Articles from General Knowledge Today

GK & Current Affairs: April 9-10, 2014

2014- 04- 20 13:04:58 GKToday

1. Recent ly, t he Nat ional Human Right s Commission (NHRC) sought a report
f rom t he healt h minist ry on t he act ion t aken t o st op t he use of calcium
carbide in t he count ry. Calcium Carbide is mainly used in __?
[A]Art if icial Fruit ripening
[B]Product ion of Gut kha
[C]Preparat ion of convenience f oods
[D]Reduct ion of f at cont ent in baking product s
Artif icial Fruit ripening
Calcium carbide is used t o art if icially ripen f ruit such as mangoes, bananas,
oranges and wat ermelons despit e a ban by t he government . In India, use of
calcium carbide is st rict ly banned under t he Prevent ion of Food Adult erat ion
Act because it cont ains t races of arsenic and phosphorus, which pose a
serious t hreat t o human healt h.
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2. T he celebrat ion of Songkran in T hailand, T hingyan in Myanmar and Alut h
Avurudda in Sri Lanka coincides wit h which among t he f ollowing f est ivals in
India?
[A]Makar Sankrant i
[B]Holi
[C]Vaisakhi
[D]Guru Poornima
Vaisakhi
Songkran is a t erm f or Mesh Sankrant i. It is celebrat ed as New Year
(Songkran) in T hailand and several Sout heast Asian count ries when t he sun
t ransit s t he const ellat ion of Aries, t he f irst ast rological sign in t he Zodiac. T he
same is celebrat ed as T hingyan in Myanmar, Alut h Avurudda in Sri Lanka,
Cambodian New Year (Chaul Chnam T hmey), Pohela Boishakh in West Bengal
and Bangladesh.
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3. Which among t he f ollowing is t he main f ocus area of Amnest y Int ernat ional?
[A]Give vent f or amnest y of prisoners in deat h row
[B]Prot ect ing right s of women and children
[C]Prot ect ing human right s
[D]Eliminat ion of racism
Protecting human rights

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4. T he t erm "garden of sout hern India" is used f or __?
[A]West ern Ghat s
[B]Cardamom Hills
[C]Cauvery Delt a
[D]Nilgiris
Cauvery Delta
Cauvery or Dakshin Ganga breaks int o a large number of dist ribut aries
f orming a wide delt a called t he garden of sout hern India.
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5. Which of t he f ollowing count ries is not a part of t he Arct ic Circle?
[A]Norway
[B]USA
[C]Est onia
[D]Russia
Estonia

T he land on t he Arct ic Circle is divided among t he eight count ries: Norway,

Sweden, Finland, Russia, USA, Canada, Denmark and Iceland.
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6. T went y Years in a Decade is an aut obiography of __?
[A]Shah Rukh Khan
[B]Aamir Khan
[C]Amit abh Bachchan
[D]Mukesh Ambani
Shah Rukh Khan
T went y Years in a Decade is t he aut obiography of Shah Rukh Khan. T he
aut obiography would cont ain t he journey of Shah Rukh Khan f rom a small
t elevision act or t o t op hero of Bollywood.
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7. Ajinomot o is a special salt added t o cert ain f ood it ems, is ____?
[A]Sodium bicarbonat e
[B]Calcium carbonat e
[C]Monosodium glut amat e
[D]Sodium chloride
Monosodium glutamate
Ajinomot o is also known as monosodium glut amat e. It is a kind of salt and is
added in t he Chinese cuisine t o enhance t he t ast e.
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8. In economy, t he t erm QIP st ands f or___?
[A]Qualit y Improvement Programme
[B]Qualif ied Inst it ut ional Placement
[C]Quart erly Invest ment Programme
[D]Qualif ied Invest ment Project
Qualif ied Institutional Placement
Qualif ied Inst it ut ional Placement (QIP) is a capit al-raising t ool, primarily used in
India and ot her part of sout hern Asia, whereby a list ed company can issue
equit y shares, f ully and part ly convert ible debent ures, or any securit ies ot her
t han warrant s which are convert ible t o equit y shares t o qualif ied inst it ut ional
buyers.
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9. T he most int ensive solar f lares are designat ed as__?
[A]M
[B]X
[C]Y

[D]Z
X
Solar f lares are classif ied as A, B, C, M or X according t o t he peak f lux (in
wat t s per square met re, W/m2) of 100 t o 800 picomet re X-rays near Eart h, as
measured on t he GOES spacecraf t .
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10. Recent ly Nasa scient ist s have f ound evidence t hat one of t he Sat urns
moons harbours a vast ocean of liquid wat er beneat h an icy crust . Which
among t he f ollowing is t hat moon?
[A]T it an
[B]Mimas
[C]Enceladus
[D]T et hys
Enceladus
Enceladus was det ect ed as having geysers of wat er shoot ing out f rom it s
surf ace, suggest ing t he presence of liquid wat er deep in it s core. It was
conf irmed in 2014. Enceladus is one of only t hree out er Solar Syst em bodies
(along wit h Jupit er's moon Io and Nept une's moon T rit on) where act ive
erupt ions have been observed. T he crat ers of Enceladus have been named
Alibaba and Alladin.
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