ANSWER KEY - HPAS PRELIMS - 2015

UPSC MAINS 2015 - GENERAL STUDIES PAPER-1 (GS1)

1. The ancient civilization in Indian sub-continent differed from those of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece in that its culture and traditions have been preserved without a breakdown to the present day. Comment.
2. Mesolithic rock cut architecture of India not only reflects the cultural life of the times but also a fine aesthetic sense comparable to modem painting. Critically evaluate this comment.
3. How different would have been the achievement of Indian independence without Mahatma Gandhi? Discuss.
4. Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, despite having divergent approaches and strategies, had a common goal of amelioration of the downtrodden. Elucidate.
5. It would have been difficult for the Constituent Assembly to complete its historic task of drafting the Constitution for Independent India in just three years but for the experience gained with the Government of India Act, 1935. Discuss.
6. Why did the industrial revolution first occur in England? Discuss the quality of life of the people there during the industrialization. How does it compare with that in India at present?
7. To what extent can Germany be held responsible for causing the two World Wars? Discuss critically
8. Describe any four cultural elements of diversity in India and rate their relative significance in building a national identity.
9. Critically examine whether growing population is the cause of poverty OR poverty is the main cause of population increase in India.
10. How do you explain the statistics that show that the sex ratio in Tribes in India is more favourable to women than the sex ratio among Scheduled Castes?
11. Discuss the changes in the trends of labour migration within and outside India in the last four decades.
12. Discuss the positive and negative effects of globalization on women in India.
13. Debate the issue of whether and how contemporary movements for assertion of Dalit identity work towards annihilation of caste.
14. Explain the factors responsible for the origin of ocean currents. How do they influence regional climates, fishing and navigation?
15. Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata are the three mega cities of the country but the air pollution is much more serious problem in Delhi as compared to the other two. Why is this so?
16. India is well endowed with fresh water resources. Critically examine why it still suffers from water scarcity.
17. The states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are reaching the limits of their ecological carrying capacity due to tourism. Critically evaluate.
18. How far do you agree that the behavior of the Indian monsoon has been changing due to humanizing landscapes? Discuss.
19. Smart cities in India cannot sustain without smart villages. Discuss this statement in the backdrop of rural urban integration.
20. What are the economic significances of discovery of oil in Arctic Sea and its possible environmental consequences?

They cleared UPSC, but face disqualification - The Hindu

Many successful candidates whose parents are clerks and assistants in banks and PSUs have been affected by the new criteria this year.

A large number of candidates declared successful by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in the Civil Services Examination 2015 are set to be disqualified.

As many as 1,078 candidates were successful in the exam.

But only 902 have received service allocation. Rejection of OBC status has affected around 120 candidates, of whom at least 35 are sons and daughters of those working in PSUs.

Final list

Many successful candidates who have resigned jobs in the private and public sectors are keeping their fingers crossed as they have not received service allocation. The final list of disqualified candidates is likely to be released shortly.

Many successful candidates whose parents are clerks and assistants in banks and PSUs have been affected by the new criteria this year. For the first time, an income criterion is being used for rejecting the OBC claims of children of PSU employees, they say.

Gross Income

“The reason DoPT gave was they could not identify equivalent posts/class for jobs in PSU. On clarification, it is told that equivalence has not been established for any PSU till date, which means henceforth, sons and daughters of even those who joined as peon/driver/assistants/clerks in Banks/NLC/BSNL/any PSU cannot avail themselves of OBC reservation because the yearly gross income will be more than Rs. 6 lakh,” said a candidate.

For example, salary of a peon in RBI is Rs.7 lakh during retirement. The DoPT says such PSU employment will hereafter be treated on a par with business/private employment unlike government employment. Currently, at least 35 candidates have been denied allocation of service because of this issue. Many sons and daughters of PSU employees with income more than Rs. 6 lakh have got reservation in the previous examinations of UPSC and have joined government services.

Review planned

DoPT is planning to conduct a review of all those wards of PSU employees who joined service from 1993. The Government of India issued instructions on September 8, 1993 providing for reservation to Other Backward Classes in its services and posts.

The Hindu - http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/they-cleared-upsc-but-face-disqualification/article8769809.ece

IAS Aspirants prefer videshi medium

Jump in number of students writing the UPSC mains in English

The number of students writing the UPSC mains exam in English has been disproportionately high over the last few years,analysis of UPSC data from 2009 to 2014 show.

Data was compiled from annual reports of UPSC by public information portal ‘Factly’, which they shared with The Hindu .

A significant jump was seen in the year 2011 when 83 per cent candidates took the mains exam in English compared to around 62 per cent in 2009. Corresponding to that, Hindi saw a steep decline – a drop of around 20 percentage points from 36 per cent in 2010 to 15 per cent in 2011.

Introduction of CSAT

This sudden change coincides with the introduction of the CSAT examination in UPSC prelims in 2011. This change was opposed by many, as it was argued that the new pattern was biased in favour of English-speaking students.

Note that data on the language chosen by candidates to write prelims is not available which makes it difficult to establish whether the jump is indeed indicative of a bias or if that is a consequence of more students taking the prelims exam in English.

Yogendra Yadav, social and political scientist, finds this trend concerning. Speaking to The Hindu , he said, “In India, language is one of the most significant markers of social inequality. Much of the social dominance is translated into language. The language of dominance – English – is now the dominant language and it is shocking to see this reverse in trend.”

Mr. Yadav said that students coming to bureaucracy from Indian language medium bring along certain sensitivity and understanding of problems of ordinary people.

In the Indian Languages section, most students opted for Hindi in the period from 2009 to 2014, followed by Marathi. But the proportion of students opting for Hindi is on a decline; 66 per cent candidates chose Hindi in 2014 compared to 74 per cent in 2009. On the other hand, the percentage of students choosing Marathi is increasing – from 5 per cent in 2009 to 9 per cent in 2014, with a peak in 2013 when 11 per cent chose the language. Note that apart from Hindi, only Marathi, Tamil and Telugu are chosen by more than 5 per cent of the candidates in the Indian language exam.

Engineers dominate

Data show that students with engineering background now comprise the bulk of selected students, overtaking humanities; 51 per cent of the recommended candidates in 2013 were engineers, compared to 30 per cent in 2009. Earlier, humanities students were the most successful.

The Hindu - http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/ias-aspirants-prefer-videshi-medium/article8766427.ece

FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-9)

• The Union Cabinet has approved the LIGO-India project (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory in India) proposal for research on gravitational waves. LIGO-India project is piloted by Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Department of Science and Technology (DST).
• India’s leading private lender Yes Bank has been awarded inaugural Green Bond Pioneer Award at a ceremony held in London, United Kingdom. Yes Bank was bestowed with this award in recognition for its pioneering efforts in the Green Bonds market including successful issuance of India’s first ever Green Infrastructure Bonds. Yes Bank was the first Indian Bank to issue Green Infrastructure Bonds in India. It had issued India’s first-ever Green Infrastructure Bonds worth 1,000 crore rupees in 2015. Proceeds from these green bonds will be used to fund Renewable Energy projects including solar power and wind power projects.
• The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) has ordered Chennai based Geographical Indications Registry to issue ‘Geographical Indication’ tag for basmati rice. This GI tag will be issued to Basmati Rice variety grown in 7 states in the Indo-Gangetic Plains on the foothills of the Himalayas covering areas of the rice grown in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Western U.P. and two districts of Jammu and Kathua. At international level, GI is governed by World Trade Organisation’s (WTO’s) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). In India, GI registration is governed by the Geographical Indications of goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.
• The Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (CGPDT) has issued an order excluding software patents in its revised guidelines for Computer Related Inventions. The new order clearly mentions that, mere computer programmes those not in conjunction with a novel hardware will not be granted patent in India. The Office of Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks (CGPDTM) under the aegis of Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry is nodal agency that supervises the working of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) laws in India.
• The 13th edition of World Spice Congress will begin in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The theme of the three-day biennial event is ‘Target 2020: Clean, Safe and Sustainable Supply Chain’.
• India has ratified Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), 1997 which sets parameters on a nuclear operator’s financial liability. In this regard, India has submitted the Instrument of Ratification of the CSC to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and shall come into force after 90 days in May 2016.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Make in India Week at MMRDA Grounds in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Make in India Week is the flagship event that seeks to provide greater momentum to the Make in India initiative and to promote India as a preferred manufacturing destination globally.
• ‘Nagaland is changing, But…’ film has won the Golden Beaver Best Film Award in the institutional category at the 6th National Science Film Festival held in Mumbai. The film has been directed by Gurmeet Sapal. It has been produced by Nagaland State Forest Department and was made with the technical collaboration with TERI, New Delhi. The film is based on community conservation areas of Sendenyu village in Kohima district and Sukhai village in Zunheboto district of Nagaland.
• The Union Ministry of Railways has launched three IT enabled apps to bring transparency in Indian Railways on the sidelines of Digital India initiative. Three IT enabled apps are Hand Held Terminals for TTEs, Paperless unreserved ticketing mobile application and E-booking of disposable linen on trains.
• Scientists from National University of Singapore have successfully converted paper waste into green nontoxic cellulose aerogels. Aerogels are among the lightest solid materials in the world and are also one of the finest insulation materials available. Green Aerogels are ultra-light, non-toxic, extremely strong, flexible and water repellent. It is obtained by converting paper waste into biodegradable Aerogels which is a simple, cost-effective and fast method. It has low thermal conductivity and super high oil absorption capacity. Its fabrication process uses 70 per cent less energy and produces fewer polluting emissions into the air and water. It is ideal for applications such as oil spill cleaning. It can serve as heat insulation materials for buildings. It can potentially be used as coating materials for drug delivery and as smart materials. It can also be used in packaging industry as it is biodegradable and environmentally-friendly material. It should be noted that traditional aerogels are mainly made of silica which is not environment friendly process of manufacturing it.

FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-8)

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch the country’s first solar mission called Aditya-L1. As part of the mission, Aditya-L1 satellite will be placed in an orbit about 15 lakh kilometres from the earth in a halo orbit around the L1 Lagranian point. It will be launched by using the PSLV XL. Its primary objective will be to study the solar corona and the chromospheres in different wavebands, dynamic nature of the sun’s outer most layers, and collect data about Coronal Mass Ejections (CME). Lagrangian points are the locations in space where the combined gravitational pull of two large masses roughly balance each other. There are 5 such points in Sun-Earth system and they are denoted as L1, L2, L3, L4 and L5. In this location, small mass remains at constant distances relative to the large masses. Halo orbit is a periodic three-dimensional orbit near the Lagrangian points L1, L2 or L3.
• Union Government has formally launched website for maiden Maritime India Summit 2016 scheduled to be held in April 2016. The website will facilitate investors and participants to access detailed information about the summit, including registrations. The maiden Maritime India Summit is scheduled to be held in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It will be organised by Union Ministry of Shipping. South Korea is the partner country for the summit and will be represented by a high level ministerial and business delegation.
• The fourth edition of the India-Myanmar Coordinated Patrol (IMCOR) was successfully undertaken. It was conducted by navies of the two countries along the strategically significant International Maritime Boundary Line in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal. Navies of India and Myanmar are conducting bilateral IMCOR along the Maritime boundary since 2013 as part of the ongoing India-Myanmar defence relations. With this Myanmar became only the third country after Indonesia and Thailand with which India has signed a formal agreement for maritime coordinated patrols.
• Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan Government have set up Special Purpose Vehicles for the implementation of Smart City Plans. SPVs have been set up for five cities – Jabalpur, Indore and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Jaipur and Udaipur in Rajasthan. These cities are among the first batch of 20 winners of Smart City Challenge Competition held by the Union Ministry of Urban Development. The Ministry will release 200 crore rupees for each of the 20 selected cities only after SPVs are set up. SPVs must be registered under the Companies Act, 2013 to ensure timely, cost-effective and efficient execution of smart city projects with operational freedom. They will ensure that the qualities of the outcomes of these smart city projects are benchmarked against global standards. SPVs shall have 50:50 equity that will held by the states and respective urban local bodies. Private equity is also allowed but the management control will rest with the Governments only. SPVs will be headed by a CEO and shall approve, sanction and execute the projects besides mobilizing resources from various sources.
• Bihar became the sixth state to join Union Government’s UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) Scheme for financial restructuring of debt of power distribution companies. Bihar is the 6th state after Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat to become part of the scheme.
• Chhattisgarh Government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ministry of Railway to form a joint venture company for the expansion of railway tracks in the state. With this Chhattisgarh became 5th state to join hands with the Indian Railways for speedy execution of rail projects through JV route.
• Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan has released Seismic Microzonation Reports for Delhi and Kolkata.
• The Reserve Bank of India has extended currency swap arrangement to South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations till mid-November 2017. Under the arrangement, RBI will be offering swap arrangement up to an overall amount of US 2 billion dollars both in foreign currency and Indian rupee.
• India has lost solar case against United States at the World Trade Organisation for breaching of international trade rules. In this regard, WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body ruled that India’s domestic content requirement for National Solar Mission discriminated against imported solar technology. The Dispute Settlement Body ruled that India domestic content requirement lacked domestic manufacturing capacity in solar cells and modules and there was risk of a disruption in imports.
• The Union Government has unveiled a National Capital Goods Policy 2016 to give an impetus to the capital goods sector and the Make in India initiative. This is for the first time that Union Government has framed such national policy for the capital goods sector. Aim of this policy is to Increase exports of capital goods from the current 27% to 40 % of production, Increase the share of domestic capital goods production and to enhance Indian made capital goods export through a ‘Heavy Industry Export & Market Development Assistance Scheme (HIEMDA)’.

FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-7)

• Scientist for the first time has discovered Gravitational Waves that were hypothesised by Albert Einstein in 1916. These waves were detected by the scientists working at two LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) facilities in United States. LIGO scientists have detected these gravitational waves produced by collision of two black holes located 1.3 billion light years away from earth. The LIGO experiment has 4km long L-shaped tunnels and uses lasers to measure changes in the distance between two ends. When the gravitational waves enters into LIGO, it stretches in space and direction, and disperses space in another direction i.e. these waves disturb the light emitted lasers. Scientists by measuring the interference of lasers map the disturbed space which has been compressed or stretched.
• Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda have launched Project Sunrise for prevention of AIDS especially among people injecting drugs in the 8 North-Eastern states. The AIDS prevention special project aims to diagnose 90 per cent of such drug addicts with HIV and put them under treatment by 2020.
• India has participated for the first time in the Cobra Gold 2016 multilateral amphibious exercise hosted by Thailand. In this edition of multilateral exercise, India has accorded as an observer plus status keeping in view its increasing regional operability. Cobra Gold 2016 is 35th edition of multilateral exercise in which 35 countries have participated and its main theme is humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
• A team of scientist in US led by an Indian-origin Ashutosh Tiwari has discovered Tin Monoxide (SnO) conductor to replace silicon. SnO is a new kind of 2D semiconducting material for electronics that opens the door for much speedier computers and smartphones that consumes less power. SnO semiconductor is made of the two elements tin and oxygen. It is first stable P-type 2D semiconductor material ever in existence. It is a layer of 2D material with thickness of only one atom and consumes less power. It has ability to allow electrical charges to move through it much faster than conventional 3D materials such as silicon.
• Google’s Project Loon began its operations in Sri Lanka after first helium-filled balloon landed in Pupuressa area in Gampola town. It was one of three balloons that were put up in Sri Lankan airspace for trials to provide high-speed internet service after it was launched from South America.
• Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda have released the National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME) 2016-2030 at New Delhi. The framework aims to eliminate mosquito borne malaria disease from the country by 2030. This is for the first time government’s health policy has framed intervention have deliverables and time bound targets.
• The three-day long Vibrant North East event concluded in Guwahati, Assam. Vibrant North East was organised in association with Union Ministry for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and Union Food Processing Ministry. Rural banking, Make in North East and Horticulture and food processing etc. were the key areas of Vibrant North East.
• Hyderabad-based GVK Biosciences (GVK BIO) has been awarded prestigious Global CSR Excellence & Leadership Award. The company was bestowed with this award in the category of Best Environment Friendly Project for its ambitious Go Green, Grow Green plantation drive under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.
• Government-constituted Ajay Shankar Committee to examine the Possibility of Replacing Multiple Prior Permissions with Pre-Existing Regulatory Mechanism has submitted its recommendations. The expert committee was constituted by DIPP in April 2015. It was tasked to examine the possibility of replacing multiple prior permissions with a pre-existing regulatory mechanism and to recommend a framework of the proposed regulatory mechanism.
• Former IAS officer D J Pandian has been appointed vice-president and chief investment officer (CIO) of Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

IMPORTANT BOOKS FOR IAS

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FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-6)

• Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) of Union Government have given its final approval to set up India’s first Defence Industrial Park at Ottappalam in Kerala. The proposed defence park will be established as part of Union Government’s flagship Make in India programme and state government’s Make in Kerala project. It will have modern common infrastructure facilities aimed at attracting component manufacturers in the defence industry. Union government also has agreed to bring the park under the Modified Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (MIIUS).
• World Radio Day is observed globally on 13th February to remember the unique power of radio that touches lives and bring people together across every corner of the globe. The Theme for the year 2016 is “Radio in Times of Emergency and Disaster”. 13th February was proclaimed as World Radio Day by UNESCO at its 36th General Assembly in 2011. On this day in 1946, United Nations Radio had transmitted its first call sign. The first World Radio Day was officially celebrated in 2012.
• Union Government has sanctioned about 580 crore rupees for Agartala-Akhaura railway link Project to connect Kolkata with Tripura via Bangladesh. It is 15 km long strategic railway route that would connect the Indian Railways with the Bangladesh Railways. The work on this project is expected to complete by 2017. Of the 15 km strategic railway track, 10 km falls in the Bangladesh side and the rest 5 km falls in India. This project will play important role in India’s ‘Act East Policy’ and is expected to improve connectivity and boost trade between the two countries. It will also reduce the current 1700 km road distance between Kolkata to Agartala via narrow Chicken Neck Siliguri corridor to just 350 km by railway.
• Tiruchirapalli city in Tamil Nadu has won best city performer in Behavioral change Communication Award. The award was bestowed upon Trichy city commissioner Vijayalakshmi from Union Minister of urban Development Venkaiah Naiadu in the Swach Sarvekshan function.
• President Pranab Mukherjee has formally declared Kerala as the country’s first digital state. It was announced by President after launching a digital empowerment campaign of state at a function to be held in Kozhikkode. The campaign aims at bridging the digital divide by 2020. This declaration was made considering the rapid digital strides of the state which has achieved 100 percent mobile connectivity, 75 percent e-literacy, maximum digital banking, broadband connectivity upto the Panchayat level, linking bank accounts with Aadhar cards and e-district plan in all districts.
• All 12 Pacific Rim countries have signed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement in Auckland, New Zealand making it one of the biggest trade deals in history. These 12 countries are Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, Japan, Canada, United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Australia and New Zealand. TPP is Free Trade Area and these member countries across the Pacific Rim account for 40% of global trade.
• India officially became the Associate Member State of European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO). In this regard, Union Ministry of Science and Technology has signed an agreement to acquire the status of Associate Member of EMBO. India is second country outside the European region to be an Associate Member State of EMBO after Singapore which had signed such agreement in 2015.
• Border troops of India and China have held their first joint tactical exercise codenamed Sino-India Cooperation 2016 in Chushul-Moldo in Jammu and Kashmir. This exercise is complement to the Hand-in-Hand series of India-China Joint Exercises.
• India’s largest lender State Bank of India has launched ‘Japan Desk’, a single window for inbound Japanese investments in India and vice-versa. This is a first-of-its-kind initiative that seeks to facilitate Japanese corporates looking to invest in India with banking and advisory services.
• Birdwatchers for first time have sighted Falcated Duck in Goa which is considered as rare vagrant migrant bird species to the south India. Earlier the bird was sighted two times in southern parts of India away from its natural migratory habitat in North India. For first time it was sighted in Tamil Nadu in 2012 and second time in Akola (Maharashtra) in January 2015. Falcated Duck is a migratory bird, breeding in Russia and north China in summers and in winter migrate towards north of India. It is classified as near threatened by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). World population of this species is about 89,000 individuals as per the recent estimates. Loss of habitat and hunting is a cause for concern.
•  

FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-5)

• President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the first phase of Kerala Tourism’s Muziris Heritage Project (MHP) at Trissur in Kerala to reinstate the historical and cultural significance of Muziris. The project is Kerala Government’s first green Project and India’s largest heritage conservation project. President also launched the website of the MHP. MHP is supported by the Union Government and seeks to conserve ancient seaport of Muziris and showcase its culture of 3000 years. The project will also play important role in the Spice Route initiative launched by Kerala Tourism with the help of UNESCO to revive state’s historic trade ties with 41 countries of the world.
• In India February 28 is celebrated as the National Science Day i.e. Rashtriya Vigyan Diwas every year. The theme for year 2016 is “Scientific Issues for Development of the Nation” that aims at raising public appreciation. This day marks the epoch-making discovery of Raman Effect by Indian physicist Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (CV Raman) on February 28, 1928.
• The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has launched the country’s first antidiabetic ayurvedic drug named BGR-34 for type two Diabetes mellitus. BGR-34 stands for Blood Glucost Regulator and offers effective, safe, patient-friendly solution for managing type two Diabetes. The drug has been jointly developed by National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) and Central Institute for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) and CSIR institutes based in Lucknow.
• Haryana is set become the first state in the country to complete Aquifer Mapping for its groundwater resources by May 2016. Aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing rock from which groundwater can be extracted. Central Ground Water Board has set target to complete the aquifer mapping of the entire country by 2022. In the first phase, to be completed by 2017, 8 states have been selected for this kind of scientific mapping where groundwater situation has already reached a critical level. These states are Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
• The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has declared Wild Pig (sus scrofa) as vermin in Uttarakhand for a year. In this regard, MoEFCC has used its powers enshrined to it by section 62 of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972. For this purpose, ministry has shifted protected wild pig (listed in schedule III to the Act) in the vermin category to Schedule V of the Act for period of 1 year. This decision will allow state forest authorities and people to carry out extermination (hunting/poaching) of wild pigs outside the reserve forest on a large scale. To do so, they will no longer require permission from the forest or wildlife officials and thus their actions cannot attract penal provisions of the WPA. It will seek to balance local population of the wild pigs to mitigate the damage to human life, crops and other properties in the state for ensuring conservation of wildlife in forests. Earlier, Uttarakhand forest department had forwarded proposal to the MoEFCC to declare both wild pig and Neel Gai (blue bull) vermin. In its proposal, authorities had mentioned that due to overpopulation of these animals in the areas outside the forest, they have created havoc by harming life and property including large scale destruction of agriculture produce. MoEFCC has rejected forest department’s proposal to declare Neel Gai (blue bull) vermin.
• The Union Government has issued detailed guidelines to tackle the outbreak of Zika Virus Disease in the wake of reported cases in Americas. Delhi based National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) would be the nodal agency for investigation of outbreak of Zika Virus in any part of the country.
• The first long distance cargo train connecting Iran and China has arrived in the Iranian capital city Tehran after starting its journey from China. The train had started its journey from China’s eastern Zhejiang province and it took 14 days to reach final destination. It had covered around 9,500-kilometre distance and passed through two Central Asian countries Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. It marks the revival of the ancient Silk Road and gives impetus to China’s ambitious One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative.
• Karnataka’s flagship mobile-one governance application has won gold medal at the fourth World Government Summit in Dubai, UAE in the m-governance awards category. This model is world’s largest multimode mobile governance platform launched in December 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee. It offers 4,500 services including G2C, B2C and G2B services onto single integrated platform that can be accessed on smartphones, a web portal or through SMS and IVRS.
• An international team of biologists have discovered a new species of hydroid polyps emitting green fluorescence in the Red Sea. These species were found during the investigations of the biodiversity of coral reefs of the archipelago Farasan south of the Red Sea near Saudi Arabia.
• President Pranab Mukherjee dedicated India’s first co-operative society in Information Technology sector UL CyberPark in Kozhikode, Kerala. 

FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-4)

• The 30th edition of Surajkund International Crafts Mela has begun at Faridabad in Haryana. Telangana is the Theme State of this edition of Mela and the two focus countries are China and Japan. It is annual cultural festival hosted since 1987. The Mela showcases some of the most exquisite handlooms and handicrafts of India and its culture.
• International Mother Language Day (Bhasha Divas) is being observed across the world on 21 February. Theme of 2016 is “Quality education, language(s) of instruction and learning outcomes”.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the National Rurban Mission (NRM) from Kurubhat in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh. The mission also dubbed as Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rurban mission (SPMRM) aims to spur social, economic and infrastructure development in rural areas by developing a cluster of 300 Smart Villages over the next 3 years across the country.
• West Bengal government is planning to get Geographical Indication tag for four traditional sweet delicacies of the state. These four traditional sweet delicacies are Moa of Jainagar, Sarpuria of Krishnagar, and Mihidana and Sitabhog of Burdwan.
• In recently released Intellectual Property Index by United States Chamber of Commerce, India was ranked 37th among the surveyed 38 countries. Venezuela ranked lowest below India at 38th position with 6.42 points on the index. In this edition of Intellectual Property Index, India has scored a low 7.0 out of maximum 30 points. Top rank Country is United States.
• The Union Government has appointed three Information Commissioners at the Central Information Commission (CIC). They were administered the oath of office by Chief Information Commissioner Radha Krishna Mathur. With their induction, for the first time CIC has full strength i.e. the total number of Information Commissioners including the CIC has gone up to 11. Their appointments have been made for a term of five years or till they turn 65.
• The Union Cabinet has approved 150 million dollars credit for Development of the strategically important Chabahar Port in Iran. In this regard, the Union Ministry of Shipping had forwarded the proposal for provision and operationalization of credit from EXIM Bank. Union Ministry of Shipping have to form a Company in Iran for implementing the Chabahar Port Development Project and related activities. In 2003, India and Tehran had agreed to develop Chabahar Port located in the Gulf of Oman near Iran’s border with Pakistan.
• Udai Kumar has been appointed as full-time Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSEI) Ltd. His appointment was approved by SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) and comes after stringent short listing process and interviews by the Selection Committee.
• Union Government has launched ‘Swachh Parayatan’ mobile application to keep tourist places clean. The project is being implemented by the Union Ministry of Tourism through Delhi eGovernance Society (DeGS) and National Informatics Centre (NIC). Initially the application facility will be available for 25 Adarsh Smarak Monuments protected by Archaeological Survey of India. The mobile app will be monitored by the project monitoring unit of Swachh Bharat Mission in the Union Ministry of Tourism. This mobile app will enable citizens, tourists to take photograph of garbage seen at the monument and upload it on the app along with his or her remarks.
• India continues to remain the world’s largest arms importer, accounting for 14% of the global arms imports in the 2011-2015 timeframe. It was revealed by report on international arms transfers released by a global think-tank, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Top arms importers are: India (14%), China (4.7%), Australia (3.6%), Pakistan (3.3%), Vietnam (2.9%) and South Korea (2.6%). India’s biggest suppliers are Russia, United States, Israel and France.

FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-3)

• Mysuru city from Karnataka has been ranked first in terms of cleanliness for second time in row among the 73 surveyed cities in Swachh Sarvekshan 2016. It was announced by Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu during the Swachh Survekshan 2016 award function held in New Delhi. The rankings of the Swachh Survekshan Survey 2016 were conducted by Quality Council of India as part of ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’. Top Cities are Mysore (1st rank), Chandigarh (2nd) and Tiruchirappalli (3rd). Least clean city is Dhanbad (73rd).
• As per recently released Index of Internet Readiness of Indian States (IIRIS) report, Maharashtra has topped in terms of the overall Internet readiness index. The report has been compiled and published by Internet and Mobile Association of India and Indicus Analytics. It is a composite index measures internet penetration and usage in Indian states by using four indicators (i) mobile and internet infrastructure (ii) status of the IT service sector (iii) e-participation or use of online transactions and services by citizens (iv) e-governance services offered by the states.
• Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is working to establishment of a Satellite Tracking & Data Reception Station and Data Processing Facility for ASEAN Member countries in Vietnam. ISRO will set up this satellite centre at the behest of Union Government as part of Space Cooperation between India and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
• Kalikho Pul has been sworn-in as the 9th Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh after Governor JP Rajkhowa used his discretionary powers to appoint him.
• President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated India’s first Gender Park at Kozhikode district of Kerala. It is also the first of its kind gender equality convergence centre in Asia. The park is an initiative of the Social Justice Department of the Kerala Government to promote research and other initiatives to enable total gender equality.
• Former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai has been appointed as the first Chairman of Banks Board Bureau (BBB). His appointment comes after Prime Minister has approved the proposal of the Department of Financial Services for the constitution of the BBB. BBB will be a super authority (Autonomous Body) of eminent professionals and officials for Public Sector Banks (PSBs). It will replace the Appointments Board of Government. The bureau was announced by the Union Government in August 2015 as part of seven point Indradhanush Mission to revamp the PSBs. It will give recommendations for appointment of full-time Directors as well as non-Executive Chairman of PSBs.
• Dinesh Sharma has been unanimously elected as the Chairperson of the Governing Council of International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) for a period of two years in its 39th Session held in Rome, Italy.
• Every year World Cancer Day is being observed on 4 February across the world to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. The theme for year 2016 WCD is “We can. I can”.
• West Indies for the first time has won the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup by defeating three time champions India by five wickets played at Mirpur, Bangladesh.
• The first phase of the world’s largest Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant was launched in the Souss-Massa-Drâa area in Morocco. It is part of Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex which will produce enough energy for more than one million Moroccan households on completion by 2018.

FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-2)

• Every year on 10 February is observed as National Deworming Day to combat parasitic worm infections among pre-school and school-age children across India. This year it is second edition of the observance of this day after it was launched in 2015 by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• The 7th edition of India, Seychelles joint military exercise LAMITYE 2016 has begun in Victoria, Seychelles. India and Seychelles have been conducting joint military drill ‘Exercise Lamitye’ since 2001. Lamitye in Creole (local dialect of Seychelles) means friendship. The exercise is conducted biennially with the aim of enhancing military cooperation and interoperability between the two countries.
• The 42nd edition of world famous Khajuraho Dance Festival began at Khajuraho in Chhatrapur District in Madhya Pradesh. Khajuraho Temple is a group of Hindu and Jain Temples in Madhya Pradesh built by Chandela Dynasty between 950 and 1050 AD. They are UNESCO World heritage Site.
• India is going to host Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation from 12 April 2016 to save tigers. It will be the third such conference on tiger conservation that will see the participation of all 13 tiger range countries. They are Nepal, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam, China and Russia. The first edition of Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation was held in Hua Hin, Thailand in 2010 and second edition was held in Thimphu, Bhutan in 2013. India is home to nearly 70% of the world’s tiger population and according to the 2014 tiger census, there are 2,226 tigers in the country. State-wise, Karnataka (406) has the highest number of tigers followed by Uttarakhand (340), Madhya Pradesh (308), Tamil Nadu (229), Maharashtra (190), Assam (167), Kerala (136) and Uttar Pradesh (117).
• Union Government has selected former Chief Justice of India H L Dattu as new Chairman of National Human Rights Commission. He will succeed Mr. K.G. Balakrishnan who had demitted office after his five-year term ended in May 2015. Since then Justice C Joseph is functioning as the acting Chairman. As per the provisions of Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, President appoints the Chairman and members of the NHRC on the recommendation of the high-powered committee headed by the Prime Minister. NHRC is apex statutory watchdog of human rights in the country.
• Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural gas has released the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for north-east India. The states covered under it are Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim, Mizoram and Tripura.
• Gujarat state government has decided to set up India’s first aviation park near Bagodara village in Ahmedabad district to strengthen the aviation sector.
• India’s first indigenously developed lightest revolver Nidar weighing merely 250 grams was successfully launched. It has been designed and manufactured by the state-run Rifle Factory Ishapore located in West Bengal giving boost to the ‘Make in India’ initiative in small manufacturing sector.
• West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra has been appointed as the Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax. He will succeed Kerala Finance Minister K M Mani who had to resign in November 2015 over corruption charges.
• Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) has launched ‘Swachh Himachal – Padhai bhi, Safai bhi’ campaign in Dharamsala. With this unique campaign, HPCA became the first cricket association in the country to work towards Swatch Bharat Abhiyan initiated by the Union Government.

FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-1)

• The International Fleet Review 2016, an international military exercise hosted and conducted by Indian Navy was inaugurated in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Theme of this edition is “United through Oceans” and its objective is to enhance mutual trust and confidence with neighboring navies by inviting their ships to participate in the event.
• The 9th edition of India-Nepal Combined Military Exercise Surya Kiran IX has commenced at Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand.
• The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare have decided to set up the National Organic Farming Research Institute (NOFRI) in Sikkim. The NOFRI will be established by upgrading the existing Gangtok based Regional Centre of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
• The Union textile Ministry has bestowed the Indian Handloom Brand tag on Chettinad Cotton Saris for its unique designs and identity. This tag was bestowed under the India Handloom Brand Scheme after checking its various quality parameters stipulated by the Standard Operating Procedure. The Ministry also has offered a logo to use the brand for marketing the product. It will also enable weavers of these saris to promote the material in the international market. Chettinad cotton sari is also known as “kandaangi”. It is the traditional sari of the Chettinad region in Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu. It is characterised by its silk-like texture, contrasting border and body colours with intricate designs along the border. It has unique pattern with bold checks, stripes and contrasting hues that reflects dramatic and spontaneous use of colours. These saris are already popular in few North Indian states of India and are also popular in other countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.
• Japan has successfully launched ASTRO-H space observation satellite to probe mysterious black holes. The satellite was launched by H2A rocket after it had successfully lifted off at the Tanegashima Space Centre. It will orbit earth at an altitude of about 580 kilometres and observe X-rays emanating mainly from black holes and galaxy clusters.
• Haryana and South Korean state of Chungcheongbuk have agreed to enter into a sister-statehood relationship for development.
• The 12th edition of South Asian Games has begun in Guwahati at the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium. The 11-day event is being jointly hosted by Guwahati and Shillong.
• West Bengal government has launched the Utkarsh Bangla Scheme with an aim of providing vocational training to school dropouts. Objective of the scheme is to give vocational training to school dropouts by providing training ranging from 400 to 1200 hours free of charge. Under this scheme, beneficiaries will be trained in driving, tailoring, repairing television and other electronic equipment’s, beautician courses etc. On completion of the courses beneficiaries will be given Certificates. The state Vocational Education Department will be the nodal agency in charge for implementing the scheme.
• Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has released National Air Quality Indices (AQI) for 24 cities across India for the month of January 2016. In the list Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) and Muzzafarpur (Bihar) were on the top with an AQI value of 409 points each and were coded as ‘severe’ in terms of air pollution in January 2016.
• Christine Lagarde from France has been appointed as the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund for a second five-year term.

FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS

• FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-1)

• FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-2)

• FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-3)

• FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-4)

• FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-5)

• FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-6)

• FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-7)

• FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-8)

• FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-9)

IAS - Syllabi for the Prelims Examination

Paper I - (200 marks) Duration: Two hours

• Current events of national and international importance.
• History of India and Indian National Movement.
• Indian and World Geography - Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
• Indian Polity and Governance - Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
• Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector initiatives, etc.
• General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialisation
• General Science.

Paper II- (200 marks) Duration: Two hours

• Comprehension
• Interpersonal skills including communication skills;
• Logical reasoning and analytical ability
• Decision-making and problem solving
• General mental ability
• Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude, etc.) (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. - Class X level)

Note 1: Paper-II of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination will be a qualifying paper with minimum qualifying marks fixed at 33%

Note 2: The questions will be of multiple choices, objective type.

Note 3: It is mandatory for the candidate to appear in both the Papers of Civil Services (Prelim) Examination for the purpose of evaluation. Therefore a candidate will be disqualified in case he/she does not appear in both the papers of Civil Services (Prelim) Examination.

Charchit Gaur (UPSC CSE 2015 AIR-96) Marksheet

• Essay: 115/250
• GS Paper 1 :95/250
• GS Paper 2 :85/250
• GS Paper 3 :86/250
• GS Paper 4 :91/250
• Chemistry Paper 1 : 145/250
• Chemistry Paper 2 : 123/250
• Interview :190/275
• Total : 930 /2025

100 MCQ - JANUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1. Which of the following committees is formed to suggest changes in the Cinematograph act?

(A) Shyam Benegal Committee

(B) Nilesh Jha Committee

(C) Chand Kiran Salooja committee

(D) Rastogi Committee

Answer: Shyam Benegal Committee

2. Which of the following committees has been set up to review wage structure of Gramin Dak Sevaks?

(A) N Gopalaswami committee

(B) Deviprasad Mishra committee

(C) Ramesh Bharadwaj committee

(D) Kamlesh Chandra Committee

Answer: Kamlesh Chandra Committee

3. In which of the following cities the world’s first slum museum will be set up?

(A) Indore

(B) Mumbai

(C) Lucknow

(D) Ahmedabad

Answer: Mumbai

4. Who has been honoured with the second Harikrishna Devsare Baalsahitya Award 2015?

(A) Gangesh Gunjan

(B) Sheela Jhunjhunwala

(C) Balkrishna Garg

(D) Sherjung Garg

Answer: Balkrishna Garg

5. Jallikattu, a version of bull fighting is popular in which of the following states?

(A) Karnataka

(B) Telangana

(C) Tamil Nadu

(D) Andhra Pradesh

Answer: Tamil Nadu

6. Yadgar-e-Taqseem, or the Memories of Partition museum will be opened in which of the following cities?

(A) Jalandhar

(B) Amritsar

(C) Gurdaspur

(D) Murshidabad

Answer: Amritsar

7. Who is heading the high-level panel set up by the union government to sort out the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train issues with Japan?

(A) Nandan Nilekani

(B) Shankar Bajpai

(C) Arvind Panagariya

(D) Sam Pitroda

Answer: Arvind Panagariya

8. On which date, the World Hindi Day is observed?

(A) January 10

(B) December 24

(C) March 11

(D) September 14

Answer: January 10

9. In which Indian state, the Nati folk dance is celebrated?

(A) Andhra Pradesh

(B) Rajasthan

(C) Himachal Pradesh

(D) Karnataka

Answer: Himachal Pradesh

10. Which state has become the first state to achieve 100 percent primary education status?

(A) Mizoram

(B) Manipur

(C) Kerala

(D) Assam

Answer: Kerala

11. Which of the following panels has been set up to study 7th Pay Commission’s recommendations?

(A) N K Mittal panel

(B) M Raghuveer panel

(C) P K Sinha panel

(D) K Kishore panel

Answer: P K Sinha panel

12. Which state has become the India’s first fully organic state?

(A) Tripura

(B) Sikkim

(C) Himachal Pradesh

(D) Haryana

Answer: Sikkim

13. Which of the following organisations has published the 2016 World Development Report?

(A) UNCTAD

(B) World Bank

(C) IMF

(D) WTO

Answer: World Bank

14. Who has won the 2016 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature?

(A) Anuradha Roy

(B) Akhil Sharma

(C) KR Meera

(D) Mirza Waheed

Answer: Anuradha Roy

15. Who has been elected from India to the board of directors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)?

(A) Rahul Mishra

(B) Dinesh Sharma

(C) VK Singh

(D) Arun Jaitley

Answer: Dinesh Sharma

16. The largest single-site solar power project in the world will come up in which Indian state?

(A) Telangana

(B) Madhya Pradesh

(C) Rajasthan

(D) Gujarat

Answer: Madhya Pradesh

17. Burkina Faso, which is in news for terrorists attack, is located in which part of the World?

(A) Central America

(B) Sothern Africa

(C) South America

(D) Western Africa

Answer: Western Africa

18. The Kosi basin project is coming up in which state?

(A) Chattisgarh

(B) West Bengal

(C) Jharkhand

(D) Bihar

Answer: Bihar

19. Which of the following committees has been set up on Yoga Education in Universities?

(A) Swami Atmapriyananda committee

(B) Ishwar Bharadwaj committee

(C) H.R. Nagendra committee

(D) Suresh Lal Barnawal committee

Answer: H.R. Nagendra committee

20. Which of the following satellite vehicles has successfully put the Satellite IRNSS-1E in orbit?

(A) PSLV-40

(B) GSLV III

(C) PSLV-31

(D) GSLV Mk II

Answer: PSLV-31

21. The 19th edition of National Conference on e-Governance has started in which city?

(A) Jaipur

(B) Nagpur

(C) Bhopal

(D) New Delhi

Answer: Nagpur

22. Which of the following organisations published the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2016 report?

(A) World Bank

(B) OECD

(C) United Nations

(D) WTO

Answer: United Nations

23. The first Ministerial Meeting of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum took place in which country?

(A) Kuwait

(B) Bahrain

(C) Oman

(D) Yemen

Answer: Bahrain

24. On which date, the National Voters’ Day is celebrated in India?

(A) January 21

(B) January 25

(C) February 10

(D) February 17

Answer: January 25

25. The headquarters of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) will come up in which city?

(A) Chandigarh

(B) Gurgaon

(C) Mysuru

(D) Surat

Answer: Gurgaon

26. Marvin Minsky, who passed away recently, was related to which fields?

(A) Film director

(B) Journalist

(C) Fiction writer

(D) Computer scientist

Answer: Computer scientist

27. Which of the following cities has topped the list of the first 20 cities to be developed as Smart Cities?

(A) Pune

(B) Jaipur

(C) Surat

(D) Bhubaneswar

Answer: Bhubaneswar

28. Who of the following is the author of the book titled ‘Jinnah Often Came to our House’?

(A) Jaswant Singh

(B) Kiran Doshi

(C) Nisid Hajari

(D) Jairam Ramesh

Answer: Kiran Doshi

29. Who has won the 2015 Lorenzo Natali Media Prize in Asia and the Pacific amateur category?

(A) Maria Jones

(B) Ankita Anand

(C) Nikhil Jain

(D) Raj Shrivastav

Answer: Ankita Anand

30. The 2016 Sahayog-Kaijin military exercise has been conducted between India and which country?

(A) Japan

(B) South Korea

(C) China

(D) Russia

Answer: Japan

31. Which of the following organisations has won the National Award on e-Governance 2015-16 for launching the Universal Account Number (UAN)?

(A) Exim Bank

(B) SIDBI

(C) Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation

(D) NABARD

Answer: Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation

32. Operation Cold, is launched by which of the following police forces?

(A) Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)

(B) Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)

(C) Border Security Force (BSF)

(D) Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB)

Answer: Border Security Force (BSF)

33. The Flamingo Festival-2016 is organised in which state?

(A) Tamil Nadu

(B) Odisha

(C) Andhra Pradesh

(D) Kerala

Answer: Andhra Pradesh

34. Which one of the following stock exchanges will get its own postage stamp?

(A) Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)

(B) National Stock Exchange of India Ltd

(C) MCX Stock Exchange

(D) Bangalore Stock Exchange

Answer: Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)

35. Project Tango is associated with which of the following companies?

(A) Microsoft

(B) Google

(C) Facebook

(D) Twitter

Answer: Google

36. Which of the following is the first state in the country to make gender education compulsory at graduation level?

(A) Gujarat

(B) Rajasthan

(C) Telangana

(D) Odisha

Answer: Telangana

37. Which of the following is the India’s indigenously-built anti-submarine warfare corvette?

(A) INS Aravalli

(B) INS Kadmatt

(C) INS Savitri

(D) INS Subhadra

Answer: INS Kadmatt

38. Shakti 2016, is the joint military exercise of India with which country?

(A) Japan

(B) France

(C) Russia

(D) USA

Answer: France

39. For what purpose, the Stand Up India Scheme has been launched?

(A) To promote entrepreneurship among SC/ST

(B) To promote entrepreneurship among rural youth

(C) To promote entrepreneurship among Woman

(D) To promote entrepreneurship among SC/ST and Women

Answer: to promote entrepreneurship among SC/ST and Women

40. Which of the following organisations publishes the report titled “Global Economic Perspectives”?

(A) OECD

(B) WTO

(C) IMF

(D) World Bank

Answer: World Bank

41. The NABARD has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with which of the following organisations for web-based monitoring of watershed projects?

(A) National Remote Sensing Center (NRSC)

(B) Geological Survey of India (GSI)

(C) ISRO

(D) DRDO

Answer: National Remote Sensing Center (NRSC)

42. Which of the following countries is the guest of honour country at the 2016 New Delhi World Book Fair?

(A) France

(B) Australia

(C) China

(D) Germany

Answer: China

43. Who has been conferred with the 2016 Global and Asia-Pacific Central Bank Governor of the Year?

(A) Janet Yellen

(B) Mark Carney

(C) Raghuram Rajan

(D) Haruhiko Kuroda

Answer: Raghuram Rajan

44. Which of the following Indian cities have made it to a top 30 list of the world’s most powerful, productive and connected cities?

(A) Kolkata and Mumbai

(B) Bengaluru and Mumbai

(C) Delhi and Mumbai

(D) Delhi and Bengaluru

Answer: Delhi and Mumbai

45. Who of the following has become the first batsman to score more than a 1,000 runs in an innings in any form of cricket?

(A) Ravindra Wade

(B) Pranav Dhanawade

(C) Prithvi Shaw

(D) Mobin Sheikh

Answer: Pranav Dhanawade

46. Which of the following committees has submitted report to Supreme Court for reforms in BCCI?

(A) H L Dattu committee

(B) R M Lodha committee

(C) P Sathasivam committee

(D) Chandra committee

Answer: R M Lodha committee

47. Which of the following states became the first state in the country to sign MoU for UDAY scheme?

(A) Rajasthan

(B) Gujarat

(C) Uttar Pradesh

(D) Jharkhand

Answer: Jharkhand

48. Which of the following countries has won the SAFF Suzuki Cup 2015?

(A) Afghanistan

(B) India

(C) Sri Lanka

(D) Bangladesh

Answer: India

49. Which of the following states became the first state in the country to accept electronic motor insurance policies?

(A) Tamil Nadu

(B) West Bengal

(C) Gujarat

(D) Telangana

Answer: Telangana

50. Who of the following has been conferred with 2015 Sangita Kalanidhi award?

(A) Sudha Ragunathan

(B) Trichur Ramachandran

(C) Sanjay Subrahmanyam

(D) T V Gopalakrishnan

Answer: Sanjay Subrahmanyam

51. Which of the following cities is the host for the 103rd Indian Science Congress (ISC)?

(A) Vishakhapatnam

(B) Allahabad

(C) Mysuru

(D) Ahmedabad

Answer: Mysuru

52. On which date, the World Braille Day is observed?

(A) January 4

(B) December 30

(C) November 9

(D) April 11

Answer: January 4

53. Who of the following has been appointed as new chief of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)?

(A) Helle Thorning

(B) Jeffry Sachs

(C) Filippo Grandi

(D) Achim Steiner

Answer: Filippo Grandi

54. In which of the following states the Ganga Gram Yojana has been launched?

(A) Uttarakhand

(B) Bihar

(C) West Bengal

(D) Uttar Pradesh

Answer: Uttar Pradesh

55. In which of the following states minimum educational qualification is required for candidates contesting local panchayat polls?

(A) Bihar and Haryana

(B) Rajasthan and Haryana

(C) Rajasthan and Bihar

(D) Bihar and Gujarat

Answer: Rajasthan and Haryana

56. Who has been appointed as Registrar General and Census Commissioner?

(A) Pavan Kumar

(B) Nitin Choube

(C) Abhijeet Gupta

(D) Sailesh

Answer: Sailesh

57. The Kohala Hydropower Project will be developed in which of the following countries?

(A) Pakistan

(B) India

(C) Bangladesh

(D) Afghanistan

Answer: Pakistan

58. The IFSC Banking Units are allowed to open which of the following types of bank accounts?

(A) Savings accounts

(B) Current accounts

(C) Foreign currency current accounts

(D) All the above

Answer: Foreign currency current accounts

59. Which of the following states is the host for the National Youth Festival 2016?

(A) Karnataka

(B) Bihar

(C) Chhattisgarh

(D) Assam

Answer: Chhattisgarh

60. Who has received the World Peace and Prosperity Foundation Award for the year 2016?

(A) Mamata Banerjee

(B) Devendra Fadnavis

(C) Mohammed Mahmood Ali

(D) N N Vohra

Answer: Mohammed Mahmood Ali

61. Which of the following countries rated number one in A T Kearney’s 2016 Global Services Location Index (GSLI)?

(A) China

(B) India

(C) Brazil

(D) Japan

Answer: India

62. Which bank has launched India’s first start-up focussed bank branch?

(A) Punjab National Bank

(B) Canara Bank

(C) State Bank of India

(D) Bank of Baroda

Answer: State Bank of India

63. Which of the following organisations is providing loan for implementation of Neeranchal National Watershed Project?

(A) World Bank

(B) Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

(C) BRICS Bank

(D) Asian Development Bank

Answer: World Bank

64. The NITI Aayog has collaborated with which organisation for conducting a survey of manufacturing firms?

(A) State Bank of India

(B) Punjab National Bank

(C) IDFC Bank

(D) ICICI bank

Answer: IDFC Bank

65. The Global Risks Report 2016 is published by which one of the following organisations?

(A) UNCTAD

(B) IMF

(C) World Economic Forum (WEF)

(D) World Bank

Answer: World Economic Forum (WEF)

66. The Machia Biological Park is located in which state?

(A) Rajasthan

(B) Sikkim

(C) Nagaland

(D) Manipur

Answer: Rajasthan

67. Which of the following countries will host Exercise Force Eighteen?

(A) Indonesia

(B) China

(C) India

(D) France

Answer: India

68. The 2016 World Economic Forum (WEF) annual conference has been started in which city?

(A) Berlin

(B) New York

(C) Davos

(D) Paris

Answer: Davos

69. Which state has granted 180 days of maternity leave for women government employees in surrogacy cases?

(A) Rajasthan

(B) Maharashtra

(C) Gujarat

(D) Tamil Nadu

Answer: Maharashtra

70. Which company has launched India’s first social mobile wallet ‘Udio’?

(A) Oxigen

(B) Twitter

(C) TranServ

(D) Facebook

Answer: TranServ

71. Giriputrika Kalyana Pathakam Scheme is launched by which state?

(A) Telangana

(B) Karnataka

(C) Andhra Pradesh

(D) Odisha

Answer: Andhra Pradesh

72. The headquarters of the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) are located at which city?

(A) Paris

(B) New York

(C) Geneva

(D) London

Answer: Geneva

73. The Feni is a popular drink of which state?

(A) Mizoram

(B) Goa

(C) Odisha

(D) West Bengal

Answer: Goa

74. On which date, the National Girl Child Day is celebrated in India?

(A) April 21

(B) January 24

(C) March 23

(D) February 11

Answer: January 24

75. Who has been honoured with the 2016 National Yash Chopra Memorial Award?

(A) Amitabh Bachchan

(B) Simi Garewal

(C) Lata Mangeshkar

(D) Rekha

Answer: Rekha

76. Which of the following countries soldiers created history by participating in the Republic Day parade?

(A) Australia

(B) South Korea

(C) Japan

(D) France

Answer: France

77. Who has joined a task force of the World Economic Forum (WEF) to study the future of global financial system?

(A) Bibek Debroy

(B) Arvind Subramanian

(C) Raghuram Rajan

(D) Duvvuri Subbarao

Answer: Raghuram Rajan

78. Which of the following states has been celebrating the Red Panda Winter Festival 2016?

(A) Nagaland

(B) Meghalaya

(C) Sikkim

(D) Assam

Answer: Sikkim

79. What is the position of India in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2015?

(A) 55th

(B) 76th

(C) 87th

(D) 95th

Answer: 76th

80. What is the name of the 24 hour classical music audio channel launched by the All India Radio (AIR)?

(A) Classic Country

(B) Raagam

(C) Ganam

(D) Classic Tunes

Answer: Raagam

81. Which of the following cities is hosting the ‘Bharat Parv’ festival?

(A) Mumbai

(B) New Delhi

(C) Chennai

(D) Kolkata

Answer: New Delhi

82. Justice Sanjay Mishra is appointed as the Lokayukta of which state?

(A) Tripura

(B) Uttar Pradesh

(C) Haryana

(D) Nagaland

Answer: Uttar Pradesh

83. Who is heading the one-man judicial commission to investigate Rohith Vemula suicide case?

(A) V Eswaraiah

(B) V V Subba Rao

(C) Ashok Kumar Roopanwal

(D) Sengupta

Answer: Ashok Kumar Roopanwal

84. Which of the following space agencies has suspended the 2016 InSight Mars mission?

(A) Roscosmos

(B) NASA

(C) CNSA

(D) JAXA

Answer: NASA

85. Which of the following state celebrate the Raja Rani Music Festival?

(A) Mizoram

(B) Nagaland

(C) Tamil Nadu

(D) Odisha

Answer: Odisha

86. Which of the following organisations has launched Jeevan Labh scheme?

(A) New India Insurance Ltd

(B) National Insurance Company Ltd

(C) State Bank of India

(D) Life Insurance Corporation of India

Answer: Life Insurance Corporation of India

87. The India International Kite Festival is celebrated in which Indian state every year?

(A) Maharashtra

(B) Gujarat

(C) Rajasthan

(D) Karnataka

Answer: Gujarat

88. On which date, the Indian Army Day is celebrated?

(A) January 15

(B) January 21

(C) February 11

(D) March 19

Answer: January 15

89. Who has been honoured with Neerja Bhanot Bravery award?

(A) Arunima

(B) Harinie Jeevitha

 (C) Subhashini Vasanth

(D) Saroja Rathod

Answer: Subhashini Vasanth

90. Mabh Bihu festival is celebrated in which of the following states?

(A) Manipur

(B) Assam

(C) Kerala

(D) Gujarat

Answer: Assam

91. The theater festival ‘Nandi Natakotsavam’ is celebrated in which state?

(A) Himachal Pradesh

(B) Andhra Pradesh

(C) Karnataka

(D) Tamil Nadu

Answer: Andhra Pradesh

92. What is India’s rank in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2015-16?

(A) 89

(B) 93

(C) 102

(D) 115

Answer: 89

93. Who has been appointed as the new executive director of Green peace India?

(A) Ashok Sagar

(B) Divya Raghunandan

(C) Samit Aich

(D) Ravi Chellam

Answer: Ravi Chellam

94. Which of the following countries has won the first Blind T20 Asia Cricket Cup?

(A) Bangladesh

(B) Sri Lanka

(C) India

(D) Pakistan

Answer: India

95. Which is the focal theme country for the 2016 International Kolkata book fair?

(A) France

(B) Russia

(C) Afghanistan

(D) Bolivia

Answer: Bolivia

96. Which of the following states has launched Mukhyamantri Jal Swavalamban Abhiyan scheme?

(A) Madhya Pradesh

(B) Rajasthan

(C) Chattisgarh

(D) Odisha

Answer: Rajasthan

97. Who has become the India’s first civil servant to successfully scale Mount Vinson Massif?

(A) Pankaj Chauhan

(B) Aniket Darra

(C) Aparna Kumar

(D) Sudha Gupta

Answer: Aparna Kumar

98. Who has won the 2016 William E. Colby Award for best military book?

(A) Logan Beirne

(B) Nisid Hajari

(C) Douglas V. Mastriano

(D) Thomas P. McKenna

Answer: Nisid Hajari

99. The 21st INCOFYRA (International Conference on Frontiers in Yoga Research and its Applications) is hosted by which of the following cities?

(A) Bengaluru

(B) Surat

(C) Varanasi

(D) Dehradun

Answer: Bengaluru

100. Which of the following companies publishes Purchasing Managers’ Index?

(A) National Stock Exchange of India Limited

(B) BSE Institute Limited

(C) Markit

(D) HSBC Analytics

Answer: Markit