General Knowledge Sample Paper for Excise and Taxation Inspector

1. Area
3280463 Sq. KM
2. Geographical location
Latitudes: 8° 4′ to 37° 6 ‘ north
Longitudes: 68° 7 ‘ to 97° 25′ east.
3. Indian Standard Time
GMT + 05:30 (Standard for Allahabad, 82.5° East)
4. Border Countries:
Afghanistan and Pakistan to the north-west
China, Bhutan and Nepal to the north;
Myanmar to the east;
Bangladesh to the east of West Bengal.
Sri Lanka is separated from India by a narrow channel of sea, formed by Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar
5. Coastline
7,516.6 km including the mainland, Lakshadweep Islands and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
6. Capital
New Delhi
7. National Flag
The National Flag is a horizontal tricolour of deep saffron (kesaria) at the top, white in the middle, and dark green at the bottom in equal proportion. At the centre of the white band is a navy blue wheel, which is a representation of the Ashoka Chakra at Sarnath.
8. National Emblem
Replica of the Ashoka’s Pillar at Sarnath, UP
9. National Anthem
Jana Gana Mana, written by Rabindra Nath Tagore in 1911
10. National Song
Vande Maatram, Bankim Chandra Chatterji, taken from Novel “Ananda Math” published in 1882

11. National Bird
Peacock
12. National Game
Hockey
13. National Animal
Tiger
14. National Flower
Lotus
15. National Calendar
Saka, Introduced on March 22, 1957
16. National Days
26th January (Republic Day)
15th August (Independence Day)
2nd October (Gandhi Jayanti; Birthday of Mahatma Gandhi)
30th January (Martyrs’ Day)
5th September (Teachers’ Day, Birthday of Dr. S. Radha Krishnan)
14th November (Children’s Day, Birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru)
17. Type of Government
Sovereign Socialist Democratic Republic with a Parliamentary system of Government
18. Legislature (Bicameral)
Lok Sabha (House of the People)
Rajya Sabha (Council of States)
19. States
28
20. Union Territories
7
21. Largest State in Population
Uttar Pradesh
22. State with Highest Density of Population
West Bengal (904)
23. Life expectancy
63.9 years (Males); 66.9 years (Females) (As of Sep 2005)
24. Largest state in area
Rajasthan
25. Largest desert in
Rajasthan
26. State with Lowest Density of Population
Sikkim
27. State with the Minimum Area
Goa
28. First state to achieve nearly 100% rural electrification
Haryana
29. Population 2001 Census
1,027 millions
30. Population Growth Rate
1.93 per cent during 1991-2001.
31. Rank in population
Second
32. Major Export of India
Tea
33. Major Bank
Reserve Bank of India
34. Highest per capita income
Punjab (Among States), Chandigarh (Overall)
35. Lowest per capita income
Bihar
36. Membership of U.N.O
1945
37. First General Elections
1951-52
38. First Five Year Plan
1951
39. Financial Capital
Mumbai
40. Languages
22 Languages recognized by constitution. Hindi is the Official Union Language.
41. Literacy rate
64.84 % (75.26% for males and 53.67% for female)
42. Coldest place
Dras Sector
43. First Indian Lady in the Space
Kalpana Chawla
44. First Indian Man in the Space
Rakesh Sharma
45. Sex ratio (Male: Female)
1000:933 (2001 Census)
46. Formation of INC (Indian National Congress)
1885
47. Hindi became National Language
1953
48. Muslim League formed in
1906
49. Wettest Place
Mawsynram, Meghalaya
50. Wettest state
Meghalaya
51. Biggest District
Bastar (M. P.)
52. Rural Population
About 72%
53. Largest Desert
Thar (Rajasthan)

General Knowledge Update 2 - October 2008
New RBI Governor:
Finance Secretary Duvvuri Subbarao has been named the 22nd Governor of Reserve Bank of India. Present Governor Y V Reddy retires on September 5, 2008.
Sixth Pay Commission for Armed Forces.
The Ministry of Defence has notified the new allowances on the basis of the recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission for officers of the Armed Forces.
54th National Film Awards
Presented by: President Pratibha Patil
Dilip Kumar (Bollywood Actor), Lata Mangeshkar (Singer), Saroja Devi (South Indian Actress) Lifetime Achievement Award
Konkona Sen Sharma Best supporting actress award.
Tapan Sinha Dadasheb Phalke Award
Lage Raho Munna Bhai Best entertainment film
Soumitra Chatterjee Best actor award for the Bengali film Podokkhep
Madhur Bhandarkar Best director award (Traffic Signal)
People In News:
Amartya Sen is part of committee appointed by International Monetary Fund to advise on governance reform.
Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal has been conferred the third Malcom S Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award, which honours heroes of entrepreneurial capitalism and free enterprise.
Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal arrived on September 14, 2005 on his first visit to India.
Bhupen Hazarika is conferred the ‘Asom Ratna’ on his 83rd birthday.
Former Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh unseated from Punjab Assembly and disqualified for the remaining tenure of the 13th Vidhan Sabha for his alleged involvement in corruption.
News in India:
Agreement between India and Colombia
For exploration and production of oil and gas, exchange of training and human resource development, exchange of visits of professionals and technicians.
India became the only nuclear weapons power to be allowed global nuclear commerce without signing either the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) or Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), when 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group lifts its 16 year old embargo on nuclear commerce with India in Vienna.
Meghalaya becomes the first state to allow Muslim women to offer Ramzan prayer in mosque alongside men.
China opens Consulate General’s office in Kolkata
Economic News:
Finance Minister P Chidambaram inaugurates the Universal Arogya Medical Insurance Scheme for persons belonging to below poverty line category.
It was another proud moment for India when Aravind Adiga won Man Booker Prize for the year 2008 for his book “The White Tiger”.
Some Facts:
• This was Aravind Adiga’s first novel.
• He won the prize for Fiction Category.
• He is the second youngest after Ben Okri, who won in 1991 aged 32.
• His book is a “story of two Indias” revolving around the character named “Balram Halwai”.
• Aravind is former correspondent for TIME magazine in India.
• Prize Amount: 50,000-pound awarded at Guildhall in London.
• The White Tiger has been published by Atlantic Books
• The other authors in the shortlist were Amitav Ghosh for “Sea of Poppies”, Steve Toltz for “A Fraction of the Whole”, Linda Grant for “The Clothes on Their Backs”, Sebastian Barry for “The Secret Scripture” and Philip Hensher for “The Northern Clemency”.
About the Award:
1. Man Booker is awarded annually for the best novel in the British Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland.
2. Previous debutants who won Man Booker Prize:
• Keri Hulme in 1985 (Book: The Bone People)
• Arundhati Roy in 1997 (Book: God of Small Things)
• DBC Pierre in 2003 (Book: Vernon God Little)
1. Other winners from India:
• V S Naipaul (1971) - Indian Origin
• Salman Rushdie (1981)
• Arundhati Roy (1997)
• Kiran Desai (2006)

Officially Name: The Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Held At: Beijing, People’s Republic of China
Dates: August 08 to August 24, 2008, followed by the 2008 Summer Paralympics from Sep 6 to Sep 17.
Main Venue: Beijing National Stadium, nicknamed the “Bird nest” because of its nest-like structure.
Number of participating Athletes: Approximately 10,500
Number of Sports: 28
Official Logo: “Dancing Beijing”, A stylized calligraphic character JING (means capital)
Official Slogan: One World, One Dream
Mascots: Five Fuwa, each representing a colour of the Olympic rings and a symbol of Chinese culture.
Beibei is the Fish, Colored Blue, Represents Sea
Jingjing is the Panda, Colored Black, Represents Forests
Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Colored Red, Represents Fire
Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope, Colored Yellow, Represents Earth
Nini is the Swallow, Colored Green, Represents Sky
When you put their names together - Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni - they say “Welcome to Beijing,”
Olympic Torch: based on traditional scrolls and uses a traditional Chinese design known as the “Propitious Clouds”. The Olympic relay is themed “Journey of Harmony”. It will last 130 days covering 137,000 km (or 85,000 mi), the longest distance of any Olympic torch relay since the tradition began at the 1936 Berlin Games.
Today we are going to discuss some facts about Chandrayaan-1, the unmanned lunar exploration mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). This is very important for Current GK part of Entrance Exams.
General Knowledge Update for Competitive Entrance and Recruitment Exams 2008
Beijing Olympic Games 2008 (August 8 - August 24)
16 days, 10,500 athletes, 302 medal events. This was the most successful Olympics ever.
Final Medals Tally (First 5 countries)
Country Gold Silver Bronze
China 51 21 28
U.S.A. 36 38 36
Russia 23 21 28
Britain 19 13 15
Germany 16 10 15
Stars from India:
The Indian contingent led by Athens silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was the most successful in the history. Before this 1952 Helsinki Games were the best for India with a Hockey gold medal and wrestling bronze won by K.D. Jadhav
1. Abinav Bindra won first individual gold for India in the history of Olympics
2. Vijender Kumar won a bronze in Boxing. He was also the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent at the closing ceremony.
3. Sushil Kumar’s got bronze in Wrestling
4. Saina Nehwal became the first Indian to enter the singles quarters.
Stars of Beijing Olympics
1. Michael Phelp’s won amazing eight gold medals breaking Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals at one Games.
2. Usain Bolt from Jamaica: He broke his own 100 metres world record (9.69 seconds) to win gold. He won three gold medals.
3. Russia’s Yelena Isinbayeva gold breaking her own world record in pole vault jumping 5.05 metres.
4. British cyclist Chris Hoy was the first Briton to strike triple gold in a single Olympics in 100 years.
5. Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele became the first athlete in 28 years to get double medals in long-distance running. (Won both 10,000 m run and 5000 m race)
6. Samuel Wansiru wont the first Olympic marathon gold for Kenya.
Other Records:
1. A record 204 nations participated.
2. A record 87 countries won medals.
3. 43 world records were broken at Beijing while it was only 33 at 2004 Olympics.
4. 5 countries won their first medal at Beijing. Bahrain (1 gold), Tajikistan (1 silver, 1 bronze), Sudan (1 silver), Afghanistan and Togo (1 bronze each).
Next Olympics will be held at London in 2012. David Beckham was the star to present what London will offer for the Next Olympics.

Useful Information:
1. It is India’s first mission to the moon.
2. Includes a lunar orbiter and an impactor.
3. Launched by a modified version of the PSLV XL[1]
4. Launched On 22 October 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
5. It is a remote sensing satellite
6. Weight: 1,308 kilograms (590 kilograms initial orbit mass and 504 kilograms dry mass)
7. Mission Period: Over a two-years
8. Mission Cost: The estimated cost for the project is Rs. 3.86 billion.
9. Aim: Survey the lunar surface to produce a complete map of its chemical characteristics and 3-dimensional topography. The polar regions are of special interest, as they might contain ice.
10. Payloads: The mission includes five ISRO payloads and six payloads from other international space agencies including NASA, ESA, and the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency, which are being carried free of cost.
India Also plans to Launch Chandrayaan-II by 2010.