Current Affairs (March & April 2012)
1. Name the Nobel Peace Prize winner who was named the winner of one of the world’s leading religion prizes, Templeton Prize for 2012 by the John Templeton Foundation on 29 March 2012.
a. The Dalai Lama
b. Tawakkol Karman
c. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
d. Baba Ram Dev
Answer: (a)
2. US Senate on 30 March 2012 confirmed career diplomat as ambassador to India. Identify the person in question.
a. William Clark, Jr.
b. Albert Peter Burleigh
c. Robert Blackwill
d. Nancy Powell
Answer: (d)
3. Amadou Toumani Toure, who was ousted from his position following a military coup, was the president of _ _ _ _ _ _
a. Tunisia
b. Azerbaijan
c. Mali
d. Maldives
Answer: (c)
4. A former Director of Kashmiri American Council (KAC) was sentenced to two years in prison in a District Court in Eastern District of Virginia. Identify the person the statement is related with.
a. Hafeez Saeed
b. Mushtaq Ahmed
c. David Coleman Headley
d. Gulam Nabi Fai
Answer: (d)
5. Macky Sall became the new president of Senegal. Sall replaced _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ to the top post.
a. Abdoulaye Wade
b. Naseer Abdullah
c. Erich Sherry
d. None of the above
Answer: (a)
6. Which country has India agreed ‘in-principle’ to the participation in hydro power-projects in the North-East?
Ans:Bangladesh
7. Name the Tech-savvy state which set a record by winning the National Tourism Award for its website for 5th time in last 10 years.
Ans:Kerala
8. Which Malayalam language daily has tied up with Yahoo India to deliver premium digital content in Malayalam?
Ans:Malayala Manorama
9. Name the Delhi-based group which has been nominated in the best international brand/group award at the British Reggae Industry Awards.
Ans:Reggar Rajahs
10. Which movie of Indian filmmaker Mani Ratnam is now part of the permanent collection at the Austrian Film Museum?
Ans:Raavanan
11. Who has been awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize considered as Nobel prize in Architecture?
Ans:Wang Shu
12. Which railway station became the first railway network to offer BluFi, a combination of Bluetooth and WiFi to provide information to passengers?
Ans:Bangalore City Railway Station
13. Which state bagged the second best national award in the Comprehensive Development Of Tourism category?
Ans:Rajasthan
14. Name the Kerala-based UAE business magnate who was awarded with Interfaith Harmony Award at Kuala Lumpur.
Ans:M.A.Yusuf Ali
15. Name the men’s mixed doubles winner of the ATP Dubai Open 2012.
Ans:Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna
16. When was the World’s oldest post office opened as it celebrates its 300th anniversary?
Ans:1712 in Sanquhar, London
17. Name the Indian American filmmaker who won the ’2012 Rising Star Award’ for his feature film ’9 Eleven’ at the Canada International Film Festival.
Ans:Manan Singh Katohora
18. Who won the women’s Kabaddi World Cup championship?
Ans:India
19. Who is expected to visit India with export of gas and investment on agenda?
Ans:Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani
20. Who has been elected as Russian President?
Ans:Vladimir Putin
21. Which 4 financial institutions have agreed to form country’s first $2 billion (about Rs.10,000 crore) Infrastructure Development Fund to finance infrastructure projects in India?
Ans:Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, LIC and Citi Financial
22. Who has been appointed as MD of Hyundai Motor India Ltd.?
Ans:Bo Shin Seo
23. Which Chinese Electric company has started office in India?
Ans:Shangai Electric
24. Which university conferred honoris causa(as honorary academic degree) during its 12th convocation to the finance minister Pranab Mukherjee?
Ans:Assam University
25. Which India’s leading commodity exchange would be listed on the BSE making it India’s first exchange to be listed?
Ans:Multi Commodity Exchange
26. Which western India university will start the Institute of International Studies?
Ans:M S University
27. HSBC will sell its general insurance for US $914 million to which 2 companies?
Ans:AXA Group and QBE Insurance Group
28. Against which team India will play one-off Twenty20 International cricket on March 30th 2012 to commemorate the 150 years of settlement of Indians in that country?
Ans:South Africa
29. Who retained his title of being the world’s richest Indian in Forbes magazine’s annual list of the world’s richest people?
Ans:Mukesh Ambani
30. Name the music director – king of soft melodies who passed away recently.
Ans:Ravi Shankar Sharma
31. Who has been appointed as head coach of the Pakistan cricket team?
Ans:Dav Whatmore
32. Name the bank that has entered into a partnership with Remit2home to offer Sri Lankans to transfer money back home.
Ans:Nations Trust Bank
33. Where is Kerala a film city is to be built?
Ans:Varikkassery Mana at Ottapalam
34. Who will be appointed as CEO of L&T?
Ans:K Venkataraman
35. Who is appointed as ISI chief of Pakistan Government?
Ans:Lt. Gen. Zaheerul Islam
36. Which Indian NGO has been chosen for America’s first Innovation Award for the Empowerment of Women and Girls, for training and organising wastepickers and eliminating child labour from recycling?
Ans:Chintan
37. What is the reduced CRR of scheduled banks as revised by RBI at 75 basis points?
Ans:4.75%
38. At what value did Euro zone finance ministers release 2nd bailout package for debt-hit Greece?
Ans:$46.9 billion
39. Where was the International Financial Hub inaugurated in India recently?
Ans:New Town, Kolkata
40. What is the extended number of days for advance reservation of Indian railway tickets?
Ans:120
41. Which state has recorded an increase in foodgrains production that touched 50.22 lakh tonnes during Kharif 2011 season?
Ans:Haryana
42. Name the ambulance launched for farmers in Andhra Pradesh by Srihari Kotela, a Charterted Accountant.
Ans:Rythu Ratham (Tollfree – 18002666208)
43. Which non-banking finance arm of Tata Sons have decided to ramp up its travel business and focus on the retail segment?
Ans:Tata Capital
44. Which financial service will Nokia close in India?
Ans:Nokia Money
45. Which rank does India hold as per U5MR rates by UNICEF?
Ans:46th rank
46. Who will take over the rein of Deutsche Bank CEO at the end of May 2012?
Ans:Anshu Jain
47. Name the Indian railway minister who will present Railway Budget 2012-13.
Ans:Dinesh Trivedi
48. Who has been appointed as Director General of Police for Punjab?
Ans:Sumedh Singh Saini
49. Who and at what age became 5th time Chief Minister of Punjab?
Ans:Parkash Singh Badal
50. Where was FICCI FRAMES 2012 – Asia’s largest global convention on film media and entertainment inaugurated?
Ans:Kolhapur, Maharashtra