Kerala PSC Forest Guard Previous Questions And Answers

Kerala PSC Forest Guard Previous Questions And Answers

1. The Secretary General of the Lok Sabha is appointed by

(a)The President (b)The Prime Minister

(c)The Vice President (d)The Speaker of the Lok Sabha

2. The number of Rajya Sabha seats from Kerala is

(a)9 (b)10 (c)7 (d)20

3. Rearranging electoral constituencies in a way that gives advantage to a particular political party is

(a)Gerrymandering (b)Floor crossing (c)Filibustering (d)Lynching

4. The Author of ‘Snakes and Ladders’ is

(a)Anita Nair (b)Taslima Nasrin (c)Arundhati Roy (d)Gita Mehta

5. The Red Fort in Delhi was built by:

(a)Mohamed Gazni (b)Shahjahan (c)Akbar (d)Aurangaseb

6. The first Indian Prime Minister to lose a vote of confidence

(a)Indira Gandhi (b)Morarji Desai (c)V.P. Singh (d)Deve Gowda

7. Saif Ali Khan was awarded the Best Actor Award for 2004 for his role in the film:

(a)Hum Tum (b)Page 3 (c)Swades (d)Hasiria

8. The first Indian satellite ‘Aryabhata’ was launched in the year

(a)1963 (b)1975 (c)1969 (d)1971

9. During Lunar eclipse

(a)The Earth is in between the Sun and the Moon

(b)The Moon is in between the Sun and the Moon

(c)The Sun is in between the earth and the Moon

(d)The Earth, the Sun and the Moon are not in a line

10. The first World Cup Football tournament was held in

(a)Brazil (b)Italy (c)Uruguay (d)Mexico

11. The rear view mirror used in vehicles is

(a)Plane (b)Concave (c)Convex (d) Concave or convex

12. Dr. John Mathai was

(a)An economist (b)Union Finance Minister

(c)Vice Chancellor of Kerala University (d)All the above

13. An earth quake marked 6.5 in the Richter scale is .................... times greater in magnitude than the one marked 5.5

(a)2 (b)10 (c)100 (d)1000

14. Deficiency of melanin leads to

(a)Insomnia (b)Hemophilia (c)Anemia (d)Albinism

15. Shantivan is the Samadhi place of

(a)Jawaharlal Nehru (b)Lal Bahadur Sastri

(c)Indira Gandhi (d)Rajive Gandhi

16. Which country is known as ‘Land of Thousand Lakes’?

(a)Thailand (b)Finland (c)Ireland (d)Norway

17. The winner of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for the eyar 2004 is

(a)Rahul Dravid (b)Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore

(c)Leander Paes (d)Vishwanathan Anand

18. The Odakkuzhal award was instituted by:

(a)G. Sankara Kurup (b)Vayalar Ramavarma

(c)Vallothol (d)Kumaranasan

19. The birth place of Moyinkutty Vaidyar is

(a)Kodungallur (b)Kottakkal (c)Kondotty (d)Kayamkulam

20. The free operating system Linux was developed by:

(a)Linus Pauling (b)Linus Torwalds

(c)Richard Stalman (d)Charles Babbage

21. Who is the recipient of the Gyanapeeth award for 2003?

(a)U.R. Ananthamoorthy (b)Thara Sankar Banerji

(c)Vinda Karandikar (d)Arundhati Roy

22. Central Food Technological Research Institute is at:

(a)Pune (b)Dehra Dun (c)New Delhi (d)Mysore

23. ‘Straight from the heart’ is the autobiography of:

(a)Mulk Raj Anand (b)Kapil Dev

(c)Christian Bernard (d)M.S. Swaminathan

24. New York City is on the bank of the river.

(a)Danube (b)Delaware (c)Hudson (d)Tagus

25. A disease caused by a virus

(a)Rabies (b)Cholera (c)Typhoid (d)Malaria

26. How many vertebrae are there in a giraffe’s neck?

(a)23 (b)26 (c)7 (d)11

27. The wall of a plant cell is made of

(a)Cellulose (b)Calcium phosphate

(c)Protein (d)Starch

28. The pen name of M.P. Bhattathirippad is:

(a)Uroob (b)Vilasini (c)Mali (d)Premji

29. The first Keralite actor to win the Bharath award:

(a)Sathyan (b)Prem Nazeer (c)Bharath Gopi (d)P.J. Antony

30. The year in which Gandhiji visited Kerala for the first time?

(a)1930 (b)1920 (c)1942 (d)1912

31. Who is the founder of the Khilji dynasty?

(a)Jalaludheen Khilji (b)Alavudheen Khilji

(c)Mohammed Bin Thuglak (d)Aurangaseb

32. When did television transmission begin in India?

(a)1960 (b)1965 (c)1959 (d)1982

33. The first battle of Panipat was in

(a)1526 (b)1556 (c)1615 (d)1661

34. Uttarayan is

(a)The hosue of Tagore inside Viswa Bharati University

(b)The official residence of the Chief Minister of UP

(c)The official residence of the Chief Minister of Utharanchal

(d)U.P. Government’s liason office in Delhi

35. Who was the first woman Governor of Kerala?

(a)Ram Dulari Sinha (b)Jyothi vekitachalam

(c)Padmaja Naidu (d)Sharada Mukherjee

36. Where is ramoji Film city situated?

(a)Chennai (b)Vijayawada (c)Hyderabad (d)Mumbai

37. E.M.S. Namboodirippad took charge as the first chief Minister of Kerala on

(a)1956 November 1 (b)1957 April 5

(c)1956 December 20 (d)1957 November 1

38. BARC is connected with:

(a)Road construction

(b)Agricultural Research

(c)Atomic research (d)Rural Development

39. Kerala Kala Mandalam established by:

(a)Kumaranasan (b)Mrinalini Sarabhai

(c)Ezhuthachan (d)Vallathol


40. Which of the following Kerala river flows towards east?

(a)Valapatanam (b)Chandragiri (c)Bhavani (d)Pampa

41. India Gate was earlier known as

(a)Gateway of India (b)All India War Memorial

(c)Delhi Gate (d)National Memorial

42. The word ‘tsunami’ in Japanese language means

(a)Killer waves (b)Harbour waves

(c)Sea Mountains (d)Giant waves

43. Vitamin B2 is also known as

(a)Retinol (b)Ascorbic acid (c)Riboflavin (d)Thiamin

44. Which of the following liquids has the highest viscosity?

(a)Water (b)Kerosene (c)Petrol (d)Honey

45. Light year is:

(a)The time taken by Sun’s rays to reach the Earth

(b)The time taken by light rays from the Moon to reach the Earth

(c)The year in which February has only 28 days

(d)The distance travelled by light in one year

46. Deuterium is an ............. of Hydrogen

(a)Isobar (b)Isotope (c)Isomer (d)Isotone

47. The capital of Nigeria is:

(a)Lagos (b)Kanoj (c)Abuja (d)Maputo

48. The currency of which of the following countries is not Euro?

(a)Italy (b)Monaco (c)Finland (d)Hungary

49. Mesopotamia is now known as

(a)Iraq (b)Iran (c)Jordan (d)Egypt

50. Which of the followng is not a musicial instrument?

(a)Clarinet (b)Cymbals (c)Harp (d)Masque



55. The circumcentre of an obtuse triangle will always be in the

(a)interior of the triangle (b)midpoint of the diameter

(c)exterior of the triangle (d)Midpoint of the side of the triangle

56. What is the degree measure of a semicircle?

(a)360 (b)90 (c)270 (d)180

57. Which among the following is the point of intersection fo the medians of a trian-
gle?

(a)Circumcentre (b)Centroid (c)Orthocentre (d)Incentre

58. The height of a cone and its base diameter are equal. If the base radius is ‘r’. What

is its slant height

(a)3 r (b)4 r (c) 5r (d) 3 r


61. Which among the following is same as Violet : Orange : Yellow?

(a)Purple (b)White (c)Pink (d)Blue

62. Choose which is least like the other words in the group?

(a)Club (b)Hotel (c)Hostel (d)Inn

63. Which is the irregular member of the following group?

(a)RQPA (b)MLKA (c)STUA (d)HGFA

64. A man is facing north-west. He turns 900

in the clockwise direction and then 1350

in the anticlockwise direction.

Which direction is he facing now?

(a)East (b)West (c)North (d)South

65. Select the pair which has the same relationship as the given pair

Traveller : Destination

(a)Beggar : Donation (b)Teacher : Education

(c)Refugee : Shelter (d)Accident : Hospital

66. Moon : Satellite : : Earth : ?

(a)Sun (b)Solar system (c)Asteroid (d)Planet

67. Bag is related to luggage in the same way as ship is related to

(a)Cargo (b)Coal (c)Stock (d)Weight

68. Which is the pair like Triangle : Hexagon?

(a)Cone : Sphere (b)Rectangle : Octagon

(c)Pentagon : Heptagon (d)Triangle : Quardillateral

69. Which is the odd pair of words different from the following sets?

(a)Blacksmith : Anvil (b)Carpenter : Saw

(c)Goldsmith : Ornaments (d)Barber : Scissor

70. Which among the following is different from others?

(a)DE (b)PQ (c)TU (d)MO

71. Aluminium is to Bauxite as Iron is to:

(a)Pyrite (b)Haematite (c)Magnesite (d)Iron Oxide

72. Choose the subject which is different from others

(a)Mathematics (b)Arithmetic (c)Geometry (d)Algebra

73. In a certain code MONKEY is written as XDJMNL. How is TIGER written in that code?

(a)SDFHS (b)SHFDQ (c)QDFHS (d)UJHFS

74. Showing a man Saroj said ‘‘He is the brother of my Uncle’s daughter’’. What is the relation of Saroj with that man?

(a)Son (b)Brother-in-law (c)Nephew (d)Cousin

75. If in a certain code TWENTY is written as 863985 and ELEVEN is written as 323039, how is TWELVE written?

(a)863584 (b)863203 (c)863903 (d)863063

76. From the following select the word that does not belong to the set

(a)Cube (b)Rectangle (c)Rhombus (d)Square

77. Which is the wrong member in the following set?

(a)Graphite (b)Diamond (c)Pearl (d)Coal

78. Which is not related in the following set?

(a)Othello (b)King Lear (c)Macbeth (d)Oliver Twist

79. From the following select the member that does not belong to the set

(a)Whale (b)Crocodile (c)Lizard (d)Snake

80. Which is the wrong member among the following?

(a)Microscope (b)Stethoscope (c)Telescope (d)Periscope

81. ‘His most trusted friend proved to be a snake in the grass’. What does ‘a snake in the grass’ mean?

(a)an unreliable person (b)low and mean

(c)a hidden enemy (d)cowardly and brutal

82. The correct passive voice form of the sentence ‘‘Someone stole the watch’’ is

(a)The watch was stolen

(b)The watch was stolen by someone

(c)The watch has been stolen

(d)The watch had been stolen by someone

83. Pick out the correct sentence from the following

(a)He is my brother isn’t it?

(b)We came on foot (c)Open the tenth page of this book

(d)I and Ashok go to school together

84 The word opposite in meaning to CCCEAL is

(a)Deny (b)Accept (c)Reveal (d)Yield

85. Choose the word that can be substitute for ‘that which lasts for ever’

(a)Eternal (b)Ephemeral (c)Stable (d)Permanent

Fill in the blanks with the correct choice:

86. She is the kind of student ........... we want.

(a)which (b)whom (c)that (d)who

87. The two children quarrelled with ...............

(a)each other (b)one another

(c)themselves (d)among themselves

88. We needn’t go to school today..............

(a)must we? (b)mustn’t we? (c)do we? (d)need we?

89. Tom shouldn’t waste his time, and .......... should John.

(a)why (b)neither (c)also (d)as

90. You ........... obey your parents.

(a)will (b)would (c)shall (d)should

91. How ............... you disobey me?

(a)dare (b)dared (c)shall (d)must

92. How long ............. here?

(a)you are staying (b)have you been staying

(c)are you staying (d)were you staying

93. It is time we ...................

(a)were started (b)shall start (c)started (d)have started

94. If he had studied hard he .......... a first class

(a)will get (b)would get (c) will have got (d)would have got

95. I haven’t .......... friends here

(a)many (b)some (c)few (d)a few

96. ..............girls have gone for a picnic

(a)The all (b)All (c)How many (d)All the

97. Take it .....................

(a)as easy (b)easy (c)easily (d)as if easy

98. Every one seems to know but.....................

(a)I (b)myself (c)me (d)mine

99. No one could explain how a calm and balanced person like him could ........... such mindless act on his friends.

(a)perpetuate (b)precipitate (c)penetrate (d)perpetrate

100. My father ............. from diabetes for the past three years.

(a)is suffering (b)has been suffering

(c)was suffering (d)had been suffering


Answers

1. (d) 2. (a) 3. (a) 4. (d) 5. (b) 6. (c)

7. (a) 8. (b) 9. (a) 10. (c) 11. (c) 12. (d)

13. (d) 14. (d) 15. (a) 16. (b) 17. (b) 18. (a)

19. (c) 20. (c) 21. (c) 22. (d) 23. (b) 24. (c)

25. (a) 26. (c) 27. (a) 28. (d) 29. (d) 30. (b)

31. (a) 32. (c) 33. (a) 34. (a) 35. (b) 36. (c)

37. (b) 38. (c) 39. (d) 40. (c) 41. (b) 42. (b)

43. (c) 44. (d) 45. (d) 46. (b) 47. (c) 48. (d)

49. (a) 50. (d) 51. (b) 52. (d) 53. (a) 54. (b)

55. (c) 56. (d) 57. (b) 58. (c) 59. (d) 60. (a)

61. (d) 62. (c) 63. (c) 64. (b) 65. (c) 66. (d)

67. (a) 68. (b) 69. (c) 70. (d) 71. (b) 72. (a)

73. (b) 74. (d) 75. (b) 76. (a) 77. (c) 78. (d)

79. (a) 80. (b) 81. (c) 82. (a) 83. (b) 84. (c)

85. (a) 86. (c) 87. (a) 88. (d) 89. (b) 90. (d)

91. (a) 92. (b) 93. (c) 94. (d) 95. (a) 96. (d)

97. (b) 98. (a) 99. (d) 100. (b)

Kerala PSC repeated questions

ABBREVIATIONS

COFEPOSA : Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Act

CARE : Co-operative for American Relief Everywhere

CHOGM : Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 

CSO : Central Statistical Organisation 

CVRDE : Combat Vehicles Research Development Establishment 

EPZ : Export Processing Zone 

ESMA : Essential Services Maintenance Act

FEMA : Foreign Exchange Management Act

GATE : Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering

HUDCO : Housing and Urban Development Corporation

SUPERLATIVES

Largest delta : Sunderban

Largest diamond : The Cullinan

Largest archipelago : Indonesia

Smallest bird : Humming Bird

Largest library : United States Library of Congress, Washington (more than 59,000,000 items)

Largest sea bird : Albatross

Largest sea : South China Sea

Hottest place : Azizia (Libya, Africa 580 c (1360 F))

Largest peninsula : Arabia

Largest museum : American Museum of Natural History, New York City

Longest mountain range : Andes, South America - 8,800 km long

Deepest lake : Baikal (Siberia); Average depth 701 metre

Largest gulf : Gulf of Mexico

Largest desert : Sahara (Africa)

Largest creature : Blue Whale 

PARLIAMENTS

COUNTRY           PARLIAMENT

USA                       Congress

Sweden                  Riksdag

Russia                    Duma

Japan                      Diet

Denmark                Folketing

Israel                      Knesset

China                     National Peoples Congress

Iran                        Majlis

Nepal                     National Panchayat

Poland                    Sejm

Afghanistan           Shora

Norway                  Storting

Spain                     Crotes

Switzerland           Federal Assembly

BRANCHES OF SCIENCE

Eugenics         : is the study of ways in which the physical and mental characteristic of the human     race may be improved. Modern elimination of genetic diseases.

Cryogenics     : The science dealing with the production, control and application of very low     temperature.

Metallurgy     : It is the process of extracting metals from their ores.

Hydropathy    : The cure of disease by the internal and external use of water.

Heliotherapy  : It is the method of treating diseases by sunlight.

Ballistics        : It is the science of launching projectiles into space. 

YEARS

1885 : Formation of Indian National Congress

1905 : Partition of Bengal by Lord Curzon

1906 : Muslim League was formed at Dacca

1911 : Partition of Bengal was cancelled by Lord Hardinge

1911 : India's Capital was Shifted from Calcutta to Delhi

1917 : Gandhiji’s Champaran campaign launched

1919 : Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

1919 : Khilafat Movement

1924 : Communist Party of India was formed

1929 : Poorna Swaraj resolution at Lahore session

1930 : Gandhiji’s Dandi March

1932 : Third Round Table Conference

1937 : Provincial Autonomy

1942 : Quit India Movement

1945 : Trial of INA at Red Fort

1946 : British Cabinet Mission visited India

1948 : Death of Mahatma Gandhi

1950 : India becomes a Republic

WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES AND NATIONAL PARKS

Hazaribagh  :  Bihar

Sivapuri National Park  :  Madhya Pradesh

Kanha National Park  :  Madhya Pradesh

Jim Corbet National Park  :  Uttaranchal

Manas Sanctuary  :  Assam

Ghana Bird Sanctuary  :  Rajasthan

Bandipur Sanctuary  :  Karnataka

Dachigam Sanctuary  :  Kashmir

Chandra Prabha Sanctuary  :  Uttar Pradesh

Kaziranga Sanctuary  :  Assam

Periyar Sanctuary  :  Kerala

Bharatpur  :  Rajasthan

Nagerhole  :  Karnataka

Tadoba National Park  :  Maharashtra

Gir Lion Sanctuary  :  Gujarat

FIRST IN INDIA

Actress to win Padma Shri Award — Nargis Dutt (1958).

Bharat Ratna Award winner — C. Rajagopalachari (1954).

Miss World — Reita Faria (1966).

Field Marshal — S.H.F.J. Manekshaw (1973).

Elected President — S. Radhakrishnan (1962-67).

Cosmonaut — Rakesh Sharma (1984).

Chief Justice of India — Harilal J. Kania (1950-51).

Chief Election Commissioner — Sukumar Sen (1950-58).

Chairman of Rajya Sabha — S.V. Krishnamoorthy (1952).

Woman to swim the English Channel — Arati Saha (1959).

Woman Jnanpith Award winner — Ashapurna Devi (1976).

Woman IPS officer — Kiran Bedi (1974).

Woman Governor — Sarojini Naidu (1947).

NATIONAL LABORATORIES

National Physical Laboratory : New Delhi

National Institute of Oceanography : Panaji (Goa)

National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) : Nagpur

Indian Institute of Petroleum : DehraDun (Uttaranchal)

National Chemical Laboratory : Pune

Central Road Research Institute : New Delhi

Central Mining Research Station : Dhanbad (Bihar)

Central Drug Research Institute : Lucknow (UP)

Central Building Research Institute : Roorkee (UP)

Central Food Technological Research Institute : Mysore

Central Leather Research Institute : Chennai

National Aeronautical Laboratory : Bangalore

SPORTS TERMS

Scoop - Hockey

Baton - Relay (Athletics)

Fault - Badminton/Tennis

Punch - Boxing

Ashes - Cricket

Chinaman - Cricket

Off side - Football/Hockey

Bull’s eye - Shooting

Deuce - Tennis

Scissors - Wrestling

Volley - Tennis

COUNTRIES WITH CHANGED NAMES

New Name Old Name

Iraq – Mesopotamia

Iran – Persia

Zimbabwe – Rhodesia

Malaysia _ Malaya

Ghana – Gold Coast

Surinam – Dutch Guiana

Myanmar – Burma

Guyana – British Guiana

COUNTRIES WITH ALTERNATE NAMES

Japan – Nippon

Taiwan – Formosa

India – Bharat

FIRST IN THE WORLD

Woman to reach North Pole : Ann Bancroft

Test Tube Baby : Louise Joy Brown

Woman Prime Minister of a country : Sirimavo Bandaranaike (1960)

Woman President of a country : Maria Estela Peron (Argentina)

Men on Mt. Everest without Oxygen : Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler (1978)

Foreigner to get Bharat Ratna : Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

First Chinese pilgrim to visit India : Fahien

Englishman to receive Nobel Prize for Literature : Rudyard Kipling (1907)

Pope to visit India : Pope Paul VI

Woman to climb Mount Everest : Junko Taibei

Muslim invader of India : Mohammad-bin-Qasim

QUOTATIONS

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing - Alexander Pope

Man is by nature a political animal - Aristotle

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread - Alexander Pope

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever - John Keats

‘Just as I would not like to be a slave, so I would not like to be a master’ - Abraham Lincoln

I came, I saw, I conquered - Julius Caesar

Jai Jawan Jai Kisan - Lal Bahadur Shastri

Gharibi Hatawo - Indira Gandhi

Child is the father of man - Wordsworth

PEN NAMES OF MALAYALAM WRITERS

Kovilan - V.V. Ayyappan

Omcheri - N. Narayana Pillai

Sanjayan - M.R. Nair

Cynic - M. Vasudevan

Nandanar - P.C. Gopalan

Thikkodian - P. Kunjananthan

Uroob - P.C. Kuttikrishnan

Vilasini - M.K. Menon

Mali - V. Madhavan Nair

Kakkanadan - George Vargheese

IMPORTANT YEARS IN WORLD HISTORY

776 BC : First Olympiad in Greece

4 BC : Birth of Jesus Christ

AD 570 : Birth of Prophet Mohammed

622 : Beginning of Hijra Era

1215 : Signing of Magna Carta

1492 : Columbus discovered America

1688 : Glorious Revolution in England

1776 : American War of Independence

1789 : French Revolution

1815 : Battle of Waterloo

1848 : Publication of Communist Manifesto

1918 : First World War ended

1948 : Myanmar and SriLanka achieved independence

1963 : Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

1957 : First artificial satellite was launched by Russia

REFORMS AND EVENTS DURING BRITISH PERIOD

First Census - Ripon

Communal Award - Wellington

Doctrine of Lapse - Dalhousie

Dyarchy - Chelmsford

INA Trial - Wavell

Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy - Chelmsford

Permanent Settlement - Cornwallis

Quit India - Linlithgow

Sepoy Mutiny - Canning

Subsidiary Alliance - Wellesley

Cabinet Mission - Wavell

ALTERNATE NAMES

Bard of Avon - William Shakespeare

Sultan of Beypore - Vaikom Mohammed Basheer

Man of Destiny - Napoleon Bonaparte

The Birdman of India - Salim Ali

Andhra Kesari - T. Prakasam

Lok Nayak - Jayaprakash Narayan

Father of Medicine - Hippocrates

Lady with the Lamp - Florence Nightingale

Poet’s Poet - Edmund Spenser

Rajaji - C. Rajagopalachari

Deenabandhu - C.F. Andrews

Grand Old Man of India - Dadabhai Naoroji

Father of History - Herodotus

Father of Indian Industry - Jamshedji Tata

Father of Modern Chemistry - Joseph Priestley

Father of Indian Renaissance - Raja Ram Mohan Roy

Banga bandhu - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Tiger of the Snows - Tenzing Norgay

Indian Napoleon - Samudragupta

Man of Blood and Iron - Bismarck

Guruji - M.S. Golwalkar

Maid of Orleans - Joan of Arc

Father of Biology - Aristotle

Kerala Simham - Pazhassy Raja

Lokmanya - Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Nightingale of India - Sarojini Naidu

DISEASES AND AFFECTED BODY PARTS

PNEUMONIA - LUNGS

MENINGITIS - BRAIN AND SPINAL CORD

ECZEMA - SKIN

AIDS - IMMUNE SYSTEM

GOITRE - THYROID GLAND

JAUNDICE - LIVER

TRACHOMA - EYES

TUBERCULOSIS - LUNGS

MALARIA - SPLEEN

RHEUMATISM - JOINTS

DIABETES - PANCREAS

ARTHRITIS - INFLAMMATION OF JOINTS

CATARACT - EYES

DIPHTHERIA - THROAT

TYPHOID - INTESTINE; WHOLE BODY

PYORRHOEA - GUMS

Microsoft unveils three new Xbox one bundles to celebrate one year anniversary

Microsoft India on Friday unveiled three new Xbox one console bundles that will launch on October 2, to celebrate their first anniversary. Customers can pre order from September 25 on Amazon.in.

Xbox One Forza Motorsport 6 limited edition console is the first of its kind with a racing theme. The bundle has 1 TB hard drive, matching wireless controller and a tenth anniversary car pack. The bundle is priced at Rs 39,990.

The Xbox One 1TB EA Sports™ FIFA 16 Bundle features a full game download of FIFA 16 game and one year of EA access and   three FIFA Ultimate Team™ Loan Legends.

"Games and gamers are at the center of everything we do and we’re always looking to offer the best ways to play on Xbox. With the launch of these bundles, we have taken into account the feedback that we received from our fans in India and added more storage to their consoles," said Anshu Mor, Director Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft India.

Microsoft announced a third gaming console  Xbox One Gears of War: Ultimate Edition Bundle. This Ultimate Edition bundle an Xbox one 500 GB console, wireless controller, full digital download of One Gears of War: Ultimate edition,  early access to the 2016 Gears of War 4 Multiplayer Beta, and the Superstar Cole multiplayer skin. This bundle will be available at Rs 34,990.

Pakistani researchers develop solar-powered mobile network for use during disasters

Lahore: Pakistani researchers have developed a portable, solar-powered mobile phone network for use in disasters like floods and earthquakes when regular communications are often disrupted.

Researchers at the Information Technology University (ITU) in Lahore, together with a team from the University of California, have developed a prototype “Rescue Base Station” (RBS) for Pakistan - the country's first emergency telecoms system that would work on normal cell phones.

“When the RBS is installed in a disaster-struck area, people automatically start receiving its signals on their mobile phones. They can manually choose it and then call, send messages and even browse (internet) data free of charge,” said Umar Saif, ITU vice chancellor and an adviser to the project.

The RBS is a lightweight, compact rectangular box fitted with an antenna, a signal amplifier and a battery, which can be carried easily and even dropped by helicopter in hard-to-reach disaster zones. It has a solar panel to charge the battery, to keep it working in places without electric power.

An alternative communications system like this could help save lives when disasters strike by connecting survivors with rescue workers and government officials.

The RBS has yet to be deployed on the ground, but the ITU expects it to be used in the next six to eight months in partnership with the National Disaster Management Authority and a local telecoms company.

Saif said the RBS signal can be received within a 3 km radius, and people in the area can easily register by sending their name, occupation, age and blood group to a special number.

“This helps generate an automatic database of people in distress, and eventually helps both the rescue and relief teams and the victims,” he said.

Pakistan has 116 million active cellular subscribers out of a total population of 185 million, according to official data.

INFORMATION ON DEMAND

Potential users of the RBS system can get the information they need in just a few seconds by sending a text message to specific numbers appearing on their mobile phone.

For example, if a person needs to contact a fire brigade, they text the words “occupation: firefighters” to the relevant number. They will then receive names and contact details for local firefighters in just a few seconds and can call for help, Saif said.

Or if someone needs access to blood supplies, they send a message saying "blood group, B positive", for instance, and receive contact information for people nearby with that blood group, so they can ask for a donation.

Saif said RBS teams on the ground plan to collect information about disaster-affected people in a database, and pass this on to rescue teams, doctors and government departments that can provide assistance.

“(They) can also send weather forecasts and disaster alerts to subscribers, and help them evacuate troubled areas,” said Ibrahim Ghaznavi, an ITU researcher and one of the RBS developers.

The RBS, which operates using open source software, offers all the features provided by regular cellphone companies, he added.

Ghaznavi said it costs around $6,000 to develop an RBS, and the Pakistan prototype has been funded by a Google Faculty Research Award.

TECH INNOVATION

The RBS team is now working with Endaga, a U.S.-based company that connects rural communities through small-scale independent cellular networks, and a local telecoms firm to commercialise the project, he added.

The aim of the collaboration is to help phone companies keep their communications systems functioning in a disaster until their regular networks are restored.

Pakistan is a disaster-prone country, which needs $6 billion to $14 billion to help it adapt to climate change impacts, such as unusually heavy rains, droughts and melting glaciers, through to 2050, according to a 2011 study funded by the U.N. climate secretariat.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies developed a customised communications system called the Trilogy Emergency Response Application (TERA) in Haiti when it was struck by a massive earthquake in 2010.

But that system could only send text messages to its subscribers on their mobile phones, unlike the RBS which allows users to call, send texts and even browse the web for free.

Cutting-edge technologies like the RBS could help save more lives by delivering timely advice to disaster-hit people, said Pervaiz Amir, country director for the Pakistan Water Partnership.

“Local researchers should be encouraged to develop innovative solutions to help people in distress,” he said. But the RBS needs to be tested in the field under different conditions before being deployed on a wider scale in actual disaster zones, he added.

Amir said the RBS could be useful for rescue and aid activities, especially in remote rural areas of Pakistan where natural disasters regularly disrupt poor communications systems.

Cybersecurity firm offers $1 million for Apple hack

PARIS: Computer security firm 

Zerodium on Tuesday offered a $1 million (890,000 euros) bounty to hackers who can find a way to breach Apple's latest iOS 9 mobile operating system
.

Zerodium, launched early this year in the United States by French online security expert Chaouki Bekrar, said it would pay out $1 million each to as many as three people or teams who manage to break into iPhones or iPads equipped with the iOS 9 software.

To win the money, hackers must use a web page or text message to remotely bypass the iOS 9 security and discretely install an application on the iPhone or iPad by October 31, the company said in an online statement.

 Apple's iCloud susceptible to hacking say experts

The hackers must exploit previously unknown weaknesses in the security system.

Apple's operating system is the most secure on the market, Zerodium said.

"But don't be fooled. Secure does not mean unbreakable, it just means that iOS has currently the highest cost and complexity of vulnerability exploitation and here is where the million dollar iOS 9 bug bounty comes into play."

Zerodium says it rewards independent researchers for discovering new software vulnerabilities. It then analyses the security data to help corporate and government agency clients to beef up their online defences.

Huge loophole in iOS 9 bypasses lock screen to grant access to contacts and photos

                                                               Apple iPhone 7 Plus Specifications

Huge loophole in iOS 9 bypasses lock screen to grant access to contacts and photos

You’ll never guess the accomplice that enables unauthorized user access on iOS 9 devices. She lives within the system itself.

A potentially massive loophole has been uncovered in the iOS 9 device lock screen, enabling access a user’s contacts and photos without ever having to enter the correct PIN.

In a YouTube video posted by an individual called Jose Rodriguez, he goes through the motions of demonstrating how this can be done by recruiting none other than Apple’s own built-in voice assistant Siri.

Here’s how it appears to work: after entering an incorrect PIN several times, he launches Siri from the lock screen, then simply asks what time it is. When the results show up, there’s a search field at the top of the screen from which he proceeds to further search for information from areas of the iPhone such as the Contacts, Messages and Photos. All of this without ever leaving the lock screen.

It is clear this is a significant loophole that is likely to be addressed by Apple shortly, but in the meanwhile it appears that several areas of the device containing personal information in iOS 9 are open to access.

This flaw only adds to the prevalent issuesthat have cropped up since iOS 9 was launched recently. In the interim, one recommended method to prevent unauthorised access using this method is to simply disable Siri access on the lock screen.

After Airtel, Idea to Shift All Prepaid Users to Per-Second Billing

Idea Cellular is shifting its 1.5 million prepaid customers who were on per minute billing (PMB) plan to per second billing (PSB), thus ensuring all its prepaid users pay only for the time they use the network.

Apart from the 1.5 million, who will be shifted over the next 30 days, the rest of its prepaid users are already on per second billing.

The company said that out of its total customer base of over 166 million, nearly 157 million are prepaid.

Bharti Airtel too announced earlier this week that all its prepaid customers will be put on per second billing. The move by mobile operators comes amid regulator Trai's scrutiny whether there are any tariff plans by service providers wherein call drops actually incentivise or benefit the companies.

"We have always been customer-centric in our approach, offering choice and convenience to customers and hence, we have been providing both PMB and PSB plans to users so far. Henceforth, we will now be offering PSB plan, by default, to our entire base of nearly 157 million existing and new prepaid users," Sashi Shankar, Chief Marketing Officer, Idea Cellular said in a statement.

With call drops on the rise, Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg had also said plans where customers get some free minutes and billing is minute-based need to be examined.

The problem of call drops has become acute in the last 3-4 months. The scale was such that last week, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi too voiced serious concern on the issue and asked the officials concerned to take urgent steps to address the problem.

Idea said it has spent Rs. 4,050 crores (excluding spectrum) in 2014-15 and has increased its capex plan for FY16 to Rs. 6,000-6,500 crores.

"The company will continue to invest in expanding its robust network of nearly 1,50,000 cell sites covering over 3,60,000 towns and villages with voice and data offerings on 2G and 3G and roll out 4G LTE services in 10 key markets, starting 2016," it said.

The company has made a total investment of Rs. 65,094.7 crores in the Indian telephony market so far.