1. Who amongst the following was the candidate of the Democratic party in latest election held for the President of the USA ?
(A) Hillary Clinton
(B) Michelle Robinson
(C) John McCain
(D) Barack Hussain Obama
(E) None of these
2. Who amongst the following cricketers recently joined the Club of 300 Wicket takers in test crickets ?
(A) Harbhajan Singh
(B) Anil Kumble
(C) Ishant Sharma
(D) Rahul Dravid
(E) None of these
3. Which of the following reflects the importance of 8th November 2008 in the history of India ?
(A) Chandrayaan – 1 was launched this day
(B) Chandrayaan – 1 was put into the orbits of the moon on this day.
(C) This was the day on which ISRO completed 50 years of its existence
(D) This was the day on which Chandrayaan– 1 entered the lunar orbit
(E) None of these
4. Who amongst the following is the author of the novel ‘The White Tiger’ ?
(A) Jhumpa Lahiri
(B) Steve Waugh
(C) Aravind Adiga
(D) Paul Krugman
(E) None of these
5. The Assembly Elections took place in which of the following States in November- December 2008 ?
(A) Uttar Pradesh
(B) West Bengal
(C) Rajasthan
(D) Gujarat
(E) All the above
6. The Prime Minister of India recently flagged off the first ever train in the Kashmir valley. The train will cover which of the following pairs of stations on its final completion ?
(A) Anantnag - Qazigund
(B) Anantnag - Katra
(C) Udhampur - Katra
(D) Katra - Qazigund
(E) None of these
7. Which of the following is the correct description of the Capital Market ?
Capital Market comprises of—
(A) Stock Markets and Bond Markets
(B) Banks and Insurance Companies
(C) RBI and Nationalized Banks
(D) Stock Markets and Banks
(E) None of these
8. Which of the following organizations has provided a US $ 150 million loan to overhaul the Khadi & Village Industry in India ?
(A) World Bank
(B) International Monetary Fund
(C) Asian Development Bank
(D) European Union
(E) None of these
9. Which of the following countries is NOT the member of IBSA ?
(A) India
(B) Bangladesh
(C) South Africa
(D) Brazil
(E) All are members
10. The election of the UN General Assembly took place on October 17th 2008 in which five countries were elected non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. Which of the following is NOT one of them ?
(A) Mexico
(B) Turkey
(C) Austria
(D) India
(E) Japan
11. The Govt. of India is planning to introduce which of the following Acts to ensure that foreign investment are not a threat to national security ?
(A) POTA
(B) National Security Exception Act
(C) Foreign Exchange Management Act
(D) Anti Terrorism Law
(E) All these
12. Kosi and some other rivers created severe problems in some parts of the country recently. What is/are the major causes of flood in a river ?
(a) Snowmelt
(b) High peak discharge of water
(c) Storm Surge
(A) Only (a)
(B) Only (b)
(C) Only (c)
(D) All (a), (b) & (c)
(E) None of these
13. Since Iran-India gas pipeline is yet to get final approval, the energy hungry India has decided to join another pipeline project ‘MEDSTREME’. Medstreme will transport oil/gas from which of the following nations at one of its terminal ends?
(A) Turkey
(B) Russia
(C) France
(D) Japan
(E) USA
14. Which of the following countries is NOT the member of the Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) ?
(A) Russia
(B) USA
(C) France
(D) Italy
(E) Iran
15. Which of the following countries won maximum medals in Beijing Olympics 2008 ?
(A) Japan
(B) India
(C) Russia
(D) USA
(E) China
16. Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is associated with the ban on which of the following ?
(A) Ban on certain organizations under UN Laws
(B) Ban on money laundering activities
(C) Ban on nuclear tests for developing arsenals
(D) Ban on terrorism
(E) None of these
17. Who amongst the following is the first Prime Minister of Nepal after it got the status of the democratic republic nation recently ?
(A) Rambaran Yadav
(B) Subhash Nembang
(C) G. P. Koirala
(D) Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda)
(E) None of these
18. After a consistent persuasion for several years India finally got success in a Free Trade Agreement with which of the following ? (The meeting for this took place in Singapore in August 2008)
(A) European Union
(B) NATO
(C) SAARC
(D) ASEAN
(E) None of these
19. As per the agreement with Iraq. USA has now decided to withdraw its forces from there. This will start by—
(A) June 2009
(B) December 2009
(C) January 2010
(D) June 2010
(E) 2012 end
20. Russia recently signed a peace pact with which of the following nations so that it can bring an end to the war between them ?
(A) Georgia
(B) Iran
(C) China
(D) Turkey
(E) None of these
21. Usain Bolt who was adjudged as the fastest man on the earth (Olympic 2008) is from which of the following countries ?
(A) Belgium
(B) South Korea
(C) Sourth Africa
(D) USA
(E) Jamaica
22. Who amongst the following is the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India at present ?
(A) Y. V. Reddy
(B) D. Subbarao
(C) Rakesh Mohan
(D) C. Rangarajan
(E) None of these
23. Which of the following knowledge can a farmer gain from ‘Farmer’s field school’ being run by Department of agriculture & operation. Govt. of India ?
(a) Methods and practices for soil, fertilizer and crop management
(b) How to get bank loans
(c) Understand deficiency symptoms of soil nutrients
(A) Only (a)
(B) Only (b)
(C) Only (c)
(D) Both (a) & (c) only
(E) All (a), (b) & (c)
24. Which of the following organizations was specially established to operate in Gramin areas by design itself ?
(A) Commercial Banks
(B) Central Financial Institutes
(C) Private Banks
(D) Regional Rural Banks
(E) None of these
25. Who amongst the following is the author of the book (novel) ‘Infinite Jest’ ?
(A) Quentin Bryce
(B) Arvind Adiga
(C) Paul Newman
(D) David Foster Wallace
(E) None of these
26. Taro Aso whose name was in news recently is the Prime Minister of—
(A) South Korea
(B) North Korea
(C) Japan
(D) Thailand
(E) None of these
27. Martti Ahtisaari’s name was in news as he is the winner of Nobel Prize in the area of—
(A) Physics
(B) Chemistry
(C) Peace
(D) Literature
(E) Medicine
28. Who amongst the following won the Fed Cup championship Tennis 2008 ?
(A) Russia
(B) Spain
(C) Italy
(D) USA
(E) France
29. Which of the following films was India’s official entry for the Oscar Awards 2009 ?
(A) Fashion
(B) Taare Zameen Par
(C) Jodha Akbar
(D) Dostana
(E) None of these
30. As per the figures released recently which of the following cities has the highest per capita income ?
(A) Delhi
(B) Mumbai
(C) Chandigarh
(D) Bangalore
(E) Jaipur
31. India has purchased Harpoon II Missiles from which of the following countries ?
(A) Italy
(B) China
(C) France
(D) Russia
(E) USA
32. Which of the following is NOT one of the Millennium Goals set by U.N.O. ?
(A) Achieve Universal Primary Education
(B) Improve Computer Literacy
(C) Combat HIV/AIDS
(D) Environmental sustainability
(E) Global partnership
33. The Government of which of the following States has provided Rs. 100 crore for promotion of Organic Farming in State ?
(A) Tamil Nadu
(B) Rajasthan
(C) Madhya Pradesh
(D) Punjab
(E) Andhra Pradesh
34. Which of the following States has introduced ‘One kg. Rice for Rupee One’ scheme, the first of its kind in the country ?
(A) West Bengal
(B) Orissa
(C) Bihar
(D) Kerala
(E) Tamil Nadu
35. Which of the following nations is facing the neat of Darfur Humanitarian Crisis?
(A) Iraq
(B) Sudan
(C) Iran
(D) Japan
(E) U.S.A.
36. Who amongst the following Cricket Skipper recently announced his retirement from the game ?
(A) Anil Kumble
(B) M. S. Dhoni
(C) Rahul Dravid
(D) Irfan Pathan
(E) Sachin Tendulkar
37. Who amongst the following was awarded Bharat Ratna recently ?
(A) Asha Bhosale
(B) Bhimsen Joshi
(C) Jagjit Singh
(D) Mani Ratnam
(E) None of these
38. Which of the following terms is used in the game of Law Tennis ?
(A) Double Fault
(B) Half Nelson
(C) Cox
(D) Crease
(E) Ruff
39. ‘Agha Khan Cup’ is associated with the game of—
(A) Cricket
(B) Football
(C) Lawn Tennis
(D) Golf
(E) Hockey
40. Who amongst the following is the author of the book ‘Straight from the Heart’ ?
(A) Ravi Shastri
(B) Sachin Tendulkar
(C) Kapil Dev
(D) M. S. Dhoni
(E) None of these
