News Summary October

8/13/2019 News Summary October

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A publication of Nirdeshak.com

Current AffairsOctober 2013

Current Affairsfrom1 st Oct, 2013to31st Oct, 2013


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C U R R E N T A F F A I R S

1 October 2013

1) A special CBI court at Ranchi on 30September, 2013 convicted former Bihar ChiefMinster and RJD leader Lalu Prasad and 44others (including former Chief Minister JagannathMishra) in the in the multi-crore fodder scam caseof 1990s. The court will pronounce the quantum of

sentence to the convicts on 3 October, 2013. Hewas convicted in which case? Fraudulentwithdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from Chaibasatreasury of Jharkhand (The RJD chief will faceimmediate disqualification as a Lok Sabhamember as per a Supreme Court order that anMP or legislator would stand disqualifiedimmediately if convicted by a court for crimes withpunishment of two years or more)

2) The infamous Chaibasa treasury case related

to the multi-crore fodder-scam of Bihar, in whichRJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav was convictedby a special-CBI court in Ranchi, was unearthedby the then Deputy Commissioner of WestSinghbhum in 1996. What is his name? AmitKhare (The fodder scam came to surface afterDeputy Commissioner Amit Khare raided officesof animal husbandry department in January 1996,

seizing documents showing syphoning of funds bynon-existent companies in the name of supplyingfodder)

3) What was Indias Current Account Deficit(CAD) for the April-June quarter of the currentfiscal as declared by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on 30 September, 2013? $21.8billion (CAD is the difference between inflow andoutflow of foreign exchange)Other important facts pertaining to CADduring April-June quarter of 2013

CAD for the quarter was 4.9% of the GDP(CAD was 4.4% or $16.9 billion in thesame quarter of last fiscal, 2012-13)

High imports of gold and oil were themain reasons responsible for pushing upthe CAD. Gold imports increased by $7.3billion in the first quarter of current fiscal.Excluding the increase in gold imports of$7.3 billion in Q1 of 2013-14 over thecorresponding quarter of the precedingyear, CAD would work out to $14.5 billion,which translates into 3.2% cent of GDP

CAD had declined to 3.6% in the January-March quarter after touching a recordhigh of 6.5% in the October-Decemberquarter

The government plans to bring down CADto 3.7% or $70 billion in the 2013-14 fiscal,from 4.8% or $88.2 billion in 2012-13

4) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 30September, 2013 came up with a report titled AProfile of Banks: 2012- 13, which among otherdata, reported statistics pertaining to net non-performing assets (NPA) of the banking sector.What are the important NPA figures mentioned inthis report?

The net NPA of all banks increased to1.68% of the total loan at the end of 2012-13 (The net NPA of all banks was 1.28% at


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the end of 2011-12. Increase in net NPAreflects deterioration in economicactivities)

Net NPA of the 26 public sector banks,including State Bank of India (SBI), rose

to 2.02% during the year as compared to1.53% in the previous fiscal SBI and its five associates recorded a net

NPA of 2.04% against 1.76% in thecomparable period

Net NPA of new private sector bank rosemarginally to 0.45% as compared to0.42%

Tight liquidity situation resulted inincrease in cost of funds of allcommercial banks to 6.12% as against

5.90% in 2011-12

The cost of funds for state-owned banksrose to 6.27% from 6.06% in 2011-12

5) Petrol price was on 30 September, 2013 cut

reduced by per litre Rs. 3.05 (This wasthe first reduction of petrol price in over fivemonths and the steepest reduction in over fiveyears. Since June, 2013 petrol prices had beenraised seven times, totalling Rs. 10.80 per litre,excluding VAT, as the rupee depreciated sharplyagainst the rupee. On the other hand diesel priceswere raised by 50 paise a litre. Oil firms alsoraised rates of non-subsidised domestic cookinggas that households buy after exhausting theirquota of 9 subsidised cylinders)

2 October 2013

1) Life insurance policies of Life InsuranceCorporation of India (LIC) became costlier from1 October, 2013 due to an IRDA guideline thatcame into effect from this date. What guideline isthis? Levy of 3% service-tax on all non-unit-linked products beginning 1 October

2013 (While private insurers add a service taxcomponent to the premium paid by customers,LIC has not been levying the tax on its popularendowment and money-back plans. From 1October, however, all LIC policies will attract aseparate service tax. In a recent announcement,insurance watchdog IRDA (InsuranceRegulatory and Development Authority)mandated that service tax shall not be includedin the contractual premium, but collected frompolicyholder separately. LIC is the largest life-

insurance provider in India with a market shareof around 83%)

2) The United States government went into a

shutdown from the mid-night of 30 September,2013. This meant that an estimated 800,000federal workers faced furloughs (leave withoutpayment) and most of the space agency andother government operations remained closed.What was the reason for this shutdown? Collusion between Republicans andDemocrats over the flagship healthcareprogramme of President Barack Obama inthe US Congress which led to an interruptionin Federal funding (This is the first instance of

shutdown in the U.S. since twin shutdowns of1995 and 1996. In U.S. politics, a governmentshutdown is a situation in which the governmentstops providing all but essential services.Typically, federal services that continue despitea shutdown include the National WeatherService and its parent agencies, medicalservices at federal facilities, the postal service,armed forces, air traffic management, etc. Agovernment shutdown is similar to a lockout inthe private sector)


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3) Congress Rajya Sabha MP Rasheed Masoodwas on 1 October, 2013 sentenced to four yearsin jail by a Special CBI Court at New Delhi. Whatwas the charge against Masood? Fraudulently nominating undeserving

candidates from across the country to MBBSseats allotted to Tripura medical collegesfrom the central pool in 1990-91 (This casepertains to the time when he was Union HealthMinister during the National Front Govt. in 1990.With this Masood became the first MP to losehis seat after a recent Supreme Court order onimmediate disqualification of convictedlawmakers)

4) Indian Railways freight tariff was increased

from 1 October, 2013 due to the increase in fuelcost. This increase came into effect as it was abudget proposal to review the fuel adjustmentcomponent (FAC) after Six Months (Railwayshad earlier hiked the freight rate by 5.7 per centon 1 April, 2013 while linking the FAC withgoods tariff. FAC was proposed in the budgetand was linked with fuel and energy prices andcalculated accordingly)

5) Who was recently appointed as Indias newHigh Commissioner to the United Kingdom(UK)? Ranjan Mathai (Mathai will succeedJaimini Bhagwati and will take his charge soon.Mathai is the former Foreign Secretary and heretired on 31 July, 2013)

6) What is the name of a distinct identity toKhadi which was launched on 30 September,2013 by the President Pranab Mukherjee? Khadi Mark (The launch of Khadi Mark on theoccasion of Gandhi Jayanti on 2 October, 2013will ensure that no textile can be sold orotherwise traded by any person or institution asKhadi or Khadi product in any form or mannerwithout it bearing a Khadi Mark tag, sticker or

label, according to the Ministry of Small andMedium Enterprises. Khadi was promoted byMahatma Gandhi to counter Western fabric andbecame a symbol of self-reliance duringcountrys freedom struggle)

7) Who took over as the new Chairman &Managing Director of Bharat PetroleumCorporation Limited (BPCL) on 1 October,2013? S. Varadarajan (He replaced R.K.Singh who has retired)

8) Ashok Reddy Nukala was recently appointedas new Chairman of Karnataka Vikas GrameenaBank (KVGB), a regional rural bank. KVGB issponsored by which public-sector bank?

Syndicate Bank

9) According to the newly released census dataof Census 2011 pertaining to slum dwellers, howmany Indians live in slums in 2011? 65million (In the Census of 2001 the totalpopulation of slum dwellers stood at 52 million.The census defines a slum as residential areaswhere dwellings are unfit for human habitation

because they are dilapidated, cramped, poorlyventilated, unclean, or any combination of thesefactors which are detrimental to the safety andhealth and covers all 4,041 statutory towns inIndia)

10) According to the newly released census dataof Census 2011 pertaining to Indias slums,which state has the highest slum population inthe country? Maharashtra (Maharashtrasslum population stood at 11 million. Andhra

Pradesh follows with over 10 million in slums,and West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh have over 6million slum residents each)


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5) First coach of the upcoming Hyderabad MetroRail project was unveiled in Hyderabad on 2October, 2013. Which company is heading this

project, which includes a 72-km long elevatedrail-track? L&T (The Hyundai-Rotemconsortium is the supplier for coaches of thisproject)

4 October 2013

1) Union Cabinet on 3 October, 2013 gave itsseal of approval to a Home Ministry proposal todivide Andhra Pradesh and carve out the newstate of Telangana from it. Hyderabad would beshared capital of the remaining Andhra Pradesh

and Telangana for how many years, asapproved by the Union Cabinet? 10years (This announcement was followed by astring of resignations from the Union Council ofMinisters, with Human Resource DevelopmentMinister M. Pallam Raju, Textiles Minister KavuriSamba Siva Rao, Minister of State for TourismChiranjeevi, and Minister of State for RailwaysKotla Surya Prakash Reddy putting in theirpapers)

2) Tensions suddenly flared up in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions on 3 October,2013 amid reports that the Central Cabinetwould discuss and approve in the evening anote on bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Thesereports caused surprise since Seemandhraleaders were expecting some forward movementonly after a committee constituted to gauge the

concerns of Congress leaders and people ofcoastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telanganaon the issue of partitioning presents its report.Who is heading this crucial committee? AKAntony , Union Defence Minister

3) Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader andFormer Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad was on3 October, 2013 sentenced to five yearsimprisonment in a 17-year-old fodder scam caseby a special CBI court at Ranchi. He wasconvicted on corruption and other charges on 30September, 2013 by the same court. Who wasthe judge of this special CBI court whichdelivered this sentence? Pravas KumarSingh (This sentence disqualifies Lalu PrasadYadav from Parliament and renders him

ineligible for contesting elections for 11 years.He was also fined Rs. 25 lakh while anotherformer Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishrawas sentenced to four years imprisonment in thecase)

4) Eight convicts were sentenced to lifeimprisonment by the Phulbani additional districtand sessions court in Kandhamal (Orissa) on 3October, 2013 for the murder of Vishwa HinduParishad (VHP) leader, SwamiLakshmanananda Saraswati. This murder,which rocked the state of Orissa for quite sometime, took place on 23 August, 2008

5) Which five Indian universities/institutes madeto the prestigious Times Higher Education WorldUniversity Rankings 2013-14 of the top 400universities of the World, which was released


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recently? Panjab University (Chandigarh),IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur and IITRoorkee (There were only two Indianuniversities (IIT Kharagpur and IIT Roorkee)listed in the rankings for year 2012-13. Panjab

University joins the group of universities rankedbetween 226 and 250, putting it way ahead of itsclosest Indian rival IIT Delhi, which is in the 351-400 group. Overall, the California Institute ofTechnology (CIT) retained its place at the top ofthe rankings for the third consecutive year, withHarvard University regaining second place (upfrom fourth), a position shared with the UKsUniversity of Oxford. Stanford University slippedfrom joint second to fourth)

6) First National Awards for Senior Citizens werepresented by the President Pranab Mukherjeeon 1 October, 2013. What was the name givento these awards, which were given under eightdifferent categories? Vayoshreshtha

Samman (These awards were given on theoccasion of the International Day of OlderPersons)

7) Uttam Chandarana, who passed away on 2October, 2013, was a sportsman of yesteryears.He was associated with which sport? TableTennis (He won mens singles title in 1943(Hyderabad), in 1948 (Colombo), in 1949(Hyderabad) and in 1954 (Baroda). He,however, also excelled in tennis, athletics,

billiards and snooker and cricket)

5 October 2013

1) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 4October, 2013 set up a four-member committeeunder former Governor Bimal Jalan to scrutinizeapplications for new bank licences. Theselicenses are expected to be awarded byJanuary, 2014. Who are the other threemembers of this committee? Usha Thorat(former RBI Deputy Governor), C B Bhave(former SEBI Chairman) and Nachiket Mor(financial sector expert) The committee willmake its recommendations to the Governor andDeputy Governors, who will make the final

proposals to the committee of the RBI centralboard. There are 26 applicants from the publicand private sector for bank licences, includingTata Sons, Indias biggest business group, andfirms controlled by billionaires Anil Ambani andKumar Mangalam Birla.

2) Which state would become the first in thecountry to have the provision of negative votingfor its electorate, as announced by the ElectionCommission on 4 October, 2013? Chhattisgarh (The Assembly elections inChhattisgarh will be conducted in two phases on11 and 19 November, 2013. It will thereforebecome the first state where the option ofnegative voting will be introduced. Under thisoption a voter can opt to give his/her vote tonone of the candidates featuring in the poll. TheElection Commission on 4 October, 2013announced the schedule for Assembly electionsin Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan,


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Delhi and Mizoram. The first phase of electionsin Chhattisgarh will be held on 11 November,2013 and the second phase on 19 November,2013. Madhya Pradesh will go to polls on 25November, 2013, while elections in Rajasthan

will be held on 1 December, 2013. Elections inDelhi and Mizoram will be held on 4 December,2013. Counting of votes will be held on 8December, 2013)

3) Ahead of the festival season, the Union Govt.on 3 October, 2013 decided to enhance capitalinfusion into the PSU banks over and abovewhat was provided in the Budget. This was toenable them to extend more credit to auto andconsumer durables sectors to stimulate demand

and combat slowdown. How much fund wasprovided to the banks for capital infusion in theBudget? Rs. 14,000 crore (The additionalamount of capital will be provided to banks toenable them to lend to borrowers in selectsectors such as two-wheeler, consumerdurables, etc at lower rates in order to stimulatedemand)

4) What is the name given to Indias first 5,500horse power (HP) diesel locomotive that hasbeen manufactured by Diesel Locomotive Works(DLW), Varanasi? Bheem (It is known asWDG-5 in railway nomenclature. Bheems 5,500HP diesel engine will be the first of its kind inIndia. Currently, Railways employs 4,500 HPengines for freight transport. Bheem has beendesigned by Research Designs and StandardsOrganisation (RDSO), Lucknow. It has a host ofnew features, which include computerisedcontrols, an air conditioned cabin for the driver

and a toilet. It is presently being tested on theBareilly-Moradabad railway section)

5) Indias la rgest forged-wheel factory forrailways is proposed to be established at which

place of Uttar Pradesh? Lalganj inRaibareili (An agreement for this forged-wheelfactory was signed between Union Steel Ministryand Railway Ministry on 3 October, 2013. Theproposed factory will be established with aninvestment of Rs. 1,100 crore. In the first stagethis factory would have capacity to manufacture1 lakh wheels for railway engines and fast speedtrains. This capacity would be doubled in thesecond stage)

6) Which qualifier team on 4 October, 2013qualified to play the ICC World Cup for the firsttime? Afghanistan (Afghanistan defeatedKenya by seven wickets to finish second in theWorld Cricket League Championship in Sharjah.With this win Afghanistan made its maiden entryinto the cricket world cup and will play in the2015 ICC World Cup to be jointly hosted by

Australia and New Zealand. Ireland was the firstqualifier team to qualify for this event)

7) What is the size of the proposed IPO (initialpublic offering) of social-media company TwitterInc., which was revealed by the company on 3October, 2013? $ 1 billion (Twitters IPO isthe most eagerly-awaited tech offering sinceFacebooks over -hyped public launch in May2012. This IPO is expected to take place duringNovember, 2013. Twitter would list its stocksunder the TWTR ticker symbol)


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6 October 2013

1) India on 5 October, 2013 started commercialexport of electricity to which neighbouringcountry, to which India will export 500

megawatts of electricity a day over a period of35 years? Bangladesh (This initiative is seenas a big boost to Indias electricity diplomacyefforts on the eastern border. Electricity toBangladesh will be provided through the 71-kmBaharampur Bheramara transmission link. Onthis occasion the Bangladesh-India PowerTransmission Centre at Bheramara(Bangladesh) was also inaugurated. Theelectricity is being imported under amemorandum of understanding signed during

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinasvisit to India in 2010)

2) Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief MarshalNAK Browne on 4 October, 2013 announcedIAFs plans to develop a fighter aircraft basenear Ladakh as part of its efforts to build upmilitary infrastructure along the border withChina. Where is this air-base proposed? Nyoma (Nyoma is an important location forboth the Army and the IAF in the south east ofLadakh which has good weather all round theyear. Located at an altitude of around 13,000feet, Nyoma is lower in height thanthe Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) at DaulatBeg Oldie but is higher than the air bases in Lehand Thoise. The cost of developing the air basewould be around Rs 2,173 crore and it will take

4-5 years to develop it. The proposal to developNyoma air-base is expected to be taken up bythe Union Cabinet in November, 2013)

3) Which African country on 2 October, 2013announced its decision to quit Commonwealth?

Gambia (Gambia is a Western African countryand was a member of the Commonwealth since1965, when it gained independence from Britain.The Gambian government did not give a reasonfor the decision to leave the Commonwealth.However, it comes amid a greater emphasis by

Britain on human rights and increasing pressureto promote equality based on sexuality.Commonwealth is a group of over 50 countriesmade up largely of former British colonies.Gambia called Commonwealth a neo -colonialinstitution while announcing its withdrawal fromthis group headed by British monarch QueenElizabeth)

4) Union Govt. on 5 October, 2013 launched thesale of small 5-kg LPG cylinders from company-

owned- company-operated (COCO) petrolpumps. Initially the pilot project of this schemehas been started in which 4 cities of thecountries? Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai andBengaluru (This scheme was launched byUnion Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily atBengaluru on 5 October. COCO petrol pumpsmake up for just 3% of over 47,000 petrol pumpsin the country. This scheme is expected tobecome a boon to migratory population such asstudents, IT professionals, BPO employees and

persons with odd duty timings as it wouldprovide them the flexibility to pick up cylindersand obtain subsequent refills at time of theirchoice as petrol stations are open for longerhours)

5) Union Petroleum Ministry on 5 October 2013launched the pilot project of inter- company LPG


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portability scheme under which LPG consumercan also opt for the distributor of his choicewithin a cluster of LPG distributors in the vicinityand across the oil companies. The pilot of thisportability scheme has been launched in how

many cities? 24

6) What is the name of Indias first indigenousvaccine to protect children from Japaneseencephalitis (JE) which was launched on 4October, 2013? JENVAC (JENVAC is being

manufactured in the public-private partnershipmode between the Indian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) and Bharat Biotech. JE, amosquito-borne viral infection, is the mostcommon cause of viral encephalitis in eastern

Uttar Pradesh (UP), claiming hundreds of livesevery year. Mortality is higher among childrenand thousands of them in this area have beenrendered disabled by it. Till now India wasimporting vaccine for JE from China)

7 October 2013

1) The Gorakhpur railway station got the title ofworlds longest platform on 6 October, 2013 asthe remodelled Gorakhpur yard was inauguratedon this day. This platform measures 1366.33metres with ramp and it pushed West BengalsKharagpur to second spot. Gorakhpur railwaystation comes under which railway division ofIndian Railways? North-Eastern Railway(NER)

2) Which team won the Champions League T20for 2013, the final of which was played on 6October, 2013 at the Ferozeshah Kotla in Delhi?

Mumbai Indians (Mumbai Indians defeatedRajasthan Royals by 33 runs in the final to claimits second Champions League T20 crown. AfterChennai Super Kingss feat in 2010, MumbaiIndians became the second team to win the IPL

and CLT20 titles in the same year. With thisSachin Tendulkars limited -overs career endedwith a championship trophy. Champion teamsfrom numerous countries play in ChampionsLeague T20)3) What is the per employee businessgeneration average of all Indian banks for 2012-13 according to the latest data on Indian bankingsector released by the RBI recently? 12.13crore (RBI recently released A Profile of Banks:2012- 13, which mentions statistics pertaining toper employee business generation of Indianbanks for year 2012-13. However, the businessper employee of Indias largest bank SBI wasRs. 9.43 crore, which is much below theaggregate of all banks)

4) Who won the Korean Grand Prix F1 on 6Octber, 2013? Sebastian Vettel (Germany) ofRed Bull team (Kimi Raikonnen (Finland) ofLotus was second while his teammate Romain

Grosjean (France) claimed third spot. With thiswin Vettel leads the championship with 77 pointsand is expected to wrap up the 2013 F1 title atnext weekends Japanese Grand Prix atSuzuka)

5) The revised passenger fares came into effectfrom 7 October, 2013 to implement Fuel


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Adjustment Component (FAC). What is theapproximate percentage hike in passenger fareswhich became effective? Around 2% (Thisincludes all AC classes, Sleeper class and

Second Class Ordinary (Non-Suburban). Thefair of Second Class Ordinary (Suburban) orSecond Class MST have not been increased)

8 October 2013

1) The Union Government on 7 October, 2013

cleared the elevation of Arundhati Bhattacharyaas the new Chairperson of SBI. She will becomethe first woman to head SBI, which is Indiaslargest bank. Bhattacharya will becomehead of SBI 24th (She will succeedPratip Chaudhuri, who retired on 30 September,2013. Her tenure will be of around two and a halfyears)

2) India on 7 October, 2013 successfully test-fired indigenously developed nuclear-capable

Prithvi-II missile from a test range at Chandipurin Orissa. What is the strike range of this missile,which is the first missile to be developed byDRDO under Indias prestigious IGMDP(Integrated Guided Missile DevelopmentProgramme)? 350 km (Prithvi-II is capable ofcarrying 500 kg to 1000 kg of warheads and isthrusted by liquid propulsion twine engines. The

last users trial of Prithvi -II was successfullycarried out from the same base on 12 August,2013)

3) The Supreme Court on 7 October, 2013rejected BCCIs suggestion for setting up a

special committee to probe the IPL spot-fixingscandal. It proposed a three-member panel toexamine the issue. Who was nominated as thehead of this panel by the Supreme Court? Justice Mukul Mudgal , former Chief Justice ofthe Punjab and Haryana High Court (TheSupreme Court bench also proposed the namesof senior advocate and Additional SolicitorGeneral N Nageshwar Rao and Assam Cricket

Association member Nilay Dutta to be part of thepanel. The bench turned down BCCIs proposal

for setting up a Special Purpose Committee(SPC) comprising senior politician Arun Jaitleyand Nilay Dutta to look into the issue)

4) Who took over as the first Chief Minister of SriLankas Northern Province on 7 October, 2013 ?

C.V. Wigneswaran (He is a former SupremeCourt judge and his party, the Tamil National

Alliance (TNA), won the provincial councilelections held on 21 September, 2013. Much ofthe area of Northern Province was under LTTEscontrol for nearly 30 years)

5) Bangladesh on 7 October, 2013 ratified anextradition treaty with India. This will enable theprocess of handing over of suspects andconvicted prisoners between India andBangladesh. The ratification of the treaty pavesthe way for Bangladesh to transfer Indian


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separatist leader, Anup Chetia, to India. Chetiais top leader of which separatist movement? United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) ,which is the largest separatist movement in thestate of Assam

6) Americans James Rothman and RandySchekman and German-born researcherThomas Suedhof were on 7 October announcedas the winners of the 2013 Nobel Prize inmedicine. They have been awarded this prize forwhich discovery done by them? Discoverieson how hormones, enzymes and other keysubstances are transported withincells (Their research on vesicle traffic thetransport system of our cells helped scientists

understand how cargo is delivered to the rightplace at the right time inside cells. Disturbancesto the system can contribute to diabetes andneurological and immunological disorders)

7) The much-awaited sale of West BengalGovernments stake in troubled HaldiaPetrochemicals Ltd (HPL) took place on 7October, 2013. State-owned Indian Oil Corp(IOC) emerged as the sole bidder for the WestBengal governments stake in HPL. West Bengal

govt. has how much stake in HPL, which isbeing divested through this take sale? 39.9% (Purnendu Chatterjee-led The ChatterjeeGroup (TCG) has 40.88% stake, in HPL. IOChas an 8.89 per cent stake as a strategic

investor and the rest is with financial institutionsand Tata Group companies Tata Motors andTata Power. HPL had an accumulated loss of Rs1,980 crore at the end of 31 March, 2012, anddebt topping of Rs 3,500 crore. The plant,located 125 km from Kolkata at Haldia, operatesat about 65% of installed capacity)

8) According to the latest data pertaining to visaacceptance of various countries released byHenley & Partners Visa Restriction Index,

citizens of which country enjoy the widest rangeof visa-free travel in the world? GreatBritain (British citizens enjoy the widest range ofvisa-free travel in the world, being able to visit173 countries with just a passport. India figures74th on the list, while Afghanistan comes at thebottom of the table, with only 28 countriesavailable for entry without visa. Iraqi passportholders can go to 31 countries while Pakistanand Somalia are tied at the third from the bottomwith 32)

9 October 2013

1) Indian Army on 8 October, 2013 wrapped-upits 15-day-long major operation along the Line ofControl (LoC) in Jammu & Kashmir to foil amassive infiltration bid by terrorists backed by

suspected Pakistani special forces. This bid wasthe biggest infiltration bid after the 1999 Kargilconfrontation. This incident took place at whichplace in Kashmir? Keran Sectors Shaalbhativillage (8 terrorists were killed and 59 weaponsincluding 18 AK rifles and war-like stores werecaptured in this army operation. Indian armysuspects that 30-40 well equipped infiltratingmilitants were involved in this infiltration bid)

2) The Air Force Day was celebrated across theestablishments of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on 8October, 2013. IAF completed how many years


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of its establishment on this day? 81 (IAF wasestablished on 8 October, 1932 with formation ofthe No.1 Squadron. The main programme ofIAFs 81st Anniversary was held in the form ofthe Air Force Day Parade at Air Force Station

Hindon, Ghaziabad)

3) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 7October, 2013 eased more money into thesystem to help banks offer affordable lendingoptions to retail customers. For this, which twosteps were taken by the RBI :

Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) wasbrought down to 9% by cutting it downby 50 basis points from 9.5% (MSF isthe rate at which banks borrow funds

overnight from RBI against approvedgovernment securities)

Banks were allowed to borrow moneyfrom RBI for one-week and two-weeks(This new offer of extended period loansis also expected to further ease liquidityin the system)

(These measures came in the wake of a gradualstability in the rupee and point towards aseemingly combined effort by both the centralbank and the government to pep up demand in

the crucial festive season)

4) The Maldives Supreme Court on 7 October,2013 suspended the results of the first roundelections of September 7, in which MaldivianDemocratic Party candidate, MohamedNasheed, stood first with over 45.45% of thepopular vote. This decision gave a huge setbackto former President Nasheed. Which date wasannounced as the re-run of the first round ofpolls by the Supreme Court? 19 October2013 (The Supreme Court ruled that a freshround must be held before 20 October. The

verdict was based on a case filed by QasimIbrahim, a resort tycoon, who had beeneliminated in the first round of polls. He hadcontended that the first round was not free andfair. However, all observers during the polls,

including local NGO Transparency Maldives, theIndian Election Observers team lead by theformer CEC, J.M.Lyngdoh, the Commonwealthobservers team, the European Union team, anda team from the United States had praised theconduct of polls)

5) The 2013 Nobel Prize for Physics was sharedamong Peter Higgs of Britain and FrancoisEnglert of Belgium as announced on 8 October,2013. They were given this prize for which

discovery of theirs? The theoreticaldiscovery of the origin of mass of subatomicparticles, also called the Boson Theory (Theso-called boson theory was a central part of theStandard Model of particle physics thatdescribes how the universe is constructed. Thetheory was recently confirmed through thediscovery of the predicted fundamental particleby two teams working at the nuclear researchorganisation, CERN, in Switzerland)6) The Supreme Court on 8 October, 2013commuted the death sentence of former YouthCongress leader Sushil Sharma to lifeimprisonment in the Naina Sahni murder case. Athree-judge bench led by Chief Justice PSathasivam held that the murder was anoutcome of an estranged personal relationshipand Sharmas chances of reformation could notbe completely ruled out. Naina Sahni murdercase, which had rocked the country and wasalso known as tandoor case, took place in 1995


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10 October 2013

1) Supreme Court on 8 October, 2013 directedthe Central Govt. to reserve what percentage ofgovt. jobs for disabled persons? 3% (Thishistoric ruling of the Supreme Court came after amarathon legal battle for providing a level-playing field in govt. jobs for at least 4 crore

people with disabilities in India. The SupremeCourt bench led by Chief Justice P Sathasivamquashed the Centres 2005 office memorandumand the govt.s claim that the reservation policynot only had to be different for Group A, B, Cand D posts but the quota had to confine tosome identified posts)

2) Three American scientists Martin Karplus, Arieh Warshel and Michael Levitt were on 9October announced as the winners of the 2013

Nobel Prize in Chemistry. They have beenawarded this prize for which contribution in thefield of Chemistry? For the development ofmulti-scale models for complex chemicalsystems (In the 1970s, Martin Karplus, MichaelLevitt and Arieh Warshel laid the foundation forthe powerful programs that are used tounderstand and predict chemical processes. The

strength of the methods that Karplus, Levitt andWarshel have developed is that they areuniversal. They can be used to study all kinds ofchemistry; from the molecules of life to industrialchemical processes. All the three scientists arenaturalized US citizens. Karplus is also an

Austrian citizen. Warshel is also an Israeli citizenwhile Levitt was born in South Africa and holdscitizenship of Britain and Israel)

3) Which country lifted a ban on women wearingthe Islamic head scarf in state institutions on 8

October, 2013? Turkey (This ended an almost90 year old restriction on women head scarf andthis move is being seen as part of a package ofreforms meant to bolster countrys democracy.This ban had kept many women from joining thepublic service in Turkey. On the other handcountrys secularists see this abolition asevidence of the govt. pushing an Islamicagenda)

4) The trade deficit of India fell to a 30-month

low in September 2013, as announced by theUnion Govt. on 9 October, 2013. What was thetrade deficit during September? $6.7billion (Exports increased 11.15% during themonth to $27.64 billion compared to the samemonth in the previous year, while imports fellsharply by 18.10% to $34.43 billion. Importsdeclined primarily due to a fall in crude oil andgold inflow. This brought the much-needed reliefto the Indian Government fighting a fallingrupee)

5) What is the name of the NASA spacecraftbound for Jupiter, which on 9 October, 2013swung by Earth to get the boost it needs toreach the giant planet in 2016? Juno (Juno isthe spacecraft launched by NASA in 2011 and isto reach Jupiter in 2016. Using Earth as agravitational slingshot is a common trick since


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there isnt a rocket thats powerful enough tocatapult a spacecraft directly to the outer solarsystem. Juno is scheduled to arrive at Jupiter on4 July, 2016 after journeying 1.7 billion miles)

6) Bharti Enterprises and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.on 9 October, 2013 announced their decision topart their ways in their joint-venture operations inthe Indian retail sector. Subsequently, the U.S.retail major will buy out the Indian partner fromtheir 50:50 wholesale cash and carry jointventure Bharti Wal-Mart, for an undisclosedsum. What is the name of the retail-chain owned

by this joint-venture which operated cash andcarry stores across India? Best Price ModernWholesale (The two partners had joined handsin 2007 and launched its first B2B Best PriceModern Wholesale cash-and-carry store in

Amritsar in May 2009. At present, there are 20Best Price Modern Wholesale stores located atvarious cities across India)7) Who was appointed as the new Pakistan HighCommissioner to India on 9 October, 2013? Syed Ibne Abbas (Abbas will replace SalmanBashir)

11 October 2013

1) 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature was awardedto Canadas Alice Munro. The Swedish

Academy made this announcement on 10October, 2013. With this Munro became thewomen to be awarded this prestigiousprize 13th (She is also the first Canadian towin the prestigious honour. She was acclaimedas the master of the contemporary story by theSwedish Academy. Her important worksinclude Dance of the HappyShades (1968), Girls and Women (1971)and The Beggar Maid: Stories of Flo andRose (1978))

2) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) duringOctober, 2013 constituted a committee to

examine the feasibility of encrypted SMS-basedfund transfers so as to boost mobile banking inthe country. Who will head this committee? B.Sambamurthy , Director, Institute forDevelopment and Research in BankingTechnology (IDRBT) The committee will studychallenges faced by banks in mobile banking. Itwill consider the advantages/ challenges of

having a single application across all handsetsin an SMS-encrypted environment. Thecommittee will also look at any other solution toexpand the reach of mobile banking andaccordingly, draw a roadmap to implement thosesolutions)

3) India on 10 October, 2013 signedMemorandums of Understanding (MoUs) withhow many countries for the ambitious NalandaUniversity project being built near the ruins ofthe ancient academic institution? Seven (These seven countries are Australia,Cambodia, Singapore, Brunei, New Zealand,Lao PDR and Myanmar. These seven countrieshave pledged their support for this project.These agreements are key to Indias plans to


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establish Nalanda University in Bihar as aninstitution of international repute)

4) Who will be conferred the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for year 2012 as

announced on 10 October, 2013 by the awardcommittee? M S Swaminathan , renownedagricultural scientist (Swaminathan is alsoknown as The Father of Green Revolution. Hehas served as Director of the Indian AgriculturalResearch Institute, New Delhi (1966-72),Director General of the Indian Council of

Agricultural Research and Secretary to theGovernment of India, Department of AgriculturalResearch and Education (1972-79))

5) India was the largest recipient of foreignremittances among the developing countries

during 2012-13 according to the recentlyreleased report by World Bank titled Migrationand Remittance Flows: Recent Trends andOutlook-2013- 16. What was the total amount ofremittance sent to India by Non-Resident

Indians (NRIs) during the year? $71billion (Total remittance to India was larger thanits total income from IT exports. China wassecond in this list with total remittances of $60billion followed by the Philippines with $26 billionof remittance)6) Who took over as the new Chairman &Managing Director (CMD) of Corporation Bankduring October, 2013? SR Bansal (Bansalwas Executive Director of Punjab National Bank(PNB) before taking his new charge. Corporation

Bank is a public-sector bank headquartered atMangalore in Karnataka)

12 October 2013

1) The Organization for the Prohibition ofChemical Weapons (OPCW) was awarded theNobel Peace Prize for 2013 as announced on 12October, 2013. This award was given to theorganization for its extensive efforts to rid theworld of chemical arsenals. The 189-memberOPCW has its headquarters in The Hague ,the Netherlands (OPCW was founded in 1997 toenforce the Chemical Weapons Convention, thefirst international treaty to outlaw an entire class

of weapons. The OPCW has conducted morethan 5,000 inspections in 86 countries. It says100 percent of the declared chemical weapons

stockpiles have been inventoried and verified)

2) What is the name of a new class of investors,which was announced by Indian capital marketregulator SEBI during October, 2013 and whichwould encompass all FIIs (Foreign InstitutionalInvestors), their sub-accounts and QualifiedForeign Investors (QFIs)? Foreign PortfolioInvestor (FPIs) With the announcement ofFPI, a new regime for overseas investments inIndian capital markets was ushered. The KYC(Know Your Client) requirements and otherregistration procedures would be much simplerfor FPIs compared to current practices. TheSEBI also decided to grant them a permanentregistration, as against the current practice ofgranting approvals for one year or five years tothe overseas entities seeking to invest in Indianmarkets. The SEBI board approved the new


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Sebi (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations,2013 to bring about these wide-rangingchanges)

3) India Post during October, 2013 signed an

agreement with Wall Street Exchange for launchof an International Electronic Money Transferservice through Instant Cash product brand.This tie-up offers the Indian diaspora worldwide

especially in the gulf region a safe, secureand reliable money transfer service for theirfamilies back home. Instant Cash is a moneytransfer product owned by which group? TheEmirates Post Group (Instant Cash is a whollyowned subsidiary of the Emirates Post Group,and its services are available in 59 countries

through more than 60,000 locations. Theyprovide instant money transfer service so thatthe money is available to the customers withinminutes of completing the transaction)

4) What is the name of two archers of ArunachalPradesh who were provided stapled visa byChina for their participation in the Youth World

Archery Championship in China and whosubsequently could not a board a flight to Chinaon 10 October, 2013? Maselo Mihu andSorang Yumi (These two were the only ones inthe 30-member contingent to have beenissued stapled visas for the event starting inWuxi from 12 October, 2013)

13-14 October 2013

1) Cyclone Phailin became the strongestcyclone to hit India over a decade when it strucktwo states of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh on theevening of 12 October, 2013 with speeds of over200 km per hour. This cyclonic storm struck thecoastal districts of Ganjam, Puri, Khurda,

Jagatsinghpur in Odisha and Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh. Over 20 deaths were reporteddue to devastation caused by Phailin. When thelast super-cyclone had struck India? In1999 (The cyclone of 1999 had caused over9000 deaths. But a well-equipped IndianMeteorological Department (IMD) managed tonot only get the scale of the natural event

correct but was also accurate as it could be inthe location of where the storm would hit thecoast. This resulted in almost zero casualtyseeing the speed and magnitude of Phailin. Inthe countrys biggest evacuation ever, about 9

lakh people from the coastal districts of Odishaand northern Andhra Pradesh were shifted tosafer places as the cyclonic storm Phailin withits centre at Gopalpur in Orissa barrelled on.The National Disaster Management Authority(NDMA) deployed over 28 teams in Odisha and15 in Andhra Pradesh)2) Name of an IIT Professor came to highlight,who first sounded the alert about CyclonePhailin, five days before it actually hit the eastcoast on 12 October, 2013. What is his name? Prof. Kapil Gupta of IIT Bombay (Prof. Guptanoticed the warning on 7 October on a websiterun by the US Air Force and Navy. He alertedthe National Disaster Management Authority(NDMA), which brought together all theconcerned agencies, leading to the timelyevacuation of over nine lakh people. He is amember of the core team which advises NDMA


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on natural disasters and has been studyingurban flooding since the 2005 Mumbai floods)

3) Over 100 people, around half of which werewomen and children, were killed in a stampede

on 13 October, 2013 during Navratri festivities ina temple in Madhya Pradesh. This incident tookplace at which place? In Datias RatangarhMata Temple (The tragedy happened afterrumours spread that a bridge that the devoteeswere crossing was about to collapse. Thedevotees were killed in the stampede on thebridge over Sindh river leading to the temple atRatangarh, where lakhs of devotees hadcongregated)

4) According to the draft guidelines issued bythe Insurance Regulatory and Development

Authority (IRDA) on 11 October, 2013 it willbecome mandatory for insurers to offerinsurance cover for people living with HIV/AIDS.IRDA clearly mentioned that the patientssuffering with HIV/AIDS should not be denied lifeinsurance products if the eligibility criteria, as perthe underwriting policy, is being satisfied. From

when this guideline of IRDA will come intoeffect? 1 April, 2014 (IRDA mentioned that forpricing the risk, the mortality study conducted bythe Institute of Actuaries of India (IAI) with thesupport of the working group constituted by the

National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO)could be used)5) Who is poised to become the first woman tohead the US Federal Reserve, which is thecentral bank of the United States? Janet

Yellen (Yellen was nominated to head USFederal Reserve by President Barack Obama on9 October, 2013. Yellen has been the deputyChairman of Federal Reserve since 2010. Shewill succeed Ben S. Bernanke, whose termexpires on 31 January, 2014)

6) Who won the Japanese F1 Grand Prix heldon 13 October, 2013 at the Suzuka circuit? Sebastian Vettel (Germany) of Red Bull (His

Australian teammate Mark Webber was secondand the third spot was claimed by RomainGrosjean (France) belonging to the Lotus team.With this win leads the championship with 90points)

15 October 2013

1) Three American economists Eugene Fama,Lars Peter Hansen (both with the University ofChicago) and Robert Shiller (Yale University)won the 2013 Nobel Prize for Economics. Thisannouncement was made by the Royal Swedish

Academy of Sciences on 14 October, 2013.What was the area of research of these threeeconomists for which they were selected for thisprestigious award? For developing newmethods to study trends in asset markets(Fama, Hansen and Shiller had laid thefoundation of the current understanding of assetprices. The economics award is not a NobelPrize in the same sense as the medicine,chemistry, physics, literature and peace prizes,which were created by Swedish industrialist

Alfred Nobel in 1895. Swedens central bankadded the economics prize in 1968 as amemorial to Nobel)

2) What is Indias rank in the 2013 GlobalHunger Index (GHI), which was released by theInternational Food Policy Research Institute on


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14 October, 2013? 63 rd, with a hunger score of21.3 (Indias rank in last years GHI was 67. Thereport terms the situation in India as alarming,even as its hunger score improved from 32.6 in1990 to 24 in 2005 and 21.3 in 2013. This reportranks 120 developing countries of the worldaccording to their hunger scores. China was6 th in this list whereas Indias neighbours SriLanka (rank 43), Pakistan (rank 57) andBangladesh (rank 58) have been placed aboveIndia in this index)3) An appeals court of a South-Eastern Asiancountry on 14 October, 2013 gave its ruling thatonly Muslims can use the word Allah to refer togod. With this ruling the court upheld agovernment ban on the word being used in aCatholic publication. Which country is this? Malaysia (The controversy started in 2008 whenthe government prohibited Catholicpublication The Herald from using the wordAllah, and the church filed a court casequestioning the order. On December 31, 2009,the Kuala Lumpur High Court lifted theprohibition, noting that the church had aconstitutional right to use the word in itspublication on the ground that religions otherthan Islam can be practiced in peace andharmony. The High Court decision triggeredprotests from Muslim groups. In its ruling theappeals court observed that the use of Allah isnot an integral part of the Christian faith, so wefind no justification for why they insist on using

the name or word in their publication

4) Which country has overtaken the UnitedStates to become the biggest net importer of oilin the world, according to the latest datareleased by the Energy Information

Administration (EIA)? China (Chinas net oilimports during September 2013 stood at 6.3million barrels a day, which was more than theUS oil import figure of 61 million barrels a day.Chinas fast -growing economy, as well as therise in car sales, has led to its new status.Chinas own oil supply has been outstripped by

its economic boom, and its oil fields have beendamaged by flooding during the past fewmonths. However, the US oil consumption is still

way ahead than that of China. The US uses 18.6million barrels of oil per day compared withChinas 10.9 million, despite having a populationa third the size of Chinas)

5) The first detailed study for Indian Railways

ambitious high-speed bullet train project isexpected to commence at which rail corridor ofthe country, for which an approval was given bythe Indian Railways during September, 2013? Mumbai-Ahmedabad Corridor (Japan InternalCooperation Agency (JICA) will conduct afeasibility study for Mumbai-Ahmedabad highspeed rail corridor. Estimated to cost about Rs63,000 crore, the 534-km-long Mumbai-

Ahmedabad route is expected to be the firstcorridor to be explored for the Railwaysambitious bullet project. The high speed corridorstudy has to be completed within 18 months and

the cost of it will be shared jointly by railwaysand JICA)

6) What was the wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation during September, 2013 asannounced by the govt. on 14 October, 2013? 6.46% (It is higher than the 6.1% recorded in theprevious month (August, 2013))

7) Which corporate company on 14 October,2013 became the first Indian corporate toachieve sales of more than Rs 1,00,000 crore ina quarter? Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)

RILs turnover or sales soared 14.2% to Rs1,06,523 crore during the second quarter (July-September) of 2013- 14. Companys net profit forthe quarter stood at Rs. Rs 5,490 crore, up 1.5%from Rs. 5,409 crore a year earlier)

8) What is the name of an American ship whichwas detained for carrying arms and buyingdiesel in an unauthorized manner near Tuticorin,Tamil Nadu on 12 October, 2013? MVSeaman Guard Ohio (This vessel, whose crewincluded eight Indians, was intercepted anddetained by the Indian Coast Guard about 15

nautical miles east of Tuticorin. The Centre on14 October, 2013 sought a report from the TamilNadu government on the vessel)


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16 October 2013

1) What is the name of Indian Navys largest

offshore patrol vessel (OPV), which wasinducted into service on 15 October, 2013 at theSouthern Naval Command? INSSunayna (This 105-metre long ship has beendesigned and built by the public sector GoaShipyard. It would soon be deployed for anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden)

2) The 106th anniversary of the heritage NilgirisMountain Rail services was held atUdhagamandalam railway station in Tamil Nadu

on15 October, 2013. What is the base station ofthe Nilgiris Mountain Rail (NMR), which hasbeen given Heritage Status by the UNESCO? Mettupalayam in Coimbatore (NMR operatesfrom Mettupalayam to Coonoor while one of itsbranch lines serves between Coonoor andUdhagamandalam, popularly known as Ooty)

3) Central Board of Secondary Educations(CBSEs) first ever Career Counselling &Guidance Centre (CCGC) in the country was

opened on 15 October, 2013 at which place? Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh (The CCGCaims to assist students, especially those in ruralareas, with their career choices. It is open tostudents from all Boards across the country. Thecounselling and guidance at CCGC is free ofcost; however, Rs. 50 will be charged for takingthe Students Global Aptitude Index (SGAI))

4) HDFC Bank, Indias third largest bank, posteda 27.1% increase in profit to Rs. 1,982 crore forthe quarter ended September 2013,announcement about which was made on 15October, 2013. What was an important factassociated with this announcement? This wasHDFC Banks slowest quarterly growth in adecade and it was for the first time in adecade that banks profit growth fell below30%

5) Indian cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkarsfarewell 200th test match will be held at whichstadium as announced by BCCIs Programmesand Fixtures committee on 15 October, 2013? Mumbais Wankhede Stadium (This stadiumwill host the farewell Test for Sachin Tendulkarafter the legendary batsman expressed a wish toplay his landmark 200th match against the WestIndies (14-18 November, 2013) in front of hishome crowd. It was decided to grant Tendulkarswish to play his last Test at the venue where he

made his debut in first class cricket)

6) Which team won the 54th Subroto Cup forfootball, final of which was held on 14 October,2013 at Delhis Ambedkar Stadium? Government Chawmfianga Middle School ofKolasib, Mizoram (This Mizoram schooldefeated Betkuchi High School, Kamrup, Assamby 2-1 in the finals. This is the third time that ateam from Mizoram has won the title, althoughChawmfianga have won for the first time.

Subroto Cup is the national footballchampionship of India for Under-14 boyscategory)

7) Senior socialist leader Mohan Dhariya, whowas last of the three Young Turks of the 70s,passed away on 14 October, 2013 at Pune.Dhariya was a former Union Minister and deputy


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chairman of Planning Commission. Who werethe two other Young Turks, who were k nownfor their radical political thoughts during 70s?

Krishnakant (former Vice-President)and Chandrashekhar (former Prime Minister)

17 October 2013

1) Who won the Man Booker Prize 2013 asannounced on 15 October, 2013? EleanorCatton for her novel The Luminaries (Withthis win 28-year old writer from New Zealandbecame the youngest novelist to win the covetedliterary prize. She also set a new record for thelongest winning novel as The Luminaries is an852-page long novel. She got 50,000 for thisprize, which till this year had been awarded towriters from the Commonwealth countries andIreland. From next year, the prize will be openedup to writers from all countries)

2) Sixteen days after the U.S. federalgovernment shutdown resulted in the furlough ofmore than 700,000 workers and with less than24 hours remaining before a critical fundingdeadline passed, the U.S. Senate announced adeal on 16 October, 2013 that will end theshutdown. Senate Majority leader Harry Reidand Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnellannounced a compromise to this effect. Underthis compromise agreement which date wasannounced for another review of the debtceiling? 7 February, 2014

3) India scored a memorable win over Australiain the second ODI of the ongoing one-day seriesby chasing a mammoth Australian total of 359 inan emphatic style with 39 balls to score at theSawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur on 16October, 2013. India defeated Australia by 9wickets to score its biggest victory while chasing

a target. Virat Kohli scored the fastest by anyIndian in an ODI by scoring his century in 52balls. Whose record was broken by Kohli? Virendra Sehwag , who had scored his centuryin 60 balls against New Zealand at Hamilton in2009 (This was the second highest successfulrun-chase in the history of ODIs after South

Africa made a stupendous 438, chasing down Australias 434 in 2006)

4) Which country qualified for the 2014 FIFA

World Cup recently and with it earned its firstberth as an independent nation? Bosnia-Herzegovina (Bosnia-Herzegovina scored a 1-0with over Lithuania to earn a place at a majortournament for the first time. This country waspart of the erstwhile Yugoslavia from which itpronounced its independence in 1992. On theother hand defending champions Spain alsoqualified for the World Cup with a 2-0 win overGeorgia)

5) A large global private equity company, whichshot into prominence after acquiring PC makerDell Inc., recently made its first investment inIndia by investing in Bangalore-based EkaSoftware Solutions. What is the name of thisequity company? Silver Lake (Silver Lakepicked up a minority stake in Eka Software, afirm that creates software for commodity trading)


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6) Which European country recently announcedits decision to exit the international bailoutprogramme by December 2013 and seek fundsfrom other outside sources? The Republic of

Ireland (The 85 billion euro (73 billion) bailoutwas forced on the country after its biggest bankscollapsed in 2010. Ireland sought help after aproperty crash left its banks under-capitalised)

7) Who was appointed as the new Chairman ofthe Railway Board on 16 October, 2013 by theIndian Railways? Arunendra Kumar (Kumarwas the acting chairman of Railway Board and

was overlooking this charge after the retirementof Vinay Mittal on 30 June, 2013)

18 October 2013

1) U.S. President Barack Obama on 17 October

2013 signed a bill into law to end the 16-daygovernment shutdown. This law will alsoincrease the current debt ceiling of $16.7 trillionto prevent the country from a debt default withpotentially worldwide economic repercussions.What is the name of this important law? TheContinuing Appropriations Act, 2014 (This actprovides fiscal year 2014 appropriations forprojects and activities of the FederalGovernment through 15 January, 2014. Theeffective time for the act begins on October 1,2013 and the law extends the Nations debt limitthrough 7 February, 2014)

2) The Union Cabinet on 17 October, 2013 gaveits approval for setting up six additional benchesof the Customs, Excise and Service Tax

Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), including three atthe existing locations in New Delhi, Mumbai and

Chennai. In which three cities new bench of

CESTAT would be established? Chandigarh,Allahabad and Hyderabad (At present,CESTAT has three benches each in Delhi andMumbai and one bench each at Kolkata,Chennai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. CESTATwas set up in 1982 to provide an independentand impartial forum to hear the appeal againstorders and decisions passed by theCommissioners of Customs and Excise underthe Customs Act 1962, Central Excise Act 1944and Gold (Control) Act, 1968)

3) Union Cabinet on 17 October, 2013 approvedthe Rs. 50 per quintal raise in the minimumsupport price (MSP) of wheat to encouragefarmers to cover more area under the crop in theongoing Rabi season. What is the MSP of wheatafter this raise? Rs. 1,400 per quintal (Theincrease in wheat MSP by Rs 50 per quintal isthe same as recommended by the Governmentadvisory body, Commission for Agriculture Costsand Prices (CACP), but lower than what wasproposed by the Agriculture Ministry due toconcern over inflation. The agriculture ministryhad proposed an increase of Rs 100 per quintalto Rs 1,450 per quintal in wheat MSP for the2014-15 marketing year (April-March)

4) Which country on 17 October, 2013announced honorary citizenship for Pakistani


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teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, who willbecome sixth person to have been granted thishonour. Which country is this? Canada (Canada has granted honorarycitizenship to five persons till now Nelson

Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Dalai Lama, Aga Khan and Raoul Wallenburg (Swedishdiplomat))

5) Three police commandos were killed in alandmine blast triggered by Maoists in a forestarea on the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border inthe early hours of 17 October, 2013. Thisincident took place in which Naxalite-prone

district of Maharashtra? Gadchiroli (Three jawans of C-60 Commando Force were killed inthis incident)

19 October 2013

1) Indias tallest air traffic control (ATC) towerwas inaugurated on 18 October, 2013. This 84-metre structure offers five miles clear visibility forcontrollers and gives a view of the entireoperational area of the airport. This ATC tower issituated as which airport? Chhatrapati ShivajiInternational Airport, Mumbai (This ATC willhowever hold this record for a brief period till the102-metre tower of Indira Gandhi International

Airport is commissioned in New Delhi)

2) Which country on 18 October, 2013 rejectedits seat in the UN Security Council just hoursafter it was selected as one of the 10 non-permanent members in the council? SaudiArabia (Saudi Arabia rejected the seat offeredto it in the council saying the council is incapableof resolving world conflicts. It categorically

stated that the Council failed in its duties toward

Syria and this alleged failure enabled SyrianPresident Bashar Assads regime to perpetratethe killings of its people, including with chemicalweapons, without facing any deterrents orpunishment)

3) The Union Cabinet on 17 October, 2013 gaveits approval to construct an all-weather 14-kmtunnel at Zojila pass in the state of Jammu &Kashmir (J&K). This huge project is expected tocost Rs. 9,000 crore. This pass connects which

two regions of J&K? Ladakh andSrinagar (The Zojila pass is situated at analtitude of 11578 ft on the Srinagar-Kargil-LehNational Highway (NH-1). Due to its presentcondition it remains closed during the winterseason on account of heavy snowfall andinclement weather. Construction of an all-weather tunnel would result in undisruptedround-the-year connectivity between Ladakhand Srinagar)

4) It was recently reported that the public sectorbanks, which were required to install onsite

ATMs at 34,668 branches by March 31, 2013had set up 5,726 ATMs at the end of August2013. Hence In the remaining days of thefinancial year, the 26 public sector banks willtogether have to set up 28,942 ATMs, or anaverage of 137 every day to achieve the target


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of ATM at every branch by 31 March, 2014.Under which drive the Finance Ministry hadasked the public-sector banks to have onsite

ATMs or ATMs at branches by the end of March2014? Financial Inclusion (The government

had directed public sector banks to have ATMsat all their branches as part of its financialinclusion drive)

5) Which school won the Girls title of the 54thSubroto Cup football tournament, final of which

was played on 17 October, 2013 at Delhis Ambedkar Stadium? Radha Madhav SanskritVidhyalaya, Manipur (This Manipur schooldefeated Government Senior Secondary School,Bhiwani, Haryana by 6-4 to win this coveted

tournament. The Subroto Cup FootballTournament is an inter-school footballtournament of the country named after AirMarshal Subroto Mukerjee, former Chief of theIndian Air Force (IAF))

20 October 2013

1) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 19October, 2013 launched the new Real TimeGross Settlement (RTGS) system for large-value

funds transfer. This new RTGS system providesnew functionalities like advance liquidityfeatures, gridlock resolution mechanism andhybrid settlement facility, facility to accept futurevalue-dated transactions and options to processmulti-currency transactions. It complies withwhich latest ISO standard system? ISO20022 (The RTGS system is used to settleinterbank fund transfers by banks and theircustomers and is critical in facilitating orderlysettlement of payment obligations. With the

implementation of the new RTGS system, newregulations will replace the operating guidelinesand regulations of 2004)

2) On 18 October, 2013 who was nominated byUS President Barack Obama to head theDepartment of Homeland Security? JehJohnson , who is a former top lawyer of the

Pentagon (Johnson succeeds Janet Napolitano.Homeland Security, set up after the 11September, 2001 terrorist attacks, coordinatesthe work of 22 agencies with a 240,000-strongworkforce. It is responsible for everything fromanti-terrorism to cyber security to border control)

3) What is the title of a newly-released coffeetable book on the great Brazilian footballer Pele,which weighs 15 kg and is worth $1,700?

1283 (This 500-page limited edition bookabout the player, widely regarded as thegreatest ever, is titled 1283, the number ofgoals Pele scored in his career, and comprises1283 texts)4) Dr. Ravuri Bharadwaja, who passed away on18 October, 2013, was a renowned personalityassociated with which field? Literature (Dr.Ravuri Bharadwaja was a noted Telugu writerand was conferred the Gnanpith Award for 2012,which is widely perceived as Indias highestliterary award, for his Telugu novel PaakuduRaal lu

5) Online ad-placing service DoubleClick on 18October, 2013 announced that the way hasbeen cleared to include space at Facebook. Thisservice had previously been shut out ofFacebooks advertising network. DoubleClick is


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an ad-placing service of which Internetcompany? Google (DoubleClick Bid Manageris a Google-owned online ad-placing service formarketers to buy online ad space at websitesacross the Internet. Prior to this, Facebook did

not permit the Google-owned service to sell adspace at Facebook, which is worlds leadingsocial network)

6) Who won the title of the Indian Open Snooker2013, final of which was held on 19 October,2013? Ding Junhui of China (World No. 1Junhui defeated Indias Aditya Mehta by 5 -0 inthe best-of-nine-frames contest)

7) Which school won the U- 17 Boys title of the54th Subroto Cup football tournament, final ofwhich was played on 19 October, 2013 atDelhis Ambedkar Stadium? OM Roy

Memorial, Shillong (Meghalaya) (ThisMeghalaya school defeated Magurmari HighSchool, Kokrajhar (Assam) by 4-0 to win thisprestigious tournament. The Subroto CupFootball Tournament is an inter-school footballtournament of the country named after AirMarshal Subroto Mukerjee, former Chief of theIndian Air Force (IAF))

21-22 October 2013

1) Who was announced as the first winner ofIsraels $1 million Genesis Prize, an awardpopularly dubbed the Jewish Nobel Prize.? New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (TheGenesis Prize Foundation on 21 October, 2013said Mr. Bloomberg was honoured as the first

winner for his long record of public service andphilanthropy)

2) Who became the first Member of Parliament(MP) to lose seat after the Supreme Court struckdown a provision that protects a convictedlawmaker from disqualification on the ground ofpendency of appeal in higher courts? Rashid

Masood , Congress MP of Rajya Sabha(Masood was held guilty in a case of corruptionand other offences in September 2013. Hisconviction was the first after the Supreme Courtstruck down a provision in the electoral law thatprovided immunity to MPs and MLAs fromimmediate disqualification. His disqualification

was issued on 21 October, 2013 by RajyaSabha Secretary General Shumsher K. Sheriff)

3) Which four NBFC-Microfinance Institutions(MFIs) recently became the first MFIs to begiven the mfR1 grading by CRISIL, which is thehighest grading under its eight-point scalespecially designed for evaluating the operationsof MFIs?- Bandhan Financial Services ,Kolkata, Equitas Microfinance ,Chennai, Janalakshmi FinancialServices and Ujjivan FinancialServices headquartered in Bangalore

4) What is the name of a newly formed regionalpolitical federation which was formed by 10regional parties of the North-East India on 20October, 2013? North East RegionalPolitical Front (NERPF) This newly formed


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front was formed with an objective to safeguardthe political, economic, social and ethnic identityof the people of the North East region. 10 partieswhich united to form NERPF are Asom GanaParishad (AGP), Hills State Democratic Party

(HSDP), Naga Peoples Front (NPF), MeghalayaUnited Democratic Party (MUDP), ManipurPeoples Party (MDP), Manipur State CongressParty (MSCP), Manipur Democratic PeoplesFront (MDPF), Indigenous Peoples Front ofTripura (IPFT), Peoples Party of Arunachal(PPA) and Mizo National Front (MNF))

5) What is the name of the Indonesian bankwhose first branch in India was opened on 21

October, 2013 at Mumbai? BankInternasional Indonesia BII (BII is asubsidiary of Southeast Asias fourth largestbank Maybank. BIIs Mumbai branch has beenestablished with an investment of $28 million)

6) The first meeting of the seven-member Tax Administration Reforms Commission (TARC) ledby Parthasarathi Shome was held on 21October, 2013 at Delhi. What is the tenure ofTARC, which will act as an advisory body to theFinance Ministry? 18 months (TARC isexpected to submit its first report in six months,suggesting measures to prevent economicoffences among other things)

23 October 2013

1) What major achievement was made at theKudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) inTamil Nadu on 22 October, 2013? The firstunit of this plant was synchronised with thesouthern regional electricity grid (Unit-I, withthe power generation capacity of 1,000megawatt (MWe), produced around 150 MWe ofelectricity during this synchronization process.However, the unit later tripped. According toNuclear Power Corporation of India Limited(NPCIL), Indias nuclear power share had gone

up to 5,780 MWe from 4,780 with the addition ofthe first unit of KKNPP)

2) Which two leaders were disqualified from theLok Sabha on 22 October, 2013 to become thefirst Lok Sabha members to be disqualified afterthe Supreme Court struck down a provision thatprotects a convicted lawmaker fromdisqualification on the ground of pendency ofappeal in higher courts? RJD chief LaluPrasad Yadav and JD(U) leader JagdishSharma (Both the leaders were disqualified asLok Sabha members following their conviction inthe fodder scam. Lok Sabha Secretary GeneralS. Bal Shekar issued the notificationsdisqualifying Lalu and Sharma. While Prasadstands disqualified for a total of 11 years fiveyears of jail term and six years subsequent tohis release, Sharma stands disqualified for tenyears four years in jail and six more years afterthat as per electoral laws)


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3) The 14th Annual India-Russia Summit washeld on 21 October, 2013 on the occasion ofPrime Minister Manmohan Singhs official two -day visit to Russia. How many bilateralagreements were signed between the two

countries in this summit? Five (Theseagreements were signed on varying subjectsincluding transfer of sentenced persons,understanding in the field of energy efficiency,understanding on standards bureau, cooperationin the field of science and technology andcooperation in the field of biotechnology)

4) The Election Commission of Maldives on 22October, 2013 announced a new date for thepresidential election in the country after police

on 19 October, 2013 prevented the scheduledvote. What is this new date? 9 November,2013 (While the new schedule may breakthrough a political stalemate and reassure thistroubled young democracy, it may not produce anew president before the incumbents termends, creating a constitutional vacuum. If nocandidate wins 50% votes in the 9 Novemberelection, a runoff would be held on 16November, 2013. The constitution requires apresident to be elected by 11 November, 2013when sitting President Mohamed WaheedHassans term ends. Former PresidentMohammaed Nasheeds rivals at the electionwould be Yaamin Abdul Gayoom, a brother ofMaldives long time autocratic ruler Maumoon

Abdul Gayoom, and tourist resort owner QasimIbrahim)

5) Scientists from which country recentlyannounced development of the new Li-Fi (Light

Fidelity) technology, which is a new and cheaperway of getting connected to the internet throughlight bulbs instead of radio frequencies? China (Scientists of Shanghais FudanUniversity developed the Li-Fi technology as analternative to the very popular Wi-Fi (WirelessFidelity) technology)

6) Which state has the highest proportion ofVisitor Location Register (VLR) subscribers inIndia according to the latest telecom

subscription data (as on 31st July 2013)released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority ofIndia (TRAI) recently? West Bengal , whichhad 88.74% VLR subscribers as on 31 July,2013 (West Bengal was followed byMaharashtra (88.22%) and Madhya Pradesh(87.64%). On the other hand Tamil Nadu hadthe lowest proportion of VLR subscribers(73.33%) and it includes subscribers of Chennai.

A VLR is a database that contains informationabout the subscribers roaming within a mobileswitching centers (MSCs) location area. Theprimary role of the VLR is to minimize thenumber of queries that MSCs have to make tothe home location register (HLR), which holdspermanent data regarding the cellular networkssubscribers)

24 October 2013


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1) Legendary playback singer Manna Deypassed away at the age of 94 on 24 October,2013 at Bangalore. Known for his golden voiceand incredible command over classical singing,he sang in many Indian languages including

Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Marathi, Malayalam,Kannada, Gujarati, Punjabi and Bhojpuri. Whatwas Manna Deys original name? PrabodhChandra Dey (Manna was his nickname. AmongManna Deys best loved Hindi songs were Ek Chatur Naar from Padosan, Zindagi Kaise HaiPaheli from Anand, Ae Meri Zohrajabeen fromWaqt, Tu Pyaar Ka Saagar Hai from Seemaand Yaari Hai Imaan Mera from Zanjeer.Manna Dey received the Padma Shri, PadmaBhushan and the Dadasaheb Phalke Awards)

2) The Finance Ministry on 23 October, 2013finalised the bank-wise capital allocation, whichis part of the capital infusion plan for 20 publicsector banks which altogether will get Rs 14,000crore. How much capital will be infused into theState Bank of India (SBI)? Rs. 2000crore (SBI has got the largest share in thiscapital infusion initiative. The capital infusion isdone with the twin objective of adequatelymeeting the credit requirement of the productive

sectors of the economy as well as to maintainregulatory capital adequacy ratios. Banks canraise Rs 10,000 crore from markets against theRs 14,000 crore infusion)

3) The 17-member expert committee to studythe impact of 24 hydro-electric power projects onthe ecologically fragile Himalayan region in

Uttarakhand, which was set-up by the UnionMinistry of Environment and Forests recently,will be jointly headed by which two persons? Prof. Ravi Chopra and Chandi PrasadBhatt (Prof Ravi Chopra is a member of the

National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA)whereas environmentalist Chandi Prasad Bhattis a founding member of the Chipko Movement.The panel will study if these projects had causedthe devastating floods in the state that claimedover 5,000 lives in June this year. It will submitits report within three months)

4) The Planning Commission recently decidedthat the Raghuram Rajan committee report onthe development index for states will not work

for distribution of all central funds. Thecommissions move was in response to protestsmade by several states at the new ordering ofbackwardness that has been drawn up by thecommittee headed by Rajan. The PlanningCommission instead set up for a new two-member plan panel for a fresh look at the issuesinvolved in transferring money to stategovernments from plan budget. Who are the twomembers of this newly set up committee? Mihir Shah and Abhijit Sen

5) Which Southeast Asian country recentlyannounced a new Islamic criminal law to beenforced within six months in the country, whichcould include penalties like amputation for theftand stoning for adultery? Brunei (The Sultanof Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah on 22 October, 2013announced strict Islamic penalties based onShariah to be imposed in the country. The lawwould apply only to Muslims, who compriseabout two-thirds of the population of nearly420,000 people)

6) What is the name of a new ordinance thatwas passed by the Pakistani President on 22October, 2013 which gives more teeth to fightterror? Protection of Pakistan Ordinance,2013 (The new ordinance has a slew of


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provisions with high security prisons, separatepolice stations for specified crimes with federalprosecutors to argue cases in special federalcourts, preventive detentions and enhanced

punishments. Such offences as designatedunder the law will be cognisable and non-bailable)

25 October 2013

1) Coca Cola opened its new newest bottlingplant in India on 24 October, 2013. With theinauguration of this plant at Chatta region ofUttar Pradesh, Coca Cola has 58 bottling plantsin India. Coca Cola completed how many yearsof operation in India on 24 October? 20years (The inauguration of the Chatta bottlingplant coincides with the completion of CocaColas twenty years in India. On 24 October,1993 Coca Cola India began operations in Agra)

2) In the biggest compensation in a medicalnegligence case in India till date, the SupremeCourt on 24 October, 2013 awarded Rs 5.96crore as compensation to be paid by a Kolkata-based hospital and three doctors. This hugecompensation is to be paid to a US-basedIndian-origin doctor Kunal Saha for medicalnegligence which led to the death of his wife in1998. Which Kolkata-based hospital featured inthis case? AMRI Hospital (The court said outof the total compensation amount, Dr. BalramPrasad and Dr. Sukumar Mukherjee will pay Rs.

10 lakh each and Dr. Baidyanath Halder willhave to pay Rs. 5 lakh to Dr. Saha within eightweeks. The rest of the amount, along with theinterest, will be paid by the hospital. TheNational Consumer Dispute RedressalCommission (NCDRC) in 2011 had awarded Rs.

1.73 crore to the doctor whose wife AnuradhaSaha died in 1998 following faulty treatmentadministered at the hospital)

3) What is the name of a panel constituted bythe Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently, whichwould give its recommendations forimplementing a national Indian Bill PaymentSystem so that households will be able to usebank accounts to pay school fees, utilities,medical bills and make remittances

electronically? GIRO Advisory Group(GAG) GAG is headed by Prof. Umesh Bellur,Professor, Indian Institute of Technology,Bombay. The panel would submit its report bythe end of December, 2013.

4) Indian Railways on 23 October, 2013announced its decision to increase the speed ofthe superfast trains to 160-200 km. With thisdecision the existing superfast trains of India likeRajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto Expresses willget an increase in the speed. What is the fastestspeed of an Indian superfast train at present? 150 Km (The fastest train of India is the BhopalShatabdi with the top speed of 150 kmph. Inspite of possessing one of the largest trainnetwork in the world the speed of Indiassuperfast trains has remained stagnant fordecades now)


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5) How much fund was recently sanctioned bythe Union Govt. to fortify and upgrade jawansfacilities in far-flung Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP) posts located along the Sino-Indian

border? Rs. 1,260 crore (The funds will beused to enhance the living conditions of the

Indo-Tibetan Border Police border guards at 69posts in the icy Himalayan locations along the3,488km Sino-Indian frontier. The ITBP wasraised as a border guarding force in the wake ofthe 1962 Chinese aggression and the force has

56 battalions (56,000 personnel) at present)

26-27 October 2013

1) Which dam completed 50 years of itsestablishment on 24 October, 2013? Bhakradam (Bhakra dam started its operations from 24October, 1963. It was one of the tallest straightgravity dams in the world when its constructionwas completed in 1963 and it cost Rs. 245crore. The Bhakra-Nangal dam complex housesthe largest base of hydro power in India withproduction capacity of 2900 MW and it showsthe cheapest model of electricity production inIndia. The Bhakra Beas Management Board(BBMB), which lights up half of north Indiathrough the Northern Regional Grid, hasproduced electricity at just 22 paise per unit,according to its FY 2012-13 figures)

2) What was Indias unemployment rate duringthe five year period ending 2009-10, datapertaining to which was released by the NationalSample Survey Organisation on 26 October,2013? 2.8% (This displayed fall of 1% inunemployment rate from 3.8% during previous

5-year period. The data pertaining tounemployment rate was based on NSSOs8th Quinquennial survey on employment and

unemployment conducted in the 66th

round ofNSS during July 2009 to June 2010)

3) Which city witnessed maximumunemployment rate during the five year periodending 2009-10, as stated in the latest NSSOreport released on 26 October, 2013? Patna (Patna witnessed unemployment rate of13.2% during this period and it was followed byKanpur which witnessed 7.7% unemployment)

4) Which city witnessed minimumunemployment rate during the five year periodending 2009-10, as stated in the latest NSSOreport released on 26 October, 2013? Bhopal (Bhopal witnessed an unemploymentrate of just 0.1% during this period. GujaratsSurat was in second place with unemploymentrate of 0.6%)

5) What is the name of the agreement tostrengthen cooperation on trans-border riversthat was signed between India and China on 23October, 2013 on the occasion of Indian PrimeMinister Manmohan Singhs state visit to China?

Trans-Border River Agreement TBRA (Both countries agreed to strengthen theircooperation further on the trans-border riversthrough the existing Expert Level Mechanism toprovide flood-season data and emergency


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management. Under the new agreement,Chinese side agreed to provide more flood dataof Brahmaputra from May to October instead ofJune to October in the previous agreementsriver water agreements in 2008 and 2010. TBRA

has more significance as India has beenexpressing concerns over Chinas plans toconstruct more dams which India fears couldrestrict the flows of the Himalayan river flowingfrom Tibet)

6) Which franchisee team of the Indian PremierLeague (IPL) was terminated by the BCCI on 26

October, 2013? Pune Warriors (The teamwas terminated after the Sahara-ownedfranchise defaulted on its payments and refusedto furnish the bank guarantee for the nextseason. The Pune Warriors have been on

collision course with the BCCI after the Boardencashed its bank guarantee due to non-payment of franchise fee. Pune, bought bySahara for $370 million (approx Rs 1702 crore)in 2010, was the most expensive franchise onthe IPL roster and its termination would causesubstantial financial loss to the BCCI)

28 October 2013

1) On 27 October, 2013 Red Bulls SebastianVettel (Germany) won the Indian Grand Prix

Formula One (F1) trophy for the thirdconsecutive time having won all the three titlesof this race since its inception in 2011. With thiswin he also won the F1 Grand Prix title for 2013.What history Vettel created with this win? Hebecame the youngest four-time champion ofF1 title (Sebastian Vettel has won the F1 title forthe fourth consecutive time and he started his

winning spree in 2010. Nico Rosberg (Germany)of Mercedes team came second in this racewhile French driver Romain Grosjean of Lotusteam finished third)

2) Six people were killed and over 70 wereinjured in six serial bomb blasts near the venueof BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra

Modis rally in Patna on 27 October, 2013minutes before he reached there to address ahuge gathering. What was the name given tothis rally, which pulled massive crowds to rallysvenue Gandhi Maidan? Hunkar Rally (Allthese blasts were of low intensity and the deathswas mainly due to huge outpouring of crowds atthe venue. Another low intensity bomb alsoexploded at the Patna railway station in themorning)

3) Indian power producer NTPC Ltd. is in thefinal stages of launching an ambitious plan tomove imported coal from the high seas to itsgenerating stations through countrys inlandwaterways. This ambitious plan has beenchalked with an aim at cushioning the impact ofexpensive imported coal. Which would be thefirst NTPC plant to receive coal consignment


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through an inland waterway? Farakka plant inWest Bengal (This plant would receive a shipbearing 69,060 metric tonnes (MT) of importedcoal. This consignment has already beenstationed at Sandheads, the transshipment point

in the Bay of Bengal. Inland water transport(IWT) is widely acknowledged as among thecheapest form of transport for goods and is usedextensively in countries such as China,Germany and the US by power utilities fortransporting bulk coal)

4) With village of Haryana came into limelight on27 October, 2013 as the venue of a Ranji tiebetween Haryana and Mumbai in which SachinTendulkar played probably his last Ranji Trophy

match? Lahli (The match between hostsHaryana and Sachin Tendulkars team Mumbaiwas staged at the sleepy hamlet LahlisChaudhary Bansi Lal Stadium. Lahli for the firsttime witnessed such a high-profile match andthousands of spectators thronged in to thesmall-sized stadium. Sachin, however, couldscore only 5 runs before he got out in this high

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