General Awareness Test (August - 15) - Set 8

ANSWER: 3.7%

Explanation:
On 27th Aug’15 the Commerce Department revised sharply upward its estimate of economic growth in the second quarter to a healthy annual pace of 3.7 percent, from an initial estimate of 2.3 percent.

ANSWER: ICICI Bank

Explanation:
This move will help customers raise the eligible amount by up to 20 percent and increase the tenure by up to seven years. It will expand the credit amount and increase the tenure upto 67 years of age for an additional fee as well.

ANSWER: To mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II

Explanation:
The prisoner amnesty law, promulgated by President Xi Jinping on 29th Aug’15, comes 40 years after China granted an amnesty to war criminals in 1975. Amnesty is a system under the Constitution in China, which has long stressed governing by virtue and laws. This is the eight amnesty granted by the People's Republic of China since its founding in 1949.

ANSWER: Mare Dibaba

Explanation:
Ethiopia's Mare Dibaba won the women's marathon at the world athletics championships after a thrilling sprint finish in Beijing. The 25-year-old Dibaba out-kicked Kenya's Helah Kiprop to win the grueling event by just one second, crossing the finish line in two hours, 27 minutes and 35 seconds. Ethiopia has a long and proud tradition in marathon running but Dibaba was the first Ethiopian female to win the lung-sapping event at the world championships.

ANSWER: 36 years

Explanation:
The fifth-place finish at the Hockey World League semi-finals earlier in July this year was enough for India to clinch an Olympic berth as a place opened up after the Netherlands and England reached the final of the EuroHockey Championships in London.

ANSWER: Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam

Explanation:
No explanation is available for this question!

ANSWER: Nashik

Explanation:
Over 7 lakh devotees took bath in the first main bathing ceremony of the Singhasth Kumbh being organized at Trimbakeshwar in Nashik on 29th Aug’15.

ANSWER: SAHAJ

Explanation:
The facility was simultaneously launched at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna and Pune. All state-run fuel retailers would be joining the e-tail bandwagon with a web-based system for selling new LPG connections. The new system would be available on the websites of each oil company and the government's LPG portal, Pahal.

ANSWER: Vassiliki Thanou

Explanation:
The appointments come a day after Supreme Court head Vassiliki Thanou was sworn into office. The 65-year-old was appointed after outgoing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras resigned last week, barely seven months into his four-year mandate, following a rebellion by members of his radical-left Syriza party who objected to his agreement with the conditions of Greece's third international bailout.

ANSWER: Rachna Bisht Rawat

Explanation:
The book includes five key battles from the 1965 war and is extensively researched, with interviews and profiles of war veterans.

ANSWER: 28th Aug’15

Explanation:
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is the biggest financial inclusion initiative in the world. It was announced by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 15th Aug’14 and Mega launch was done by him on 28th August 2014 across the country.

ANSWER: United States

Explanation:
In regard to this, RBI has asked all banks and financial institutions to be prepared for the implementation of Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act – FATCA. RBI has said that non-compliance of the rules can lead to huge penalties in addition to loss of reputation.

ANSWER: 1980

Explanation:
The Ramcharitmanas was composed and recorded for the first time in 1980 at Akashvani Bhopal.

ANSWER: 30th Aug’15

Explanation:
To mark the 'Sanskrit Diwas' celebrations public broadcaster Doordarshan News has launched an exclusive Facebook page and a Twitter handle in that language.

ANSWER: Mogens Lykketoft

Explanation:
Mr. Lykketoft was unanimously elected by the General Assembly as the President of the 70th Session on 15th June this year and is scheduled to assume his new responsibilities with the commencement of the Session from 15th of next month. Earlier, Mr. Lykketoft was the Speaker of the Danish Parliament and has served as Finance Minister and Foreign Minister of Denmark.

ANSWER: Najib Razak

Explanation:
Protesters slept out overnight in Kuala Lumpur after the first day of a rally that has brought into the streets a political crisis triggered by reports of a mysterious transfer worth more than 600 million dollars into an account under Mr Najib's name. Mr Najib, who has denied any wrongdoing, has sacked his deputy and ministers who had questioned him.

ANSWER: Susan Rice

Explanation:
The US State Department said the talks were expected to focus on mutual interests and areas of concern, particularly terrorist and militant attacks emanating from Pakistani soil. Rice also is likely to discuss Pakistan's role in Afghanistan's effort to negotiate peace with the Taliban and a recent rise in tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi.

ANSWER: Erika

Explanation:
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said that while the storm has weakened, it could rebuild as it passes over the Gulf of Mexico. Florida Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency on 28th Aug’15.

ANSWER: Mexico

Explanation:
Mexicans still dominate the overall composition of immigrants in the US, accounting for more than a quarter of the foreign-born people. But of the 1.2 million newly arrived immigrants in the US, legally and illegally counted in the 2013 census, China led with one lakh and 47 thousand, followed by India with one lakh and 29 thousand and Mexico with 125,000.

Immigrants from China and India have overtaken Mexicans as the largest groups coming into the United States. The shift has been building for more than a decade and experts say it's bringing more highly skilled immigrants in the US.

ANSWER: Hawaii

Explanation:
The crew includes a French astrobiologist, a German physicist and four Americans - a pilot, an architect, a doctor/journalist and a soil scientist. They are based on a barren, northern slope of Mauna Loa, living inside a dome that is 11 metres in diameter and about six metres tall. In a place with no animals and little vegetation around, they closed themselves in on 28th Aug’15 at 3 pm Hawaii time, marking the official start to the twelve months mission.

ANSWER: Dr. M.M. Kalburgi

Explanation:
He was shot dead by unidentified persons at his residence in Dharwad and rushed to the civil hospital, where he was declared dead. The 77 year old Kannada epigraphist and renowned scholar of vachana literature Kalburgi was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award, Nrupatunga Award and Pampa award for his contribution to Kannada literature.

ANSWER: Indian preserved Mushroom

Explanation:
'Preserved mushrooms' refer to mushrooms that have been prepared or preserved by cleaning, blanching, and sometimes slicing and cutting. Mushrooms are very nutritious, rich in proteins, fibre and have folic acid content that is uncommon in vegetables and amino acids which are usually absent in cereals. An official in Delhi has confirmed that the US International Trade Commission has extended the restrictive duty on the Indian commodity for five years.

The move is likely to impact domestic exporters as the US is a major export destination for India. In 2014-15, India exported mushrooms worth 16.08 million dollars and during April-May this fiscal the exports aggregated at 1.63 million dollars.

ANSWER: Rajiv Mehrishi

Explanation:
No explanation is available for this question!

ANSWER: Decreased

Explanation:
Growth of the country's infrastructure sector slowed to a 3-month low of 1.1 per cent in July, as the output of crude oil, natural gas and steel contracted. The eight core sectors, which contribute about 38 per cent to the overall industrial production, had grown at 4.1 per cent in July last year.