march_2014

Current Affairs PDF February 2013

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CURRENT AFFAIRS

PDF March 2014

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March 1-5, 2014

1) The 3rd Summit meet of Bengal Initiative

for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic

Cooperation (BIMSTEC) started on 4 March

2014 at – Nay Pyi Taw (Nay Pyi Taw is the

capital of Myanmar. BIMSTEC is a group of

seven nations from South and South-East

Asia comprising of Bangladesh, India,

Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and

Nepal. Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan

Singh represented India at this summit. The

theme of the 3rd BIMSTEC summit was

‘Partnership for Harmony and Prosperity’)

2) Which prominent sports association of

India was terminated by the recognized

world body of this sport on 4 March 2014? –

Boxing (Indian Boxing Federation (IBF), the

national association for boxing in India was

suspended by the International Boxing

Association (AIBA) on charges that officials of

IBF are damaging the sport in the country

due to their callous behaviour. AIBA wrote a

hard-worded letter stated that the current

set of IBF office-bearers is damaging the

image, reputation and interest of boxing. The

boxers and coaches will, however, continue

to remain unaffected by the development

and can participate in international events

under the AIBA flag till the time the crisis is

unresolved)

3) Which building during March 2014 became

India’s first heritage building to get gold

rating by Indian Green Building Council

(IGBC)? – “Bombay House”, which is the

headquarters of the Tata group in Mumbai

(Built in 1923, Bombay House was given the

rating for implementing measures for energy

savings of over 20%, use of renewable

energy, occupant well being and comfort, use

of car pools and public transport, and

contribution to the maintenance of

neighbouring areas)

4) Which village of Haryana came to limelight

recently due to discovery of a mint and

numerous artifacts dating to the 1000-year

old Pratihara Dynasty? – Bohar Majra (Bohar

Majra village is situated in the Rohtak district

of Haryana. These discoveries were made

during February 2014)

5) Which round of Inflation Expectations

Survey was launched by the Reserve Bank of

India (RBI) on 3 March 2014? – 35th (These

inflation expectations are to be based on

subjective assessments of about 5,000

households across 16 cities. The survey seeks

qualitative responses from households on

price changes (they foresee in general prices



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as well as prices of specific product groups) in

the next three months as well as in the next

one year and quantitative responses on

current, three-month ahead and one-year

ahead inflation rates)

6) A bandh was called on 3 March 2014 in

Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka which was

observed completely in Mangalore and all

the taluka headquarters. This bandh was

observed to protest against which project

situated on tributaries of the Nethravati

River? – Yettinahole project (It is feared that

Yettinahole project, aimed at drawing about

24 tmcft of water from the tributaries of the

Nethravati River for the benefit of parched

districts, will dry up the river, which is

considered the lifeline of the district with

Mangalore depending solely on it for drinking

water. The bandh was called to coincide with

the foundation laying ceremony for the

project in Chikballapur, the constituency of

Union Petroleum and Environment Minister

M. Veerappa Moily)

7) Which state of the country implemented

the Food Security Act from 1 March 2014 in

the state, under which 75% population of the

state populace would be covered? – Madhya

Pradesh (Under the newly launched scheme

the Central Government will provide wheat

at the rate of Rs 2 per kg and rice at Rs 3 per

kg to the Madhya Pradesh government.

However, both wheat and rice will be

provided at Rs one per kg under state govt.’s

Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojana by giving

additional subsidy to all eligible families)

8) Union Govt. on 28 February 2014 cleared a

proposal of the Election Commission (EC) to

raise expenditure limits for elections in the

country. What is the new upper limit of

expenditure for fighting election for a

Parliamentary seat in the country? – Rs. 70

Lakh (Rs. 70 lakh is the upper limit of election

expenses for larger states of India such as

Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya

Pradesh, West Bengal and Karnataka. This

limit earlier was Rs. 40 lakh. For smaller

states and states of the North-East, the new

upper limit is Rs. 54 Lakh. It was earlier 22

lakh)

9) The Union Cabinet on 2 March 2014

approved the proposal to grant OBC (other

backward caste) status to the Jat community.

This community would get OBC status in how

many states of the country as approved by

the Cabinet? – Nine states (These nine states

include – Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal

Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand,

Uttar Pradesh and Delhi)

10) Union Government on 28 February 2014

approved the proposal to ensure Rs. 1,000

minimum monthly pension under a scheme

of Employees Provident Fund Organisation

(EPFO). This pension would be provided

under which EPFO scheme? – Employees’

Pension Scheme-95 (EPS-95)

11) Nishi Vasudev on 1 March 2014 became

the first woman to become head of a

prominent blue-chip PSU. Which PSU is this?

– Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd. –

HPCL (She replaced Subir Roy Choudhury)



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12) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 3

March 2014 extended the deadline for the

public to exchange currency notes printed

before 2005 up to which date? – 1 January

2015 (Now the public would be able to

exchange currency notes printed before 2005

by 1 January 2015. The RBI on 22 January

2014 had announced that it would withdraw

from circulation all pre-2005 currency notes

from 1 April 2014. Post-2005 notes have

added security features and help in curbing

the menace of fake currency)

13) Who assumed charge as the new

Secretary General of the South Asian

Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)

on 3 March 2014? – Arjun Bahadur

Thapa (He is a former Foreign Secretary of

Nepal and succeeded Ahmed Saleem of

Maldives as SAARC’s 12th Secretary General)

14) Which Chinese city came to limelight on 1

March 2014 due to a violent attack by

terrorists of separatist group who murdered

29 persons by stabbing them? –

Kunming (Kunming city is the capital and

largest city of Yunnan province in southwest

China. The attack was carried out by a group

of separatist forces in Xinjiang. Xinjiang is

home to the Uighur Muslims and has been

restive for the past few years as Uighurs have

protested over growing settlements of Han

Chinese in the province)

15) Who was appointed as the new Governor

of Kerala on 4 March 2014? – Sheila

Dixit (Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit

was appointed Kerala Governor after

resignation of current Governor Nikhil

Kumar)

March 6-7, 2014

1) The parliament of which autonomous

republic of troubled Ukraine on 6 March

2014 passed a resolution to join Russia? –

Crimea (The Crimean parliament on 6

March voted for the region to join Russia.

The decision will only come in force if

approved by the Crimeans at a referendum

which will be held in 10 days. 78 MPs said

yes to Crimea joining Russia, while 8

abstained from voting. It is worth noting

that Crimea is an autonomous region of

Ukraine but has relations with Ukraine

defined on the basis of mutual agreements

and a constitution of 1992. However,

Ukraine reacted by describing the

referendum illegitimate. Majority of the

Crimean population comprises of Russians)



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2) The Election Commission of India (ECI) on

5 March 2014 announced the election

schedule for General Elections of 2014. In

which three states assembly elections

would also be held simultaneously with the

General Elections? – Andhra Pradesh,

Odisha and Sikkim (The General Elections

2014 would be held in 9 stages and the

election would be held on April 7, 9, 10, 12,

17, 24, 30, May 7 and May 12. The results

would be declared on 16 May 2014. More

than 81.4 crore voters will be eligible for

voting in these elections whereas

approximately 9.3 lakh polling stations

would be established to organize this

massive exercise)

3) Union Govt. on 4 March 2014 announced

the date for establishment of Telangana as

the 29th state of the India Union. What is

this date? – 2 June 2014 (Separate

Telangana would be established on 2 June

by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh and carving

10 districts out of it to form the new state.

The residuary Andhra Pradesh would have

13 districts. Hyderabad would become a

district of Telangana but it would remain

the capital of residuary Andhra Pradesh for

10 years)

4) The Union government on 4 March 2014

announced raising the interest rates on

select fixed deposit schemes offered by

post offices. Maximum increase of 0.2% per

annum (20 basis points) was announced on

which two schemes offered by post offices?

– 1-year term deposit and 2-year term

deposit (The interest on these two schemes

was raised from the present 8.2% per

annum to 8.4% per annum. On the other

hand rate of interest was raised by 0.10%

(10 basis points) on 3-year term deposit, 5-

year term deposit and 5-year recurring

deposit schemes. This increase would come

into effect from 1 April 2014)

5) Which PSU bank sold its entire stake in

credit information provider Credit

Information Bureau of India Limited (CIBIL)

to Transunion International Inc (TII)

recently? – Central Bank of India (Central

Bank had 5% stake in CIBIL while TII is the

majority shareholder in CIBIL at 27.5%.

State Bank of India and ICICI Bank carry 10%

each, while rest of 2.5% is with Sundaram

Finance Ltd. Among others, Bank of Baroda,

Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Union

Bank, Citicorp Finance (India), HSBC,

Standard Chartered Bank, Indian Overseas

Bank and HDFC Ltd each hold 5% stake in

CIBIL)

6) Tunisia’s President Moncef Marzouki on

6 March 2014 lifted the state of emergency

that has been in place since the outbreak of

a popular revolution. When was the

emergency imposed in the country? –

January 2011 (The state of emergency was

imposed by long-time President Zine El

Abidine Ben Ali, and was maintained after

he was overthrown. At the start it included

a curfew and a ban on meetings of more

than three people, but it has been relaxed

over-time. However it has continued to give



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the military and police special powers to

intervene in unrest or security threats)

7) Who is the author of the book “India at

Risk”, which was released on 3 March

2014? – Jaswant Singh (Former cabinet

minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA

government, Jaswant Singh describes the

major challenges that India has faced over

the last sixty-six years in this book. Book’s

full name is “India at Risk : Mistakes,

Misconceptions and Misadventures of

Security Policy”)

March 8-11, 2014

1) What is the name of the new political

party floated by the former Andhra Pradesh

Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy

recently? – Jai Samaikyandhra Party (N

Kiran Kumar Reddy, who quit as Andhra

Pradesh Chief Minister in protest against its

division to create Telangana, had

announced formation of the new party on 6

March 2014. The name of this new party

was announced on 10 March 2014 as Jai

Samaikyandhra Party – JSP)

2) Which state was ranked as the most

industry-friendly state in a Deloitte Touche

Tohmatsu study sponsored by the Planning

Commission? – Haryana (This study shows

that Haryana, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh

are the top three industry-friendly states in

the country. Orissa occupied fourth

positioned whereas fifth place was given to

Andhra Pradesh. Bihar ranks sixth, while

Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Nagaland

followed it. Among the bottom five states

West Bengal, Maharashtra, Assam, Goa and

Jharkhand occupied top five places

respectively. This study was commissioned

by the Planning Commission in 2013 and

consultancy firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

was asked to rate states based on certain

parameters that would help them improve

the regulatory ecosystem for the

manufacturing sector. However the report

was not officially released due to Mode

Code of Conduct imposed by the Election

Commission)

3) The first ever analysis of how students

have performed in Class XII boards, after

the Continuous and Comprehensive

Evaluation (CCE) format came into effect



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across CBSE schools, shows that students

who chose to skip the 2011 board exams

have, in their 2013 Class XII boards,

outperformed those who appeared for

boards in Class X. In which year was CCE

first introduced by the CBSE? – 2009 (CCE

was introduced in 2009 and 2011 by the

CBSE and Class X board exams was made

optional in a bid to decrease stress levels

among students and to usher in a more

rounded evaluation technique. Many

protested, arguing that this would relax

academic rigour in the school system. A CCE

report released by the Central Board of

Secondary Education (CBSE) on four years

of implementation of the novel evaluation

methodology says that students who

skipped the board’s Class X exams have

done better- both in terms of high marks

and mean marks)

4) What is the name of the Naval Offshore

Patrol Vessel which was formally

commissioned into the Indian Navy on 7

March 2014? – INS Sumedha (It is a Naval

Offshore Patrol Vessel (NOPV) designed and

built by Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL), which was

formally commissioned into the Indian Navy

by Vice-Admiral Anil Chopra, Flag Office and

Commander-in-Chief, East at Mormugao

(Goa). The vessel is suitable for monitoring

sea lanes of communication and defence of

offshore oil installations and it will help

meet the increasing requirement of the

Indian Navy for undertaking ocean

surveillance and surface warfare operations

to prevent infiltration and transgression of

maritime sovereignty)

5) Sri Lanka on 8 March 2014 regained the

Asia Cup trophy with a comfortable five-

wicket victory over defending champions

Pakistan. This was Sri Lanka’s ……Asia Cup

title – 5th (Sri Lanka earlier won this cup on

four occasions – in 1986, 1997, 2004 and

2008. With this title win Sri Lanka also

equaled India’s record of winning the title

five times. Pakistan has won Asia Cup on

two occasions, 2000 and 2012)

6) Which team won the 68th edition of

National Football Championship for the

Santosh Trophy on 9 March 2014? –

Mizoram (Mizoram won its maiden

Santosh Trophy title by thrashing Railways

by 3-0 in the finals. 68th Santosh Trophy was

held at Siliguri in West Bengal)

7) One civilian worker was killed and two

were injured in an accident at the under-

construction nuclear submarine at the

shipbuilding centre of Eastern Naval

Command (ENC) in Visakhapatnam on 8

March 2014. This nuclear submarine

belonged to which class? – Arihant

Class (The under-construction nuclear

submarine was a follow-up of the Navy’s

warship INS Arihant. The incident took

place when the pressure of the hydraulic

tank of the Arihant class submarine was

being tested and the tank’s lid fell on the

workers at the shipbuilding centre)



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8) A Navy commander died and two

personnel had to be hospitalized on 7

March 2014 following an accident on board

an Indian Navy destroyer undergoing trials

at the Mumbai Port Trust, weeks before it

joined the naval fleet. This destroyer ship

belonged to which class? – Kolkata

Class (The accident is a major setback for

the Navy as the Kolkata-class destroyer,

called P 15 A, was to be inducted in April

2014 as the most advanced, indigenous

warship in its fleet. Already running four

years behind schedule, the Kolkata is the

first of its class and is to be followed by the

Chennai and the Kochi classes which are

under construction as part of a Rs 15,000-

crore project. Three more advanced P 15 B

destroyers have been planned thereafter)

9) Who won the senior men’s National

Snooker title on 6 March 2014? – Pankaj

Advani (Advani of Petroleum Sports

Promotion Board (PSCB) capped a brilliant

run with a break of 139 to beat Kamal

Chawla of the Railways 6-3 in the final and

regain the senior men’s National snooker

title. In the women’s championship Vidya

Pillai retained her National snooker crown

in the women’s section with a hard-fought

4-3 win over team-mate Chitra Magimairaj)

10) What is the name of another book

written by Wendy Doniger, whose publisher

on 10 March 2014 said it will not reprint

this book until an acceptable resolution

pertaining to the alleged controversies in

this book are found? – “On Hinduism” (Dina

Nath Batra of Shiksha Bachao Andolan

Samiti had sent a legal notice to book’s

publisher Aleph Book Company on 3 March

2014 alleging that there were several

objectionable passages in Doniger’s book

that offended the sensitivities of the Hindu

community)

March 12-13, 2014

1) World Wide Web (www) completed how

many years on 12 March 2014? – 25

years (25 years ago, on 12 March 1989

British engineer and computer scientist Sir

Tim Berners-Lee, now Director of the World

Wide Web Consortium (W3C), wrote a

proposal for what would finally become the

World Wide Web. However, the first

website (http://info.cern.ch) went online on

6 August 1991. Tim Berners-Lee is now


http://info.cern.ch)


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known as the father of the Internet and he

later went on to write the the HyperText

Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Hyper Text

Markup Language (HTML), and the first ever

web browser, WorldWideWeb)

2) A record was created when an

unprecedented number of people turned

up to get themselves enrolled as voters at

the one-day special camp organised across

the country by the Election Commission on

9 March 2014. Approximately how many

persons turned up this day to get

themselves registered as the voter? – 74.5

lakh (74,56,367 people turned up at the 9.3

lakh polling stations across the country on

this day and filled up Form 6 – the form

required to apply for inclusion in the

electoral rolls. Election Commission

admitted that this was the biggest turnout

so far on a single day. UP saw the highest

turnout (15.4 lakh), followed by Andhra

Pradesh (11 lakh), Tamil Nadu (9.9 lakh),

Bihar (7 lakh) and Maharashtra (4.7 lakh))

3) 15 security personnel and a civilian were

killed in a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh’s

Sukma district on 11 March 2014. This

incident took place in which village of

Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district? –

Tongpal (Over 100 Maoists are alleged to

be involved in this incident in which 11

CRPF personnel and four personnel of

district police were killed after

indiscriminate firing by the Maoists)

4) Who topped the list of America’s most

powerful CEOs under the age of 40 for the

third consecutive time, as announced on 11

March 2014? – Larry Page, the CEO and co-

founder of Google (Larry Page’s personal

wealth was estimated at $30 billion. The

youngest CEO on the list is Facebook

founder Mark Zuckerberg, 29, and he

remains in the second place. For the second

consecutive year, Yahoo CEO Marissa

Mayer, 38, hold third place and remained

the only woman on this list. Two Indians

also featured in this list. Website hosting

company Endurance International Group

CEO and founder Hari K Ravichandran (38)

was ranked 19th, while asset management

firm Altisource Asset Management (AAMC)

CEO Ashish Pandey (38) was ranked 20th.

The 20 CEOs on the list head publicly-traded

companies with the highest market

capitalizations)

5) Boeing on 12 March 2014 signed a $4.4

billion deal with which Indian airline

company for supplying 42 aircrafts? –

SpiceJet (This deal was inked at the

Hyderabad Air Show-India Aviation 2014 at

Hyderabad. Under this deal Boeing will

supply 42 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft costing

Rs. 26,000 crore ($ 4.4 billion))

6) Who took over as the new Chairman and

Managing Director (CMD) of Allahabad Bank

on 11 March 2014? – Rakesh Sethi (Prior to

this elevation, Sethi was an executive

director at Punjab National Bank)



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March 14-15, 2014

1) What was the number of the ill-fated

flight of Malaysia Airlines jetliner that

disappeared from radar screens on its way

from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March

2014 and whose flight code was retired on

13 March 2014? – MH370 (Malaysia Airlines

retired the missing jetliner’s flight code as a

sign of respect to the 239 passengers and

crew on board. The airline will no longer be

using MH370 and MH371 codes. MH370

was used for Kuala Lumpur-Beijing route

and MH371 for a return flight. The airline

started using flight codes MH318 and

MH319 for the same route from 14 March

2014. No trace of this flight was made till 14

March even as Malaysian search teams

have expanded their search areas)

2) Andhra Pradesh witnessed yet another

political party launch on 14 March 2014 as

the mercurial Telugu actor Pawan Kalyan

launched his political outfit in a mega show.

What is the name of Pawan Kalyan’s

political party? – ‘Jana Sena Party’ (Pawan

Kalyan formally launched the party at HICC

(Hyderabad International Convention

Centre) Madhapur on 14 March 2014.

Pawan Kalyan is the younger brother of K.

Chiranjeevi, the former Union minister and

a hugely popular Telugu actor himself.

Chiranjeevi also had launched his political

party ‘Praja Rajyam Party’ in 2008. However

this party was later merged with the Indian

National Congress in 2011)

3) Which two state-owned companies on 14

March 2014 bought 10% government stake

in Indian Oil Corp (IOC) for Rs 5,340 crore? –

Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil

India Ltd (OIL) – In off-market transactions,

ONGC and OIL bought 5% stake each at Rs.

220 per share. This stake sale doubled

government’s disinvestment proceeds for

the current fiscal to Rs 10,434 crore. An

Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM)

headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram

had on 28 February 2014 decided to sell the

stake in IOC, the nation’s largest oil firm, at

a discount of 10% through an off-market

deal)

4) FICCI and KPMG released the Indian

Aviation 2014 report at the India Aviation

show at Hyderabad on 13 March 2014. In

this report which reason was described as

the main reason for rendering the Indian

aviation sector uncompetitive? – Over-

taxation in the industry (FICCI and KPMG

clearly stated that India is making self-goals

in the aviation sector, driving away



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business. Stating that the industry is over-

taxed, the report mentioned this aspect is

clearly reflected in the industry’s lack of

competitiveness at the global level. High

taxes on ATF are also adversely impacting

the industry)

5) Infosys co-founder and face of UPA

government’s flagship ‘Aadhar’ programme,

Nandan Nilekani on 13 March 2014

resigned as Chairman of Unique

Identification Authority of India (UIDAI),

three days after joining Congress. When he

took charge as the first Chairman of UIDAI?

– In 2007 (He had quit as CEO of Bangalore

headquartered Infosys in 2007 to take

charge as head of UIDAI, mandated to give

a billion Indians an identity card, a

mammoth exercise that he had been

successfully overseeing. Nilekani formally

took a political plunge on 9 March 2014,

when he joined Congress, a day after the

party named him as its candidate from

Bangalore South, where he is taking on five-

time BJP MP Ananth Kumar)

6) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 13 March

2014 hiked the trade related remittance

limit from Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 5 lakh per

transaction. What was the reason for this

increase? – Increase in the number of

transactions handled by exchange

houses (There is a rapid increase in the

number of the permitted transactions

under the Rupee Drawing Arrangements

(RDAs) due to rapid developments in the

communication facilities)

7) Which two states became the first to

issue Electors Plastic Photo Identity Card

(EPPIC) for elections in India, as announced

by the Election Commission on 12 March

2014? – Assam and Nagaland (The voters of

these two states will use EPPIC for the first

time in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

EPPIC have been issued instead of the

traditional Electors Photo Identity Card

(EPIC) to avoid duplication and forgery)

8) The vigilance department of the

Insurance Regulatory and Development

Authority (IRDA) recently brought a private

insurer under its scanner for alleged

irregularities involving several crore in

implementation of government sponsored

insurance schemes meant for poor people.

These schemes included Rajiv Gandhi Shilpi

Swasthya Bima Yojana (RGSSBY), Weather

Insurance Scheme, Shetkari Apghati

Durghatana Bima Yojana and Panjikrut

Kishan Durghatana Bima Yojana. Which

private insurance company in this? – ICICI

Lombard (In a related development, CBI on

12 March 2014 registered a Preliminary

Enquiry (PE) against ICICI Lombard for

allegedly colluding with officials of

Rajasthan government and Union

Agriculture and Textiles ministries and

pocketing claims of non-existing farmers

and artisans)



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March 16-17, 2014

1) Which seemingly impoverished country

recently made a surprising entry into the

high-tech world with its own manufactured

Android tablet named Surtab? –

Haiti (Better known for producing poverty

and political mayhem, the Western

Hemisphere’s least developed country Haiti

recently made a surprising entry into the

high-tech world with its own Android tablet.

With only a limited selection of expensive

imported tablets available in Haiti, Surtab is

the cheapest device on the market. A

product such as Surtab also shows that

Haitians are not just destined for low-wage,

low-skilled jobs)

2) Crimea’s parliament on 17 March 2014

declared the region an independent state,

after its residents voted overwhelmingly to

break off from Ukraine and seek to join

Russia. Approximately how many

respondents had supported leaving Ukraine

to join Russia in the referendum held on 16

March 2014? – 97% (However, this

referendum is not recognised by the West,

and the United States and the European

Union are preparing sanctions against

Russia, whose troops have been occupying

Crimea for several weeks)

3) What is the name of the proposed 70-

storey temple, billed to be the tallest shrine

in the world, which was inaugurated on 16

March 2014 at Vrindavan in UP? –

‘Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir’(This

project will cost more than Rs. 300 crore

and its builder International Society for

Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is hoping to

conclude the temple construction within

the next five years. The project was first

conceived by the devotees of ISKCON,

Bangalore. The proposed Chandrodaya

Mandir, a 213 metres high one of its kind

temple is expected to mark Vrindavan,

where Hindu deity Krishna is said to have

spent his childhood, on the world spiritual

map)

4) What was India’s rank in the recently

released report of the global anti-money

laundering body Financial Action Task Force

(FATF) pertaining to progress in combating

money laundering in the world? – 34 (In the

Indian neighbourhood, the countries where

progress in combating money laundering

and financial terrorism has been scratchy

include Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and

Myanmar. Two other countries which were

under FATF surveillance, Nepal and

Bangladesh emerged from there as per the

report. Action against money laundering is

significant as most of the other trans-

national crimes including terrorism use this

as a conduit)



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5) Who won the first Formula 1 (F1) title of

the year – the Australian Grand Prix on 16

March 2014? –Nico Rosberg of Germany

representing Mercedes team (Rosberg

dominated the Australian Grand Prix to

claim the fourth F1 victory of his career and

the first in the new turbo-powered era.

Kevin Magnussen of Denmark (McLaren)

was declared second after Red Bull’s Daniel

Ricciardo was disqualified after finishing

second in the race. Ricciardo was

disqualified for breach of fuel regulations.

Jenson Button of Great Britain also

representing McLaren finished the podium

with third place. Red Bull’s four time F1

champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull could

not finish the race due to an engine failure.

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg (Germany)

and Sergio Perez (Mexico) finished at 6th and

10thspot respectively)

6) Karnataka on 16 March 2014 created

history in Indian domestic cricket when it

won its triple trophy by defeating Railways.

Which trophy is this, which Karnataka won

after already bagging Ranji and Irani

Trophy? – Vijay Hazare Trophy (Karnataka

defeated Railways by 4 wickets in the finals

held at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The team

had won the Ranji and Irani Trophy of 2014)

7) On 15 March 2014 India’s P.V. Sindhu

stunned which recently-crowned All

England Badminton champion to enter the

semi-finals of the $125,000 Swiss Grand Prix

Gold Badminton trophy? –Shixian Wang of

China (Sindhu defeated Wang by 21-17, 21-

15. However, Sindhu was later defeated by

China’s fast emerging player Sun Yu on 16

March in the semi-finals. Yu defeated

Sindhu by 18-21, 21-12, 21-19)

March 18-19, 2014

1) Union Govt. on 18 March 2014 launched

the exchange traded fund of Central public

sector enterprises (CPSE-ETF) hoping to

raise Rs 3,000 crore. The long awaited CPSE-

ETF is an open-ended scheme comprising of

shares of 10 Central public sector

enterprises and it includes ONGC, Coal India

Limited, GAIL, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC),

Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), Oil

India Limited (OIL), Container Corporation

of India Limited (CCIL), Power Finance



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Corporation (PFC), Engineers India Limited

(EIL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

Which financial entity is managing this ETF?

–Goldman Sachs India MF (The CPSE-ETF

tracks an index fund but trades like a stock

on the exchange and is yet another avenue

for the Union Govt. for selling its stake in

CPSEs)

2) France’s foreign minister Laurent Fabius

on 18 March 2014 claimed that leaders of

the Group of Eight (G-8) world powers have

suspended Russia’s participation in the club

amid tensions over Ukraine and Russia’s

incursion into Crimea. The other seven

members of the group had already

suspended preparations for a G-8 summit

that was scheduled to be held in Russia

during June 2014. Which Russia city was to

host this summit? – Sochi (On the other

hand the U.S. and European Union (EU)

announced fresh sanctions against Russia

over its actions in the Crimean Peninsula)

3) According to the recently released 2011

World Health Organisation (WHO) report on

World’ Most Polluted Cities, Iran’s Ahvaz

city is the most polluted city of the world.

Two Indian cities also feature in the list of

top 10 most polluted cities of the world.

Which cities are these? – Ludhiana and

Kanpur(Ludhiana was placed at 4th place

and Kanpur at 9th place)

Top 10 most polluted cities in the World

1) Ahvaz, Iran 372 mcg/m3 (2009 data)

2) Ulan Bator, Mongolia 279 mcg/m3

(2008 data)

3) Sanandaj, Iran 254 mcg/m3 (2009

data)

4) Ludhiana, India (2008 data) and

Quetta, Pakistan (2003/4 data) tied at

251 mcg/m3

5) Kermanshah, Iran 229 mcg/m3 (2009

data)

6) Peshawar, Pakistan 219 mcg/m3

(2003/4 data)

7) Gaborone, Botswana 216 mcg/m3

(2005 data)

8) Yasuj, Iran 215 mcg/m3 (2009 data)

9) Kanpur, India 209 mcg/m3 (2008

data)

10) Lahore, Pakistan 200 mcg/m3

(2003/4 data)

4) For the first time, a large section of the

still classified Henderson Brooks Report,

which details a comprehensive operational

review of India’s military debacle in 1962,

has been made public. The first volume of

the report, which includes an exhaustive

operational review of the India-China war

over both western and eastern sectors, was

published by an Australian journalist on his

web site. Who is he? – Neville

Maxwell (Maxwell was a former

correspondent of The Times of London who

reported on the war from New Delhi. He

authored in 1970 ‘India’s China War’ – a

path-breaking, yet controversial, account of

the conflict which angered the Indian

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decision-making that led to defeat at the

hands of the Chinese. The report indicts the

highest levels of the government – from the

then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s

own office and the Defence Ministry –

particularly for its Forward Policy, which

was enforced, the report reveals, despite

considerable concerns and objections from

on-the-ground military commands that

lacked resources)

5) Which two sites were nominated by India

as its candidates for UNESCO’s World

Heritage Site status for 2014? – Rani-ki-Vav

(Gujarat) and the Great Himalayan

National Park (Himachal Pradesh) – The

World Heritage Committee (WHC), which

will convene in Doha, Qatar, in June 2014,

will review the nomination and take a final

decision. Rani-ki-Vav, one of the finest

examples of step wells in Gujarat, was

constructed by Queen Udayamati of the

Solanki Dynasty. The Great Himalayan

National Park is a natural site spread over

an area of 754 square kilometres. It is

located on the western part of the

Himalayan Mountains in Kullu district of

Himachal Pradesh, and is known for its

biodiversity)

March 20-21, 2014


March 2014 allowed five domestic private

banks to import gold. This decision is

expected to give a boost to gold supplies

and bring down premiums gold prices in

India, which is the world’s second-biggest

consumer after China. Which 5 banks are

these? – HDFC Bank , Axis Bank, Kotak

Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank and YES

Bank (Experts of the global gold market

believe that this could be a significant step

towards easing of tough curbs on the metal

imposed last year to cut the country’s trade

deficit)

2) Which state topped the recently released

“Economic Freedom of the States of India”

Report 2013, an index that measures

governance, growth, citizens’ rights and

labour and business regulation among the

country’s 20 largest states? –

Gujarat (Gujarat widened its lead at the

top of the economic freedom table, with an

index score of 0.65 (on a scale from 0 to

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position, but some distance behind, with a

score of 0.54. A reading of the index closer

to 1 indicates greater economic freedom

and shows the correlation between

economic freedom and the well-being of

citizens. Bihar, which continues to remain at

the bottom of table, however, has

progressed by leaps and bounds after Nitish

Kumar assumed charge as the state’s Chief

Minister)

3) Noted English author and

journalist Khushwant Singh died in New

Delhi on 20 March 2014 at the age of 99.

The author of classics such as ‘Train to

Pakistan’ and ‘I Shall Not Hear the

Nightingale’ he was nominated to Rajya

Sabha by the government under late Indira

Gandhi. He was editor of which famous

weekly of yesteryears? – ‘Illustrated

Weekly of India’ (Khushwant Singh also

edited the ‘Hindustan Times’. His weekly

column ‘With Malice Towards One and All’

was very popular and was syndicated in

many dailies. He was awarded the Padma

Bhushan in 1974 but returned the

decoration in 1984 in protest against the

storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar

by the Army. In 2007, he was awarded the

Padma Vibhushan)

4) Which state scored the highest in

monthly per capita consumer expenditure

(MPCE) for urban areas in the recently

released ranking by the by the National

Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO)? –

Haryana (Haryana’s MPCE stood at Rs. 3817

and it was followed by Kerala (Rs. 3,408)

and Maharashtra (Rs. 3,189). Among urban

areas, Bihar (Rs. 1,507) shows the lowest

monthly per capita consumption

expenditure. The 68th round survey on

level and pattern of consumption

expenditure was conducted by the NSSO

between July 2011 and June 2012)

5) Which state scored the highest in

monthly per capita consumer expenditure

(MPCE) for rural areas in the recently

released ranking by the by the National

Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO)? –

Kerala(Kerala’s MPCE stood at Rs. 2,669

and it was followed by Gujarat (Rs. 2,581)

and Punjab (Rs. 2,345). Among rural areas,

Orrisa (Rs. 1,003) displayed the lowest

MPCE. The 68th round survey on level and

pattern of consumption expenditure was

conducted by the NSSO between July 2011

and June 2012)

6) What is the name of the Deputy

Governor of the RBI who resigned on 20

March 2014? – KC Chakrabarty (He

resigned on personal grounds three months

ahead of completion of his term.

Chakrabarty was appointed as Deputy

Governor in June 2009 for a period of three

years. In 2012, he got an extension of two

years)

7) Indian market regulator SEBI on 19

March 2014 passed an order against

Financial Technologies (FTIL), declaring it as

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directly or indirectly in any stock exchange

or clearing corporation. FTIL presently holds

equity stakes in which stock exchanges of

the country? –MCX Stock Exchange (MCX-

SX), National Stock Exchange (NSE), Delhi

Stock Exchange (DSE), Vadodara Stock

Exchange (VSE) and MCX-SX Clearing

Corporation (MCX-SX CCL) – As per this

SEBI order, all these holdings will need to be

disposed of within 90 days. In December

2013, the Forward Markets Commission

(FMC) had declared FTIL as not fit and

proper to hold two per cent or more of the

equity share capital in the Multi Commodity

Exchange of India Ltd (MCX))

8) DK Jain, who passed away on 18 March

2014, was the founder and Chairman of

which famous pen and stationery brand of

India? – Luxor (Jain was the Founder,

Chairman and President of Luxor Group, the

company which has brought internationally-

renowned brands like Waterman, Parker

and Pilot to India)

March 22, 2014

1) Union Government on 21 March 2014

sold its 9% stake in which private sector

bank? – Axis Bank(The stake was divested

through the Specified Undertaking of UTI

(SUUTI), which was formed in 2003 is an

offshoot of erstwhile UTI and held 20.72%

in Axis Bank. The other promoters of the

bank are Life Insurance Corporation,

General Insurance Corporation, New India

Assurance and National Insurance

Company)

2) British retail major Tesco on 21 March

2014 announced forming of an equal joint

venture with which retail entity associated

with the Tata Group, by picking up 50%

stake in it? – Trent Hypermarket Ltd –

THL (Tesco acquired 50% stake for about 85

million pounds. THL operates the Star

Bazaar retail business in India. On

completion of the transaction THL will

operate 12 stores retailing a range of

merchandise, including food and grocery,

personal and home-care products, home

and kitchen, fashion and accessories etc.

Tesco became the first global retailer to

apply for multi-brand retailing after the

government allowed 51% FDI in the

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Investment Promotion Board had cleared its

proposal on 30 December 2012)

3) What is the name of the Indian journalist

who won the prestigious Google Digital

Activism Award for 2014 beating likes of

Edward Snowden? – Shubhranshu

Choudhary (Shubhranshu Choudhary

conceptualised CGNet Swara (Voice of

Chhattisgarh), a mobile-phone service that

allows citizens to post and listen to local

reports in their local language using basic

mobile phones. Shubhranshu Choudhary is

a Knight International Journalism Fellow

and the founder of CGNet Swara. He

previously worked with BBC

and Guardian and was also a reporter at the

Hindi-daily Deshbandhu. The awards were

announced at an event in London on 20

March 2014. The Google Digital Activism

Award is a part of the Index Freedom of

Expression Award, which honours achievers

in four different categories: advocacy, arts,

digital activism and journalism. Other

nominees for the 2014 Google Digital

Activism Award were whistleblower Edward

Snowden, Free Weibo, an uncensored

version of Chian’s largest social network

SinaWeibo and TAILS operating system)

4) Popular micro-blogging site Twitter

completed how many years of its first tweet

on 21 March 2014? – Eight (Twitter co-

founder Jack Dorsey on 21 March 2006 sent

the first tweet through twitter which read

“just setting up my twttr.” Since then

billions of tweets have been sent through

Twitter, making it the world’s most popular

micro-blogging platform. However, Twitter

was publicly launched on 15 July 2006)

5) Which country on 21 March 2014

restricted access to micro-blogging platform

Twitter with an objective to apparently root

out the social media network where

wiretapped recordings have been leaked,

damaging the government’s reputation

ahead key local elections this month? –

Turkey(Many users trying to access the

network early on 21 March were

confronted with a notice from Turkey’s

telecommunications authority, citing court

orders for the site’s apparent closure. The

internet has in the past weeks been awash

with incriminating leaked recordings,

including one in which Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdogan allegedly instructs his

son to dispose of large amounts of cash

from a residence amid a police graft probe.

Links to the recordings were posted on

Twitter)

6) Which water-based initiative from India

won the 2014 UN-Water “Water for Life”

Best Practices Award as announced on 21

March 2014? – International Water

Management Institute (IWMI)-Tata Water

Policy Programme (IWMI-Tata Water Policy

Programme is a project based on water

scarce across India. The award was given for

project’s sustainable practices of water

resources)



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March 23-24, 2014

1) What is the name of the pre-

paid/remittance provider associated with

the m-Pesa platform, which during March

2014 started a pan-India inter-bank money

transfer service by joining hands with the

Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) of the

National Payments Corporation of India

(NPCI)? – Mobile Commerce Solutions Ltd

(MCSL) – With this tie-up, an MCSL (m-Pesa)

user can send money to customers of any

IMPS-enabled bank using NPCI’s remittance

platform. The National Payments

Corporation of India (NPCI) is the umbrella

organisation of all retail payment systems in

India, set up with the support of the

Reserve Bank of India and Indian Banks’

Association (IBA). Immediate Payment

Service (IMPS) is a remittance processing

platform offered by NPCI that offers instant,

24X7, electronic funds transfer through

mobile, Internet or ATM between banks

and pre-paid providers)

2) What is the name of the non-profit group

which recently installed a first-of-its-kind

water ATM in Mumbai which provides

water vending facility at an affordable price

of Re 1 per litre? – Vandana

Foundation (Vandana Foundation and

another non-profit group Aquakraft came

together for the water ATM called

‘AQUATM’. This ATM vends up to 1,000

litres per day. The vending machine has

been set up at Mankhurd where there are

water contamination problems. It can be

operated through prepaid cards)

3) Hilderaldo Luiz Bellini, who passed away

on 20 March 2014, was the captain of which

Football World Cup winning team? –

Brazil (Hilderaldo Luiz Bellini captained

Brazilian team which won the World Cup in

1958. This was Brazil’s first World Cup

victory and the great footballer Pele was

also part of this team. Bellini also

represented Brazil in the World Cup’s of

1962 and 1966. Brazil have won a record

five World Cups, the last time in 2002. He

was cremated with full state honours on 22

March 2014 in his home city of Itapira in

Sao Paulo state)

4) Former IMF Chief and French Presidential

hopeful Dominique Strauss-Kahn is seeking

to translate his extensive experience at the

top levels of global policy-making into a

lucrative career as an investment manager.

What is the name of his investment firm for

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fund? – LSK and Partners (Strauss-Kahn,

who fell from grace in 2011 amid

accusations of sexual assault, joined

investment banker Thierry Leyne to form

LSK and Partners in 2013. LSK is

headquartered at Luxembourg and is aimed

at institutional investors and high net-worth

individuals around the world)

5) Which team won the 4th Hockey India

Senior Men National Championship 2014 on

23 March 2014? – Air India Sports

Promotion Board – AISPB (AISPB defeated

Comptroller & Auditor General of India 4-1

at Lucknow’s Major Dhyan Chand Hockey

Stadium. With this championship win AISPB

retained its title. Hosts Uttar Pradesh

defeated Railways Sports Promotion Board

by 4-2 to claim the third position in the

championship)

6) Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC)

recently asked retired Delhi High Court

judge Justice Rekha Sharma to be an

arbitrator in the matter pertaining to

determining the exact distance between

Delhi and Lahore. This matter is associated

with an unresolved dispute DTC has with a

private bus operator who runs a Volvo bus

between the cities. The operator, had

approached Delhi High Court to recover Rs

19 lakh from DTC, which it said was the

difference between what accrued to it on

account of the distance actually travelled

and the money that DTC paid due to a

faulty odometer instrument on the bus.

What is the name of this bus operator? –

Libra Bus Service (Libra Bus Service

operates a Volvo bus (DL1PC 3737)

between Lahore and Delhi. While moving

the court in 2012, the operator said that the

one-way distance between Delhi and

Lahore was 540 km, but the company was

paid for only 491 km)

March 25-26, 2014

1) The Nuclear Security Summit 2014 (NSS

14), which concluded on 25 March 2014,

was held at which place? – The Hague,

Netherlands (NSS 14 was a 2-day summit

and was attended by 58 world leaders (5 of

which from observing international

organizations). This was the third edition of

NSS and the earlier two summits were held

in Washington, D.C. (2010) and Seoul



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(2012). The main goal of the conference

was to assess which of the objectives that

were set at the previous summits in

Washington, D.C. and Seoul have not been

accomplished in the past four years. NSS 14

was the largest conference ever held in the

Netherlands)

2) The US and other top economic powers

on 24 March 2014 cancelled the upcoming

G-8 summit that was to be held at Sochi

(Russia) during June 2014. The proposed G-

8 Summit has been replaced by a G-7

meeting without Russian involvement. This

G-7 summit would be held at which place?

–Brussels, Belgium (The decision was taken

by leaders of Canada, France, Germany,

Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the US,

the President of the European Council and

the President of the European Commission

following their meeting in The Hague on the

sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit

2014)

3) More than 17 days after Malaysia

Airlines’ flight MH370 disappeared from

radars an hour after taking off from Kuala

Lumpur bound for Beijing, Malaysian Prime

Minister Najib Razak on 24 March 2014

announced that the aircraft crashed in the

middle of the south Indian Ocean as its last

position was detected here. This place,

which is said to be one of the most remote

locations on Earth, is situated where? –

More than 2,000 km west of Perth,

Australia (United Kingdom’s Air Accidents

Investigation Branch (AAIB), citing data

from satellite company Inmarsat, had

established the last position of the missing

flight using analysis never before used in an

investigation of this sort. All 239 people on

board this aircraft are feared to have lost

their lives in one of the biggest and most

baffling tragedies in modern aviation

history)

4) TIP is the unofficial name given to a

group of three emerging countries whose

stock markets outperformed many much

fancied markets during the first three

months of 2014. Which three countries are

these? – Thailand, Indonesia and the

Philippines (Till 23 March 2014 Indonesia’s

Jakarta Composite was up 9.8%, Philippines’

PSEI gained 7% and Thailand’s Se Thai also

registered a positive growth of 4.7%. Many

analysts also add India’s name to this list as

the Sensex gained around 4% till 23 March

2014. On the other hand Shanghai

Composite (China), Kospi (South Korea),

MICEX (Russia) and Bovespa (Brazil) have

plummeted by 4-10% during the same time)

5) Legendary Hindi and Marathi film actress

Nanda, who is best known for films like

‘Hum Dono’ (1961), ‘Teen Deviyan’ and

‘Kanoon’ (1960), passed away on 25 March

2014. She won Filmfare Best Supporting

Actress Award in 1960 for which film? –

‘Aanchal’ (Nanda started her career in

1956 with V Shantaram’s (her paternal

uncle) ‘Toofan Aur Diya’. She went on to

form a hit pair with actor Shashi Kapoor in

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‘Mohabbat Isko Kehte Hain’ (1965), ‘Jab Jab

Phool Khilen’ (1965) among others)

6) Which leading Indian textile

manufacturer recently acquired 49% stake

in iconic fashion brand Calvin Klein’s India

operations? – Arvind Limited (Arvind Ltd.

picked up the 49% stake held by the

Murjani Group in Calvin Klein in India)

7) Who was named as the new Managing

Director of FMCG major Britannia Industries

Limited (BAL) on 25 March 2014? – Varun

Berry (Berry would replace Vinita Bali who

retires as company’s MD on 31 March 2014.

Berry’s appointment would be effective

from 1 April)

March 27-28, 2014

1) The World Health Organisation (WHO) on

27 March 2014 officially certified India as a

polio-free country with no case of the

disease being reported in the country for

three years. How many countries were

declared polio-free by the WHO on 27

March? – 11 (These 11 countries are –

Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People’s

Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia,

Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka,

Thailand and Timor-Leste)

2) The member states of the European

Union (EU) on 26 March 2014 decided to

ban the import of five types of fruit and

vegetable from India. The ban, which goes

into effect in May 2014, covers mangoes,

aubergines, the taro plant and two types of

gourd. What is the reason for this ban? –

Fruits and vegetables from India being

found contaminated by pests such as fruit

flies (Pests that are not native to Europe

were found in 207 fruit and vegetable

consignments from the subcontinent during

2013. The banned articles represent less



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than 5% of the bloc’s fresh fruit and

vegetable imports from India)

3) Who headed the committee on Credit

Information Reports (CIRs), which

submitted its report to the Reserve Bank of

India (RBI) during March 2014? – Aditya

Puri, Chairman of HDFC Bank (This

committee recommended that customers

should be given a free copy of their credit

profile as it would help in promoting

financial discipline among loan seekers. The

committee also recommended use of

common data formats and a common data

quality index that could assist credit

institutions in determining the gaps in data)

4) Who topped Forbes magazine’s annual

list of 100 best venture investors with the

“Midas” touch, which was released on 26

March 2014? – Jim Goetz, partner at firm

Sequoia Capital who was the only

institutional backer in messaging service

WhatsApp (This list comprises of 100 best

venture investors who made savvy

investments in start-ups and then sold off

their stakes to pocket huge profits. Jim

Goetz invested around $60 million to

support WhatsApp and his stock value

stood nearly around $3 billion after

Facebook announced its purchase of

WhatsApp for $19-billion price)

5) Whose name was proposed by the

Supreme Court as a replacement for BCCI

president N. Srinivasan in its order on 27

March 2014? – Sunil Gavaskar, former

Indian captain and test player (In a big

setback for BCCI president N. Srinivasan,

the Supreme Court proposed his

replacement by Sunil Gavaskar and

suspension of Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

along with Rajasthan Royals (RR) from IPL 7

till the pendency of case of betting and spot

fixing scandal before it. The court said it is

intending to bar CSK, owned by India

Cements, which is promoted by Mr.

Srinivasan, and RR, whose players and team

officials are allegedly involved in the

scandal, from participating in the IPL 7

tournament slated to begin from 16 April

2014)

6) What is the name of the largest Muslim

rebel group in the Philippines, with which

the Philippine government signed a peace

accord on 27 March 2014 after years of

negotiations? – Abu Sayyaf Group (Abu

Sayyaf Group is a Muslim extremist network

with international links and the Philippine

army has been battling it with support from

the United States. The deal inked between

the Philippine government and Abu Sayyaf

grants largely Muslim areas of the southern

Mindanao region greater political

autonomy in exchange for an end to armed

rebellion. However, other insurgent groups

have vowed to keep fighting for full

independence)

7) What is the name of the German trade

union, on whose call thousands of public-

sector German airport workers walked off

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Duesseldorf and several other German

cities on 27 March 2014 in a strike for

higher wages? – Ver.di (The Ver.di union

held the one-day warning strike to pressure

employers ahead of a third round of

negotiations for some 2.1 million federal

and municipal employees. The union is

pushing for a €100 euro ($138) one-off

payment and a 3.5% wage increase. Ver.di

is a large German trade union with around

2.2 million members)

8) Which infrastructure finance company

recently received RBI approval to set up a

minimum of 9,000 white label ATMs (WLAs)

in the next three years in rural India? – SREI

Infrastructure Finance Ltd (The company

received a certificate of authorisation from

the RBI to set up, own and operate a

payment system for WLAs effective 25

March 2014. Through these WLAs, the

infrastructure financial institution will be

able to take financial products and services

of the sponsor bank to the doorstep of the

rural population)

March 29-30, 2014

1) Who will challenge Chess World

Champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway) in the

World title match to be held during

November 2014? – Vishwanathan Anand of

India (Anand won the World Candidates

chess tournament at Khanty Mansisyk

(Russia) on 29 March 2014 by drawing his

tie against Russian Sergey Karjakin in the

penultimate round. He took an unbeatable

lead in tournament with 8 points. By

becoming the challenger, Anand also

became the first player to be in the world

title matches eight times and winning in all

three formats – knockout, double-round

robin and match-play)

2) The capital market regulator, the

Securities and Exchange Board of India

(SEBI) on 29 March 2014 got back the

power to act against ponzi schemes, illegal

deposit schemes and assess call data

records in securities-related offences after

the SEBI Ordinance was re-promulgated.

This happened after the Finance Ministry

managed to get the nod of the Election

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promulgation of the SEBI Ordinance and

finally from the President. Under this

ordinance, which pooled money schemes

would be compulsorily registered with the

SEBI? – Schemes with deposits over Rs. 100

crore (This Ordinance lapsed on 17 January

2014 after the Government failed in getting

the Securities (laws) Amendment Bill passed

in the monsoon, winter and extended

winter session of the 15th Lok Sabha, which

was adjourned sine die on 21 February

2014)


March 2014 extended the deadline for

implementation of Basel III norms by the

Indian banks to 31 March 2019. What was

the earlier deadline for implementation of

this norm? – 31 March 2018 (Under this

norm Indian banks need to have a core

capital ratio of 8% and a total capital

adequacy ratio of 11.5% against the present

9%. The norm has been devised to

strengthen the regulation, supervision and

risk management of the banking sector)

4) Nirbheek – India’s first revolver especially

made for women was for the first time

issued to three women during March 2014.

This 0.5 Kg revolver can be easily carried in

handbag or purse. Which state owned

factory manufactured Nirbheek? – Indian

Ordnance Factory Kanpur (IOF Kanpur) –

Nirbheek is being marketed as India’s first

firearm designed for women. At 500 grams,

it is also the first IOF handgun made of

titanium alloy. This .32 bore light weight

revolver has been priced over Rs. 1.20 lakh)

5) Who was appointed as the new President

of the Confederation of Indian Industry

(CII), one of the leading trade associations

of the country? – Ajay S. Shriram (Ajay S.

Shriram is the Chairman and Sr. Managing

Director of DCM Shriram Ltd and he was

elected as the President of CII for 2014-15.

He succeeds S Gopalakrishnan of Infosys as

the new President. Naushad Forbes,

Director, Forbes Marshall, has been elected

as the Vice-President)

6) State-owned Canara Bank on 28 March

2014 achieved which milestone in its ATM

operations? – It opened its 6,000th ATM on

this day (6000th ATM of the bank was

opened at Vikasa Soudha (Secretariat

Building), Bangalore)

7) A C-130J Super Hercules aircraft of the

Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed on 28 March

2014 near the Madhya Pradesh–Rajasthan

border killing all five IAF crew members on-

board. This crash came as a major setback

to the IAF. IAF had inducted how many C-

130J Super Hercules aircrafts in its arm

during 2010? – Six (With this accident only

five C-130J Super Hercules remain in the

IAF. However, IAF is planning to induct six

more C-130J Super Hercules into the force

soon. C-130J Super Hercules is known for its

service prowess and capability to operate in

very difficult conditions and terrains. C-130J

Super Hercules aircrafts are stationed at the



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77 Squadron at the Hindon air base near

Ghaziabad. 77 Squadron is also known as

‘Veiled Vipers’)

8) P Ramdas, who passed away on 28

March 2014, was a film director of

yesteryears of which language? –

Malayalam (Ramdas introduced the neo-

realistic wave in Malayalam cinema during

the 1950s through his path breaking

movie Newspaper Boy. Ramdas also

produced two more feature films —

Nirapara in 1976 and Vadakaveettile

Adithi in 1981. However, financial setbacks

forced the veteran to keep away from

mainstream cinema world for the rest of his

life)

March 31, 2014

s

1) A Census was started in Myanmar on 30

March 2014 to enumerate country’s

population. The census would conclude on

10 April 2014 and would include around 12

million households. When was the last

Census conducted in Myanmar? – in

1983 (The last Census was held in 1983 by

the military government led by Gen. Ne

Win)

2) Who was elected as the new President of

Slovakia in the runoff poll conducted for

electing President, results for which were

declared on 30 March 2014? – Andrej

Kiska (Andrej Kiska won 59.4% votes to

defeat Prime Minister Robert Fico. This

defeat came as a big surprise for Robert

Fico in spite of the fact that the post of

President is largely ceremonial. Kiska would

become country’s fourth President)

3) Private sector bank Axis Bank on 27

March 2014 launched its own Kisan Credit

Card, which is aimed at helping farmers

access liquidity round-the-clock. The bank

claimed that it is first new generation

private sector bank to launch an electronic

Kisan Credit Card on the RuPay platform. In

which year the Kisan Credit Card scheme

was launched? – in 1998 (The scheme was

introduced in August 1998 and since then, a



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host of banks, a majority of them in the

state-run space, have launched such cards)

4) Japan and North Korea started the two-

day high-level government talks on 30

March 2014 that were expected to focus on

abductions of Japanese by North Korea

decades ago. These talks are significant

because Japan and North Korea do not have

diplomatic relations. When the two

countries held talks the last time? – During

December 2012 (This new round of talk was

held at Beijing. The fate of at least a dozen

people, who Japan says were abducted by

North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, was

top the agenda of these talks)

5) Who won the F1 Malaysian Grand Prix

held at the Sepang circuit on 30 March

2014? – Mercedes team’s Lewis

Hamilton (Great Britain) – His teammate

Nico Rosberg (Germany) was second

whereas third spot was claimed by

Sebastian Vettel (Germany) of Red Bull

team. Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg

claimed fifth spot.

6) Which Indian men badminton player lost

in the final of the Malaysia Grand Prix Gold

tournament on 30 March 2014? – Sourabh

Verma (The 21-year-old player from

Madhya Pradesh lost by 21-15 16-21 19-21

to former world number three Simon

Santoso of Indonesia. 2012 national

champion Sourabh had come close to

winning a Grand Prix title in 2011 when he

had reached the final of the Syed Modi

India Open)

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