Current Affairs Questions and Answers - Apr 08, 2015

ANSWER: D. 6%.

With this hike, the DA now has gone up to 113 per cent of the basic pay from 107 per cent. A decision in this regard was taken at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. The increase is in accordance with the accepted formula based on the recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission. According to an official release, the decision will benefit 48 lakh government employees and 55 lakh pensioners in the country. The impact on the exchequer on account of increase will be of over 6762 crore rupees annually.

ANSWER: B. 10 years

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the Transport department of Delhi government and other concerned authorities to prepare a comprehensive data of registration of all such vehicles which are 10 or more years old. It slammed the authorities for not complying with its orders of November 26, 28 and December 4 last year to better the air quality standards of the capital.

ANSWER: B. 112

TRAI said in its recommendations that similar to the '911' an all-in-one emergency service in the US, government can integrate all existing emergency numbers such as 100, 101, 102 and 108 into the proposed '112' helpline number. The regulator suggested existing emergency numbers can be retained as secondary numbers.

ANSWER: D. MUDRA Bank

MUDRA is abbreviated as Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd. It will be set up through a statutory enactment, and be responsible for developing and refinancing all Micro-finance Institutions which are in the business of lending to micro and small business entities. MUDRA will also partner with state and regional level coordinators to provide finance to Last Mile Financiers of small and micro business enterprises. Around 5.77 crore small business units will be provided access to institutional finance through MUDRA Bank.

ANSWER: A. Wheat

If quality of wheat is affected due to unseasonal rains or any other reason, relaxation in the norms is considered. Centre has asked Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh governments to test samples of wheat jointly with FCI immediately on its arrival so that relaxation in quality norms can be considered for procurement. Quality norms for procurement of wheat during current Rabi season have already been relaxed in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Government relaxes norms for food grain procurement time to time in view of interest of farmers.

ANSWER: A. Trade with a third country

The modified deal will enable Bangladesh to use Indian territories for transiting goods to Nepal and Bhutan, while India would be able to send goods to Myanmar through Bangladesh. Cabinet Secretary Musharaf Hossain Bhuiyan said both countries would be able to use each other's rail, road and waterway networks for transporting the goods for a fee.

ANSWER: D. Bangladesh

A similar credit line agreement for development of infrastructure and transport sector was signed between New Delhi and Dhaka in 2010 under which 15 projects are being undertaken. Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs Sujata Mehta said that the fresh line of credit is expected to be finalized during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka.

ANSWER: A. Deep Kumar Upadhyay

Nepal President Dr Ram Baran Yadav has formally appointed Deep Kumar Upadhyay as ambassador to India and Dr Arjun Kumar Karki as ambassador to the United States of America. The appointments have been made on the recommendation of cabinet as per the Article 150 of the Interim Constitution.

ANSWER: B. Unchanged

Meanwhile the RBI governor nudged banks to lower their lending rates, and rejected their contention that the cost of funds remains high. Earlier on 7th Apr’15 Chiefs of major banks-SBI, ICICI and HDFC had said that lowering of interest rate will not be possible just as yet. Major Banks including the State Bank of India, HDFC and ICICI Bank have announced cut in their lending rates after RBI governor Dr. Raghuram Rajan expressed strong disappointment over non-transmission of policy rates. India’s biggest lender, the State Bank of India has lowered its base lending rate by 0.15 percentage point to 9.85 per cent. The new rate will be effective from 10th April. The private sector HDFC Bank has cut lending rate by 0.15 per cent to 9.85 percent effective from April 13 while the ICICI Bank announced cutting base lending rate by 0.25 percentage point to 9.75 per cent.

ANSWER: C. Kolkata.

The eight teams will be involved in an intense battle in the 47 day long tournament. Overall, 60 matches are to be played in the tournament. The Final is slated to be played at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on May 24.

ANSWER: B. Rajesh Tomar.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the PCI's executive committee in Bengaluru. It has been alleged that the participants were accommodated in unfurnished flats with unhygienic facilities. The Paralympic Committee of India has constituted a three-member inquiry committee to investigate the matter. Mr Tomar denied the charges and stated that the organisational committee headed by Mr Satyanarayan, the Director of Competition, was fully responsible for the event along with the Uttar Pradesh Paralympic Association.

ANSWER: A. Gujarat

Gujarat beat Punjab in the final held on 7th Apr’15 in Bhubaneswar.

ANSWER: C. Dena bank.

This is applicable to account holders who are aged 18 to 50 years.