Current Affairs Quiz Feb 2015

1. The Fajr (Dawn) satellite, is an observation satellite launched by which one of the following countries, recently? 
[A]Iran                                                  

[B] Mexico 
[C] North Korea                                

[D] Australia 

2. Nobel Prize winner Charles Townes, who passed away recently, was associated with which one of the following inventions? 
[A]X-rays                                             

[B]Laser 
[C]ECG                                                  

[D]Xerox 

3. Which of the following Asian countries celebrate its Independence Day on 4th February? 
[A]Sri Lanka                                        

[B]Bahrain 
[C]Cambodia                                      

[D]Georgia 

4. The controversial Keystone Pipeline Bill is related to which country? 
[A]Russia                                             

[B] Norway 
[C] USA                                                

[D]France 

5. The Thaipoosam festival is celebrated by which one of the following religions? 
[A]Christians                                      

[B] Muslims 
[C] Hindu                                             

[D]Sikhs 

6. Which of the following bodies is preparing to launch an “inclusive economies” initiative to combat economic inequality? 
[A]APEC                                               

[B] EU 
[C]SAARC                                            

[D]ASEAN 

7. Who among the following is the chairman of the External Advisory Committee (EAC) set up by RBI to evaluate application received for Payment banks? 
[A]Usha Tharot                                                 

[B]R Gandhi 
[C]Nachiket Mor                              

[D]H R Khan 

8.Which one of the following countries has become first in handball history to win five world championships? 
[A]Qatar                                              

[B] France 
[C] Germany                                      

[D]USA 

9. Nicol David, who has set a new record by topping the world squash rankings for 106th month is from which country? 
[A]Singapore                                     

[B] Russia 
[C]Malaysia                                        

[D]Canada 

10.The Operation Inherent Resolve is the military operation against ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) conducting by which country? 
[A]France                                            

[B]USA 
[C]Japan                                              

[D]Russia 

1.       Agni V

2.       Iran

3.       Laser

4.       Sri Lanka

5.       USA

6.       Hindu

7.       APEC

8.       Nachiket Mor

9.       France

10.    Malaysia

1

General knowledge for SSC & Banking

Environmental and

Wildlife

Biosphere Reserves

·         The program of Biosphere Reserve was initiated under the ‘Man and Biosphere’ (MAB) program by UNESCO in 1970.

·         The purpose of the formation of the biosphere reserve is to conserve in situ all form of life along with its support system, in its totality, so that it could serve as a referral system for monitoring and evaluating changes in natural ecosystem.

·         The first biosphere reserve of the world was established in 1979, since then the network of biosphere reserve has increased to 564 in over 109 countries across the world (MAB, 2010).

·         Presently, there are 15 existing biosphere reserves in India.

·         Out of these 15 Biosphere Reserve, seven have been recognized on world network of Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, namely, Nilgiri (2000) Sunderbans (2001), Gulf of Manner (2001), Nanda Devi (2004), Nokrek (2009), Pachmarhi (2009) and simlipal (2009).

Biosphere Reserve of India

S.No.	Biosphere Reserve	Year of establishment	State/ UT
1.	Nilgri	1986	Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka
2	Nanda Devi	1988	Uttarakhand
3	Nokrek	1988	Meghalaya
4	Great Nicobar	1989	Andaman & Nicobar Islands
5	Gulf of Mannar	1989	Tamil Nadu
6	Manas	1989	Assam
7	Sunderbans	1989	West Bengal
8	Simlipal	1994	Orissa
9	Dibru Saikhowa	1997	Assam
10	Dehang Debang	1998	Arunachal Pradesh
11	Pachmarhi	1999	Madhya Pradesh
12	Khanchen Dzonga	2000	Sikkim
13	Agasthyamalai	2001	Kerala
14	Achanakmar – Amarkantak	2005	Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
15	Kachchh	2008	Gujarat
16.	Cold Desert	2010	Himachal Pradesh
17.	Seshachalam	2010	Andhra Pradesh

Largest National Parks in India

S.No.	Name	Area (sq.km)	State
1	Hemis	3350.00	Jammu & Kashmir
2	Desert	3162.00	Rajasthan
3	Gangotri	2390.02	Uttarakhand
4	Namdapha	1807.82	Arunachal Pradesh
5	Khangchen dzonga	1784.00	Sikkim
6	Guru Ghasi – Das(sanjay)	1440.71	Chhattisgarh
7	Sunderbans	1330.10	West Bengal
8	Indravati (kutru)	1258.37	Chhattisgarh
9	Papikonda	1012.86	Andhra Pradesh
10	Kanha	940.00	Madhya Pradesh

Wildlife Sanctuaries

There are 514 existing wildlife sanctuaries in India. They cover an area of 118,150 , which is 3.59% of the geographical area of the country (national wildlife database, April 2010.) Another 219 sanctuaries are proposed in the Protected Area Network report covering an area of 16.699 .

Largest Wildlife Sanctuaries in India

S.No.	Name	Area (sq.km)	State
1.	Great Indian Bustard	8,496.44	Maharashtra
2.	Kachchh Desert	7,506.22	Gujarat
3.	Karakorma (Nubra Shyok)	5,000.00	Jammu & Kashmir
4.	Wild Ass	4,953.71	Gujarat
5.	Dibang	4,149.00	Arunachal Pradesh
6.	Changthang Cold Desert	4,000.00	Jammu & Kashmir
7.	Rajiv Gandhi (Nagarjuna Sagar – Srisailam)	3,568.09	Andhra Pradesh
8.	Gahirmatha (Marine)	1,435.00	Orissa
9.	Kibber	1,400.00	Himachal Pradesh
10.	Simlipal	1,354.30	Orissa

Ramsar Wetlands of India

S.No.	Name of RAMSAR Site	State	Year of Notification	Area (ha)	Status
1	Asthamudi Wetland	Kerala	19/08/02	61,400	Coastal, Estuarine
2.	Bhitarkanika Mangroves	Orissa	19/08/02	65,000	Coastal
3.	Deepor Beel	Assam	19/08/02	4,000	Freshwater Lake
4.	Keoladeo National Park	Rajasthan	01/10/81	2,873	Freshwater
5.	Kolleru Lake	AP	19/08/02	90,100	Freshwater
6.	Loktak Lake	Manipur	23/03/90	26,600	Freshwater Lake
7.	Point Calimere Wetlands	Tamil Nadu	19/08/02	38,500	Coastal
8.	Rudrasagar Lake	Tripura	08/11/05	240
9.	Surinsar-Mansar Lakes	J&K	08/11/05	350
10.	Tsomoriri Lake	J&K	19/08/02	12,000	Freshwater Brackish Lake
11.	Vembanad – Kol Wetland	Kerala	19/08/02	151,250	Estuarine, Backwaters