The Economic Survey of India 2011-12: Highlights

The economic survey 2011-12 was presented in the parliament by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukharjee on 14 March 2012. According to the economic survey 2011-12 the Indian GDP pegged at 6.9% in the fiscal year 2010-11. Figure for the agriculture, services and industry sector stood at 2.5%, 9.4% and 4-5% respectively. The survey, which is presented annually by the Ministry of Finance, of government of India, maintained that the Indian economy despite global slowdown remained exuberant and was among the fastest growing economies of the world.

Given below are the highlights of economic survey 2011-12 

•    Growth Rate is estimated to be 6.9%. Outlook for growth and stability is promising as the real GDP growth expected to pick up to 7.6% in 2012-13 and 8.6% in 2013-14.

•    At 2.5 %, Agri sector performed well. Services sector grew by 9.4 %, its share in GDP grew up to 59%.

•    Industrial sector growth stood at 4-5 %

•    Inflation on WPI which was on a upward trajectory in the initial part of the year witnessed a sharp slow down by the year-end.

•    WPI food inflation dropped from 20.2% in February 2010 to 1.6% in January 2012. The low inflation rate is likely to improve promote investment 
•    India remains among the fastest growing economies of the world. Country’s sovereign credit rating rose by a substantial 2.98 percent in 2007-12.

•    Fiscal consolidation on track - savings & capital formation expected to rise. 

·         Exports grew 40.5% in the first half of this fiscal and imports grew by 30.4%.

·         The trade deficit stood at 8% of the GDP. 

·         Forex reserves enhanced - covering nearly the entire external debt stock

•    Central spending on social services goes up to 18.5% this fiscal from 13.4% in 2006-07.

•    MNREGA coverage increases to 5.49 crore households in 2010-11.

•    Sustainable development and climate change concerns on high priority.

BUSINESS & INDUSTRY Current Affair-Feb/Mar 2012 for IBPS & CLAT

1. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has granted clearance to Jindal Power Limited (JPL) for its 2,400 MW power project at Tamnar, which is located in:

a. West Bengal

b. Jharkhand

c. Madhya Pradesh

d. Chhattisgarh

2. IT fi rm Hexaware Technologies recently bagge d a five-year outsourcing deal worth $250 millionfrom which one of the following countries?

a. Germany

b. United Kingdom

c. France

d. Netherlands

3. Which of the following private sector banks has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to allow policyholders to receive policy payments through Electronic Funds Transfer?

a. ICICI

b. HDFC

c. Dhanlaxmi Bank

d. ING Vysya bank

4. Which one of the following Defence Public Sector Undertakings received the prestigious Raksha Mantri's Awards in

fi ve categories for the year 2009-10?

a. Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)

b. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL)

c. Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL)

d. Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML)

5. Siemens AG announced it woill invest 250 million euro in India to develop new baseline products, especially for the Indianurban and rural markets, as part of its new global strategy. Siemens AG belongs to which one of the following countries?

a. Italy

b. Germany

c. United States of America

d. Canada

6. Facing fi nancial pressure, which one of the following companies recently has increased the international call rate tariffs by up to 10 per cent for some destinations for all customers and reduced certain benefits on add-on services for its pre-paid subscribers?

a. Vodafone

b. Tata Indicom

c. Airtel

d. Reliance

7. Titan Industries has acquired watch brand Favre Leuba, which is based in:

a. Norway

b. Sweden

c. Spain

d. Switzerland

8. A US-based leading manufacturer of high-technology integrated information, communication and sensor system

solutions for military and commercial markets, has announced a joint venture with which one of the following Indian

companies recently?

a. Mahindra Satyam

b. Mahindra & Mahindra

c. Wipro Technologies

d. Infosys

9. Japanese carmaker Nissan is setting up a diesel engine plant inside its manufacturing facility at Oragadam, which is

located in:

a. Tamil Nadu

b. Karnataka

c. Rajasthan

d. Haryana

10. Lupin is going to acquire I'rom Co of Japan. Lupin and the I'rom Co are related with which one of the following sectors?

a. Power

b. Education

c. Transport infrastructure

d. Health

11. Recently, GE India appointed whom as the President and CEO of its energy business in India?

a. Kishore Jayaraman

b. Banmali Agrawala

c. John L Frannery

d. Jeffery Immelt

12. Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with which one of the following companies to establish a joint venture company for the production of cold-rolled non-oriented products at Bokaro?

a. Nippon Steel

b. Gerdau

c. Evraz

d. POSCO

13. The Hinduja thermal power plant at Palavalasa is going to be established in which one of the following states?

a. Tamilnadu

b. Kerala

c. Andhra Pradesh

d. Karnataka

14. Indian Railways recently signed a contract to carry out reconstruction of a 56-km rail line in which one of the following countries?

a. Sri Lanka

b. Maldives

c. Bangladesh

d. Myanmar

15. Which state-owned company was accused of making illegal profi ts by selling natural gas (allocated by the government to make LPG)to industries?

a. Indian Oil Corporation

b. GAIL

c. Oil India Limited

d. ONGC

16. Which one of the following cities hosted the sixth International Conference on Aluminum in December 2011?

a. Indore

b. Bhubaneshwar

c. Hyderabad

d. Bengaluru

17. Which one of the following companies has launched the all-new ‘RAZR' handset?

a. Motorola

b. Nokia

c. Samsung

d. LG

18. Aditi Technologies has announced the acquisition of which cloud computing company?

a. Cumulux

b. HCL Cloud

c. PointBridge

d. iLink System

19. Recently, Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi signed a deal to merge their small and medium-sized LCD businesses and to create a new company under the name of:

a. International Display

b. Japan Display

c. Asia Displa

d. National Display

20. Which of the following companies has entered into an agreement with Moscow-based IT security solution fi rm Kaspersky Lab, to offer managed security services to telecom companies?

a. Tata Consultancy Services

b. Wipro

c. Infosys

d. Tech Mahindra/Mahindra Satyam

ANSWERS

1. (d) Chhattisgarh

2. (b) United Kingdom

3. (c) Dhanlaxmi Bank

4. (a) Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)

5. (b) Germany

6. (c) Airtel

7. (d) Switzerland

8. (b) Mahindra & Mahindra

9. (a) Tamil Nadu

10. (d) Health

11. (b) Banmali Agrawala

12. (d) POSCO

13. (c) Andhra Pradesh

14. (a) Sri Lanka

15. (b) GAIL

16. (c) Hyderabad

17. (a) Motorola

18. (a) Cumulux

19. (b) Japan Display

20. (d) Tech Mahindra/Mahindra Satyam

Current Affair -Feb/March 2012 for CLAT & IBPS

1. Recently, 139 greater flamingos were electrocuted at which one of the following Wildlife Sanctuaries?

a. Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary

b. Keoladev Ghana Wildlife Sanctuary

c. Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary

d. Manas Wildlife Sanctuary

2. The Government of India has set up a mechanism to access all intelligence data.The name of this mechanism is:

a. Indian Intelligence Grid (INTEL GRID)

b. National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID)

c. Indian Spy

d. Third Eye

3. Which one of the following Indian photographers was declared the Grand Prix winner among 60,000 entries in the International Nikon Photo Contest?

a. Raghu Rai

b. Homai Vyarawalla

c. S Paul

d. Debarshi Duttagupta

4. Who is the current Chief Justice of India?

a. KG Balakrishnan

b. YK Sabharwal

c. RC Lohati

d. HS Kapadia

5. The South Asian Football Federation Cup (SAFF) Championship was recently organised in:

a. Chennai

b. Mumbai

c. Panaji

d. New Delhi

6. An enclave has been named as ‘Mahatma Gandhi District’ in which of the following cities of the USA?

a. New York

b. Los angles

c. Chicago

d. Houston

7. Which one of the following personalities was recently appointed as the Chairperson of the Press Council of India (PCI)?

a. Altamas Kabir

b. Raju Ramachandran

c. Markandey Katju

d. Mrs Vibha Bhargava

8. According to the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) - 2010, which of the following countries leads

the world in addressing pollution control and natural resource management challenges?

a. Switzerland

b. Iceland

c. New Zealand

d. Australia

9. Stem cell therapy is best suitable for:

a. Leukemia

b. Parkinson's disease

c. Spinal cord injuries

d. All of the above

10. The term ‘Jasmine Revolution’ is best defined as:

a. A women’s uprising in Yemen

b. A code name given to the ‘SlutWalk movement’ in Canada

c. A pro-democracy demonstration in Tunisia

d. An anti-apartheid drive in South Africa

11. Who is/are the author(s) of the book Steve Jobs?

a. Steve Jobs

b. Walter Isaacson

c. Jay Elliot and William L Simon

d. Christopher Hurt

12. Who among the following has been elected as the new Prime Minister of Japan recently?

a. Taro Aso

b. Yukio Hatoyama

c. Naoto Kan

d. Yoshihiko Noda

13. Who among the following personalities has been declared the winner of the Man Booker Prize - 2011?

a. Tomas Transtromer

b. Jules A Hoffman

c. Julian Barnes

d. Saul Perlmutter

14. Bhagyam Oilfields are located in which one of the following states?

a. Gujarat

b. Maharashtra

c. Rajasthan

d. Andhra Pradesh

15. Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant is being set up with the help of which of the following countries?

a. France

b. UK

c. USA

d. Russia

16. India’s first double-decker train was flagged off between which of the following stations?

a. Howrah and Dhanbad

b. Mumbai and Pune

c. New Delhi and Bhopal

d. Bengaluru and Mangalore

17. LED, a common display technology, stands for:

a. Laser Emitting Diode

b. Light Emitting Dipole

c. Light Emitting Diode

d. Laser Emitting Display

18. Which of the following social activists has been selected for the prestigious Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development 2011, for her sustained work towards empowering women?

a. Ela Bhatt

b. Kiran Bedi

c. Arundhati Roy

d. Medha Patkar

19. Who among the following has been named as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the cricket World Cup 2015 Local Organising Committee?

a. James Strong

b. Dr. Danny Jordaan

c. John Harnden

d. Haroon Lorgat

20. ‘Vivek Express’, which recently became the longest distance travelling train by replacing Himsagar Express, covers what distance?

a. 3725 km

b. 4286 km

c. 5006 km

d. 4056 km

21. An on-board TV service, the first of its kind on Indian Railways, will be provided in which of the following trains?

a. Rajdhani Express

b. Duronto Express

c. Shatabdi Express

d. Deccan Odyssey

22. What is the name of the natural preservative that can prevent food from rotting by destroying the bacteria that make meat, fish, eggs and dairy products decompose?

a. Bisin

b. Disodium ETA

c. BHA

d. BHT

23. What is ‘Memogate’?

a. A secret report of the KGB blaming the USA for disintegration of the former USSR

b. A scandal regarding the deployment of NATO troops in Afghanistan

c. A scandal involving the Pakistani Ambassador to the US seeking help to avert a military takeover in Pakistan

d. A scandal related to with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the US Government and

Air France

24. Choose the incorrect option:

(Aircraft company) - (Country)

a. Airbus - France

b. Tupolev - Russia

c. Embraer - USA

d. Bombardier - Canada

25. Who among the following personalities has won the most nominations for the 2012 Grammy Awards?

a. Kanye West

b. Lady Gaga

c. Adele

d. Rihanna

26. Name the first Indian spy satellite that will be operational by 2014 to keep an eye on neighboring

regions?

a. SPY-Sat

b. Eagle

c. AWACS

d. CCI-Sat

27. VR Raghunath is associated with which of the following sports?

a. Football

b. Rowing

c. Hockey

d. Archery

28. According to the recent Global Livability Survey, which city of the world has been judged as the world’s most livable city?

a. Mexico City

b. Melbourne

c. London

d. New Delhi

29. The Bonn conference, which was held recently, involved which of the following countries?

a. Libya

b. Yemen

c. Egypt

d. Afghanistan

30. Which one of the following countries has the largest number of illiterate adults in the world, according to UNESCO’s Education for All Global Monitoring Report-2011?

a. Brazil

b. Indonesia

c. India

d. China

31. Recently, which of the following singers was honoured with the first Hridaynath award for her contribution to Indian music?

a. Asha Bhosle

b. Lata Mangeshkar

c. Abida Parveen

d. Hemlata

32. Who is the only batsman in the cricket to score 7,000 ODI runs with a strike rate of over 100?

a. Adam Gilchrist

b. Shahid Afridi

c. Virender Sehwag

d. Ricardo Powell

33. Sebastian Vettel drives for which of the following teams?

a. McLaren

b. Ferrari

c. Mercedes

d. Red Bull

ANSWERS:

1. (a) Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary

2. (b) Na_ onal Intelligence Grid (NATGRID)

3. (d) Debarshi Du_ agupta

4. (d) HS Kapadia

5. (d) New Delhi

6. (d) Houston

7. (c) Markandey Katju

8. (b) Iceland

9. (d) All of the above

10. (c) A pro-democracy demonstra_ on in Tunisia

11. (b) Walter Isaacson

12. (d) Yoshihiko Noda

13. (c) Julian Barnes

14. (c) Rajasthan

15. (d) Russia

16. (a) Howrah and Dhanbad

17. (c) Light Emi_ ng Diode

18. (a) Ela Bha_

19. (c) John Harnden

20. (b) 4286 km

21. (c) Shatabdi Express

22. (a) Bisin

23. (c) A scandal involving the Pakistani Ambassador to the US seeking help to avert a military takeover in Pakistan

24. (c) Embraer - USA

25. (a) Kanye West

26. (d) CCI-Sat

27. (c) Hockey

28. (b) Melbourne

29. (d) Afghanistan

30. (c) India

31. (b) Lata Mangeshkar

32. (c) Virender Sehwag

33. (d) Red Bull