[2013 - 2014] Official GK / GA Thread for MBA Entrance Exams!

Sharing some Info. -

» Android chief Andy Rubin, is stepping down and will be replaced by Sundar Pichai, an IITian, who also heads Google's Chrome division.

» Didaskaleinophobia is actually the fear of going to school.

» David Beckham was named as the richest footballer of the world,according to the Goal Rich List 2013.
David Beckham has a total income of 175 million pound. 37-year old Beckham is the biggest brand in the world now, leaving behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The Goal Rich List 2013 revealed that the worth of Beckham is 60 million pound more than Messi.

» India and Mauritius signed three Memorandums of Understanding during the state visit of President Pranab Mukherjee.
One MoU was on persons with disabilities and senior citizens.
Second on co-operation in the field of health and medicine.
Third was on co-operation in the field of tourism.

» Next Pope - Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina.

» The UK Government on 12 March 2013 opened its first ever Mobile Biometric Clinic (MBC) in Goa.

» UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has presented the Thomas Jefferson Eternal Vigilance award to former Permanent Representative of India to United Nations,Hardeep Singh Puri, for his exemplary service to humanity.

» Perils of Democracy written by P. Alexander.

» 62 year old Former CBI Director,Ashwani Kumar on 9 March 2013 appointed as Governor of Nagaland.

» Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav launched free laptop scheme for intermediate pass students as promised in the manifesto during assembly elections last year.

» 2014 Mrs India International to take place in Kolkata.

» Vidya Balan re-elected as Brand Ambassador of Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.

» Mushfiqur Rahim become the first Bangladeshi player to score a double century in Test match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Will add.
--Web giant Google is researching to build a more secure hardware device which in future can be used to login to a computer or an online account, thus eliminating the need for a password.

--Bharti Airtel's brand director Bharat Bambawale resigns

--Real Madrid's soccer star, Cristiano Ronaldo has agreed to champion the conservation of mangroves in Indonesia, the Artha Graha Peduli Foundation announced today.

Various Committees formed in India -


Abhijit Sen Committee (2002) : Long Term Food Policy

Abid Hussain Committee: On Small Scale Industries

Ajit Kumar Committee : Army Pay Scales

Athreya Committee: Restructuring Of IDBI

Basel Committee: Banking Supervision

Bhure lal Committee : Increase In Motor Vehicle Tax

Bimal Julka Committee : Working Conditions ATCOS

C B Bhave Committee : Company Information

C Babu Rajiv Committee : Reforms In Ship Act 1908 & Ship Trust Act 1963

Chakravarty Committee : Working Of The Monetary System And Suggest Measure For Improving The Effectiveness of Monetary Policy In Promoting Economic Development

Chandra Shekhar Committee : Venture Capital

Chandrate Committee: Delisting In Sharemarket

Chore Committee : Review The Operation Of The Cash Credit System

Dave Committee (2000) : Pension Scheme For Unorganized Sector

Deepak Parikh Committee : To Revive Unit Trust If India (UTI)

Dhanuka Committee : Simplification Of Transfer Rules In Security Markets

G V Ramakrishna Committee : On Disinvestment

Goiporia Committee : Improvement In The Customer Service At Primary (Urban) Cooperative Banks

Hanumant Rao Committee: Fertilizers

J R Varma Committee: Current Account Carry Forward Practice

Jankiramanan Committee : Securities Transactions

JJ Irani Committee : Company Law Reforms

K Kannan Committee : To Examine The Relevance Of The Concept Of Maximum ermissible Bank Finance(MPBF) As A Method Of Assessing The Requirements Of Bank Credit For Working Capital And To Suggest Alternative Methods.

Kelkar Committee : Tax Structure Reforms

Khan Working Group: Development Finance Institutions

Khusro Committee : Agricultural Credit System

Kumarmanglam Birla Report: Corporate Governance

Madhav Menon Committee: Autonomy of Central Educational Institutions including Central Universities


Mahajan Committee (1997): Sugar Industry

Malegam Committee : Reforms In The Primary Market & Repositioning of UTI

Malhotra Committee : Broad Framework Of Insurance Sector

Marathe Committee: Recommendation For Urban Co-operative Banks

Mashelkar Committee 2002 : Auto Fuel Policy

Mckinsey Report: Merger Of 7 Associate Banks With SBI

Meera Seth Committee: Development Of Handlooms

Narismhan Committee: Banking Reforms

NN Vohra Committee : Relations (Nexus) Of Politicians With Criminals

Parekh Committee : Infrastructure Financing

Percy Mistry Committee: Making Mumbai An International Financial Center

Prasad Panel : International Trade And Services

R V Gupta Committee : Small Savings

Raja Chelliah Committee: Tax Reforms

Rekhi Committee : Indirect Taxes

RV Gupta Committee : Agricultural Credit

S P Talwar Committee: Restructuring Of Weak Public Sector Bank

S Tendulkar Committee: Redefining Poverty Line And Its Calculation Formula

Sapta Rishi Committee (July 2002): Development Of Domestic Tea Industry

Shah Committee : Reforms Relating To Non Banking Financial Companies (NFBC)

SL Kapoor Committee : Credit & Flow Problems Of Ssis

SN Verma Committee (1999) : Restructuring The Commercial Banks

Tandon Committee : System Of WORKING CAPITAL Financing By Banks

Tarapore Committee: Report On Capital Account Convertibility

Udesh Kohli Committee: Analyze Fund Requirement In Power Sector

UK Sharma Committee : NABARD's Role In RRB

Vaghul Committee : Money Market In India

Vasudev Committee: NBFC( Non Banking Finance Corp) Sector Reforms

Y B Reddy Committee :2001 : Review Of Income Tax Rebates.




P.S. - PM for errors if any! 😃
85TH ANNUAL OSCARS
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Paperman
John Kahrs

ANIMATED FEATURE
Brave
Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Claudio Miranda, Life Of Pi

VISUAL EFFECTS
Life Of PiBill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott

COSTUME DESIGN
Jacqueline Durran, Anna Karenina

MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
Les Misérables
Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Curfew
Shawn Christensen

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Inocente
Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Searching For Sugar Man
Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Amour (Austria)
Michael Haneke, director; Margaret Menegoz, Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka and Michael Katz, Producers

SOUND MIXING
Les Misérables
Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes

SOUND EDITING
(tie)
Zero Dark Thirty
Paul N.J. Ottosson
Skyfall
Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables

FILM EDITING
Argo
William Goldenberg

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Lincoln
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

ORIGINAL SCORE
Life Of Pi
Mychael Danna

ORIGINAL SONG
“Skyfall” from Skyfall
Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Chris Terrio, Argo

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

DIRECTING
Ang Lee, Life Of Pi

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

BEST PICTURE
Argo
Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers
SAARC Literature Award

> 2013 : Presented to five writers at Agra on 10 March 2013.

> A poet-diplomat from India - Abhay K was among the five writers to be honoured with the prestigious Literature Award. Others are - Farheen Chaudhary (Pakistan), Abdul Khaliq Rashid (Afghanistan), Suman Pokhrel (Nepal) and novelist Daya Dissanayake (Sri Lanka).

> This award is annually presented to the eminent writers of the South Asian region for their contribution in the promotion of literature through their writings as well as literary initiatives.

> SAARC Literature Festival 2013 focused on environment, literature and cultural connectivity.

> First-Ever SAARC Writers Conference was organized in April 2000.


======================================================

Adding to @swetad's post on Constitution of India :

> Longest Written Constitution. Had 395 Articles and 8 Schedules which now after amendments stand at 395 and 12.

> Fundamental Rights included are - (i) Right to equality, (ii) Right to freedom, (iii) Right against exploitation, (iv) Right to freedom of Religion, v) Cultural and Educational rights and vi) Right to constitutional remedies.
Right to property (Article-31) originally a fundamental right has been omitted by the 44th Amendment Act. 1978. It is now a legal right.

> Directive Principles of State Policy was incorporated in the constitution by the 42nd Amendment, 1976 for fundamental duties.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Various parts of our Constitution have been adopted from different countries. The constitution has also taken many parts from the Government of India Act, 1935. Here goes the list for that -

> British Constitution: Parliamentary form of government.

> Irish Constitution: Directive principles of state policy.

> United States Constitution: Federal structure of government.

> Canadian Constitution: A quasi-federal form of government, where the central government plays prime role in governing the country, the idea of Residual Powers

> Australian Constitution: Freedom of trade and commerce between different states of the country, Power of the national legislature to make laws for implementing treaties.

> French Constitution: Ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.

> Japan Constitution: Fundamental Duties.

> Weimar Constitution: Emergency Provision.

> Malaysian Constitution: The concept of the Concurrent list.
@swetad said:
@Estallar12 : I have a doubt, on what basis are the committees named? all of them have the names of individuals, except for the sapta rishi committee. And I think it would be good if someone posted the major decisions of important committees among these.
Usually the head of the Committee Panel is the one whose name is used as the Committee's name!

EDIT - I will add the decisions and will post the whole list in parts later. :)

A few of the websites i used to study from for the exams


http://www.sakshieducation.com/(S(in02bc45aykf1r450okkhuqa))/home.aspx
http://www.quizmantra.com/2012/01/general-knowledge-quizzes.html
http://www.advancedge.com/sections/quiz_of_the_week.htm
http://www.gktoday.in/
http://www.advancedge.com/sections/quiz_of_the_week.htm
58th idea filmfare awards 2013
Best Actor- Ranbir Kapoor (Barfi!)
Best Actress- Vidya Balan ( Kahaani)
Best Film- Barfi!
Best Director -Sujoy Ghosh (Kahaani)
Best Supporting Actor (Male) -Annu Kapoor (Vicky Donor)
Best Supporting Actor (Female)- Anushka Sharma (Jab Tak Hai Jaan)
Best Music Director- Pritam (Barfi!)
Best Playback (Male) -Ayushmann Khurrana (Paani Da Rang) (Vicky Donor)
Best Playback (Female) -Shalmali Kholgade (Pareshaan) ( Ishaqzaade)
Lifetime Achievement Award- Yash Chopra

Government Schemes


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_government_schemes_in_India

Laureus World Sports Awards 2013
The list of the awardees is as follows:

• Laureus World Sportsman of the Year- Usain Bolt
• Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year- Jessica Ennis
• Laureus World Team of the Year- European Ryder Cup Team
• Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year- Andy Murray
• Laureus World Comeback of the Year- Feliz Sanchez
• Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year- Felix Baumgartner
• Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability- Daniel Dias
List of winners at the 55th Grammy Awards

Lifetime Achievement Award: Ravi Shankar

Album of the Year: "Babel" - Mumford & Sons

Record of the Year: "Somebody That I Used To Know" - Gotye featuring Kimbra

Song of the Year: "We Are Young" - fun.

Best New Artist: fun.

Best World Music Album: "The Living Room Sessions Part 1" - Ravi Shankar


Mirchi Music Awards 2013 winners' list
Song Of The Year
Song - Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin from Agneepath, Singer - Sonu Nigam, Composer Ajay-Atul, Lyricist – Amitabh Bhattacharya

Worldwide Listeners' Choice- Song of the year
Song - Radha from Student Of The Year, Singers - Shreya Ghoshal, Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani and Udit Narayan, Composer - Vishal-Shekhar Lyricist – Anvita Dutt

Male vocalist of the year
Song – Abhi mujh mein kahin from Agneepath, Male vocalist – Sonu Nigam

Female vocalist of the year
Song – Chikni Chameli from Agneepath, Female vocalist – Shreya Ghoshal

Music composer of the year
Song – Abhi mujh mein kahin from Agneepath, Composer – Ajay-Atul



Head of important offices

Mr Arvind Ranjan : Director General , NSG
Mr Pranay Sahay : Director General , CRPF
Mr Subhash Joshi : Director General , BSF
Mr Rajiv : Director General , CISF
Mr P.K Mehta : Director General , RPF
Mr Ajay Chaddha : Director General , Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)
Syed Asif Ibrahim : Director , IB
Mr Ranjit Sinha : Director , CBI
Mr Alok Joshi : Director , RAW
Vice Admiral Anurag G Thapliyal : Director General , Indian Coast Guard

Some Facts About India


Newspaper - First - " Bengal Gazette " published from kolkata in 1780
- oldest daily - " Mumbai Samachar "
- oldest english daily - "The Times of India " (started in 1838 from Mumbai )
- largest selling daily - "The Times of India "

Dam - oldest - kallanai Dam ( on kaveri river )
- highest - Tehri Dam ( 85 ft high )
- largest - Hirakud Dam ( on mahanadi river in orissa )

Missiles - First tactical surface to surface missile : "Prithvi"
- First short range surface to air missile : " Trishul"
- First intermediate range ballistic missile : "Agni"
- First long range multiple target missile : "Akash"
University - Ancient university : Nalanda University in bihar
- oldest modern university : Calcutta University
- First open University : Andhra Pradesh Open University
- Largest Open University : IGNOU
- First Women's University : Indian Women's University , Pune

Banks - First : Bank of Hindustan
- Largest Public Sector Bank : State Bank of India
- Bank with most foreign branches : State Bank of India
- first foreign bank in India : Chartered Bank

Atleast one question on this is bound to appear in all the exams IMO

Punch lines!!

Fruits & Largest Producers

Apricot- Turkey

Banana - India

Mango- India

Coconut- Philippines

Sugar cane - Brazil

Grapes- China

Oranges- Brazil

Papaya -India

Peach- China

Apple - China

Pineapples - Philippines

Almond- United States

Sweet Potato- China

Lemon- Mexico

Raspberry- Russia

Strawberry United States

Blueberry United States

Kiwifruit Italy

Date Egypt

Cherry Turkey

Avocado Mexico

Watermelon China :)

kudos to all of you, Thanks for posting such an awesome and knowledgable things.

And Please keep posting.:-)

One thing I want to share with you that please update your respective posts by the latest data instead of posting it again..i.e. if suppose CBI chief got replaced with the new chief,then at that time it would be better if we could edit the respective post and add that details to existing post instead of creating a new one.

To understand that which data is new we can mark that partcular line as a new line or may be in Bold and just give the reference to the post in the latest post so that people will not get confused regarding the latest data.

Thanks a ton to all puys......becuase you of you only i am able to reach where I am now in terms of knowledge and confidence.:-)

@Estallar12 ,.. Bahut badiya 22 😃
Book Written By various political indian leaders
Name of the Book
Author
My Experiments with Truth-Mahatma Gandhi
Hind Swaraj-Mahatma Gandhi
Key to Health-Mahatma Gandhi
Discovery of India-Jawaharlal Nehru
Glimpses of World History-Jawaharlal Nehru
My Truth-Indira Gandhi
Golden Threshold-Sarojini Naidu
The Broken Wing, Songs of Life, Death & the Spring-Sarojini Naidu
The Birds of Time, Songs of Life, Death & the Spring-Sarojini Naidu
The Sceptred Flute: Songs of India-Sarojini Naidu
The Feather of the Dawn-Sarojini Naidu
India Wins Freedom-Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Unhappy India-Lala Lajpat Rai
Poverty and Un-British Rule in India-Dadabhai Naoroji
Geeta Rahashya-Bal Gangadhar Tilak
The Arctic Home in the Vedas-Bal Gangadhar Tilak
The Insider-PV Narasimha Rao
Wings of Fire-APJ Abdul Kalam
Ignited Minds-APJ Abdul Kalam
You Are Unique-APJ Abdul Kalam
India 2020-APJ Abdul Kalam
Indomitable Spirit-APJ Abdul Kalam
Turning Points-APJ Abdul Kalam
Target 3 Billion-APJ Abdul Kalam and Srijan Pal Singh
Jobsfor Millions-VV Giri
My Presidential Years-R Venkataraman
My Own Boswell-M Hidyatullah
Prison Diary-Jayaprakash Narayan
Without Fear or Favour-Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy
Midnight Diaries-Boris Yelstin
Indian Philosophy-Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
Hindu View of Life-Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
Matters of Discretion: An Autography-i K Gujral