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AUGUST CURRENT AFFAIRS

Who was chosen as the 12th President of Pakistan,elections for which were held on 30 July 2013? Mamnoon Hussain (PML-N supported Hussain received 432 electoral votes while his rival Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed of Pakistani Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) received 77 electoral votes. Mamnoon Hussain is a former Governor of Sindh. Pakistan PeoplesParty (PPP) boycotted this election. Hussain will replace AsifAli Zardari, who had earlier decided not to seek a secondterm in office)
Who was chosen for the 21st Rajiv Gandhi NationalSadabhavna Award for year 2013, which is given for contribution towards promotion ofcommunal harmony and peace? Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, the Sarod maestro (The award willbe presented on 20 August 2013, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.This award has been given since 1992 by the Indian National Congress (INC) in memory of latePrime Minister Rajiv Gandhi)
What is the name given to a newly announced scheme under which a free mobile handset will be provided to one member of every rural household who has completed 100 days of workunder MGNREGA? Bharat Mobile Scheme (Under this scheme the handset will be provided preferably to a woman member of family. A brief of this proposed scheme wasmade by theunion govt. on 30 July 2013. The provided handset will be non-transferable as it will later also be used in customized transfer of benefits under the direct transfer scheme of thecentral govt.) US Senate on 29 July 2013 approved the choice of James Comey as the next Director of FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation). Comey will take whose place, who has been at this post since2001? Robert Mueller (PresidentBarack Obama had nominated Comey for this post in June2013. Comey will have a tenure of 10 years) Which private bank became first commercial bank to announce a hike in deposit rates in viewof RBIs move to tighten liquidity in the market? YES Bank (YES Bank on 31 July 2013 hikeddeposit rates by 0.25% to 0.50%. The bank also hiked the base rate by 0.25% to 10.75%. This hike came into effect on 1 August 2013) Commissioner of Delhi Police Neeraj Kumar retired on 31 July 2013. Who will take chargefrom him as the new Commissioner on 1 August 2013? B.S. Bassi The 2014 Formula One Indian Grand Prix was dropped and the motorsport extravaganza willnow come back to country in March 2015. This follows the decision taken by Formula Onesupremo Bernie Ecclestone, which was conveyed on 29 July 2013. What was the reason givenfor this skipping of Indian Grand Prix, which came as a huge dampner for Formula Oneenthusiasts in India? For undertaking a change in racing calendar (Formula One is in theprocess of undertaking a few changes in the annual Formula One calendar. A few new GrandPrix like Austrian Grand Prix are planned to be included in 2014)
Successiscalling.co.in 1 August 2013 Daily Current Affairs 1) King of which Middle-East princely state recently issued new decrees,giving authorities more powers to strip citizenship and block suspectedfunding channels in attempts to quell escalating antigovernmentviolence? Bahrain (Bahrain News Agency on 1 August 2013 reportedissuance of decrees by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. These stepstaken by the King seek to battle a nearly 30month uprising by majorityShiites demanding a greater political voice in the strategic Sunni-ruled nation) 2) On 31 July 2013 the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL)announced suspension of trading and merger of settlement cycles of allone-day forward contracts, except the e-series contracts. This announcement led to huge decline in shares of Financial Technologies (India) Ltd (FTIL) and Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) on1 August 2013 as FTIL ispromoter of NSEL and MCX is also a part of FTIL. In association withwhich major agriculture cooperative company, FTIL had promoted NSEL? NationalAgricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) (On 16 July 2013NSEL was asked by the central government not to launch contracts of new commodities until thegovernment finalizes a new regulatory framework) 3) Who took over as the new Foreign Secretary of India on 1 August 2013? Sujatha Singh(She replaced Ranjan Mathai who retired on 31 July 2013. Sujatha Singh is the third woman Foreign Secretary after Chokila Iyer and Nirupama Rao. She is daughter of former IB Directorand UP Governor TV Rajeshwar) 4) The largest right-wing party of Bangladesh was on 1 August 2013 banned from contestingfuture polls by a Dhaka court. The registration of this party was cancelled in a landmark ruling,leaving the once-most powerful fundamentalist party with an uncertain future.What is the name of this party? Jamaat-e-Islami (This ruling came while the court heard write petition filed by 25 people who alleged that Jamaat-e-Islami was a religion-based political party and it did notbelieve in independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh. This party has been blamed for a plethora for crimes committed during the 1971 liberation war against Pakistan) 5) What is the name of a free group insurance scheme launched in Delhi on 31 July 2013covering nearly 3 lakh drivers of public transport vehicles run on CNG in Delhi and three NCRtowns against death and permanent disability? IGL Suraksha Yojana (This scheme will beadministered by Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) and will cover all drivers against death orpermanent disability arising out of accidents caused while driving bus, taxis, auto rickshaws and RTVs that run on compressed natural gas (CNG). A sum of Rs 1.5 lakh will be paid to thenominee of the driver in case of death. Three NCR towns covered under this scheme are Noida,Greater Noida and Ghaziabad apart from Delhi) 6) The Union Govt. on 1 August 2013 cancelled Kailash Manasarovar yatra in view of disruptionof roads, bridges and tracks along the route due to the floods that had hit Uttarakhand. How many batches of pilgrims were scheduled to take this annual yatra? Eighteen (The govt. had earlier cancelled the visit of batches 2 to 10 due to inclement weather andlarge scaledisruptions. Only batches 1, 11, 12, 13, and 14 were able to take the yatra, which covers aglimpse of holy Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva and a visit to the sacred Manasarovarlake in Tibet, China)
7) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), on 1 August 2013, approved theproposal for sale of 10% government stake in Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). This stake sale islikely to fetch around Rs. 3,840 crore to the exchequer at the current market price. What isUnion Govt.s disinvestment target through the stake sale of public sector undertakings in the current financial year (2013-14)? Rs. 40,000 crore
2 August 2013 Daily Current Affairs

1) Union Govt. relaxed the norms for Foreign DirectInvestment (FDI) in the multi-brand retail on 1 August 2013with a view to attract more investments and transparency inthe sector. What are the major norms which were relaxed? Multi-brand retailers like Walmart are now required tosource 30% of their products from the small andmedium enterprises of India only at the time of startingthe business Now state governments will have the right to grant permission toopen a multi-brandretail store in cities of their states (Earlier 53 urban centers with a minimum population of 1 million were made eligible for opening-up of multi-brand retail stores)Now the norm of 50% investment in the back-end infrastructure for the retailers will beapplicable, only during the first tranche of investments (within three years) of up to 100 million dollars 2) Union Health Ministry on 1 August 2013 revoked its earlier suspension on a drug named Pioglitazone used to treat diabetes. What was the main reason for revoking this suspensionwithin a month? Doctors said that this drug was best suited for Indian patients (The suspension had caught doctors, patients and drug companies by surprise,following which there were hi-decibel protests and submissions to the Ministry. Pioglitazone wasbanned as researches have confirmed that its usage could lead to cancer of the urinary bladder. But theban has been revoked with several riders including a box warning in bold red letters to cautionpatients) 3) What is the name of a breast cancer drug of the British drug major GlaxoSmithKline Pharma,patent for which was revoked by the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) of India? Tykerb (However, the Board upheld the patent for Lapatinib compound,which is the activeingredient in Tykerb, citing innovative merit. Tykerb is the salt form of Lapatinib compound that issold in India. This ruling was delivered on 27 July 2013 by Justice Prabha Sridevan, Chairpersonof the Chennai Bench of the patent appeals agency which functions under the CommerceMinistry) 4) Which date was announced on 2 August 2013 for resumption of regular prayers at Kedarnathshrine, which have been suspended since the June calamity in Uttarakhand? 11 September 2013 (This date was finalized at a meeting held by Uttarakhand Chief MinisterVijay Bahugunawith the Rawal (head priest) of the Himalayan shrine, representatives of Shankaracharya SwamiSwaroopanand Saraswati, officials engaged in the clean-up exercise at Kedarnath and seniorministers) 5) United States expressed its disappointment over Russias decision to give temporary asylum to Edward Snowden, the ex-CIA contractor who had leaked National Security Agencys secrettelephone and Internet surveillance programme. What is the duration of the temporary asylumoffered to Snowden by Russia? 1 year 6) Who will be the new US ambassador to the United Nations (UN), after the appointment wasconfirmed by the United States Senate on 1 August 2013? Samantha Power (The Senate confirmed her nomination by 87-10 votes. Power replaces Susan Rice who is now the NationalSecurity Adviser) 7) What is the name of the former world champion shot putter from Belarus who was stripped ofhis 4 World Championship medals by International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) for doping? Andrei Mikhnevich (Mikhnevich, who was world champion in 2003, was banned forlife by the Belarus Athletics Federation in June after testing positive in retests of his doping sample from the 2005 world championships in Helsinki, where he finished sixth. IAAF removed Mikhnevichs silver medals from the 2006 and 2010 world indoor championships as well as his bronze medals from the 2007 and 2011 outdoor World Championships)
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1) Union Govt. on 2 August 2013 gave its approval for setting up of a fund to help six PSUs, to make them compliant withthe 10% minimum public holding norm of market regulator SEBI. What is the name assigned of this fund? Special National Investment Fund (SNIF). Six sick PSUs which willbe covered under this proposed fund are HMT, ITI,Scooters India Limited, Andrew Yule, Fertilizer and ChemicalLimited (Travancore) and Hindustan Photo Films Limited
2) Union Govt. on 2 August 2013 unveiled the long awaited Unified License norms for the telecom sector. What are the main features of this new norm? The new norm provides for delinking of spectrum from operational permits and allowscompanies to offer services using any technology. Telecom companies would be allowedto offer mobile and fixed-line services using any technology. They can also provideInternet TV services.It allows companies to offer intra and inter-circle roaming, but bars operations fromacquiring subscribers in areas where they dont own a licenseThe licenses acquired under this new norm will be valid for 20 years, and will berenewable for another ten years Telecom companies will have to pay a license fee of eight per cent of annual revenuesfrom telecom services.All telecom companies will have to migrate to the new licensing regime upon expiry oftheir current permits 3) Who was awarded 22nd Saraswati Samman of K.K. Birla Foundation on 2 August 2013? Sugathakumari, the Malayalam poetess (She was given this prestigious award for her collection of poems in Malayalam entitled Manalezhuthu (which means the writings on the sand) published in 2006. Saraswati Samman was instituted in 1991 and carries a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakh, citation and a statue of Goddess Saraswati) 4) Which union territory of the country celebrated its 60th Liberation Day on 2 August 2013? Dadra and Nagar Haveli (Dadra and Nagar Haveli were liberated from the clutches of the Portuguese during August 1954. Later it was merged into the Indian union in 1961. Portuguese invaders kept their control over this colony from 1779 to 1954. This union territory is surrounded by Maharashtra and Gujarat)
5) Who was appointed as the first woman Managing Director (MD) of State Bank of India (SBI) on 3 August 2013? Arundhati Bhattacharya (Prior to this she was the managing director of SBI Capital, the merchant banking arm of the bank)
6) Who took over as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Central Bank of India recently? Rajeev Rishi (Rishi was Executive Director of Indian Bank till now and his tenure will be for 5 years)

1) Indian girls created history by winning countrys first everbronze medal in the junior women hockey World Cup in theseventh edition of the cup held in Germany. India defeatedwhich team on 4 August 2013 to win the bronze medal? England (India defeated England by 3-2 in the penalties, riding on striker Ranis dazzling show. 18-year-old Raniscored Indias only goal in the regulation time and then foundthe net twice in the penalty shoot-out to script Indias memorable victory. This World Cup was won by theNetherlands who defeated Argentina in a penalty shoot-out by 4-2 in the finals)
2) Hasan Rouhani took oath as the new President of Iran on 4 August 2013. He replaced Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. What was special about his swearing-in ceremony? It was the first time since Irans 1979 Islamic Revolution that foreign dignitaries attended the swearing-in ceremony of an Iranian president (This underscores Rouhanis stated commitment to improving the countrys foreign ties. He had scored a landslide victory held in the presidential elections held on 14 June 2013) 3) Russia and China flagged off their regular anti-terrorist war games in Russias Urals region from 3 August 2013. This joint military drill was seen by many defence experts as preparations for a local military conflict in Central Asia. What was the name given to this drill? Peace Mission 2013 (This joint military drill was held in the Chebarkul military training area 1,700 km east of Moscow and included 1,500 troops and more than 250 units of military hardware, including 20 aircraft and helicopters) 4) China is establishing a 4,411-metre-high airport in the Tibetan area of its southwestern Sichuan province, which will become the worlds highest civilian airport when put into operation later this year. What is the name of this airport? Daocheng Yading airport (The airport, which officials said is aimed at boosting tourism in Garze, home to the famous monastery town of Kangding, will surpass the 4,334-metre Bangda airport. This airport is being built at a cost of 1.5 billion Yuan ($ 245 million))
5) Leading military analyst Air Commodore (Retd.) Jasjit Singh passed away on 4 August 2013. He mentored many mentored several generations of writers and military commentators and penned scores of books considered essential reading by defence think tanks. What is the name of an institute founded by Jasjit Singh primarily associated with analysing air power studies of countries? Centre for Air Power Studies CAPS (CAPS was founded by him in 2001. Jasjit Singh was also the longest continuously serving director of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA))
6) What is the name of a breast cancer drug of Roche Holding AG, patent for which was partly revoked in India recently? Herceptin (Roche officials recently disclosed that the Kolkata Patent Office had lifted divisional patents for Herceptin on 17 July 2013 on the grounds that they had not been properly submitted. This decision is the latest in the a series of rulings on intellectual property and pricing in India that have frustrated attempts by Western drug-makers to sell their medicines in Indias fast growing drugs market)

1) Households belonging to which community are the largestspenders on average as disclosed in the data from theNational Sample Survey Offices (NSSOs) 8th quinquennial survey on employment during the 12 months up to June2010? Sikh (The monthly per capita household consumerexpenditure (MPCE) of Sikh households was Rs. 1,659. It was lowest for Muslim households and the MPCE for thiscommunity stood at Rs. 980. Spending by Christianhouseholds was marginally lower than Sikh householdswhereas that by Hindu households was about 27% less than that by Christian households. TheOthers category, which includes Jain and Zoroastrian households, was third from the top,recording spending that was marginally lower than that by Christian households but sharplyhigher than Muslim and Hindu households. The survey conducted in the 66th round of the nationalsample survey, was spread over 7,402 villages and 5,252 urban blocks covering 1,00,957households and 4.59 lakh persons) 2) The union govt. on 5 August 2013 reduced the customs duty on imports of rice bran and rice bran oil cake to nil with effect from 1 October 2013. What was the import duty on this commodity till now? 15% (Rice bran oil is extracted from rice bran through the solvent extraction method. Rice bran, the brown layer on rice grain, has 10-25 per cent oil content. After extracting the oil, the meal or the rice bran oil cake is used as cattle feed. So far, there have been no imports of rice bran into the country as it was unviable due to higher customs duty of 15%. The demand for rice bran oil is on the rise as it is considered healthy and an affordable cooking medium) 3) Union Govt. on 5 August 2013 shelved the plans for disinvestment of its stake in BHEL due to BHELs low share price, decreased capital expenditure and less demand for power-sector equipment. What was the proposed target of selling govt. stake in BHEL? 5% (The BHEL scriphit a one-year low on the BSE on 5 August 2013, declining 19.64 per cent to Rs 120.05, afterthe companys June quarter net profit almost halved to Rs 465.43 crore on account of lowersales) 4) The first arrest for default in paying which tax was made recently after union Finance MinisterP. Chidambaram made applicable provisions of CrPC (criminal procedure code) to arrest suchoffenders? Service Tax (A courier company owner was arrested for allegedly evading servicetax of about Rs. 70 lakh in the first such case) 5) How many embassies and consulates of the United States were closed till 10 August 2013due to threat of a major al-Qaida attack? 19 (These embassies are mainly situated in theMideast and Africa and include Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah, Doha,Dubai, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Sanaa, Tripoli, Antanarivo, Bujumbura, Djibouti, Khartoum,Kigali, and Port Louis) 6) Who became the first Indian bowler since Anil Kumble to top the ICC ODI Bowlers Rankings,which were released by the ICC on 4 August 2013? Ravindra Jadeja (Jadejas careerbest rating of 733 has him tied for the pinnacle spot with West Indies spinner SunilNarine. Kumblehad claimed the No.1 position back in 1996 in these rankings) 7) Govt. of Pakistan has decided to submit an entry for the foreign language film category of theOscars awards after many decades. What was the last time that Pakistan had sent an entry forthis category? 1963 (Pakistan has sent only two films to the Academy Awards since the foreign language category was created in 1956 Jago Hua Savera in 1959and Ghunghat in1963. There is no stated govt. policy against Oscar participation in Pakistan but the issue seems to have been a low priority one mainly because of political turmoil)

1) Who will be the new Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as announced by the Finance Ministry on 6 August 2013? Raghuram Rajan, who is at present the Chief Economic Advisor to the Govt. of India (Rajan will succeed the current RBIGovernor Duvvuri Subbarao whose 5-year term ends on 4September 2013. He has formerly worked as the chief economistat the International Monetary Fund. Rajan has been a goldmedalist at IIT-Delhi and IIM-Ahmedabad and he will be the 23rdGovernor of Indias central bank) 2) Five Indian soldiers posted at an Indian post along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir were killed in an attack by Pakistani troops early on 6 August 2013. This incident took place in which sector? Poonch Sector (The incident took place when the 21 Bihar Regiment was in the process of handing over charge of its area of Sarla post at theChakkan Da Bagh area to 14 Maratha Light Infantry and came hours after a BSF jawan wasinjured in firing from across Indo-Pak border in Samba district of J&K. 4 jawans killed in this ambush (Naik Prem Nath Singh, Lance Naik Sambhu Singh, Sepoy VijayKumar Roy and Sepoy Raghunandan Prasad) belonged to the Bihar Regiment while one (SepoyPundlik Mane)belonged to 14 Maratha Light Infantry) 3) Union Govt. on 6 August 2013 disclosed that six Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)have been closed in the country in the last 5 years. Which six CPSEs are these? Bihar Drugs& Organic Chemicals Ltd. (in Bihar), Indian Oil Technologies Ltd.(inDelhi), BrushwareLtd. (in UP), Pyrites Phosphastes& Chemicals Ltd. (in Bihar), National Instruments Ltd.(in Bihar) and Bharat Yantra Nigam Ltd. (in UP)) 4) What is the name of the Gujarat village which came into limelight after discovery of prominentartifacts including gold-beads dating to the Harappan era? Khirsara (Pots containing goldbeadswere discovered from the trenches of this village during January 2011. Later carbondating at the Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleobotany, Lucknow, for the botanical remains collected from Khirsaras trenches indicated that these remains falls in the range of 2565 to 2235 BC.Khirsara is a town 85-km from Bhuj and the excavations done here have nowrevealed that itwas a major industrial hub of the Harappan era) 5) Who has recently agreed to purchase The Washington Post and other newspapers for$250 million? Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com (The deal was announced on 5 August2013. Bezos is buying the paper as an individual and his company Amazon.com Inc. is notinvolved in this deal) 6) Telecommunication major Vodafone has recently launched a unique money transfer andpayment service M-Pesa in Bihar and Jharkhand where banking network and financialpenetration is inadequate, particularly in rural areas. Which bank is the banking partner ofVodafone in this service? ICICI Bank (M-Pesa service was launched last year and provides afast, simple and secure way to transfer money and make payments)
7) Which university on 5 August 2013 came-out with the first lab-grown beef burger of the world,in which those meat strands were used which were grown from the stem cells extracted from aliving cow? Maastricht University, of the Netherlands

1) Union Govt. on 7 August 2013 introduced the muchanticipatedNational Food Security Bill, 2013, whichproposes to give the countrys three-fourth population theright to highly-subsidised food. Who moved this bill in the Lok Sabha? Union Food Minister K.V. Thomas (Thomasintroduced the fresh Bill after withdrawing an earlier onealong with the ordinance which was promulgated on 5 July2013. This bill promises to give right to the countrys 80 crore people to get 5 kg of food grains every month at Rs.1-3 per kg) 2) Which body is the regulator of commodity derivatives markets in India, which would be givenmore teeth to ensure that National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) settles the Rs 5,600-crore duesto investors, as announced by the Union Govt. on 7 August 2013? ForwardMarkets Commission FMC (NSEL is facing the problem of settlement after itsuspended trade in onedayforward contracts on 31 July 2013 following thegovernment direction. On 6 August 2013,NSEL stopped trading in e-series contracts in gold in anticipation of the notification to this effect) 3) Retired High Court Judge R.A. Mehta, who was appointed as Gujarat Lokayukta in 2011, hasrecently refused to assume office, citing state governments long and expensive legal battleagainst his appointment as one of the reasons. Gujarat has been without a Lokayukta since 2003 (Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal had appointed Mehta as statesLokayukta on 25 August2011 after by-passing the Modi government. This was followed by a legal battle which lastedalmost two years as state government sought to overturn his appointment and contested it till it was rejected in the Supreme Court) 4) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 7 August 2013 disclosed that it had imposed a penalty ofRs. 5,62,555 on the State Bank of India (SBI) on 12 July 2013 for violation of currency chest norms. Which currency chest of SBI was found deficient in following thesenorms? Secunderabad Branch of SBI in Andhra Pradesh (The penalty was levied in connection withdeficiencies and lapses in the operation and maintenance of the currency chest at the Secunderabad branch of SBI) 5) It was reported in some recent media reports that UK-based financial services major AvivaPlc. is planning to exit from the Indian insurance sector. Reports indicated that Aviva is in theprocess of exiting its over 10-year old Indian life insurance joint venture with diversified FMCG player Dabur to become the third global insurance major to quit India. Which are the two other insurance majors, who have already made their exit from Indian life insurance sector? Netherlandsbased ING and US-based insurer New York Life (ING sold its 25% stake in INGVysya Life Insurance Company to Exide Industries while New York Life sold its similar stake inMax New York Life to Japans Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company) 6) A modern and sophisticated breast milk bank, which is touted as the first such bank in thepublic sector was opened on 7 August 2013. This newly established breast milk bank is situatedin which city? Kolkata (This bank was opened at Kolkatas premier state-run SSKM hospital by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The milk collected at this bank will be given free of chargeto newborn babies whose mothers were either ill or not lactating. This bank was funded by theNational Health Renewal Mission NHRM) 7) In a rare diplomatic snub, US President Barack Obama cancelled his meeting with RussianPresident Vladimir Putin, which was proposed to be held in September 2013. Where was thismeeting proposed? Moscow (The move is retribution for Russias decision to grant temporaryasylum to Edward Snowden, who is accused of leaking highly secretive details about NationalSecurity Agency surveillance programmes)

1) Indian Parliament on 8 August 2013 passed theCompanies Bill, 2012, which replaced the 57 year oldlegislation with radical changes. What is the name of the oldbill which was replaced by this legislation? Companies Act, 1956 (The new Companies Bill was passed after a wait of almost two decades and it seeks more transparency incorporate functioning in India. The bill is also a lot less bulkythan the existing 1956 Act, with 470 sections as against thecurrent 658 sections) 2) Union Cabinet on 8 August 2013 gave approval to Bharatiya Mahila Bank, which will be Indias first womensbank. With an initial capital of Rs. 1,000 crore, this bank would provide dedicated financialservices to women in general and women self-help groups (SHGs). Which was worlds first womens bank? Pakistans First Women Bank (FWB), which was established in 1989 3) Union Govt. on 7 August 2013 allowed import of steel for major industrial projects withoutquality certification. The objective behind this exemption is to give a push to the infrastructuresector of the country. The exemption will be available for projects in the field of infrastructure,petroleum, manufacturing products involving high end technologies, nuclearreactors, defence, chemical and petro-chemicals and fertiliser sectors. What is the prescribed investment limit forthe projects to get this exemption? Not less than Rs. 1,000 crore (This announcement was made in a notification made by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). The easing import norms came amidst domestic steel manufacturers demanding government to hike duty on imports to prevent steel dumping in the country) 4) A leading enterprise solutions provider on 7 August 2013 announced launch of Rakshak 2.0,TracOHealth and The Milk Co-operative Experience, three new applications targeted at helping the government agencies to deliver citizen services in a more effective and faster manner. Which solution provider is this? SAP (These three new applications have beenconceived, designedand developed by SAP Labs India. While SAP Rakshak 2.0 offers real-time information for crime incidents happening across states to all the law enforcement agencies, both state and central,TracOHealth aims to help maintain health-related information for a lifetime of every child acrossIndia. The Milk Co-operative Experience app offers dairy cooperatives gain real-time visibility onthe procurement to plan its production and distribution) 5) Union Power Ministry is believed to have shelved the plan to set up the Rs 20,000-crore ultramega power project (UMPP) in Chhattisgarh as the coal blocks for the proposed project fall under dense forest area and could rake-up the environment issue. This UMPP was proposed tobe established at which place of Chhattisgarh? Sarguja (The proposed UMPP had aproduction capacity of 4,000 MW. Power Finance Corp, the nodal agency for the UMPPs in thecountry, has so far allotted four such projects. The three have been bagged by Reliance Power Sasan (Madhya Pradesh), Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Tilaiya (Jharkhand). TataPower has already commissioned countrys first imported coal-based ultra mega power projectwon through international competitive bidding) 6) What is the name of the spacecraft which will undertake NASAs next mission to Mars in November 2013? MAVEN Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN is a Lockheed Martin built C-17 cargo plane, which reached Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora,Colorado recently) 7) What is the name of a bill introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 5 August 2013 by Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, which proposes stricter enforcement of laws to protectwildlife? Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2013

1) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently transferredits surplus profit to the government for the year ended June2013, which is the highest amount to be transferred by theRBI to the government, except year 2007. How muchamount was transferred as surplus profit to the govt.? Rs.33,010 crore (This is more than a 100% jump over Rs16,010 crore that the RBI transferred in the previous year. In2007, gave Rs 45,719 crore as surplus profit. However, outof this, Rs 34,308 crore was accounted by the moneygenerated by its stake sale in State Bank of India. The RBItransferred Rs 15,009 crore in 2010-11, Rs 18,759 crore in2009-10 and Rs 25,009 crore in 2008-09)
2) An inter-ministerial committee constituted to suggest steps to contain the rising currentaccount deficit (CAD) has suggested higher taxes for non-essential imports with a view tocurbing inward shipments and containing the current account deficit CAD. These suggestionsform part of the recommendations made by the committee set up by Finance Minister P Chidambaram. Who is the Chairman of this committee? Rajat Bhargava,Joint Secretary(Budget Division) This committee has suggested higher taxes on those non-essential itemswhich do not add to inflationary pressures. The Committee has also suggested a list of nonessential items the import of which could be compressed, with a view to bridge the tradegap.Trade gap in the first quarter of the current financial year stood at over $ 50 billion)
3) On 9 August 2013 who became the first Indian badminton player since Prakash Padukone toreach singles semi-finals of World Championships? P.V. Sindhu (She defeated 8th seed WangShixian of China by 21-18, 21-17 in straight sets to ensure at least a bronze medal for her at the ongoing Badminton World Championships at Guangzhou, China. In 1983,Prakash Padukone hadwon an individual bronze for India in the World Championships held in Copenhagen, Denmark)
4) The Union Cabinet on 8 August 2013 approved the proposal for establishing a new mediawing that will address the communication and dissemination requirements of the government onsocial media. What is the proposed name of this new wing which will be established at a cost of Rs. 22.5 crore? Bureau of New and Concurrent Media (The proposal for establishment of this new wing was drawn on the basis of the experience of its pilot program on the social mediaplatforms such as Youtube, Facebook and Twitter)
5) The proposal for export of how much additional amount of wheat was approved by theCabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 8 August 2013? 2 million tonnes (Thisdecision was taken in view of huge amount of accumulating stock of wheat in countryswarehouses, which is approximately 40 million tonnes. The overflowing stocks in FoodCorporation of India (FCI) godowns have also put pressure on storage availability. Theadditionalwheat would be traded through public sector trading firms)

1) India on 10 August 2013 achieved a major milestone innuclear capability by activating the atomic reactor on-boardan indigenous nuclear submarine and achieving nuclearcriticality, thus paving the way for its operational deploymentby the Indian Navy. Which indigenous nuclear submarine isthis? INS Arihant (This development is seen as a majorstep towards India completing its nuclear triad. Nuclear triadis the ability to fire nuclear-tipped missiles from land, air andsea. INS Arihant has been undergoing trials at Indian Navyskey submarine base in Vishakhapatnam and would be launched for sea trialssoon since thenuclear reactor has gone critical. The nuclear submarinewill help India achieve the capability ofgoing into high seas without the need to surface the vessel for long durations. The submarine willwill eventually be fitted with K-15 underwater fired missiles, which can hittargets 700 km away) 2) Which five countries presently possess nuclear-powered submarines? The U.S., Russia,the U.K., France and China (Apart from India, Brazil is also working on naval nuclearpropulsion) 3) With effect from 15 August 2013, eight cities in India will have visa-on-arrival facility fortourists visiting India. Which are the four cities which have been extended this facility recently bythe Union Govt.? Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram (The visa-onarrival facility was earlier available only for the four metro cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata andChennai). At present visitors from 11 countries (Japan, Singapore, Finland, Luxembourg,New Zealand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Myanmar and Indonesia) are eligible to get this facility. The visa-on-arrival scheme has contributed to an increase in the number oftourists from these countries and the government was in the final stages of consultations on allowing the facility to citizens of another 10 countries, including Germany, France and Russia) 4) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 8 August 2013 announced its decision to sell govt. bonds on a week day with an objective of controlling the volatility in the foreign exchangemarket. Which dayof the week was chosen for proposed weekly sale of govt. bonds? Monday(It was notifiedthat government bonds worth Rs. 22,000 crore is available for sale) 5) Which former US President was one among the 16 recipients of the Presidential Medal ofFreedom for the year 2013, which were announced on 8 August 2013? Bill Clinton (Otherprominent winners of this prestigious award for the year included talk show host Oprah Winfrey,baseball player Ernie Banks and former Senator Richard Lugar. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award instituted by former President John F Kennedy and is the highest civilianaward in the United States) 6) On 10 August 2013 South Korea and the United States announced holding of a joint-military exercise later this month. The South Korea-US Combined Forces Command (CFC) will conductthis joint military exercise from 19 August to 30 August 2013. What is the name given to this jointexercise? Ulchi Freedom Guardian (This exercise will largely be acomputer-simulated exercise, with troops remaining in their normal bases. But this exercise has drawn sharpcriticism from North Korea, which has described it as an all-out war rehearsal) 7) Indias largest IT exporter Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on 10 August, 2013 announcedsetting up of a software development centre in Madhya Pradesh, for which the Madhya PradeshGovt. has allotted an SEZ (Special Economic Zone) to TCS. In which city will this developmentcentre come up? Indore

1) For the first time, US researchers have developed a vaccine that provides 100% protection from Malaria, asclaimed by them on 8 August, 2013. The new vaccine,dubbed PfSPZ, attacks the first stage of malaria called preerythrocytic,and may stem the disease before symptomsshow. Which US biotech firm has been developing this vaccine? Sanaria Inc. (The vaccine being tested wasproduced by Maryland-based company Sanaria Inc. andtested by the National Institute of Allergy and InfectiousDiseases, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the Naval Medical Research Center.The first results of this vaccine marks the first time that any vaccine trial has shown 100%success in protecting subjects from the mosquitoborne tropical disease, which sickens morethan 200 million a year and killed about 660,000 in 2010. Though the results were verypromising, more extensive field testing will be required to establish the facts claimed byresearchers) 2) During August 2013 Maharashtra became the first state of the country to disburse employees salary through Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. Employees of which department of Maharashtra Govt. were disbursed their salaries through Aadhaar mode? Information Technology (IT) Department (Employees of states IT Department were disbursed the salary for the month of July 2013 through Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. The state govt. will soon issue salary of all its departments through this mode as it helps in speedy processing and transfer to correct person) 3) Which famous hotel owned by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and operated by the Indian Hotels Company Ltd. for the last 35 years will be auctioned soon? Hotel Taj Mansingh (This swank hotel situated on Mansingh Road, constructed by NDMC, was given to Indian Hotels Company Ltd on lease for 33 years. When the lease came to an end in 2011 and NDMC was about to renew the lease, the Urban Development Ministry intervened and asked it to auction the property. The property will now be auctioned after a temporary lease-extension was given to it after 2011) 4) 61st edition of the famous Nehru Boat Race was held on 9 August 2013 in Kerala. This annual event is held at which lake of the state? Punnamada Lake, in Alleppey (Alappuzha) This boat race has been held annually since 1952. The race was first held in honour of Indias first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who visited the state at that part of time 5) Who was conferred the Gujar Mal Modi Award for Science and Technology for year 2013 on 9 August, 2013? Vinod Prakash Sharma (He was given this award for his contribution in the field of basic and applied research of Malaria and Vector Biology. Gujar Mal Modi Award for Science and Technology was instituted in 1988 by the Gujar Mal Modi Foundation in memory of industrialist Gujar Mal Modi, the founder of the Modi Group) 6) Who won the mens singles title at the World Badminton Championships held at Guangzhou? Lin Dan of China (He defeated his arch rival Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia by 16-21, 21-13, 20-17 in the final held on 11 August, 2013. Wei could not complete the match and was stretchered off the court in the third game. This was fifth World Championship title for Lin Dan, who has a superstar image in the badminton world at present) 7) Who won the mens singles title at the World Badminton Championships held at Guangzhou? Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand (She defeated World No. 1 and Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China by 22-20, 18-21, 21-14 in the final held on 11 August, 2013. Intanon became the first Thai to win the world championship and first non-Chinese woman since Denmarks Camilla Martin of Denmark who lifted the title in 1999. Ratchanok Intanon had defeated Indias P.V. Sindhu in the semi-finals by 21-10, 21-13 to move to the finals)

1) India on 12 August, 2013 launched its first indigenousaircraft carrier, thus making an entry into a select club ofcountries capable of designing and building a carrier of this size and capability. What is the name of this aircraft carrier? INS Vikrant (Defence Minister A.K.Antonys wife Elizabethlaunched the 37,500 tonne carrier at Kochi shipyard about four-and-a-half years after its keel was laid by the minister.This aircraft carrier has been named after Indias first aircraftcarrier which has been de-commissioned from the service in 1997. Other countries capable ofdesigning and building an equivalent size ship are the US, the UK, Russia and France. Mig29K,Light Combat Aircraft and Kamov 31 could fly from the carrier. The launch of INS Vikrant marksthe end of the first phase of its construction and it will then be re-docked for outfitting and construction of superstructure) 2) Zafar Futehally, who passed away on 11 August, 2013, was a distinguished authority on which field? Ornithology (study of birds) and Conservationist (Futehally spearheaded the early years of the conservation movement in India, serving as a link between conservationists and corporates. The Newsletter for Birdwatchers, which he founded, was a vital publication and served to document observations at a time when there was no digital documentation and there were few scientific studies on wildlife in the country. He was 93) 3) India on 12 August, 2013 successfully test-fired nuclear weapons capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile, Prithvi-II for its full range from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, Odisha. The indigenously-developed missile was picked up randomly from the production lot and launched by the personnel of the Strategic Force Command (SFC) from ITRs Launch ComplexIII as part of routine user training. What is the full range of this missile? 350 km 4) Olympics 100 m champion Usain Bolt on 11 August, 2013 reclaimed his sprint gold medal at the World Athletics Championships when he won the gold medal at the ongoing IAAF World Athletics Championships at Moscow. What was the time clocked by him? 9.77 seconds (Silver medal was claimed by Justin Gatlin of the US who clocked 9.85 sec while Jamaicas Nesta Carter (9.95) claimed bronze. He lost the world champion title at World Athletics Championships held on South Korea in 2011, when he was ousted due to false starts) 5) State Bank of Indias (SBIs) net profits for the quarter ended 30 June, 2013 stood at Rs. 3,241 crore against Rs. 3,752 crore in the last year for the same quarter, thus recording a 14% dip. What was the main reason for this fall in profits as disclosed by the bank? Huge increase in bad loans (SBIs bad loans increased by Rs 9,702 crore to Rs 60,891 crore as of 30 June, 2013) 6) The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) on 10 August, 2013 commissioned the largest blast furnace in India named Durga. This huge furnace has a volume of 4,060 cu. Meters and it costed SAIL almost Rs. 1,600 crore. At which unit of SAIL is this furnace installed? Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), Odisha (With commissioning of this blast furnace the hot metal capacity of SAIL has reached 4.5 million tonnes per annum with this furnace adding 2.5 million tonnes to its capacity) 7) What is the name of the Jammu & Kashmir Minister of State for Home Sajad, who on 12 August, 2013 submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah pending judicial inquiry into Kishtwar communal violence? Sajad Kitchloo (His resignation was demanded by political parties so as an impartial inquiry can be carried out on his alleged role in the riots in Kishtwar) 8) A bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 12 August, 2013 to keep political parties out of the ambit of the RTI Act and negate a Central Information Commission (CIC) order to this effect under the RTI Act. This bill seeks to insert an explanation in which Section of the RTI Act?

1) On 13 August, 2013 Shooter Ronjan Sodhi was chosen forthe Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, the highest honour for asportsperson in India. Sodhi is associated with which discipline of shooting? Double Trap Shooting (He won two silvermedals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and a gold medalat the 2010 Asian Games. In 2011, he became the first Indian shooter to successfully defend a World Cup title. He is the 7thshooter to receive this prestigious award. Other six shootersto have conferred with this award are Abhinav Bindra (200102), Anjali Bhagwat (2002-03), Lt Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rahore (2004-05), Manavjit Sandhu (2006-07), Gagan Narang(2010-11) and Vijay Kumar (2011-12))
2) Union Govt. on 12 August, 2013 tabled the Securities Laws(Amendment) Bill, 2013 in the Lok Sabha to provide more powers to capital market regulator theSecurities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and to replace a related ordinance. This bil seeks to amend which three acts? The Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992,the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 and the Depositories Act, 1996 (An Ordinance had been promulgated in July this year amending the securities law that wouldprovide more powers to the SEBI. Once passed in Parliament, the amendments will give morepowers to SEBI to crack down on ponzi schemes, seek phone call records to check insidertrading and carry out search and seizure operations)
3) Which Indian steel company was recently given an order to manufacture 60,000 tonnes of high-quality rails for a new high-speed line linking the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia? Tata Steel (The new railway line will allow millions of pilgrims to cross the 444 kilometers between the two cities at speeds of 320 kmh. The line will cross the Arabian desert, withstanding temperatures ranging from freezing to 50 degrees Celsius as well as sand storms, flash flooding and shifting dunes) 4) Indias first Cyber Forensic Laboratory (CFL) was inaugurated on 11 August, 2013. This CFL has been established at which High Court of India? Tripura High Court at Agartala (This CFL would send an automatic SMS alert to both lawyers and the litigant about the fate of the court case. An SMS alert would be sent through this CFL to all concerned parties if any lawyer or the petitioner remains absent on the day of trial. The establishment of CFL is seen as a major step towards decentralization of legal services in India) 5) A day after the launch of Indias first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, Chinas Communist Party-run tabloid the Global Times on 13 August, 2013 said in its editorial that China should now speed up construction of its domestic aircraft carriers. What is the name of Chinas first indigenous carrier, which was put into sea-trials last year? Liaoning (It is a refurbished and upgraded version of the Soviet carrier the Varyag)

1) In a huge setback to the Indian Navy, INS Sindhurakshak,a conventional submarine exploded after a fire on board and ank early on 14 August, 2013 in which 18 personnel,including three officers, may have been killed. INSSindhurakshak was Indias mainstay kilo-class submarine and was the most modern submarine of the Indian Navy. Thisaccident took place at which place? Naval Dockyard atColaba in Mumbai (The submarine had returned after a major upgrade programme in Russia 3-4 months ago andwas capable of carrying a potent weapons package including the anti-ship Club missiles. INS Sindhurakshak was not on active duty at the time of the accident. The incident has come at atime when the Navy is faced with a depleting submarine fleet)
2) In its report tabled in Parliament on 13 August, 2013, the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) slammed the Defence Ministry and Indian Air Force for several instances of deviation from rules in the procurement of VVIP choppers in the Rs. 3,727 crore AgustaWestland deal. The CAG also noted that the benchmark cost of Rs. 4,871.5 crore for the 12 VVIP choppers was unreasonably high as compared to the Rs. 3,966 crore quoted by AgustaWestland. AgustaWestland is collaboration between which two companies to manufacture helicopters? UK and Italy (Westland Helicopters of the UK and Augusta of Italy merged in 2000 to form AugustaWestland)
3) The Supreme Court of India on 13 August, 2013 directed the Union Government of India and the Government of Uttarakhand to not grant any environmental clearances to the hydro-electric projects in Uttarakhand. This judgement was passed by a Supreme Court bench in relation to which hydro project situated in Uttarakhand? Alaknanda Hydro Power Project (In its judgement a bench of the Supreme Court comprising of Justices KS Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra ordered the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for establishing the expert body in order to study the environmental degradation taking place by the power projects in the state)
4) What minimum export price of onion was announced on 14 August, 2013 by the union govt. with an objective of increasing the availability of onion in the domestic market? Rs. 39/kg. (In addition to this govt. also announced measures to make import of onion easier. NAFED will also try to import onion at cheap rates in an effort to reduce prices in the domestic market)
5) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 14 August, 2013 cut down the amount of foreign exchange an Indian may use to invest or spend abroad from the current annual limit of $2,00,000 to $75,000 (This means Indian citizens would not be able to take out more than $75,000 in a year by way of travel or investment. In addition to this RBI imposed a restriction on Indians from making an investment in a property abroad. These measures were announced in a bid to check the drain on foreign exchange reserves in the country) 6) Egypts interim Deputy President Mohamed Elbaradei on 14 August, 2013 resigned from his post opposing a move taken by countrys interim government. Which move of the govt. was he opposing? Imposition of Emergency in the country (Egypts interim govt. imposed a state of emergency from 14 August, 2013 due to increasing violence between supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and his opponents. Govt. claimed that 278 persons died in this violence. Imposition of emergency in Egypt was also opposed by the United States. The U.N. Security Council held an emergency briefing on 15 August, 2013 on the latest developments in Egypt following the governments deadly crackdown on supporters of Morsi)
Successiscalling.co.in 7) The Finance Ministry on 14 August, 2013 announced that public sector insurance company LIC can increase its investments in companies up to 25% under special circumstances. What is the present investment limit of LIC in companies? 20% (LICs investment norm at present is settled at 20% but in special circumstances it can now go up to 25%. LIC for long has been perceived as the last resort for the govt. to meet its disinvestment target, though the Centre denies it) 8) Recently which company became the most valuable company of the Aditya Birla group by overtaking cement company UltraTech? Idea Cellular (During July 2013 Ideas market capitalisation increased to Rs. 52916 crore while UltraTechs was calculated at Rs. 50820 crore. Idea Cellular, which was known earlier as Birla AT&T, has made rapid progress. It started as an alliance with the Tata group, before the Tatas deciding to use CDMA technology. After initial hustle, the Birlas paid a hefty ransom of 4400 crore to buy out the Tata stake)
9) The University Grants Commission (UGC) has recently given its approval to students to pursue two degree programmes simultaneously. This approval was given based on recommendations of an expert panel constituted on this issue. Who headed this panel? Dr. Furqan Qamar, Vice Chancellor, Central University of Hyderabad
10) In the recently released Academic Ranking of 500 World Universities (ARWU) for 2013 only one Indian institute features in the list. Which institute is this? Indian Institute of Science (IIS), Bangalore (Harvard University has been described as the worlds best university with a score of 100; followed by Stanford University with a score of 72.6. University of California, Berkeley; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and University of Cambridge have scored around 71 points. American universities captured 17 positions of the top 20 slots, with two going to the British universities and one being occupied by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Zurich. Of the 500 universities ranked, American universities captured a total of 182 slots; European universities occupied 200 slots but only three made the top 20. As many as 17 Chinese universities were included as well)
15-16 August 2013 Daily Current Affairs

1) Union Govt. has recently set up a high-level seven-membercommittee to investigate the socio-economic status of tribals,which has been asked to submit its report within nine months.Who has been appointed as the Chairman of this committee? Virginius Xaxa (Xaxa is the newest member of the NationalAdvisory Council (NAC) and is the Deputy Director of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati. The terms and conditionsof this committee are almost identical to those of the SacharCommittee, which examined the socio-economic status of Muslims)
2) 16 August, 2013 marked a new low for the present Indian economic scenario with the rupeedropping to a lifetime low of Rs. 62.03 per dollar, BSEs Sensex plunging by over 4% in a single day and gold prices surging to a two-year high. These events were seen asinvestors responseto fears of a return to a capital-control regime and latest data coming from the US. What was this latest data from the US, which also impacted this historic downfall? Economic data fromthe US released on 15 August, 2013 displayed the fact that employment in the US hasrecovered more than what was earlier expected. Markets in Asia, including India,interpreted this as a signal that days of cheap dollar were coming to an end soon andthis it thus had its impact on the downfall
3) What is the name assigned to a dazzling multi-media series for displaying achievementsduring last nine years of the UPA government, second phase of which was unveiled during August 2013 by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting? Glimpsesof the India Story (With an eye on the general elections scheduled to be held next year, the UPA government hasunveiled a series of audio-visual clips as a part of its multimedia campaign to highlight its achievements and showcase the impact of its policies in the last nine years. Under this importantachievements of the UPA govt. like Aadhaar, Direct Benefits Transfer, Right to Information (RTI)and upcoming Food Security legislation have been highlighted)
4) Subrata Kumar was nominated for the Prime Ministers Shram Ratna Award for year 2012 as announced by the union govt. on 14 August, 2013 on the eve of theIndependence Day. He is associated with which company? Tata Steel Limited, Jamshedpur (ShramRatna is thehighest honour in India given to workers employed in any private or public enterprise or departmental undertaking employing 500 or more workers. A cash award ofRs. 2 lakh and acitation is given under Shram Ratna. In addition to this 8 employees of different departments were conferred with the Shram Bhushan Award, 20 with Shram Veer orShramVeerangana and41 with the Shram Shri or Shram Devi awards. Shram Bhushan carries a cash prize of Rs. 1lakh while Shram Veer or Shram Veerangana and Shram Shri or Shram Devi carry a cash prize of Rs. 60,000 and Rs. 40,000 respectively)
5) Which public sector bank recently sought Rs 1,800-crore capital infusion from the Centrethrough allotment of preferential shares? Bank of Baroda (BoB) Union govt. currently, has astake of 55.4% in BOB)
6) The Rashtriya Uchattar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) has proposed to put a ceiling on the numberof colleges to be affiliated to any university. What is this proposed ceiling? 200 (This has been
Successiscalling.co.in done following several state universities having a large number of collegesaffiliated to a singleuniversity. For example Osmania University has 901 colleges affiliated to it while 811 colleges are attached to Pune University. The average number of affiliated colleges per university is 300. This has negatively affected the academic quality of the university. The onelakh crore-worthRashtriya Uchattar Shiksha Abhiyan, when implemented, will lead to setting up and upgradationof new colleges and universities. The scheme will also facilitate increased number of studentsfrom secondary to higher education)
7) Indian telecom subscriber base crossed 90-crore mark in May this year after almost two years. It registered a marginal growth and the base grew by 0.34% to reach 90.005 crore, according to latest TRAI data. When the telecom subscriber base had first crossed the 90-crore mark? In September, 2011 (It had later touched 96.55 crore mark in June, 2012. Since then the base has been shrinking steadily)
8) A Dronacharya Award winner and the coach of former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev passed away on 16 August, 2013 at Mohali. Apart from Kapil Dev, he helped shaping the careers of cricketers such as Yograj Singh, Ashok Malhotra, Chetan Sharma and Harbhajan Singh. What was the name of this famous cricket coach? Desh Prem Azad

1) The Indian stock market moved out of the trillion-dollarleague on 16 August, 2013 as stock prices crashed, pullingdown the total valuation of all listed companies to $ 985billion. Now how many stock markets of the world remain inthe trillion-dollar league? 13 (US, UK, Japan, China, Canada, Hong Kong, Germany, France, Switzerland,Australia, South Korea, Nordic region (Finland, Denmark,Norway, Sweden, Iceland, etc.) and Brazil. Market capitalisation of all the listed companies in Indian stockmarket stood at Rs 60,73,881.22 crore as stocks witnessed huge decline in their values. India had first entered the trillion-dollar club in June 2007, but moved out in September 2008, amid theglobal slowdown. It again got back into the elite league in May 2009 and had largely remainedthere since then, except for some brief periods including once in 2012. Markets like Russia,Spain and South Africa have also moved out of this club after enjoying a trillion-dollar status inthe past, while at least three others Brazil, South Korea and Nordic region markets aremaintaining this level with small margins) 2) State Bank of India (SBI) on 17 August, 2013 achieved another milestone by opening its branch. 15,000th (The 15,000th Branch of the SBI was inaugurated by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram at Tamil Nadus Sooranam, a Christian dominated area, and the 15,001st branch of the bank at Kalayarkovil, a Hindu dominated area nearby) 3) An avian flu emergency was declared in the capital of which neighbouring country of India on 17 August, 2013 after fresh cases emerged from different areas of the capital? Nepal (Avian flu emergency was declared in Kathmandu valley after numerous cases of the H5N1 strain were reported since last one month. Imposition of emergency meant that trading of birds was completely banned and culling ordered in the areas declared emergency zones. The first case of the avian flu in Nepal was reported in January 2009. No human deaths due to the virus have been reported in the country so far) 4) For the first time a pilot-project for use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) will be undertaken during an upcoming assembly by-election to be held in an Indian state. Which state is this? Nagaland (Election Commission of India decided to use VVPAT enabled EVMs in the 4 September, 2013 poll at Noksen Assembly constituency in Nagaland. The VVPT will enable electors to see a printout of their ballot displaying the name, election symbol and serial number of the chosen candidate. However the voter cannot take the printout home. In case there is a dispute about the voting and a petition is filed, the votes can be tallied electronically and physically with the ballot slips that fall into the compartment) 5) What is the name of a proposed commission that will look into removing ambiguity and establishing a stable and non-adversarial tax administration in the country and establishment of which was approved by the union govt. recently? Tax Administration Reform Commission TARC (Union Govt. has approved setting up of TARC on 13 August, 2013. TARC will be a seven member commission including a Chairman. The main objective of TARC will be to review the application of tax policies and tax laws in India in the context of best global practices and recommend measures to strengthen the capacity of the tax system in India) 6) Faster: 100 ways to improve your digital life is the name of 15th book written by a Stanford educated 28-year old ethical hacker, which was released recently. What is the name of this author? Ankit Fadia (Fadias last 14 books are centered around cyber security)

1) According to the latest data released by the PlanningCommission on 17 August, 2013 more than 40 crore 29 lakh Aadhaar numbers have been issued till 31st July,2013 in the country. Which state is leading in issuing Aadhaarnumbers, as stated in this data? Andhra Pradesh (With 65,941,390 Aadhaar numbers issued till 31st July Andhra Pradeshis the leading state as far as issue of Aadhaar numbers isconcerned. It is followed by Maharashtra with 62,697,942 and Madhya Pradesh with 27,773,394 Aadhaar numbers. Only 1,848Aadhaar numbers were issued in Arunachal Pradesh by 31st July.Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has reiterated that the target of 60 croreAadhaar enrolments will be achieved by 2014)
2) The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 19 August, 2013 aborted the launch of its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), the GSLV-D5 mission that was to place in orbit an advanced communication satellite from Sriharikota. This was done following the detection of a fuel leakage barely an hour from lift-off. Which satellite was being attempted to be placed by this aborted launch vehicle? GSAT-14 (This was the third straight time that ISRO was caught up in a cryogenic launch mess-up. ISROs previous two GSLV missions in April and December 2010 had also ended in failure)
3) Union Govt. on 19 August, 2013 banned duty-free import of flat screen television (LCD/LED/Plasma) by air travellers in a bid to prop up rupee. On this day rupee went below the Rs. 63 mark and closed at an all-time low of Rs. 63.13 per dollar. This ban on duty-free import of flat screen televisions comes to effect from 26 August, 2013 (This would mean air travellers bringing in TV as part of their baggage from 26 August would have to pay customs duty. Till now Air travellers were allowed to bring a flat screen television for personal use without paying any duty)
4) 37 people were crushed to death at Dhamara Ghat railway station in Bihars Khagaria district by a superfast express train on 19 August, 2013. Which train was involved in this accident? Saharsa Patna Rajya Rani Express (Most of the killed were devotees coming from or going to the Katyayani Temple nearby and were standing on the track when this superfast train passed through the station at high speed. Dhamara Ghat railway station had no over-bridge for passengers to cross the tracks)
5) Recently the Union Cabinet gave its approval for establishment of the International Centre for Drinking Water Quality (ICDWQ). ICDWQ will be set up to undertake research on problems pertaining to water quality including arsenic and fluoride contamination. This proposed centre will be established at Kolkata (The centre will be established on 8.72 acres of land at Joka, Diamond Harbour Road, Kolkata. ICDWQ will be established at a total cost of Rs. 176.64 crore and the expenditure will be met from funds provided to the ministry of drinking water and sanitation under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme)
6) What is the name of the proposed nodal agency for offshore wind projects in the country that will soon be constituted under the aegis of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy? National Offshore Wind Energy Authority NOWA (NOWA will carry out resource assessment and
surveys in the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of the country and simultaneously enter into contract with project developers for development of offshore wind energy project in the territorial water, which comprise 12 nautical miles from Indian coast. It will be the single window agency and will coordinate with concerned Ministries/Departments for necessary clearances)
7) Who recently took over as the new Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the UN Conference on Disarmament at Geneva? D. Bala Venkatesh Varma (Varma is a 1988-batch officer of the India Foreign Service (IFS))
8) Scientists at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington on 15 August, 2013 announced the discovery of a new species of mammal, which is the first mammalian carnivore species to be newly identified in the Americas in 35 years. What name has been given to this newly discovered mammal? Olinguito, pronounced oh-lin-GHEE-toe (The discovery of Olinguito is seen as a rare one. It was found in the dense forests of Ecuador and Colombia in the Northern Andes and it belongs to the raccoon family)
9) Who was appointed as the new Chairperson of the National School of Drama (NSD) Society on 19 August, 2013? Ratan Thiyam (Thiyam is a well-known theatre personality from Manipur and his appointment has been done for a period of 4 years. He takes over from theatre director, Amal Allana, who demitted office as NSD Chairperson in June this year after serving two consecutive terms)

1) On 20 August, 2013 a C130J-30 Super Hercules aircraftbelonging to the Indian Air Force (IAF) landed at the highestairstrip in the world situated in India. This aircraft took off from Hindon Air Base in Ghaziabad and made a perfectlanding at this airport. Which airport is this? Daulat BegOldie (DBO), an airstrip located at 16614 feet (5065 meters) in the Aksai Chin area (This base was built duringthe Indo-China conflict in 1962 and came into prominence when Packet aircraft of the IAF operated from DBO between 1962 and 1965. Considering the very limited load carrying capability of AN 32 and helicopters, a decision was taken by the IAF to land the C130J-30 aircraft which is capable of lifting upto 20 tonnes of load. This landing at DBO qualifies for the world record for the highest landing by an aircraft of this class)
2) Who will be the new Chief Justices of the Delhi and Madras High Courts respectively, as recommended by the Supreme Court collegiums recently? Justice N.V. Ramana and Justice Rajesh Kumar Agrawal (The Supreme Court collegium on 19 August, 2013 recommended Justice N.V. Ramana, acting Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court, to be appointed as the new Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court while the acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Rajesh Kumar Agrawal be made its Chief Justice. The senior-most judge of the High Court, Justice R. Banumathi, has been recommended to be appointed as the Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court)
3) For the first time an Uttarakhand High Court judge has been made the Chief Justice of a High Court of the country. Who is this judge? Justice P.C. Pant (Pant is the senior-most judge of the Uttarakhand High Court and is being elevated as the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court as announced by the Supreme Court collegiums)
4) An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan on 20 August, 2013 indicted former military ruler Pervez Musharraf on charges of conspiracy to murder former Prime Minister and late opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. It was the first time that any of the four generals who have ruled Pakistan have been indicted. In which year was Bhutto assassinated? In 2007 (She was assassinated in a gun and bomb attack during December, 2007. Musharrafs formal trial could begin any time. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of death or life imprisonment)
5) The US for the first time invited the Chinese Navy to join its largest multilateral naval exercise, which is a biennial exercise held in June and July and is the largest international maritime warfare exercise. What is the name of this exercise? RIMPAC Rim of the Pacific Exercise (Allied military forces of the Pacific Rim are invited by the US in this exercise, which is organized by it every two years. US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan met at Washington on 19 August, 2013 and agreed to expand military exchanges and exercises as part of efforts to build more stable bilateral ties)
6) Cheraman Financial Services Limited (CFSL), which became the first Islamic financial services company to be launched in India, started its operations in which Indian state recently? Kerala (The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had given its approval to CFSL to launch banking operations based on the concept of Islamic banking in Kerala. CFSL, a Sharia-compliant nonbanking financial company (NBFC), has been formed by a group of Gulf-based NRI businessmen led by P Muhamed Ali and the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) has a 11% stake in it)
7) My Journey: Transforming Dreams into Actions, which was published recently by Rupa, is a new book written by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the former President (This book is filled with stories of innumerable challenges in Kalams years as the scientific adviser when India conducted its second nuclear test, his retirement and dedication to teaching thereafter and his years as President)
8) The new Petronet LNG terminal near Kochi in Kerala received its first cargo vessel carrying liquified gas on 20 August, 2013. This new LNG terminal, which has been built at a cost of Rs 4,200 crore, is situated at Puthuvype (With this first shipment, this LNG terminal, with an annual capacity of five million tonnes, is all set to commence operations soon. Besides the Kochi plant, Petronet operates a 10 million tonnes per annum terminal at Dahej in Gujarat, which it plans to expand to 15 million by 2016. It is also constructing a facility in Andhra Pradesh)

1) Which state on 20 August, 2013 became the first tolaunch the food security scheme for its citizens? Delhi(UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi launched the scheme inDelhi by giving away food security ration cards to beneficiaries along with a 5-kg packet of rice. Delhi was thefirst State to clear the scheme) 2) The Food Security Scheme was launched in which othertwo states apart from capital Delhi on 20 August, 2013? Haryana and Uttarakhand (UPAs ambitious Food Security Scheme was launched in these three Congress-ruled states,even as the consideration of the Bill was scuttled in Parliament by the Opposition, whichcornered the government on the issue of missing files related to the coal block allocation) 3) The Reserve Bank of India had directed two Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), to stop allowing the use of its premises / branches to accept deposits from public by their associate unincorporated bodies. Which two NBFCs are these? Muthoot Fincorp Ltd. (MFCL) and Manappuram Finance Ltd. (MAFIL) (Muthoot Estate Investment (MEI), was collecting public deposits through the branches of MFCL located in Kerala, which is a violation of the provisions of section 45-S of the RBI Act, 1934. The Manappuram Agro Farms (MAGRO), a sole proprietary concern of Shri V.P. Nandakumar (Executive Chairman of MAFIL) was accepting fresh deposits from the public. MAFIL, which was earlier a deposit taking (Category A) company, became a non-deposit taking NBFC in March, 2011. However, its maturing deposits were being renewed with MAGRO. Both these actions were in violations of section 45-S of RBI Act, 1934) 4) Leading anti-superstition activist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar was shot down on 20 August, 2013 in Pune. He was founder of which organisation which was engaged in spreading the movement against anti-superstition in Maharashtra? Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (For the last decade, Dabholkar had been fighting for the passage of a legislation that would make certain exploitative and superstitious practices illegal) 5) What is the name of a bill, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 20 August, 2013 to replace the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) with a new regulator for Indias aviation sector? The Civil Aviation Authority of India Bill, 2013 (This bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Civil Aviation K.C. Venugopal. This bill seeks to provide full operational and financial autonomy to regulate all issues concerning civil aviation to the Civil Aviation Authority of India, which is the proposed new regulator for the sector) 6) What was the name of the MD and CEO of crisis-ridden National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL), who was sacked on 20 August, 2013 by NSEL Board? Anjani Sinha (He was sacked along-with six other top executives. The NSEL had to shut down its operation early this month following the government direction in the wake of violation of certain rules)

1) On 21 August, 2013 the social-networking giant Facebook announced joining hands with six other technology companies(Nokia, Samsung, Ericsson, Opera, MediaTek andQualcomm) to launch a new global initiative to make Internet access affordable for people across the globe. What is thename given to this initiative? Internet.org (The initiativeof these seven technology giants will seek to collaborate on developing lower-cost, higher-quality smartphones and deploying Internet access in underserved communities whohas no access to Internet. The move comes a few weeks after Internet search giant Google announced its ProjectLoon, a balloon-mounted Internet access service that is expected to help provide Internetaccess to rural and remote areas. The founding members of Internet.org will develop jointprojects, share knowledge, and mobilise industry and governments to bring the world online) 2) Nishi Vasudevas name came to news when she was selected by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) to head a Navratna category PSU and thus is on the way to become the first-ever woman to head a Navratna PSU. She is expected to take over as the Chairman and Managing Director of which PSU in March, 2014? Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd HPCL (PESB selected her name after interviewing seven other candidates for top post at HPCL. The PESBs recommendation will now go to the Petroleum & Natural Gas Ministry, which after getting the mandatory clearances, including those from Central Vigilance Commission and CBI will send it to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet for necessary clearance and approval) 3) Which private sector bank claimed to have opened its 500th branch during August, 2013? Yes Bank (Yes Bank, which is the fourth largest private sector bank of India, also claimed that it has achieved its presence in all 28 states and 7 union territories of the country) 4) On 21 August, 2013 Maruti Suzuki India launched a new car, which is based on the platform of companys highly popular Wagon-R model. What is the name of this newly launched car? Stingray (Stingray is powered by a 998 cc petrol engine and is available in the price range between Rs. 4.10 lakh and Rs. 4.67 lakh, ex-Delhi) 5) On 21 August, 2013 insurance regulator IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority) imposed a hefty fine of Rs. 3.1 crore on which private sector life insurance company? Bajaj Allianz (This fine was imposed for various violations including for rejecting certain earlydeath claims as un-concluded contract and entering into referral arrangements with entities that were not licensed to act as corporate agents or insurance intermediaries) 6) A full-fledged hospital ship belonging to Chinas Navy reached Chittagong, Bangladesh on 19 August, 2013 with an objective to provide free medical services to its people and conduct academic exchanges with the countrys military hospitals. What is the name of this medical ship, which is on its second visit to Bangladesh? Peace Ark (With this visit, Bangladesh became the only country among the eight Asian countries under its Mission Harmony, which was visited by the hospital ship twice) 7) 89-year old Robert Mugabe was sworn in as the President of Zimbabwe on 22 August, 2013. Mugabe won a landslide victory in the 31 July elections with 61% of the presidential votes. What is the name of his political party? Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) He was sworn in as President despite doubts regarding the legitimacy of his election win, which is opposed by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), countrys main opposition party. Mugabe has been in power since 1980 since he led Zimbabwe to its independence. This will be Mugabes fifth term as president since 1987. He will have a term of 5 years.

1) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 23 August, 2013announced imposition of a total of Rs. 6.50 crore monetarypenalty on six public sector banks for violation of rulesrelating to know your customer and anti-money laundering.Which 6 public sector banks are these? Allahabad Bank(Rs. 50 lakh), Bank of Maharashtra (Rs. 50.1 lakh),Corporation Bank (Rs. 1.50 crore), Dena Bank (Rs. 2 crore), IDBI Bank (Rs. 1 crore) and Indian Bank (Rs. 1crore) This penalty was imposed after the RBI carried outa scrutiny of books of accounts, internal controls, compliance systems and processes at thesebanks 2) Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry on 23 August, 2013 informed that 5 new Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs) in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode have been started from this academic session. Which are these 5 IIITs? Chittoor in Andhra, Kota in Rajasthan, Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, Guwahati in Assam and Vadodara in Gujarat (With this now there are a total of 9 IIITs in India. Other four IIITs are functioning at Allahabad, Jabalpur, Kota and Kancheepuram) 3) Who was appointed as the new Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of Vijaya Bank, as announced on 23 August, 2013? V Kannan (Kannan, who is currently an executive director at Oriental Bank of Commerce, is expected to assume charge of his new role from 1 January, 2014)
4) How many entities were declared as defaulters by beleaguered National Spot Exchnage Limited (NSEL) on 23 August, 2013 following the directions of the Forward Markets Commission (FMC)? Nine (Nine entities declared as defaulters by NSEL are ARK Imports, Loil Overseas Foods, Lotus Refineries, N.K. Proteins, NCS Sugars, Spin Cot Textiles, Tavishi Enterprises, Vimladevi Agrotech and Yathuri Associates. As per the FMC order, NSEL should auction stocks of these defaulters and also sell their realisable assets to recover dues. NSEL has to ensure that it settles Rs 5,574.31 crore to its investors who had taken positions in commodity contracts, spread over 30-weekly settlement cycles)
5) How many government hospital beds per person were available in India as on 1 January, 2013, according to the estimates disclosed by Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on 23 August, 2013 in the Lok Sabha? 879 (Best government hospital bed availability was recorded in Manipur, which was as high as 2 persons per government hospital bed whereas the worst was recorded in Bihar, which was as high as 7,846 persons per government bed) 6) Reliance Industries and its partner BP Plc. on 23 August, 2013 announced the discovery of a major deep-water gas condensate off the east coast. This discovery was made at which river basin Cauvery Basin (The discovery was made at the Block titled CY-DWN-201/2, which lies 62 kilometers from the east coast. Its oil flow has been estimated at about 1 million standard cubic meters per day)
7) Who will take over as the new Director of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) on 2 September, 2013? Prof. Ashish Nanda

1) As per information furnished by Insurance Regulatory andDevelopment Authority (IRDA), what was the life insurance penetrationrate in India in the year 2012? 3.17% (The penetration of life insurancesector in India has increased from 2.15% in 2001 to 3.17% in 2012 which is above that of Brazil, Russia, Malaysia, Pakistan, China, SriLanka, Australia, Germany but below France, Switzerland, UnitedKingdom, United States of America, Japan, Singapore, South Korea,Taiwan and Hong Kong. Insurance coverage in a country is generallymeasured by insurance penetration, which is the ratio of premiumunderwritten in a given year to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)) 2) Which state became the only state of India to have increased its forest cover in the past two decades, as announced recently by the state govt.? Sikkim (Sikkim Govt. announced that forest cover in the state has been increased to 47.34% in 2013 from 43.95% in 1993 and thus becoming the only state to do so. Sikkim is also the greenest state in the country. The forest cover based on interpretation of satellite data is 3,359 sq km which is 47.3% of state geographical area as compared to 21% of the national average) 3) Which bank of Andhra Pradesh came into news for having opened about 1.5 lakh no-frills accounts in eight districts on a single day as part of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme of the Union Govt.? Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank APGVB (The 638 branches of the bank together opened 72,122 accounts while the banks financial inclusion machinery under branch-less banking business correspondents model opened 75,320 no-frills accounts at 64 villages in Warangal district. These accounts, opened with zero balance and seeded with Aadhar Cards, will be uploaded on NPCI Mapper along with other banks to join Aadhar Payment Bridge to facilitate electronic fund transfer like subsidies, scholarships etc., from the government departments concerned) 4) How many Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) were recorded for the first seven months (Jan-July) of year 2013, as disclosed by Union Tourism Ministry in Lok Sabha on 23 August, 2013? 38,31,715 (There was an increase of 3.3% as compared with the corresponding months of last year. The Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism during this period stood at Rs.50,448 crores. These all, however, are provisional figures) 5) It was announced on 23 August, 2013 that the Chief Executive of software giant Microsoft Inc. will leave his post within 12 months, which drove-up the share price of Microsoft on the same day. Who is the Chief Executive of Microsoft, who featured in this announcement? Steve Ballmer (Ballmer took over the helm at the company when founder Bill Gates stepped down in 2000. He has drawn criticism from analysts in the last few years for failing to gain a toehold in the booming market for tablet computers and smartphones, which is now dominated by rivals Apple and Google) 6) Which IIM of the country recently launched a first-of-its-kind management development programme on Islamic Banking and Finance? IIM, Kashipur (This two-day management development programme is the first of such executive course to offer Islamic Banking and Finance and was for senior bureaucrats, officials of financial institutions, lawyers, academicians and bankers. Under the Islamic banking norms, depositors do not get interest on deposits, nor can the banks charge interest to its borrowers. Banks can invest the money, but keep off taboo areas of Islam like liquor, tobacco and gambling or speculation)

1) On 25 August, 2013 England lifted the Ashes Trophy for2013 by defeating Australia by 3-0 in the five test matchannual series. With this loss Australian captain Michael Clark became the first Australian skipper to Not being able towin a single match in the series (This was the first timethat Australia could not win a single match in the series. Ian Bell (England) and Ryan Harris (Australia) were jointlyawarded the Man of the Series Award) 2) The Uttar Pradesh Govt. on 25 August, 2013 foiled Vishwa Hindu Parishads (VHPs) plans to start its 84 Kosi Parikrama from Ayodhya by launching a massive crackdown and arrested hundreds of VHP leaders and saints including VHP head Ashok Singhal (the VHP head), Praveen Togadia and Ram Vilas Vedanti. What was the proposed total distance to be covered under this parikrama yatra of the VHP? 252 Km, which was to be covered in 20 days (The parikrama yatra was to pass through seven district of Uttar Pradesh Faizabad, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gonda, Balrampur, Bahraich and Shrawasti)
3) On 24 August, 2013 the Union Govt. approved the initiative for free supply of essential medicines to the patients availing treatments. How much budget outlay has been made available under this initiative, which comes under the 12th Five Year Plan? Rs. 16,000 crore (Govt. seeks to reduce the use of inessential drugs and ensure use of rational and necessary drugs under this initiative. This initiative is based on the model employed in Tamil Nadu, where free medicines are procured in bulk directly from the manufacturers and are supplied through an IT enabled management system to the public) 4) Which private sector steel manufacturer was recently adjudged as the best Performing Integrated Steel Plant in the country for the Prime Ministers Trophy for the year 2011-12? Tata Steel (This award was based on the recommendations made by a panel of judges that selected companies for the Prime Ministers Trophy awards for the year 2011-12. With this, Tata Steel has scored maximum marks in overall performance for the fourth consecutive year) 5) On 23 August 2013 the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the auction of two 48-days Government of India Cash Management Bills (CMBs). What is the primary benefit of issuing ICMBs? CMBs allow the RBI to meet the temporary cash flow mismatches of the Government of India (CMBs are flexible instruments for the RBI as they are issued at times of requirement. They allow the RBI to have lower cash balances and issue fewer long-term notes)
6) Who won the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix on 25 August, 2013? Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull (This was the fifth win for Germanys Vettel. Ferraris Fernando Alonso (Spain) was second whereas Mercedes Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain), who started the race from the pole position, claimed the third spot) 7) India won Asian Cricket Councils (ACCs) Emerging Team under-23 title in the final held on 25 August, 2013 at Singapore. India defeated which team in the finals? Pakistan (India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan by nine wickets with 98 balls to spare to win this title)

1) The Lok Sabha on 26 August, 2013 passed the ambitiousNational Food Security Bill, 2013 that seeks to provide highlysubsidised food grains to the poor. This bill proposes to legally entitle 67% of the population (including 75 per centrural and 50 per cent urban) to get subsidised grains underwhich category of food distribution system? Targeted Public Distribution System TPDS (TDPS was launchedin 1997 by the Govt. of India with focus on the poor. Under the TPDS, States are required to formulate and implement foolproof arrangements foridentification of the poor for delivery of food grains and for its distribution in a transparent and accountable manner. TPDS is operated under the joint responsibility of Central Government and State/Union Territory (UT) Governments. The Central Government is responsible for procurement, allocation and transportation of foodgrains upto the designated depots of the Food Corporation of India. The operational responsibilities for lifting and distributing the allocated foodgrains within the States/UTs, identification of eligible Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, issuance of ration cards to them and supervision over distribution of allocated foodgrains to eligible card holders through the fair price shops are that of the State/UT Governments)
2) Union Govt. on 26 August, 2013 extended the Monsoon Session of the Parliament upto which date in order to get more time to pass crucial bills like the Food Security Bill, Economic Reforms Bill and Land Acquisition Bill? 6 September, 2013
3) How many Additional Solicitors General (ASGs) were appointed in the Supreme Court on 26 August, 2013? Three (These three newly appointed ASGs are L. Nageswara Rao, Santosh Kumar Bagaria and K.V. Viswanathan and their tenure will be for three years. These three ASGs will be in addition to the existing ASGs and handle various cases assigned to them and would also assist the Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati and Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran)
4) A committee constituted by the Corporate Affairs Ministry to look into ways to improve the countrys overall business climate is ready to submit its report to the Union Govt. Who is heading this 25-member committee? M. Damodaran, Former SEBI Chairman
5) What is the name of the first vehicle rolled-out by luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz India from its Chakan plant near Pune in Maharashtra, which is the worlds first of this type to be manufactured out of the USA? GL-Class (The GL-Class luxury SUV was rolled out by Eberhard Kern, MD and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India. The Chakan plant is the only facility apart from Mercedes-Benzs SUV plant in Tuscaloosa, USA, to manufacture this SUV)
6) Following its 3-0 win in the recently concluded Ashes series, England claimed the no. 2 spot in the latest ICC Test Team Ranking chart. Which team was pushed to third spot by England? India (South Africa remained in the first position. Losing the Ashes 0-3, Australia moved down to fifth place, its lowest since August 2011. Pakistan was at fourth spot in this list)

1) How many loss incurring Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) were in operation as on 31 March,2012 as disclosed by the Govt. during August, 2013? Sixty three (As on 31 March, 2012 a total of 225 CPSEs were inoperation. Out of these161 CPSEs made profit, 63 incurredlosses and one CPSE made no profit/ loss) 2) Union Govt. has decided to a Task Force on CurrencySwap Arrangements/Agreements on view of the risingtrade deficit and consequent current account deficit. Who will head this Task Force? - Additional Secretary, Trade Policy Division, Department of Commerce (The main objective of this task force will be to examine various types of currency swap agreements/arrangements and their implication for Indias trade and financial system. It will also study the pros and cons of Currency Swap Agreement/Arrangement for Indias trade) 3) On 26 August, 2013 the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) set rigid datelines to clear the bottlenecks hampering private projects in the country. The Prime Minister led CCI cleared stalled projects worth how much investment on this day? Rs. 85,141 crore (The CCI reviewed 36 infrastructure projects with a total investment of Rs 1.83 lakh crore and set deadlines for projects with an envisaged investment of Rs 85,141 crore. This includes projects like Sasan Power (Madhya Pradesh), L&T Metro Rail, Hindalco Industries (Odisha), Jaiprakash Power Ventures (Madhya Pradesh), GMR Kishangarg Expressway, JAS Infra and Power (Jharkhand), Utkal Alumina (Odisha), Athena Chhattisgarh Power(Chhattisgarh), and Essar Powers Tori-I power plant (Jharkhand)) 4) Who is heading the seven-member Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC), which was constituted by the Union Govt. on 26 August, 2013 to have a comprehensive review of existing tax laws and suggest a stable tax administration? Parthasarathy Shome (Apart from Shome, the commission will have Y G Parande and Sunita Kaila as full-time members while M K Zutshi, S S N Moorthy, M R Diwakar and S Mahalingam will be part-time members. TARCs tenure will be of 18-months. Setting-up of this commission was announced by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in the Union Budget 2013-14 with an objective of reviewing the application of tax policies and tax laws) 5) The Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010 was passed by the Rajya Sabha by voice vote on 26 August, 2013. This new bill provides a provision to restrict the grant of decree of divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage if the court is satisfied that adequate provision for the maintenance of children born out of the marriage has not been made consistently with the financial capacities of the parents. Which two laws associated with marriage are sought to be amended by this bill? The Special Marriages Act, 1954 and the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 6) Worlds first zinc-enriched rice variety, which is reportedly capable of fighting diarrhoea and pneumonia-induced childhood deaths and stunted growth, was released on 25 August, 2013. This rice variety was developed in which country? Bangladesh (Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) developed this rice variety, which is countrys first biologically fortified rice variety and which will be made available to farmers for cultivation from next year. BRRIs Dr. Alamgir Hossain led the research team for this rice variety) 7) What is the name of a new typhoid vaccine launched by Bharat Biotech International Ltd on 26 August 2013, which provides longer immunity and efficacy against typhoid? - Typbar TCV

1) The Indian Rupee fell sharply on 28 August, 2013 to hit a recordlow of 68.80 to the dollar. This was its biggest single-day percentage fall since how many years? 18 years (This was the largest single-day percentage fall of the Indian Rupee sinceOctober 1995. The partially convertible rupee closed at 68.80 perdollar, compared to its close of 66.24 on 27 August. The unit also posted its biggest fall in absolute terms ever, dropping 256 basispoints on the day) 2) Infosys highest-paid Indian executive recently resigned from hispost to continue a series of highlevel resignations at the company. What is the name of thisexecutive who was the head of the companys operations in the Americas and also the global head of manufacturing and engineering services? Ashok Vemuri (Vemuri was widely considered to be a strong contender for the position of CEO after current head S.D Shibulalsteps down in 2015. Vemuris resignation came days after Infosys Senior Vice President Sudhir Chaturvedi put in his papers, and a month after Global Sales Head Basab Pradhan quit thecompany) 3) Indian Railways recently announced that in its commitment to provide hygienic environment to passengers, it is presently running 1400 coaches with 3800 bio-toilets in various trains. This environment friendly, low cost and robust technology has been developed jointly by Indian Railways and Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) for railway passenger coaches and is the first of its kind in railway systems in the world. Which was the first train to have bio-toilet installed in it during January, 2011? Gwalior-Varanasi Bundelkhand Express (These bio-toilets are fitted below the coach floor underneath the lavatories and the human waste discharged into them is acted upon by a colony of anaerobic bacteria that convert human waste mainly into water and small amount of gases (methane and CO2))
4) The first ever sedan-size hybrid car to be manufactured in India was launched on 28 August, 2013. This hybrid car was launched by which company? Toyota (Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), which is Toyotas Indian joint venture with the Kirloskar group, launched the all new Camry Hybrid. With this launch, globally India became the 9th country to manufacture Toyota hybrid vehicles. Toyotas first sedan-sized hybrid car in India was Prius but it was a completely imported car)
5) Name of which pro-Syrian govt. group came to highlight for allegedly hacking the website of The New York Times on 27 August, 2013? Syrian Electronic Army (Website of The New York Times crashed for second time in a month on 27 August. A Twitter account for the Syrian Electronic Army claimed it was responsible and said it was the source of a similar attack on Huffington Post UK and Twitter. The Syrian Electronic Army has accused Western media of false reporting about the civil war in Syria. Typically when the hackers take control of a website, they use the opportunity to disseminate messages supporting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad)

1) What is the name of Indias first defence satellite which was launched on 30 August, 2013 (IST) from Kourouspaceport in French Guiana? GSAT-7 (This satellite was successfully launched by European space consortium Arianespaces Ariane 5 rocket. Indian Navy would be theuser of this multi-band home-built communication satellite, expected to be operational by September end)
2) In view of continuous decline in the value of Indian Rupee,what step was taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for helping three state-owned oil marketing companies (IOC, HPCL and BPCL) who require a largeamount of foreign exchange for meeting their import bills? A special window was opened for meeting their daily foreign exchange requirement (This special window will provide forexswap facility to these 3 companies which require $8-8.5 billion every month for the import of anaverage 7.5 million tonnes of crude oil. The RBI decision is aimed at curbing volatility in the forex market. Under the swap facility the RBI will sell/buy USD-INR forex swaps for fixed tenor withthe oil marketing companies through a designated bank)
3) In a major achievement for the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the alleged co-founder of Indian Mujahideen (IM) was arrested on 28 August, 2013 by the NIA and Bihar Police team from Bihar-Nepal border. What is name of this terrorist who is the key accused in several terror attacks, including Pune German Bakery blast, Hyderabad and Mumbai blasts? Yasin Bhatkal (His name first cropped up in 2008, after the arrest of IM operatives from Pune and Mangalore)
4) In an effort to boost forex inflows, the Finance Ministry has worked out a strategy for as many as 10 public sector entities to tap Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) to raise at least Rs 15,000 crore in foreign currency. This will be part of a tax-free bond issue. Which 10 public sector entities are these? NHB, IIFCL, Indian Railway Finance Corporation, HUDCO, Rural Electrification Corporation, Power Finance Corporation, National Highway Authority of India, NTPC, NHPC and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (This is the first time that such funds have been allowed to be part of a tax-free bond issue. SWFs are normally state-owned, with funds collected from budget and trade surpluses. The money is normally invested in real and financial assets at home and abroad. Oil-rich West Asian nations own many of the worlds largest SWFs. A tax-free bond is an instrument where investors do not have to pay tax on interest. Such an instrument is normally a long-term one, and the money raised is deployed in long-term infrastructure projects)
5) On 27 August, 2013 who was awarded the first Mahathir Award for Global Peace named after the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir bin Mohamad? Nelsen Mandela, the former President of South Africa (Award on his behalf was collected by South African President Jacob Zuma as Mandela is in a critical condition in a hospital in Pretoria. The Mahathir Award for Global Peace will be given annually to recognise those who have made considerable efforts in promoting peace)
6) Which mutual fund company recently launched an auto premium payment system in collaboration with Life Insurance Corporation to enable its mutual fund investors to pay their insurance premium? LIC Nomura Mutual Fund (Under the scheme, mutual fund investors will have a facility of paying their premium on time without any hassles. Through the facility, the premium amount of the investor on due date will be remitted to LIC by LIC Nomura Mutual Fund, out of the investors fund. No additional charge will be levied for availing this facility)
7) Union Minister for HRD Dr. M.M. Pallam Raju on 29 August, 2013 launched the Anthem for Right to Education (RTE). Main objective of the RTE Anthem is to generate constructive awareness among the community and stakeholders for the implementation of RTE. Who is the writer of this anthem? Javed Akhtar (It has been sung by Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan. National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) supported the HRD Ministry in creating the Anthem, which depicts child-centered principles and entitlements and its video version has been shot in government schools. The anthem begins with opening lines tan, tan, tan, sunoghanti baji school ki, chalo school tumko pukare )
8) Which two new members were appointed to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the 2G scam on 29 August, 2013 by the Union Govt., a move which was opposed by the BJP? P. Bhattacharya and Ashok S. Ganguly (Bhattacharya is a member of the Congress whereas Ganguly is a nominated member of the Upper House. BJP opposed this move as this would affect the balance in the panel. Two vacancies in this JPC were created after the retirement of Tiruchi Siva (DMK) and the resignation of E. M. S. Natchiappan (Congress) after becoming a Minister. There are 10 members from the Rajya Sabha in the 30-member joint panel)
9) Union Govt. is very soon going to sell 100% of its stake in 6 airports of the country to private parties. Which 6 airports are these? Chennai, Lucknow, Jodhpur, Guwahati, Ahmedabad and Kolkata (The Civil Aviation Ministry will issue a Request For Qualification (RFQ) document in a few days for Chennai and Lucknow airports. The RFQ for the other four Jodhpur, Guwahati, Ahmedabad and Kolkata would be issued in the next few weeks)

1) The long-pending Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation andResettlement Bill, 2012 was passed by the Lok Sabha on 29August, 2013. This bill proposes to replace a century-old land acquisition law which was enacted in the British era in which year? 1894 2) What are the important features of the Land Acquisition,Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2012 that was passed bythe Lok Sabha on 29 August, 2013? The bill proposes that land cannot be acquired for any private projects unless they fall in the following categories: infrastructure projects, industrial corridors, mining, investment and manufacturing zones, sports, healthcare, transport projects, and space programme The bill proposes that farmers and landowners be paid up to four times the market value for land acquired in rural areas, and two times the market value in urban areas The consent of 80% of land owners is needed for acquiring land for private projects and of 70% landowners for public-private projectsThe Bill only sets a bottom line for fair compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement inthe case of land acquisition and State governments are free to further improve upon it 3) The Chinese and Pakistani air forces will hold a joint-drill in Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region bordering Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) during September, 2013. What is the code name assigned to this joint drill? Shaheen -II (The drill between the two close allies is being held ahead of an India-China military exercise planned for November 2013.The exercise, codenamed Hand-in-Hand, is scheduled to be held in Chinas Chengdu Military Command area from November 4 to 14 2013) 4) It was recently reported in some sections of media that a 1,750 MW nuclear power plant is being established, which will be the largest nuclear power plant in the world till date. This plant is reportedly being established in which country? China (Taishan Nuclear Power Plant in Guangdong Province of China is reportedly being sent a 1,750 MW generator by the State-run Sichuan Province-based Dongfang Electrical Machinery Company Ltd. The Taishan nuclear power plant is a joint venture of China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Company Ltd and Electricite de France) 5) During 2011-12, which state replaced Maharashtra to become the state with the largest number of HIV patients in India? Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh had 5 lakh of the 24 lakh HIV positive patients in the country during 2011-12. Andhra Pradesh is followed by Maharashtra (4.19 lakh), Karnataka (2.45 lakh), West Bengal (1.67 lakh), Tamil Nadu (1.54 lakh), Gujarat (1.36 lakh) and Uttar Pradesh (1.09 lakh) while the remaining states together account for 6.66 lakh HIV patients in the country. Earlier in 2010-11 Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were in the first three places but AP leapt to the top spot in 2011-12) 6) The finals of the first edition of Indian Badminton League (IBL) will be played between which two franchisee teams of IBL? Hyderabad Hotshots and Awadhe Warriors (Hyderabad Hotshots led by Saina Nehwal defeated Pune Pistons 3-0 in the first semifinal at Hyderabad on 28 August, 2013 while P.V Sindhu-led Awadhe Warriors defeated Mumbai Masters on 29 August at Bangalore. The finals will be played at NSCIs newly built air-conditioned indoor stadium in Mumbai on 31 August, 2013) 7) The population of which BRICS nation crossed 200 million mark recently? Brazil (According to a population estimate released on 29 August, 2013 the population of Brazil for the first time crossed the threshold of 200 million. The population of the country was 201,032,714 in July, the Brazilian Institute of State Geography (IBGE) declared in a news release)

1) Raghunath Panigrahi, who passed away during August, 2013, was associated with which field? Classical Singing (79-year old Panigrahi was a doyen of Indian classical singing and was one of the very few singers who sang classical songs in languages as diverse as Oriya, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. Raghunath Panigrahi was best known for his own style of interpreting the Sanskrit epic poem Gita Govinda, composed by the 12th-century poet Jayadeva. Sanyukta Panigrahi, the renowned Odissi dancer who passed away in 1997, was his wife) 2) Who was selected as the next Chairman & Managing Director of PSU major ONGC by Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) as announced on 30 August, 2013? D.K. Sarraf (Sarraf is presently the Managing Director of ONGC Videsh Ltd. Sarrafs name was recommended by PESB after conducting interviews of four candidates for the post. Sudhir Vasudeva, the current Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC, is due to retire on 28 February, 2014. PESBs recommendation is due to be cleared by Ministry for Petroleum & Natural Gas and other concerned authorities. ONGC is the largest oil and gas producer in the country)
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