Daily GK Update 30th June 2017

1. PM Modi inaugurates filling of Aji Dam at Rajkot by Narmada water

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated various irrigation and water-related initiatives at Aji Dam in Rajkot, Gujarat including the filling of Aji dam with Narmada waters under Sauni Yojana.

ii. PM recognized the role of younger generation in finding solutions to the everyday problems. PM on the occasion launched Smart Rajkot Hackathon where urban local body will engage with young students to find innovative solutions to improve the efficiency of various government departments.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• The Capital of Gujarat is Gandhinagar.
• Mr. O.P. Kohli is the governor of Gujarat.

2. UNSC approves resolution reducing joint UN-AU peacekeeping force in Sudan’s Darfur

i. The UN Security Council has unanimously approved a resolution sharply reducing the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region.
ii. The British-drafted resolution will reduce the number of peacekeepers by 44 per cent and international police by about 27 per cent in the Darfur mission.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• Darfur is a region in western Sudan.
• The Security Council held its first session on 17 January 1946 in London.

3. British PM Theresa May wins confidence vote in parliament

i. British Prime Minister Theresa May narrowly won the confidence vote in the parliament, winning her first major test as the Prime Minister of a minority government in the United Kingdom (UK).

ii. With this, May was finally confirmed as the British Prime Minister three weeks after the election, after winning the vote on her legislative program known as the Queen's Speech.

Static Takeaways from Above News-

• Robert Walpole (1721–42) was the first PM of Britain.

4. Rajiv Kumar appointed as Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh

i. Rajiv Kumar was appointed as the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh. His appointment was approved by the Uttar Pradesh Government. Prior to this appointment, Kumar was a Secretary in the Union Shipping Ministry.

ii. Mr. Kumar has replaced Rahul Prasad Bhatnagar.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• Mr. Ram Naik is the Governor of UP.
• Dudhwa National Park is in UP famous for Tigers.

5. Uttarakhand gets award of excellence at international meet

i. Uttarakhand was conferred with the award of excellence at the 2nd Global Skill Development Summit held in Paris recently for innovations and extensive use of IT for skilling the state's youth.

ii. Project Director of Uttarakhand Skill Development Committee Pankaj Kumar Pandey received the honor on behalf of the state on the concluding day of the event.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• Krishna Kant Paul is the present Governor of Uttarakhand.
• Trivendra Singh Rawat is the newly elected CM of Uttarakhand.

6. Vijay Keshav Gokhale appointed economic relations secretary in MEA

i. Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale was appointed as the economic relations secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment.

ii. Mr. Gokhale, a 1981-batch officer of Indian Foreign Service (IFS), is at present India's envoy to China. He was the High Commissioner of India to Malaysia from 2010 to 2013.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• Smt. Sushma Swaraj is the Union External Affairs Minister.

7. Dr. Jitendra Singh launches new training programme ‘COMMIT’ for State Government officials 

i. The Minister of State for Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh launched a new training program 'Comprehensive Online Modified Modules on Induction Training' (COMMIT) for State Government officials. 

ii. The objective of this training program is to improve the public service delivery mechanism and provide citizen-centric administration through capacity building of officials who interact with the citizens on day-to-day basis.
iii. COMMIT will be launched in 6 States of Assam, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal initially on the pilot basis during the current financial year 2017-18 and within next year it is expected to cover all India level.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• Comprehensive Online Modified Modules on Induction Training is the full form of  COMMIT.

8. India becomes 1st country to give to UN Tax Fund with $100000 contribution

i. India has contributed $100,000 to a UN fund to help developing countries actively participate in the discussion of tax issues, becoming the first country to make the contribution. The UN Tax Trust Fund aims to support the work of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters.

ii. The UN Tax Committee, a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council (ESOSOC), has provided guidance on current issues such as double taxation treaties, transfer pricing (profit shifting) taxation of the extractive industries and taxation of services.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• UN Headquarters in New York City, USA.
• The Secretary General of UN is Mr. Antonio Guterres.

9. Govt. unveils new hydrocarbon policy

i. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced a new oil and gas block licensing policy that is expected to open up 2.8 million square kilometers of sedimentary basins to exploration and production activities.
ii. The Minister was at the inauguration of the government’s Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) and the National Data Repository. The OALP, a part of the government’s Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), gives exploration companies the option to select the exploration blocks on their own, without having to wait for the formal bid round from the Government.

10. Adi Godrej, Andrew Liveris bag USIBC Global Leadership Awards

i. Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej and Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveries have been awarded the Global Leadership Awards of the US-India Business Council for their role in integrating India in the global supply chain.

ii. Liveris and Godrej were presented with the prestigious annual award at the USIBC's annual gala. Both were honored for creating inclusive business environments, integrating India in the global supply chain and advancing core values such as manufacturing, innovation and scale in tough market conditions.

Important Takeaways from Above News-

• The President of USIBC is Mr. Mukesh Adhi.

11. Hyderabad-based TS Vineeth Bhatt conferred with the 'best astrologer of world' award

i. City-based astrologer and numerologist T S Vineeth Bhatt has been conferred with the 'Best astrologer of the world' award at the 'Russian-Indian economic dialogue' round-table meet held in Moscow. 

ii. The event was organized by Peacemakers International, a charity that works for the advancement of conflict resolution through mediation services and training.

New Pattern English

Directions (1-4): In each of the following sentences, a part of the sentence is underlined/bold. Beneath each sentence, five different ways of phrasing the underlined/bold part are indicated. Choose the best alternative among the five.

Q1. Carbon-14 dating reveals that the artifacts recovered at Mesopotamia are nearly 2,000 years as old as any of their supposed European predecessors.

(a) supposed older than any of their

(b) as old as their supposedly

(c) as old as their supposed

(d) older than any of their supposed

(e) None of the above

Q2. Unlike a typical automobile loan, which requires a fifteen to twenty-percent down payment, the easy drive loan customer is not required to make an initial deposit on the new vehicle.

(a) with easy drive loan buying there is no requirement of

(b) easy drive loan customers are not required to make

(c) for the easy drive loan customer there is no requirement of

(d) an easy drive loan does not require the buyer to make

(e) None of the above

Q3. In addition to having more protein than wheat does, the protein in rice is higher quality than that in wheat, with more of the amino acids essentials to the human diet.

(a) the protein in rice is higher quality than that in

(b) rice has protein of higher quality than that in

(c) the protein in rice is higher in quality than it is in rice

(d) rice protein is higher in quality than it is in

(e) None of the above

Q4. Had realized how close I was to failing, I would not have taken the SBI PO exam in the second week of December.

(a) Had I realized how close

(b) When I realized how close

(c) If I would have realized

(d) If I realized earlier how close

(e) None of the above

Directions (5-8): In each question, there are pairs of words/phrases that highlighted. From the highlighted word(s)/phrase(s), select the most appropriate word(s)/phrase(s) to form correct sentences. Then, from the options given, choose the best one.

Q5. So a blue-ribbon panel has made clear suggestions, and two respected senators have proposed them as law-this seems nitpicking (A)/straightforward (B) enough.

But the suggestions involve an intensive (A)/extensive (B) shake-up that will be far from easy to make reality. Most notably, the 9/11 commission proposed two new entities.

The first is a National Counterterrorism center, building (A)/countering (B) on the Terrorist Threat Integration Center that was established after the September 11th attacks.

Whereas the current center amounts to a clearing house for terrorism-related information, the proposed one would set operational (A)/functional (B) priorities for fighting terrorism and be responsible for the results.

(a) ABBA

(b) BBAA

(c) BAAA

(d) BAAB

(e) BBBB

Q6. Pointless regulations foster (A)/abet (B) graft.

The more meddlesome (A)/irksome (B) the rule, the greater the incentive to bribe officials not to enforce it.

An excellent new study by the World Bank, “Doing Business in 2005”, shows that red tape is one of the chief obstacles (A)/stepping stones (B) to growth in almost all poor countries.

The World Bank estimates that if a country in the worst-regulated quartile were to join the best quartile, it would promote (A)/boost (B) its annual growth rate by 2.2 percentage points.

(a) BAAA

(b) ABBA

(c) BABA

(d) ABAB

(e) AAAA

Q7. The change in personnel-rarely a good sign-seemed to presage (A)/prequel (B) a change in strategy.

Mr. Kerry made two phone calls soliciting (A)/seeking (B) advice from Mr Clinton, who was lying in a hospital’s bed awaiting quadruple bypass surgery.

Mr Clinton apparently (A)/probably (B) told Mr Kerry to concentrate more on the economy and to step up his attacks on Mr Bush.

That has not stopped John Edwards being warned (A)/praised (B) on the campaign trail by loyalists “They’re going to run you right over and make you look like idiots.

(a) ABAB

(b) BBAA

(c) AAAA

(d) AABA

(e) BBBB

Q8. In other words, there is probably much more to gain from promoting (A)/slashing (B) red tape than from begging for more aid.

Especially since donors, unlike air travelers in Angola, are not exactly queuing up (A)/ freewheeling (B) to open their wallets.

Mr. Putin said after Beslan that “we showed ourselves to be weak, and the weak get beaten.” The implication (B)/ indication (B) is that he will now be even tougher in Chechnya.

Not only is that likely to entertain (A)/stir up (B) more terrorism; it also ignores one of the conflict’s main drivers, which is cast.

(a) AABA

(b) AABB

(c) BABA

(d) BAAB

(e) BBBB

Directions (9-15): In each of the questions, choose the meaning of phrase/idiom (given in bold).

Q9. President Saddam Hussein’s effort to annex Kuwait was nothing short of setting the Thames on fire.

(a) A try to achieve an impossible distinction

(b) To destroy the country for nothing

(c) To show his power and might

(d) To make a situation worse

(e) None of these

Q10. One should not stay idle at home; but be up and doing.

(a) Sleeping

(b) Active

(c) Working

(d) Reading

(e) None of these

Q11. Mr Arjun Singh snapped his fingers at Narasimha Rao and got himself in hot water.

(a) To support

(b) To disregard

(c) To deprive

(d) To interfere

(e) None of these

Q12. We are afraid you may not be led astray in by Arvind’s bad company.

(a) Get into trouble

(b) Misguided

(c) Killed

(d) Lose the job

(e) None of these

Q13. To cry wolf

(a) To give false alarm

(b) To turn pale

(c) To ruin over self

(d) To overcome someone

(e) None of these

Q14. To be in dribs and drabs

(a) Without fail

(b) With much ease

(c) In small quantities

(d) With great difficulty

(e) None of these

Q15. A hard nut to crack is

(a) One who is very obstinate

(b) Very difficult child

(c) A walnut or a fruit

(d) Problem that is hard be solved

(e) None of these

Solutions

S1. Ans.(d)

Sol.’ older than any of their supposed’ in the question sentence, the comparison is shown. Hence option D is correct in the given context.

S2. Ans.(d)

Sol.’ an easy drive loan does not require the buyer to make’ this is correct word order according to the given context and express the idea completely and correctly. Other options have faulty word structures.

S3. Ans.(b)

Sol.’ rice has protein of higher quality than that in’ this is correct word order and express the idea clearly.

S4. Ans.(a)

Sol. ‘Had I realized how close’. This is the case of inversion. In this case, we use verb before the subject.

S5. Ans.(b)

Sol. straightforward, extensive, building and operational are correct words that express the conveyed idea appropriately.

S6. Ans.(d)

Sol. foster -encourage the development of (something, especially something desirable).

irksome -irritating; annoying. The word ‘boost’ in sentence D gives us the hint to mark the correct answer.

S7. Ans.(c)

Sol. presage-be a sign or warning of (an imminent event, typically an unwelcome one).

solicit-ask for or try to obtain (something) from someone.

S8. Ans.(d)

Sol. slashing -vigorously incisive or effective.

implication- the conclusion that can be drawn from something although it is not explicitly stated. The phrase ‘stir up’ in last sentence hints us towards correct option.  

S9. Ans.(a)

Sol. set the Thames on fire. To do wonderful or exciting things; to cause a great or remarkable sensation in the world; to be extremely exciting, popular, famous, renowned, etc.

S10. Ans.(b)

Sol. up and around; up and doing. Active again, especially after an illness or rest

S11. Ans.(b)

Sol. snap one's fingers at- Treat with contempt, scorn, disregard,

S12. Ans.(b)

Sol. lead someone astray- to direct or guide someone in the wrong direction

S13. Ans.(a)

Sol. To cry wolf-to cry or complain about something when nothing is really wrong.

S14. Ans.(c)

Sol. in dribs and drabs -in small portions; bit by bit

S15. Ans.(d)

Sol. A hard nut to crack -a difficult problem to solve

Sentence Rearrangement

Directions (1-15): Rearrange the following sentences in the proper sequence to form a meaningful paragraph; then answer the questions given below them.

(A) One evidence of this is that many highly intelligent people are very low on creativity.
(B) In other words they may find replicating a process very easy but creating a process difficult.
(C) But it is unfortunate that in many organisations these replicates are rated high and promoted over creators.
(D) Intelligence and creativity are two different things.
(E) They may understand the things very fast but are poor if any new thing is to be developed; this in long term gives creators an upper edge.

Q1. Which of the following will be the SECOND sentence?
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) E

Q2. Which of the following will be the FIFTH sentence?
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) E

Q3. Which of the following will be the FOURTH sentence?
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) E

Q4. Which of the following will be the FIRST sentence?
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) E

Q5. Which of the following will be the THIRD sentence?
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) E

(6-10):
(A) The percentage of population below poverty line has been decreasing.
(B) Therefore, it is a welcome sign, but we must guard against our escalating rate of population growth.
(C) Poverty alleviation is one of the most significant programmes.
(D) Although this change is slow and gradual, it appears to be consistent.
(E) The extent of success of this programme can be sensed when we study the proportion of people below poverty line.

Q6. Which sentence should come SECOND in the paragraph?
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) E

Q7. Which sentence should come FOURTH in the paragraph?
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) E

Q8. Which sentence should come FIFTH in the paragraph?
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) E

Q9. Which sentence should come THIRD in the paragraph?
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) E

Q10. Which sentence should come FIRST in the paragraph?
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) E

(11-15):
(A) It is not even because grubbing for roots is good discipline.
(B) Moreover, he cannot learn what he ought to know about language from talking about his own.
(C) Nor is it because they will gain satisfaction in recognizing the Latin roots of the word satisfaction.
(D) It is because they cannot understand their own language unless they have studied another.
(E) The reason is not so that they can sell things to the Brazilians, or study German medical books or appreciate those beauties of Homer that are lost in translation.
(F) Our citizens will have to learn at least one foreign language.
(G) The native of any country is immersed in his own language and never sees it as a linguistic structure.

Q11. Which of the following will be the FIRST sentence?
(a) C
(b) A
(c) F
(d) G
(e) D

Q12. Which of the following will be the SECOND sentence?
(a) E
(b) C
(c) D
(d) B
(e) G

Q13. Which of the following will be the LAST sentence?
(a) D
(b) F
(c) C
(d) B
(e) A

Q14. Which of the following will be the FOURTH sentence?
(a) G
(b) B
(c) D
(d) E
(e) A

Q15. Which of the following will be the SIXTH sentence?
(a) C
(b) G
(c) F
(d) E
(e) B

Solutions

Sol- 1-5: The correct arrangement of sentences is: DABCE

D- This is the opening line of the paragraph which lays the idea that the paragraph is about Intelligence and creativity.

A- D and A are mandatory pairs. Sentence A gives the idea that Intelligence and creativity are different and sentence A is evidence of the given fact.

B- ‘they’ refers to highly intelligent people from sentence A. 

C- B and C are mandatory pairs.

E- This is the concluding line of the paragraph

S1. Ans.(a)

S2. Ans.(e)

S3. Ans.(b)

S4. Ans.(d)

S5. Ans.(b)

Sol- 6-10:The correct arrangement of sentences is: CDBEA

C- This is the opening line of the paragraph which establishes the idea of Poverty alleviation

D- C and D are mandatory pairs. Here ‘this change’ refers to poverty alleviation.

B- B and D are mandatory pairs.

E-This sentence further elaborates about the success of this programme.

A- This is the concluding sentence of the paragraph.

S6. Ans.(d)

S7. Ans.(e)

S8. Ans.(a)

S9. Ans.(b)

S10. Ans.(c)

Sol-11-15: The correct arrangement of sentences is: FECADGB

F- This sentence established the idea that the paragraph is about learning the foreign language.

E-F and E are mandatory pairs.

C-A- sentence C and A follows sentence E respectively citing reasons for the same.

D- This sentence gives the reason to learn the foreign language.

G- This sentence supports the reason given in previous sentence D.

B- This is the concluding line of the paragraph.

S11. Ans.(c)

S12. Ans.(a)

S13. Ans.(d)

S14. Ans.(e)

S15. Ans.(b)