How to Prepare History for IAS Prelims

Every year Civil Service Preliminary Exam (Civil Service Aptitude Test - CSAT) comes with surprises. Over the years the question pattern has changed in a big way. So aspirants are confused about how to start preparing for the exam. We are trying to help our online readers to understand the pattern of questions asked in various subjects. Through is post we bring you the previous year questions on History. Out of 100 questions in CSAT paper 1, you can expect around 12 to 15 questions based on history. Majority of the questions will be asked from modern Indian history, covering Indian freedom struggle. Please go through is questions and get and idea about how UPSC prepares questions based on history syllabus.

Continue reading..

Current Affairs on Economics - June 2012

New Major FDIs
Coco Cola and home furnishing major IKEA approached the government with a proposal to invest $5 billion and  1.5 billion euro respectively in the Indian market. Coca Cola would invest $5 billion between now and 2020 on various activities, including setting up of new bottling plants. Last week, home furnishing major IKEA approached the government with a proposal to invest 1.5 billion euro to set up 25 stores in the country. The country's foreign direct investment (FDI) declined by 41 per cent to $1.85 billion in April as compared to the same period in the previous fiscal.

Continue reading..

International Current Affairs | International Current Events June 2012

Mohamed Morsi - The new President of Egypt
Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood party won the presidential election in Egypt. Morsi, chairman of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, received about 52 percent votes in the run-off round while his opponent Ahmed Shafiq got about 48 percent. Egypt held its historical presidential election May 23-24. Morsi and Shafiq, who were the top two candidates in the first round, entered the run-off which kicked off June 1. With Sunday's win, Morsi's membership in the Muslim Brotherhood Party also ended, affirming the pledge for the movement that Morsi will be the president for all Egyptians.

Continue reading..

A 10 billion dollar question to Prime Minister : Interview with PM

Last week, India contributed 10 billion US$ to IMF kitty to sort out Euro crisis which was critized within India. Below given are the reply of Prime Minister on the issue. Along with that, he replies to various other problems related to the crisis in Indian economy
Question: Sir, at G20 India indicated contribution of 10 billion US$ to IMF kitty to sort out Euro crisis but surprisingly even this well intentioned move has been wrongly interpreted in the country. Would you like to say something?
PM: We are members of the International Monetary Fund and we would like the IMF to play an important role in resolving various difficulties that are on the horizon in the international economy and financial system. And if this Fund has to play its requisite role then it has been agreed at Los Cabos that the member countries of the Fund will contribute 450 billion Dollars to enable the IMF to come to the rescue of countries in need. As a responsible member of the international community, it was our bounden duty also to make our contribution. And let me say that before making this announcement I had a discussion among the BRICS leaders and all BRICS leaders have made similar contributions. So I don’t think there is anything wrong in our contributing to the IMF. This contribution will be used only when needed and it will also continue to be part of India’s reserves.

Continue reading..

Sunday Stimulus : Life is full of uncertainities..Face it with Courage

Life is full of uncertainities..Face it with Courage!!
CurrentAffairsIndia is happy to start a new section - Sunday Stimulus, to keep you all motivated. On every Sunday, we will be publishing an inspiring picture with a famous quote. Hope our new endovour will help you to face the uncertainities of life with courage!!

1. Multiple Choice Questions on Indian History

1. Which Charter Act made the provision for open competition for entering into civil service?
a) Charter Act of 1833
b) Charter Act of 1853
c) Govt of India act 1919
d) Govt of India act 1935

Continue reading..

Current Affairs on Economy 2012

RBI mid-quarter policy review : Key rates unchanged
In the mid-quarter policy review, RBI kept the key rates such as repo rate, reverse repo and CRR unchanged.  The RBI reasoned that further reduction in the policy interest rate at this juncture could exacerbate inflationary pressures. Factors other than interest rates are contributing more significantly to the growth and investment slowdown. The economy is facing challenges on the growth-inflation front. GDP growth has moderated to a nine-year low of 5.3 per cent in the January-March 2012 period; the index of industrial production increased by just 0.1 per cent in April; and wholesale price index inflation has inched up from 7.2 per cent in April to 7.6 per cent in May, driven mainly by food and fuel prices. While growth in 2011-12 has moderated significantly, headline inflation remains above levels consistent with sustainable growth. Importantly, retail inflation is also on an uptrend, said the RBI.

Continue reading..

CSAT 2013 Exam | CSAT 2013 Exam Date

CSAT 2013 is expected to be held on 3rd or 4th Sunday of May 2013. UPSC Notification will be published in all major newspapers of India and The Employment News by mid of January. From 2012, UPSC allows online application only and the process is very simple, secure and reliable. The last date for filling the online application for CSAT 2013 is expected to be in early March 2013. Around 2,50000 people are expected to take the test and about 12,000 people will be qualified for the Civil Services (Mains) Exam which is expected to be held by November 2013.

Continue reading..

Financial literacy in India

According to Visa Global Financial Literacy Barometer survey, India stood at 23rd in a list of 28 countries on the financial literacy front. The survey pointed out that "“Many people in India have set aside savings to weather a financial rainy day, but the lack of money management discussions in the family may set the stage for their children to struggle with finances".

Continue reading..

Current Affairs 2012 | Indian Current Affairs June 2012

India plans to increase the share of renewable power
India plans to increase the share of renewable power in the electricity mix to 15 per cent by the year 2020. An action plan has already been developed that aims at accelerating the deployment of renewable energy with a target of around 30 GW of renewable power by  the end of 2017. Currently India stands among the top five countries of the world in terms of renewable energy capacity and renewable power represents about 12 per cent of total installed electricity generation capacity in India. Apart from that around 1.1 million Indian households are already using solar energy to meet their lighting energy needs. Jawahar Lal Nehru National Solar Mission is the flagship program of India which aims to facilitate the installation of 20 GW grid-connected solar power, 20 million sq. m of solar thermal collector area and 20 million rural households with solar home lighting by 2022. Along with solar energy, wind energy continues to contribute significantly to India’s renewable energy matrix and with over 17 GW installed capacity.

Continue reading..

General Knowledge Online Test

Through is session, currentaffairsindia.info presents the most relevant general knowledge questions. These questions are not geographic or country specific and includes general areas of GK like science, economy, environment, history, geography etc. Useful for all competitive exams, students and knowledge seekers. Any comments/doubts are welcomed!! 

1. Which among the following led to the Greece crisis started in 2010? 
a) Excessive borrowing from IMF 
b) Sudden depreciation of Euro 
c) Unrestricted spending and cheap loans 
d) Outflow of foreign capital

Continue reading..

Social Security for Unorganised Sector in India

India has around 430 million workers in various unorganized sectors.The unorganised sector workers contribute close to 60 percent of the country's gross domestic product but remain amongst the poorest and most vulnerable sections of society. With a view to providing social security to unorganised workers, including landless agricultural labourers, the Government enacted the “Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008”. The Act provides for constitution of National Social Security Board to recommend social security schemes, namely, life and disability cover, health and maternity benefits, old age protection and any other benefit as may be determined by the Government for unorganised workers.

Continue reading..

Clerical Exam : Sample Questions for IBPS Clerk Exam

Through is session, currentaffairsindia.info presents the most relevant model questions for various banks clerical exams, especially for SBI clerical exams and IBPS clerical examinations. These questions are a mixture of previous year’s questions and probable sample questions. Any comments/doubts are welcomed!! 
1. Indian Navy added INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier into their arsenal. The aircraft was leased from? 
a) Russia 
b) United States 
c) France 
d) Germany

Continue reading..

Bank Clerical Exams | IBPS and SBI - Sample Questions

Through this session, www.currentaffairsindia.info presents the most relevent model questions for various banks clerical exams, especially SBI clerical exams and IBPS clerical examinations. This questions are a mixture of previous years questions and probable sample questions. Any comments/doubts are welcomed!! 

1. What is financial inclusion?
 a) To provide employment to all 
b) To provide 100 days job to all unemployed 
c) To provide banking services to all those living in remote areas. 
d) To provide finance to all

Continue reading..

Ecology and Environment News 2012

Myristica swamps, a vanishing wetland ecosystem
Myristica swamps, a vanishing ecosystem, is now largely confined to 53 patches in the Kulathupuzha and Anchal forest ranges and the Shendurney wildlife sanctuary in Kerala. The Myristica swamps are tropical fresh water swamp forests with an abundance of Myristica trees, the most primitive of the flowering plants on earth. The evergreen, water-tolerant trees have dense stilt roots helping them stay erect in the thick, black, wet alluvial soil. The swamps are typically found in valleys, making them prone to inundation during monsoon rains. The trees form a fairly dense forest with a closed canopy. Studies have shown that the swamps, which would have occupied large swathes of the thickly- wooded Western Ghats in the past, are now restricted to less than 200 hectares in the country.

Continue reading..

Current Affairs on Science and Technology - 2012

World IPv6 Launch Day began on June 6th.
Global transition from Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) began on June 6th. In India 27 websites have been brought on IPv6 platform. Further, a direction has been issued to all the Government organizations to migrate their websites to IPv6 (dual stack) by December 2012. As IPv6 is not backward compatible with IPv4, the transition to IPv6 is likely to be a complex and long term exercise during which both IPv4 and IPv6 will co-exist. India has at present 35 million IPv4 addresses against a user base of about 360 million data users. In addition, Government is planning to have a target of 160 million and 600 million broadband customers by the year 2017 and 2020 respectively.

Continue reading..

What is IPV6 | IPV6 in India

What is IPV6
One of the salient features of the National Telecom Policy-2012 of India is "Cloud Computing, Next Generation Network including IPV6". Through this post I am trying to explain the concept of Internet Protocol from a layman's perspective. We know the traffic rules. It is intended to provide a hassle free driving for all and to reduce accidents. Like wise internet also has certain rules and regulations to be followed. In the surfing world, these rules and regulations are named as Protocols. A few examples are HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), Routing Protocol and the above said Internet Protocol. Lets discuss more about Internet Protocol Version 6 here

Continue reading..

Current Affairs 2012 | Indian Current Affairs May 2012

South Asia Call for Action on Ending Violence against Children
The SAARC countries reaffirmed their determination and renewed their commitment to end violence against children in all forms and all settings at the meet of the member countries at Colombo. They countries unanimously adopted the South Asia Call for Action on Ending Violence against Children. Held under the aegis of SAIEVAC, the South Asian Initiative to End Violence Against Children, an apex body of SAARC, the regional follow up reaffirmed their commitment made by Governments to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women etc.

Continue reading..

Economics for Civil Service | How to prepare Economics for Civil Service CSAT

Today, one of my blog readers, Miss.Deepika asked about the preparation strategy for Economics for Civil Service Preliminary Exams. As you all are aware, Economics is an important subject for CSAT paper 1 which gives us questions ranging from 10 to 20 out of the total 100. Here I am trying to share my thoughts on how one should prepare for this enlightening subject. The syllabus of CSAT declares Economics coverage in an amalgamated way. UPSC trickily mixed Economics with Social Development. From the official site of UPSC, Economics syllabus comes as "Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc."

Continue reading..

Aptitude : Questions on Numbers with Solution

1. What least number must be added to 4000 to obtain a number exactly divisible by 27 
a) 23 b) 24 c) 25 d) 26

Continue reading..