1. The homeland security secretary in the Obama administration recently said the Border Security Act, which proposes a steep hike in some categories of H-1B and L-1 visa fees, "makes sense" and would in no way undermine "robust and vital" ties with India. Can you name the official?
Janet Napolitano
Sami Mills
Karen Bell
"I think the United States and India have a robust and vital relationship, and nothing in this bill should interfere with that," homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano told reporters at the White House, shortly after President Barack Obama signed the Border Security Bill into law. The bill seeks to increase application fees for H-1B and L-1 visas by at least $2,000 for the next five years.
Sami Mills
Karen Bell
2. Which country has topped the list of countries contributing to space debris, according to a study by the Russian space agency, Roscosmos?
India
US
China
China accounts for 40% of space debris, followed by the United States, which produces 27.5%. Russia stands in the third position, with 25.5% of space debris, the study showed. The credit for catapulting China to the top of the orbital garbage heap goes to the Chinese military, which deliberately destroyed a defunct weather satellite in 2007 to test a missile. The explosion created more than 2,800 pieces of free-flying shrapnel.
US
China
3. In separate letters to Mumbai's municipal commissioner Swadheen Kshatriya and MMRDA commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad, the NCP's Maharashtra unit president told them to ensure that infrastructure work in Mumbai is of good quality since these are being undertaken with the taxes paid by the common man. Name the politician.
Ajit Pawar
Madhukar Pichad
RR Patil
The state NCP president criticised the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is under the direct control of the chief minister, and the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, which is run by the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, regarding the state of Mumbai's infrastructure before the festive season. He demanded that Kshatriya and Gaikwad intervene and punish guilty officials and contractors.
Madhukar Pichad
RR Patil
4. The deputy spokesperson of the White House National Security Council dismissed as "incorrect" reports that the US was linking to bilateral investment ties India's efforts to seek more compensation from Dow Chemicals, which bought Union Carbide, for the Bhopal gas tragedy. The official said Washington was committed to building a strong relationship with India. Can you name the official?
Eddie Simson
Benjamin Chang
Shawn Joseph
"The assertion that there was linkage between two separate and distinct issues is wrong, is incorrect," Benjamin Chang, deputy spokesperson of the National Security Council in the White House said. Chang was responding to a question about reports in India that a senior US official had asked New Delhi not to persist with its efforts to seek more compensation for the 1984 gas tragedy victims from Dow Chemicals so as to avoid any "chilling" in investment ties between the countries.
Benjamin Chang
Shawn Joseph
5. Who is the national security adviser of Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai? He recently accused Pakistan of harbouring Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists and said the global community was committing a blunder by embracing Islamabad as a strategic partner.
Sohail Mia Haq
Jaffer Iqbal Hassan
Rangin Dadfar Spanta
Rangin Dadfar Spanta , who has also served as the country's foreign minister, said in an op-ed article in The Washington Post that Pakistan, while faced with a growing domestic terrorist threat, "continues to provide sanctuary and support to the [Taliban's] Quetta Shura, the Haqqani network, the Hekmatyar group, and al-Qaeda." Spanta said global efforts to counter terrorism would not succeed until and unless there was clarity on who was a friend and who, a foe.
Jaffer Iqbal Hassan
Rangin Dadfar Spanta
Comments