Current Affairs

MARCH-2009

73. Women’s Cricket World Cup -2009 won by?
England. They beat New Zealand in the Final by 4 wickets Nicki Shaw was named player of the match and Claire Taylor is the player of the tournament.
The first tournament was held in England in 1973 which also won by England. India never won the World Cup
74. Women’s Cricket World Cup -2009 is held in ?
Australia.
Next world cup is in 2013 which will be held in India.
75. Who won the Man of the Match award in the first Test between India and New Zealand at Hamilton, New Zealand?
Sachin Tendulkar
76. Name the Hungarian Prime Minister resigned after facing mounting criticism over his government’s handling of the country’s economic crash.

Ferenc Gyurcsany
77. Who is reinstated as chief justice of Pakistani Supreme Court after a series of protests and political turmoil
Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry
78. First elected female state premier in its history of Australia after a vote in Queensland. ?
Anna Bligh
79. Name the Sudanese opposition leader who has been released from prison, having been detained for two months for calling on Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s president, to hand himself over to the International Criminal Court (ICC).?

Hassan al-Turabi
80. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Chief who recently visited India to discuss the security situation in South Asia.?
Leon Penetta
81. Former Indian captain who equalled Mark Waugh’s world record of 181 Test catches in opening day of the first Test against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton?
Rahul Dravid
82. Which country will host the second version of IPL, i.e. IPL-2009?
South Africa
83. Who has been selected for the 18th Aravindan Award instituted by the Chalachithra Film Society?
Marathi film-maker Paresh Mokashi
84. British reality TV star died at the age of 27 with cervical cancer, who became famous after appearing on the UK’s Big Brother reality Show?
Jade Gudi
85. Who won World Boxing Association (WBA) International and World Boxing Organisation (WBO) Inter-Continental lightweight titles in this year?

British boxer Amir Khan
86. Who became Madagascar’s acting president after the army ended a months-long power struggle and swept him to power?

Andry Rajoelina, he is only 34-year-old.
87. Who is appointed as the new chief of the Indian Air Force?
Air Marshal PV Naik
88. Name the computer institute of Kerala which has made an entry into the Limca Book of Records for the largest number of students in a single centre?
Sree Sankaracharya Computer Centre (SSCT), in Kannur district
89. Who has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the United States of America?
Meera Shankar
90. Name the Indian-American who last week was appointed Federal Chief Technology Officer by President Barack Obama

Vivek Kundra,
He was reinstated to his job by Barack Obama at the White House, five days after he went on leave following Federal Bureau of Investigation’s raids at his previous office, in a corruption case related to employees working there. He returned to the job after it became clear that he was not the ‘target of investigations.
91. Name the Indian-American who is appointed as Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs Washington by U.S.President Barack Obama?

Richard Verma
92. Name the Monster like father who held his Daughter as Sex-Slave Prisoner in Cellar for 24 years and gave birth to 7 children?

Joseph Fritzl
93. Country which has been suspended by The African Union from the continental body, saying the replacement of the island nation’s president by an army-backed politician constitutes a coup.
Madagascar
94. Who was unanimously re-elected to North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament recently?
Kim Jong Il
95. The Russian Mobile Company which launched its CDMA-based mobile services in Kerala circle after Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan?
MTS, (Mobile Tele Systems)
MTS brand is under Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited which is a joint venture company between Sistema (LSE: SSA) of Russia and Shyam Group of India
96. Which Tennis Player has won WTA Player of the Year award-2009?
Serena Williams. This is her Second WTA Player of the Year award. She won the same in 2002.
97. The first person to be certified as a survivor of both US atomic bombings at the end of the Second World War?

Photograph Jemal Countess/ WireImage
Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a 93-year-old Japanese man who was in Hiroshima on a business trip on 6 August 1945 when a US B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on the city.
98. Which Indian will replace football star David Beckham, who has been endorsing Motorola as its global brand ambassador?

A.R.Rahman.
It is learnt that Rahman has been paid a whopping Rs.28 Crore for this particular endorsement deal. This makes him the highest paid Indian celebrity for any such product.
99. Who won the 20-20 Cricket series between South Africa and Australia in
South Africa ?

South Africa
(They beat Australia by 2-0).
100. Who is appointed as the Second Deputy Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia?
Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz
101. Who are the winners of Indian Open Badminton Title in 2009 ?
Men’s Single Title- Taufik Hidayat (Indonesia)
Women’s Single Title- Pi Hongyan ( France)
102. First national female judge of Dubai?
Judge Ibtisam Rashid Badwawi
103. New Prime Minister of Israel ?
Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel’s Likud party
104. Who is appointed as Administrator of the United Nationals Development Programme(UNDP)?

Helen Clark
105. Who is named to the “Order of Companions of O R Tambo in Gold”, one of the highest state honours of South Africa?

Cuban President Fidel Castro

106. Who is the new Prime Minister of Malaysia ?
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak
107. The US billionaire who roared into space aboard a Russian rocket, making history as the first tourist to make the epic journey twice?

Charles Simonyi
108. The country which re-enters NATO’s (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) military command after more than 40 years?
France

109. Who has been appointed as the new Captain of Sri Lankan Cricket Team?
Kumar Sangakkara
110. Who wins Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best Book Award for Europe and South Asia region ?
Jhumpa Lahiri for her book ‘Unaccustomed Earth’
111. Who purchased Mahatma Gandhi’s personal belongings which include Gandhiji’s iconic round-rimmed spectacles, a pocket watch, a pair of sandals, a plate and bowl and letters of authenticity for USD 1.8 million at an auction in New York from the owner, James Otis?
Vijay Mallya.
112. Palestinian Prime Minister who submitted his resignation in a move that could help usher in a power-sharing deal between Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas and his rivals in the militant group Hamas?
Salam Fayyad
113. Home Secretary of India?
Gopala Krishna Pillai. He would assume charge after Madhukar Gupta, the present Home Secretary, retires on March 31. At present G.K. Pillai is the Commerce Secretary.
114. The president of Guinea-Bissau, who was assassinated by the military in a retaliatory attack for the killing of the army chief of the volatile and drug-corrupted west African state?.
Jo Bernardo Vieira
115. Fast bowler who has announced his retirement from international cricket after eight years of service for South Africa?
Andre Nel
116. The son of the poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath , 46 years after his mother gassed herself while he slept?
Nicholas Hughes
Sylvia Plath with her son Nicholas Hughe. He was only a baby when she committed suicide.
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FEBRUARY-2009

1. Name of the world’s cheapest car launched by Tata Motors in Mumbai?
Nano
2. Music wizard A.R.Rahman won Oscars for which categories?

Best Original Score and Best Original Song (Jai Ho) for the film “Slum dog Millionaire”.
3. Which documentary won the Oscar award for best Documentary (Short)?
Smile Pinki, directed by Megan Mylan depicts the tale of an Utharpradesh girl and her fight against the social stigma of a cleft lip.
4. The West Indian Umpire who has officiated in a record 126 tests and 179 ODIs who decided to retire recently from International matches?
Steve Bucknor
5. The Indian sound engineer who won Oscar for his brilliant sound mixing works of the film “Slum dog Millionaire”

Resul Pookutty
6. The new Chief Justice of Madras High Court ?
Hemant Laxman Gokhale
7. The telecom sector which started third Generation (3G) mobile services recently in 11 cities of India?
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL)
8. Sri Lankan batsmen who smashed double hundreds during world record stand of 437 for the fourth wicket partnership against Pakistan?
Mahela Jayawardhane (240) and Thilan Samaraweera(231)
9. Who won the Miss India Worldwide 2009 title ?
Nikkitasha Marhawa, Indian-American from Chicago clinch the 18th Miss India World wide 2009 title.
10. The new money back plan launched by Life Insurance Corporation (LIC)in February 16 ?
Jeevan Varsha
11. Who was named Jamaica’s Sportsman of the year for 2008 ?
Triple Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt.
12. The teenager who acted as the main character of “slum dog millionaire ” ?

Dev Patel
13. Which novel has been chosen as the Romantic Novel of the year 2009?
“East of the Sun” set in 1920s by Welsh author Julia Gregson
14. Britan’s Royal Mail issued a set of stamps on February-12 to mark the 200th Anniversary of the birth of a famous Scientist? Who is he ?
Charles Darwin
15. Who is appointed as coach/manager of Chelsea, the premier league club ?
Guus Hiddink, Russian coach
16. Recently the IPL Drug Tribunal has imposed a 12-month ban on a Pakistani Cricket player for consuming a banned substance, Nandralone during the inaugural season of Indian Premiere League. Who is he?
Muhammed Asif
17. The new Prime Minister of Zimbzbwe ?
Morgan Tsvangirai
18. Newly elected President of Bangladesh ?

Zillur Rahman
19. Noted Hindustani Classical Vocalist who was presented with Bharath Ratna, country’s highest civilian award ?

Bhim Sen Joshi
20. “”Slumdog Millionire “ got how many BAFTA awards (British Academy of film and Television Arts)
21 awards including Best Director, Best Film…etc
A.R.Rahman won the BAFTA award for the music of this film.
21. Name of India’s Second humanoid robot which was formally unveiled during Quark-2009, the technical festival at Goa?
Acyut-2
22. Name the Indian who awarded a honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Cambridge, where he served as the Master of Trinity College for six years.
Amartya Sen
23. Who was named African Footballer of the Year 2008?
Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor
24. Name the Union Minister for Small Scale Industries in the UPA government who was on charged in a murder case recently ?
Mahavir Prasad
25. The two ships, commissioned by the Indian Navy on 16 February 2009, at Chennai, which are the first two in a series of ten water jet Fast Attack Craft (FAC) being built at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, GRSE, Kolkata ?.
INS Carnicobar and INS Chetlat
26. Name the 13-YEAR-OLD boy who has become a father in Britain, his wife is just 15.
Alfie Patten. His girlfriend Chantelle Steadman gave birth to Maisie Roxanne in Eastbourne Hospital, East Sussex
27. 17th Dulip Trophy Cricket title is won by?
West Zone
28. Which Indian player won BCCI Payer of the year Award?
Virender Sehwag (The award is also known as Polly Umrigar Award)
29. The Indian Musician among the four international musicians to be awarded Grammy for their ‘Global Drum’ project. ?
Zakir Hussain, along with musicians Mickey Hart, Sikiru Adepoju and Giovanni Hidalgo, has been awarded the coveted gramophone for ‘The Global Drum’ in the Best Contemporary World Music Album category.
30. Which players were named joint winners of the Allan Border medal of 2008?
Ricky Ponting and Michael Clark
31. Who won the Australian Open junior title ?
Yuki Bhambri. He becomes the first Indian to win the Australian Open junior title. He outplayed his German opponent Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas to win the Junior Boys title in the Australian Open.
32. Who won the Australian Open women singles title of this year ?
Serena Williams
33. Who won the Man of the Match award in the two 20-20 Cricket matches between India and New Zealand?
Brendon McCullum
34. Who won Rotterdam Open title after beating world number one Rafael Nadal?
Andy Murray of Britain
35. World Cup Cricket 2011 final will be held in which venue ?
Wankade Stadium, Mumbai.
36. Japan’s Finance Minister who has resigned, amid claims that he was drunk at a recent G7 meeting?

Shoichi Nakagawa
37. ST OSCAR AWARDS- ALL RESULTS
38. ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Penelope Cruz (VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA)
39. WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREEN PLAY)
Dustin Lance Black (MILK)
40. WRITING (ADAPTED SCREEN PLAY)
Simon Beaufoy (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE)
41. ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Andrew Stanton (WALL-E)
42. SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
Kunio Kato( LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES)
43. ART DIRECTION
Donald Graham Burt (Art Direction); Victor J. Zolfo (Set Decoration) (THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON)
44. COSTUME DESIGN
Michael O’Connor (THE DUCHESS)
45. MAKE UP
Greg Cannom (THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON)
46. CINEMATOGRAPHY
Anthony Dod Mantle (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE)
47. SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
Jochen Alexander Freydank (SPIELZEUGLAND (TOYLAND)
48. ACTOR IN SUPPORTING ROLE
Heath Ledger (THE DARK KNIGHT)
49. DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
James Marsh and Simon Chinn (MAN ON WIRE)
50. DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Megan Mylan (SMILE PINKI)
51. VISUAL EFFECTS:
Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron (THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON)
52. SOUND EDITING
Richard King (THE DARK KNIGHT)
53. SOUND MIXING
Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE)
54. FILM EDITING
Chris Dickens ((SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE)
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Current Affairs

JANUARY 2009


1. The new federal agency approved by the Indian Government to combat terror in India which will be empowered to deal with terror related crimes across states without special permission from the state ?
National Investigation Agency.
2. Who is appointed as Director General of the newly established National Investigation Agency (NIA).?
Radha Vinod Raju, Special Director General of Police in Jammu and Kashmir
3. “Man of the series” of recently held One Day series between Australia & South Africa?
Albie Morkel
4. Who became the country’s youngest international referee, after passing the world body FIBA’s exam ?
Zanim Mohammed Hashim from Thalassery, Kerala
5. The first Indian to win the prestigious Golden Globe Award for Best Original Music Score ?
A.R.Rahman for Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire.
Rahman’s song ‘Jai Ho,’ penned by lyricist Gulzar, was nominated for Best Original Music Score.

6. Which Malayalam Writer won the “Odakkuzhal Award ” ?
K.G.Sankara Pillai
7. Who became the fastest bowler to take 50 wickets in one-day internationals ?
Ajantha Mendis , completed his 50-wicket haul in his 19th one-day international. He surpassed the record of India’s Ajit Agarkar who took 23 matches to reach the milestone.
8. Who has been appointed as the General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Management and Budget in the upcoming administration of U.S.President Barack Obama?


Preeta Bansal, Leading Indian-American lawyer
9. Name the Indo-Russian supersonic cruise missile with speeds of Mach 2.5 to 2.8, which is world’s fastest cruise missile and is about three and a half times faster than the U.S.A’s subsonic Harpoon cruise missile?
Brahmos, The acronym ‘BrahMos’ is perceived as the confluence of the two nations represented by two great rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.
10. Who is the Man of the Series in the recently held Zimbabwe –Bangladesh One Day Series held in Bangladesh?
Shakib Al Hasan
11. The first Bangladesh player to top one of the International Cricket Council’s player rankings?
Shakib Al Hasan He tops the ICC ODI Rankings for all-rounders
12. Jharkhand Chief Minister who resigned from his post following his defeat in the Tamar assembly by-poll?
Shibu Soren
13. Music Sensation A.R.Rahman won how many Oscar nominations for the film “Slumdog Millionaire” ?
Three nominations (Music, Songs (Jai Ho, O Saya))
14. Indian sound engineer from Mumbai, born in Kerala, nominated for the Oscars for Best sound mixing in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’?


Rasool Pookutty
15. Which film won most number of Oscar Nominations in 2008?
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” with 13 Oscar nominations.
16. Name the founder and Chairman of Satyam Computers until January 7, 2009 when he resigned from the Satyam board after admitting to corporate fraud of 7000 crore rupees ?


Ramalinga Raju
17. The son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor Sr., who was sentenced to 97 years in prison for charges including torture and conspiracy, according to a federal court in Florida. ?

Charles McArthur Emmanuel
He also known as Charles “Chuckie” Taylor Jr.

18. Who is BBC African Footballer of the Year 2008


Egyptian footballer Mohamed Aboutrika
19. The new model car launched by Fiat India Automobiles Ltd in India during fist quarter of 2009.

Fiat Linea
20. Who is the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab?
Sukhbir Singh Badal
21. The 50th anniversary of the Triumph of a country’s Revolution is observed on this year January? Which revolution?
Cuban Revolution
22. The Three Indian cricketing legends, who figured among the 55 former players named in the ICC`s inaugural Hall of Fame list as part of its centenary celebrations ?
Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Bishan Singh Bedi
23. The Chief Financial Officer of Satyam Computers, who was remanded to judicial custody charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery of accounts?
Srinivas Vadlamani
24. Who is the new President of Ghana?
John Atta Mills
25. Name of the Bacteria developed by Australian Scientists to prevent Dengue Fever by infecting the dengue mosquito with that bacterium which halves its lifespan?
Wolbachia bacterium
26. Who became the youngest chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir?
Omar Abdulla
27. Who is the deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir?
Tara Chand
28. Which team won the Ranji Trophy for the season 2008-2009?
Mumbai, they beat Utharpradesh to clinch the title.
29. Who is the fifth New Zealand Cricket player to score a century in his debut?
Martin Guptill, he scored 122 runs (not out) against West Indies in his debut match
30. Prem Nazir Award is won by?
Malayalam Actor, Jayaram
31. The fourth Thikkurissi Foundation Award is won by?
Malayalam Actor, Balachandra Menon
32. Dadasaheb Phalke award winner and noted film-maker who died recently at a hospital in Kolkata after a prolonged illness?
Tapan Sinha
33. The Australian Cricketer who retired recently from international cricket?
Mathew Hayden
34. Which player’s performance is counted as the best ever Test Innings of 2008 selected by Cricinfo?
Virender Sehwag, his double century against Sri Lanka
Best Bowling performance : Dale Steyn against Australia in Melbourne , he took 5 wicket s for 67 runs.
35. The first player in the history of cricket to score 10,000 runs and 250wickets in both tests and One Day internationals?
Jacques Kallis
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