Current Affairs- May 2011

• The Movie ‘The Trade of Life’ directed by reclusive U.S. Director Terrence Malick clinched the Palmed ‘Or at the 64th Cannes Film Festival. Palme ‘Or is the most prestigious awards of Cannes film Festival. The movie is a fantastical family drama uniting Brad Pitt and Sean Penn on screen.
• Red Bull’s Formula one World Champion Sebastian Vettel won Spanish Grand Prix on May 22, 2011. It was his fourth win in five race this season with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton finishing second in the race.
• Portuguese star Christiano Ronaldo broke the La Liga goal-scoring record with his 39th and 40 league goals of the season for Real Madrid against on Almeria on May 21, 2011. Ronaldo had his record- breaking goal to overtake the previous best of 38 set by Athletic Bilbao’s Telmo Zarra in 1951 and equaled by Real Madrid’s Mexican legend Hugo Sanchez in 1990.
• Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raja Gilani inaugurated Pakistan’s nuclear plant at Chashma in Punjab on May 12, 2011. The second unit of Chashma Nuclear power plant – Chasnupp-2 was built in collaboration with China which is expected to produce 330 megawatt of electricity.
• German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been chosen for the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Wards for International Understanding 2009 for her enormous efforts toward sustainable and equitable development. It was officially announced on May 9, 2011.
• Formula one World Champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull won the Turkish Grand Prix on May 8, 2011. Australia’s Mark Webber finished second in the race. It was vettel’s 13th career win.
• Novak Djokovic defeated world No.1 Rafael Nadal to win the Madrid Master of Tennis Championship in May 2011. It was his 32^nd Consecutive win of defeat-free 2011 the best season start since John Mc Enroe’s 42 match streak in 1984.
• The Leaders of two main Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have signed a reconciliation agreement paving the way the for the formation to transitional national unity government by election. The pact was signed in first week of May 2011.

Current Affairs May 2011

1. which team has won DLF Indian Premiere League champions for the second time in a row at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai ?
Chennai Super Kings,
Chennai Super Kings beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 58 runs, Bangalore could make only 147 runs in reply of Chennai’s huge total of 205 runs. Earlier a record 159-run
partnership between openers Murali Vijay (95, 52b, 6 x 6, 4 x 4) and Michael Hussey (63, 54b, 3 x 6, 3 x 4) powered the Chennai Super Kings to 205 for five in 20 overs against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
2. The alleged mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings who has been arrested in Pakistan recently?
Umar Patek.

Patek is one of the main suspects in the 2002 Bali bombings that left 202 people dead, including 88 Australians and 114 others.

3. British detective writer, best known to fans of the genre as the creator of Inspector Ghote of the Mumbai CID, who has died at the age of 84?
HRF Keating.

He introduced the character “Ghote” in his 1964 novel The Perfect Murder. Inspector Ganesh Ghote is an inspector in the Mumbai Police who appeared in twenty-four novels.

4. Alleged underworld gangster and former independent MLA, popularly known as ”Godmother”, died of a heart attack in Porbandar?
Santokben Jadeja.

She was elected on the Janata Dal ticket from the Kutiyana constituency in Porbandar district. She took over the underworld after the murder of her husband, Sarman Munja, was also a MLA for one term in the early Nineties. She was alleged to be behind the murder of 14 people who, she believed were responsible for her husband’s murder.

5. The world’s most wanted terrorist, was killed early by US special forces in a helicopter-borne operation at Abbottabad near the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, climaxing a over 10-year long massive manhunt. Name of that Terrorist ?
– Osama bin Laden
6. Who takes over as Chairman of Infosys ?
K.V. Kamath.
7. Recently which country has release Postal stamp on Rabindranath Tagore ?
Sri Lanka.
The government of Sri Lanka will release on May 7, a postal stamp and first day cover on Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, on the occasion of his 150th birth anniversary celebrations.
8. Recently ISRO develops India’s fastest supercomputer, Name of that Supercomputer?
SAGA-220.
9. Who has been elected as the new Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh ?
Jarbom Gamlin

After the official confirmation on Dorjee Khandu’s death, Congress did not take time to assign Khandu’s successor for his job. In a core party meeting, Jarbom Gamlin has been elected as the new Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh. Gamlin was sworn as the new CM on May 5.

10. Which pair won the Miami Sony Ericsson Open Doubles title beating Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor in final?
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.
With this win, they became number one in the ATP World Tour Doubles Team Rankings.
11. Who is the new Prime Minister of Syria?
Adel Safar.
He previously served as Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform from 2003 to 2011.
12. Name of the Chinese painting which sold for record 10 million dollars at an auction in Hong Kong recently?
“Forever Lasting Love”.

The painting, by Zhang Xiaogang, features three scenes of semi-naked figures in a sparse desert-like background surrounded by symbolic images.

13. Who defeated Rafael Nadal to win the Sony Ericsson Open Tennis Title held in Miami?
Novak Djokovic.
14. Who has been appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)?
Sushil Munhot.
15. Who has been awarded the 20th Saraswati Samman for 2010?
S. L. Bhyrappa.

Kannada writer S. L. Bhyrappa was chosen for the prestigious Saraswati Samman for his novel Mandra. The award, constituted by the K. K. Birla Foundation, consists of Rs.7.50 lakh, a citation and a plaque. He has so far published 22 novels, the first being Bheemakaya in 1959 and the latest Aavarana in 2007. The first recipient of Saraswati Samman award was Harivansh Rai Bachchan in 1991 for his autobiography.

16. Popular South Indian actress who died of a cardiac arrest on 6 April 2011 after undergoing treatment for a heart ailment at her residence in Chennai?
Sujatha.

Sujatha was introduced to the Tamil film industry by veteran director K. Balachander as a protagonist in “Aval Oru Thodar Kathai” (1974). She won Kalaimamani award from the Government of Tamil Nadu. She got Nandi Award for Pelli in 1998.

17. Indian prisoner who has been released on April 7,2011 after spending 27 years in prison in Pakistan on spying charges?
Gopal Das.

He was set free after Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari remitted his sentence on humanitarian grounds following an appeal by the Indian Supreme Court.

18. Prominent Kashmiri religious leader, a trenchant critic of last year’s stone throwing youngsters, who was killed on April 8, 2011, in a powerful bomb explosion outside a mosque?
Maulana Showkat Shah.

He is a leader of the Jamiat-e-Ahilhadith which is a highly puritanical group of Muslims closer to the Wahabi school of thought in Saudi Arabia.

19. Who has taken over as the new chairman of State Bank of India, the country’s top lender?
Pratip Chaudhuri.
Chaudhuri was the deputy managing director in the international banking division of the bank.
20. Indian Ambassador to Ivory Coast, who was evacuated from her residence on 08-04-2011 by United Nations and French forces in capital Abidjan in the wake of heavy fighting?
Shamma Jain.
21. Red Bull driver who won the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix title-2011?
Sebastian Vettel.
22. Who is Winner of the Man Booker International 2011?

Philip Roth
23. Man of the Match winners of Three ODI cricket Series played between Australia and Bangladesh held in Bangladesh in April 2011.
Man of the Match of First ODI played at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur on 09-04-2011:
Michael Clarke (Australia). He scored 101 runs.
Result: Australia beat Bangladesh by 60 runs.
Man of the Match of Second ODI played at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur on 11-04-2011:
Shane Watson (Australia). He scored unbeaten 185 runs and took one wicket.
Result: Australia beat Bangladesh by 9 wickets.
Man of the Match of Third ODI played at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur on 13-04-2011:
Michael Hussey (Australia). He scored 108 runs.
Result: Australia beat Bangladesh by 66 runs
Series Result: Australia wins the 3 ODI series 3-0.
24. Who won the Player of the series award in the three ODI cricket Series played between Australia and Bangladesh held in Bangladesh in April 2011?
Shane Watson (Australia).
25. who has been chosen for the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding for 2009 for her enormous efforts toward sustainable and equitable development ?
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
26. Who has been broken his own record for most climbs of Mount Everest by scaling the world’s tallest peak for the 21st time?
-Nepalese guide Sherpa
27. On 5 April 2011, an Indian social activist started a ‘fast unto death’ to exert pressure on the government of India to enact a strong anti-corruption act as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, a law to establish a Lokpal (ombudsman) with the power to deal with corruption in public offices. Name of that social activist?
Anna Hazare.

His real name is Kisan Baburao Hazare. His fast led to nationwide protests in support of Hazare. The fast ended on 9 April 2011, the day after all of Hazare’s demands were agreed by the government of India.

28. Wisden, regarded as the Bible of cricket, has named which Cricket Player as the leading cricketer in the world for the year 2010?
Sachin Tendulkar, Indian batting maestro.

He became the seventh recipient of the Wisden award after teammate Virender Sehwag, Australians Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne, England’s Andrew Flintoff, Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan and South African Jacques Kallis.

29. The 2011 BRICS summit took place in?
Sanya on the island of Hainan, China, on 14 April 2011.

Member countries of BRICS are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. This was the third BRICS summit since 2009. Following a meeting in Brasilia in 2010, to which South Africa was invited as a guest, the group invited South Africa to join as a full member in 2011 and the group formerly called BRIC officially became BRICS.
The 2012 BRICS summit will be held in India.

30. Chief of Blackberry who ordered a BBC reporter to end an interview after he was asked about his problems with India and Middle Eastern countries over security issues?
Mike Lazaridis.
31. Who is appointed as the Commander-in Chief of the Mumbai-based Western Naval Command?
Vice Admiral D K Joshi.
32. Which countries signed seven pacts on April 16, 2011, including a framework agreement in civil nuclear field and a stake-sharing accord in oil sector?
India and Kazakhstan
The pacts including a civil nuclear agreement and one between state oil companies that gives an Indian firm 25 percent stake in the Satpayev oil block in the Caspian Sea.
Other agreements signed by the two countries are:
* Inter-governmental pact on peaceful uses of atomic energy
* Joint action plan for furthering strategic ties
* Cyber security cooperation
* Mutual legal assistance treaty
* Cooperation in agricultural fields.
33. The world’s certified oldest man who has passed away aged 114 in U.S.A on April 14, 2011?
Walter Breuning.

He is currently the oldest person who has died in 2011. He was born in Melrose, Minnesota in September 21, 1896. Breuning was 26 days younger than Besse Cooper of Georgia, USA, whom the Gerontology Research Group in Los Angeles lists as the world’s oldest person at 114.

34. A court in Chile has recently ordered the exhumation of the remains of former president as part of an investigation into the cause of his death in 1973. Name of that former president?
Salvador Allende.

Investigators are trying to determine whether Allende killed himself, or was killed by soldiers in the 1973 coup that brought Augusto Pinochet to power. An official post mortem report found he committed suicide using a rifle given to him by his friend, Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

35. Who has been awarded the Sydney Peace Foundation’s Gold Medal for “exceptional courage in the pursuit of human rights” ?

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
36. The European Parliament (EP) recently passed two declarations against an Asian country condemning it for its support to Taliban and instructed the European Commission to re-evaluate the size of financial packages provided to them to eradicate terrorists from its soil. Name of that country?
Pakistan.
37. Who won his seventh straight Monte Carlo Masters title (2011)by beating David Ferrer 6-4, 7-5 in the final?
Rafael Nadal.
38. Who was named ] captain of Sri Lankan Cricket Team in all three formats of the game for next month’s tour of England , following Kumar Sangakkara’s resignation after the World Cup?
Tillakaratne Dilshan.
39. Which Bollywood film has won the best feature film award at the Geneva International Film Festival- 2011?
`The desire- A Journey of a woman’. The film is directed by noted director R Sarath.
40. One person was killed in police firing and several were injured as the protest against a new proposed 9900 MW nuclear power plant in Maharashtra turned violent on April 18, 2011. Name of that nuclear project?
Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project

It is the project of Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) at Madban village of Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra. It will be the largest nuclear power generating station in the world by net electrical power rating once completed.

41. The former communist revolutionary and Cuban political leader who confirmed that he had resigned from the top leadership of the Cuba Communist Party in an article published on April 19, 2011?
Fidel Castro.
He served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party’s foundation in 1961 until 2011.
42. Who has become the fourth person of Indian origin to bag the prestigious Pulitzer Prize 2011 in the general non-fiction category for his acclaimed book on cancer, ‘The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.’?

Siddhartha Mukherjee.

India-born Mukherjee is an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University and a staff cancer physician at Columbia University Medical Centre.

43. Name of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle launched by ISRO on April20,2011 which carries 3 satellites including India’s latest remote sensing satellite ‘Resourcesat-2’
PSLV C16.

The rocket was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.
The three satellites are Indian satellite RESOURCESAT-2 (1206kg), Indo-Russian joint satellite YOUTHSAT (92kg) and the first satellite of Singapore X-SAT (106kg). Resourcesat-2 will help in facilitating a variety of applications including natural resource monitoring, environmental assessments and disaster management related activities.

44. Which country recently announced to lift 44-year-old emergency from the country that was imposed in 1968?
Syria.

Syria was under Emergency Law from 1962–2011. Syria’s government passed a draft law on Tuesday to lift 48 years of emergency rule on April 19, 2011.

45. Name of the US serviceman suspected of passing classified information to the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, who is being transferred to a new prison by Pentagon recently?
Bradley Manning.
46. The inaugural AIBA Women’s Junior and Youth World Boxing Championships held in?
Turkey.
47. Which film has won the Golden Palm award 2011 at the Mexico International Film Festival (May 20 and 21, 2011)?
Viola.(English).
The film is directed by Biju Viswanath, the filmmaker from Kerala.
48. Who is appointed as the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW) ?
Chandresh Kumari.
49. 25-year-old Nigeria international defender who has died in a car accident on April 18,2011 when he was driving to Thessaloniki Airport to return to Nigeria to finalise plans for his upcoming wedding?
Olubayo Adefemi.
50. Name of the two award-winning photographers who have been killed while covering the conflict in the Libyan city of Misrata?
Briton Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros.

Tim got nominated for the prestigious Oscar award this year for one of his documentary that he had co-directed with a journalist named Sebastian Junger, it was the documentary Restrepo. Chris was the master of war photography and his work has appeared in the New York Times, Economist and several other media papers, he had also been nominated for the Pulitzer-Prize.

Current affairs 2011 for All Competitive exams | Current Affairs May 2011 quiz |  gk questions | current affairs for civil services | General knowledge

CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY – 2010

1. Who is appointed Australia’s first women prime minister ?

Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia.
2. Who has been appointed the Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India?
Justice Sarosh Homi Kapadia.
He will be taking over from incumbent Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan on May 12.
3. Name of the fourth woman judge of Supreme Court of India?
Gyan Sudha Mishra, Former Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice.
4. Name of the bill passed by the Lok Sabha on April 30, 2010 which provides for setting up a special court for speedy disposal of environmental cases?
The National Green Tribunal Bill.
The Tribunal will be located in Bhopal and will have at least 10 judicial members. The Tribunal will have four benches across the country.
5. The 48-year-old Football club of India which will be disbanded at the end of current I-League season with focus of the parent company shifting towards developing talent at school level.
Mahindra United Football Club.
6. Which communist country marked the 35th anniversary of the end of its war with a grand military parade through the former Saigon, with the government basking more in its economic achievements than its historic military defeat of the United States?
Vietnam.
The cost of the Vietnam War was huge for the United States. More than fifty eight thousand Americans died in combat, and it damaged the United States economy.
7. Name the nine Indians who figured in Time magazine’s annual list of 100 most influential people?
1. Manmohan Singh: Manmohan Singh is placed at 19th spot in the Leaders list headed by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
2. Sachin Tendulkar: Sachin Tendulkar gets the 13th place among 25 ‘Heroes’ headed by former US president Bill Clinton who is recognised for his work as a fund-raiser and anti-poverty activist.
3. Amartya Sen: Economist Amartya Sen is 20th on the ‘Thinkers’ list.
4.Perumalsamy Namperumalsamy : Sixth placed among heroes, Perumalsamy Namperumalsamy, 70, was recognised for performing cataract surgery at the Aravind Eye Care Hospitals since 1976 and having treated 3.6 million surgeries to date – a new one every 15 minutes.
5. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw: He gets the 16th spot among ‘heroes’ for donating $2 million to support health insurance coverage for 100,000 Indian villagers and another $10 million for creating the 1,400-bed Mazumdar-Shaw Cancer Centre in Bangalore.
6. Atul Gwande: Indian-American doctor and Harvard professor Atul Gwande is fifth on the list of ‘thinkers’ for his contribution to medicine.
7. Chetan Bhagat: Chetan Bhagat, author of bestsellers, ‘One Night @ the Call Centre’ and ‘Five Point Someone’ is the lone Indian in the list of artists headed by extravagantly outfitted singer Lady Gaga.
8. Rahul Singh. He in 22nd place is recognised for his relief work in Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit on Jan 12.
9. Sanjit Bunker Roy: Humanitarian worker, Sanjit Bunker Roy’s Barefoot College has trained more than three million people for jobs in the modern world.
8. Who is appointed as the fourth woman judge in the history of the Supreme Court of India since its inception in 1959?
Justice Syan Sudha Misra.
She is the first Supreme Court woman judge since Justice Ruma Pal retired in June 2006.
Justice Fathima Beevi, was the first woman judge of the Supreme Court from Oct 10, 1989, to April 29, 1992
Justice Sujata Manohar became an apex court judge Nov 8, 1994. She retired Aug 27, 1999.
Justice Ruma Pal was the third woman Supreme Court judge, from Jan 28, 2000, to June 6, 2006.
9. Which High Court of India has the highest representation of women in the judiciary, with 8 women judges?
Delhi High Court.
The Bombay High Court comes a close second with 7 women judges.
10. Which player won the Football Writers Association Footballer of the Year 2010 award?
Wayne Rooney.
11. Karnataka food and civil supplies minister who resigned from the cabinet on 02-05-10, charged with raping his friend’s wife five months ago in Shimoga?
Haratal Halappa.
12. Which country has been ranked first in the list of “dirty dozen” spam relaying countries, accounting for over more than 13 per cent of world’s total junk mails, sent during the first quarter of the year, according to a new study?
U.S.A.
India has been ranked second in the list while China has successfully pulled itself out of the list.
13. Name of the veteran Indian diplomat who has been appointed Assistant Secretary-General for UN’s Peacekeeping Operations?
Atul Khare
14. Name of the Special Court Judge who handed death sentence to the Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab for the Mumbai terror attacks?
M L Tahaliyani. He has been promoted as the Principal Sessions Judge of the City civil and sessions Court in Mumbai.
15. Euro-region ministers recently agreed to a 110 billion-Euro ($146 billion) rescue package for which country to prevent a default and stop the worst crisis in the currency’s 11-year history?
Greece.
16. The leader of the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta group in Jerusalem, noted for serving as Minister for Jewish Affairs in Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian government who died on May 2, 2010, aged 86?
Moshe Hirsch.
17. Who has won the Rome Masters Tennis title for the fourth time?
Rafael Nadal.
He defeated the Serbian player Novak Djokovic 7-6, 6-2 in the final.
18. Name of the world’s oldest person who has died a week before her 115th birthday?
Kama Chinen. She is a Japanese woman on the southern island of Okinawa who witnessed three centuries, born on May 10, 1895, according to the Gerontology Research Group, which tracks individuals of extremely old age.
19. First Indian-origin Sikh to be knighted this year by the Queen for his services to the administration of justice in the United Kingdom, has been chosen for the Pride of Sikh Community Award?
Sir Mota Singh QC
20. The Indian Company which has been barred from doing any business with World Bank for violating “procurement guidelines”, for a period of three years, beginning January 11, 2010?
Videocon Industries Ltd.
World Bank has blacklisted this Indian company for three years, ending January 11, 2013.
21. Who resigned as India’s chief football coach following his differences with All India Football Federation (AIFF) secretary general Alberto Colaco?
Bob Houghton
22. Which state won the overall title of National senior Federation Cup Athletic Championship held in Ranchi?
Kerala.
Kerala won the overall title with 11 gold medals (1 silver, 3 bronze) followed by Haryana (6) and Uttar Pradesh (5).
23. Which developing country offers the best conditions for maternity in the world, according to a report entitled “The State of the World Mothers 2010,” released by the Save the Children NGO?
Cuba.
24. Name of the 1932 Pablo Picasso painting of his mistress which has sold for $106.5 million US, a world record price for any work of art at auction?
“Nude, Green Leaves and Bust”
Nude Green Leaves, and Bust, a 1932 painting by Pablo Picasso, sold for more than $100 million US at Christie’s auction house. (Christie’s, New York/Associated Press)
25. Indian-born business administration scholar who is set to become the tenth Dean of Harvard Business School (HBS)?
Dr Nitin Nohria.
26. Which team clinched the I-League title for the fourth time after beating Lajong FC 1-0, with one round of the country’s premier football league still to go?
Dempo Sports Club.
27. Which club won the Coppa Italia (Italian FA Cup beating Roma in the final (1-0)?
Inter Milan.
Diego Milito hit the goal for Inter Milan.
28. Which club clinched their ninth French League title beating Rennes (3-1)?
Olympique de Marseille.
Olympique de Marseille is a French professional football club which became the first and only French club to win the UEFA Champions League in 1993.
29. Name of the American weekly news magazine hard hit by the internet and the recession, has been put up for sale by its owner, the Washington Post Company?
Newsweek.
This weekly is the second largest news weekly magazine in the U.S published in four English language editions and 12 global editions written in the language of the circulation region.
30. President of Nigeria died on May 5, 2010 at the age of 58 after more than five months of battling with a heart ailment?
Umaru Yar’Adua.
He is the first university-educated president of Nigeria. He was declared the winner of the controversial Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 2007. He was a member of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan has been sworn in as President in a ceremony in the capital Abuja.
31. Who won a landmark ruling in the country’s highest court in a dispute with his brother over how to split the riches from the family’s gas business?
Mukesh Ambani.
India’s Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Mukesh Ambani in his long-running feud with his brother Anil Ambani over supplies from a huge natural gas discovery.
32. Who is sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Britain?
David Cameron. (Conservative Party)
He will head the government which is formed by the coalition between the Conservative Party and the left-leaning Liberal Democrats.
33. Who is the Deputy Prime Minister of Britain?
Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrats)
34. For the first time in the history of UK elections, two Indian-origin women have been elected to the House of Commons. Who are they?
Priti Patel and Valerie Vaz.
Priti Patel of Conservative party was elected from the Witham constituency and she has become the first Asian Woman MP (Member of Parliament) in Britain. Valerie Vaz of Labour party was elected from Walsall South constituency.
35. Largest Beaver Dam recently discovered in Canada using Google satellite technology located in?
Northern Alberta’s Wood Buffalo National Park.
Ecologist Jean Thie located the 2,788-foot (850-meter) dam using Google Earth and NASA technology and the dam stretches more than eight football fields long.
36. Which are the first countries to have country codes in Arabic scripts using a system that will also allow web addresses in Chinese, Thai and Tamil scripts?
Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Internet regulator ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) recently enabled full web addresses in non-Latin characters.
37. A ban on which African country competing at the next two African Nations Cup finals was formally lifted by the Confederation of African Football recently, ratifying an agreement brokered by FIFA in Zurich?
Togo
38. Which country has recently initiated steps to build its first indigenous civilian transport aircraft?
India.
Government has set up a 15-member high-power committee (HPC) on National Civil Aircraft Development with former ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair as its Chairman for management and development of the key project.
39. Which club won English soccer’s Premier League after an 8-0 home win over Wigan Athletic in the final round of games?
Chelsea.
Manchester United finishes second.
40. Who is sworn in as Costa Rica’s first female president?
Laura Chinchilla. She has become the third female president in Central America.
41. Who is named as Captain of the Indian Cricket Team on the tour to Zimbabwe from May 28 for the tri series involving Sri Lanka?
Suresh Raina
42. Who retained World Chess Championship title by winning a thrilling 12th and final game, beating Veselin Topalov of Russia?
Viswanathan Anand
Besides being the first Asian to win the World Championship in 2000, Anand now has the distinction of creating a hat trick with three World Championship titles in 2007, 2008 and 2010.
43. Which country became the fifth major emitter of Green House Gases after the US, China, the European Union and Russia?
India.
India’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions increased by 41.66 percent between 1994 and 2007 making it the fifth major emitter to contribute to global warming.
44. BSNL, the state-owned telecom operator in India, recently has banned the Chinese telecom equipment makers from the bidding for the GSM projects in the northern and eastern zones in India. Name those companies.
Huawei and ZTE.
According to security assessments of Huawei Technologies put together by RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) of India, the Chinese firm not only shares ties with the Chinese security establishment but is also suspected to be a part of its intelligence set-up. RAW clearly point out that PLA (People Liberation Army) remains a customer of that company and has become more involved with it.
45. The first Hindi film which has been selected to be screened in the ‘Un Certain Regard Section’ of the Cannes film festival?
Udan.
The film is debut film of director Vikramaditya Motwane. The last Indian film to make it to the Golden Palm Award category was Swam (Malayalam). Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival’s Official Selection.
46. Who was declared the winner of the Philippine presidential elections?
Benigno Aquino.
Former president Joseph Estrada finished in second place.
47. The Central Government of India recently appointed five independent directors for Air India. Who are they?
M.A. Yousafali, prominent Malayalee industrialist in Gulf countries.
Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman and MD of Mahindra group.
Fali Major, former Air Force head.
Harshvardhan Niyothiya, Ambuja reality chairman.
Amith Mithra, FiCCI secretary general.
48. Who has been selected J.C Daniel award for the year 2009?
K.S Sethumadhavan.
He is the renowned film director from early 60s to late 80s. The J.C Daniel award has been instituted by the State government as a part of Kerala State Film awards, since 1992.
49. Indian Government has given in principle approval for the setting-up of the Indian National Defence University in Haryana. The university is to be set up in which district of Haryana?
Binola in Gurgaon district of Haryana
50. Who is the first Muslim woman to serve in a British cabinet?
Sayeeda Warsi.