India, Slovak ink MoU on technical cooperation in Railway Sector.

It was signed in New Delhi by Ganga Ram Agarwal,

Secretary, Railway Board and Ambassador of Slovak Republic to India Zigmund Bertok
Union Railway Ministry has signed 4 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with Union Power and New & Renewable
Energy Ministry for energy conservation, transmission and solarisation.
Union Government launched new train services in the Northeast Indian states after the completion of Balipara- Bhalukpong
(Arunachal Pradesh) and North Lakhimpur-Murkongselek (Assam) sections into broad-gauge. The train services were
launched by the Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu through video-conferencing from New Delhi.
The much-awaited ambitious Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project of government has announced to commission its first
56-kilometer stretch in Bihar. Out of total 3,300 km stretch the 56 kilometer developed between Durgawati and Sasaram will
be commissioned by the end of March 2016
The Kolkata-based private sector wagon manufacturer Titagarh Wagons Ltd (TWL) has acquired Italian coach manufacturing
company Firema Trasporti for 25 million Euros. This purchase will help out TWL to venture into the metro coach and highspeed train manufacturing business.
Indian Railways launched a mobile ticketing application for unreserved tickets for commuters in Western Railway. It was
launched by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. This mobile ticketing service will cover 35 stations between the 123 km
long Churchgate -Dhauroad and facilitate a hassle free travel for lakhs of daily passengers in Mumbai.
World Bank has approved an additional loan of 650 million dollars for Indias Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC)
Project. To build 401 km Ludhiana-Khurja section that falls in three North Western states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and
Punjab. DFC Project aims at the faster delivery of goods between the northern and eastern parts of the country. The project
will further help to increase the capacity of freight-only lines. It will raise the axle-load limit from existing 22.9 tonnes to 25
tonnes. The speeds of freight carriers will be further boosted up to 100 km/hr due to dedicated freight lines.
Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the Integrated Security System (ISS) at 6 railway stations in Mumbai,
Maharashtra. The system was inaugurated Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), Dadar, Kurla and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus
(LTT), Kalyan and Thane.
Two Indian organizations, India Army and Indian Railways are among the worlds biggest employers. It was revealed in a
research published by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Both organisations employ around 2.7 million people together.
Indian Railways was placed at 8th position with 1.4 million staff, while Indian Army was placed at 9th position with 1.3 million
employees in the list of worlds biggest employers.
ISRO has announced to provide navigational support to Indian Railways through GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation
(GAGAN) system. The navigational support along with space technology-based tools will be provided to Indian Railways for
unmanned level crossings safety. GAGAN was jointly developed by the ISRO and Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the
advancement of air navigation
Indian Railways has named Haridwar Mail as Yoga Express with an immediate effect. This decision was taken by Indian
Railways before celebration of first International Yoga Day on 21st June. Its average speed is below 55 km/hr running
between Ahmedabad (Gujarat)
Gatimaan Express is the first semi high-speed train service that will be launched between Delhi and Agra. The train will run at
a maximum speed of 160 kmph and is expected to cover the 200-km distance between both destinations in about 105
minutes.It is equipped with a 5,400 Horse Power (HP) electric locomotive engine and 12 modern coaches.
Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) have won the 5th National women hockey championship title. In the final match
played at the Master Chandgi Ram sports stadium at Saifai, Uttar Pradesh the the RSPB girls team defeated Hockey
Jharkhand by 12-2 goals
Railway Sports Promotion Board has won the 5th Senior Mens National Hockey Championship 2015
The Railway Ministry has launched utsonmobile, a mobile application for paperless unreserved tickets.
Indian Railways on 21 April 2015 launched E-Samiksha, an online monitoring mechanism. E-Samiksha aims at monitoring
implementation of various ongoing projects of Indian Railways on real-time basis including Rail Budget proposals.
First goods train from Lumding to Silchar in the northeastern state of Assam.
Union Ministry of Railways has constituted a Committee to review the existing Public Private Partnership (PPP) Cell in the
Railway Board with former IAS officer Ajay Shankar as its head

Union Ministry of Railways has constituted Kaya kulp Council, an innovation council for Indian Railways. Eminent industrialist
and former chairman of Tata Sons, Ratan Tata will head the KayaKalp council. Shiv Gopal Mishra, General Secretary of All
Indian Railwaymens Federation (AIRF). M. Raghavaiah, General Secretary of National Federation of Indian Railwaymen
(NFIR).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 14 March 2015 flagged off the first train from Thalaimannar to Madhu Road in North Sri
Lanka.
Indian Railways on 11 March 2015 inked an MoU with Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) to raise Rs 1.5 lakh crore for financing
the development of its various commercially viable infrastructure projects. The MoU was signed by Financial Commissioner
(Railways) Rajalakshmi Ravikumar and LIC Chairman SK Roy in presence of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the
Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu.
Railway Budget 2015-16 - February 26, 2015
138 will be a nationwide 247 helpline number for railway-related queries. While,182 will be a toll-free number for securityrelated issues.
Central Government has appointed A.K. Mittal as Chairman of Railway Board on January 2, 2015. His name was cleared by
the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister. He will succeed incumbent chief Arunendra
Kumar whose term had ended on 31st December 2014
On November 30, 2014 Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged-off the first train from Mendipathar, Meghalaya, to Guwahati.
This was an important occasion in the history of Indian Railways, as Meghalaya was being added to the rail network of India
for first time. He also unveiled the plaque for a new rail line from Bhairabi to Sairang
Railway Budget 2014-15 - July 9, 2014 Union Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda presented his first Railway Budget in
Parliament
The first trial run of the Indias fastest train on the New Delhi-Agra route was performed successfully by the Indian Railways.
The train covered a distance of 200 kms in 100 minutes against the slated time of 90 minutes. Although the average speed of
the train during the entire journey was 125-130 km/h, its speed reached a maximum speed of 160 kmph

Diamond Quadrilateral project connecting four major cities of India located in four edges of the country by train similar to Atal
Bihari Vajpayee Governments Golden Quadrilateral highway project

Indian Railway released a book, titled India Junction A Window to the Nation. The book has been brought out by Public
Relations Directorate, Railway Board. The book has been edited by Ms Seema Sharma
Without the railways, the three great cities of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras would have remained small colonial trading
ports. Sir Mark Tully
Railways was the greatest force of modernization and unity that India had ever seen. Sandipan Deb
The development of the railways has been deeply intertwined with the destiny of the Indian subcontinent. Sharmila Kantha
In Mumbai locals, there is even a new subgroup of intimacy: the train friend. Jerry Pinto
No Railways, no India.Ian J. Kerr

Itanagar (Capital of Arunachal Pradesh) became the 2nd state capital after the Capital of Assam: Dispur (whose nearest
Railway Station is Guwahati, distance: 5-7 km only), amongst the capitals in NE India to be put on Rail Map of India.
Santosh Trophy Founded: 1941. Annual Indian football tournament. Trophy named after the late Maharaja Sir Manmatha Nath
Roy

Chowdhary

of

Santosh

(that

is

now

in

Bangladesh)

Northern Railway launched 24 x 7 security helpline No.1322 to provide speedy assistance to passengers in the event of thefts,
harassment
and
other
criminal
incidents
on
rail
premises.
The Indian Railways inked an agreement with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) to set up the countrys biggest Forged

Wheel plant at Lalganj, Raebarelli in Uttar Pradesh. Now the forged wheel factory will require about 50,000-60,000 tonnes of
steel,

which

will

be

sourced

from

Railway Current Affairs 2015 Questions and Answers

2. What is the width of Broad gauge rail ?
Answer: 1.676
3. Which is the First Electric Train in India ?
Answer: Deccan Queen (Kalyan Pune)
4. When did Life Line Express (Jeevan Rekha) Started?
Answer: In 1991
5.Which year is declared as Year of Rail Users by the Indian Railways?
Answer: 1995
6. Which is the Longest Railway Tunnel?
Answer: Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel (Banihal railway tunnel)
7. Which is the Longest Railway platform in the World?
Answer: Gorakhpur station platform (UP)
9. Which are the states have no Railway?
Answer: Meghalaya and Sikkim (building new railway lines)
10. Which is the Worlds oldest working steam locomotive engine (train)?
Answer: Fairy Queen runs in India
11. What is the width of Narrow gauge rail?
Answer: 0.762
Person in News
12. Where is the Headquarters of Konkan railway?
Answer: Bilaspur
13. Which is the fastest train in India?
Answer: Shatabdi Express
14. In which year Indian Railway board established?
Answer: 1905
15. Which is the first Railway station in India?

RINLs

plant

in

Vizag

Answer: Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Victoria terminal)

16. Who is the first Indian to present Railway Budget?
Answer: John Mathai
17. Who is the first railway minister in India?
Answer: John Matthai
18. Who is the first lady Railway minister of India?
Answer: Mamta Benergy
19. Which is the highest railway station in India?
Answer: Ghum railway station
20. Which is the longest Railway Bridge in India?
Answer: Vallarpadam Bridge (Kerala)
21. What is the slogan of Indian Railway?
Answer: lifeline of the nation

Multiple Choice Questions - Indian Railways

1. When was the first train steamed off in India?
a.

1848

b.

1853

c.

1875

d.

1880

Answer (b).
2. Which of the following is the headquarters of the newly established railway zone East Coast Railways?
a.

Vishakhapattnam

b.

Kolkata

c.

Hyderabad

d.

Bhubaneswar

Answer (d).
3. Which train in India has the longest route length?
a.

Howrah - Jammu Tawi Himgiri Express

b.

Kanyakumari - Jammu Tawi Himsagar Express

c.

Kanyakumari - Dibrugarh Vivek Express

d.

Guwahati-Thiruvanthapuram Express

Answer (c).
4. Where is the Railway Staff College located?
a.

Pune

b.

Delhi

c.

Vadodara

d.

Allahabad

Answer (c).
5. On which of the following is the longest railway bridge in India located?
a.

River Ganges

b.

Vembanad Lake

c.

River Brahmaputra

d.

Chilka Lake

Answer (b).
6. In which of the following cities are located 3 zonal headquarters of Indian Railways?
a.

Guwahati

b.

Mumbai

c.

New Delhi

d.

Kolkata

Answer (d).
7. Who of the following is known for having designed the first railway timetables?
a.

George Bradman

b.

George Bernard Shaw

c.

George Bradshaw

d.

George Brummel

Answer (c).

8. Which of the following is the largest railway junction in India?

a.

Delhi

b.

Bhatinda

c.

Mathura

d.

Allahabad

Answer (c).
9. Which of the following is the eastern-most division of the Indian Railways?
a.

Tinsukia

b.

Lumding

c.

Rangiya

d.

Katihar

Answer (a).
10. Over which of the following rivers is the world's highest railway bridge in Kashmir being constructed?
a.

Chenab

b.

Jhelum

c.

Sutlej

d.

Indus

Answer (a).

11. Gorakhpur which has the longest railway platform in the world is located in which of the following states?
a.

Odisha

b.

West Bengal

c.

Uttar Pradesh

d.

Chhattisgarh

Answer (c).
12. Which of the following stations has all the three guages viz. broad, metre and narrow?
a.

Lucknow

b.

Chandigarh

c.

Shimla

d.

Siliguri

Answer (d).
13. What is the width of broad guage railway line in India?
a.

5 feet 3 inches

b.

5 feet 6 inches

c.

4 feet 11 inches

d.

5 feet 4 inches

Answer (b).
14. Match the manufacturing units with their locations
Manufacturing Unit

A. Chittaranjan Locomotive Works

B. Integral Coach Factory
C. Wheel and Axle Plant
D. Rail Coach Factory
a.

A - 3; B - 4; C - 1; D - 2

b.

A - 2; B - 1; C - 4; D - 3

c.

A - 3; B - 1; C - 4; D - 2

d.

A - 3; B - 1; C - 2; D - 4

Answer (c).
15. Which of the following stations was formerly known as Victoria Terminus?
a.

Churchgate Railway Station

b.

Mumbai Central

c.

Lokmanya Tilak Terminus

d.

Chhatrapathi Shivaji Terminus

Answer (d).

16. Fairy Queen, the world's oldest steam locomotive in regular operation, plies between New Delhi and a.

Shimla

b.

Alwar

c.

Kalka

d.

Gwalior

Answer (b).
17. Who of the following was the first Railway Minister of independent India?
a.

John Mathai

b.

Lal Bahadur Shastri

c.

Jawaharlal Nehru

d.

Shanmugham Shetty

Answer (a).
18. Shatabdi Express trains were introduced in 1989 to commemorate the 100 anniversary of which of the
following personalities?
a.

Swami Vivekanand

b.

Mahatma Gandhi

c.

Jawaharlal Nehru

d.

Rabindranath Tagore

Answer (c).
19. Who was the Governor General of India when Railways were first introduced in India?
a.

Lord Canning

b.

Lord Dalhousie

c.

Lord William Bentick

d.

Lord Ripon

Answer (b).
20. In which city is the Wheel and Axle Plant of the Indian Railways located?
a.

Kapurthala

b.

Varanasi

c.

Bangalore

d.

Rae Barelly

Answer (c).

21. What is the rank of India in the world in terms of length of railroad network?
a.

First

b.

Second

c.

Third

d.

Fourth

Answer (d).
22. Which of the following ran the first train from Bori Bunder to Thane in 1853?
a.

Bombay Baroda Railway

b.

The Scindia Railway

c.

Central India Railway

d.

Great Indian Peninsula Railway

Answer (d).
23. The Maitree Express connects India with which of the following countries?
a.

Myanmar

b.

Pakistan

c.

Bangladesh

d.

Nepal

Answer (c).
24. Which of the following is the largest zone in terms of route kilometers?
a.

Western Railways

b.

Eastern Railways

c.

Northern Railways

d.

Southern Railways

Answer (c).
25. Which of the following is the largest marshalling yard in India (also the longest in Asia)?
a.

Mughalsarai

b.

Mathura

c.

Itarasi

d.

Guntakal

Answer (a).
26. Through which of the following group of states does the Konkan Railways run?
a.

Maharashtra - Karnataka - Andhra Pradesh - Kerala

b.

Maharashtra - Karnataka - Goa - Kerala

c.

Maharashtra - Karnataka - Kerala - Tamil Nadu

d.

Karnataka - Goa - Kerala - Tamil Nadu

Answer (b).
27. Which of the following zonal headquarters - city combination is incorrect?
a.

South East Central - Bilaspur

b.

North Western - Jodhpur

c.

East Central - Hajipur

d.

West Central - Jabalpur

Answer (b).
28. Which of the following zones administers the Matheran Hill Railway?
a.

Konkan Railways

b.

Western Railways

c.

Central Railways

d.

Southern Railways

Answer (c).
29. In which city is the Indian Railway Institute of Financial Management (IRIFM) being set up as announced in
the Railway Budget 2013?
a.

Secunderabad

b.

Lucknow

c.

Rae Barelly

d.

Gurgaon

Answer (a).
30. In which of the following cities is the National Rail Museum located?
a.

Mumbai

b.

New Delhi

c.

Hyderabad

d.

Chennai

Answer (b).
31. The first Indian railway line was opened by the British :
a.

From Delhi to Bombay

b.

From Bombay to Thane

c.

From Calcutta to Allahabad

d.

From Bombay to Madras

Answer (b).
32. Into how many zones is the Indian Railways organized?
a.

17

b.

15

c.

14

d.

16

Answer (a).
33. Which state has the longest route kilometers of railway line in India?
a.

Maharashtra

b.

Andhra Pradesh

c.

Rajasthan

d.

Uttar Pradesh

Answer (d).

Roger Federer wins seventh Cincinnati Masters title of Tennis

Golfer Aditi Ashok first Indian to win Ladies British amateur stroke-play Championship
Bangladesh wins maiden SAFF U-16 title of Football
Olympic champion Sebastian Coe elected new International Association of Athletics Federations president
Defending champion Carolina Marin Martin of Spain has won the prestigious World Badminton Championship 2015 in
womens single category.
Abhishek Verma wins gold medal in Archery World Cup
International Olympic Committee (IOC) has officially recognised Frisbee as an Olympic sport.
Ace Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar has won bronze medal in womens vault event at the 6th Senior ART Gymnastics Asian

Championships held in Hiroshima, Japan

Indias ace female squash player Joshna Chinappa won the prestigious US 15,000 dollars Victorian Open squash competition.
Indian womens recurve archery team has won silver medal in World Archery Championship held in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Indian womens team included trio of Laxmirani Majhi, Deepika Kumari, and Rimil Buriuly. In the final match of World
Championship they lost to Russia by 4-5 score
Indias Ranveer Singh Saini has won a Gold medal at the Special Olympics World Games held in Los Angeles. The 14 year
old golfer suffering from autistic achieved this feat in GF Golf-Level 2 Alternate Shot Team Play
Indian Tennis legend Sania Mirza for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award 2015.
Sania has won 2015 womens Doubles Wimbledon Title along with her partner Martina Hingis (Switzerland)
Union Government has conferred Arjuna Award on Indian cricket team off-spinner bowler Ravichandran Ashwin. With this
Ashwin became 48th cricketer to receive the prestigious award. He was presented with award by Union Sports Minister
Sarbananda Sonowal at a special function organised in New Delhi.
Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany won the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix of Formula One (F1)
Rajiv Shukla IPL chairman; Anurag Thakur BCCI secretary; Anirudh Choudhury- BCCI treasurer
France`s tennis legend Amelie Mauresmo was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame by the Association of Tennis
Professionals (ATP)
The 2015 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament held from 29 June to 12 July 2015. The tournament had taken
place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. It was the 129th edition of
the championships and the 48th edition in the Open Era.
Mens Singles Title: Defending Champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia won the 2015 Mens Singles Wimbledon Title. In the final
match, he defeated Roger Federer of Switzerland. It is Djokovics 3rd Wimbledon Title (2011, 2014 and 2015) overall 12th
mens single Grand Slam title.
Womens Singles Title: Serena Williams of United States has won Womens Singles Wimbledon title at 2015. In the final match
played she defeated Garbine Muguruza of Spain. It is Williams sixth Womens Singles Wimbledon title (2002, 2003, 2009,
2010, 2012 and 2015) and overall 21th Grand Slam title.
Womens Doubles Title: Sania Mirza (India) and Martina Hingis (Switzerland) pair won the 2015 womens Doubles Wimbledon
Title. In the final match, they defeated Russian pair of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
Mens Doubles Title: Jean-Julien Rojer (Netherlands) and Horia Tecu (Romania) pair won the 2015 mens Doubles
Wimbledon Title. In the final match they defeated Jamie Murray (UK) and John Peers (Australia).
Mixed Doubles Title: Leander Paes (India) and Martina Hingis (Switzerland) pair won the 2015 Mixed Doubles Wimbledon
Title. In the final match, they defeated Alexander Peya (Austria) and Tmea Babos (Hungary).
Boys Doubles Title: Sumit Nagal (India) and L Hong Nam (Vietnam) pair won the 2015 Boys Doubles Wimbledon Title. In
the final match they defeated Reilly Opelka (US) and Akira Santillan (Japan).
United States (US) won the 2015 FIFA Womens World Cup. It is overall third world cup title of US. In the World Cup final
match played at Vancouver, Canada US defeated Japan by 5-2 goals score
Lewis Hamilton wins 2015 Birtish Grand Prix of F1
Former world junior champion and Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta won the 19th Commonwealth Chess Championship.
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar voted best Test player of 21st century
Former Pakistan cricket team captain Zaheer Abbas has been selected the new President of International Cricket Council
(ICC) for one year term. He will be 13th President of ICC and succeeds Mustafa Kamal of Bangladesh who had resigned from
the post of ICC President in April 2015.
Kerala government has appointed Tennis Icon Steffanie Graf as Ayurveda brand ambassador.

Astronomers have named a newly discovered galaxy as CR7 (COSMOS Redshift 7) after Portuguese footballer Cristiano
Ronaldo.
Sunil Chhetri has become the first Indian footballer to score 50 international goals. He achieved this feat in his 87th match i.e.
during 2018 World Cup qualifying match between India and Guam
Former West Indies paceman Sir Wesley Winfield Hall has been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the only Indian to find place in the Forbes magazines list of 100 Worlds Highest-Paid
Athletes 2015
Read more at: http://currentaffairs.gktoday.in/category/current-affairs-2015/sports/page/18