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CURRENT AFFAIRS-FEBRUARY-2010
1. Name of the world’s cheapest car launched by Tata Motors in Mumbai?
Nano

2. Music wizard A.R.Rahman won Oscars for which categories?

Best Original Score and Best Original Song (Jai Ho) for the film “Slum dog Millionaire”.

3. Which documentary won the Oscar award for best Documentary (Short)?
Smile Pinki, directed by Megan Mylan depicts the tale of an Uttarpradesh girl and her fight against the social
stigma of a cleft lip.

4. The West Indian Umpire who has officiated in a record 126 tests and 179 ODIs who decided to retire recently
from International matches?
Steve Bucknor

5. The Indian sound engineer who won Oscar for his brilliant sound mixing works of the film “Slum dog
Millionaire”
Resul Pookutty

6. The new Chief Justice of Madras High Court ?

Hemant Laxman Gokhale

7. The telecom sector which started third Generation (3G) mobile services recently in 11 cities of India?
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL)

8. Sri Lankan batsmen who smashed double hundreds during world record stand of 437 for the fourth wicket
partnership against Pakistan?
Mahela Jayawardhane (240) and Thilan Samaraweera(231)

9. Who won the Miss India Worldwide 2009 title ?

Nikkitasha Marhawa, Indian-American from Chicago clinch the 18th Miss India World wide 2009 title.

10. The new money back plan launched by Life Insurance Corporation (LIC)in February 16 ?
Jeevan Varsha

11. Who was named Jamaica’s Sportsman of the year for 2008 ?
Triple Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt.

12. The teenager who acted as the main character of “slum dog millionaire ” ?
Dev Patel

13. Which novel has been chosen as the Romantic Novel of the year 2009?
“East of the Sun” set in 1920s by Welsh author Julia Gregson

14. Britan’s Royal Mail issued a set of stamps on February-12 to mark the 200th Anniversary of the birth of a
famous Scientist? Who is he ?
Charles Darwin

15. Who is appointed as coach/manager of Chelsea, the premier league club ?

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Guus Hiddink, Russian coach

16. Recently the IPL Drug Tribunal has imposed a 12-month ban on a Pakistani Cricket player for consuming a
banned substance, Nandralone during the inaugural season of Indian Premiere League. Who is he?
Muhammed Asif

17. The new Prime Minister of Zimbabwe ?

Morgan Tsvangirai

18. Newly elected President of Bangladesh ?

Zillur Rahman

19. Noted Hindustani Classical Vocalist who was presented with Bharath Ratna, country’s highest civilian award ?
Bhim Sen Joshi

20. "”Slumdog Millionire “ got how many BAFTA awards (British Academy of film and Television Arts)
7 awards including Best Director, Best Film…etc
A.R.Rahman won the BAFTA award for the music of this film.

21. Name of India’s Second humanoid robot which was formally unveiled during Quark-2009, the technical festival
at Goa?
Acyut-2

22. Name the Indian who awarded a honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Cambridge, where he
served as the Master of Trinity College for six years.
Amartya Sen

23. Who was named African Footballer of the Year 2008?

Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor

24. Name the Union Minister for Small Scale Industries in the UPA government who was on charged in a murder
case recently ?
Mahavir Prasad

25. The two ships, commissioned by the Indian Navy on 16 February 2009, at Chennai, which are the first two in a
series of ten water jet Fast Attack Craft (FAC) being built at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, GRSE,
Kolkata ?.
INS Carnicobar and INS Chetlat

26. Name the 13-YEAR-OLD boy who has become a father in Britain, his wife is just 15.
Alfie Patten. His girlfriend Chantelle Steadman gave birth to Maisie Roxanne in Eastbourne Hospital, East Sussex

27. 17th Dulip Trophy Cricket title is won by?

West Zone

28. Which Indian player won BCCI Payer of the year Award?
Virender Sehwag (The award is also known as Polly Umrigar Award)

29. The Indian Musician among the four international musicians to be awarded Grammy for their ‘Global Drum’
project. ?
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Zakir Hussain, along with musicians Mickey Hart, Sikiru Adepoju and Giovanni Hidalgo, has been awarded the
coveted gramophone for ‘The Global Drum’ in the Best Contemporary World Music Album category.

30. Which players were named joint winners of the Allan Border medal of 2008?
Ricky Ponting and Michael Clark

31. Who won the Australian Open junior title ?

Yuki Bhambri. He becomes the first Indian to win the Australian Open junior title. He outplayed his German
opponent Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas to win the Junior Boys title in the Australian Open.

32. Who won the Australian Open women singles title of this year ?
Serena Williams

33. Who won the Man of the Match award in the two 20-20 Cricket matches between India and New Zealand?
Brendon McCullum

34. Who won Rotterdam Open title after beating world number one Rafael Nadal?
Andy Murray of Britain

35. World Cup Cricket 2011 final will be held in which venue ?
Wankade Stadium, Mumbai.

36. Japan'
s Finance Minister who has resigned, amid claims that he was drunk at a recent G7 meeting?
Shoichi Nakagawa

81ST OSCAR AWARDS- ALL RESULTS

1. ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

Penelope Cruz (VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA)

2. WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREEN PLAY)

Dustin Lance Black (MILK)

3. WRITING (ADAPTED SCREEN PLAY)

Simon Beaufoy (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE)

4. ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Andrew Stanton (WALL-E)

5. SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

Kunio Kato( LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES)

6. ART DIRECTION
Donald Graham Burt (Art Direction); Victor J. Zolfo (Set Decoration) (THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN
BUTTON)

7. COSTUME DESIGN
Michael O'
Connor (THE DUCHESS)

8. MAKE UP
Greg Cannom (THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON)
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9. CINEMATOGRAPHY
Anthony Dod Mantle (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE)

10. SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

Jochen Alexander Freydank (SPIELZEUGLAND (TOYLAND)
11. ACTOR IN SUPPORTING ROLE
Heath Ledger (THE DARK KNIGHT)

12. DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

James Marsh and Simon Chinn (MAN ON WIRE)

13. DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Megan Mylan (SMILE PINKI)

14. VISUAL EFFECTS:

Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron (THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON)

15. SOUND EDITING

Richard King (THE DARK KNIGHT)

16. SOUND MIXING

Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE)

17. FILM EDITING

Chris Dickens ((SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE)

18. BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

DEPARTURES – Japan

19. BEST FEATURE FILM.

SLUM DOG MILLIONAIRE

20. BEST DIRECTOR

Danny Boyle (SLUM DOG MILLIONAIRE)

21. BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Sean Penn (MILK)

22. BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Kate Winslet (THE READER)

23. JEAN HERSHOLT HUMANITARIAN AWARD (SPECIAL HONOR)

Jerry Lewis (Comedic film and humanitarian work)

24. BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Smile Pinki –( Director-Megan Mylan )

25. BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman (music), Gulzar (lyrics)
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26. BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
A. R. Rahman (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE )

CURRENT AFFAIRS JANUARY 2010

(1) Who became the first Indian woman to ski to the South Pole?
Reena Kaushal.
She made the historic ski-run as part of an eight-woman Commonwealth team that crossed a 900 km Antarctic ice
trek to reach the South Pole to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Commonwealth.

2. Delhi Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna recently gave the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) the go-ahead to
prosecute a former Congress M.P in murder and communal rioting cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh carnage.
Name of that Former parliamentarian?
Sajjan Kumar
He is accused of instigating mobs that went on the rampage killing Sikhs across Delhi in 1984 in the wake of the
assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.

3. A 103 feet high Christmas star designed by Kerala based firm has been adjudged the “world’s largest Christmas
ornamental star” by the Guinness Book of World Records.
Name of that firm?
'
Apple A Day'properties.

4. The scientist of Indian origin who has been given Canada'

s highest civilian award - the Order of Canada
recently?
Shrawan Kumar
He was honoured for his three decades of pioneering research on workplace injury and the spine at the University
of Alberta.

5. British hostage who has been released alive after more than two-and-a-half years in captivity in Iraq by Islamic
Shia Resistance, a terrorist organization?
Peter Moore
He was an IT consultant from Lincoln, who was captured in Baghdad in May 2007. Four bodyguards were seized
with Mr. Moore. Three were shot dead; the fourth is also thought to have been killed.

6. South Korean steel major which has got final clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests recently
for acquiring forest land in Orissa for its $12 billion steel plant project?
POSCO
POSCO signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Orissa in June 2005 for the 12 million-tone-capacity
steel plant to be built in three phases by 2016, with production scheduled to begin by the end of 2011 at the
completion of the first phase.

7. The 97th Indian Science Congress is held at?

University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, from January 3 to 7, 2010. This is the first time that the Indian Science
Congress is being held at Thiruvananthapuram.

8. Who was named as the Player of the Decade by Goal.com?

Bhaichung Bhutia

9. Legendary Wildlife conservationist and author who passed away on 1 January 2010, at his home '
Tiger Haven'in
the vicinity of the famous Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh at the age of 92.?
Billy Arjan Singh
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Singh, regarded as the godfather of the "Save the Tiger" campaign in India was instrumental in establishing the
Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in 1988.He was decorated with several national and international awards including Padma
Shri in 1995 and Padma Bhusan in 2006 and J Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Award. The Uttar Pradesh
government had also conferred the Yash Bharti award on him.

10. Who has been named as chairman of International Pepper Community (IPC) for 2009 – 2010?
V.J. Kurian, Chairman of Spices Board, Ministry of Commerce of the Government of India took over from Mr.
Odilson Luiz Ribeiro e Silva as Chairman of IPC at the 37th Session of IPC on 3rd December 2009.

11. The alleged drug lord who was arrested by Mexican police, two weeks after his even more powerful brother
was killed in a shootout with troops?
Carlos Beltran Leyva
Two weeks ago, his brother Arturo, reputed chief of the Beltran Leyva cartel, was killed in a shootout with Mexican
marines in the central city of Cuernavaca.

12. Which team won their sixth Federation Cup title with a 3-0 triumph over Lajong via penalties in an evenly
contested final?
East Bengal.

13. Name of the tallest man-made structure ever built which officially opened on 4 January 2010?
Burj Khalifa.
Burj Khalifa formerly known as Burj Dubai is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Construction began on
21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009. Total cost for the Burj Khalifa
project was about US$1.5 billion.
Height:
Antenna or spire: 828m (2,717 ft).
Floor Count: 160 habitable floors plus 46 maintenance levels in the spire and 2 parking levels in the basement.
Floor area: 464,511 m2 (5,000,000 sq ft)

14. Who is appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT),
Kerala?
Ramachandran Thekkedath.
He is presently working in the Technology Commercialisation office of the University of Utah at Salt Lake city in
the US.

15. The well known Indian expatriate businessman from Abu Dhabi who has purchased the entire 100th floor of
Burj Dubai, the world' s tallest tower?
B R Shetty. He is the founder and managing director of the New Medical Centre (NMC) group of hospitals.

16. The country which officially removed a 22 year old entry ban on foreigners living with HIV/Aids recently?
United States of America (USA).
The change came following a US decision in November, removing HIV infection from the definition of
communicable disease of public health significance.

17. Which country recently issued an orange alert for heavy fog and snowstorm?
China.

18. Winners of “Man of the match award” in the Tri nation ODI series (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh).
Ist ODI held at Dhaka between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on Jan 4, 2010: Tilakaratne Dilshan (104 runs). Lanka
beat Bangladesh by 7 wickets.
2nd ODI held at Dhaka between India and Sri Lanka on Jan 5, 2010: Thilan Samaraweera, (105 not out off 106
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balls). Lanka won the match by 5 wickets.
3rd ODI held at Dhaka between India and Bangladesh on Jan 7, 2010: M.S.Dhoni, (101 not out off 107 balls). India
won the match by 6 wickets.
4th ODI held at Dhaka between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on Jan 8, 2010: Upul Tharanga, ((118 not out)). Lanka
won the match by 9 wickets.
5th ODI held at Dhaka between India and Sri Lanka on Jan 10, 2010: Zaheer Khan, (3wickets for 38 runs). India
won the match by 8 wickets.
6th ODI held at Dhaka between India and Bangladesh on Jan 11, 2010: Virat Kohli, (102 not out off 95 balls). India
won the match by 6 wickets.
7th ODI(Final of the Tri Nation series) held at Dhaka between India and Sri Lanka on Jan 13, 2010: Nuvan
Kulasekhara, (4 wickets for 48 runs). Sri Lanka won the match by 4 wickets.

19. Who won the man of the series award in the Tri nation Tournament (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh) held in
Dhaka, Bangladesh?
Kumar Sangakkara

20. Name of the new party formed by the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh on his birthday(05-01-
2010)?
Jan Kranti Party

21. Who won the man of the match award in the second test between Australia and Pakistan played at the Sidney
Cricket Ground?
Michael Hussey (Australia). Australia won by 36 runs.

22. India's first '

Eclipse Cruise'which left from Kochi port, with about 750 ' astro tourists'to view the longest
annular solar eclipse of the third millennium from Male in Maldives on January 15. Which cruise ship is used for
this eclipse cruise?
MV Aquamarine.
MV Aquamarine is a cruise ship owned and operated by Louis Cruise Lines is the fifth largest cruise operator in the
world and the first international cruise line to operate from India.A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship
used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship' s amenities are part of the experience.

23. A member of the victorious US 4x400m women’s relay squad at the 2004 Athens Olympics is suspended for
four years and all her competitive results since 2001 were disqualified because she used banned anabolic agents and
hormones between 2001 and 2004, according to U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Name of that American
sprinter?
Crystal Cox

24. Name of the only official survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings at the end of World
War II, died on 6th January in Nagasaki, Japan at the age of 93?
Tsutomu Yamaguchi

25. Who has been appointed as Finance Minister of Japan, replacing Hirohisa Fujii who will step down for health
related reasons?
Naoto Kan. He is the deputy prime minister of Japan.

26. A 7.2-magnitude earthquake triggered landslides and a tsunami that struck a country on January 4, 2010,
leaving more than 1,000 people homeless. Name of that country?
Solomon Islands.
Solomon Islands is a country in Melanesia, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands.
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27. Scientists of which country are developing an electronic device (e-dog) that will sniff out explosives like RDX
which remain undetected by existing security equipments?
India.

28. PRAVASI BHARATIYA SAMMAN AWARDEES (PBSA)-2010

1 Mr. Mohinder Singh Bhullar Brunei( Darussalam)
2 Mr. Yanktesh Permal Reddy (Fiji)
3 Mr. Ryuko Hira (Japan)
4 (Mrs) Dr. Ruby Umesh Pawankar (Japan)
5 Mr. Suresh Kumar Virmani (Oman)
6 Mr. Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan (South Africa)
7 Dr. Tholisiah Perumal Naidoo (South Africa)
8 Dr. Rajni Kanabar (Tanzania)
9 Mr. Deepak Mittal (Thailand)
10 Dr. Lenny Krishendath Saith (Trinidad & Tobago)
11 Dr. Azad Moopen (U.A.E)
12 Mr. Mani Lal Bhaumik (U.S.A)
13.Mr. Ashok Kumar Mago (U.S.A)
14 Mr. Upendra J. Chivukula (U.S.A)
The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman is an award constituted by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in conjunction
with the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, to honor exceptional and meritorious contribution in their chosen field/profession.
The award is given by the President of India.

29. Who has been nominated as the Chairman from India of Asian Print Congress?
R.Suresh. He is the Chief Executive of S.T.Reddiar & Sons.

30. Which country limited United States military presence in their country recently?
Yemen.
Yemen warns US military intervention, however welcomes U.S. and foreign troops for training, intelligence and
logistical support.

31. Which Russian Website suggested a Conspiracy theory for YSR’s Death which involving Ambani brothers?
http://exiledonline.com.
The Russian website is a magazine which is run by Mark Ames, a journalist and a writer, Ames published an article
titled ‘Enemy of Larry Summers Ex-boss Dies in Mysterious Helicopter Crash’. The article, which was published
on December 31, 2009, unveils a conspiracy against YSR engineered by the loyal partners of Ambani brothers.

32. Which country recently formulated a strict new law under which women who wear full-length veils (burqa) in
public places will have to pay a fine of over 750 Euro?
France.
Muslim women who wear the full Islamic veil in France will face a possible 750 euros fine, according to a draft bill
unveiled by the leader of the parliamentary majority.

33. Who have been selected for Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak for their "conspicuous courage in saving life under
circumstances of very great danger to the life of the rescuer"?
Rukhsana Kosser
Narender Kaushik (posthumously)
Rukhsana, a Jammu girl who braved the bullets of Lashkar-e-Taiba militants and killed one of them to save her
family.
Narender Kaushik, a resident of Delhi who died while saving people trapped in a fire on March 13 last year.
Jeevan Raksha Padak series of awards are given to a person for meritorious act of human nature in saving the life of
 9
a person. The award is given in three categories - Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak
and Jeevan Raksha Padak.
Names of the seven persons who won the Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak Award:
Syed Areef Sujauddin (Andhra Pradesh) (posthumously)
Umman Antony (Kerala) (posthumously)
Rajan Kamble (Maharashtra)( posthumously)
Mushtaq Ahmed and Ajaz Ahmed (Jammu and Kashmir)
Karambir Singh Kang (Maharashtra)
Prachi Santosh Sen (Madhya Pradesh)
Jeevan Raksha Padak award is given to 44 persons.

34. Australia has recently condemned as "deeply offensive" an Indian newspaper cartoon depicting the police as
members of the racist Ku Klux Klan over their investigations into the murder of a young Indian man in Australia.
Which newspaper published that cartoon?
Mail Today, Delhi based news paper.

cartoon appeared in the 5 January edition of Delhi'

s Mail Today

35. Which country took over the mantle of the world' s top merchandise exporter from Germany in 2009, according
to the latest figures, aided by a global economic crisis that has taken a greater toll on other trading powers?
China

36. Which Central Minister’s recent remarks on Pandit Nehru' s foreign policy became controversial?
Shashi Tharoor.
He said that while Nehru' s foreign policy had taken India to a new level in the international arena, he agreed with
criticism that it amounted to a "moralistic running commentary on other countries'behaviour. Later he blamed the
media for his "misreported" remarks on the former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru' s foreign policy.

37. Who won the Brisbane International Tennis title beating Justine Henin in the final?
Kim Clijsters

38. Which country has become the world's third-largest economy, surpassing Germany and closing rapidly on
Japan, according to government and World Bank figures?
China

39. Who has been appointed as the new bowling coach of India?
Eric Simons, former South African fast bowler.

40. Recipients of the 16th Annual Star Screen Awards : The film “3 Idiots won 8 awards and film “Paa” won five
awards.
Best Actor: Amitabh Bachchan (Paa)
Best Actress: Vidya Balan (Paa)
Best Director: Rajkumar Hirani (3 Idiots)
Best Music Director – A R Rahman ( Delhi 6 )
Best Film: 3 Idiots
Lifetime Achievement Award: Javed Akhtar
Best Screenplay – Abhijat Joshi, Raju Hirani (3 Idiots)
Best Story – Imtiaz Ali ( Love Aaj Kal)
Best Dialogues – AbhijatJoshi, Raju hirani (3 Idiots)
Best Lyricist – Irshad Kamil For Choor Bazari ( Love Aaj Kal)
Best Playback Singer ( Female ) – Kavita Seth For Ore Manva ( Wake up Sid )
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Best Playback Singer (Male ) Rahat Fateh Ali Khan For Aaj Din Chaya ( Love Aaj Kal)
Best Cinematographer – Rajiv Ravi ( Dev D)
Best Choreographer – Bosco Ceaser (3 Idiots)
Best Entertainer of the year: Katrina Kaif
Best Editing Results – Raju Hirani (3 Idiots)
Best Special Effects – Aladin
Best Action – Vijayan (Wanted )
Best Child Artist – Pratik Katari ( Paa)
Best Cast- Luck By Chance
Best Jodi of the decade: Shahrukh Khan and Kajol
Ramnath Goenka memorial award: Nandita Das for ‘Firaaq’
Most Promising Newcomer (Female) Mahi Gill (Dev D)
Most Promising Newcomer (Male): Omi Vaidya (Aka Silencer) ( 3 Idiots )
Most Promising Debutante Director: Nandita Das (Firaaq)
Best Supporting Actress: Arundhati Nag (Paa)
Best Supporting Actor: Rishi Kapoor (Love Aaj Kal)
Star plus jodi award: Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan
Best Actor in a negative role:Boman Irani (3 Idiots)
Best Actress Most Popular Category- Kareena Kapoor ( 3 Idiots )
Best Actor for Most Popular Category: Shahid Kapoor (Kaminey)
Best Actor in a comic role: Omi Vaidya (3 Idiots)

41. Which player won the ATP Chennai Open titles with his first-ever win over Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland
in the final?
Marin Cilic of Croatia.
The second-seeded Cilic became the first player after Spanish veteran Carlos Moya'
s victories in 2004 and 2005 to
win back-to-back crowns in South Asia's only ATP event.

42. Who won Qatar Open Tennis title beating Rafael Nadal of Spain in the final held in Doha?
Nikolay Davydenko(Russia)
He defeated Rafael Nadal of Spain 0-6, 7-6 (8) and 6-4 to win the Qatar Open tennis tournament.

43. Who has been selected for this year’s Prof. S. Guptan Nair Puraskaram. an award which is instituted for
exceptional teachers who make significant contributions to the cultural scene?
B. Hridayakumari

44. Who won the men' s and women' s title in the 74th Senior National Badminton Championship at Karmavir Nabin
Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Complex in Guwahati?
Chetan Anand(Men’s title)
Trupti Murgunde(women' s title)
Men’s doubles title was won by Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas while the pair of Ashwini Ponnapa and Jwala
Gutta bagged the women' s doubles.

45. Which High court of India will uphold its bench order that includes the office of the Chief Justice of India
within the scope of the Right to Information (RTI) Act and requires judges to declare their assets?
The Delhi High Court

46. Name of the leading Iranian nuclear scientist, who has been killed in a bomb blast in Tehran?
Massoud Ali-Mohammadi

47. The French film maker who was one of the main figures of the post-war New Wave cinema movement passed
 11
away recently in Paris at the age of 89?
Eric Rohmer
He was the director of the critically acclaimed “Tales of Four Seasons” His main works include the cycle of films
Six Moral Tales. The third, My Night at Maud' s, released in 1969, brought him international recognition.

48. Name of Indian-origin man and his two accomplices who have been given long jail sentences for their
involvement in a 33 million pounds drug deal which is considered to be UK'
s largest ever heroin seizure.?
Harminder Chana, 32, was sentenced to 17 years,
Abdul Rob, 30, was sentenced to 23 years
Atif Khan, 34, was sentenced to 15 and half years.

49. Which country has successfully intercepted a missile defense system, in a test of its advanced air defense
capabilities?
China

50. Which Caribbean country has been hit by a massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake on January 12, 2010, killing
about 200,000 people?
Haiti.

51. Only batsman in world cricket who scored 7000 ODI runs with a strike rate of over 100?
Virender Sehwag.
Sehwag, the seventh Indian to reach 7000 ODI runs, is the only batsman in world cricket to achieve the milestone
with a strike rate of over 100.

52. Who has been chosen as the "ESPN Cricinfo Player of the Decade for the 2000s" by a 38-strong panel of
experts, including current and former players?
Ricky Ponting, captain of Australia

53. Which state has won the Ranji Trophy for a record 39th time by beating Karnataka in a nail-biter of a final at
Mysore?
Mumbai.
The hosts Karnataka were chasing a target of 338 for a win, but were bowled out for 331 to give Mumbai a six-run
victory on the fourth day of the game.

54. Which country won the seventh World Team Chess Championship held at the Merinos Congress Centre in
Bursa, Turkey from January 3rd till 14th, 2010?
Russia.
Russia won gold, USA won Silver and India got the Bronze medal.

55. One of the most successful R&B(Rhythm and Blue) singers of the 1970s and ’80s, passed away recently at the
age of 59 after a battle with colon cancer?
Teddy Pendergrass
The five-time Grammy-nominated singer had chart-topping hits in three different decades with 1978’s “Close the
Door,” 1988’s “Joy” and 1991’s “It Should’ve Been You,” plus well-known songs like “Love TKO,” “Two Hearts”
with Stephanie Mills and “Hold Me,” a duet with Whitney Houston that featured on Houston’s 1985 debut album.

56. Which car has selected as the Car of the Year at ICICI Bank-CNBC-TV18 Overdrive Awards 2010?
Tata Nano.

57. Who has been appointed as one of 13 faith advisers by U.K. Communities Secretary John Denham?
Arjan Vekaria, president of the Hindu Forum of Britain.
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He has been involved in voluntary work with the Hindu Community in the UK for over 35 years. Born in
Uganda, Arjan spent part of his childhood in India before migrating to the UK in the 1970s.

58. The century’s longest solar eclipse, having totality duration of 11 minutes, 8 seconds (visible in India for 10
minutes, 24 seconds) occurred on which day of January?
15th January, 2010.
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon comes directly between the Sun and the Earth, producing a shadow on the
Earth’s surface where the Sun is completely or partially obscured.

59. Who was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award 2009 for his outstanding contributions and
achievements in Banking Sector during the Bharat Samman - Pravasi Awards?
Mr. R. Seetharaman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Doha Bank.

60. Who unveiled the Coca-Cola FIFA World Cup Football Trophy 2010 at a glittering function in Kolkata, making
Kolkata the only Indian city to showcase the prized trophy?
Lothar Matthaus, German football legend.
The trophy made of 18-carat gold- 36.8 cm high tall and weighing 6,175 grams.

61. Who is appointed as the new Captain of Kings XI Punjab for IPL 2010?
Kumar Sangakkara. The Sri Lankan player replaces Yuvraj Singh who had led the team for the last two seasons

62. Who won the Sydney Medibank International Tennis Women’s Title defeating Serena Williams 6-3, 6-2 in the
final?
Elena Dementieva

63. Who won the Sydney Medibank International Tennis men’s Title defeating Richard Gasquet in the final?
Marcos Baghdatis

64. Ex-Soldier of China who was elected as governor of Tibet by the regional parliament recently?
Padma Choling
Choling, a Tibetan who served in the People'
s Liberation Army from 1969 to 1986 has replaced Qiangba Puncog,
whose resignation was endorsed by the regional People's Congress.

65. National Security Adviser who has been appointed Governor of West Bengal?
M.K. Narayanan

66. Which playback singer won the Swaralaya-Kairali Yesudas award ?

Sujatha. The award includes a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, a citation and a statuette designed by Kanayi Kunhiraman.
Malayalam Music director M.K Arjunan has been selected for the lifetime achievement award for his contribution
in the field of music

67. Name of the eco-friendly vehicle launched by Maruti Suzuki India Ltd during the auto Expo 2010 held in
Delhi?
Eeco

68. Veteran Communist leader whose unbroken 23-year stewardship of West Bengal’s Left Front government made
him the longest reigning chief minister of an Indian state died recently after a prolonged illness?
Jyoti Basu

69. Who won the Man of the Match award in the fourth test match between South Africa and England held in
Johannesburg?
 13
Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn
South Africa won the fourth test by an innings and 74 runs and leveled the series 1-1.

70. Who won the Man of the series award in the four test match series between South Africa and England held in
South Africa?
South African wicketkeeper Mark Boucher and England off-spinner Graeme Swann shared the man of the series
award.

71. Who has resigned as president of Hockey India due to the allegations made against him during the recent
hockey crisis?
A.K. Mattoo

72. FBI had recently used the photo of a Spanish leader for a digitally-altered image showing how Osama Bin
Laden might look. Name of that Spanish leader?
Gaspar Llamazares
A photo of Bin Laden from 1998 (left) was digitally altered using elements from an image of Gaspar Llamazares
(right)
He rejected the United States'apology for the FBI's using a photo of him to create a poster showing what Osama
bin Laden might look like today.

73. The Turk, who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981, was released from prison recently after more than 29
years behind bars and proclaimed that he was a messenger of God and that the world would end in this century.
Name of that Turkish man?
Mehmet Ali Agca

74. The top military chief of al-Qaida in Yemen who was killed by Yemeni warplanes near a desert village
bordering Saudi Arabia?
Qassim al-Raimi.
He is considered the No. 3 leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

75. The Argentina player who reached the 100-goal mark for Barcelona?
Lionel Messi. The Argentina ace, who is still only 22, achieved the landmark in just 188 games for the Catalan
club.

76. Who is appointed as the Governor of Maharashtra?

K. Sankaranarayanan

77. India Government has decided to withdraw the "deemed" status of how many universities in the country?
44
Centre told the Supreme Court that it has decided to withdraw the deemed status to 44 universities in the country
alleging these were being run as family fiefdoms rather than on academic considerations.

78. The winners of the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards,

BEST DRAMA: Avatar
DIRECTOR: James Cameron – Avatar
ACTOR (DRAMA): Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
ACTRESS (DRAMA): Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
BEST MUSICAL OR COMEDY: The Hangover
ACTOR (MUSICAL OR COMEDY): Robert Downey, Jr. - Sherlock Holmes
ACTRESS (MUSICAL OR COMEDY): Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: The White Ribbon
 14
ANIMATED FILM: Up
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Mo' Nique - Precious
SCREENPLAY: Up in the Air
ORIGINAL SCORE: Michael Giacchino - Up
ORIGINAL SONG: "The Weary Kind" - Crazy Heart
CECIL B. DEMILLE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Martin Scorsese

79. Who is the new president of Hockey India?

Vidya Stokes

80. Who won the man of the match award in the third test between Australia and Pakistan played at Bellerive Oval,
Hobart?
Ricky Ponting (Australia). Australia won by 231 runs.

81. Who won the man of the series award in the three test series between Australia and Pakistan held in Australia?
Shane Watson
Australia won the 3-match series 3-0

82. Who was elected president of Chile, after a runoff election against former president Eduardo Frei?
Sebastian Pinera

83. Name of the software developed by the students of Indian Institute of Technology-Madras which won a
business plan competition in New York?
‘XEstor’
The software uses algorithms to store various battery parameters and interfaces with the grid to control the amount
of energy supplied and stored in the network. Midhun Saleem, Kaushik Anand, Ashish Dattani, Sriram
Kalyanaraman and Vinay Shankar B.K. shared the $20,000 prize.

84. Name of the former Chinese Supreme Court judge who was sentenced to life in prison recently following his
conviction for embezzlement and receiving more than half a million dollars in bribes?
Huang Songyou

85. Name of Asia' s biggest air carrier, which has filed for bankruptcy protection recently, in one of Japan'
s biggest
corporate failures?
Japan Airlines Corp.

86. Which players emerged as the most expensive cricketers of the high-profile player’s auction of the third edition
of the Indian Premier League (IPL)?
Kieron Pollard, West Indies all-rounder
Shane Bond, New Zealand pacer.

87. Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a 2,000-year-old temple dedicated to a cat goddess. In which place it
is located?
Alexandria.
The temple was filled with statues of Bastet, a once fearsome lion-headed goddess whose image changed over time
to a domesticated cat.The temple is the first trace of the royal quarters of the Ptolemaic dynasty to be revealed in
Alexandria.

88. The author of the hugely popular novel "Love Story," has died of a heart attack at the age of 72. ?
Erich Segal.
 15
He was an American author, screenwriter, and educator. His novel The Class (1985), a saga based on the Harvard
Class of 1958, was also a bestseller, and won literary honour in France and Italy.

89. Nearly 300 people have been killed and hundreds more wounded in three days of clashes between Christians
and Muslims in a country in West Africa. Which is that country?
Nigeria.

90. Who became the fourth batsman and the first Indian in the world to score five consecutive Test hundreds?
Gautham Gambhir
Australian legend Don Bradman leads the pack with six consecutive Tests tons while South African Jacques Kallis
and Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf have also scored five hundreds in five consecutive matches.

91. Former Australian women' s cricket captain, who has announced her retirement from international cricket after a
14-year career?
Karen Rolton. She played over 141 one-day internationals, scored 4,844 one-day international runs, eight Test
centuries.

92. Which country has the largest number of illiterate adults in the world according to the Education for All-Global
Monitoring Report by UNESCO?
India

93. Who has been appointed as India'

s new National Security Advisor?
Shiv Shankar Menon

94. The ban on pre-paid phones in an Indian state has been withdrawn recently. Which is that state?
Jammu and Kashmir
The ban was imposed last year after the government cited security reasons in the state.

95. Who won the Man of the match award in the first test between India and Sri Lanka held in Chittagong,
Bangladesh?
Sachin Tendulkar
India clinched the first Test against Bangladesh with an emphatic 113-run victory. Tendulkar scored 105 runs in the
first innings.

96. Which country will become the biggest economy by 2020 according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC)
Report?
China

97. Which country will overtake Japan as the world’s third largest economy by purchasing power Parity (PPP) by
2012 according to a report by global accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC)?
India

98. Which Hollywood film has been banned from cinema theatres in China to "protect" the country'
s film industry?
Avatar

99. Name of the Indian Weightlifters who have been given a life ban by the international weightlifting body after a
second doping offence last year?
Shailaja Pujari and Vicky Butta
Four other lifters, Harbhajan Singh (Delhi), Rajesh Singh (Madhya Pradesh), Sunita Rani (Punjab) and A
Vijayadevi (Jharkhand), were banned for four years and fined USD 5,000 each for failing the out-of-competition
tests conducted last year.
 16

100. Who was named as the next Indian Army chief and will take over his new post after incumbent Gen Deepak
Kapoor retires on March 31.2010?
Lt-General Vijay Kumar Singh

101. Which Indian Freedom fighter’s Rs 1 lakh promissory note unearthed by an octogenarian (a person whose age
is in the eighties) residing in Madhya Pradesh'
s Bina town in Sagar district?
Subhash Chandra Bose

102. Winners of “Man of the match award” in the 5 ODI series between Australia and Pakistan held in Australia.
Ist ODI held at Brisbane on Jan 22, 2010: Cameron White (105 runs).
Australia won by 5 wickets
2nd ODI held at Sydney on Jan 24, 2010: Shane Watson (scored 69 runs and took 1 wicket). Australia won by 140
runs
3rd ODI held at Adelaide on Jan 26, 2010: Ryan Harris, (5 wickets for 43 runs). Australia won by 40 runs
4th ODI held in Perth on Jan 29, 2010: Ryan Harris (5 wickets for 19 runs) Australia beat Pakistan by 135 runs
5th ODI held in Perth on Jan 31, 2010: Clint McKay (Australia) for his 4 for 35. Australia won by 2 wickets
Australia won the common wealth bank series 5-0.

103. Who won the Man of the series award in the Commonwealth Bank ODI cricket series between Australia and
Pakistan?
Ryan Harris (Australia)

104. Which country’s military forces decided to protect the banks in earth quake-hit Haiti?
India
Para-military Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel have been guarding banks and other vital centres
in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, to prevent looting, besides providing security to Indians in the aftermath of
the devastating earthquake.

105. Scientist, whose groundbreaking work untangling fundamental genetic processes earned him a Nobel Prize,
died at the age of 82?
Marshall Nirenberg.

106. Name of the Indian-origin Australian researcher who has been named western Australia’s Australian of the
Year?
Professor Ralph Martins. He has been conducting research on Alzheimer’s disease.

107. Indo-Canadian who was appointed vice president of the University of Toronto, Canada'
s biggest university?
Hargurdeep Saini

108. The Afghan government recently banned the key ingredient of roadside bombs that have emerged as the
deadliest weapon used by Taliban fighters against NATO troops in Afghanistan. Name of that fertilizer chemical?
Ammonium Nitrate

109. Which countries demanded U.S. A to cross out Cuba from the list of terror-sponsor countries.?
Russia and Spain

110. Who is appointed as the Governor of Andrapradesh?

ES Lakshmi Narasimhan

111. Veteran socialist leader and Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha member who died of heart attack in Allahabad at
 17
the age of 77?
Janeshwar Mishra.
He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1977 from Allahabad and became Petroleum Minister in the
Chandra Shekhar government in 1990-91.

112. NATIONAL FILM AWARDS.

56th NATIONAL FILM AWARDS FOR 2008
FEATURE FILMS

1 BEST FEATURE FILM: Antaheen (Bengali)

Director: Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury
.
2 INDIRA GANDHI AWARD FOR BEST FIRST FILM OF A DIRECTOR:
A Wednesday(Hindi)Director :Neeraj Pandey

3 BEST POPULAR FILM PROVIDING WHOLESOME ENTERTAINMENT:

Oye Lucky !Lucky Oye(Hindi)
Director :Dibakar Banerjee
4 NARGIS DUTT AWARD FOR BEST FEATURE FILM ON NATIONAL INTEGRATION
: Aai Kot Nai (Assamese)
Director : Rajen Bora

5 BEST FILM ON FAMILY VALUES

Little Zizou(English, Gujarati)
Director :Sooni Taraporevala

6 BEST FILM ON SOCIAL ISSUES SUCH AS PROHIBITION, WOMEN AND CHILD WELFARE, ANTI-
DOWRY, DRUG ABUSE, WELFARE OF THE HANDICAPPED
ETC.: Jogva(Marathi)
Director :Rajeev Patil

7 BEST FILM ON ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION/PRESERVATION:

Jianta Bhoota(Oriya)
Director :Prashanta Nanda

8 BEST CHILDREN’SFILM :Gubbachigalu(Kannada)

Director :
Abhaya Simha

9 BEST ANIMATION FILM: Roadside Romeo(Hindi)

Director : Jugal Hansraj

10 BEST DIRECTION: Bala

Naan Kadavul(Tamil)

11 BEST ACTOR : Upendra Limaye

Jogva(Marathi)

12 BEST ACTRESS: Priyanka Chopra , Fashion(Hindi)

 18
13 BEST SUPPORTING
ACTOR: Arjun Rampal Rock On!(Hindi)

14 BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Kangana Ranaut , Fashion(Hindi)

15 BEST CHILD ARTIST: Shams Patel, Thanks Maa(Hindi)

16 BEST MALE PLAYBACK SINGER: Hariharan, Jogva (Marathi)

For the song “ Jeev Dangla Gungla Rangla….”

17 BEST FEMALE PLAYBACK SINGER: Shreya Ghoshal, Antaheen (Bengali)

Jogva(Marathi) For the song“Pherari Mon…..”&“Jeev DanglaGungla Rangla ”

18 BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Avik Mukhopadhyay, Antaheen(Bengali)

19 BEST SCREENPLAY: Sachin Kundalkar, Gandha (Marathi)

20 BEST AUDIOGRAPHY : Pramod J.Thomas, Gandha(Marathi)

21 BEST EDITING : A. Sreekar Prasad, Firaaq(Hindi)

22 BEST ART DIRECTION: Gautam Sen , Firaaq(Hindi)

23 BEST COSTUME DESIGNER: Neeta Lulla ,Jodha Akbar(Hindi)

24 BEST MAKE-UP ARTIST : Moorthy V. , Naan Kadauul(Tamil)

25 BEST MUSIC DIRECTION: Ajay and Atul ,Jogva(Marathi)

26 BEST LYRICS: Anindya Bannerjee &Chandranil Bhattacharya, Antaheen(Bengali)

for the lyric “Pherari Mon…..”

27 SPECIAL JURY AWARD: Bioscope(Malayalam)Director :K.M.Madhusudhanan

28 BEST SPECIALEFFECTS: Govardhan(TATA ELXSI), Mumbai MeriJaan(Hindi)

29 BEST CHOREOGRAPHY: Chinni Prakash & Rekha Prakash - Jodha Akbar(Hindi)

30 BEST FEATURE FILM IN EACH OF THE LANGUAGE SPECIFIED IN THE SCHEDULE VIII OF THE
CONSTITUTION:

I. BEST ASSAMESE FILM :Mon Jai Director :M. Maniram

II.BEST BENGALI FILM :Shob Charitro Director :Rituparno Ghosh
III. BEST HINDI FILM :Rock On Director :Abhishek Kapoor
IV. BEST KANNADA: Vimukthi Director :P. Sheshadri
V. BEST MALAYALAM FILM:Thirakkada Director :Ranjith
VI. BEST MARATHI FILM Harishcnadrachi Factory Director : Paresh Mokashi
VII. BEST TAMIL FILM Varanam Ayiram Director :GauthamVasudeva Menon
BEST TELUGU FILM :1940 Lookagramam Director :Narasimha Nandi
 19
31 BEST FEATURE FILM IN EACH OF THELANGUAGES OTHER THAN THOSE
SPECIFIED IN SCHEDULE VIII OF THE CONSTITUTION:
BEST ENGLISH FILM: Land Gold Women Director :Avantika Hari
BEST KOKBOROK FILM :Yarwng Director :Joseph Pulinthanath
BEST TULU FILM Gaggara Director:Shivadhwaj Shetty

113. Which country has agreed to pay the United Nations around $10m in compensation for damage caused to UN
buildings in Gaza during last year'
s war?
Israel

114. Who won the International Plato Award by the International Biographical Centre in Cambridge, England?
Dr.K.C.Abraham.
He is the managing director of Kunnath Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of Musli Power Extra.

115. Who is appointed as the chairperson of Prasar Bharathi?

Mrinal Pande
She is a renowned journalist who is appointed as the Prasar Bharati chairperson, a month after previous chairman
Arun Bhatnagar' s resignation was accepted by the I&B ministry.

116. Who has been presented the prestigious Hotelier of the Century award of the International Hotel and
Restaurant Association (IH and RA) at a glittering ceremony held in Belgrade?
C.P. Krishnan Nair. Chairman of Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts.

117. Name of India’s largest solid fuel booster for launching heavier satellites using the Geosynchronous Satellite
Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mk III), successfully tested on January 24, 2010?
S200
The successful test makes S200 the third largest solid booster in the world.

118. Who has been appointed as the second chief of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), succeeding RV Raju
who retired in Janurary,2010?
Sharad Chandra Sinha

119. WINNERS OF PADMA AWARDS.

Padma Awards, the country’s highest civilian awards, will be given in in three categories, namely, Padma
Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every
year. This year’s award list consist of Six Padma Vibhushans, 43 Padma Bhushans and 81 Padma Shris

Padma Vibhushan:
Padma Vibhushan is India' s second highest civilian honour. It consists of a medal and a citation and is awarded by
the President of India. It was established on 2 January 1954. It ranks behind the Bharat Ratna, is awarded to
recognize exceptional and distinguished service to the nation in any field, including government service.

Winners of Padma Vibhushan:

1.Ebrahim Alkazi (Art) :He is a famous Indian theatre director, who was the founding head of the India'
s premier
theatre training institute, National School of Drama, New Delhi.

2.Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman (Art): He is a famous mridangam player won Padmashri in 1988 and the Sangeet
Natak Akademi award in the field of mridangam drumming in 1992.

3.Zohra Segal (Art): Sheis a stage and film actress, who started her career as dancer with legendary dancer Uday
Shankar in 1935, and worked with him for the next eight years. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 1998, Kalidas
 20
Samman in 2001, and in 2004, the Sangeet Natak Akademi awarded her the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship
for lifetime achievement.

4.Yaga Venugopal Reddy (Public Affairs) : He is an IAS officer of the 1964 batch who served as Governor of the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from 6 September 2003 until 5 September 2008.

5.Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (Science and Engineering): He is a structural biologist at the MRC Laboratory of
Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. He received the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for studies of the
structure and function of the ribosome".

6.Prathap Chandra Reddy (Trade and Industry) : He is a doctor and businessman who founded the first corporate
chain of hospitals in India, the Apollo Hospitals Group in 1983.

Padma Bhushan:
The Padma Bhushan award is established in 2nd January 1954 by the President of India. It stands third in the
hierarchy of civilian awards, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It
is awarded to recognize distinguished service of a high order to the nation, in any field.

Winners of Padma Bhushan

1. Ilaiyaraaja (Art)
2. Aamir Khan (Art)
3. Akbar Padamsee (Art)
4. Allah Rakha Rahman (Art)
5. Pandit Chhannulal Mishra (Art)
6. Kumudini Lakhia (Art)
7. Kuzhur Narayana Marar (Art)
8. Prof. Madhusudan Amilal Dhaky (Art)
9. Mallika Sarabhai (Art)
10. Prof. (Dr.) Nookala Chinna Satyanarayana (Art)
11. Pandit (Dr.) Puttaraj Gavai (Art)
12. Ram Kumar (Art)
13. Shrinivas Vinayak Khale (Art)
14. Ustad Sultan Khan (Art)
15. B.K. Chaturvedi (Civil Service)
16. Moosa Raza (Civil Service)
17. Dr. P.R. Dubhashi (Civil Service)
18. Fareed Zakaria (Journalism)
19. Anil Bordia (Literature and Education)
20. Prof. Bipan Chandra (Literature and Education)
21. G.P. Chopra (Literature and Education)
22. Prof. Mohammad Amin (Literature and Education)
23. Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri (Literature and Education)
24. Prof. Tan Chung (Literature and Education)
25. Prof. Belle Monappa Hegde (Medicine)
26. E.T. Narayanan Mooss (Medicine)
27. Dr. Noshir M. Shroff (Medicine)
28. Dr. Panniyampilly Krishna Warrier (Medicine)
29. Dr. Ramakant Madanmohan Panda (Medicine)
30. Prof. (Dr.) Satya Paul Agarwal (Medicine)
31. Prof. Abhijit Sen (Public Affairs)
32. Sailesh Kumar Bandyopadhyay (Public Affairs)
 21
33. Sant Singh Chatwal (Public Affairs)
34. Prof. Arogyaswami Joseph Paulraj (Science and Engineering)
35. Prof. Bikash Chandra Sinha (Science and Engineering)
36. Jagdish Chandra Kapur (Science and Engineering)
37. Dr. Balagangadharanatha Swamiji (Social Work)
38. Eknath Rao alias Balasaheb Vikhe Patil (Social Work)
39. Capt. C.P. Krishnan Nair (Trade and Industry)
40. Dr. Kushal Pal Singh (Trade and Industry)
41. Manvinder Singh Banga alias Vindi Banga (Trade and Industry)
42. Narayanan Vaghul (Trade and Industry)
43. S.P. Oswal (Trade and Industry)

Padma Shri:
This is an award given by the Government of India generally to Indian citizens to recognize their distinguished
contribution in various spheres of activity including the Arts, Education, Industry, Literature, Science, Sports,
Medicine, Social Service and public life.

Winners of Padma Shri

1. Gulam Mohammed Mir (Public Service)

2. Rekha (Art)
3. Arjun Prajapati (Art)
4. Arundhati Nag (Art)
5. Carmel Berkson (Art)
6. Ustad F. Wasifuddin Dagar (Art)
7. Gul Bardhan (Art)
8. Haobam Ongbi Ngangbi Devi (Art)
9. Hari Uppal (Art)
10. K. Raghavan (Art)
11. Guru Mayadhar Raut (Art)
12. Mukund Lath (Art)
13. Nemai Ghosh (Art)
14. Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi (Art)
15. Rajkumar Achouba Singh (Art)
16. Dr. Ram Dayal Munda (Art)
17. Resul Pokutty (Art)
18. Saif Ali Khan (Art)
19. Dr. Shobha Raju (Art)
20. Sumitra Guha (Art)
21. Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar (Art)
22. D.R. Karthikeyan (Civil Service)
23. Dr. Ranjit Bhargava (Environment Protection)
24. Arun Sarma (Literature and Education)
25. Prof. Arvind Kumar (Literature and Education)
26. Bertha Gyndykes Dkhar (Literature and Education)
27. Prof. Govind Chandra Pande (Literature and Education)
28. Prof. Hamidi Kashmiri (Literature and Education)
29. Prof. (Dr.) Hermann Kulke (Literature and Education)
30. Janaki Ballav Shastri (Literature and Education)
31. Dr. Jitendra Udhampuri (Literature and Education)
32. Dr. Lal Bahadur Singh Chauhan (Literature and Education)
 22
33. Lalzuia Colney (Literature and Education)
34. Maria Aurora Couto (Literature and Education)
35. Dr. (Smt.) Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy alias Y.G. Parthasarathy (Literature and Education)
36. Prof. Ramaranjan Mukherji (Literature and Education)
37. Dr. Ranganathan Parthasarathy (Literature and Education)
38. Fr. Romuald D’Souza (Literature and Education)
39. Prof. Sadiq-Ur-Rahman Kidwai (Literature and Education)
40. Sheldon Pollock (Literature and Education)
41. Dr. Surendra Dubey (Literature and Education)
42. Dr. Anil Kumar Bhalla (Medicine)
43. Dr. Arvinder Singh Soin (Medicine)
44. Dr. B. Ramana Rao (Medicine)
45. Dr. Jalakantapuram Ramaswamy Krishnamoorthy (Medicine)
46. Dr. K.K. Aggarwal (Medicine)
47. Prof. Kodaganur S. Gopinath (Medicine)
48. Dr. Laxmi Chand Gupta (Medicine)
49. Dr. Philip Augustine (Medicine)
50. Dr. Rabindra Narain Singh (Medicine)
51. Dr. Vikas Mahatme (Medicine)
52. Dr. Rafael Iruzubieta Fernandez (Public Affairs)
53. Prof. M.R. Satyanarayana Rao (Science and Engineering)
54. Prof. (Dr.) Palpu Pushpangadan (Science and Engineering)
55. Prof. Ponisseril Somasundaran (Science and Engineering)
56. Prof. Pucadyil Ittoop John (Science and Engineering)
57. Dr. Vijay Prasad Dimri (Science and Engineering)
58. Dr. Vijaylakshmi Ravindranath (Science and Engineering)
59. Anu Aga (Social Work)
60. Ayekpam Tomba Meetei (Social Work)
61. Deep Joshi (Social Work)
62. Dr. J.R. Gangaramani (Social Work)
63. Kranti Shah (Social Work)
64. Dr. Kurian John Melamparambil (Social Work)
65. Baba Sewa Singh (Social Work)
66. Sudha Kaul (Social Work)
67. Dr. Sudhir M. Parikh (Social Work)
68. Ignace Tirkey (Sports)
69. Kumar Ram Narain Karthikeyan (Sports)
70. Ramakant Vithal Achrekar (Sports)
71. Saina Nehwal (Sports)
72. Vijender Singh (Sports)
73. Virendra Sehwag (Sports)
74. Dr. Alluri Venkata Satyanarayana Raju (Trade and Industry)
75. Dr. B. Raveendran Pillai (Trade and Industry)
76. Deepak Puri (Trade and Industry)
77. Irshad Mirza (Trade and Industry)
78. Brig. Dr. Kapil Mohan (Trade and Industry)
79. Dr. Karsanbhai Khodidas Patel (Trade and Industry)
80. T.N. Manoharan (Trade and Industry)
81. Venu Srinivasan (Trade and Industry)

120. Which High Court of India recently has ruled that Hindi is not our National Language?
 23
Gujarat

121. Saddam Hussein' s notorious cousin and henchman who was executed on 24-01-10 just days after he was
sentenced to death for the 1988 gassing of thousands of Kurds, a crime that shocked the world?
Chemical Ali. His real name is Ali Hassan al-Majid and he was better known by his nickname “Chemical Ali”.

122. Who has won Sri Lanka' s first post-war national presidential election defeating former army chief Sarath
Fonseka with 57.9% of the popular vote, according to the country' s elections commissioner?
Mahinda Rajapakse
He has won Sri Lanka'
s first election since Tamil Tiger rebels were defeated after 25 years of civil war and this is
his second term in office.

123. On January 28 2010, an International Conference on Afghanistan was held where members of the international
community discussed the further progress on the Petersburg agreement from 2001 on the democratization of
Afghanistan after the ousting of the Taliban regime. Where was that conference held?
Lancaster House in London.
The one-day conference, hosted by the United Kingdom, the United Nations, and the Afghan government, meant to
chart a new course for the future of Afghanistan and brought together foreign ministers and senior representatives
from more than 70 countries and international organizations.

124. Which company has been named the ' Technology Pioneer-2010'by the World Economic Forum for
developing solar-powered mobile phone base stations, becoming the first Indian telecom infrastructure firm to win
the laurel?
Vihaan Networks Ltd (VNL), a Shyam Group company.

125. Which is the fastest wind gust ever recorded on Earth according to a review of climate data by the World
Meteorological Organization?
Cyclone Olivia.
The World Meteorological Organization says a review of climate data turned up a 253 mph gust recorded in 1996
on Barrow Island in Australia during Cyclone Olivia. That tops the 231 mph record set atop Mount Washington in
1934.

126. Name of the district in Huston, in Texas State, USA which is named after father of Indian Nation Mahatma
Gandhi?
Hill Craft district.
The district is officially named as Mahatma Gandhi district. Huston city Mayor Annis Parker has officially
announced this on 26-01-2010 in the presence of Indian Consulate General in Huston Sanjay Arora and many
Indians.

127. Which country leads the world in addressing pollution control and natural resource management challenges,
according to the latest Environmental Performance Index (EPI)?
Iceland.
China and India rank 121 and 123 respectively in Environmental Performance Index.

128. Who is the new president of Honduras?

Porfirio Lobo Sosa.
He is better known as Pepe Lobo.

129. Name of the five ex-army officers, who were hanged at the central jail in Bangladesh for the assassination of
Bangladesh’s founder president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 35 years ago?
Mohiuddin Ahmed (Ex-Lieutenant Colonel)
 24
Bazlul Huda (Former Major)
Syed Faruq Rahman (Ex-Lieutenant Colonel)
Shahriar Rashid Khan(Ex-Lieutenant Colonel)
AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed(Ex-Lieutenant Colonel)

130. Name of the teenage girl who became the latest miracle story of the Haitian earthquake after she was pulled
alive from rubble 15 days after the disaster?
Darlene Etienne

131. The army chief of India recently ordered disciplinary action leading to court martial against his aide and
military secretary for his involvement in a land scam in West Bengal' s Sukna cantonment. Name of that senior most
three-star officer?
Lieutenant General Avadesh Prakash.
He is the first three-star general of Indian army to face such a situation.

132. The enigmatic, reclusive author of the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, who has died at the age of 91?
J.D. Salinger (Jerome David Salinger). He was an American author , released his novel The Catcher in the Rye in
1951 which remains widely read and controversial, selling around 250,000 copies a year.

133. Who is reelected for a second four- year term as head of the U.S. central bank” Federal Reserve”?
Ben Bernanke.

134. Who won the Australian Open women's doubles Tennis title-2010 defeating Cara Black and Liezel Huber 6-4,
6-3 in the final?
Serena Williams and Venus Williams.

135. Who is the new Director General of the CRPF(Central Reserve Police Force), world'
s largest para military
force ?
Vikram Srivastava

136. Who is the new Director General of Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)?
R. L. Bhatia

137. Which country has overtaken U.S.A to become the biggest car market in the world as government policy
initiatives spur demand?
China

138. Which country stopped Military Exchanges with U.S.A in response to Washington’s plan to sell a package of
arms worth about 6.4 billion U.S. dollars to Taiwan?
China

139. Name of the first State-funded Hindu school in Britain which has started its operation in a new building where
meditation and yoga will form part of the lessons?
The Krishna Avanti Primary School. The school founded in 2008 is the first voluntary aided Hindu faith school in
the country and is recognized as the most eco-friendly. It is also Britain’s first vegetarian State school.

140. Six decades after his death, some of Mahatma Gandhi's ashes have been scattered off the coast of a country on
31-01-2010. Which is that country?
South Africa.

141. Which country won the under-19 World Cup Cricket held in New Zealand?
 25
Australia.
Australia beat Pakistan by 25 runs in the final.
Man of the Match: Josh Hazelwood(Australia). He took 4 wickets for 30 runs.

142. Who won the Australian Open women' s Tennis title-2010?

Serena Williams
She defeated Belgian Justine Henin in the Women's singles final at Australian Open Championship 2010 at
Melbourne

143. Who won the 2010 Australian Open Men' s title-2010?

Roger Federer.
He beat Andy Murray 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (13-11) to win the 2010 Australian Open Men' s title on Rod Laver Arena in
Melbourne.

144. Who won the Australian Open men' s doubles Tennis title-2010?
Bob Bryan (USA) and Mike Bryan (USA).
They won their fourth Australian Open doubles title, defeating Daniel Nestor of Canada and Serbian Nenad
Zimonjic 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3 in the final.

145. Who won the Australian Open 2010 mixed doubles title?
Leander Paes(India) and Cara Black(Zimbabwe)
They beat 10th seeds Ekaterina Makarova of Russia and Jaroslav Levinsky of Czechoslovakia 7-5, 6-3 in the final.

CURRENT AFFAIRS DECEMBER 2009

1. Who is the first Indian and the second player after Pakistan'
s Javed Miandad to have played in ODIs for 20
years?
Sachin Tendulkar

2. The person who prosecutors alleged worked as a Nazi guard at the Sobibor death camp, accused of helping to
murder nearly 28,000 Jews at this camp, went on trial in country court in Munich, southern Germany on November
30, 2009?
John Demjanjuk.
Mr Demjanjuk, who is 89 and was deported from the US in May, entered the courtroom in a wheelchair. If found
guilty, Mr Demjanjuk could be sentenced to 15 years in jail.

3. Who has been elected as the new president of Honduras in the recent elections?
Porfirio Lobo of the right of centre National party has been elected as president of Honduras. He defeated his
nearest rival, Elvin Santos of the ruling Liberal party, winning 56 per cent of the vote.

4. The lawyer for 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, who was sacked by Special
Judge M.L. Tahaliyani for "non-cooperation"?
Abbas Kazmi. K P Pawar was appointed Kasab' s new lawyer in place of Kazmi.

5. Who has been given the award for Cricketer of the year as well as test batsman of the year in Ceat cricket awards
2008 /09?
Gautham Gambhir

Other Award winners are:

ODI Batsman of the Year - Virender Sehwag (India)
Test Bowler of the year - Mitchell Johnson (Australia)
 26
ODI Bowler of the year - Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka)
Spirit of Cricket Award - Thilan Samaraweera (Sri Lanka)
300 Wickets Felicitation Award - Harbhajan Singh (India)
Lifetime Achievement Award - EAS Prasanna (India)
Team of the year: Australia

6. Who won the ATP World Tour Finals title with a straight sets victory over Argentina'
s Juan Martin del Potro at
London's O2 Arena?
Nikolay Davydenko

7. Which film declared as the best film in the last 96 years after an innovative on-line contest “T20 of Indian
Cinema” launched by the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), co-host of the International Film festival of India
(IFFI), in commemoration of the IFFI-09?
Meghe Dhaka Tara, a Bengali film by director Ritwik Ghatak.

The top 20 films selected are:

Meghe Dhaka Tara - Ritwik Ghatak (Bengali, 1960)
Charulata - Satyajit Ray (Bengali, 1964)
Pather Panchali - Satyajit Ray (Bengali, 1955)
Sholay- Ramesh Sippy (Hindi, 1975)
Do Bigha Zameen - Bimal Roy (Hindi, 1953)
Pyaasa - Guru Dutt (Hindi, 1957)
Bhuvan Shome - Mrinal Sen (Hindi, 1969)
Garam Hawa - M S Sathyu (Hindi, 1973)
Mother India - Mehboob Khan (Hindi, 1957)
Ghattashradha - Girish Kassarvali (Kannada, 1977)
Elippathayam - Adoor Gopalakrishnan (Malayalam, 1981)
Mughal-e-Azam - K Asif (Hindi, 1960)
Nayagan - Mani Ratnam (Tamil, 1987)
Kaghaz Ke Phool - Guru Dutt (Hindi, 1959)
Apu Triology (Pather Panchali 1955, Aparajito 1956, Apur Sansar 1959) - Satyajit Ray (Bengali)
Sant Tukaram - Vishnupant Govind Damle, Sheikh Fattelal (Marathi, 1936)
Jaane Bhi Do Yaro - Kundan Shah (Hindi, 1983)
Guide - Vijay Anand (Hindi, 1965)
Madhumati – Bimal Roy (Hindi, 1958)
Anand - Hrishikesh Mukherjee (Hindi, 1971)

8. Jammu and Kashmir has stopped work on a road project under the National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme (NREGS) in Demchok in south-east Leh in Ladakh after the objection of India’s neighbouring country.
Which is that country?
China

9. Name of the rival body formed by the disgruntled members of the official All India Chess Federation (AICF)?
Chess Association of India.
President: Sri Naveen Kumar Wal, U.P.
Vice Presidents: Sri Raja Climax (Tamilnadu),

10. Who has been appointed as the new CEO of the I-League?
Mr.Sunando Dhar
All India Football Federation officially declared that Mr.Sunando Dhar has been appointed as the new CEO of the
I-League and he will join from the month of January.
 27

11. Which pair clinched their third ATP Challenger doubles title of the season after defeating Jarkko Nieminen and
Henri Kontinen 6-2, 7-6 in the final of the Helsinki event in Finland?
Rohan Bopanna (India)and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi(Pakistan).

12. Who has been named European Footballer of the Year to win the prestigious Ballon d' Or award?
Lionel Messi.
French magazine France Football said that Messi, 22-year-old Argentinian, and Barcelona playmaker forward beat
last year'
s winner Cristiano Ronaldo into second place by a massive margin - 473 points to 233.

13. Which Tennis player has been fined $175,000 and put on probation for two years by the International Tennis
Federation for her foul-mouthed tirade at the US Open?
Serena Williams

14. Which scientist had won the first Infosys Prize for Physical Sciences, which comes with a cash award of Rs 50
lakh?
Thanu Padmanabhan. He is an Indian theoretical physicist, currently the Distinguished Professor at the Inter-
University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, (IUCAA) at Pune, India

15. Malayalam-Tamil actress who won the prestigious Golden Lamp Tree award for the best short film at the IFFI
in Goa for her directorial debut “Kelkkunundo”
Geetu Mohandas. The award carries Rs. 5 lakhs and the film “Kelkkunundo was selected from among 206 films
from 26 countries.

16. Veteran Japanese diplomat who was elected new director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) in a closely contested election?
Yukiya Amano

17. Name of the former Miss Argentina who died after complications arising from cosmetic surgery on her
buttocks?
Solange Magnano.
Solange Magnano, a mother of twins who won the crown in 1994, died of a pulmonary embolism after three days in
critical condition following a gluteoplasty in Buenos Aires.

18. Malayalee director who won the Vasudha award for the best environmental film at this year'
s International Film
Festival of India (IFFI) that concluded in Goa?
Sanjeev Sivan
The award was for his movie ‘Underground Inferno’ produced by News and Entertainment Television, which he
co-directed with Umesh Agarwal. The movie shared the award with ‘’Meltdown in Tibet’’ directed by Micheal
Beckley and the award carries Rs.3 lakhs.

19. Who has been appointed as "Director-Media to the Prime Minister of India" recently ?
Binoy Job

20. Which car has managed to beat even the entry entrants and scored the highest in the entry mid-size segment
according to J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2009 India initial quality study released recently?
Ford Ikon

21. Who has been elected the first President of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-
IFRA), the organization created by the July merger of the World Association of Newspapers and IFRA, the
research and service organization for the news publishing industry?
 28
Gavin O’Reilly, the Chief Executive Officer of Ireland-based Independent News & Media PLC.

22. Which film was awarded the prestigious Golden Peacock for best film at the 40th International Film Festival of
India (IFFI) at Goa?
“I Can’t Live Without You” (Taiwanese film). The award, a citation and cash prize of Rs.40 lakh (Rs.4 million),
was awarded to the film’s director Leon Dai.

23. Who was awarded the prestigious Silver Peacock for best director at the 40th International Film Festival of
India (IFFI) at Goa?
Ounie Leconte. She won the award for her French-South Korean film “A Brand New Life”.
Special Jury award went to the Georgian filmmaker George Ovashvili for his film “The Other Bank”

24. Who won the Lifetime Achievement Award instituted for the first time by the Kerala State Chalachitra
Academy at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK)?
Mrinal Sen. He is an acclaimed Bengali film maker who made significant contributions to international cinema.

25. Name of a new force which will be created by the Indian Navy to protect Naval bases and border the coastline
areas?
Sagar Prahari Bal (SPB).
SPB will comprise of 1000 personnel and will have 80 fast interception crafts for sea front patrolling.

26. Who was named the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year-2009?
Saina Nehwal.
This shuttler became the first Indian to win a Super Series title with her triumph in Indonesian event in June and
also earned a place into the top-10 zone this year.

27. Who has won the sports category of CNN-IBN Indian of the year 2009?
Saina Nehwal.

28. Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) has selected which city for its award for the
Best Solid Waste Management City from among 63 cities where JNNURM projects have been implemented?
Kochi (Kerala)

29. Which country’s cabinet held meeting on Mount Everest to raise awareness of the effects of climate change?
Nepal

30. Which country hosted South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup In 2009?
Bangladesh

31. Former Wimbledon and Australian Open champion who retired from professional tennis recently?
Amelie Mauresmo.
At her retirement Mauresmo was ranked 21st in the world, after winning only one title in 2009.

32. Who is appointed as the Fielding consultant of the Indian Cricket Team for a three week period?
Mike Young.
He was the fielding consultant of Australian Cricket Team for last nine years.

33. Who won the prestigious Grawemeyer Award in Religion from the Louisville Presbyterian Theological
Seminary and the University of Louisville?
Eboo Patel, a member of President Barack Obama'
s faith advisory council became the first Muslim to win this
prestigious award.
 29
Patel won the prize for his 2007 autobiography "Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle
for the Soul of a Generation".

34. Central Government has recently rejected the Supreme Court collegium' s move to elevate to the apex court
Karnataka High Court Chief Justice in the wake of allegations of land grabbing against him and his family. Name
of that High Court Chief Justice?
P D Dinakaran

35. From December 7, 2009, environment ministers and officials met in a European City for the United Nations
climate conference to thrash out a successor to the Kyoto protocol. Which is that city?
Copenhagen, Denmark.
One hundred-and-ninety-two countries have signed the climate change convention. More than 15,000 officials,
advisers, diplomats, protestors and journalists attended the meet, joined by heads of state.

36. The First Cyber Forensic and Digital Analysis Centre in India has started functioning in which city?
Thiruvananthapuram(Kerala)
The centre is functioning at the Police Headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram

37. Which team became only the third team to beat South Africa in a home one-day cricket series after the final
match in Durban was abandoned because of rain?
England. England won the series 2-1. This is England'
s first ever ODI series victory in and against South Africa.
Paul Collingwood was named man of the series for his all-round performances, scoring 275 runs and claiming five
wickets in an impressive international renaissance.

38. Who won the man of the match award in the third test between India and Sri Lanka held at Brabourne Stadium,
Mumbai?
Virendra Sehwag. He scored 293 runs in the first innings.
India won the third test match by an innings and 24 runs and became the number one test team in the International
Cricket Council’s rankings. This is the first time that India has topped the ICC Test rankings since they were
introduced in 2002.

39. Who won the Player of the series award in the recently held 3 test matches between India and Sri Lanka?
Virendra Sehwag.
He scored 491 runs in the series at an average of 123 at a strike rate of 108.

40. Who was elected as President of Bolivia for another five-year term winning 62.5 percent of the national vote
and 78.5 percent in La Paz?
Evo Morales

41. Legendary actress who charmed Indian audiences with her performances in “Anarkali” and “Taj Mahal” died
on the 6th of December 2009 due to cardiac arrest?
Bina Rai. She was a leading actress primarily of the black and white era of Hindi cinema and won the Filmfare
Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film, Ghunghat (1960).

42. India signed a broad-based civil nuclear agreement with a country on the 7th of December 2009 which will
ensure transfer of technology and uninterrupted uranium fuel supplies to its nuclear reactors and inked three pacts
in the defence sector. Which is that country?
Russia. Under the agreement four new nuclear reactors would be set up by Russia in Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu
and a site for the fifth one has been identified in West Bengal.

43. Which country have retained the Davis Cup after taking an unassailable 3-0 lead in the final against the Czech
 30
Republic by winning the doubles?
Spain

44. Which country has claimed consecutive Champions Trophy titles, scoring four unanswered second-half goals to
beat Germany 5-3 in the final in Melbourne?
Australia.
Australia won a record 10th men' s Champions Trophy hockey title.

45. FIFA Club World Cup-2009 was played from 9 December to 19 December 2009 in which city?
Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)
It was the sixth FIFA Club World Cup which was won by European champions Barcelona, who came from behind
to defeat the South American entrants, Estudiantes, 2–1 after extra time.

46. Which player won the Man of the match award in the first 20-20 Cricket match between India and Sri Lanka
held in Nagpur on 9th December 2009?
Kumar Sangakkara. He scored 78 runs from 37 balls. Sri Lanka won the match by 29 runs.

47. Which country has the world' s lowest fertility rate, with an average of one child per woman according to the
latest population survey conducted by Population Reference Bureau (PRB), an organization of the United States?
Taiwan.
According to the survey, Taiwan registered only eight births per 1,000 population, the lowest level in the world.

48. Which was the most read news story of the past decade, surpassing the Iraq War and the attacks of Sept. 11,
according to an analysis by a U.S.-based media tracking group?
The rise of China as an economic superpower.

49. According to a book published in Germany, the cause of the Holocaust was Hitler’s “obsession with his
mother's death after her treatment for cancer by a Jewish doctor”. Name of that book?
“November 9: How World War One Led To the Holocaust”
The book is written by the German author, Joachim Riecker. According to the book, the Nazi leader believed that
the Jewish doctor Eduard Bloch poisoned his mother and the anger, anguish and resentment led to the genocide
with the death toll that spawns between 11 million and 17 million people.

50. Nuclear-capable ballistic missile of India successfully test fired at 11.31 am on December 13, 2009 from the
Offshore Patrol Vehicle INS Subhadra of the Orissa coast?
Dhanush
‘Dhanush’ has a payload capacity of 500 kg and is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads. It
can hit both sea and shore-based targets. The missile, which has liquid propellant, is the naval version of India’s
indigenously developed surface-to-surface ’Prithvi’ missile system. Dhanush is developed by Defence Research
and Development Organisation (DRDO).

51. Best State Pavilion Award of International Flower show held in Bangalore from 5th to 9 th December 2009 won
by?
State Horticulture Mission, Kerala.

52. Which commission’s report was placed in the Lok Sabha on 18-12-2009 by Minority Affairs Minister Salman
Khurshid?
Rangnath Mishra Commission.
The report of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, headed by former Chief Justice of
India Rangnath Mishra has recommended 10 per cent reservation for Muslims and five per cent for other minorities
in government jobs and favoured Scheduled Caste status for Dalits in all religions.
 31

53. Who became the first Indian boxer to clinch a gold medal at the inter-continental President’s Cup after out-
punching Frenchman Nordine Oubaali 8-1 in the fly weight (51kg) finals held in Baku (Azerbaijan)?
Suranjoy Singh.

54. Who will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy the day before the
Grammy Awards take place on January 30?
Michael Jackson. He will be the posthumous recipient of a special Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award and he
has won 13 Grammy Awards previously.

55. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has severed ties with private security firm, whose employees helped
load the drone aircraft tasked with killing targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Name of that private security
agency?
Blackwater Worldwide.
Xe Services LLC), still usually referred to as "Blackwater", is a private military company founded as Blackwater
USA in 1997 by Erik Prince and Al Clark. Blackwater has a wide array of business divisions, subsidiaries, and
spin-off corporations but the organization as a whole has courted much controversy.

56. Which player has been named World Player of the Decade by prestigious British magazine World Soccer?
Ronaldinho.
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has been named Player of the Year by the same magazine.

57. Who is the doubles partner of Indian tennis star Sania Mirza for the Australian Open commencing next month?
Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain.

58. Which player won the Man of the match award in the second 20-20 Cricket match between India and Sri Lanka
held in Mohali?
Yuvraj Singh. He took 3 wickets and scored 60 runs from 25 balls. India won the match by 6 wickets.
Man of the Series: Kumar Sangakkara.

59. Who has been named as the Miss World-2009?

Kaiane Aldorino (Gibraltar)

60. Who was recently sentenced to four years and nine months in prison and an additional three years of supervised
release by a US court for posting hate messages in 2006 against former president George Bush and calling for
bombings of American infrastructure?
Vikram Buddhi.

61. Which country won the fifth South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup title, by beating defending
champions Maldives 3-1 via the penalty shoot-out in Dhaka?
India.
Arindam Bhattacharya (Indian Goalkeeper) was named the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament
Fair Play Award: Bangladesh

62. Which Bollywood film is going to set a record in the Guinness Book of World Records as the only film in the
world featuring the real-life father son duo in a role reversal on-screen?
Paa. The film is directed by Balki.
Real-life father and son Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan are all set to enter the Guinness Book of World Records
for being the only father-son acting duo to have played reversed roles on screen in Paa.

63. Which country has begun talks with Russia and a United Nations arms control committee about strengthening
 32
Internet security and limiting military use of cyberspace?
U.S.A

64. Prime Minister of Italy is recovering in hospital after an assault left his face covered in blood following a rally
in Milan?
Silvio Berlusconi.
The alleged attacker, Massimo Tartaglia who has a history of mental illness, has been charged with throwing the
souvenir.

65. Which country won the Champions Challenge hockey tournament in Salta, Argentina beating rivals Pakistan in
the final by four goals to two?
New Zealand.
With this win, New Zealand also qualifies for the next year’s six-nation Champions Trophy. India won the bronze
medal with a last minute goal over Argentina (3-2).
Sardar Singh (India) named as Player of the Tournament and Kyle PONTIFEX (New Zealand) was distinguished as
Goal-keeper of the Tournament.

66. A British court has issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s former foreign minister over war crimes allegedly
committed in Gaza this year. Name of that Israeli Minister?
Tzipi Livni.
Israel has reacted angrily to the issuing by a British court of an arrest warrant for the former Israeli Foreign
Minister, Tzipi Livni.

67. Who won the man of the match award in the first ODI between India and Sri Lanka held in Rajkot on 15-12-
2009?
Virendra Sehwag. He scored 146 runs from 102 balls. India won the match by three runs.

68. Indian American who has been sentenced to 12 years in prison by a Texas court and ordered to pay $68 million
in restitution for his involvement in an elaborate rogue internet pharmacy scheme?
Rakesh Jyoti Saran.

69. Name of the upgraded version of a surface-to-surface Long-Range Missile successfully launched by Iran on
16th December 2009?
Sajjil-2.
The solid-fuel, high-speed Sajil-2 missile has "great maneuverability" and can access targets more than 2,000
kilometers (1,242 miles) away, making Israel and U.S. military bases in the Gulf reachable.

70. Former BJP leader and Member of Parliament who resigned from the post of Public Accounts Committee
(PAC) chairman by sending his resignation letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar?
Jaswant Singh

71. Former Russian prime minister and one of the leading architects of free market reforms in post-Soviet Russia,
died at the age of 53?
Yegor Gaidar.
He is an economic reformer who served as Russia' s acting prime minister under former Russian president Boris
Yeltsin

72. One of the country' s top drug kingpins who was killed by the Mexican Navy special forces in a shootout in the
central city of Cuernavaca recently ?
Arturo Beltrán Leyva. He called himself "The Boss of Bosses" and was one of Mexico' s three most-wanted drug
lords, came after a four-hour battle at a condominium complex in Cuernavaca.
 33

73. Which country decided to phase out 300-year-old tradition of paying by cheque in favour of more modern
payment methods?
Britain

74. Which cricketer blasted the fifth fastest Test century of all time en route to his 13th Test hundred, shocking
Australia’s bowlers on the second day of the third and final Test at the WACA?
Chris Gayle

75. Which films won the prestigious golden crow pheasant award for best feature film at 14th edition of
International Film Festival of Kerala 2009 [11-18 December, 2009] which was held in south Indian city of
Trivandrum?
Indonesian film "Fishing Platform" directed by Ravi Bharwani and Iranian film "About Elly" directed by Asghar
Farhadi jointly won the award.
"True Noon", a Tajik film directed by Nosir Saidov won the best director prize whereas South African director
Madoda Mcayiyana won best début director prize for his film "My Secret Sky".

76. Who becomes the first female politician to be appointed as the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha?
Sushma Swaraj.

77. Which film won the FIPRESCI award for the best film in the just concluded 14th International Film Festival of
Kerala?
A Fly in the Ashes (an Argentine film directed by Gabriela David)
NETPAC award for the best Malayalam Film: Kerala Café (a film comprising 10 short films; produced by Ranjith)
FIPRESCI award for the best Malayalam Film: Patham Nilayile Theevandi (directed by Joshy Mathew)

78. Who won the man of the match award in the second ODI between India and Sri Lanka held in Nagpur?
Tillakaratne Dilshan. He scored 123 runs off 113 balls and Sri Lanka won the match by 3 wickets.
Dilshan became the first and only batsman this year to register ten hundreds in international cricket - 6 in Tests and
4 in ODIs.

79. Name of the Florida inmate who has become the longest-serving prisoner to be exonerated using DNA evidence
and he was released from a Florida prison, where he had spent 35 years for a crime he didn'
t commit?
James Bain.
A court-mandated DNA test proved Bain was wrongly convicted of sexual assault in 1974.

80. Who has been ranked among top five best performing CEOs in the world by the prestigious Harvard Business
Review?
Mukesh Ambani. He heads India’s most valuable company Reliance Industries,

81. Name of the book in which the first history of Clinton scandal has been written and the same book also alleges
that Clinton had an affair with Susan McDougal of Whitewater infamy?
“The Death of American Virtue”
In this book, former White House intern Monica Lewinsky says former President Bill Clinton lied under oath when
describing their romantic encounters. The author of the book is," Ken Gormley

82. Who was elected unanimously as the National President of BJP?

Nitin Gadkari

83. Name of the two pops who were declared venerable by Pope Benedict XVI-the first step on the road to
canonization as saints for both men?
 34
Pope John Paul II and Pope Pius XII.
Pius XII, the Pope who led the Church during the Second World War (he was Pope from 1939 to 1958), and John
Paul II (Pope from 1978 to 2005) are now officially to be called”Venerable” (meaning able to be venerated).

84. Who has been appointed as the Director of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)?
Dr K Sree Krishna Kumar

85. Iran'
s most senior dissident cleric who is treated as the spiritual father of Iran'
s reformists died at the age of 87?
Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri.

86. Who won the man of the match award in the third test between Australia and West Indies held at the WACA
Ground?
Chris Gayle. He also named the man of the series.
Australia beat West Indies by 35 runs in third Test and won the series 2-0.

87. President of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who has been denied a visa by Pakistan for attending a conference
to be held in Islamabad?
Mehbooba Mufti

88. Who won the women’s singles title in the Syed Modi International Grand Prix Badminton tournament in
Luknow?
Saina Nehwal

89. Who won the men’s singles title in the Syed Modi International Grand Prix Badminton tournament in Luknow?
Chetan Anand

90. Who won the man of the match award in the first test between England and South Africa held in Centurion?
Graeme Swann.

91. Who has been appointed as deputy leader of BJP in the Lok Sabha?
Gopinath Munde, Former Maharashtra deputy chief minister.

92. American actress who gained fame in movies like "8 Mile" and "Just Married," died at the age of 32?
Brittany Murphy

93. Who won the man of the match award in the third ODI between India and Sri Lanka held in Cuttack?
Ravindra Jadeja . He took 4 wickets for 32runs. India won the match by 7 wickets.

94. Who has been awarded the honorary life membership of the Professional Golf Tour of India?
Jeev Milkha Singh, top golfer of India.

95. Who has been named as its Rolex Player of the Year 2009 by the Professional Golf Tour of India?
Anirban Lahiri

96. Which country dominated in the Commonwealth Wrestling championship, which concluded at the PAP Indoor
Stadium, Jalandhar?
India.
India won 7 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals and clinched the team championship trophy.

97. Who has been named Fifa World Footballer of the Year-2009?
Lionel Messi.(Club:Barcelona)
 35
He becomes the first Argentine to win this award.
Cristiano Ronaldo was honoured for scoring the best goal of 2009, a 40-meter shot against Porto in last season’s
Champions League
The late England player and manager Bobby Robson received FIFA’s fair play award, while the presidential award
for contributions to football and society went to Jordan’s Queen Rania.

98. Who won the female equivalent of FIFA’s World Player Of The Year Award for the fourth consecutive time?
Marta, Brazilian striker.

99. Noted Malayali writer who got this year'

s Kendra Sahitya Academy Award for his novel '
Thrikkottoor peruma
'
?
U A Khader

100. 10th Auto Expo will be held in which city of India?

Delhi. Expo will start from January 5.

101. Who has been appointed to lead the UNDP Global Programme on Democratic Governance Assessment?
John Samuel.
He is a renowned policy researcher, democracy activist and the International Director of Actionaid.

102. New Zealand pace bowler who has retired from Test cricket due to concerns over his ability to play five-day
matches?
Shane Bond

103. Managing director of the EMKE group, who has won elections to the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and
Industry?
M.A. Yusuf Ali.

104. Name of the mega public sector undertakings which got greater financial and operational autonomy after the
government accorded the “Maharatna” status to these firms to help them emerge as global giants?
ONGC, SAIL and NTPC.
ONGC-Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
SAIL-Steel Authority of India Ltd.
NTPC-National Thermal Power Corporation.

105. Who won the man of the match award in the fourth ODI between India and Sri Lanka held in Kolkata?
Gautham Gambhir . He scored unbeaten 150 runs.. India won the match by 7 wickets.

106. Indian cricketers who included in the All star2009-The Test XI of 2009 selected by the cricket expert Peter
Roebuck?
Virender Shewag
Sachin Tendulkar
Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Dhoni is selected as captain of the team.
Other Members: Andrew Strauss(England), Kumar Sangakkara(Sri Lanka), A.B. de Villiers(South Africa), Daniel
Vettori (vice-captain)(New Zealand), Mitchell Johnson(Australia), Graeme Swann(South Africa), Mohammad
Asif(Pakistan), Dale Steyn(South Africa).
12th Man : Thilan Samaraveera(Sri Lanka).

107. Name of the intercontinental ballistic missile successfully test launched by Russia?
‘RS 20 V’ Voevoda intercontinental ballistic missile.
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108. Senior Congress leader and governor of Andhra Pradesh who resigned after an alleged sex scandal?
N.D. Tiwari.

109. Which country launched the world’s fastest train service covering a distance of 1,068 kms at the average speed
of 350 kms an hour?
China

110. Which journal has won the award for the best journal in the cooperative sector in India?
‘Matsya’, the journal brought out by Matsyafed, Kerala won the award for the second consecutive year.
Matsyafed also won the Matsya Sahakar Seva Award for the best cooperative institution in the fisheries sector in
the country.

111. Name of the woman who attacked Pope Benedict XVI at Christmas Eve Midnight Mass, 24 December 2009,
inside St. Peter'
s Basilica in Vatican City?
Susanna Maiolo.

112. Sri Lankan all rounder who completed his 20 years in international cricket?
Sanath Jayasuriya.
The 40-year-old Jayasuriya played his first international cricket against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
on Dec 26, 1989.

113. The fifth and the final ODI between India and Sri Lanka was abandoned due to '
dangerous'playing
conditions.. Where was the match scheduled?
Feroz Shah Kotla stadium, Delhi

114. Who was sworn-in as the new Governor of Andhra Pradesh following ND Tiwari' s resignation in the wake of
a controversy over a sting operation purportedly showing him in with three women?
ES Lakshmi Narasimhan.

115. Which country sent army troops with shields and batons to evict some 4,000 ethnic Hmong asylum seekers y
and send them back to Laos despite strong objections from the U.S.A?
Thailand

116. The remains of which Renaissance astronomer, excavated in 2005 by archaeologists in north-eastern Poland,
are to be re-buried next year (i.e. .after 467 years)?
Nicolaus Copernicus.
Copernicus' s skull and leg bones were discovered during excavations by Polish archaeologists four year ago at the
Frombork Cathedral, in the town where Copernicus made key observations.

117. Which countries decided to invest $600 million to set up a joint venture (JV) to produce a medium lift
transport aircraft for their armed forces?
India and Russia

118. An Israeli former nuclear technician who, citing his opposition to weapons of mass destruction, revealed
details of Israel'
s nuclear weapons program to the British press in 1986 was arrested "by Jerusalem Police?
Mordechai Vanunu.
After revealing the secrets, he was transported to Israel and ultimately convicted in a secret trial. Vanunu spent 18
years in prison, including more than 11 years in solitary confinement. Released from prison in 2004, he became
subject to a broad array of restrictions on his speech and movement. On 28 December 2009, Mr. Vanunu was once
again arrested "by Jerusalem Police in a hotel in the capital following an alleged meeting with his girlfriend, a
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Norwegian national.

119. The British national who was convicted and executed on 29 December 2009 in the People' s Republic of China
for drug trafficking?
Akmal Shaikh.
Shaikh was the first national of today'
s EU Member States to be executed in China in over 50 years.

120. Popular Kannada actor died of cardiac arrest in Mysore at the age of 59?
Vishnuvardhan

121. Who won the man of the match award in the third test between England and South Africa held in Durban?
Graeme Swann. He finished with 5-54 as England beat South Africa by an innings and 98 runs in the second Test

122. Who has been chosen for this year'

s prestigious Lokmanya Tilak National Journalist award?
N Ram, Editor-in-Chief of the '
Hindu'
Vir Sanghvi of '
Hindustan Times'was the recipient of the Tilak award in 2009.

123. Who won the man of the match award in the first test between Australia and Pakistan held at the Melbourne
Cricket Ground?
Nathan Hauritz (Australia) He bagged five wickets as Australia beat Pakistan by 170 runs.