General Awareness Test (June - 15) - Set 3

ANSWER: Delhi

Explanation:
Delhi Law Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar arrested in an alleged fake degree case was remanded in four-day police custody by a city court on 9th June’15.

ANSWER: 4470

Explanation:
The Ministry had issued notices to the NGOs for not filing annual returns. In March this year, government banned 30 NGOs from receiving foreign funds after adverse reports about their activities. These are part of 69 NGOs which have been prohibited by the government from receiving foreign funds under Foreign Contributions Regulation Act.

ANSWER: NASA

Explanation:
The aircraft fitted with the largest parachute ever constructed was launched from a military base in Hawaii on 8th June’15. It was the second test of the saucer like device called the Low Density Supersonic Decelerator. During the first test in June last year, the parachute shredded to pieces on the way down. NASA modified the design.

ANSWER: Non AC Restaurant

Explanation:
The restaurants without air conditioning facility will not charge any service tax from the customers while the ones with ACs will charge only on the 40 per cent of the total bill amount. Restaurants, eating-joints or messes, which do not have the facility of air-conditioning or central-heating in any part of the establishment, are exempt from service tax.

ANSWER: Myanmar

Explanation:
In the first such cross-border operation, Special Forces of the army in coordination with the air force carried out a surgical strike inside Myanmar, killing nearly 20 insurgents of the groups believed to be responsible for the deadly ambush in Manipur that killed 18 soldiers.

ANSWER: Amitav Ghosh

Explanation:
“Flood of Fire” is the final part of the famous “Ibis trilogy” by Amitav Ghosh, which comprises of historical fictional writings by him. The other two previous books under “Ibis trilogy” are – “Sea of Poppies” (2008) and “River of Smoke”. This trilogy is set in the first half of the 19th century.

ANSWER: M. K. Sharma

Explanation:
M. K. Sharma will succeed KV Kamath, who would step down from the Board to take on a bigger role as the first President of New Development Bank, established by the BRICS nations.

ANSWER: Muzzafarnagar, Jind and Karnal

Explanation:
Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu announced the decision for including the three districts in NCR after chairing a meeting on 9th June’15 of the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) in New Delhi.

ANSWER: EPFO

Explanation:
Government has allowed investing 5 per cent of EPFO corpus in stock markets.

ANSWER: 10th June

Explanation:
No explanation is available for this question!

ANSWER: Third

Explanation:
India secured a medal haul of 4 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze in the championships to finish third behind China (15, 13, 13) and Qatar (7, 2, 1).

ANSWER: President’s Estate

Explanation:
This Sewage Treatment Plant, whose foundation stone was laid by the President on February 17, 2014, has been built in a record time of approximately one year and three months. The STP is in fulfillment of the recommendations of the Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan prepared by INTACH.

ANSWER: Braille

Explanation:
The President received the Manual from Shri Subhash Kashyap, former Secretary General of Lok Sabha who formally released it.

ANSWER: PNB

Explanation:
The first MoU between PNB and the Indian Army was signed in 2011 and was valid for a period of three years. The MoU is tailor made to suit the requirements of serving soldiers, pensioners and families. The number of additional facilities have been incorporated in the revised MoU after due consultation between Bank & Army authorities. Speaking on the occasion Lt Gen Sharma expressed confidence that the MoU will benefit a large number of serving and retired Army personnel who are having their accounts with PNB; and also provide them an opportunity to access modern banking facilities.

ANSWER: University of Tokyo

Explanation:
University of Tokyo continued to retain the top position while National University of Singapore second and University of Hong Kong occupied third place as earlier.

ANSWER: Nine

Explanation:
India's progress has faltered and it has just nine top 100 universities, one fewer than last year. The IIT's of Roorkee, Bombay, Delhi, Kharagpur and Madras, besides Aligarh Muslim University and Jawaharlal Nehru University figure among the top 100, though their rankings have come down from last year. According to the Times Higher Education Asia University Ranking 2015, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore comes closest at 37th place and Punjab University at 38th position, down six places from last year.

ANSWER: Sanath Jayasuriya

Explanation:
Jayasuriya was sworn in as Deputy Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Development. The appointments come just a week after 5 MPs of President’s party joined the Council of Ministers. The expansion of the Ministry is being done to secure support for the government lead by UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. Last week 112 MPs in a house of 225 had signed a no confidence motion against Prime Minister Wickremesighe and called for installation of a SLFP Prime Minister. UNP has only 48 MPs in the house, but is supported by a faction of SLFP controlled by President Sirisena.

ANSWER: Brazil, Turkey, Peru, Colombia and India

Explanation:
These five countries together attracted 78 billion dollar. It represents 73 percent of the investment commitments in developing world in 2014. Investment commitments in China in 2014 were 2.5 billion dollar, its lowest level since 2010. According to a World Bank report, India has figured in top five emerging economies for highest investment commitments in private sector, infrastructure sectors - energy, transport and water. India has figured in the list despite a drop in investment commitments of 6.2 billion dollar last year.

ANSWER: 0.2%

Explanation:
A key measurement of a country's trade, the CAD is the amount by which the value of goods and services imported by it exceeds the value of goods and services exported in a period. In a statement, RBI said that the deficit shrank to 1.3 billion US dollar or 0.2% of GDP in the quarter. This is lower than the deficit of 8.3 billion dollar, or 1.6 percent of GDP, in the previous quarter. The bank said the reduction in CAD was primarily on account of lower trade deficit as net earnings through services and primary income witnessed a decline on a quarter-over-quarter term.

ANSWER: Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus

Explanation:
As per the WHO, the elimination of neonatal tetanus is defined as less than one case in 1000 live births in every district across the country. Abolishing a disease that was once responsible for 15% of deaths in the country is surely a matter of great pride. According to the experts, three major reasons for eradication of this disease were: 1.The increase in Maternal tetanus immunisation rates 2. Introduction of cash incentives for institutional deliveries & 3. Use of delivery kits that reduce contamination along with safe umbilical cord practices. Nagaland was the last Indian state to achieve maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination.

ANSWER: Adani Ports

Explanation:
The Kerala Cabinet on 10th June’15 decided to accept the bid of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited. Adani Group was the lone bidder for the project, which had no takers in the previous rounds of tendering.

ANSWER: Passenger, Personal and Cargo Vehicular Traffic

Explanation:
The Cabinet has approved signing of the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement for the Regulation of Passenger, Personal and Cargo Vehicular Traffic amongst BBIN. The agreement will be signed on 15th June at the BBIN Transport Minister’s meeting in Thimpu, Bhutan.

ANSWER: Axis Bank

Explanation:
Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has broken new ground to gain substantially from the Automated Fare Collection (AFC) system by roping in a private partner to make necessary investments in hardware and software for sale of tickets besides getting assured annual royalty and a share in the business returns of the partner.

ANSWER: Kapil Mishra

Explanation:
Delhi Jal Board’s vice chairman Kapil Mishra will succeed Jitender Tomar as Delhi's law minister.

ANSWER: ISRO

Explanation:
Space pioneer award for the year 2015 was presented to Indian Space Research Organisation in the Science and Engineering category during the 34th Annual International Space Development Conference held at Toronto in Canada during May 20-24, 2015. The U.S. National Space Society presented the award in recognition of ISRO’s efforts in accomplishing the Mars Mission in its very first attempt.

ANSWER: NRIs

Explanation:
NRIs can subscribe to chit funds through banking channels, including accounts maintained in India. The state governments or Registrar of Chits may permit chit funds to accept subscription from NRIs on non-repatriation basis.

ANSWER: Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar

Explanation:
He is currently working as Chief Scientist at the IICT. The appointment was made by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is President of the CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research).

ANSWER: Parkash Singh Badal

Explanation:
He was awarded for promoting peace, communal harmony and universal brotherhood. The award was given by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on behalf of the Sarhad Foundation.

ANSWER: INS Vikrant

Explanation:
The structural work of the ship was completed and undocking was part of the second phase of work on the carrier, which is expected to be complete by 2017.

ANSWER: NASA

Explanation:
The model is now undergoing testing, but if it’s robust, then scientists might finally have a tool to predict a CME’s magnetic configuration from afar. This means forecasters could give utility grid and satellite operators a full 24-hour advance warning to protect their systems – crucial time to protect their assets.

ANSWER: Manu Prakash

Explanation:
Manu Prakash is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University. The results were published in the journal Nature Physics.

ANSWER: Bombay High Court

Explanation:
These horse driven carriages are called as Victoria. The judgment was delivered by the Division Bench of Justices A S Oka and A K Menon on a petition by the Animals and Birds Charitable Trust. The petitioners contended that the horses were forced to overwork.

ANSWER: Bibek Debroy

Explanation:
The committee says that there is need not only to improve the internal resource generation and explore varied methods of financing but also to improve utilization of available resources. The committee said, the panel has not recommend privatization of Indian Railway, but only the recommend, participation in projects by the private sector.

ANSWER: 12th June

Explanation:
The theme of this year is NO to child labour – YES to quality education!

ANSWER: Nek Chand Saini

Explanation:
He was known all over the world for his unique creation in Chandigarh, the Rock Garden. As a govt. employee he started creating the garden in his spare time in 1957. He used waste and useless articles like old switches, tyres, bicycle parts, bangles, mosaic, etc. from demolition sites around the city.

ANSWER: Wesley Hall

Explanation:
Wesley Hall is the fourth cricketer this year to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame after Betty Wilson, Anil Kumble and Martin Crowe, who were inducted earlier this year during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

ANSWER: Vinita Bali

Explanation:
She succeeded Jay Naidoo, who led GAIN in the global fight against malnutrition since its creation in 2002.

ANSWER: India and Bangladesh

Explanation:
These Border Haats have been established at Tripura state bordering Bangladesh. The concept of establishing “Border Haat” is to boost bilateral trade and enhance people to people contacts. These markets are set up at the zero line of the international border with one part on the Indian side and the other in Bangladesh.

ANSWER: Floyd Mayweather

Explanation:
Floyd Mayweather tops the list for the second year in a row and third time in four years with 300 million US dollars. The only Indian to figure in the list is Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

ANSWER: 14th June

Explanation:
The theme of this year's campaign is "Thank you for saving my life". It focuses on thanking blood donors who save lives every day through their blood donations and strongly encourages more people all over the world to donate blood voluntarily and regularly.