about 300 NM at sea from Visakhapatnam which resulted in minor damages to the ship, though there were no damage to the watertight integrity of the ship or any injuries or loss of life.

This minor accident was occurred whrn INS Kora and INS Gaj were on passage from Visakhapatnam to Port Blair. Merchant cargo ship was from Chittagong in Bangladesh to Colombo.  

Lokesh Chandra appointed as President of Indian Council for Cultural Relations

On 27th October 2014, Prof Lokesh Chandra was appointed as chairman of ICCR (India Council for Cultural Relations). President Pranab Mukherjee appointed him for a term of three years.

Prof Chandra succeeded Congress leader Karan Singh, as Karan Singh resigned from office on 18th August 2014. Earlier Prof Lokesh Chandra was the Honorary Director of the International Academy of Indian Culture, which is a premier research institution for Asian cultures.

Prof Chandra had served as a member of the Rajya Sabha twice from 1974-80 and 1980-86 and was also honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2006.

After 4 years captivity, Somali Pirates freed 7 Indian sailors

On 30th October 2014, Seven Indian sailors were freed from a captivity of four years by Somali pirates. 

Sailors's release was confirmed by Kenyan-based Ecoterra International which monitors maritime activity on the Indian Ocean.

Rajiv Mehrishi took charge as Economic Affairs Secretary

On 31st October 2014, 1978 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre Mr. Rajiv Mehrishi took charge as Union Finance Secretary under the Union Ministry of Finance. Mr. Rajiv Mehrishi succeeded Mr. Arvind Mayaram,  as Mr. Arvind Mayaram shifted to Union Ministry of Minority Affairs on 30th October 2014.