:: Current affairs- 22 May :: 1) The second regime of United Progressive Alliance (UPA-2) completed how many years in power at the Centre on 22 May 2013? – 4 years 2) What is the new income criterion for creamy layer section of OBC, which was recently hiked by the union govt.? – Rs. 6 lakh per annum (This income criterion earlier stood at Rs 4.5 lakh per annum. Creamy layer refers to economically advanced segment of OBCs (other backward castes) which are barred from reservations provided OBC section by the govt. The Rs 4.5 lakh criterion was fixed in 2008) 3) A govt. panel on 22 May 2013 gave its go-ahead for the quadricycle to ply as public transport vehicle within city limits. This approval for quadricycles is apparently good news for which auto company which has already developed a model of quadricycle? – Bajaj Auto (Bajaj Auto has developed a model of quadricycle called RE60. Quadricycles are considered to be safer than three-wheeler as they have fully enclosed body structure with hard top and doors. Their maximum speed limit and engine capacity are considerably lower than that of a regular car) 4) India on 22 May 2013 successfully test fired the 290-km range Brahmos supersonic missile from Indian Navy’s latest guided-missile frigate INS Tarkash. This test was conducted at – Goa (INS Tarkash, an advanced Talwar Class frigate, was commissioned on 9 November 2012) 5) How much cash subsidy towards diesel and cooking fuel is to be doled out for year 2012-13 as agreed upon by the union govt. recently? – Rs. 1,00,000 crore (The finance ministry had previously given out cash subsidy of Rs. 55,000 crore and it agreed to give Rs. 40,000-45,000 crore more now to uncover for unmet revenue losses on fuel sale in the fiscal year ending 31 March 2013. The agreement was reached during a meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had with Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Petroleum Minister M. Veerappa Moily) 6) The landmark US immigration bill, which offers a path to citizenship for more than 11 million undocumented immigrants, including over 260,000 Indians, and increasing H-1B visas, on 21 May 2013 passed its first legislative test in the US Senate Judiciary Committee. What is the name of this bill which was passed by 13-5 votes? – Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (This bill raises the minimum number of visas annually for high-skilled foreign workers – known as the H-1B visa – to 115,000 from 110,000, while keeping the maximum at 180,000 a year. The bill (No 744) now goes to the Senate for approval, which is expected to witness another round of negotiations and tough bargaining. It needs 60 votes to pass the 100-seat Senate) 7) Who won the £60,000 Man Booker International Prize for 2013, which is given in recognition of a writer’s overall contribution to fiction? – Lydia Davis of US (Indian author U.R. Ananthamurthy was also one of the nominees for this prestigious literary prize. An offshoot of the more famous annual Man Booker Prize, this prize recognises a writer for his or her continued creativity, development and overall contribution to fiction on the world stage) 8 ) Which three investment banks were selected by the union govt. for managing 10% stake sale of Engineers India Limited (EIL)? – ICICI Securities, IDFC and Kotak Mahindra (This stake sale is expected to fetch about Rs. 600 crore to the exchequer) 9) Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe signed a new constitution into law on 22 May 2013, replacing a 33-year old document forged in dying days of British colonial rule and paving the way for elections later this year. What are the main features of this new constitution? – It clips powers of the president substantially and imposes a two-term limit (A referendum for this constitution was held in March this year, which was approved overwhelmingly) 10) Capital of which Scandinavian country witnessed large scale rioting and arson recently, which started on 19 May 2013? – Sweden (Swedish capital Stockholm witnessed unusual incidents of rioting that began on 19 May 2013 in response to the 13 May shooting, in which police killed a 69-year-old, knife-wielding man)
Posted on: Thu, 23 May 2013 12:30:06 +0000
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