Current Affairs July 2012 (8-11)

Current Affairs July 2012 (8-11)

1. From July 1, 2012, all services, except those under a ‘negative list’, have come under the Service Tax net. How many services have escaped the service tax by finding place in negative list?
[A]35
[B]38
[C]42
[D]48

2. Who among the following is the richest man of the World as per 2012 rankings?
[A]Warren Buffett
[B]Bernard Arnault
[C]Carlos Slim
[D]Amancio Ortega

3. International Donors Conference on Afghanistan was held at ____?

[A]Kabul
[B]London
[C]Tokyo
[D]Moscow

4. Who among the following is the winner of Asian Junior Championship 2012?

[A]Okuhara Nozomi
[B]Pusarla Venkata Sindhu
[C]Zulkifli Zulfadli
[D] Sun Yu

5. Gagan AP Ulalmath is related to which among the following Olympic sports?

[A]Athletics
[B]Swimming
[C]Cycling
[D]Wushu

6. Who among the following has recently claimed fifth Women's singles title at Wimbledon?

[A]Serena Williams
[B]Agnieszka Radwanska
[C]M. Sharapova
[D]S. Lisicki

7. The universal service obligation fund is related to ____?

[A]Healthcare
[B]Telecommunication
[C]Transportation
[D]Urban development

8. Income-tax Act requires a person to obtain a Permanent Account Number (PAN) if his / her total personal income exceeds ___?

[A]Rs. 100,000 at Present
[B]Rs. 200,000 at Present
[C]Rs. 500,000 at present
[D]Every self employed person

The Income-tax Act requires you to obtain a Permanent Account Number (PAN) if your total income exceeds the basic exemption limit (Rs 2 lakh at present) or if you run a business or are a professional with turnover of at least Rs 5 lakh.

9. The tallest building of Europe "The Shard" is located in which among the following cities?
[A]London
[B]Geneva
[C]Frankfurt
[D]Paris

10. Anna Schwartz, who recently died was a famous ____ ?

[A]Scientist
[B]Economist
[C]Novel Writer
[D]Poet

11. Which among the following organizations has recently released the report titled "Inclusive Wealth Report 2012"?
[A]World Bank
[B]United Nations
[C]World Economic Forum
[D]World Trade Organization

India ranks fifth in the report as a country with highest annual inclusive wealth growth.

12. Who among the following is the winner of 2012 Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award ?
[A]Barak Obama
[B]Aung San Suu Kyi
[C]Bo Xilai
[D]Chen Guangcheng

13. Which among the following has become the latest neighbouring country from where, India has allowed FDI?

[A]China
[B]Pakistan
[C]Sri Lanka
[D]Bangladesh

14. On 11 June 2012, the organisers of Nobel Prize have announced a 20-per cent cut in the award because of the economic crisis. What is the new amount of the 2012 Nobel Prizes?

[A]8 million Swedish krono
[B]10 million Swedish krono
[C]12 million Swedish krono
[D]6 million Swedish krono

15. National Security Council NSC is headed by ____?

[A]President
[B]Prime Minister
[C]Home Minister
[D]Defense Minister

16. The United States administration has recently announced exempting India, South Korea, and five other countries from Iran oil sanctions. Which among the following is not a country among the five others?

[A]Pakistan
[B]Turkey
[C]Malaysia
[D]South Africa

Besides India, South Korea, Malaysia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Taiwan got exemptions

17. At present, India has 20 nuclear reactors with a combined installed capacity of 4,780 MW. This is roughly what fraction of our total electricity generation capacity?
[A]3%
[B]5%
[C]7%
[D]10%

18. Consider the following matches:

1. Karcham Wangtoo ↔ Sikkim
2. Maheshwar Power Project ↔ Maharastra
3. Tipaimukh Dam ↔ West Bengal
Which among the above matches is / are correct?
[A]Only 1
[B]1 & 2
[C]2 & 3
[D]None of them

1. Karcham Wangtoo → Himachal Pradesh
2. Maheshwar Power Project ↔ Madhya Pradesh
3. Tipaimukh Dam ↔ Manipur

19. Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Bikaner of Rajasthan have been centres of public protests for which among the following activities?
[A]Nuclear Power Projects
[B]Marble Mining
[C]Iron Ore Mining
[D]Gypsum Industries

20. Which among the following probes to Mars is not a NASA Project?

[A]Viking
[B]Mars Global Surveyor
[C]Mars Pathfinder
[D]Mars Express

Mars 1960A & B (Soviet Union)
First flyby missions launched in October 1960 by Soviet Union. Ended in failure
Mariner 9 (NASA)
Launched in May 1971. Completed the first successful orbit of Mars
Mars 2 (Soviet Union)
Became the first spacecraft to make an impact landing on Mars in 1971
Viking (NASA)
Mission with two landers that made a successful touch down on Martian surface in 1976
Mars Global Surveyor (NASA)
Regarded as one of NASA’s most successful Mars mission. Launched in 1996, it collected detailed data about Martian landscape
Mars Pathfinder (NASA)
First of a series of missions that sent rovers to explore the red planet
Mars Exploration Rovers (NASA)
Launched in 2003. Consists of 2 rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. Of these, Opportunity is still operational
Mars Express (ESA)
European Space Agency's orbiter that is currently exploring the planet

21. The world’s youngest nation _______ which is wrecked by border wars, internal violence and shutdown of its vital oil production, recently marked its first anniversary of Independence.
[A]Kosovo
[B]South Sudan
[C]Moldova
[D]Montenegro

22. Who was the first person to serve two terms as Vice-President before becoming the President of India?

[A]Dr.Zakir Hussain
[B]V.V.Giri
[C]Shankar Dayal Sharma
[D]S.Radhakrishnan

Hamid Ansari may become the second person to be re-elected to the post of Vice President in vice-presidential election scheduled for August 7, 2012

23. Which country's Constituent Assembly recently expired without delivering a constitution?
[A]Myanmar
[B]Egypt
[C]Nepal
[D]South Sudan

24. Which among the following Booker Prize winnning novels of 'Amitav Ghosh' narrates a gripping tale of the sea journey of indentured labourers during the 1830s, just before the Opium War?

[A]In an Antique Land
[B]Sea of Poppies
[C]River of Smoke
[D]The Hungry Tide

25. The African Union's 2012 summit will be held in :

[A]Cairo
[B]Abuja
[C]Addis Ababa
[D]Accra

26. Who has replaced Sadananda Gowda as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka?

[A]Jagadish Shettar
[B]A Suresh Chanabasappa
[C]Katti Ramesh Vishwanath
[D]H. D. Kumaraswamy

27. Serena Williams claimed her fifth Wimbledon title by defeating :

[A]Victoria Azarenka
[B]Elena Baltacha
[C]Petra Kvitova
[D]Agnieszka Radwanska

28. Who became the first Indian ever to win the junior Asian badminton championship girls’ title in Korea recently?

[A]P.V.Sindhu
[B]Arundhati Pantawane
[C]Jwala Gutta
[D]Arathi Sara

29. 'Velib' is a large-scale public bicycle sharing system in:

[A]France
[B]Germany
[C]Netherlands
[D]Spain

30. 'Tenzin Gyatso', the Tibetan Spiritual leader is the ____ Dalai Lama .

[A]12th
[B]13th
[C]14th
[D]15th

31. Which among the following States will be getting additional credit of $100 million from World Bank for an ongoing rural livelihood project called 'Jeevika'?
[A]Uttar Pradesh
[B]Bihar
[C]Madhya Pradesh
[D]Rajasthan

32. The recently launched new initiative called 'Millenium Alliance (MA)' between India and US is :

[A]to fund innovators
[B]to foster cultural relations
[C]to ease immigration hurdles
[D]for joint operations against terrorism

The USAID-FICCI Millennium Alliance was launched on Tuesday in New Delhi as an inclusive platform bringing together social impact funds, venture capitalists, corporate foundations, early investors, donors, and others to support and scale innovative solutions to development challenges that affect base of the pyramid populations in India and around the world.

33. 'Delphinus' an Indian Air Force Swimming team has set a record by successfully crossing the _______ twice within a fortnight.
[A]English Channel
[B]Panama Canal
[C]Bristol Channel
[D]Suez Canal

34. Which among the following eminent Assamese Poets passed away recently?

[A]Nabakanta Barua
[B]Prahannalal Chawdhari
[C]Durgeswar Sharma
[D]Hiren Bhattacharya

35. Which among the following villages in India became the second village to have 100% life insurance coverage under the Financial Inclusion Programme of the Central Government?

[A]Nalegaon, Maharashtra
[B]Rangwasa, Madhya Pradesh
[C]Hadmatiya, Gujarat
[D]Pulinaharani, Assam

In Assam, Rangati Misamara village of Lakhimpur district had become the first village in the country to have full insurance coverage in Jan, 2012 .The village achieved this success under the Centre’s Financial Inclusion plan, which is being implemented by Assam Grameen Bikash Bank across the state.

36. Which country has been recently given the Status of a 'Major Non-NATO Ally(MNNA)' by Obama Administration?

[A]Afghanistan
[B]Egypt
[C]Pakistan
[D]Iraq

Major non-NATO ally (MNNA) is a designation given by the United States government to close allies who have strategic working relationships with US armed forces but are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. While the MNNA status does not automatically include a mutual defense pact with the United States, it does confer a variety of military and financial advantages that otherwise are not obtainable by non-NATO countries.

37. RBI has formed a Committee/Working Group under __________ in order to address the issue of lack of transparency in Bank lending rates?
[A]Deepak Mohanty
[B]Anand Sinha
[C]P Vijaya Bhaskar Rao
[D]Dr. Rakesh Mohan

38. Who is the eminent Indian Scientist associated with the name of the recently discovered 'God Particle' ?

[A]Gopinath Saha
[B]Jagadish Chandra Bose
[C]Satyendra Nath Bose
[D]Nandalal Bose

39. The issue of 'transfer-pricing' may be addressed adequately after the implementation of _________ which has several provisions to curb this malpractice:

[A]Goods and Services Tax (GST)
[B]Direct Taxes Code (DTC)
[C]Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA)
[D]Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA)

40. Mr. Anup Sankar Bhattacharya has been appointed a the new director of:

[A]NIA
[B]SEBI
[C]IBPS
[D]DGCI