INTERNATIONAL
1) Which country blocked the import of milk powder from New Zealand in the month of August 2013 after it discovered bacteria that can lead to botulism in some of its dairy products ?
Ans:- China
2) On 20 August 2013 the US has imposed sanctions on a Pakistani ————— being used for training bomb makers and suicide attackers for the LeT and Al-Qaeda, the first time such action has been taken against a seminary ?
Ans:- Madrassa
3) Which country court has disqualified the country’s largest Islamic party from taking part in the next general election ?
Ans:- Bangladesh
4) Who was declared open the new International Container Terminal of the Colombo harbour on 5 August 2013 ?
Ans:- Sri Lanka’s President, Mahinda Rajapakse
5) In the month of August which country released the world’s first zinc-enriched rice variety capable of fighting diarrhoea and pneumonia-induced childhood deaths and stunted growth ?
Ans:- Bangladesh
6) Which country on 26 August 2013 rejected the proposal of Japan to hold talks on disputed Sekaku and Diaoyu islands ?
Ans:- China
7) The Chinese and Pakistani air forces on 28 August 2013 decided to hold a joint-drill in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region bordering Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) .What is the code name assigned to this joint drill?
Ans:- Shaheen -II
8) UN Security Council failed to reach an agreement on a resolution that could authorise the use of military force against ——— ?
Ans:- Syria
9) It was recently reported in some sections of media that a 1,750 MW nuclear power plant is being established, which will be the largest nuclear power plant in the world till date. This plant is reportedly being established in which country?
Ans:- China
10) The population of which BRICS nation crossed 200 million mark recently?
Ans:- Brazil
INDIA & WORLD
1) India and Pakistan exchanged fire at which area of Poonch Sector of Jammu and Kashmir on 6 August 2013 killing five Indian Soldiers?
Ans:- Chakan Da Bagh
2) In the recently released Academic Ranking of 500 World Universities (ARWU) for 2013 only one Indian institute features in the list. Which institute is this?
Ans:- Indian Institute of Science (IIS), Bangalore
3) 1) An avian flu emergency was declared in the capital of which neighbouring country of India on 17 August, 2013 after fresh cases emerged from different areas of the capital?
Ans:- Nepal
4) Name the country which India surpassed to become world’s third largest Internet user?
Ans:- Japan
5) Which country has suggested Myanmar to set-up a Joint Border Working Group to address the issues of demarcation of border between the two countries ?
Ans:- India
NATIONAL
1) Which union territory of the country celebrated its 60th Liberation Day on 2 August 2013?
Ans:- Dadra and Nagar Haveli
2) Union Cabinet on 9 August 2013 approved the proposal for establishment of which new Wing in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting?
Ans:- Media Wing
3) Ministry of Communications and Information Technology inaugurated Data portal of India in New Delhi on 8 August 2013. Name the URL of the website?
Ans:- www.data.gov.in
4) Which house of Parliament passed the historic companies Bill 2012 on 8 August 2013?
Ans:- Rajya Sabha
5) Janata Party led by Subramanian Swamy has merged with which party on on 11 August 2013?
Ans:- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
6) Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister K.V. Thomas on 7 August 2013 introduced National Food Security Bill 2013 in Lok Sabha. This will replace which ordinance?
Ans:- National Food Security Ordinance, 2013
7) Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on 16 August 2013 unveiled the National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme. What is the objective of the scheme?
Ans:- To motivate the youth for acquiring vocational skills
STATES
1) For the first time a pilot-project for use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) will be undertaken during an upcoming assembly by-election to be held in an Indian state. Which state is this?
Ans:- Nagaland
2) In the month of August 2013 Which State Government has decided to revoke the suspension order of mining leases in the state ?
Ans:- Goa
3) In the month of August 2013 ADB and Union government signed an agreement for 300 million US dollars in additional loan to upgrade highways in —— ?
Ans:- Bihar
4) Which state on 20 August, 2013 became the first to launch the food security scheme for its citizens?
Ans:- Delhi
5) Which state Government’s Department of Town and Country Planning on 20 August 2012 notified an affordable housing policy, 2013 ?
Ans:- Haryana
6) Which state became the only state of India to have increased its forest cover in the past two decades, as announced recently by the state govt.?
Ans:- Sikkim
7) Which state government has recently decided to introduce 11 different coloured strips for the three-wheelers based on the zones ?
Ans:- Delhi
8) State Government of Rajasthan on 21 August 2013 laid the foundation stone for world’s biggest solar park at which place?
Ans:- Bhadla of Jodhpur District
9) Which state government on 22 August 2013 laid the foundation store of Bio 360, a Life Sciences Park ?
Ans:- Kerala
10) During 2011-12, which state replaced Maharashtra to become the state with the largest number of HIV patients in India?
Ans:-Andhra Pradesh
CONFERENCES
1) The 2nd ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus was concluded in ———– on 29 August 2013 ?
Ans:- Brunei
AWARDS & HONOURS
1) Who is the Malayalam poetess was awarded 22nd Saraswati Samman of K.K. Birla Foundation ?
Ans:- Sugathakumari C)Shibani Bathija D)Urvashi Butalia
2) Which former US President was one among the 16 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom for the year 2013, which were announced on 8 August 2013?
Ans:- Bill Clinton
3) Who was conferred the Gujar Mal Modi Award for Science and Technology for year 2013 on 9 August, 2013?
Ans:- Vinod Prakash Sharma
4) Subrata Kumar was nominated for the Prime Minister’s Shram Ratna Award for year 2012 as announced by the union govt. on 14 August, 2013 on the eve of the Independence Day. He is associated with which company?
Ans:- Tata Steel Limited
5) Who is the Professor of economics, conservationist and mountaineer was selected on 12 August 2013 to receive the Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal ?
Ans:- Harshwanti Bisht
SPORTS & GAMES
1) Indian Police Wrestlers won five gold medals on 5 August 2013 (the fifth day) in the World Police and Fire Games. At which place the games were held?
Ans:- Belfast, England
2) Name the Wimbledon 2013 Women’s Singles winner who announced her retirement from Lawn Tennis on 14 August 2013?
Ans:- Marion Bartoli
3) Who won Men’s Singles Title in Rogers Cup 2013?
Ans:- Rafael Nadal
4) India won six medals at the 7th Asian Junior Wushu Championships which concluded on 13 August 2013. Where was the Championship held?
Ans:- Manila, Philippines
5) Which Indian player has won 10000 dollar the Internalional Tennis Federation (ITF) Women’s Tennis Tournament on 11 August 2013?
Ans:- Sowjanya Bavisetti
6) Who won the men’s singles title at the World Badminton Championships held at Guangzhou?
Ans:- Lin Dan of China
7) Who won the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix on 25 August, 2013?
Ans:- Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull
8) India won Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC’s) Emerging Team under-23 title in the final held on 25 August, 2013 at Singapore. India defeated which team in the finals?
Ans:- Pakistan
9) Who equaled the world record of highest golds after winning the 4x100m relay at the World Athletics Championships on 18 August 2013 at Moscow, Russia?
Ans:- Usain Bolt
10) Which franchisee team became the winner of the 1st edition of Indian Badminton League (IBL), final of which was played on 31 August, 2013?
Ans:- Hyderabad Hotshots
ECONOMY
1) Central Government on 13 August 2013 raised customs duty on gold, silver and platinum to ———- percent in a bid to curb the surging imports and burgeoning Current Account Deficit.
Ans:- 10%
2) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently transferred its surplus profit to the government for the year ended June 2013, which is the highest amount to be transferred by the RBI to the government, except year 2007. How much amount was transferred as surplus profit to the govt.?
Ans:- Rs. 33,010 crore
3) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 8 August 2013 announced its decision to sell govt. bonds on a week day with an objective of controlling the volatility in the foreign exchange market. Which day of the week was chosen for proposed weekly sale of govt. bonds?
Ans:- Monday
4) What is the name of a proposed commission that will look into removing ambiguity and establishing a stable and non-adversarial tax administration in the country and establishment of which was approved by the union govt. recently?
Ans:- Tax Administration Reform Commission – TARC
5) The new Petronet LNG terminal near Kochi in Kerala received its first cargo vessel carrying liquified gas on 20 August, 2013. This new LNG terminal, which has been built at a cost of Rs 4,200 crore, is situated at ——- ?
Ans:- Puthuvype
6) Cheraman Financial Services Limited (CFSL), which became the first Islamic financial services company to be launched in India, started its operations in which Indian state recently?
Ans:- Kerala
7) On 24 August, 2013 the Union Govt. approved the initiative for free supply of essential medicines to the patients availing treatments. How much budget outlay has been made available under this initiative, which comes under the 12th Five Year Plan?
Ans:- Rs. 16,000 crore
8) The Indian Rupee fell sharply on 28 August, 2013 to hit a record low of 68.80 to the dollar. This was its biggest single-day percentage fall since how many years?
Ans:- 18 years
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
1) Name the indigenously developed rockets which were successfully test-fired by India on 7 August 2013from a multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) from a base at Chandipur-on-sea near Balasore, off the Odisha coast?
Ans:- Pinaka rockets
2) NASA is all set to launch its next mission to Mars in November 2013 from Florida. What will be the project called?
Ans:- Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN)
3) Name the first ever indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier launched by India on 12 August 2013?
Ans:- INS Vikrant
4) Name the indigenously-developed nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missile successfully test-fired by India on 12 August 2013?
Ans:- Prithvi-II
5) ISRO called off GSLV-D5 launch with just an hour to go before the launch as a “leak” had been detected in fuel tank on 19 August 2013. GSLV-D5 was supposed to carry which satellite?
Ans:- GSAT-14
PERSONS IN NEWS
A) APPOINTMENTS
1) Who was appointed as 11th Director of the IIM A (Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadabad) on 13 August 2013?
Ans:- Ashish Nanda
2) Who was appointed as the new Director-General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on 17 August, 2013?
Ans:- Dilip Trivedi
3) Who recently took over as the new Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the UN Conference on Disarmament at Geneva?
Ans:- D. Bala Venkatesh Varma
4) Who was appointed as the new Chairperson of the National School of Drama (NSD) Society on 19 August, 2013?
Ans:- Ratan Thiyam
5) For the first time an Uttarakhand High Court judge has been made the Chief Justice of a High Court of the country. Who is this judge?
Ans:- Justice P.C. Pant
6) Robert Mugabe was sworn in as the President of Zimbabwe on 22 August, 2013.Mugabe won a landslide victory in the 31 July elections with 61% of the presidential votes.What is the name of his political party?
Ans:- Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF)
7) How many Additional Solicitors General (ASGs) were appointed in the Supreme Court on 26 August, 2013?
Ans:- Three
8) Who was appointed Head of Atomic Energy Organisation in Iran on 16 August 2013?
Ans:- Ali Akbar Salehi
B)RESIGNS
1) Who is the Iran’s representative to the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since 2005, announced his resignation on 22 August 2013 ?
Ans:- Ali Asghar Soltanieh
C) DEATHS
1) A Dronacharya Award winner and the coach of former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev passed away on 16 August, 2013 at Mohali. What was the name of this famous cricket coach?
Ans:- Desh Prem Azad
2) Leading anti-superstition activist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar was shot down on 20 August, 2013 in Pune. He was founder of which organisation which was engaged in spreading the movement against anti-superstition in Maharashtra?
Ans:- Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti
D) VISITORS
1) Who is the Afghanistan vice president visited India from 20 – 22 August 2013 ?
Ans:- Mohammad Karim Khalili
E) MISCELLANEOUS
1) Which tennis player topped the Forbes list of highest-paid female athletes for the ninth straight year?
Ans:- Maria Sharapova
2) A Street in Winnipeg city of which country has been named after Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of India’s 67th Independence Day?
Ans:- Canada
3) Name the oldest penguin of the world which turned 36 years old on 12 August 2013 ?
Ans:- King Penguin Missy
4) What is the name of a dreaded terrorist from the 1980s who was arrested on 16 August, 2013 and who was allegedly involved in a series of blasts including the 1993 Mumbai train blasts?
Ans:- Abdul Karim Tunda
5) Indian-American Trio won top honours at the 11th National Geographic World Championship. Where was it held?
Ans:- Russia’s St. Petersburg city
PLACES IN NEWS
1) Which country was hit by earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 on 16 August 2013?
Ans: New Zealand
ABBREVIATIONS IN NEWS
1) What is the fullform of ‘ NABARD ‘ ?
Ans:- National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development
BOOKS IN NEWS
1) Gitanjali, the collection of poems (song offerings) by Rabindranath Tagore was released in 14 different languages at Kolkata. Who hasa released it?
Ans:- . Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal
2) “My Journey: Transforming Dreams into Actions”, which was published recently by Rupa, is a new book written by ——– ?
Ans:- A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
COMMITTEES IN NEWS
1) A committee constituted by the Corporate Affairs Ministry to look into ways to improve the country’s overall business climate is ready to submit its report to the Union Govt. Who is heading this 25-member committee?
Ans:- M. Damodaran, Former SEBI Chairman
DAYS & DATES
1) World Youth Day is observed on ——- ?
Ans:- 12th August