September 1, 2014
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- September 7, 2014
- September 8, 2014
- September 9, 2014
- September 10, 2014
- Himalaya Diwas
- The Lives of Others
September 6, 2014 
1) In a major step towards realising its nuclear energy ambitions, India on 5 September 2014 signed the Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (CNCA) with Australia. The deal thus concluded uranium sales talks that started between the two countries during 2012. What is the global status of Australia in uranium deposits? – It has about a third of the world’s recoverable uranium resources Explanation : Australia has the largest uranium deposits in the world. It exports nearly 7,000 tonnes of it annually. India and Australia have held five rounds of negotiations on the uranium deal since 2012, when Australia reversed its policy on nuclear sales to India. The policy was based on India’s refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. 2) Which public sector bank on 5 September 2014 Pehla Kadam and Pehli Udaan – two new Savings Bank products for children? – State Bank of India (SBI) Explanation : Pehla Kadam is a Savings Bank account for minor of any age operated jointly with his/her parent/guardian, while Pehli Udaan is a singly operated Savings Bank Account for a minor aged 10 years and above and who can sign uniformly. Specially branded passbook and cheque book have been designed for these products. All the account holders will be given an exclusively designed personalised photo ATM-cum-Debit Card. Other features bundled along with the two products include Internet banking with limited transaction facilities like bill payment, opening of fixed deposits, recurring deposits, etc. with per day transaction limit of Rs. 5,000, and mobile banking with limited transaction facilities like bill payment, and top-ups with per day transaction limit of Rs. 2,000. 3) Palaniappan Sathasivam created history on 5 September 2014 when he took over as the Governor of Kerala. He thus became the first former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India to take responsibility as governor of a state. He is ………………….Governor of Kerala? – 23rd Explanation : P. Sathasivam was sworn in as the 23rd Governor of Kerala by Ashok Bhushan, acting Chief Justice of the High Court of Kerala. The opposition in the state, however, chose to boycott the swearing-in ceremony as it held on to its argument that appointing a former Chief Justice for a political post is against traditions and was also bereft of minimum logic. Sathasivam replaced Sheila Dixit, who had tendered her resignation on 26 August 2014. 4) What is the name of a photo-sharing website, which announced shutting down its operations from 25 September 2014 due to a trademark dispute with micro-blogging site Twitter? – Twitpic Explanation : Twitpic was a popular service in Twitter’s early days as a means of sharing photos on the social network. A few weeks ago Twitter contacted Twitpic’s legal department demanding that it abandon its trademark application or risk losing access to Twitter’s API.Since Twitpic did not had the resources to combat Twitter’s efforts it decided to shut its operations from 25 September. The users of Twitpic would however be able to export all their photos and videos from servers of Twitpic. 5) The Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on 5 September 2014 handed over to Indian Prime Minister two antique statues of Hindu deities which were allegedly stolen from temples in Tamil Nadu. These stolen statues, which were later bought by art galleries in Australia, represent which two deities? –Nataraja and Ardhanariswara Explanation : Nataraja is the form of dancing Shiva and this statue belonged to the Chola dynasty of 11th-12th century. The other sculpture is of Ardhanariswara, which represents Shiva in half-female form, and dates back to 10th century. Both the statues were allegedly stolen from temples in Tamil Nadu and their return was sought by India in March 2014. 6) Whose name was cleared for the post of the next Chief Justice of India by the President Pranab Mukherjee on 5 September 2014? – Justice H.L. Dattu Explanation : Justice Dattu is the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court and would take over from Justice R.M. Lodha on 27 September 2014. Justice Dattu could become the last Chief Justice of India to be appointed under the collegium system of judicial appointments. 7) Great Brazilian footballer Zico has recently agreed to become coach of which Indian football team for the upcoming first season of Indian Super League (ISL)? – FC Goa Explanation : Zico’s real name is Arthur Antunes Coimbra and is considered among one of the greatest footballers Brazil has produced. He won 71 Brazil caps and played in the 1978, 1982 and 1986 World Cups. He was often called the “White Pele” for his skills comparable with Pele. He has coached in Brazil, Japan, Turkey, Russia, Greece, Iraq and Qatar. ISL is the first major professional football league to be staged in India and is expected to popularize football in the country in a major way. September 7, 2014 
1) An indigenously made nuclear plant unit of India recently made history by running continuously for a period 765 days, or a little over two years. This unit is associated with which power plant of India? – Rawatbhata Nuclear Power Plant in Rajasthan Explanation : The Unit-5 at Rawatbhata Nuclear Power Plant is now ranked number two globally for continuous generation of electricity by a nuclear plant. The pole position is still held by a Canadian reactor, Ontario Power Corporation’s Pickering-7 plant, which ran continuously for 894 days before it was shutdown in 1994. Usually, most nuclear plants globally need to be shut down every year for maintenance, only well-maintained facilities can run for longer periods. This unit at Rawatbhata is a Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) and is run by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL). It was established at the cost of Rs. 1200 crore in 2010.
Explanation : KPMG would provide some comfort to the Finance Ministry that the numbers submitted by the banks pertaining to PMJDY were accurate and reflected the true picture. KPMG’s confirmation of the number of accounts opened will help the Centre pitch for an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records for the maximum number of bank accounts opened in a day. On 28 August 2014, the launch date of the PMJDY, the banking system had opened between 1.8 crore to 2 crore bank accounts. KPMG has already commenced work for this purpose and have approached banks to share information on the number of accounts opened under the PMJDY. Under the PMJDY, the Government is looking to open at least 7.5 crore basic bank accounts for 7.5 crore unbanked families in the country.
Explanation : The charges against these public general insurers are that they are not allowing TPAs to function independently and have created in-house TPAs to settle any claims. It is also alleged that GIPSA, an ad hoc and unregistered body, was providing a platform to the companies to share sensitive information with each other. This affects competition in the market and also provides space to them for exchanging information regarding claims ratios, marketing efforts and terms and condition of TPAs, among others.
Explanation : Sania Mirza and Bruno Soares defeated American Abigail Spears and Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico in a tough three-setter final by 6-1, 2-6, 11-9. This was the first ever US Open title for Sania Mirza. On the other hand it was the second US Open title for Soares after a 2012 win with Russian Ekaterina Makarova in 2012.
Explanation : The newly created e-commerce entity Global Fashion Group (GFG) will combine five fashion e-commerce businesses, namely Dafiti (Latin America), Jabong (India), Lamoda (Russia & CIS), Namshi (Middle East) and Zalora (South East Asia & Australia). This deal is expected to be completed later in the year. GFG will focus on growth markets, covering 23 countries with a EUR 330 billion fashion market and population of over 2.5 billion people. It will market a wide assortment of leading International apparel and accessories brands, a tailored selection of highly engaging internally developed brands and local assortments developed for specific ethnic markets notably in India, Indonesia and the Middle East. GFC will be based in Luxembourg.
September 8, 2014 
1) The Law Ministry of India has opined that the Government of India has all the powers to print currency notes of Re. 1 denomination. Why the opinion of Law Ministry on this issue was taken? – The RBI was of the view that with the repeal of Section 2 of the Currency Ordinance, the Government of India is not empowered to issue note of denominational value of one rupee Explanation: Section 4 of the Coinage Act of 2011 provides that the central government may authorise minting of coin of denomination not higher than Rs. 1,000. The definition of coin in the Act makes it clear that Government of India one rupee note is included in the definition of coin. The Law Ministry in its opinion stated that the Act, which consolidates the laws relating to coinage and the mints, does not bar the Government of India from printing one rupee notes. The printing of notes in the denominations of Re. 1 and Rs. 2 has been discontinued as these denominations have been coinised. However, such notes issued earlier are still in circulation. 2) The Union Government during September 2014 asked Expenditure Management Commission (EMC) to suggest an effective strategy for meeting reasonable proportion of expenditure on services through user charges. The newly set up EMC will have to review the major areas of Central Government expenditure and suggest ways for creating fiscal space required to meet developmental expenditure needs. Who is heading EMC? – Bimal Jalan (former RBI Governor) Explanation: Bimal Jalan, who has been conferred with the status of a Union Cabinet Minister, has been asked to design a framework to improve the operational efficiency of expenditures through focus on utilisation, targets and outcomes. Union govt. has asked the EMC to review the fiscal responsibility and budget management (FRBM) rules to suggest improvements for enforcing better fiscal discipline. The EMC, which will be headquartered in New Delhi, will have to submit an interim report before Budget 2015-16. 3) India has been ranked third in a list of countries most affected by online banking malware during the April-June quarter of 2014 as announced by security solutions provider Trend Micro on 6 September 2014. Which country has been ranked first in this list? – Japan Explanation: Japan topped the list with the highest number of online banking malware infections during the April-June quarter of 2014. In May alone, it saw 13,000 malware infections. Japan was followed by U.S. in this list which saw about 5,000 malware infections during the month, followed by India with 3,000 attacks. Growing Internet penetration and rising popularity of online banking have made India a favourite among cybercriminals, who target online financial transactions using malware. These and many such incidents show that cybercriminals will always adapt to new trends and situations whether in the use of new malware or targeted attacks techniques to continue their attacks. 4) Barring a few, most of the life insurance companies have disclosed lower ‘persistency ratios’ for the first quarter of the current fiscal ended 30 June 2014 as also for the full financial year ended 31 March 2014. What is the reason for lower ‘persistency ratio’? – A new standardised disclosure regime put in place for insurance sector Explanation: The persistency ratio broadly measures the quantum of the customer retention by the life insurance companies, while determining the percentage of policyholders paying renewal premiums at the end of one year, or more years depending on the tenure of the policy. However, persistency ratio has been one of the most abused financial metric by many insurers, who tend to disclose their best possible persistency ratios without following any standard formula or any specific time period. The insurance sector regulator IRDA earlier this year made changes in norms for such disclosures and put in place a standard formula to be followed by all companies in reporting their 13th month persistency ratios. An analysis of the disclosures made by various life insurers so far this year shows that there has been a marked decline in the high level of persistency reported earlier by many companies. 5) China last year relaxed its controversial decades-old one-child policy which was designed to curb population growth as the country grappled with looming demographic crisis with the increase in the numbers of old aged people. Till September 2014 nearly 20,000 couples have been allowed to have a second child in Beijing under country’s One Child Policy, which was recently modified to meet demographic challenges. What are the main demographic problems of the ‘One Child Policy’ that China has been facing for years now? – Wider gender gap, declining labour force and an aging population Explanation: Under the one-child policy, many couples, particularly in China’s countryside, had abortions as they prefer boys to girls. The policy also resulted in huge decline in country’s labour force which is an important factor for the world’s second largest economy. 6) What is the name of the world’s most expensive and eagerly awaited video game, which is expected to be grabbed by a record 10 million players on the day of release on 9 September 2014? – ‘Destiny’ Explanation: ‘Destiny’ is a newly developed video game by US-based company Bungie. It is the most pre-ordered piece of entertainment software in history. When a beta demo version was released in July 2014, a record-breaking 4.6 million people played it. The project has cost $500 million, more than twice the budget of the new Star Wars films. 7) After being in business for seven years, Future Generali Life Insurance has reported its maiden quarterly profit during the quarter ended 30 June 2014. Future Generali Life Insurance is the part of which group? – Future Group Explanation: Future Generali Life Insurance is life insurance venture between Kishore Biyani’s Future Group and Italian insurance company Generali. 8) Who won the Italian F1 Grand Prix on 7 September 2014? – Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes team Explanation: British F1 driver Lewis Hamilton defeated his teammate Nico Rosberg (Germany) to make the race to F1 champion for 2014 more interesting. Third place was taken by Williams’ Brazilian driver Felipe Massa. However, Nico Rosberg is still leading the 2014 season with 22 points lead over Hamilton. September 9, 2014 
1) Croatia’s Marin Čilić won the U.S. Open men’s singles title on 8 September 2014 to become the newest winner of this coveted Grand Slam title. With this title win he also became the second Grand Slam singles title winner from his country. Who was the first-ever Grand Slam singles title winner from Croatia? – Goran Ivanisevic Explanation : Goran Ivanisevic became the first-ever Grand Slam singles title winner from Croatia when he won Wimbledon men’s singles title in 2001. He is now the coach of Marin Čilić who defeated Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-3 6-3 in under two hours in the finals. Kei Nishikori had earlier created history after he became first Asian male player to make it to the final of a Grand Slam after he defeated Serbian Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals. 2) Which state recorded the fastest growth rate among Indian states during 2013-14 as disclosed the newly released data by the Central Statistical Office (CSO)? – Madhya Pradesh Explanation: Madhya Pradesh outpaced all the major states to top the economic growth charts. According to CSO data, Madhya Pradesh’s gross state domestic product (GSDP) registered a double-digit growth of 11.08% at constant prices, up from 9.9% in 2012-13. Uttarakhand (9.9%) was second while Bihar (8.82%), which had been topping the growth charts in the last few years, was relegated to the third spot. What is noteworthy is that high growth in Madhya Pradesh has happened despite the state’s industrial growth slipping to a new low during the year. Led by largely an agricultural boost and expansion by the services sector, Madhya Pradesh claimed the first spot. 3) Which public-sector bank during September 2014 sought permission of the RBI to launch contact-less debit cards which would enable customers to carry out some transactions without entering the pin number? – SBI Explanation: Right now, for any card which has to be used, a customer has to put in the pin number. Many banks feel that some exception has to be made as for lower amount deals like buying a Metro or bus ticket, where the customer can simply show the card and get in. Hence the SBI has requested the RBI to come up with a limit below which the pin will be waived. It has requested a limit of Rs. 2,000 for the same. The bank is currently doing a test-run of such contact- less cards at the Chennai and Mumbai metro stations. 4) State Bank of India (SBI) on 8 September 2014 launched its first multi-currency international debit card to allow consumers to use a single card to pay in multiple currencies. This card launched in a tie-up with MasterCard would, at present, enable customers to load how many international currencies in this card? – Four Explanation: These 4 currencies include US dollar, euro, Great Britain pound and Singapore dollar. More currencies will be added going forward as the card has the facility to be loaded up to 12 currencies. 5) During September 2014 India a free trade agreement (FTA) in the area of services and investments with which association of countries? – ASEAN Explanation: The FTA was signed with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to enable freer movement of professionals and further open up opportunities for investments. This FTA thus concluded 2-year old discussion between ASEAN on this issue. India had implemented the FTA in goods with ASEAN members in 2010, while it had concluded the negotiations for FTA in services and investments in 2012. With the signing of the pact in services and investments, the FTA will now become a comprehensive economic partnership between the two sides. ASEAN presently comprises of Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia. 6) Serena Williams won the U.S. Open women’s singles title when she defeated Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark by 6-3, 6-3 in the finals on 7 September 2014. This title was her …………..grand slam title? – 18th Explanation: With her 18th Grand Slam title win Serena Williams now stands alongside Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, and four behind Steffi Graf as major winners in the Open era. But she is still trailing Helen Wills Moody (19) and Margaret Court (24) in the history of the game. 7) Which doubles duo created history by claiming their 100th doubles title after they won the U.S. Open men’s doubles title on 7 September 2014? – Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan Explanation: Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan of the United States are brothers and have held the world no.1 doubles ranking jointly for 380 weeks (as on 8 September 2014), which is longer than anyone else in doubles history. They defeated 11th-seeded Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez 6-3, 6-4 in the finals. This title win was their record 100th win and the Bryans now own the Open era mark, moving ahead of Bob Lutz and Stan Smith. September 10, 2014 
1) Which two most-awaited new smart phones were launched by Apple Inc. on 9 September 2014? – iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus Explanation : The two phones were launched by Apple CEO Tim Cook at the Flint Centre in Cupertino, California, where the iconic Macintosh was first launched 30 years ago. The iPhone 6 will be priced at $199 (16GB), $299 (64GB) and $399 (128GB) with a two-year contract. The iPhone 6 Plus will be available for $299 (16GB), $399 (64GB) and $499 (128GB) with a two-year contract. The phones were launched along with Apple’s first wearable device, the Apple Watch. The iPhone 6 features a 4.7-inch display, while the iPhone 6 Plus has a 5.5 inch screen. Compared to a thickness of 7.6 mm of iPhone 5S, the sixth generation has a thickness of 6.9 mm (iPhone 6) and 7.1 mm (iPhone 6 Plus), respectively. The devices feature Apple-designed A8 chips, which have 25 per cent faster processing power and up to 50% faster graphics. The handsets feature 8MP iSight camera and support Voice over LTE. The iPhone 6 also has improved face detection for selfies and group selfies. The Apple Watch sports a flat screen with sapphire glass and has a ‘digital crown’ with a twisting control that lets the user scroll through different functions. It runs apps, takes dictation and interacts with the iPhone. The phones will be available in India starting 17 October 2014. 2) Which state government officially declared September 9 as ‘Himalaya Diwas’ on 9 September 2014? – Uttarakhand Explanation: 9 September would be celebrated across the state of Uttarakhand as ‘Himalaya Diwas’ to spread the message of conservation of the Himalayan ecosystems, as announced by the government. Accepting a proposal by senior BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition Ajay Bhatt, Chief Minister Harish Rawat officially declared that from 2015, the day would be celebrated by the State government as well. 3) What is the name of Kolkata-born British author whose latest novel ‘The Lives of Others’ was shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize 2014? –Neel Mukherjee Explanation: The novel ‘The Lives of Others’ set in troubled Bengal of the 1960s and centered around a dysfunctional family. This is the first time the prestigious literary award opened up for anyone writing in English regardless of nationality. Previously, the prize was open only to authors from the U.K. and Commonwealth, Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe. For the first time in its 46-year history, the £50,000-prize has been opened up to writers of any nationality, writing originally in English and published in the U.K. The others on the shortlist include American authors Joshua Ferris for ‘To Rise Again at a Decent Hour’ and Karen Joy Fowler for ‘We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves’, Australian Richard Flanagan for ‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’; and British authors Howard Jacobson for ‘J’ and Ali Smith for ‘How to be Both’. 4) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 9 September 2014 fixed the maximum age for Managing Directors and Chief Executive Officers in private sector banks at 70. This age fixation has been done primarily with regard to which act to be complied by the companies? – The Companies Act, 2013 Explanation: The Companies Act, 2013 prescribes that “no company shall appoint or continue the employment of any person as Managing Director, Whole Time Director (WTD) or Manager who is below the age of 21 years or has attained the age of 70 years”. Within the overall limit of 70 years, individual bank’s boards are free to prescribe a lower retirement age for WTDs, including MD & CEO, as an internal policy. 5) According to data released by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose at the highest rate in nearly three decades in 2013. This increase in carbon dioxide was the biggest increase in carbon dioxide levels since which year? – 1984 Explanation: The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere was 42% higher than in the mid-18th century, before the industrial revolution. Since then, methane levels have risen by 153% and nitrous oxide by 21%. 6) ‘Saral Rozgar’ cards were launched in West Bengal during September 2014 with the aim to create a common pool of jobseekers and job providers with about 4,000 job openings. Which major IT services company launched these cards? – Tech Mahindra Explanation: ’Saral Rozgar’ is a mobile job marketplace that helps blue collared and entry-level job seekers to connect to mainstream employers anywhere in India via mobile in their own language in an affordable manner. The company (Tech Mahindra) helps jobseekers create their digital presence to connect them to potential employers calling through the call centre. Additionally, SMEs or entrepreneurs can also reach them through voice calls. 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