Porn ban: SC women lawyers seek ban on free access to pornography, viewers should pay hefty charges to govt.

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Taliban claims truck bomb blast in Afghan capital Kabul

The Taliban claimed responsibility for a truck bomb attack on a military and logistics services compound, mainly used by foreigners, in Kabul.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for a truck bomb attack on a military and logistics services compound, mainly used by foreigners, in Kabul early on Monday after a powerful explosion was heard all around the city.

A security services official said four heavily armed attackers were fighting on the site of the Northgate Hotel, a secure residential compound for foreign military and civilian organisations.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Afghan authorities, although the Taliban claimed there were "dozens of dead and wounded". The Islamist group often exaggerates the extent of attacks it launches against Afghan government and foreign security targets. 

The Taliban claimed responsibility for a truck bomb attack on a military and logistics services compound, mainly used by foreigners, in Kabul early on Monday after a powerful explosion was heard all around the city.

A security services official said four heavily armed attackers were fighting on the site of the Northgate Hotel, a secure residential compound for foreign military and civilian organisations.

There was no immediate word on casualties from Afghan authorities, although the Taliban claimed there were "dozens of dead and wounded". The Islamist group often exaggerates the extent of attacks it launches against Afghan government and foreign security targets.

Afghan security forces closed off streets around the site, which is east of Kabul's main international airport and on the way to the sprawling Bagram air base north of the city, immediately after the attack.

Telephone calls to the hotel went unanswered. The hotel's website (www.northgatehotel.com/) says it "provides custom-made Life Support Services to military and civilian organizations in danger zones".

There were also reports of power outages in Kabul after the blast.
A spokeswoman for the NATO-led Resolute Support mission, said they were assessing the situation but gave no details.

A statement from the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and said its fighters had entered the compound.

The attack comes around a week after the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a demonstration by members of the mainly Shi'ite Hazara minority, killing at least 80 people.

The Taliban, which often says it wants to avoid civilian casualties, said the compound was not near homes and that ordinary people were not harmed. 

News From:http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/taliban-claims-truck-bomb-blast-in-afghan-capital-kabul/1/728869.html

Questions and Answers 01 August 2016

Questions

1.Sampoor power plant is a joint venture between NTPC of India and:

  [A]Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Sri Lanka

  [B]EDF, France

  [C]Iberdrola, Spain

  [D]Duke Energy, USA

2.The member of Shivaji's Asthapradhana who looked after foreign affairs was (1998)

  [A]Peshwa  [B]Sachiv  [C]Pandit Rao  [D] Sumant

3. Which state tourism of India has won awards at ‘FilmAT’ International film festival in Poland?

  [A]Himachal Pradesh 

  [B]Kerala

  [C]Tamil Nadu 

  [D]Madhya Pradesh

4.Where is the famous Virupaksha temple located?(2015)

   [A]Bhadrachalam

   [B] Chidambaram

   [C]Hampi

   [D]Srikalahasti

5.Which Assamese novel has won the 2016 Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar award?

  [A]Daaga [B]Torbanduda [C]Zantadhari [D]Sulus

6.Which one of the following types of glass can cut off ultra violet rays?
  [A] Soda Glass [B]Pyrex Glass  [C]Jena Glass [D] Crookes Glass

7.A fuse is used in mains electric supply as a safety device.Which one of the following statements about the fuse is correct? (1998)
   [A]It is connected in parallel with the main switch
   [B]It is made mainly from silver alloys
   [C]It must have a low melting point
   [D]It must have a very high resistance 

8.Who among the following invented Lasers?
   [A]Theodore Maiman
   [B]Detis Papin
   [C]William Morton
   [D]Francis Crick 

9.Andy roberts is a/an ?
  [A]Astronaut
  [B]Cricketer
  [C]Journalist
  [D]Economist   

10.World wide data protection day is observed on ?
    [A]04 August
    [B]26 July
    [C]29 October
    [D]28 January  

  

Answers

1.[A]Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Sri Lanka.

   Sampoor power plant is a joint venture between NTPC of India and Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and the NTPC of India on 50:50 basis.

2.[D] Sumanta

 Peshwa-Finanace and Prime minister,Sachiva-Master of Correspondence,Sumanta-Master of Ceremonies and Foreign Affairs,Pandit Rao-Religious Affairs.

3. [B]Kerala.

   The Kerala Tourism has won four awards at the 11th edition of the ‘FilmAT’, which is one of the biggest international film festivals dedicated to tourism, art and ecology in Poland. The ‘Responsible Tourism’ initiative started by Kerala Tourism has won three awards under categories of the Best Promotional Social Campaign, Protection of Nature, and Eco-Food categories respectively. The tourism board’s ad film “The Great Backwaters of Kerala” has won the ‘Best Editing Award’, which showcased life in and around the legendary backwaters. The FilmAT festival is associated with the International Committee of Tourism Film Festivals.

4.[C]Hampi.

   Virupaksha Temple is located in Hampi 350 km from Bangalore, in the state of Karnataka in southern India. It is part of the Group of Monuments at Hampi, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Virupaksha is a form of Shiva and has other temples dedicated to him, notably at the Group of Monuments at Pattadakal, another World Heritage Site. The temple was built by Lakkana Dandesha, a chieftain under the ruler Krishna Deva Raya II of the Vijayanagara Empire.

   

5.[C]Zantadhari.

  The Assamese novel “Zantadhari” has won the 2016 Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar award. It has been authored by Prarthana Saikia.

6.[D]Crookes Glass.
    The crookes glass contains cerium and other rare earths and has a high absorption of ultraviolet radiation.It is used in sunglasses.

7.[C]It must have a low melting point.
    The fuse wire is made up of the metal having low melting point.Due to this,it melts when heat is produced in it due to passage of large current through it.This saves the electric equipment from high voltage burning.

8.[A]Theodore Maiman.
   In 1960,US Physicist Theodore Maiman of Huges Aircraft Corporation invented laser from a ruby rod.

9.[B]Cricketer.
   Anderson Montgomery everton Roberts is former west indies Cricketer.he is a fast bowler.

10.[D]28 January.
    The aim is to give citizens an opportunity to understand what kind of data is collected about them.
 

Civil Services Post

List of Civil Services 

      Below is the complete list of the jobs available through the civil service examination conducted by the UPSC in every calendar year.

Group A Services

• Indian Administrative Service
• Indian Foreign Service
• Indian Police Service
• Indian P & T Accounts & Finance Service
• Indian Audit and Accounts Service
• Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise)
• Indian Defence Accounts Service
• Indian Revenue Service (I.T.)
• Indian Ordnance Factories Service (Assistant Works Manager, Administration)
• Indian Postal Service
• Indian Civil Accounts Service
• Indian Railway Traffic Service
• Indian Railway Accounts Service
• Indian Railway Personnel Service
• Indian Railway Protection Force (Assistant Security Commissioner)
• Indian Defence Estates Service
• Indian Information Service (Junior Grade)
• Indian Trade Service, Group 'A' (Gr. III)
• Indian Corporate Law Service

Group - B Services

• Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service (Section Officer's Grade)

• Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service

• Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service

• Pondicherry Civil Service

• Pondicherry Police Service

Petrol price cut by Rs 1.42/litre, diesel by Rs 2.01 a litre

NEW DELHI: Petrol price was on Sunday cut by Rs 1.42 a litre and diesel by Rs 2.01 per litre, the third reduction in rates this month on global cues.

Petrol will cost Rs 61.09 a litre in Delhi from Sunday midnight as compared to Rs 62.51 a litre currently, said Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer.

Similarly, diesel will cost Rs 52.27 per litre as against Rs 54.28 currently.

This is the third reduction in rates this month. Petrol price was last cut by Rs 2.25 a litre on July 16. Diesel rate on that date was reduced by Rs 0.42 a litre. Prior to that petrol price was cut by 89 paise a litre and diesel by 49 paise on July 1.

Prior to the reductions in July, rates had been hiked on four occasions since May 1. Petrol prices in the four hikes had been raised by Rs 4.52 a litre and diesel by Rs 7.72 per litre.

News From:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Petrol-price-cut-by-Rs-1-42/litre-diesel-by-Rs-2-01-a-litre/articleshow/53477850.cms

General Mental Ability Questions

Question

This was asked in IAS exam!
A very simple but confusing puzzle.
A lady buys goods worth Rs.200 from a shop. (shopkeeper selling the goods with zero profit).
The lady gives him Rs.1000 note. The shopkeeper gets the change from the next shop and keeps Rs.200 for himself and returns Rs.800 to the lady.
Later the shopkeeper of the next shop comes with the Rs.1000 note saying "duplicate" and takes his money back.
"How much LOSS did the shopkeeper face ?"
A. 200

B. 800
C. 1200
D. 1800
E. 2000
F. 1600
G. 1000

Simple yet confusing and challenging.

Answer 

The answer is Rs.1000.
 

Inorder to solve the problem we need to examine each individual transactions done by the shopkeeper.
 

We can divide the Transactions into two.

Transaction 1:-

Between the shopkeeper and the lady.In this transaction the shopkeeper gives Rs.200 worth goods and RS.800 to the lady by accepting the totally useless Rs.1000 counterfeit currency.

Transaction 2:-

Between the shopkeeper and the neighbour.In this transaction the shopkeeper gives 1000Rs counterfeit currency to the neighbour by accepting 1000 Rs usefull notes.Later the shopkeeper will return 1000Rs usefull notes to the neighbour.
 

So there is no net gain or loss to the shopkeeper in this transaction.So there is no need to consider this transaction.

So net loss to the shopkeeper =Rs.200 worth goods + Rs.800

Questions and Answers 31 July 2016

Questions

1.Many transplanted seedlings do not grow because

[A] the new soil does not contain favourable minerals

[B]most of the root hairs grip the new soil too hard

[C]most of the root hairs are lost during transplantation

[D]leaves get damaged during transplantation

2.The range of Agni-II missile is around

[A]500km [B]2000km [C]3500km [D]5000km

3.Given below are the names of four energy crops.Which one of them can be cultivated for ethanol?(2010)

[A]Jatropha [B]Maize [C]Pongamia [D]Sunflower

4.The function of heavy water in  a nuclear reactor is to

[A] Slow down the speed of neutrons

[B] Increase the speed of neutrons

[C]Cool down the reactor.

[D]Stop the nuclear reaction.

5.A radioactive substance has a half-life of 4 months.Three-fourth of the substance would decay in (2001)

[A]3 months [B] 4 months [C] 8 months [D] 12 months

6.H1N1 virus is sometimes mentioned in the news with reference to which one of the following diseases?(2015)
[A] AIDS [B] Bird Flu [C] Dengue [D] Swine Flu

7.Indian farmers are unhappy over the introduction of 'Terminator Seed Technology' because the seeds produced by this technology are expected to (1999)
[A]show poor germination.
[B]form low-yielding plants despite the high quality
[C] give rise to sexually sterile plants
[D] give rise to plants incapable of forming viable seeds.

8.What is the theme of the first-ever “National Yoga Olympiad”, which has been organized by the NCERT?
[A]Yoga for Peace and Dhyana
[B]Yoga for Health and Harmony
[C]Yoga for Kriya and Harmony
[D]Yoga for Emotional and Mental development

9.Shiv Pal Singh is associated with which sports?
[A]Wushu [B]Table Tennis [C]Javelin Throw [D]Cricket

10.“Maitree Ek Gyan Yatra” initiative has been launched by which state government of India to link primary schools to high schools to colleges?
[A]Haryana [B]Punjab [C]Assam [D]Kerala

Answers

1.[C]most of the root hairs are lost during transplantation

   Roots are the organ of absorption of water and minerals required for the growth and development of the plants.During transplantation most of the root hairs are damaged so transplanted seedlings do not grow well.

2. [B]2000km

  The Agni-II missile uses a solid propellant at second stage replacing the liquid propellant. Prithvi short range missile used as upper stage of the Agni-I.It can be launched within 15 minutes as compared to half-a-preparation for the earlier version of the Agni.Another major development is a highly mobile platform.

3.[B]Maize.

 Production of alcohol apart from molasses & sugarcane products,the non-molasses products,like maize,starch,corn grain,sweet sorghum,tapioca,sugar beet are also equally getting importance as the climatic conditions for such type of agricultural crops suit India.

4.[C] cool down the reactor.

   Heavy water is used both as a moderator which slows down the neutrons as well as coolant for cooling down the reactor.In India;s context,where most of the nuclear reactors are pressurised water reactors,option[C]is more correct.

5.[C]8 months.

    Substance have half life of 4 months.To decay 3/4 of substance it takes 8 months.It means only 1/4th of the substance is left.

6.[D] Swine Flu.
   Influenza A (H1N1) virus is the most common cause of human influenza (flu). In June 2009,the World Health Organization(WHO) declared the new strain of swine-origin H1N1 as a pandemic.This strain is often called swine flu by the public media.

7.[D] give rise to plants incapable of forming viable seeds.
  Terminator spells trouble for peasant farmers throughout the developing world because they would no longer be able to save seeds to re-use from one harvest to the next. Many poor farmers cannot afford to buy seeds each year. Instead, they save, swap and share seeds that have been developed over generations. If farmers have no choice but to buy new seeds every year, the companies are guaranteed large profits at the expense of poor farmers' food security.

8. [B]Yoga for Health and Harmony.
   The first-ever ‘National Yoga Olympiad’ has been organized by the NCERT for all government and government-aided schools students from June 18 to 21, 2016. The following Yogic practices will be covered in the Olympiad: Asanas, Pranayama, Kriya (Cleansing Process), Bandha(Secondary stage only) and Surya Namaskar (optional). The theme of the Olympiad is ‘Yoga for Health and Harmony’. In it, the Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani would be the chief guest of Award ceremony of National Yoga Olympiad in New Delhi.

9.[C]Javelin Throw.
   India has recently bagged two gold and two silver medals in men’s and women’s categories of Javelin throw at the 2016 Budapest Open Athletics meet. In men’s section, Shiv Pal Singh won the gold with a javelin throw of 76.74 meters while Rajinder Singh won silver. In women’s section, national record-holder Annu Rani won gold with a throw of 57.24 meters. Suman Devi, a South Asian Games champion, won the silver with a throw of 55.38 meters.

10.[C]Assam.
    A unique initiative ‘Maitree Ek Gyan Yatra’ has been launched by Assam government in Sivsagar district to link primary schools to high schools to colleges. Under the initiative, college teachers will take classes in high schools and high schools teachers will teach in primary schools voluntarily. The purpose of the programme is to change the mindset of the teachers, as in some places subject teachers of a school considered it below their dignity to teach the lower level students. The basic idea of implementing the initiative was to improve quality of school students and create better synergy in education sector.

2 militants killed as troops foil infiltration

Two militants and two soldiers were killed in the Nowgan sector of north Kashmir when troops foiled an infiltration bid on Friday night. “Two militants were killed in the gunfight; two soldiers also lost their lives. One soldier was injured,” an army spokesman said. Four foreign militants were killed and a Lahore-based militant Bhadur Ali was arrested on Wednesday in the same sector.

Curfew eased

Street protests continued with seven people injured in south and central Kashmir though authorities lifted curfew in the Valley, except parts of Srinagar city and towns of Anatnag and Pampore. 

Three persons, including a woman, sustained bullet wounds in Shopian district. Four protesters sustained pellet injuries in Budgam after demonstrators attacked security forces.

In another incident, an active member of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, Fayaz Ahmad Rather, was killed near his house in Baramulla district by unidentified gunmen.

Two jawans also lost their lives in the gunfight that took place in

Nowgan sector

News From:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/2-militants-killed-as-troops-foil-infiltration/article8923299.ece

85 dead, 68 lakh displaced as rains pound north & east

With the monsoon trough moving toward northern parts of India, overflowing reservoirs and swirling rivers in combination with lightning strikes have claimed 85 lives over the last few days in Assam, Bihar and Odisha, displacing close to 68 lakh people and rendering tens of thousands homeless.

The National Disaster Response Force and State rescue and relief teams evacuated people from the danger zones and moved them to camps.

In Assam, which was the worst-affected on Saturday, more than two dozen lives were lost in the floods, and about 37 lakh people in 3,300 villages were displaced from their homes. Close to 80 per cent of the Kaziranga National Park, home to the one-horned rhinoceros, lay submerged.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, accompanied by Minster for Development of North Eastern Region (DONER) Jitendra Singh and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonwal, conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas of the State. In all, 14 NDRF flood rescue teams have been deployed and 64 boats pressed into service in Assam.

Mr. Singh held a review meeting with the Chief Minister, senior officials and rescue and relief teams, and promised all help from the Centre.

The swollen Ganga breached a two-km stretch of an embankment at Birnagar near the Farakka Barrage. ADM (Land Reforms) for Malda, Kanchan Chowdhury, told a press conference that repairs were under way on a war footing.

In Bihar, flood waters affected over 26 lakh people in 2,034 villages. Among the rivers flowing above the danger level are Baghmati at Benibad, Kamlabalan at Jhanjharpur and Kosi at Baltara, the Disaster Management Department said in a statement.

News From: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/85-dead-68-lakh-displaced-as-rains-pound-north-east/article8923300.ece

Protests erupt across Telangana over paper leak

Anguished parents and agitated students took to streets for the second day on Friday protesting the leakage of Eamcet-II question paper and appealing to the Government not to cancel it.

Be it Hyderabad or any other part of the State, parents and students supported by various students organisations came out and protested what they termed ‘irreparable’ loss to the students, who had done well in the entrance examination.

In Hyderabad, parents and students, who gathered at Dharna Chowk in Indira Park, were in for shock when the police prevented them from staging a demonstration. Police lifted and whisked away the protesters to Gandhinagar and Musheerabad police stations. Elsewhere in the city, students organisations like Telugunadu Students Federation protested outside Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University.

In an interesting development in Nalgonda town, parents and students of Eamcet -II marched to the residence of Tirumal Rao, one of the accused in the question paper leakage and staged a protest demonstration.

About 15 activists of the ABVP staged a demonstration at NTR Chowk while activists of Students Federation of India and Telangana Vidyarthi Vedika burnt an effigy of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in front of the bus stand. In Khammam, activists of the All India Students Federation (AISF) set afire an ‘effigy’ of the State Government at the R&B Guesthouse. They raised slogans demanding stringent action against the colleges allegedly linked to the scam.

In Karimnagar, parents along with their children assembled at the Telangana Chowk in the town and staged dharna. Later, they went in a procession to the Collectorate and again staged dharna raising slogans demanding the government to punish the culprits and not to victimise other students.

News From: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/protests-erupt-across-telangana-over-paper-leak/article8919797.ece

Siddaramaiah’s son stable

There is slight improvement in the condition of Rakesh Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s son, who has been admitted to University Hospital in Brussels, Belgium. However, he continues to be critical, according to sources close to the Chief Minister’s family.

While there is no further deterioration in his vital parameters and his acidosis has reduced slightly, he continues to be on ventilator support. Sources said doctors performed a laparoscopic surgery to remove his gall bladder on Friday.

News From:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/siddaramaiahs-son-stable/article8920142.ece

Questions and Answers 30 July 2016

Questions

1.Which of the following is a correct sequence?

[A]Vishnuprayag, Nandprayag, Karnaprayag, Rudraprayag, Devprayag

[B]Devprayag,, Nandprayag, Karnaprayag, Rudraprayag, Vishnuprayag

[C]Rudraprayag,Vishnuprayag, Nandprayag, Karnaprayag, Devprayag

[D]Devprayag, Nandprayag, Rudraprayag, Vishnuprayag, Karnaprayag

2.Who is the current Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) to the Government of India (GoI)?

[A]Arvind Subramanian

[B]Kaushik Basu

[C]Arvind Virmani

[D]Shankar Acharya

3.How much gallons of blood does a normal adult heart pumps every day?

[A]2

[B]200

[C]2000

[D]20

4.One carbon credit is equivalent to 

[A]10 kg of CO2

[B]100 kg of CO2

[C]1000 kg of CO2

[D]10000 kg of CO2

5.Which technology giant has been selected as the technical partner for HRD ministry’s SWAYAM platform for open online courses?

[A]Microsoft

[B]Reliance

[C]Infosys

[D]Wipro

6.Four Corners Monument is located in which of the following countries?

[A]United States

[B]Canada

[C]China

[D]Mexico

7.Michelle Kakade, who has become the first person to complete the Indian Golden Quadrilateral on foot, is belonged to which city of India?

[A]Pune

[B]Kochi

[C]Chennai

[D]Bengaluru

8.What is the India’s rank in the 2016 Sustainable Development Goal Index?

[A]129th

[B]88th

[C]63rd

[D]110th

9. Who has been appointed as the new chairman of Airports Authority of India (AAI)?

[A]J P Alex 

[B]Guruprasad Mohapatra

[C]R K Srivastava 

[D]Arun Kumar

10.How much insurance cover has been offered by the Indian Railways fir passengers?

[A]₹ 5 lakhs

[B]₹ 2 lakhs

[C]₹ 8 lakhs

[D]₹ 10 lakhs

Answers

1.[A]Vishnuprayag, Nandprayag, Karnaprayag, Rudraprayag, Devprayag.
Alaknanda river meets the Dhauliganga river at Vishnuprayag, the Nandakini river at Nandprayag ,the Pindar river at Karnaprayag , the Mandakini river at Rudraprayag and finally the Bhagirathi river at Devprayag to form the mainstream, the Ganges.

2.[A]Arvind Subramanian.
Arvind Subramanian, an Indian economist, is the current Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) to the Government of India (GoI). He is the author of two books “India’s Turn: Understanding the Economic Transformation” and “Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China’s Economic Dominance”. The CEA is the ex-officio cadre controlling authority of the Indian Economic Service (IES). The CEA is under the direct charge of the Minister of Finance.

3. [C]2000.
The adult heart pumps about 5 quarts of blood each minute - approximately 2,000 gallons of blood each day - throughout the body.

4. [C]1000KG OF CO2.
A credit is a measure representing one megatonne (a mass equal to 1,000 kilograms) of carbon dioxide.

5.  [A]Microsoft .
The Union Human Resource Ministry has selected Microsoft as their technical partner for it’s “SWAYAM” platform to launch 2,000 massive open online courses for about three crore students. These courses will be available on SWAYAM platform by partner institution the National MOOCs coordinator. For this, UGC (Credit Framework for online learning courses through SWAYAM) Regulation, 2016 has been finalized by the ministry for successful launch of the app. Using this app and portal, students of various streams including science and technology will be able to access and download very high quality UGC approved course content free of cost for their studies. To accomplish the task, a deal of Rs. 38 crore has been signed between Microsoft and All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE). The SWAYAM stands for Study Webs of Active- learning for Young Aspiring Minds.

6.[A]United States.
Four Corners Monument is the quadripoint meeting four states of US viz. Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. It is located in South-western United States and is the only point shared by four states in America. It is also a boundary between two semi-autonomous Native American governments viz. The Navajo Nation and Ute Mountain.

7.[A]Pune.
Michelle Kakade from Pune has become the first person to complete the Indian Golden Quadrilateral on foot. It took her 193 days, 1 hour & 9 minutes to cover 5968.4 kms of the Golden Quadrilateral that connects the 4- major metros of India. With this, she booked her name in the Guinness Book of World Records for “Fastest time to travel the Indian Golden Quadrilateral on foot (female)” across 57 major cities in India and on the India’ most valuable and largest highway project.

8. [D]110th.
India has been ranked 110th out of 149 nations in the 2016 Sustainable Development Goal Index. The new index is launched by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Bertelsmann to provide a report card for tracking Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) progress and ensuring accountability.The index is topped by Sweden, followed by Denmark and Norway. The index helps countries to identify priorities for early actions and shows that every country faces major challenges in achieving the SDGs.

9.[B]Guruprasad Mohapatra.
Guruprasad Mohapatra, a 1986 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer, has been appointed as the new chairman of Airports Authority of India (AAI). Prior to this appointment, he was posted as the Joint Secretary in Union Ministry of Commerce.

10.[D] Rs.10 lakhs.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will offer the insurance cover of Rs.10 lakh at a premium of one rupee from September 2016 to those railway passengers who will book their tickets through IRCTC website. The insurance cover is besides the compensation given by the Railways in case of accidents to valid ticket holders. The insurance will provide coverage against death, injury and disabilities caused due to accidents. Though, it is the passengers’ choice to opt for the insurance as it is a voluntary offer.