June 1, 2014
Meira Kumar on her last day in office till the appointment of a Pro term Speaker for the Lok Sabha on 31 May 2014. Who was appointed as Lok Sabha’s Pro term Speaker? – Kamal Nath, the senior Congress leader (Kamal Nath is the senior-most leader of the Lok Sabha and has won from Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh for the ninth time) 1) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 31 May 2014 abolished all the Empowered Groups of Ministers (EGoMs) and Groups of Ministers (GoMs) and told Ministries and departments to take decisions on pending matters. How many EGoMs and GoMs were working on different issues that have now been abolished? – 30 (These include 9 EGoMs and 21 GoMs. These EGoMs and GoMs were constituted during the UPA regime of Manmohan Singh and were formed to take decisions on issues like corruption, inter-State water disputes, administrative reforms and gas and telecom pricing. EGoMs had the power to take decisions on the line of the Union Cabinet. The recommendations of the GoMs were placed before the Cabinet for a final call) 2) The Chief Executive of Lok Sabha Television (LSTV) Rajiv Mishra was sacked from his post by Meira Kumar, the Speaker of the 15th Lok Sabha, on 30 May 2014. This sacking was done by 3) India lost in its first tie of the 13th FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup that started from 31 May 2014. India lost to Belgium by 2-3 to start its campaign on a losing note. This World Cup is being held at – The Hague, Netherlands (The 13th FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup is being held from 31 May to 15 June 2014 at Kyocera Hockey Stadium at the Hague. 12 teams participating in the Hockey World Cup are – Argentina, Australia, Belgium, England, Germany, India, Malaysia, Netherlands (the hosts), New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea and Spain) 4) Who emerged as the winner in the Presidential Elections in the southern African country Malawi that were held on 20 May 2014? –Peter Mutharika (Peter Mutharika is the leader of Malawi’s main opposition party Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The results were declared the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) on 30 may 2014. Mutharika, the 74-year-old brother of the late former President Bingu wa Mutharika, was elected

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president of the country after garnering 36.4% of the votes cast. Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leader Lazarous Chakwera came second grasping 27.8% of the votes and outgoing president Joyce Banda trailed in third with 20.2% of the votes, followed by UDF’S Atupele Muluzi with 13.7%) 5) The Samajwadi Party (SP) government of Uttar Pradesh on 31 May 2014 removed state’s Chief Secretary Javed Usmani amid huge uproar over a string of heinous gang-rapes and crime

against women in the state. Who was appointed as state’s new Chief Secretary? –Alok Ranjan (Alok Ranjan was till now the agriculture production commissioner (APC). Javed Usmani was made the chief secretary in 2012 soon after the SP formed the government in the state after a huge victory in the assembly polls. The Akhilesh Yadav-led state govt. was especially under pressure after the Badaun incident, where two sisters from the dalit community were gang-raped and then hung from a tree)

June 2, 2014
Telangana, who first took oath as state’s Governor before administering the oath of office of secrecy to Rao? – E.S.L. Narasimhan (Narasimhan will serve as the Governor of both Telangana and the residual Andhra Pradesh, out of which Telangana has been carved out. Telangana became the 29thstate of the Union of India) 1) At the stroke of midnight, as the date changed from 1 June to 2 June 2014, India’s newest state Telangana was born amidst celebrations erupting all across the state. Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhara Rao, the supremo of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) became the first Chief Minister of Telangana as he took oath on 2 June 2014 at around 8:20 am at Hyderabad. Who became the first Governor of 2) India’s newest state Telangana comprises of how many districts? – Ten (These include Adilabad, Hyderabad (capital), Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy and Warangal) 3) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the 2014 title of the Indian Premier

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League (IPL) on 1 June 2014 with a magnificent win over first-time finalists Kings XI Punjab at Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium. KKR won the high-scoring match by 3 wickets and chasing Kings XI’s 199 for four, scored 200 for seven in 19.3 overs to win the title. With this win KKR has won the IPL title for how many times? – Two (KKR first won the title in 2012. Rajasthan Royals was the first winner of IPL and won the maiden title in 2008. The other title winners are Deccan Chargers (2009), Chennai Super Kings (2010 and 2011) and Mumbai Indians (2013)) 4) Who won the Orange Cap in IPL 2014 for scoring highest number of runs? – Robin Uthappa (KKR’s Uthappa scored 660 runs and became the highest run scorer in any edition of IPL. He was followed by D. Smith of CSK (566 runs), G. Maxwell of Kings XI (552 runs), David Warner of Sunrisers Hyderabad (528 runs) and Suresh Raina of CSK (523 runs)) 5) Who won the Purple Cap in IPL 2014 for taking highest number of wickets? – Mohit Sharma of CSK (Mohit Sharma took 23 wickets in the tournament. He was followed by Sunil Naraine of KKR (21 wickets), Bhubaneshwar Kumar of Sunrisers Hyderabad (20 wickets), Ravindra Jadeja of CSK (19 wickets) and Sandeep Sharma of Kings XI (18 wickets))

6) India’s first clinic for technology deaddiction was opened in which city around a month ago? – Bangalore (The clinic has been opened by India’s premier mental health hospital, the National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS). The clinic provides treatment and consultancy for people with obsession for social networking and instant chatting sites, texting and mobile games. Technology addiction or internet addiction is recognised by mental health professionals as akin to addictive disorders concerning drugs or alcohol. It is the propensity to excessively engage in activities involving the cellphone, internet and social networking sites to the detriment of one’s health, social life or mental state) 7) What is the name of the village in Nagaland which was declared the country’s first “tobacco-free village” on 31 May 2014 on the occasion of ‘Notobacco Day’? – Gariphema (The declaration was made by Nagaland’s Principal Secretary R Benchilo Thong at the Gariphema Village Council hall near Kohima. A resolution was taken at the village that whoever sells alcohol and tobacco or whoever gets drunk and disturbs peace would be imposed a fine of Rs. 1000 while those consuming alcohol, ‘bidi’, ‘paan’, betel nut or smokeless tobacco on the street and public places would be fined Rs. 500)

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8) What is the name of India’s first luxury superfast train which completed 85 years of its operations on 1 June 2014? – Deccan Queen (This famous train runs between Mumbai and Pune and was started as a weekend train on 1 June 1930 for the British during their rule in India. It is one of the longest

running trains of Indian Railways and has never ran on steam power. From the very beginning, Deccan Queen has been running on electricity. Now it is a second home for thousands of passengers who commute between Pune-Mumbai on daily basis)

June 3, 2014
1) The fifth Indo-French bilateral air exercise named ‘Garuda-V’ began on 2 June 2014. This exercise is aimed at enhancing operational cooperation and validating capabilities. The exercise will involve the assets of Indian Air Force (IAF’s) main operational formations, including the Gandhinagar-based South Western Air Command and the Allahabad-based Central Air Command. Where is ‘Garuda-V’ being held? – Jodhpur Air Base, Rajasthan (Frontline fighter aircraft of the IAF, including the SU 30, Mig-27 (UPG), MIG- 21 Bison, and force multipliers such as the AWACS and Flight Refueller Aircraft IL 78 are participating while the French have fielded their frontline Rafale Fighter aircraft along with the KC 135 Refueller. The exercise, whose previous edition was held at Istres, France, in 2010 will end on 13 June 2014) 2) Congress President on 2 June 2014 nominated whom as party’s leader in the Lok Sabha? – Mallikarjun Kharge, the Lok Sabha member of Congress from Karnataka (Kharge is the former Rail Minister and was nominated after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was apparently reluctant to take on the responsibility of leading his party in the Lok Sabha) 3) King Juan Carlos, who on 2 June 2014 announced his decision to abdicate his throne, is the head of which country’s royal family? – Spain (Juan Carlos announced abdication in favour of his son, the 46year-old Crown Prince Felipe.King Carlos has been on the throne for 39 years and led Spain’s transition from dictatorship to democracy. However, in the recent years his popularity has taken a big blow following numerous royal scandals and controversies)

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4) Which international airlines for the first time introduced regular commercial services of Airbus’ mega passenger aircraft A-380 in India recently? – Singapore Airlines (Singapore Airlines on 30 May 2014 became the first to operate the world’s largest passenger carrier aircraft to India. Regular operations of A-380 in India became a reality after the government in January 2014 allowed Airbus A380 to fly into the country. The civil aviation ministry had lifted the ban imposed in 2008 on the ground that operation of A-380s could work against the interest of Indian passenger carriers. At present only four airports – Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore – have the required infrastructure for handling A380 operations. The A-380 super jumbo can accommodate up to 853 passengers in a single-class configuration and a capacity of 525 passengers in a three-class configuration) 5) What is the name of the US Army soldier who was in the captivity of the Taliban-aligned Haqqani network in Afghanistan from June 2009 until his release on May 31, 2014? – Bowe Robert Bergdahl(Bergdahl was the only known US prisoner of war in Afghanistan. His release was brokered by the American, Qatar and Afghanistan governments with the

Taliban, in exchange for five detainees) 6) Which port overtook Kochi port to become the largest marine exporting port of India (in terms of value) during 2013-14? –Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh (Vishakhapatnam, also known as Vizag port, clocked a revenue of Rs. 6,825.64 crore, a growth of 104% vis-a-vis last fiscal. Kochi port registered 37% growth in revenue at Rs. 4,491 crore and stood at second position among all the major ports of India. It is understood that export of vannamei shrimps, a high value aquaculture product mainly farmed in Andhra Pradesh, have contributed substantially to the higher earnings of Vizag port) 7) Which port belonging to the private sector continued to retain the foremost position in marine exports among the major ports in terms of quantity during 2013-14? – Pipavav Port (During 2013-13 Pipavav Port’s share of exports was 25.27 per cent out of the total 9,83,756 tonnes seafood exported from the country. The port handled 2,48,621 tonnes of marine products during 2013-14 against 2,33,738 tonnes in the previous fiscal, an increase of 6.37%. Kochi handled 1,60,798 tones whereas the figure of Vizag was 1,02,146 tonnes)

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June 5, 2014
2) Which country would become the 19th member of Eurozone and the last Baltic nation to adopt the euro on 1 January 2015 as announced by the European Commission on 4 June 2014? –Lithuania (European Commission announced that Lithuania has fulfilled all conditions to join the Eurozone and it recommended that the country would become the currency bloc’s 19th member on 1 January 2015. Lithuania would be the last Baltic nation to adopt the euro, after Estonia did so in 2011 and Latvia followed suit at the beginning of 2014) 3) The Operation Blue Star, under which Indian Army carried out a military operation in order to establish control over the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib Complex) in Amritsar, completed how many years on 3 June 2014? – 30 years (Operation Blue Star was carried out from 3 June to 8 June 1984. The main objective of the operation was to flush-out Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his armed followers from the complex buildings. Bhindranwale had earlier taken residence in Harmandir Sahib and made it his headquarters in April 1980. Unofficial sources claim that over a hundred army soldiers died in this operation while over 500 civilians and Sikh militants were killed. Operation Blue Star was led by Lt. Gen. Kuldip Singh Brar, who operated

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1) Which anniversary of China’s infamous Tiananmen Square massacre was observed on 4 June 2014? – 25th (The students protests of Tiananmen Square took place at Beijing’s famous Tiananmen Square from 15 April 1989 and went till 4 June 1989 when these protests were forcibly suppressed by hardline leaders who ordered the military to enforce martial law. The protests started during April 1989 against the killing of a former Communist Party General Secretary and liberal reformer Hu Yaobang. These protests were mowed down by Chinese Army which used tanks and heavy armoury to target protestors. Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 are considered one of the strongest pro-democracy movements in China which shook the Communist regime to the core and resulted in some degree of reforms)

under Lt. Gen. Sundarji. However, the operation has been criticized on numerous grounds including illplanning, ill-timing and arrogant attitude of the strategists of this operation. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale also died in the operation) 4) The first sitting of the newly constituted 16th Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on 4 June 2014 after paying homage to the departed Union Minister Gopinath Munde. Who was sworn in as the Protem Speaker of the newly constituted Lok Sabha? – Kamal Nath(Kamal Nath, a nine-term MP, was administered the oath at a simple function in the Rashtrapati Bhavan which was attended by Prime

Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and Minister of State (Parliamentary Affairs) Santosh K Gangwar) 5) According to the HSBC Services Business Activity Index released on 4 June 2014 India’s services sector expanded for the first time during May 2014 after a gap of how many months? – 11 months (The headline HSBC Services Business Activity Index released on 4 June stood at 50.2 in May 2014, rising from April’s reading of 48.5 and pointing to the first expansion of output in 11 months. This clearly indicated that activity in the services sector is improving gradually)

June 6, 2014
G7. G7 is the group of seven major world powers (largest economies of the world) and includes Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, the United States, and Canada. Russia was expelled from its earlier incarnation called G8 after its invasion of Crimea during March 2014. G8’s summit for 2014 was proposed to be held at Sochi (Russia) but it was suspended after Russia was expelled as a member of the group. The summit was thus shifted to Brussels)

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1) 40th Summit of Group of Seven (G7) group of countries concluded on 5 June 2014. This 2-day summit was held at which city? – Brussels, Belgium (G7 was earlier known as G8 but after Russia being expelled from the group, the group is again known as

2) India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi would undertake his first official foreign visit to which country, as disclosed on 5 June 2014? –Bhutan (Bhutan is India’s friendliest neighbour and Modi would visit the country after the ongoing session of the Indian Parliament) 3) US President Barack Obama on 4 June 2015 suspended the oil sanctions being imposed on Iran for how many months? – Six months (This was done as Iran continued to comply with the commitment on its controversial nuclear weapons programme. Obama determined that there is no need to continue with oil sanctions on Iran as it is fully cooperating with the US-led international community to address their concerns about its nuclear weapons programme) 4) BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan will be the Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha. Her name was proposed for the post on 5 June 2014 with senior leaders from all parties, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, moving motions in her favour. She is an eight-term Lok

Sabha member from which constituency of Madhya Pradesh? – Indore(Sumitra Mahajan would thus become the second woman Lok Sabha speaker after Meira Kumar) 5) Who was nominated as Congress party’s Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha on 5 June 2014? – Jyotiraditya Scindia (Jyotiraditya Scindia retained his traditional Guna constituency seat from Madhya Pradesh in the elections for the 16th Lok Sabha. Deependra Singh Hooda, the lone Congress member from Haryana, and K.C. Venugopal from Kerala were named as party’s other two whips) 6) Who was named as Congress party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha on 5 June 2014? – Amrinder Singh (Amrinder Singh had defeated senior BJP leader and the present Finance Minister Arun Jaitley from Amritsar constituency in the elections for the 16th Lok Sabha. Earlier veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge was nominated as party’s leader in the Lok Sabha by party President Sonia Gandhi)

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June 7-8, 2014 of 1,000 MW at 1.20 p.m. on 7 June 2014. What unique achievement was made by KKNPP on this occasion? – It became India’s first unit to produce 1,000 MW electricity (The reactor has been built with VVER technology and has been supplied by Atomstroyexports, Russia. India’s atomic power plant operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is setting up two Russian made 1,000 MW atomic power plants at KKNPP at an outlay of over Rs.17,000 crore) 4) An expert committee set up to review the functioning of the direct benefit transfer for LPG scheme has recently recommended immediate relaunch scheme in the districts where it has already been implemented. Who headed this committee? – Prof. S G Dhande, former Director of IIT Kanpur (The committee in its report has said that the scheme can be re-launched in the same districts provided they meet the prescribed threshold of UID number issued, LPG connections and bank account seeding. The scheme was rolled from 1 June 2013 in 291 districts in phases. Till 7 March 2014, about Rs. 5,400 crore was transferred to more than 2.8 crore LPG consumers across the country. The Aadhaar-linked scheme was put on hold from 7 March following complaints from consumers that either

1) The Mumbai Metro finally started its commercial operations from 8 June 2014 with opening of first line of the Phase-1 of the project comprising of 11.4 km. Which stretch- of metro services was opened on this day? – Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar stretch (The commercial services on Phase-1 of Mumbai Metro was originally proposed to be started during 2011 but it was delayed by three years. There are a total of 3 phases with three lines in each phase) 2) Which company has been operating the Phase-1 of Mumbai Metro which opened for the general public from 8 June 2014? – Mumbai Metro One Pvt. Ltd – MMOPL (MMOPL is a joint venture company formed by Reliance Infrastructure, Voelia Transport and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA)) 3) The Unit 1 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) crossed the much-awaited milestone

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they didn’t have the Aadhaar number or have problems in seeding their accounts with the sponsor banks) 5) Who won women’s singles title of French Open 2014? – Maria

Sharapova of Russia (She defeated Romania’s Simona Halep by 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 at Roland Garros, Paris on 7 June 2014. This was Sharapova’s second French Open singles title and fifth grand slam singles title)

June 9, 2014
Pradesh. 19 ministers were also inducted into Naidu’s government) 2) The oath ceremony of new government of the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh was held at which place on 8 June 2014? – at the grounds of Acharya Nagarjuna University at Numbur, which falls between Vijayawada and Guntur (The residuary Andhra Pradesh does not have a capital of its own at present and will share Hyderabad as jointcapital with Telangana for 10 years. By then it will have to develop a new capital of its own) 3) Which international airport of Pakistan became target of a massive terrorist attack on 8 June 2014 in which at least 23 people were killed? – Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport (The old terminal building of the airport was targeted by terrorists who

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1) Who took over as the first Chief Minister of the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh on 8 June 2014? – Nara Chandrababu Naidu (Naidu, the supremo of Telugu Desham Party (TDP) was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan. He has served for close to nine years from 1995 to 2004 as Chief Minister of united Andhra

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posed as Airport Security Force (ASF) personnel. All 10 terrorists were killed in a combined retaliatory operation of army units, ASF commandos, paramilitary rangers and police. The attack was reminiscent of the deadly attack carried out by some 15 militants of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in May, 2011 on the Mehran naval airbase here in which the attackers killed some 18 personnel and damaged aircrafts before being killed in a counter attack) 4) Which former Indian cricketer joined the Supreme Court-appointed Mudgal committee as a member on 8 June 2014? – Sourav Ganguly (Ganguly joined the Mudgal committee, which is probing the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal, as an expert on cricketing affairs. The panel is headed by Retd. Justice Mukul Mudgal and includes advocates L. Nageswara Rao, Niloy Dutta and senior IPS officer B.B. Mishra. The Supreme Court had earlier directed the probe committee to select a cricketer of ‘impeccable integrity’ who would help the committee on the cricketing matters related to IPL betting and spot-fixing)

2014, team Mercedes was beaten for the first time in 2014. Who was the unexpected winner of this race? – Daniel Ricciardo for Red Bull (This was the first GP win for Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and Mercedes was beaten for the first time in this season. However, the second spot was taken by Mercedes Driver Nico Rosberg (Germany) and Ricciardo’s teammate Sebastian Vettel (Germany) claimed the third spot. A big event of the race was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton being forced to retire from the race due to brake failure. Force India’s Hulkenberg (Germany) claimed fifth spot. With this result Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg extended his lead over Hamilton for the ongoing F1 season) 6) Spain’s Rafael Nadal won the men’s singles title of 2014 French Open on 8 June 2014 by defeating Serbia’s Novak Djokovic by 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4. This was Nadal’s ……… singles title win at the French Open – 9th (In the modern era, no man has had a tighter grip on a Grand Slam event than Rafael Nadal, who won the French Open title for record ninth time at the age of just 28 years. Nadal has now won 14 Grand Slam singles titles; just three behind the career leader, his former archrival Roger Federer)

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5) In a dramatic race in the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix on 8 June

June 10-11, 2014
TRS chief and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao) 3) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 June 2014 unveiled a new book titled “Getting India Back on Track: An Action Agenda For Reform”. The book basically carries a series of papers on different areas for presentation to the new government arguing out the case for the reforms that would be necessary to get India back on track. Who are the authors of this book? – Bibek Debroy, Ashley J. Tellis and Reece Trevor (The book has been published by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The foreword of the book has been written by Ratan N Tata and it contains insightful essays by eminent academicians and public policy experts) 4) Who was named as the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha on 9 June 2014? – Arun Jaitley (Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari made the announcement on the first day’s sitting of the Upper House after the Lok Sabha elections. Jaitley, a senior BJP Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat and Union Finance Minister was earlier the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha during UPA Government)

1) India’s market capitalization recently crossed which major milestone after around 4 years, mainly on the back of a strong government at the Centre? – 1.5 trillion dollar (The recent spurt in the market has also propelled India to be the 10th biggest in terms of market cap, and the second biggest in the BRIC group of countries, behind China which is at $3.23 trillion. In rupee terms, India’s market cap is at an alltime high of Rs 89.8 lakh crore. At the current level, India’s market cap-toGDP ratio is about 0.79. However, this is much lower than the levels seen during the last bull market of 2007-08, when the ratio was nearly 2) 2) Who took charge as the first Speaker of the Telangana Assembly on 10 June 2014? – S. Madhusudanachari (He was elected to the Assembly from Bhupalpalli in Warangal district. He had been a member of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) since its foundation in 2001 and is a trusted lieutenant of

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5) Who was named the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha on 9 June 2014? – Ghulam Nabi Azad (Ghulam Nabi Azad is a veteran Congress leader and was Union Health Minister during the UPA govt. He lost the Lok Sabha election from Udhampur constituency in Jammu and Kashmir) 6) At least 24 engineering students from the Hyderabad-based engineering college VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering & Technology were washed away on 8 June 2014 in River Beas near Thalot (Himachal Pradesh) on ManaliKiratpur Highway after water from the reservoir of a dam was released suddenly. Which dam is this which is part of a hydropower project? – Larji Dam, which has a reservoir under the 126 MW Larji Hydropower Project (The incident took place when the students from the Hyderabad-based college were trying to click photos on the bank of the river. The students drowned when water from Larji dam was suddenly released without any warning) 7) Armed militants made yet another attack near Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport on 10 June 2014 just two days after a huge attack on 8 June. The militants attacked a training camp of the Airport Security Force (ASF) but failed to penetrate the security cordon and managed to flee into nearby residential areas. Which

militant group had claimed the responsibility for the first attack and is believed to be involved in this attack too? – Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan – TTP (Eleven airport security guards, along with a paramilitary ranger and a policeman, 14 civilian workers and 10 militants were killed in the previous attack. TTP took the responsibility for second attack too later in the day on 10 June) 8) Which mobile phone operator signed a two-year agreement with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC) to deploy its enterprise mobility platform to company’s LPG customers? – Idea Cellular (Under this agreement Idea’s platform would be used to service IOC’s more than 82 million LPG consumers. The service allows consumers to book LPG over phone or text messages, much in contrast with the traditionally mode of bookings done through distributors. IOC, which provides LPG under the ‘Indane’ brand, will extend its ‘Smart Gas Solution’ service to provide end-to-end automation on refill delivery process of IOC) 9) According to a latest report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) how many millionaire households were there in India during 2013? – Around 1.75 lakh (The BCG report titled ‘14th Annual Study of the Global WealthManagement Industry’ was released on 10 June 2014, according to which

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India’s wealth in 2013 grew 24.6% to $2.2 trillion) 10) Defence Minister Arun Jaitley during June 2014 commissioned two coastguard ships ICGS Achook and ICGS Agrim into the service of Indian Coastguard. These two are the fifth and sixth ships in a series of twenty fast patrol vessels and are new

generation fast patrol vessels equipped with sophisticated communication equipment to be based in Mumbai. The other commissioned ships in these series are in Tuticorin, Porbandar, Cochin and Mangalore. They have been built at – Cochin shipyard (Cochin shipyard is also building India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier)

June 12, 2014 played at 12 different venues in Brazil. Brazil is hosting the World Cup for the second time. It hosted it for the first time in 1950) 2) What is the name assigned to a tropical cyclone which initiated in the east-central Arabian Sea on the afternoon of 11 June 2014? – ‘Nanauk’ (The name ‘Nanauk’ was assigned by Myanmar as per the regional cyclone naming protocol. India Met Department (IMD) announced initiation of this tropical cyclone and expected it to intensify another round into a severe cyclonic storm. The cyclone will later weaken as it nears landfall over Oman coast)

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1) FIFA Football World Cup 2014 starts from 12 June 2014 as hosts Brazil take on Croatia in the opening match at the new Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo. This would be which edition of FIFA Men’s Football World Cup? – 20th (The 20thedition of FIFA World Cup would be played from 12 June to 13 July 2014. 32 teams from 5 confederations are participating in this World Cup. Total 64 matches would be

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3) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on 11 June 2014 allotted portfolios to his Cabinet colleagues. He also appointed two Deputy Chief Ministers for the state. Who are the two ministers to secure this post? – K.E. Krishna Murthy and N. Chinarajappa(Senior leader Yanamala Ramakrishnudu was named Finance minister while N. Chinnarajappa got Home Ministry along with the post of Deputy CM) 4) Which city would host the World Chess Championship rematch between Indian chess veteran Viswanathan Anand and title-holder Magnus Carlsen (Norway) during November 2014? – Sochi, Russia(This much-anticipated rematch would be held staged from 7 November to 28 November 2014 at the Olympic Village in Sochi. The schedule for the match

was announced on 11 June 2014 by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Carlsen became the world champion during November 2013 by defeating Anand in Chennai) 5) The World Bank lowered its growth forecast for developing countries during 2014 in its Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report which was released on 11 June 2014. The growth forecast was lowered from the January estimate of 5.3% to – 4.8% (However, the estimates for 2015 and 2016 displayed signs of strengthening with growth of 5.4 and 5.5%, respectively. In the report the global economy is expected to pick up speed as the year progresses and is projected to expand by 2.8% during 2014 and later strengthening to 3.4 and 3.5% in 2015 and 2016, respectively)

June 13, 2014
1) AirAsia India, the Indian arm of the Malaysian no-frills airline headed by Tony Fernandes, on 12 June 2014 became the fifth budget carrier in India as its maiden flight took off on the day. This first flight of AirAsia was between which two destinations? – From Bangalore to Goa (AirAsia became the fifth budget (no-frills) airline in India after IndiGo, JetLite, SpiceJet and GoAir. AirAsia India is a three-way venture between the Malaysia-based

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low-cost airline, India’s Tata Group and investment firm Telestra Tradeplace) 2) Which major public-sector steel plant of the country witnessed an accident due to a gas leakage on 12 June 2014 resulting in death of 6 persons? – Bhilai Steel Plant at Durg in Chattisgarh (Bhilai Steel Plant is owned by the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). The accident took place after a gas leakage from a blast furnace due to breakdown in a water pump. Six persons, including two Deputy General Managers, were killed and over 30 people fell ill in this accident) 3) Who was appointed as the new CEO of Infosys Limited, India’s second-largest IT services exporter, on 12 June 2014? – Vishal Sikka(Vishal Sikka thus becomes the first external CEO of Infosys which is presently witnessing a large staff exodus and low sales of high-margin services like cloud computing. Vishal Sikka is a former member of executive board at German software company SAP AG and would replace S.D. Shibulal on 1 August 2014) 4) Who was appointed as the new Attorney General of India on 12 June 2014? – Mukul Rohatgi (Mukul Rohatgi is a senior advocate of the Supreme

Court and he replaced G.E. Vahanvati as the 14th AG of the country. He will have a tenure of 3-year. The government has already appointed Ranjit Kumar as the Solicitor General. Six Additional Solicitors General have also been appointed) 5) Hosts Brazil came from behind to beat a stubborn Croatia 3-1 in the first match of 2014 FIFA World Cup on 12 June 2014. Who scored two goals for Brazil to start their World Cup campaign in style? –Neymar (Neymar scored two goals in 29th and 71st minute respectively after Croatia took the surprise lead in 11th minute through a self-goal by Brazil’s Marcelo . Third goal for Brazil was scored by Oscar during last seconds of the match) 6) Who topped Union Public Service Commission (UPSC’s) IAS exams for 2013, the results for which were declared on 12 June 2014? – Gaurav Agarwal (This was the second attempt of the 29-year-old Jaipur boy, who is currently under training at National Police Academy after he was selected for the IPS with 244th rank in the UPSC exams in 2012. Agrawal holds a Bachelor of Technology (computer science) degree from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and MBA (Finance) from Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow)

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June 14-15, 2014 mobility of engineers (Washington Accord is an international agreement amongst prominent nations of the world, with the charter of promoting mobility and quality assurance of engineers across international boundaries. The charter requires that nations set up suitable accreditation standards, which would ensure a minimum quality of attainment for their engineering graduates) 3) The Maharashtra Government on 13 June 2014 decided to split India’s most populous district Thane by carving out a new district out of district. Which will be this new district? – Palghar (Palghar will be the headquarters of the new district, which will have eight taluks (sub-districts). The residual Thane district will have seven taluks including Thane city. Thane district, with a large tribal population, huge tracts of forest and inaccessible areas has always been challenge for the administrators. The tribal belt will now come under Palghar) 4) The Narmada Control Authority (NCA) on 12 June 2014 approved the proposal to raise Narmada Dam’s height from 121.9 metres to 138.7 metres. The demand for raising the height of the dam was a longstanding demand of the Gujarat government.

1) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 14 June 2014 dedicated India’s largest warship – the 44,500-tonne INS Vikramaditya to the nation. This huge ship had been purchased at a cost of around Rs. 15,000 crore from Russia where it was known as Admiral Gorshkov. But what was the original name of this ship which started as a Kiev class aircraft carrying cruiser in the erstwhile Soviet Navy? – ‘Baku’(It was commissioned as ‘Baku’ in the Navy of the former USSR on 20 December 1987. However, on 7 November 1990 it was renamed after Admiral Sergey Georgiyevich Gorshkov and was finally decommissioned in 1996)

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2) India on 13 June 2014 became a permanent member of the Washington Accord (WA) as it joined a select group of 17 countries who are permanent signatories of the WA. Washington Accord is associated with which field? – Engineering studies and

This would make Narmada Dam world’s second largest concrete gravity dam (by volume). Which is the largest one? – Grand Coulee Dam in the United States (A higher dam will optimize hydro-power generation and water supply capacity of this project, and is expected to benefit not just Gujarat but also neighbouring Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. But decision to raise dam’s height drew protests from activist Medha Patkar who drew attention to the resultant displacement of thousands of people) 5) The Maharashtra Government on 13 June 2014 approved 20% additional reservations in government jobs and education for which community with which the community’s quota limit would be raised upto 72%? – Maratha Community (The Marathas are a dominant caste in the state of Maharashtra, comprising roughly 30% of the population. The community wields massive political clout)

6) Defending champion Spain was delivered a humiliating 5-1 defeat by the Netherlands in a league match at the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2014 on 13 June 2014. This was only the second time the Spanish team had conceded five goals in a World Cup game. When they were last defeated by such a margin in World Cup? – in 1950 (When hosts Brazil defeated Spain by 6-1 on their home turf. Spain is also the Euro 2012 champions) 7) India ended its campaign at the FIH Hockey World Cup on 14 June 2014 by playing their last classification match. India finished at which place in this World Cup? – Ninth (India defeated South Korea by 3-0 in the ninth-10th place play-off match at the Kyocera Stadium at The Hague in Netherlands. India ended the World Cup one notch below their eighthplace finish at New Delhi edition in 2010)

June 16, 2014
1) Defending champions Australia won the FIH men’s Hockey World Cup by humiliating hosts the Netherlands by 6-1 on 15 June 2014. With this win Australia has now won how many hockey World Cup titles? – Three(Australia’s other title wins were in 1986 and 2010. Argentina defeated England by 2-0 to win third place while India got ninth place in the

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tournament. This was 13th edition of men’s Hockey World Cup and was held at the Hague in the Netherlands from 31 May to 15 June 2014) 2) Hosts the Netherlands defeated which team in the finals to win FIH women’s Hockey World Cup on 14 June 2014? – Australia (This was record seventh title win for the Netherlands in 13 World Cups. This was also the 13th edition of women’s Hockey World Cup and was held at the Hague in the Netherlands simultaneously with men’s World Cup. Argentina defeated the USA by 2-1 to win third place. This was Argentina’s fourth successive medal in the World Cup. They were champions in 2002 and 2010, and bagged a bronze in 2006) 3) Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited which country on his first official visit to a foreign country since assuming charge? – Bhutan(He reached Bhutan on 15 June 2014 on his 2-day official visit. Modi said Bhutan was a natural choice as his first foreign destination because of the unique and special relationship between India and Bhutan) 4) Renowned journalist Shekhar Gupta was heading which newspaper as its Editor-in-Chief, from which he officially resigned on 15 June 2014? – ‘Indian Express’ (From 16 June 2014 ‘Indian Express’ has a new Editor-in-Chief –

Raj Kamal Jha. Raj Kamal Jha was the Editor of the newspaper till now while Managing Editor Unni Rajen Shanker was appointed the new Editor. Shekhar Gupta is also famous for his hosting of ‘Walk the Talk’ on NDTV) 5) Who was elected as the new Prime Minister of Finland on 14 June 2014 to replace outgoing Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen? – Alexander Stubb (Stubb was the Foreign Trade Minister in the government till now. Stubb represents the liberal wing of National Coalition Party, the main government party in the five-party coalition and was elected in the party congress where he defeated rival Social Affairs Minister Paula Risikko with 500 votes against her 349. Katainen, who has led the party since 2004, announced his resignation in April 2014) 6) What is the name of the World’s first supersonic car which can run at 1,609 kmph (1,000 mph), which was unveiled on 13 June 2014 in Bristol (UK)? – Bloodhound SSC (Bloodhound SSC is aimed to set the fastest land speed record in history in the South African desert in 2015 and 2016. It has been handcrafted using 5 different types of carbon fibers and two different resins. Andy Green, a British Royal Air Force fighter pilot and World Land Speed Record holder, is the official driver of this supersonic car)

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June 17, 2014 was the WPI for May 2014 which was released on 16 June 2014? – 6.01% (The WPI for April 2014 was 5.20%. As per the data released by the government, core inflation was at 3.8% as against 3.4% last month. Primary article inflation stood at 8.58% as against 7.06% last month. Food article inflation was at 9.50% as against 8.64% last month while nonfood article index was up at 1.5%) 3) Who was chosen as the next United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights by the U.N. General Assembly on 16 June 2014? –Prince Zeid al Hussein of Jordan (Prince Zeid al Hussein is Jordan’s Ambassador to the U.N. He is a longtime diplomat and former U.N. peacekeeper and will take over from Navi Pillay as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights on 1 September 2014. He will be the first Muslim and Arab to hold the post) 4) The goal-line technology, introduced for the first time in the FIFA World Cup, awarded the first international goal in its history on 15 June 2014. This goal was awarded to which country? – France(France made World Cup history by becoming the first team to benefit from FIFA’s longoverdue embrace of video replays in awarding goals called goal-line technology. This decision was done in

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1) What is the name given to a major operation started by the Pakistani military from 15 June 2014 to flush insurgents out of the volatile region of North Waziristan bordering Afghanistan? – ‘Zarb-e-Azb’, which translates to ‘Strike of the Prophet’s Sword’ (Pakistan sent troops, artillery and helicopter gunships to North Waziristan on 15 June in a longexpected military operation seen as a response to a deadly insurgent attack on its biggest airport (Karachi) a week ago. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who preferred peace talks, has been under pressure from hawks in the army as well as the United States to launch a major operation against militants in North Waziristan, part of the largely lawless areas bordering Afghanistan. The Pakistan Army on 16 June 2014 said that at least 27 terrorists were killed in the ongoing operation) 2) The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for the month of May 2014 touched a 5-month high as higher food prices and fuel costs fuelled price rise. What

France’s league match against Honduras which France won convincingly by 3-0) 5) Which team won the US’ prestigious NBA (National Basketball Association) Championship for 2014 on 15 June 2014? – San Antonio Spurs (San Antonio Spurs defeated the Miami Heat by 104-87 to win the series in five games. This was 5th NBA title for Spurs having won the title in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007. Spurs also ended Miami Heat’s winning spree having won the title consecutively in 2012 and 2013. NBA is widely considered to be

the premier men’s professional basketball league in the world) 6) Who won the US Open Golf title for 2014 on 15 June 2014? –Martin Kaymer of Germany (With this title win Kaymer became the first continental European to ever win the US Open. He’s also only the third Open champion to have led from beginning to end of the tournament, joining Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. This was 114thedition of US Open Golf, which is one of the most prestigious titles in international golf circuit)

June 18, 2014 non-subsidised kerosene in the city – ‘Delhi: A Kerosene-Free City Scheme, 2012’(The scheme was launched in 2012 in collaboration with three oil marketing companies and the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for which Delhi Government had incurred an expenditure of Rs. 62 crores. With delhi being kerosene-free, India is expected to save upto Rs. 200 crore annually) 1) The Delhi Government on 17 June 2014 announced that the national capital has become the first ‘kerosenefree city’ in the country. Which scheme was implemented in the city which enabled it to do away with the sale of 2) Which bank is organising ‘The Banking and Economics Conclave 2014′ which was inaugurated by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan in Mumbai on 17

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June 2014? – State Bank of India – SBI (This conclave is a national level banking conclave that has been organized for the first time. The conclave is on the lines of ‘Bancon’, an event organised by Indian Bank’s Association (IBA) each year. It is also the first time that a commercial bank has organised an event of this magnitude) 3) The Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC) headed by Parthasarathi Shome in its first report endorsed the recommendations given by the 1992 committee on tax reforms for abolishing the post of Revenue Secretary in the Ministry of Finance. Who had headed that 1992 committee on tax reforms which had advocated path-breaking tax reforms for the country – Raja J Chelliah (Raja J Chelliah was instrumental in bringing about the early reforms to the direct taxation structure. He served as chairman of Tax Reforms Committee of Union govt. between 1991 and 1993 and he was often called ‘The Father of Tax Reforms’) 4) Who was re-elected as Colombia’s President in the tightest presidential contest in years in the country? – Juan Manuel Santos(Santos defeated rightwing challenger Oscar Ivan Zuluaga

who was backed by former two-term President Alvaro Uribe. His win is being seen as an endorsement of his 18-month-old peace talks to end the Western Hemisphere’s longestrunning conflict) 5) Who scored the first hat-trick of the 2014 FIFA World Cup –Thomas Mueller of Germany (Mueller scored the first hat-trick of the World Cup on 16 June 2014 against Portugal in a Group-G league match at Salvador. Germany outclassed Portugal 4-0 in this match to start its World Cup campaign in style) 6) With over 3 lakh employees Indian IT company TCS has become the world’s third largest employer in the technology sector. Which is the leading employer in this segment? – IBM (According to the latest data released by analysis firms, IBM had 4,31,212 employees during the end of last fiscal year (2013) and was followed by Hewlett-Packard (HP) with 3,17,500 employees. TCS is now placed third with employee strength of 3,00,464. Given the pace at which TCS is growing, it could become the second largest employer this year, crossing HP and would be fast closingin on IBM)

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June 19, 2014 alternative funding source to help start-ups struggling to raise funds. Under this, funding (in small amounts) is sought from multiple investors through a web-based platform or a social networking site for a specific project, business venture or social cause. What is the name of this funding source which is quite popular in developed countries? – Crowdfunding (According to SEBI’s consultation paper SEBI wants the issue fund-raising capped at Rs. 10 crore a year for each start-up. Only national stock exchanges and SEBIregistered depositories are eligible to set up a crowd-funding platform) 3) ‘Mehrangir’, the south Mumbai bungalow of late Dr. Homi Bhabha, the father of India’s atomic energy programme was sold on 18 June 2014 for Rs. 372 crore. Which organisation was the beneficiary of this auction and which also conducted the auction? – National Centre for Performing Arts – NCPA (NCPA a charitable trust was the beneficiary of as per the will of Homi Bhabha’s brother Jamshed Bhabha. The property is located in south Mumbai’s Malabar Hill, one of the most premium and expensive localities in Mumbai) 4) What is the name of Iraq’s largest oil refinery which was taken into

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1) Who was recently appointed the arbitrator from the Union Finance Ministry in the Rs.20,000-crore tax dispute case with U.K. telecom major Vodafone? – Justice (Retd.) R. C. Lahoti, Former Chief Justice of India (The government’s decision was in response to an arbitration notice served by Vodafone International Holdings B.V. in April 2014 under the Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement between India and the Netherlands for resolving the dispute. The Union Cabinet had approved the conciliation with Vodafone in June last year in a bid to resolve the capital gains tax dispute related to its 2007 acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa’s stake in Hutchison Essar) 2) The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 17 June 2014 came out with a consultation paper on an

control by Islamic militants on 18 June 2014? – Beiji (The Beiji refinery accounts for a little more than a quarter of the country’s entire refining capacity all of which goes towards domestic consumption for things like gasoline, cooking oil and fuel for power stations. At the height of the insurgency from 2004 to late 2007, the Beiji refinery was under the control of Sunni militants who used to siphon off crude and petroleum products to finance their operations. If the seize at Beiji continues for a long time, long lines at the gas pump and electricity shortages are expected in Iraq) 5) The third and the final link of the 16.4-km elevated Eastern Freeway was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan at Mumbai on 16 June 2014. With this all the sections of Mumbai’s Eastern Freeway have now been opened for traffic, some seven years after its foundation was laid. Which is the third link of this

freeway? – The Panjarpol-Ghatkopar link which is 2.8 km long (The Eastern Freeway was commissioned by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) in a staggered manner, with the first section being open for motorists in June 2013) 6) Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India on 18 June 2014 confirmed the kidnapping of 40 Indian workers in Iraq who worked there. These workers were based near which Iraqi town as stated by the MEA? – Mosul (These 40 Indian workers were working for a Turkish construction company near the Iraqi town of Mosul and no contact is being established with them. There are about 10,000 Indians working and living in Iraq. Only about 100 are in violent, insecure areas. That includes the construction workers near Mosul as well as 46 Indian nurses working in a hospital in the Iraqi town of Tikrit)

June 20, 2014
1) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 17 June 2014 asked banks to make sector-wise disclosure of their advances from 2014-15 onwards with a view to encourage them to actively manage exposure to various segments. This direction was based on which committee’s recommendation on this subject? – Dr.

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Nachiket Mor Committee (The Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low Income Households under chairmanship of Dr. Nachiket Mor had recommended that banks actively manage their exposures to various sectors, including priority sectors) 2) Who was chosen for World Food Prize of the United Nations for 2014 as announced recently? – Dr. Sanjay Rajaram, veteran plant scientist of Indian origin (India-born Sanjay Rajaram, a citizen of Mexico has been the head of the wheat-breeding programme at the International Centre for Wheat and Maize (CIMMYT) in Mexico for several decades. He has been chosen for the award for his scientific research that led to a prodigious increase in world wheat production. Regarded as the most prestigious award in the area of food and agriculture, the Prize, carrying a cash prize of $ 250,000, would be presented during the U.N. World Food Day on 16 October 2014. India’s Dr. M.S. Swaminathan was the first recipient of the Prize in 1987)

Monaco in November and if endorsed, he will assume office after Ronald K Noble steps down in 2015 following three successive tenures. CBI Director Ranjit Sinha was also in the race for this post as his candidature was cleared by the home and external affairs ministries. He was interviewed on 16 June 2014 and it was the first time that an Indian made it to top six candidates) 4) Who took over as the new King of Spain on 19 June 2014 ending King Juan Carlos’ nearly 39-year reign? – Prince Felipe (Prince Felipe became known as King Felipe VI as he took an oath in parliament shortly after receiving a ceremonial sash from his father Juan Carlos representing the receipt of the command of the country’s armed forces. Prince Felipe became the new Spanish monarch in the wake of the abdication of his father, King Juan Carlos on 2 June 2014) 5) Global e-commerce retailer Amazon announced its entry into the smartphone market with a new range of smartphone. What is the name of this smartphone which would be launched in the U.S. on 25 July 2014? – Fire (Amazon is entering the smartphone market rather late with Samsung and Apple dominating worldwide smartphone sales with a combined 46% share. Fire will cost $200 for a base model with 32 gigabytes and $300 for 64 gigabytes)

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3) Who was selected for the post of the next Secretary General of Interpol, the international policing agency, on 18 June 2014? –Juergen Stock of Germany (Stock’s candidacy will be submitted to Interpol’s supreme governing body, the general assembly, for endorsement when it meets in

6) Who took over as the Chief of Southern Naval Command on 19 June 2014? – Vice Admiral Surinder Pal Singh Cheema (He took over as Southern Naval Command’s Flag Officer Commanding in Chief at a ceremonial parade held at Naval Air Station INS Garuda at Kochi) 7) Defending champion Spain made a shocking exit from FIFA World Cup

2014 after it lost to Chile 0-2 in a league game at the iconic Maracana Stadium on 18 June 2014. With this loss Spain became the ………….defending champions to crash out of the tournament at the first stage – Fourth (Spain joined Brazil (1966), France (2002) and Italy (2010) in the dubious club of defending champions bowing out of the World Cup in the first round)

June 21, 2014
– 31 December 2014 (Thus e-voting for shareholders would become mandatory for companies from 1 January 2015. An advantage of evoting is that under it one share has one vote while under the earlier system one person has one vote. In the traditional voting at company AGM’s hands were shown or lifted in support of a proposal and it was not more than a mere formality) 1) The shareholders of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) got an opportunity to cast their votes through e-voting system at company’s th Annual 40 General Meeting (AGM) held on 18 June 2014 at Mumbai. RIL shareholders cast their votes by touching the touch-pads of tablet computers that were brought by volunteers individually to them. However, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs had deferred mandatory evoting for shareholders till which date? 2) The railway passenger fare was increased by 14.2% in all classes while freight charge was hiked by 6.5% on 20 June 2014 by the union govt. This hike comes into effect from which date – 25 June 2014, i.e., post midnight of 24 June (This is the steepest hike since 1999 and the third hike in last 15 years)

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3) India’s capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 19 June 2014 announced a slew of reforms that included a proposal to hike public holding in all public sector undertakings (PSUs), new norms for research analysts and ESOPs given by listed firms. What is the minimum public shareholding for PSUs as fixed by the SEBI? – 25% or Rs. 400 crore whichever is lower (Currently, PSUs have to maintain 10% of minimum public shareholding, while private companies are required to maintain 25%. Now, the PSUs will be given three years to achieve minimum public shareholding of 25%) 4) The Union Home Ministry on 19 June 2014 asked Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ensure prior permission is sought before any donation is made to NGO Greenpeace India by two overseas contributors. Any contribution from these two overseas contributors to Greenpeace India would have to be cleared by the Home Ministry, the ministry has said, citing Section 46 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010. Which are these two overseas contributors? – Greenpeace International and Climate Works Foundation (With this, Greenpeace International and Climate Works Foundation have been clubbed with Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which have been put on a similar leash)

5) Hyderabad’s famous Salar Jung Museum is celebrating how many years of its existence during June 2014? – 125 years (The Salarjung Museum is one of the three National Museums of India and houses the largest one-man collections of antiques in the world. Nawab Mir Yusuf Ali Khan Salar Jung III (1889– 1949), former Prime Minister of the seventh Nizam Hyderabad collected the items housed in the museum from all over the world. The 125th anniversary of Salar Jung III is being celebrated as museum’s th anniversary) 125 6) Who was unanimously elected as the first Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh post bifurcation of the state on 20 June 2014? – Kodela Sivaprasada Rao (Rao is a veteran TDP legislator and has been elected to the Assembly from Guntur district for the sixth time. Pro-tem Speaker P Narayanaswamy Naidu announced the election of K. Sivaprasada Rao in the old Assembly building, which has been allotted to AP following the bifurcation) 7) India’s domestic air traffic between January and May 2014 grew by around 3% as compared to the same period last year. Which company once again led in domestic air service segment during the month of May 2014? – IndiGo (IndiGo continued to dominate the scene in terms of market share cornering 31.7% in May 2014,

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followed by Jet Airways- JetLite combine with 21%, Air India with 18.6%, SpiceJet 17.9% and GoAir 9.8%. All Indian carriers flew 60.22 lakh passengers in May compared to 57.10 lakh in April, while the JanuaryMay figure stood at 267.22 lakh as against 260 lakh in the same period last year recording a 2.78% growth, latest official air traffic data showed) 8) Which senior IAS officer was recently appointed Private Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi? – Rajeev Topno (Topno, a 1996 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, was already working as Director in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). His formal appointment was announced on 18 June 2014)

9) According to the latest survey report released by a US travel website ‘whichairline.com’, which airline emerged as the cheapest in the World? – ‘Firefly’ of Malaysia (Firefly took the top spot in the cheapest airline segment by offering a one-way flight tickets, including 20 kg of checked-in baggage fees, at an average of 30 euro. Two India-based airlines – SpiceJet and Indigo were also included among the top 10 cheapest airlines in the world. SpiceJet, which was placed at the second spot, was offering a one-way ticket at an average of 52.24 euro, while the cost of one-way ticket of IndiGo, placed in the eighth position, came to 68.37 euro)

June 22-23, 2014
1) What unique record was created by Chess World Champion Magnus Carlsen after winning the World Blitz Championship held at Dubai on 22 June 2014? – He became the first ever chess player to hold the World Blitz, Rapid and Classic title at the same title(Carlsen won the Rapid title earlier this month and he took the World Championship for 2013 from Viswanathan Anand during November 2013. India’s Vishwanathan Anand finished at a joint fifth place after scoring 13.5 points. Nepomniachtchi won the silver, while the bronze went to Nakamura who started as the top seed in the championship) 2) In an important development India recently decided to enhance transparency of its nuclear infrastructure by ratifying an Additional Protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The new government has decided to go ahead with the ratification process, clearing the decks for large imports of nuclear technology, boosting power generation and other civilian purposes. The

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Additional Protocol will cover only those facilities which are monitored by the IAEA, and will have no bearing on the non-safeguarded facilities which are used for building weapons. How many nuclear facilities would be covered under this agreement with the IAEA? – 20 (These 20 facilities would include the Nuclear Fuel Complex in Hyderabad, Tarapur atomic power plant, Rajasthan Atomic Power Station, both units at Kudankulam, and the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station) 3) Who was announced as the winner of the Jnanpith Award for 2013? – Kedarnath Singh, Hindi poet and writer (Kedarnath Singh thus becomes 10th Hindi writer to be bestowed this award, which is often reckoned as the most prestigious literary award of India. Kedarnath Singh is known for his very rich collection of Hindi poetry in collections such as ‘Abhi Bilkul

the party from different states and UTs? –A.K. Antony (A.K. Antony Committee is an informal committee which is involved in ascertaining the reasons for very poor performance of Congress party in the Lok Sabha Elections of 2014 where the party could win just 44 seats. Congress had over 200 seats in the 15th Lok Sabha. Other 3 members of this committee are – Mukul Wasnik, Avinash Pande and R.C. Khuntia) 5) According to the recently released report by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which embarrassing milestone has been achieved in global refugee count by the end of 2013? – 50 million (According to the UNHCR the number of people who have had to flee from violence and crises has climbed above 50 million for the first time since the Second World War. The total number of refugees and people displaced within their own countries reached 51.2 million by the end of 2013, an increase of 6 million compared to the previous year) 6) Who won the Austrian F1 Grand Prix title for 2014 on 22 June 2014? – Nico Rosberg of Mercedes Team (Rosberg of Germany continued his domination of this year’s F1 season with another emphatic win. His teammate Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain) claimed second place and third place was taken by Finland’s Valteri Bottas for Williams team. This was the

Abhi’, ‘Zameen pak Rahi Hai’, ‘Yahan se Dekho’, ‘Akaal mein Saaras’, ‘Baagh’ and ‘Tolstoy aur cycle’. ‘Mere Samay ke Shabd’, ‘Kalpana aur chhayavad’ and ‘Kabristan mein Panchayat’ are some of his prominent prose collections. 2013’s Jnanpith Award is the 49th edition of this prestigious award and Kedarnath Singh would become 54th Jnanpith Award winner overall) 4) Who is heading the 4-member committee to conduct an introspection of the Congress debacle in the recent general elections by meeting key of

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first-ever podium finish for Bottas. Force India’s Sergio Perez (Mexico) finished at 6th position and his

teammate Nico Hulkenburg (Germany) was at 9th position)

June 24, 2014
1) Which body, that during June 2014 submitted its report to the Prime Minister, has recommended that the Planning Commission should be replaced by a reforms and solution body as it exceeds the scope of its authority by acting as a control commission? –Independent Evaluation Office – IEO (The IEO, which was set up by the government in November 2010, from February this year began independently assessing the effectiveness of government programmes and institutional policies. It submitted the assessment report on Planning Commission to Prime Minister during June 2014. IEO in its report stated that since the Planning Commission has defied attempts to reform it to bring it in line with the needs of a modern economy and the trend of empowering the States, it is proposed that the Planning Commission be replaced) 2) Which national park of India has been included in the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage List by the World Heritage Committee at its 38th Session held at Doha? – The Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area – GHNPCA (GHNPCA was included under criterion (x) of UNESCO Guidelines. Criterion (x) is “To contain the most important and significant natural habitats for conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.” The Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area is in Himachal Pradesh and major part of it comprises of the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in the Kullu District) 3) The first copy of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism was released by the President Pranab Mukherjee on 23 June 2014. The Encyclopedia, a compendium of thousands of years of history, science, art, architecture, polity, religion, philosophy and culture, took 25 years to complete. Which organisation published this book? – India Heritage Research Foundation – IHRF (Swami Chidanand Saraswati of the Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh is the founder-chairman of IHRF. This Encyclopedia is not limited to

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Hinduism as a religion, but provides an inclusive treatment of India’s spiritual culture, including coverage of Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism traditions) 4) Which south-east Asian country’s top court (The Federal Court) on 23 June 2014 upheld a government ban forbidding non-Muslims from using “Allah” to refer to God? – Malaysia (While upholding the govt. ban the court rejected an appeal by the Roman Catholic Church that argued that the law failed to consider the rights of minorities in the largely Muslim nation. Although the Malaysian constitution guarantees freedom of religion, the 4-3 decision by the Federal Court is expected to reinforce complaints from Christians, Buddhist and Hindu minorities that non-Muslims

do not always get fair treatment from the government and courts accusations the government denies) 5) What is the name of the popular film director and producer, who directed a record-breaking 125 movies in nine Indian languages, and who passed away on 22 June 2014? – Ramanarayanan (The prolific filmmaker Ramanarayanan made a name for himself making small-budget films, predominantly on devotional themes or stories in which animals and animated characters played central roles. He was basically a Tamil producer and director but easily switched to other languages like Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi and Bengali)

June 25, 2014
1) In a major achievement for India’s national airline Air India, the airline on 24 June 2014 formally became the part of which global airlines’ grouping which would enable seamless travel to over 1,300 destinations for its passengers? – Star Alliance (Ending a seven-year-long wait, the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board (CEB), at its meeting in London gave an endorsement vote to induct Air India into the fold. With this, Air India becomes the first Indian carrier to join a global alliance. Star Alliance is one of the largest alliance of global airlines and it now has 27 member airlines in its fold. Star Alliance members include major airlines like US carrier United, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Air China, Air Canada, Swiss, Austrian, All Nippon Airways, Thai and Turkish Airlines) 2) The prestigious UNESCO World Heritage Site list crossed the 1,000 mark over the last few days as the 38th Session of World Heritage

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Committee at Doha (Qatar) concludes on 25 June 2014. Which entry became the 1,000th milestone entry into this list that was started in 1978? – The Okavango Delta in Botswana (This delta region has Africa’s largest elephant population and is considered a sanctuary for white and black rhinoceros. Along with this delta numerous other entries from the world over were included in World Heritage Site over the last few days) 3) Which major milestone was achieved by NASA’s Mars-rover Curiosity on 24 June 2014? – It completed one Mars year on this day which is equivalent to 687 Earth days (Curiosity arrived on Mars during August 2012 to conduct probe on the planet. The main goal for the probe was to determine whether Mars once offered environmental conditions favourable for microbial life. One of Curiosity’s first major findings was an ancient riverbed) 4) What is the name of Tata Group’s member company which entered into partnership with Europe’s Ruag Aviation to build new generation

Dornier 228 aircrafts in India? – Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. – TASL (TASL opened the unit for Ruag Aviation at Hyderabad on 23 June 2014. The Ruag project is the fourth Aero structures unit to be set up by TASL since 2009 in Hyderabad and the products of all the units are 100% exported) 5) What is the name of the Delhi University Vice-Chancellor who tendered his resignation on 24 June 2014? – Prof. Dinesh Singh (He resigned from his post after the daylong confusion and chaos due to the ongoing tussle between the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Delhi University (DU) over the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP). The resignation came shortly after the Supreme Court refused to intervene in the row. The SC dismissed a plea moved by the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) seeking cancellation of the University Grants Commission (UGC) order asking the Delhi University (DU) to scrap its fouryear undergraduate programme. The ambitious FYUP was the brain-child of Prof. Dinesh Singh)

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June 26, 2014
1) Which new district in West Bengal was announced by the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on 25 June 2014, which becomes the 20th district of the state? – Alipurduar (Alipurduar was created in North Bengal’s Dooars region by bifurcating the Jalpaiguri district. Jalpaiguri was carved out as a district way back in 1869 and seven years later the Alipurduar sub-division was set up) 2) Which state will become the first one in India to implement 33% reservation for women in the police force as announced by the state govt. on 24 June 2014? – Gujarat (Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel announced 33% reservation for women in the police force. There are around 2,500 policewomen in the State at present. If the government manages to fill all 33% posts for women against the sanctioned strength, the state would have around 19,800 women in the force) pantry car overturned in the derailment while seven other coaches – B-5 to B10 and power car got derailed at the station) 4) What is the name of the former Solicitor General who withdrew his candidature for appointment as Supreme Court judge over lack of support from the Union Govt.? – Gopal Subramaniam (The development has put an end to the ongoing controversy over Subramaniam’s nomination by a Supreme Court collegium for the post of a judge in the apex court. The name of Subramanium, who served as the Solicitor-General during the UPA regime, was recommended by the collegium for elevation to the apex court bench along with some other names. But the government rejected his name and returned the file over his name while accepting the recommendation related to others. Though the government did not say anything officially on the rejection, there were reports that its decision was based on a CBI report that had questioned Subramanium’s role in arranging a meeting with the lawyer of the 2G accused even when he was the lawyer for CBI) 5) Which PSU general insurance company recently introduced “insurance on wheels” concept for

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3) Which Rajdhani Express derailed at Golden Ganj station near Chapra (Bihar) on 25 June 2014 killing at least 4 people? – Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express (Twelve coaches of this premium were derailed in the incident at around 0200 hours on 25 June. Five coaches – B-1, B-2, B-3, B-4 and

faster renewal of policies? –National Insurance Company Ltd. (Under the scheme, a vehicle will be parked at appropriate locations in a city. People can renew their policies from there instead of going to the company office. Currently, the service has been introduced in 15-odd cities of the country) 6) The ancient city-states of Pyu, which were included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List on 22 June 2014, are the first entry of which Asian country? – Myanmar (The trio of cities – Halin, Beikthano and Sri Ksetra, are located in Myanmar’s central Dry Zone and feature the walled remains of sites built by the now-extinct Pyu people from the first to ninth centuries AD. The Pyu sites together formed one of 15 historical and natural sites in Myanmar on the tentative list for World Heritage status)

7) The delisting process of which pharma major came under market regulator SEBI’s lens for violation of its regulations on fraudulent and unfair trade practices and SEBI issued an order on 24 June 2014? – AstraZeneca (SEBI said that it started investigating the matter after coming across reports that the offer-for-sale (OFS) done by Astra Zeneca’s promoters in May 2013 was a deliberate attempt to subsequently get the share delisted at ease. On further examination, SEBI found that Astra Zeneca’s two earlier attempts at delisting (2004 and 2010) had been unsuccessful. In its order SEBI directed that the promoters of AstraZeneca shall finally purchase shares from public shareholders in the delisting offer only after seeking approval of the BSE and the NSE)

June 27, 2014
1) Goa has been formally declared as permanent venue for the prestigious annual International Film Festival of India (IFFI) by the Union Government recently. Goa, however, has been hosting the IFFI for a decade now. So what main advantage would be gained with this declaration? – Now there would be no more requirement of the annual Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) about the mega

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film festival to be signed between the state and the central governments as was the practice till now 2) How much minimum export price (MEP) on potatoes was slapped by the Union Govt. on 26 June 2014 with a view to ease prices in domestic market and ensure more availability in domestic markets? –$450 per tonne (The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in a notification announced that export of potatoes is permitted subject to MEP of US$ 450 per tonne. This was done with in view of continuous rise in price of potatoes which was selling in the range of Rs.25-30 per kg in major retail markets. Earlier the MEP on onion of US$ 300 per tonne was notified on 17 June 2014) 3) Who on 26 June 2014 was formally appointed the first Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in its Annual Conference held at Melbourne, Australia? – N. Srinivasan, the President-in-exile of the BCCI (Srinivasan was elected the Chairman despite being barred by the Supreme Court of India from carrying out his duties as BCCI President due to ongoing investigations into the matchfixing allegations relating to the 2013 edition of the IPL. It is worth noting that the post of ICC Chairman is a newly-created post and has been created under ICC’s controversial revamp of the body’s administrative structure. The revamp will also hand

major executive decision-making authority to the ‘Big Three’ of the game – India, Australia and England) 4) A Delhi court on 26 June 2014 summoned Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Vice president Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders as accused in ‘National Herald’ newspaper case filed on charges of criminal conspiracy and cheating. Who had established ‘National Herald’, which was shut down in 2008? – Jawaharlal Nehru(Nehru started this newspaper in 1938. The summons was issued on a private complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. Other senior leaders summoned include Motilal Vohra, Oscar Fernandes and Sam Pitroda. They have been asked to be present in the court on 7 August 2014) 5) Which Uruguay footballer was on 26 June 2014 banned by the FIFA for nine international matches and was barred from all football activities for four months for biting an Italian opponent in a FIFA World Cup match? – Luis Suarez (Luis Suarez is the star striker for Uruguay. This is heaviest punishment ever inflicted on a player at a World Cup finals and was imposed following Suarez’s clash with Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini on 24 June 2014 in a league match against Italy. As part of the ban on football activities, Suarez will not be allowed into a stadium for four months. He was also

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fined 100,000 Swiss francs or 112,000 dollars) 6) Which university recently launched a 4-year undergraduate programme even as a standoff persists between the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Delhi University (DU) over the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP)? – Bangalore University(Bangalore University

offered a 4-year “re-structured’ undergraduate programme with multiple exit options from this year. With the raging row in Delhi, Bangalore University was quick to clarify that its new programme with the choice-based credit system (CBCS) cannot be compared to FYUP of the DU and it would not tamper with the existing 3-year system but only add value)

June 28-29, 2014
Myanmar counterpart Thien Sein took part) 2) Which three former Soviet republics on 27 June 2014 signed historic trade deals with the European Union (EU) that are expected to help them overcome their post-Soviet legacy of corruption and debt? – Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine (These deals were signed at Brussels. For Ukraine the deal was signed by President Petro Poroshenko. The deal was supposed to be signed in November by Poroshenko’s predecessor, Viktor Yanukovich, who balked at the last minute under the pressure of threats by Russia. With this deal the three join Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in pursuing stronger ties with Europe at the expense of Russia, with Moscow voicing its displeasure at the progress of the discussions)

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1) How many years of Panchsheel, the five principles of peaceful coexistence propounded by India and China, is being celebrated this year? – 60 years (Panchsheel was enunciated by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru along with his then Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai in 1954. The policy was later endorsed by Burma (now Myanmar) too. A commemorative meeting was held on 28 June 2014 on the occasion of 60th anniversary of Panchsheel in Beijing in which Indian Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Chinese President Xi Jinping and his

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3) Which village of East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh was on 27 June 2014 the witness of a gas pipeline blast in the gas trunk line of Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) in which 16 people died? – Nagaram (Nagaram village in Amalapuram Mandal of East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh was witness to a huge blast and fire after the fire broke out in the 18-inch trunk pipeline owned by GAIL) 4) India has developed the world’s second largest gamma ray telescope that will help scientists gain new knowledge on the origin of the universe and origin of cosmic rays that bombard the space. Where this huge telescope will be installed? – In Ladakh’s Hanle region (State-owned Electronics Corporation of India Ltd. (ECIL) in Hyderabad designed the giant 45 m high and 180 tonne telescope. The transportation of this telescope from Hyderabad to Ladakh started on 28 June 2014 and it is expected that the telescope will be operational in Ladakh by early 2016. This will be the fourth gamma ray telescope in the world. The largest such telescope built by a consortium of European countries with a diameter of 28 m is currently in operation in Namibia. India’s telescope is the second largest with a diameter of 21 m. But because it is being located in the high altitude Ladakh region, it will have the same capabilities of the one in Namibia)

5) Jean-Claude Juncker, who was named as the new President of the European Commission (EC) on 27 June 2014, is the former Prime Minister of which country? – Luxembourg (But Juncker’s selection for the post dealt a bitter blow to opponent and British Prime Minister David Cameron and it threatened to increase the chances of Britain leaving the bloc. Juncker, a veteran EU insider, was backed by all EU member states, except Britain and Hungary) 6) Global e-commerce giant Amazon during May 2014 tied up with N.R. Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of IT services firm Infosys by forming an ecommerce joint venture with his private investment firm. What is the name of this investment firm of Narayana Murthy? –Catamaran Ventures (Murthy’s private investment firm Catamaran Ventures, a Rs. 600crore fund launched in 2010, has formed a joint venture with Amazon’s Asia unit to create a new entity. This new entity will help small and medium businesses in India. Catamaran Ventures is based in Bangalore) 7) For the first time two countries from Africa qualified for last-16 stage in FIFA World Cup by making their places in the ongoing 2014 FIFA World Cup. Which team are these? – Algeria and Nigeria(Algeria qualified for last-16 stage for the first time in this World Cup)

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8) The unit 42 yoctonewtons, which came to news recently, represents what? – It is the smallest force ever measured so far(According to the journal ‘Science’ the scientists at the Berkeley Lab and University of California (UC) Berkeley measured the

smallest force that can be applied to an object. This force was measured using a combination of lasers and a unique optical trapping system that provides a cloud of ultra-cold atoms. 42 yoctonewtons stands for oneseptillionth or 10 of a Newton)

June 30, 2014
2) Which warship of the Indian Navy was deployed in the Persian Gulf on 28 June 2014 in an effort to ensure safety of Indians stranded in Iraq due to the ongoing civil war? – INS Mysore (Indian Navy has another warship INS Tarkash deployed in the Gulf of Aden and if required, both ships can be pressed into evacuation operations. The warship has been deployed in the Persian Gulf as it has been asked to be on standby by the government to evacuate Indian being stranded in Iraq. The Indian Air Force also has its aircraft on standby and can deploy its C17 and C-130J Super Hercules aircraft at short notice for any such evacuation operation) 3) The performance ratings of banks operating in India would be put on the public domain from next year. Which entity is rating bank services and would share this information in public domain? –Banking Codes Standards Board of India – BCSBI (BCSBI was set up as an independent and autonomous body in 2007 by the

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1) Jihadists fighting in Syria and Iraq, led by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), on 29 June 2014 announced the formation of a virtual new country in Iraq with the establishment of a “Caliphate”. Who was declared as the “Caliph”, the leader of the Muslims all over the World? – Abu Bakr alBaghdadi (Baghdadi is the chief of ISIS. The system of “Caliphate” ended nearly 100 years ago with the fall of the Ottomans. Ever since the Prophet Mohammed’s death, a caliph was designated as the prince or ‘Emir’ of the believers. This system was abolished when the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1924)

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Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ensure that the common consumer of financial services from the banking industry gets what he/she has been promised. BCSBI is rating banks on customer services on five parameters – information dissemination, transparency, customer-centricity, grievance redressal system and customer feedback. Of the 48 banks rated for customer service, only five received high ratings; 25 were rated above average; 17 average; and one below average. The ratings have been shared with the banks. The ratings were given based on a survey conducted by BCSBI across 69 cities, involving 3,000 branches and 6,000 customers) 4) Which Indian player on 29 June 2014 created history by becoming the

first player in the world to win world titles in the long and shorter formats of both billiards and snooker? – Pankaj Advani (Pankaj Advani achieved this rare feat by winning the IBSF World 6Red snooker Championship, in Sharm el-Sheikh (Eygpt), when he defeated Kacper Flilpiak of Poland in the final. This win takes Pankaj to highest tally of world titles by any Indian cueist in the Open (Men’s) category) 5) Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal on 29 June 2014 won which super series title to wrap up her second title of the year? – Star Australian Super Series (She won the $750,000 Star Australian Super Series by defeating Spain’s Carolina Marin by 21-18, 2111 in the finals. Saina had won the India Open Super Series earlier this year)

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