March 1-5, 2014

boxers and coaches will, however, continue

to remain unaffected by the development
and can participate in international events
under the AIBA flag till the time the crisis is
unresolved)

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1 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1) The 3rd Summit meet of Bengal Initiative

for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic
Cooperation (BIMSTEC) started on 4 March
2014 at Nay Pyi Taw (Nay Pyi Taw is the
capital of Myanmar. BIMSTEC is a group of
seven nations from South and South-East
Asia comprising of Bangladesh, India,
Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and
Nepal. Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan
Singh represented India at this summit. The
theme of the 3rd BIMSTEC summit was
Partnership for Harmony and Prosperity)
2) Which prominent sports association of
India was terminated by the recognized
world body of this sport on 4 March 2014?
Boxing (Indian Boxing Federation (IBF), the
national association for boxing in India was
suspended by the International Boxing
Association (AIBA) on charges that officials of
IBF are damaging the sport in the country
due to their callous behaviour. AIBA wrote a
hard-worded letter stated that the current
set of IBF office-bearers is damaging the
image, reputation and interest of boxing. The

3) Which building during March 2014 became

Indias first heritage building to get gold
rating by Indian Green Building Council
(IGBC)? Bombay House, which is the
headquarters of the Tata group in Mumbai
(Built in 1923, Bombay House was given the
rating for implementing measures for energy
savings of over 20%, use of renewable
energy, occupant well being and comfort, use
of car pools and public transport, and
contribution to the maintenance of
neighbouring areas)
4) Which village of Haryana came to limelight
recently due to discovery of a mint and
numerous artifacts dating to the 1000-year
old Pratihara Dynasty? Bohar Majra (Bohar
Majra village is situated in the Rohtak district
of Haryana. These discoveries were made
during February 2014)
5) Which round of Inflation Expectations
Survey was launched by the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) on 3 March 2014? 35th (These
inflation expectations are to be based on
subjective assessments of about 5,000
households across 16 cities. The survey seeks
qualitative responses from households on
price changes (they foresee in general prices

as well as prices of specific product groups) in

the next three months as well as in the next
one year and quantitative responses on
current, three-month ahead and one-year
ahead inflation rates)

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2 CURRENT AFFAIRS

6) A bandh was called on 3 March 2014 in

Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka which was
observed completely in Mangalore and all
the taluka headquarters. This bandh was
observed to protest against which project
situated on tributaries of the Nethravati
River? Yettinahole project (It is feared that
Yettinahole project, aimed at drawing about
24 tmcft of water from the tributaries of the
Nethravati River for the benefit of parched
districts, will dry up the river, which is
considered the lifeline of the district with
Mangalore depending solely on it for drinking
water. The bandh was called to coincide with
the foundation laying ceremony for the
project in Chikballapur, the constituency of
Union Petroleum and Environment Minister
M. Veerappa Moily)
7) Which state of the country implemented
the Food Security Act from 1 March 2014 in
the state, under which 75% population of the
state populace would be covered? Madhya
Pradesh (Under the newly launched scheme
the Central Government will provide wheat
at the rate of Rs 2 per kg and rice at Rs 3 per
kg to the Madhya Pradesh government.
However, both wheat and rice will be
provided at Rs one per kg under state govt.s
Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojana by giving
additional subsidy to all eligible families)

8) Union Govt. on 28 February 2014 cleared a

proposal of the Election Commission (EC) to
raise expenditure limits for elections in the
country. What is the new upper limit of
expenditure for fighting election for a
Parliamentary seat in the country? Rs. 70
Lakh (Rs. 70 lakh is the upper limit of election
expenses for larger states of India such as
Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya
Pradesh, West Bengal and Karnataka. This
limit earlier was Rs. 40 lakh. For smaller
states and states of the North-East, the new
upper limit is Rs. 54 Lakh. It was earlier 22
lakh)
9) The Union Cabinet on 2 March 2014
approved the proposal to grant OBC (other
backward caste) status to the Jat community.
This community would get OBC status in how
many states of the country as approved by
the Cabinet? Nine states (These nine states
include Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand,
Uttar Pradesh and Delhi)
10) Union Government on 28 February 2014
approved the proposal to ensure Rs. 1,000
minimum monthly pension under a scheme
of Employees Provident Fund Organisation
(EPFO). This pension would be provided
under which EPFO scheme? Employees
Pension Scheme-95 (EPS-95)
11) Nishi Vasudev on 1 March 2014 became
the first woman to become head of a
prominent blue-chip PSU. Which PSU is this?
Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd.
HPCL (She replaced Subir Roy Choudhury)

12) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 3

March 2014 extended the deadline for the
public to exchange currency notes printed
before 2005 up to which date? 1 January
2015 (Now the public would be able to
exchange currency notes printed before 2005
by 1 January 2015. The RBI on 22 January
2014 had announced that it would withdraw
from circulation all pre-2005 currency notes
from 1 April 2014. Post-2005 notes have
added security features and help in curbing
the menace of fake currency)

14) Which Chinese city came to limelight on 1

March 2014 due to a violent attack by
terrorists of separatist group who murdered
29 persons by stabbing them?
Kunming (Kunming city is the capital and
largest city of Yunnan province in southwest
China. The attack was carried out by a group
of separatist forces in Xinjiang. Xinjiang is
home to the Uighur Muslims and has been
restive for the past few years as Uighurs have
protested over growing settlements of Han
Chinese in the province)

13) Who assumed charge as the new

Secretary General of the South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
on 3 March 2014? Arjun Bahadur
Thapa (He is a former Foreign Secretary of
Nepal and succeeded Ahmed Saleem of
Maldives as SAARCs 12th Secretary General)

15) Who was appointed as the new Governor

of Kerala on 4 March 2014? Sheila
Dixit (Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit
was appointed Kerala Governor after
resignation of current Governor Nikhil
Kumar)

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3 CURRENT AFFAIRS

March 6-7, 2014

1) The parliament of which autonomous

republic of troubled Ukraine on 6 March
2014 passed a resolution to join Russia?
Crimea (The Crimean parliament on 6
March voted for the region to join Russia.

The decision will only come in force if

approved by the Crimeans at a referendum
which will be held in 10 days. 78 MPs said
yes to Crimea joining Russia, while 8
abstained from voting. It is worth noting
that Crimea is an autonomous region of
Ukraine but has relations with Ukraine
defined on the basis of mutual agreements
and a constitution of 1992. However,
Ukraine reacted by describing the
referendum illegitimate. Majority of the
Crimean population comprises of Russians)

2) The Election Commission of India (ECI) on

5 March 2014 announced the election
schedule for General Elections of 2014. In
which three states assembly elections
would also be held simultaneously with the
General Elections? Andhra Pradesh,
Odisha and Sikkim (The General Elections
2014 would be held in 9 stages and the
election would be held on April 7, 9, 10, 12,
17, 24, 30, May 7 and May 12. The results
would be declared on 16 May 2014. More
than 81.4 crore voters will be eligible for
voting in these elections whereas
approximately 9.3 lakh polling stations
would be established to organize this
massive exercise)

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4 CURRENT AFFAIRS

3) Union Govt. on 4 March 2014 announced

the date for establishment of Telangana as
the 29th state of the India Union. What is
this date? 2 June 2014 (Separate
Telangana would be established on 2 June
by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh and carving
10 districts out of it to form the new state.
The residuary Andhra Pradesh would have
13 districts. Hyderabad would become a
district of Telangana but it would remain
the capital of residuary Andhra Pradesh for
10 years)
4) The Union government on 4 March 2014
announced raising the interest rates on
select fixed deposit schemes offered by
post offices. Maximum increase of 0.2% per
annum (20 basis points) was announced on
which two schemes offered by post offices?
1-year term deposit and 2-year term

deposit (The interest on these two schemes

was raised from the present 8.2% per
annum to 8.4% per annum. On the other
hand rate of interest was raised by 0.10%
(10 basis points) on 3-year term deposit, 5year term deposit and 5-year recurring
deposit schemes. This increase would come
into effect from 1 April 2014)
5) Which PSU bank sold its entire stake in
credit
information
provider
Credit
Information Bureau of India Limited (CIBIL)
to Transunion International Inc (TII)
recently? Central Bank of India (Central
Bank had 5% stake in CIBIL while TII is the
majority shareholder in CIBIL at 27.5%.
State Bank of India and ICICI Bank carry 10%
each, while rest of 2.5% is with Sundaram
Finance Ltd. Among others, Bank of Baroda,
Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Union
Bank, Citicorp Finance (India), HSBC,
Standard Chartered Bank, Indian Overseas
Bank and HDFC Ltd each hold 5% stake in
CIBIL)
6) Tunisias President Moncef Marzouki on
6 March 2014 lifted the state of emergency
that has been in place since the outbreak of
a popular revolution. When was the
emergency imposed in the country?
January 2011 (The state of emergency was
imposed by long-time President Zine El
Abidine Ben Ali, and was maintained after
he was overthrown. At the start it included
a curfew and a ban on meetings of more
than three people, but it has been relaxed
over-time. However it has continued to give

the military and police special powers to

intervene in unrest or security threats)
7) Who is the author of the book India at
Risk, which was released on 3 March
2014? Jaswant Singh (Former cabinet
minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA

government, Jaswant Singh describes the

major challenges that India has faced over
the last sixty-six years in this book. Books
full name is India at Risk : Mistakes,
Misconceptions and Misadventures of
Security Policy)

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5 CURRENT AFFAIRS

March 8-11, 2014

1) What is the name of the new political

party floated by the former Andhra Pradesh
Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy
recently? Jai Samaikyandhra Party (N
Kiran Kumar Reddy, who quit as Andhra
Pradesh Chief Minister in protest against its
division to create Telangana, had
announced formation of the new party on 6
March 2014. The name of this new party
was announced on 10 March 2014 as Jai
Samaikyandhra Party JSP)
2) Which state was ranked as the most
industry-friendly state in a Deloitte Touche
Tohmatsu study sponsored by the Planning

Commission? Haryana (This study shows

that Haryana, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh
are the top three industry-friendly states in
the country. Orissa occupied fourth
positioned whereas fifth place was given to
Andhra Pradesh. Bihar ranks sixth, while
Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Nagaland
followed it. Among the bottom five states
West Bengal, Maharashtra, Assam, Goa and
Jharkhand occupied top five places
respectively. This study was commissioned
by the Planning Commission in 2013 and
consultancy firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
was asked to rate states based on certain
parameters that would help them improve
the regulatory ecosystem for the
manufacturing sector. However the report
was not officially released due to Mode
Code of Conduct imposed by the Election
Commission)
3) The first ever analysis of how students
have performed in Class XII boards, after
the Continuous and Comprehensive
Evaluation (CCE) format came into effect

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6 CURRENT AFFAIRS

across CBSE schools, shows that students

who chose to skip the 2011 board exams
have, in their 2013 Class XII boards,
outperformed those who appeared for
boards in Class X. In which year was CCE
first introduced by the CBSE? 2009 (CCE
was introduced in 2009 and 2011 by the
CBSE and Class X board exams was made
optional in a bid to decrease stress levels
among students and to usher in a more
rounded evaluation technique. Many
protested, arguing that this would relax
academic rigour in the school system. A CCE
report released by the Central Board of
Secondary Education (CBSE) on four years
of implementation of the novel evaluation
methodology says that students who
skipped the boards Class X exams have
done better- both in terms of high marks
and mean marks)
4) What is the name of the Naval Offshore
Patrol Vessel which was formally
commissioned into the Indian Navy on 7
March 2014? INS Sumedha (It is a Naval
Offshore Patrol Vessel (NOPV) designed and
built by Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL), which was
formally commissioned into the Indian Navy
by Vice-Admiral Anil Chopra, Flag Office and
Commander-in-Chief, East at Mormugao
(Goa). The vessel is suitable for monitoring
sea lanes of communication and defence of
offshore oil installations and it will help
meet the increasing requirement of the
Indian Navy for undertaking ocean
surveillance and surface warfare operations

to prevent infiltration and transgression of

maritime sovereignty)
5) Sri Lanka on 8 March 2014 regained the
Asia Cup trophy with a comfortable fivewicket victory over defending champions
Pakistan. This was Sri Lankas Asia Cup
title 5th (Sri Lanka earlier won this cup on
four occasions in 1986, 1997, 2004 and
2008. With this title win Sri Lanka also
equaled Indias record of winning the title
five times. Pakistan has won Asia Cup on
two occasions, 2000 and 2012)
6) Which team won the 68th edition of
National Football Championship for the
Santosh Trophy on 9 March 2014?
Mizoram (Mizoram won its maiden
Santosh Trophy title by thrashing Railways
by 3-0 in the finals. 68th Santosh Trophy was
held at Siliguri in West Bengal)
7) One civilian worker was killed and two
were injured in an accident at the underconstruction nuclear submarine at the
shipbuilding centre of Eastern Naval
Command (ENC) in Visakhapatnam on 8
March 2014. This nuclear submarine
belonged to which class? Arihant
Class (The
under-construction
nuclear
submarine was a follow-up of the Navys
warship INS Arihant. The incident took
place when the pressure of the hydraulic
tank of the Arihant class submarine was
being tested and the tanks lid fell on the
workers at the shipbuilding centre)

8) A Navy commander died and two

personnel had to be hospitalized on 7
March 2014 following an accident on board
an Indian Navy destroyer undergoing trials
at the Mumbai Port Trust, weeks before it
joined the naval fleet. This destroyer ship
belonged to which class? Kolkata
Class (The accident is a major setback for
the Navy as the Kolkata-class destroyer,
called P 15 A, was to be inducted in April
2014 as the most advanced, indigenous
warship in its fleet. Already running four
years behind schedule, the Kolkata is the
first of its class and is to be followed by the
Chennai and the Kochi classes which are
under construction as part of a Rs 15,000crore project. Three more advanced P 15 B
destroyers have been planned thereafter)
9) Who won the senior mens National
Snooker title on 6 March 2014? Pankaj
Advani (Advani of Petroleum Sports

Promotion Board (PSCB) capped a brilliant

run with a break of 139 to beat Kamal
Chawla of the Railways 6-3 in the final and
regain the senior mens National snooker
title. In the womens championship Vidya
Pillai retained her National snooker crown
in the womens section with a hard-fought
4-3 win over team-mate Chitra Magimairaj)
10) What is the name of another book
written by Wendy Doniger, whose publisher
on 10 March 2014 said it will not reprint
this book until an acceptable resolution
pertaining to the alleged controversies in
this book are found? On Hinduism (Dina
Nath Batra of Shiksha Bachao Andolan
Samiti had sent a legal notice to books
publisher Aleph Book Company on 3 March
2014 alleging that there were several
objectionable passages in Donigers book
that offended the sensitivities of the Hindu
community)

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7 CURRENT AFFAIRS

March 12-13, 2014

1) World Wide Web (www) completed how
many years on 12 March 2014? 25
years (25 years ago, on 12 March 1989
British engineer and computer scientist Sir
Tim Berners-Lee, now Director of the World
Wide Web Consortium (W3C), wrote a
proposal for what would finally become the
World Wide Web. However, the first
website (http://info.cern.ch) went online on
6 August 1991. Tim Berners-Lee is now

known as the father of the Internet and he

later went on to write the the HyperText
Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Hyper Text
Markup Language (HTML), and the first ever
web browser, WorldWideWeb)

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8 CURRENT AFFAIRS

2) A record was created when an

unprecedented number of people turned
up to get themselves enrolled as voters at
the one-day special camp organised across
the country by the Election Commission on
9 March 2014. Approximately how many
persons turned up this day to get
themselves registered as the voter? 74.5
lakh (74,56,367 people turned up at the 9.3
lakh polling stations across the country on
this day and filled up Form 6 the form
required to apply for inclusion in the
electoral rolls. Election Commission
admitted that this was the biggest turnout
so far on a single day. UP saw the highest
turnout (15.4 lakh), followed by Andhra
Pradesh (11 lakh), Tamil Nadu (9.9 lakh),
Bihar (7 lakh) and Maharashtra (4.7 lakh))
3) 15 security personnel and a civilian were
killed in a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarhs
Sukma district on 11 March 2014. This
incident took place in which village of
Chhattisgarhs
Sukma
district?

Tongpal (Over 100 Maoists are alleged to

be involved in this incident in which 11
CRPF personnel and four personnel of
district
police
were
killed
after
indiscriminate firing by the Maoists)

4) Who topped the list of Americas most

powerful CEOs under the age of 40 for the
third consecutive time, as announced on 11
March 2014? Larry Page, the CEO and cofounder of Google (Larry Pages personal
wealth was estimated at $30 billion. The
youngest CEO on the list is Facebook
founder Mark Zuckerberg, 29, and he
remains in the second place. For the second
consecutive year, Yahoo CEO Marissa
Mayer, 38, hold third place and remained
the only woman on this list. Two Indians
also featured in this list. Website hosting
company Endurance International Group
CEO and founder Hari K Ravichandran (38)
was ranked 19th, while asset management
firm Altisource Asset Management (AAMC)
CEO Ashish Pandey (38) was ranked 20th.
The 20 CEOs on the list head publicly-traded
companies with the highest market
capitalizations)
5) Boeing on 12 March 2014 signed a $4.4
billion deal with which Indian airline
company for supplying 42 aircrafts?
SpiceJet (This deal was inked at the
Hyderabad Air Show-India Aviation 2014 at
Hyderabad. Under this deal Boeing will
supply 42 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft costing
Rs. 26,000 crore ($ 4.4 billion))
6) Who took over as the new Chairman and
Managing Director (CMD) of Allahabad Bank
on 11 March 2014? Rakesh Sethi (Prior to
this elevation, Sethi was an executive
director at Punjab National Bank)

March 14-15, 2014

Centre) Madhapur on 14 March 2014.
Pawan Kalyan is the younger brother of K.
Chiranjeevi, the former Union minister and
a hugely popular Telugu actor himself.
Chiranjeevi also had launched his political
party Praja Rajyam Party in 2008. However
this party was later merged with the Indian
National Congress in 2011)

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9 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1) What was the number of the ill-fated

flight of Malaysia Airlines jetliner that
disappeared from radar screens on its way
from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March
2014 and whose flight code was retired on
13 March 2014? MH370 (Malaysia Airlines
retired the missing jetliners flight code as a
sign of respect to the 239 passengers and
crew on board. The airline will no longer be
using MH370 and MH371 codes. MH370
was used for Kuala Lumpur-Beijing route
and MH371 for a return flight. The airline
started using flight codes MH318 and
MH319 for the same route from 14 March
2014. No trace of this flight was made till 14
March even as Malaysian search teams
have expanded their search areas)
2) Andhra Pradesh witnessed yet another
political party launch on 14 March 2014 as
the mercurial Telugu actor Pawan Kalyan
launched his political outfit in a mega show.
What is the name of Pawan Kalyans
political party? Jana Sena Party (Pawan
Kalyan formally launched the party at HICC
(Hyderabad
International
Convention

3) Which two state-owned companies on 14

March 2014 bought 10% government stake
in Indian Oil Corp (IOC) for Rs 5,340 crore?
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil
India Ltd (OIL) In off-market transactions,
ONGC and OIL bought 5% stake each at Rs.
220 per share. This stake sale doubled
governments disinvestment proceeds for
the current fiscal to Rs 10,434 crore. An
Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM)
headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram
had on 28 February 2014 decided to sell the
stake in IOC, the nations largest oil firm, at
a discount of 10% through an off-market
deal)
4) FICCI and KPMG released the Indian
Aviation 2014 report at the India Aviation
show at Hyderabad on 13 March 2014. In
this report which reason was described as
the main reason for rendering the Indian
aviation sector uncompetitive? Overtaxation in the industry (FICCI and KPMG
clearly stated that India is making self-goals
in the aviation sector, driving away

business. Stating that the industry is overtaxed, the report mentioned this aspect is
clearly reflected in the industrys lack of
competitiveness at the global level. High
taxes on ATF are also adversely impacting
the industry)

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10 CURRENT AFFAIRS

5) Infosys co-founder and face of UPA

governments flagship Aadhar programme,
Nandan Nilekani on 13 March 2014
resigned as Chairman of Unique
Identification Authority of India (UIDAI),
three days after joining Congress. When he
took charge as the first Chairman of UIDAI?
In 2007 (He had quit as CEO of Bangalore
headquartered Infosys in 2007 to take
charge as head of UIDAI, mandated to give
a billion Indians an identity card, a
mammoth exercise that he had been
successfully overseeing. Nilekani formally
took a political plunge on 9 March 2014,
when he joined Congress, a day after the
party named him as its candidate from
Bangalore South, where he is taking on fivetime BJP MP Ananth Kumar)
6) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 13 March
2014 hiked the trade related remittance
limit from Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 5 lakh per
transaction. What was the reason for this
increase? Increase in the number of
transactions
handled
by
exchange
houses (There is a rapid increase in the
number of the permitted transactions
under the Rupee Drawing Arrangements

(RDAs) due to rapid developments in the

communication facilities)
7) Which two states became the first to
issue Electors Plastic Photo Identity Card
(EPPIC) for elections in India, as announced
by the Election Commission on 12 March
2014? Assam and Nagaland (The voters of
these two states will use EPPIC for the first
time in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
EPPIC have been issued instead of the
traditional Electors Photo Identity Card
(EPIC) to avoid duplication and forgery)
8) The vigilance department of the
Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority (IRDA) recently brought a private
insurer under its scanner for alleged
irregularities involving several crore in
implementation of government sponsored
insurance schemes meant for poor people.
These schemes included Rajiv Gandhi Shilpi
Swasthya Bima Yojana (RGSSBY), Weather
Insurance Scheme, Shetkari Apghati
Durghatana Bima Yojana and Panjikrut
Kishan Durghatana Bima Yojana. Which
private insurance company in this? ICICI
Lombard (In a related development, CBI on
12 March 2014 registered a Preliminary
Enquiry (PE) against ICICI Lombard for
allegedly colluding with officials of
Rajasthan
government
and
Union
Agriculture and Textiles ministries and
pocketing claims of non-existing farmers
and artisans)

March 16-17, 2014

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11 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1) Which seemingly impoverished country

recently made a surprising entry into the
high-tech world with its own manufactured
Android tablet named Surtab?
Haiti (Better known for producing poverty
and political mayhem, the Western
Hemispheres least developed country Haiti
recently made a surprising entry into the
high-tech world with its own Android tablet.
With only a limited selection of expensive
imported tablets available in Haiti, Surtab is
the cheapest device on the market. A
product such as Surtab also shows that
Haitians are not just destined for low-wage,
low-skilled jobs)
2) Crimeas parliament on 17 March 2014
declared the region an independent state,
after its residents voted overwhelmingly to
break off from Ukraine and seek to join
Russia.
Approximately
how
many
respondents had supported leaving Ukraine
to join Russia in the referendum held on 16
March
2014? 97% (However, this
referendum is not recognised by the West,
and the United States and the European
Union are preparing sanctions against
Russia, whose troops have been occupying
Crimea for several weeks)

3) What is the name of the proposed 70storey temple, billed to be the tallest shrine
in the world, which was inaugurated on 16
March 2014 at Vrindavan in UP?
Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir(This
project will cost more than Rs. 300 crore
and its builder International Society for
Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is hoping to
conclude the temple construction within
the next five years. The project was first
conceived by the devotees of ISKCON,
Bangalore. The proposed Chandrodaya
Mandir, a 213 metres high one of its kind
temple is expected to mark Vrindavan,
where Hindu deity Krishna is said to have
spent his childhood, on the world spiritual
map)
4) What was Indias rank in the recently
released report of the global anti-money
laundering body Financial Action Task Force
(FATF) pertaining to progress in combating
money laundering in the world? 34 (In the
Indian neighbourhood, the countries where
progress in combating money laundering
and financial terrorism has been scratchy
include Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and
Myanmar. Two other countries which were
under FATF surveillance, Nepal and
Bangladesh emerged from there as per the
report. Action against money laundering is
significant as most of the other transnational crimes including terrorism use this
as a conduit)

5) Who won the first Formula 1 (F1) title of

the year the Australian Grand Prix on 16
March 2014? Nico Rosberg of Germany
representing Mercedes team (Rosberg
dominated the Australian Grand Prix to
claim the fourth F1 victory of his career and
the first in the new turbo-powered era.
Kevin Magnussen of Denmark (McLaren)
was declared second after Red Bulls Daniel
Ricciardo was disqualified after finishing
second in the race. Ricciardo was
disqualified for breach of fuel regulations.
Jenson Button of Great Britain also
representing McLaren finished the podium
with third place. Red Bulls four time F1
champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull could
not finish the race due to an engine failure.
Force Indias Nico Hulkenberg (Germany)
and Sergio Perez (Mexico) finished at 6th and
10thspot respectively)

6) Karnataka on 16 March 2014 created

history in Indian domestic cricket when it
won its triple trophy by defeating Railways.
Which trophy is this, which Karnataka won
after already bagging Ranji and Irani
Trophy? Vijay Hazare Trophy (Karnataka
defeated Railways by 4 wickets in the finals
held at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The team
had won the Ranji and Irani Trophy of 2014)
7) On 15 March 2014 Indias P.V. Sindhu
stunned which recently-crowned All
England Badminton champion to enter the
semi-finals of the $125,000 Swiss Grand Prix
Gold Badminton trophy? Shixian Wang of
China (Sindhu defeated Wang by 21-17, 2115. However, Sindhu was later defeated by
Chinas fast emerging player Sun Yu on 16
March in the semi-finals. Yu defeated
Sindhu by 18-21, 21-12, 21-19)

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12 CURRENT AFFAIRS

March 18-19, 2014

1) Union Govt. on 18 March 2014 launched
the exchange traded fund of Central public
sector enterprises (CPSE-ETF) hoping to
raise Rs 3,000 crore. The long awaited CPSEETF is an open-ended scheme comprising of
shares of 10 Central public sector
enterprises and it includes ONGC, Coal India
Limited, GAIL, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC),
Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), Oil
India Limited (OIL), Container Corporation
of India Limited (CCIL), Power Finance

13 CURRENT AFFAIRS
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Corporation (PFC), Engineers India Limited

(EIL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).
Which financial entity is managing this ETF?
Goldman Sachs India MF (The CPSE-ETF
tracks an index fund but trades like a stock
on the exchange and is yet another avenue
for the Union Govt. for selling its stake in
CPSEs)

2) Frances foreign minister Laurent Fabius

on 18 March 2014 claimed that leaders of
the Group of Eight (G-8) world powers have
suspended Russias participation in the club
amid tensions over Ukraine and Russias
incursion into Crimea. The other seven
members of the group had already
suspended preparations for a G-8 summit
that was scheduled to be held in Russia
during June 2014. Which Russia city was to
host this summit? Sochi (On the other
hand the U.S. and European Union (EU)
announced fresh sanctions against Russia
over its actions in the Crimean Peninsula)

3) According to the recently released 2011

World Health Organisation (WHO) report on
World Most Polluted Cities, Irans Ahvaz
city is the most polluted city of the world.
Two Indian cities also feature in the list of
top 10 most polluted cities of the world.
Which cities are these? Ludhiana and
Kanpur(Ludhiana was placed at 4th place
and Kanpur at 9th place)
Top 10 most polluted cities in the World

1) Ahvaz, Iran 372 mcg/m3 (2009 data)

2) Ulan Bator, Mongolia 279 mcg/m3

(2008 data)
3) Sanandaj, Iran 254 mcg/m3 (2009
data)
4) Ludhiana, India (2008 data) and
Quetta, Pakistan (2003/4 data) tied at
251 mcg/m3
5) Kermanshah, Iran 229 mcg/m3 (2009
data)
6) Peshawar, Pakistan 219 mcg/m3
(2003/4 data)
7) Gaborone, Botswana 216 mcg/m3
(2005 data)
8) Yasuj, Iran 215 mcg/m3 (2009 data)
9) Kanpur, India 209 mcg/m3 (2008
data)
10) Lahore, Pakistan 200 mcg/m3
(2003/4 data)

4) For the first time, a large section of the

still classified Henderson Brooks Report,
which details a comprehensive operational
review of Indias military debacle in 1962,
has been made public. The first volume of
the report, which includes an exhaustive
operational review of the India-China war
over both western and eastern sectors, was
published by an Australian journalist on his
web site. Who is he? Neville
Maxwell (Maxwell
was
a
former
correspondent of The Times of London who
reported on the war from New Delhi. He
authored in 1970 Indias China War a
path-breaking, yet controversial, account of
the conflict which angered the Indian
establishment by drawing upon classified
information to highlight the flawed

decision-making that led to defeat at the

hands of the Chinese. The report indicts the
highest levels of the government from the
then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehrus
own office and the Defence Ministry
particularly for its Forward Policy, which
was enforced, the report reveals, despite
considerable concerns and objections from
on-the-ground military commands that
lacked resources)
5) Which two sites were nominated by India
as its candidates for UNESCOs World
Heritage Site status for 2014? Rani-ki-Vav
(Gujarat) and
the Great
Himalayan

National Park (Himachal Pradesh) The

World Heritage Committee (WHC), which
will convene in Doha, Qatar, in June 2014,
will review the nomination and take a final
decision. Rani-ki-Vav, one of the finest
examples of step wells in Gujarat, was
constructed by Queen Udayamati of the
Solanki Dynasty. The Great Himalayan
National Park is a natural site spread over
an area of 754 square kilometres. It is
located on the western part of the
Himalayan Mountains in Kullu district of
Himachal Pradesh, and is known for its
biodiversity)

March 20-21, 2014

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14 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank and YES

Bank (Experts of the global gold market
believe that this could be a significant step
towards easing of tough curbs on the metal
imposed last year to cut the countrys trade
deficit)

1) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 19

March 2014 allowed five domestic private
banks to import gold. This decision is
expected to give a boost to gold supplies
and bring down premiums gold prices in
India, which is the worlds second-biggest
consumer after China. Which 5 banks are
these? HDFC Bank , Axis Bank, Kotak

2) Which state topped the recently released

Economic Freedom of the States of India
Report 2013, an index that measures
governance, growth, citizens rights and
labour and business regulation among the
countrys
20
largest
states?

Gujarat (Gujarat widened its lead at the

top of the economic freedom table, with an
index score of 0.65 (on a scale from 0 to
1.0). Tamil Nadu remains in second

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15 CURRENT AFFAIRS

position, but some distance behind, with a

score of 0.54. A reading of the index closer
to 1 indicates greater economic freedom
and shows the correlation between
economic freedom and the well-being of
citizens. Bihar, which continues to remain at
the bottom of table, however, has
progressed by leaps and bounds after Nitish
Kumar assumed charge as the states Chief
Minister)
3) Noted
English
author
and
journalist Khushwant Singh died in New
Delhi on 20 March 2014 at the age of 99.
The author of classics such as Train to
Pakistan and I Shall Not Hear the
Nightingale he was nominated to Rajya
Sabha by the government under late Indira
Gandhi. He was editor of which famous
weekly of yesteryears? Illustrated
Weekly of India (Khushwant Singh also
edited the Hindustan Times. His weekly
column With Malice Towards One and All
was very popular and was syndicated in
many dailies. He was awarded the Padma
Bhushan in 1974 but returned the
decoration in 1984 in protest against the
storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar
by the Army. In 2007, he was awarded the
Padma Vibhushan)
4) Which state scored the highest in
monthly per capita consumer expenditure
(MPCE) for urban areas in the recently
released ranking by the by the National
Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO)?
Haryana (Haryanas MPCE stood at Rs. 3817

and it was followed by Kerala (Rs. 3,408)

and Maharashtra (Rs. 3,189). Among urban
areas, Bihar (Rs. 1,507) shows the lowest
monthly
per
capita
consumption
expenditure. The 68th round survey on
level and pattern of consumption
expenditure was conducted by the NSSO
between July 2011 and June 2012)
5) Which state scored the highest in
monthly per capita consumer expenditure
(MPCE) for rural areas in the recently
released ranking by the by the National
Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO)?
Kerala(Keralas MPCE stood at Rs. 2,669
and it was followed by Gujarat (Rs. 2,581)
and Punjab (Rs. 2,345). Among rural areas,
Orrisa (Rs. 1,003) displayed the lowest
MPCE. The 68th round survey on level and
pattern of consumption expenditure was
conducted by the NSSO between July 2011
and June 2012)
6) What is the name of the Deputy
Governor of the RBI who resigned on 20
March 2014? KC Chakrabarty (He
resigned on personal grounds three months
ahead of completion of his term.
Chakrabarty was appointed as Deputy
Governor in June 2009 for a period of three
years. In 2012, he got an extension of two
years)
7) Indian market regulator SEBI on 19
March 2014 passed an order against
Financial Technologies (FTIL), declaring it as
not fit and proper to hold any shares

directly or indirectly in any stock exchange

or clearing corporation. FTIL presently holds
equity stakes in which stock exchanges of
the country? MCX Stock Exchange (MCXSX), National Stock Exchange (NSE), Delhi
Stock Exchange (DSE), Vadodara Stock
Exchange (VSE) and MCX-SX Clearing
Corporation (MCX-SX CCL) As per this
SEBI order, all these holdings will need to be
disposed of within 90 days. In December
2013, the Forward Markets Commission
(FMC) had declared FTIL as not fit and

proper to hold two per cent or more of the

equity share capital in the Multi Commodity
Exchange of India Ltd (MCX))
8) DK Jain, who passed away on 18 March
2014, was the founder and Chairman of
which famous pen and stationery brand of
India? Luxor (Jain was the Founder,
Chairman and President of Luxor Group, the
company which has brought internationallyrenowned brands like Waterman, Parker
and Pilot to India)

March 22, 2014

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16 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Assurance
Company)

1) Union Government on 21 March 2014

sold its 9% stake in which private sector
bank? Axis Bank(The stake was divested
through the Specified Undertaking of UTI
(SUUTI), which was formed in 2003 is an
offshoot of erstwhile UTI and held 20.72%
in Axis Bank. The other promoters of the
bank are Life Insurance Corporation,
General Insurance Corporation, New India

and

National

Insurance

2) British retail major Tesco on 21 March

2014 announced forming of an equal joint
venture with which retail entity associated
with the Tata Group, by picking up 50%
stake in it? Trent Hypermarket Ltd
THL (Tesco acquired 50% stake for about 85
million pounds. THL operates the Star
Bazaar retail business in India. On
completion of the transaction THL will
operate 12 stores retailing a range of
merchandise, including food and grocery,
personal and home-care products, home
and kitchen, fashion and accessories etc.
Tesco became the first global retailer to
apply for multi-brand retailing after the
government allowed 51% FDI in the
segment in September 2012. The Foreign

Investment Promotion Board had cleared its

proposal on 30 December 2012)

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17 CURRENT AFFAIRS

3) What is the name of the Indian journalist

who won the prestigious Google Digital
Activism Award for 2014 beating likes of
Edward
Snowden?
Shubhranshu
Choudhary (Shubhranshu
Choudhary
conceptualised CGNet Swara (Voice of
Chhattisgarh), a mobile-phone service that
allows citizens to post and listen to local
reports in their local language using basic
mobile phones. Shubhranshu Choudhary is
a Knight International Journalism Fellow
and the founder of CGNet Swara. He
previously
worked
with
BBC
and Guardian and was also a reporter at the
Hindi-daily Deshbandhu. The awards were
announced at an event in London on 20
March 2014. The Google Digital Activism
Award is a part of the Index Freedom of
Expression Award, which honours achievers
in four different categories: advocacy, arts,
digital activism and journalism. Other
nominees for the 2014 Google Digital
Activism Award were whistleblower Edward
Snowden, Free Weibo, an uncensored
version of Chians largest social network
SinaWeibo and TAILS operating system)
4) Popular micro-blogging site Twitter
completed how many years of its first tweet
on 21 March 2014? Eight (Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey on 21 March 2006 sent
the first tweet through twitter which read
just setting up my twttr. Since then

billions of tweets have been sent through

Twitter, making it the worlds most popular
micro-blogging platform. However, Twitter
was publicly launched on 15 July 2006)
5) Which country on 21 March 2014
restricted access to micro-blogging platform
Twitter with an objective to apparently root
out the social media network where
wiretapped recordings have been leaked,
damaging the governments reputation
ahead key local elections this month?
Turkey(Many users trying to access the
network early on 21 March were
confronted with a notice from Turkeys
telecommunications authority, citing court
orders for the sites apparent closure. The
internet has in the past weeks been awash
with incriminating leaked recordings,
including one in which Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan allegedly instructs his
son to dispose of large amounts of cash
from a residence amid a police graft probe.
Links to the recordings were posted on
Twitter)
6) Which water-based initiative from India
won the 2014 UN-Water Water for Life
Best Practices Award as announced on 21
March 2014? International Water
Management Institute (IWMI)-Tata Water
Policy Programme (IWMI-Tata Water Policy
Programme is a project based on water
scarce across India. The award was given for
projects sustainable practices of water
resources)

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18 CURRENT AFFAIRS

March 23-24, 2014

1) What is the name of the prepaid/remittance provider associated with

the m-Pesa platform, which during March
2014 started a pan-India inter-bank money
transfer service by joining hands with the
Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) of the
National Payments Corporation of India
(NPCI)? Mobile Commerce Solutions Ltd
(MCSL) With this tie-up, an MCSL (m-Pesa)
user can send money to customers of any
IMPS-enabled bank using NPCIs remittance
platform.
The
National
Payments
Corporation of India (NPCI) is the umbrella
organisation of all retail payment systems in
India, set up with the support of the
Reserve Bank of India and Indian Banks
Association (IBA). Immediate Payment
Service (IMPS) is a remittance processing
platform offered by NPCI that offers instant,
24X7, electronic funds transfer through
mobile, Internet or ATM between banks
and pre-paid providers)
2) What is the name of the non-profit group
which recently installed a first-of-its-kind
water ATM in Mumbai which provides

water vending facility at an affordable price

of
Re
1
per
litre?
Vandana
Foundation (Vandana Foundation and
another non-profit group Aquakraft came
together for the water ATM called
AQUATM. This ATM vends up to 1,000
litres per day. The vending machine has
been set up at Mankhurd where there are
water contamination problems. It can be
operated through prepaid cards)
3) Hilderaldo Luiz Bellini, who passed away
on 20 March 2014, was the captain of which
Football World Cup winning team?
Brazil (Hilderaldo Luiz Bellini captained
Brazilian team which won the World Cup in
1958. This was Brazils first World Cup
victory and the great footballer Pele was
also part of this team. Bellini also
represented Brazil in the World Cups of
1962 and 1966. Brazil have won a record
five World Cups, the last time in 2002. He
was cremated with full state honours on 22
March 2014 in his home city of Itapira in
Sao Paulo state)
4) Former IMF Chief and French Presidential
hopeful Dominique Strauss-Kahn is seeking
to translate his extensive experience at the
top levels of global policy-making into a
lucrative career as an investment manager.
What is the name of his investment firm for
which he is seeking to raise $2 billion hedge

fund? LSK and Partners (Strauss-Kahn,

who fell from grace in 2011 amid
accusations of sexual assault, joined
investment banker Thierry Leyne to form
LSK and Partners in 2013. LSK is
headquartered at Luxembourg and is aimed
at institutional investors and high net-worth
individuals around the world)
5) Which team won the 4th Hockey India
Senior Men National Championship 2014 on
23 March 2014? Air India Sports
Promotion Board AISPB (AISPB defeated
Comptroller & Auditor General of India 4-1
at Lucknows Major Dhyan Chand Hockey
Stadium. With this championship win AISPB
retained its title. Hosts Uttar Pradesh
defeated Railways Sports Promotion Board
by 4-2 to claim the third position in the
championship)

judge Justice Rekha Sharma to be an

arbitrator in the matter pertaining to
determining the exact distance between
Delhi and Lahore. This matter is associated
with an unresolved dispute DTC has with a
private bus operator who runs a Volvo bus
between the cities. The operator, had
approached Delhi High Court to recover Rs
19 lakh from DTC, which it said was the
difference between what accrued to it on
account of the distance actually travelled
and the money that DTC paid due to a
faulty odometer instrument on the bus.
What is the name of this bus operator?
Libra Bus Service (Libra Bus Service
operates a Volvo bus (DL1PC 3737)
between Lahore and Delhi. While moving
the court in 2012, the operator said that the
one-way distance between Delhi and
Lahore was 540 km, but the company was
paid for only 491 km)

6) Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC)

recently asked retired Delhi High Court

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19 CURRENT AFFAIRS

March 25-26, 2014

1) The Nuclear Security Summit 2014 (NSS
14), which concluded on 25 March 2014,
was held at which place? The Hague,
Netherlands (NSS 14 was a 2-day summit
and was attended by 58 world leaders (5 of
which from observing international
organizations). This was the third edition of
NSS and the earlier two summits were held
in Washington, D.C. (2010) and Seoul

(2012). The main goal of the conference

was to assess which of the objectives that
were set at the previous summits in
Washington, D.C. and Seoul have not been
accomplished in the past four years. NSS 14
was the largest conference ever held in the
Netherlands)

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20 CURRENT AFFAIRS

2) The US and other top economic powers

on 24 March 2014 cancelled the upcoming
G-8 summit that was to be held at Sochi
(Russia) during June 2014. The proposed G8 Summit has been replaced by a G-7
meeting without Russian involvement. This
G-7 summit would be held at which place?
Brussels, Belgium (The decision was taken
by leaders of Canada, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the US,
the President of the European Council and
the President of the European Commission
following their meeting in The Hague on the
sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit
2014)
3) More than 17 days after Malaysia
Airlines flight MH370 disappeared from
radars an hour after taking off from Kuala
Lumpur bound for Beijing, Malaysian Prime
Minister Najib Razak on 24 March 2014
announced that the aircraft crashed in the
middle of the south Indian Ocean as its last
position was detected here. This place,
which is said to be one of the most remote
locations on Earth, is situated where?
More than 2,000 km west of Perth,
Australia (United Kingdoms Air Accidents
Investigation Branch (AAIB), citing data

from satellite company Inmarsat, had

established the last position of the missing
flight using analysis never before used in an
investigation of this sort. All 239 people on
board this aircraft are feared to have lost
their lives in one of the biggest and most
baffling tragedies in modern aviation
history)
4) TIP is the unofficial name given to a
group of three emerging countries whose
stock markets outperformed many much
fancied markets during the first three
months of 2014. Which three countries are
these? Thailand, Indonesia and the
Philippines (Till 23 March 2014 Indonesias
Jakarta Composite was up 9.8%, Philippines
PSEI gained 7% and Thailands Se Thai also
registered a positive growth of 4.7%. Many
analysts also add Indias name to this list as
the Sensex gained around 4% till 23 March
2014. On the other hand Shanghai
Composite (China), Kospi (South Korea),
MICEX (Russia) and Bovespa (Brazil) have
plummeted by 4-10% during the same time)
5) Legendary Hindi and Marathi film actress
Nanda, who is best known for films like
Hum Dono (1961), Teen Deviyan and
Kanoon (1960), passed away on 25 March
2014. She won Filmfare Best Supporting
Actress Award in 1960 for which film?
Aanchal (Nanda started her career in
1956 with V Shantarams (her paternal
uncle) Toofan Aur Diya. She went on to
form a hit pair with actor Shashi Kapoor in
many movies like Char Diwari (1961),

Mohabbat Isko Kehte Hain (1965), Jab Jab

Phool Khilen (1965) among others)
6) Which
leading
Indian
textile
manufacturer recently acquired 49% stake
in iconic fashion brand Calvin Kleins India
operations? Arvind Limited (Arvind Ltd.
picked up the 49% stake held by the
Murjani Group in Calvin Klein in India)

7) Who was named as the new Managing

Director of FMCG major Britannia Industries
Limited (BAL) on 25 March 2014? Varun
Berry (Berry would replace Vinita Bali who
retires as companys MD on 31 March 2014.
Berrys appointment would be effective
from 1 April)

March 27-28, 2014

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21 CURRENT AFFAIRS

disease being reported in the country for

three years. How many countries were
declared polio-free by the WHO on 27
March? 11 (These 11 countries are
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic Peoples
Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia,
Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka,
Thailand and Timor-Leste)

1) The World Health Organisation (WHO) on

27 March 2014 officially certified India as a
polio-free country with no case of the

2) The member states of the European

Union (EU) on 26 March 2014 decided to
ban the import of five types of fruit and
vegetable from India. The ban, which goes
into effect in May 2014, covers mangoes,
aubergines, the taro plant and two types of
gourd. What is the reason for this ban?
Fruits and vegetables from India being
found contaminated by pests such as fruit
flies (Pests that are not native to Europe
were found in 207 fruit and vegetable
consignments from the subcontinent during
2013. The banned articles represent less

than 5% of the blocs fresh fruit and

vegetable imports from India)

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22 CURRENT AFFAIRS

3) Who headed the committee on Credit

Information
Reports
(CIRs),
which
submitted its report to the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) during March 2014? Aditya
Puri, Chairman of HDFC Bank (This
committee recommended that customers
should be given a free copy of their credit
profile as it would help in promoting
financial discipline among loan seekers. The
committee also recommended use of
common data formats and a common data
quality index that could assist credit
institutions in determining the gaps in data)

Indian captain and test player (In a big

setback for BCCI president N. Srinivasan,
the Supreme Court proposed his
replacement by Sunil Gavaskar and
suspension of Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
along with Rajasthan Royals (RR) from IPL 7
till the pendency of case of betting and spot
fixing scandal before it. The court said it is
intending to bar CSK, owned by India
Cements, which is promoted by Mr.
Srinivasan, and RR, whose players and team
officials are allegedly involved in the
scandal, from participating in the IPL 7
tournament slated to begin from 16 April
2014)

4) Who topped Forbes magazines annual

list of 100 best venture investors with the
Midas touch, which was released on 26
March 2014? Jim Goetz, partner at firm
Sequoia Capital who was the only
institutional backer in messaging service
WhatsApp (This list comprises of 100 best
venture investors who made savvy
investments in start-ups and then sold off
their stakes to pocket huge profits. Jim
Goetz invested around $60 million to
support WhatsApp and his stock value
stood nearly around $3 billion after
Facebook announced its purchase of
WhatsApp for $19-billion price)

6) What is the name of the largest Muslim

rebel group in the Philippines, with which
the Philippine government signed a peace
accord on 27 March 2014 after years of
negotiations? Abu Sayyaf Group (Abu
Sayyaf Group is a Muslim extremist network
with international links and the Philippine
army has been battling it with support from
the United States. The deal inked between
the Philippine government and Abu Sayyaf
grants largely Muslim areas of the southern
Mindanao
region
greater
political
autonomy in exchange for an end to armed
rebellion. However, other insurgent groups
have vowed to keep fighting for full
independence)

5) Whose name was proposed by the

Supreme Court as a replacement for BCCI
president N. Srinivasan in its order on 27
March 2014? Sunil Gavaskar, former

7) What is the name of the German trade

union, on whose call thousands of publicsector German airport workers walked off
the jobs at airports in Frankfurt, Munich,

Duesseldorf and several other German

cities on 27 March 2014 in a strike for
higher wages? Ver.di (The Ver.di union
held the one-day warning strike to pressure
employers ahead of a third round of
negotiations for some 2.1 million federal
and municipal employees. The union is
pushing for a 100 euro ($138) one-off
payment and a 3.5% wage increase. Ver.di
is a large German trade union with around
2.2 million members)

8) Which infrastructure finance company

recently received RBI approval to set up a
minimum of 9,000 white label ATMs (WLAs)
in the next three years in rural India? SREI
Infrastructure Finance Ltd (The company
received a certificate of authorisation from
the RBI to set up, own and operate a
payment system for WLAs effective 25
March 2014. Through these WLAs, the
infrastructure financial institution will be
able to take financial products and services
of the sponsor bank to the doorstep of the
rural population)

March 29-30, 2014

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23 CURRENT AFFAIRS

tie against Russian Sergey Karjakin in the

penultimate round. He took an unbeatable
lead in tournament with 8 points. By
becoming the challenger, Anand also
became the first player to be in the world
title matches eight times and winning in all
three formats knockout, double-round
robin and match-play)

1) Who will challenge Chess World

Champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway) in the
World title match to be held during
November 2014? Vishwanathan Anand of
India (Anand won the World Candidates
chess tournament at Khanty Mansisyk
(Russia) on 29 March 2014 by drawing his

2) The capital market regulator, the

Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI) on 29 March 2014 got back the
power to act against ponzi schemes, illegal
deposit schemes and assess call data
records in securities-related offences after
the SEBI Ordinance was re-promulgated.
This happened after the Finance Ministry
managed to get the nod of the Election
Commission
and
Cabinet
on
re-

promulgation of the SEBI Ordinance and

finally from the President. Under this
ordinance, which pooled money schemes
would be compulsorily registered with the
SEBI? Schemes with deposits over Rs. 100
crore (This Ordinance lapsed on 17 January
2014 after the Government failed in getting
the Securities (laws) Amendment Bill passed
in the monsoon, winter and extended
winter session of the 15th Lok Sabha, which
was adjourned sine die on 21 February
2014)

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24 CURRENT AFFAIRS

3) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 27

March 2014 extended the deadline for
implementation of Basel III norms by the
Indian banks to 31 March 2019. What was
the earlier deadline for implementation of
this norm? 31 March 2018 (Under this
norm Indian banks need to have a core
capital ratio of 8% and a total capital
adequacy ratio of 11.5% against the present
9%. The norm has been devised to
strengthen the regulation, supervision and
risk management of the banking sector)
4) Nirbheek Indias first revolver especially
made for women was for the first time
issued to three women during March 2014.
This 0.5 Kg revolver can be easily carried in
handbag or purse. Which state owned
factory manufactured Nirbheek? Indian
Ordnance Factory Kanpur (IOF Kanpur)
Nirbheek is being marketed as Indias first
firearm designed for women. At 500 grams,
it is also the first IOF handgun made of

titanium alloy. This .32 bore light weight

revolver has been priced over Rs. 1.20 lakh)
5) Who was appointed as the new President
of the Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII), one of the leading trade associations
of the country? Ajay S. Shriram (Ajay S.
Shriram is the Chairman and Sr. Managing
Director of DCM Shriram Ltd and he was
elected as the President of CII for 2014-15.
He succeeds S Gopalakrishnan of Infosys as
the new President. Naushad Forbes,
Director, Forbes Marshall, has been elected
as the Vice-President)
6) State-owned Canara Bank on 28 March
2014 achieved which milestone in its ATM
operations? It opened its 6,000th ATM on
this day (6000th ATM of the bank was
opened at Vikasa Soudha (Secretariat
Building), Bangalore)
7) A C-130J Super Hercules aircraft of the
Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed on 28 March
2014 near the Madhya PradeshRajasthan
border killing all five IAF crew members onboard. This crash came as a major setback
to the IAF. IAF had inducted how many C130J Super Hercules aircrafts in its arm
during 2010? Six (With this accident only
five C-130J Super Hercules remain in the
IAF. However, IAF is planning to induct six
more C-130J Super Hercules into the force
soon. C-130J Super Hercules is known for its
service prowess and capability to operate in
very difficult conditions and terrains. C-130J
Super Hercules aircrafts are stationed at the

77 Squadron at the Hindon air base near

Ghaziabad. 77 Squadron is also known as
Veiled Vipers)
8) P Ramdas, who passed away on 28
March 2014, was a film director of
yesteryears of which language?
Malayalam (Ramdas introduced the neorealistic wave in Malayalam cinema during

the 1950s through his path breaking

movie Newspaper Boy. Ramdas also
produced two more feature films
Nirapara in
1976
and Vadakaveettile
Adithi in 1981. However, financial setbacks
forced the veteran to keep away from
mainstream cinema world for the rest of his
life)

March 31, 2014

2) Who was elected as the new President of
Slovakia in the runoff poll conducted for
electing President, results for which were
declared on 30 March 2014? Andrej
Kiska (Andrej Kiska won 59.4% votes to
defeat Prime Minister Robert Fico. This
defeat came as a big surprise for Robert
Fico in spite of the fact that the post of
President is largely ceremonial. Kiska would
become countrys fourth President)

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25 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1) A Census was started in Myanmar on 30

March 2014 to enumerate countrys
population. The census would conclude on
10 April 2014 and would include around 12
million households. When was the last
Census conducted in Myanmar? in
1983 (The last Census was held in 1983 by
the military government led by Gen. Ne
Win)

3) Private sector bank Axis Bank on 27

March 2014 launched its own Kisan Credit
Card, which is aimed at helping farmers
access liquidity round-the-clock. The bank
claimed that it is first new generation
private sector bank to launch an electronic
Kisan Credit Card on the RuPay platform. In
which year the Kisan Credit Card scheme
was launched? in 1998 (The scheme was
introduced in August 1998 and since then, a

host of banks, a majority of them in the

state-run space, have launched such cards)
4) Japan and North Korea started the twoday high-level government talks on 30
March 2014 that were expected to focus on
abductions of Japanese by North Korea
decades ago. These talks are significant
because Japan and North Korea do not have
diplomatic relations. When the two
countries held talks the last time? During
December 2012 (This new round of talk was
held at Beijing. The fate of at least a dozen
people, who Japan says were abducted by
North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, was
top the agenda of these talks)

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26 CURRENT AFFAIRS

5) Who won the F1 Malaysian Grand Prix

held at the Sepang circuit on 30 March

2014?
Mercedes
teams
Lewis
Hamilton (Great Britain) His teammate
Nico Rosberg (Germany) was second
whereas third spot was claimed by
Sebastian Vettel (Germany) of Red Bull
team. Force Indias Nico Hulkenberg
claimed fifth spot.
6) Which Indian men badminton player lost
in the final of the Malaysia Grand Prix Gold
tournament on 30 March 2014? Sourabh
Verma (The 21-year-old player from
Madhya Pradesh lost by 21-15 16-21 19-21
to former world number three Simon
Santoso of Indonesia. 2012 national
champion Sourabh had come close to
winning a Grand Prix title in 2011 when he
had reached the final of the Syed Modi
India Open)

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