Sree Current Affairs SEPTEMBER

CONTENTS
Honours & Awards News Makers Appointments Places in News Science Snippets Defence Space Science Deaths Economic Scenario Corporate Briefs Environment Sports Summits Committees NationalRound-Up International Round-Up Knowledge Capsules Banking Awareness (For Bank PO & Clerks Exams) Current MCQ Capsules 28 2 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 17 19 20 23 25 26
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Current News & Events
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Current Affairs
Khan. The other members include Rajkumar Sangwan (boxing), Dhanraj Pillai (hockey), Shiny Wilson (athletics), Morad Ali Khan (shooting), Karnam Malleswari (weightlifting), Bahadur Singh (athletics), Bhupender Dhawan (powerlifting,G S Sandhu (boxing), Ramphan Mann(wrestling,Prem Chand Degra (body building).
Honours & Awards

Dronacharya Award 2012
The names of six sporting coaches were recommended for the Dronacharya Awards for the year 2012. Wrestling coach Yashvir Singh, Boxing Coach BI Fernandez, Athletics Coach Virender Poonia, Kabaddi Coach Sunil Davas, Parathletics Coach Dr. Satyapaul and Hockey Coach Harinder Singh are the six coaches who have been selected for the coveted award, given to the coach of different sports, for their excellent contribution to the sports. Boxing Coach BI Fernandez, who is a Cuban national, became the first foreign coach to be recommended for the Dronacharya Award. Fernandez has been instrumental in Indias impressive performances in Boxing in the international tournaments. The Dronacharya Awards committee was headed by former Indian hockey captain Aslam Sher
Gujarat's GIFT bags World Finance award

Gujarat International Finance Tec City (GIFT), the upcoming liberalised financial service centre in the state, was recently adjudged 'Best Industrial Development & Expansion' project by London-based magazine World Finance. The project was judged on the basis of its infrastructure, scope, size and complexity as well as in terms of its potential for enabling economic growth in the region through the relocation and centralization of India's financial and IT sectors, said a GIFT statement. GIFT outclassed projects like Moscow International Finance Centre in Russia and Songdo in South Korea.
About Dronacharya Award

The Dronacharya Award was instituted by the government of India in 1985. The award has been given to 72 people until 2011. The award carries five lakh rupees and a citation and is conferred to coaches of different sports for their noteworthy contribution. The awards will be presented by President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhawan on 29 August 2012, the National Sports Day.
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2012

The Government has announced the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and Arjuna Awards for the year 2012. A large number of nominations were received for these awards this year, which were considered by Selection Committee consisting of eminent sports persons and sports administrators; headed by Col Rajya Vardhan Singh Rathore. Based on the recommendations of the Committee and after due scrutiny, the Government has approved to confer awards upon the following sportspersons.
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award - 2012:

1. Shri Vijay Kumar (Shooting) 2. Shri Yogeshwar Dutt (Wrestling)
Current News & Events Sitara-i-Imtiaz Award

Pakistan government on 14 August 2012 honoured Urdu author, Gopi Chand Narang with sitara-i-Imtiaz, the third highest civilian honour given by the nation. In the past, former Prime Minister Morarji Desai and matinee idol Dilip Kumar were bestowed Pakistan's highest civilian honour, Nishan-iImtiaz. The award will be given to Gopi Chand Narang in Pakistan on 23 March, 2013, Pakistan's Republic Day. Gopi Chand Narang was born on 11 February, 1931, in Dukki, Pakistan. He is an Indian scholar of Urdu language and literature, an eminent Urdu writer, scholar, critic and linguist. He is author of many books in Urdu, Hindi and English.
Chennai scientist bags UNESCO Award

Chennai based Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) scientist has been selected for the UNESCO'S Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) awards. V M Sathish Kumar, works with the Southern Regional Center of ZSI in Chennai, was selected as one among the 12 international scientists for their projects on ecosystems, natural resources and biodiversity. Kumar has been selected for his research on developing strategies and a regulatory framework for the sustainable fishing of sea cucumbers in the Gulf of Manner biosphere reserve. He is the only scientist selected from India for the awards announced under 'Laureates of Young Scientists and Michel Batisse Awards' category. The award was announced by the International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Programme of UNESCO (MAB) in Paris. Since 1989, the Man and the Biosphere Programme has been awarding yearly scholarships of up to US$5,000 to ten young researchers, to encourage them to work on ecosystems, natural resources and biodiversity. Since 2010, two special fellowships are also being awarded under the programme.
Chen Shu-Chu, Taiwan:

She is being recognized for the pure altruism of her personal giving, which reflects a deep, consistent, quiet compassion, and has transformed the lives of the numerous Taiwanese she has helped.
Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto, Indonesia:

He is being recognized for his sustained advocacy for community-based natural resource management in Indonesia, leading bold campaigns to stop illegal forest exploitation, as well as fresh social enterprise initiatives that engage the forest communities as their full partners. This years Magsaysay Award winners will each receive a certificate, a medallion bearing the likeness of the late President, and a cash prize. Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asias highest honour and is widely regarded as the regions equivalent of the Nobel Prize. It celebrates the memory and leadership example of the third Philippine President.
Nisan-i-Imtiaz Award
Acclaimed Pakistani writer Saadat Hasan Manto on 14 August 2012 was honoured with the Nisani-Imtiaz, Pakistan's highest civilian award. Manto is best known for his Urdu short stories, especially those that explored the impact of the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan in 1947. Toba Tek Singh, Bu (Odour), Khol Do (Open It) and Thanda Gosht (Cold Meat) were written by him.
Romulo Davide, Philippines:

He is being recognized for his steadfast passion in placing the power and discipline of science in the hands of farmers in the Philippines, who have consequently multiplied their yields, created productive farming communities, and rediscovered the dignity of their labour.
PIFA Award
Indian American Rajan Gangahar has won the "best story" award for the movie "Khushiyaan" at the Punjabi International Film Academy Award (PIFAA) held in Toronto.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan,Bangladesh:

She is being recognized for her uncompromising courage and impassioned leadership in a campaign of judicial activism in Bangladesh that affirms the people's right to a good environment as nothing less than their right to dignity and life.
Magsaysay Awards, 2012

Kulandei Francis, India:
He is being recognized for his visionary zeal, his profound faith in community energies, and his sustained programs in pursuing the holistic economic empowerment of thousands of women and their families in rural India.
Yang Saing Koma, Cambodia:

He is being recognized for his creative fusion of practical science and collective will that has inspired and enabled vast numbers of farmers in Cambodia to become more empowered and productive contributors to their country's economic growth.
News Makers
Miss China bags the title of Miss World 2012
Miss China, Wenxia Yu won the title of Miss World 2012 while Miss Wales Sophie Elizabeth Moulds and Miss Australia Jessica Michelle Kahawaty came second and third respectively. Miss China had to compete with 116 candidates to win the crown. Miss India Vanya Mishra made it to the list of top 7 finalists, but could not go beyond that. While the charm of the pageant, first held in 1951, has waned in the West, it continues to be an object of interest in Asian countries. Sweden's Kiki Hakans son was the first Miss World, while Oscar-winning US actress Halle Berry was a finalist in 1986. Venezuela has produced the most Miss Worlds, with six winners, while India and Britain claim five titles each. Rita Faria was the first Indian to bag the title in 1966, followed by Aishwarya Rai(1994), Diana Hayden(1997), Yukta Mookhey (1999) and Priyanka Chopra(2000). China has already hosted the competition five times.
Forbes World's Most Powerful Women 2012

Sonia Gandhi ranked number six in the Forbes magazines list of the worlds 100 most powerful women. Sonia Gandhi, the chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance and the Congress party is among the five Indian women who have been named in the worlds 100
most powerful women list. The other four Indian women in the list are Indira Nooyi (12), Padmashree Warrior (58), Chanda Kochar (59) and Kiran Mazzomdar Shaw (80). Gandhi was figured on 7th position in the list of powerful women in 2011. German Chancellor Angella Markel topped the list for a second successive year. She was followed by US Secretary of State Hillary
Delhi Government presented Lifetime Achievement Awards

Celebrated Sarod exponent Amjad Ali Khan, vocalist Girija Devi and famous writer Ruskin Bond were conferred the Delhi government's Lifetime Achievement Awards on 24 August 2012. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit presented the award acknowledging the outstanding contribution of the awardees to their respective fields at the national and international level. The award was consisted of a cash prize of 11 lakh rupees and a citation. The award was instituted by the Delhi government's Sahitya Kala Parishad in 2004 to felicitate on eminent personalities for their outstanding contributions to the fields of music, dance, theatre, visual arts, sports and literature. Bhimsen Joshi, MS Subbulakshmi, Zohra Sehgal, Kapila Vatsayan, Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar, Ebrahim Alkazi, , Habib Tanvir, Vishwanathan Anand and Ram Kumar are some of the noted recipients of the award.

Clinton and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who have been ranked number two and three respectively for second year in a row. Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and wife of Microsoft Corp cofounder Bill Gates, and Jill Abramson, executive editor of the New York Times was ranked fourth and fifth respectively. Michelle Obama, wife of the US President Barak Obama and IMF director Christine Lagarde ranked seventh and eighth respectively in the list. The magazines list included women who have been working in the areas such as policymaking, business, entertainment, techno logy and nonprofit organizations.
V.V. Giri Memorial Award 2011 to Prof. Utsa Patnaik

The V.V. Giri Memorial Award 2011, instituted by the V.V. Giri National Labour Institute, an autonomous body of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, was conferred by Mallikarjun Kharge, Honble Union Labour and Employment Minister, on Prof. Utsa Patnaik, a Professor in the Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi in recognition of her outstanding contributions to labour studies. Prof. Patnaik, in her academic and policy oriented research studies, has strongly argued for the promotion of labour-intensive small-scale production, which ensures sustainable agrarian development. Besides stressing the necessity of enhancing public investment in rural development, Prof. Utsa Patnaik has also emphasized the need to provide poor households with greater access to land and other productive assets. kara Lok Sabha constituencies. Since 2005 he is a member of the Rajya Sabha. The Deputy Chairman is elected in the meeting of the Rajya Sabha as decided by Chairman of the Rajya Sabha from amongst the members of the Rajya Sabha. He is supposed to resign from his original party because as a Deputy Speaker, he has to remain impartial. Deputy Chaiman of Rajya Sabha acts as the Presiding Officer in case of leave or absence of the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, the VicePresident of India. Democratic Alliance candidate Jaswant Singh with a comfortable margin. Ansari had polled 490 first preference votes out of 728 valid votes cast in the election held on August. Jaswant Singh polled 238 votes.
Top 10 Powerful Women:

Angela Merkel, Chancellor, Germany 2. Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, United States 3. Dilma Rousseff, President, Brazil 4. Melinda Gates, Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 5. Jill Abramson, Executive Editor, New York Times Co. 6. Sonia Gandhi, President, Indian National Congress, India 7. Michelle Obama, First Lady, United States 8. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund 9. Janet Napolitano, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security, United States 10. Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook 1.
Karl Mehta was selected to Work on Five High-Impact Projects

Indian-American entre preneur Karl Mehta was selected among the 18 Presidential Innovation Fellows who would work on five high-impact projects in the US capital Washington DC. Selected from an applicant pool of nearly 700 innovators from across the country, the Fellows would spend six months in Washington DC to work on five high-impact projects aimed at supporting entrepreneurs, small businesses and the economy, while significantly improving how the Federal Government serves the American people.
Hamid Ansari sworn in as 14th vice-president of India

Hamid Ansari was sworn-in as the Vice President of the country for the second consecutive term by President Pranab Mukherjee on August 11. Ansari, 75, was adminis tered the oath by the President at a grand ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan. He had defeated National
Kurien elected the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha

Congress leader PJ Kurien was unanimously elected the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh moved the motion for the election of Kurien. Kurien has been the member of national parliament for the last three decades representing Idukki, and Mavelik
Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi Quit as Iraq communication Minister

Iraqi Communications minister Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi quit his post in 27 Aug accusing Prime Minister Nuri Maliki of Political Interference in his ministry. Allawis resignation is the first by a cabinet member since Iraqs national unity government was formed in December 2010.
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Omita is 63 years old. She replaced Christy L Fernandez. Omita Paul was appointed as the information commissioner in the central Information Commission in the year 2009 for the short duration of time at the end of the UPA-I governments tenure. In addition, she had resigned to join as the Advisor in Finance Ministry from 2004 to 2009. Omita is a retired officer from Indian Information Service (IIS) from 1973 batch. Omita Paul is the wife of KK Paul. KK Paul was the former Delhi Police Commissioner. He is working as the member of the Union Public Service Commission. Gill, in a banking career spanning nearly 26 years, worked on various banking projects including capital market, corporate and treasury. H e joined the Deutsche bank in 1991 at the private wealth management and moved to the corporate banking division in 1993.
Appointments
New Chief Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry
Raghuram Rajan, former chief economist of International Monetary Fund (IMF) was appointed the Chief Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet cleared the appointment of Rajan as the new CEA on 10 August 2012. The position was lying vacant since Kaushik Basu demitted the office on 31 July 2012.
Southern Naval Command gets new Chief of Staff

Rear Admiral G. Ashok Kumar has taken over as the Chief of Staff of the Southern Naval Command, Kochi. Before this, he was the Flag Officer, Sea Training, Kochi, with responsibilities for preparing all major warships for combat readiness. A specialist in navigation and direction, he commanded INS Kulish and INS Ranvir. He was the executive officer of INS Brahmaputra and the navigating officer of INS Vikrant.
Ravneet Gill appointed New CEO of Deutsche Bank India

Deutsche Bank, the largest German lender, appointed Ravneet Gill as the new CEO of the banks Indian operations. Gill replaced Gunit Chadha to the top position, who was elevated as co-chief executive of Asia Pacific along with Alan Cloete in June 2012. Prior to his appointment as the CEO, Gill headed the capital markets and treasury solutions, and oversaw the successful integration of corporate treasury sales, debt capital markets and corporate banking coverage in the country, the German lender said in a statement. As the head of Banks Indias operation, Gill will report Gunit Chaddha and Alan Cloete.
Raghuram Rajan has already been serving as the Honorary Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister, the position he was given in November 2008. He also headed High Level Committee on Financial Sector Reforms in 2007. A Professor of Finance at the Booth School of Business of University of Chicago, Rajan also served as the "Economic Counselor and Director of Research" (Chief Economist) at the International Monetary Fund from September 2003 until January 2007.
SEBI Appoints Muralidhar Rao as ED

Mr. S.V. Muralidhar Rao has been appointed as executive Director with SEBI .The appointment of Mr Rao as ED comes after the vacancy created by the exit of Ms. Usha Narayanan.
Dr. Zaidi as New Election Commissioner

Dr. Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi On August 7 assumed the charge as Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India. He fills the vacancy in the Election Commission caused by the assumption of charge by Sh. V.S. Sampath as the 18th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) succeeding Dr. S.Y. Quraishi. Dr. Zaidi superannuated as Civil Aviation Secretary on July 31. Dr. Zaidi had earlier worked as Director-General of Civil Aviation, and was Indias representative in the International Civil Aviation Organisation. He was also the Joint Secretary in the Civil Aviation Ministry, and Commissioner of Bareilly Development Authority.
Omita Paul appointed as the Secretary of the President

Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appointed Omita Paul as the Secretary of the President on 24 July 2012. Her tenure as Secretary to the President is on contract basis.
Places in News
Meeting of the IndiaCELAC Troika Foreign Ministers
The first meeting of the India-CELAC (The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Troika foreign ministers was held in New Delhi on 7 August 2012. The CELAC Troika was led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile Alfredo Moreno Charme, the pro-tempore President of CELAC. The Foreign Minister of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro and the Vice Foreign Minister of Cuba, Rogelio Sierra participated in the meeting as members of the Troika. The Indian delegation was led by the External Affairs Minister of India, SM Krishna. The meeting was held with the objective of strengthening India-CELAC relationship.
Castle Naggar in Himachal Pradesh was given Heritage Status

The Castle Naggar, Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation's prime hotel in the picturesque Kullu valley, was notified under the heritage status by the Union Tourism ministry on 23 August 2012. Naggar was the capital of the erstwhile Kullu state for about 1460 years. The castle was built by Raja Sidhi Singh in the 16th century. The castle has traditional architecture called Kathloonmi, which uses a combination of stones and wooden beams. The castle was handed over to state-owned HPTDC in 1978 to be run as a hotel. cost of $ 6.8 million to reduce energy and water consumption by 15-19 per cent. The 45,000 sq ft mosque in an area of 105,000 square feet will come up by 2013, the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation has announced. The project is expected to cost $ 6.8 million and the facility will accommodate 3,500 worshippers at one time. According to the foundation, the mosque will feature green spaces, particularly gardens on the roof for heat insulation. In addition, the mosque will have technologies such as solar panels to heat water for ablution and recycle plants to treat water for gardening and washroom purposes. The mosque will also house the Imam's (priest) house and will be equipped with the latest technologies in energy efficiency to curb wastage in air-conditioning and air purity system. cluster for various financial activities like banking, insurance, mutual funds, offshore banking investments and debt, by setting up a financial hub at New Town Kolkata. The proposed hub would serve as a great source of employment and generate investment capability. The hub would have facilities for data warehousing, disaster recovery, back up office and IT BPO centres, in collaboration with township Infrastructure, Human Resources, IT and Telecommunications. The day-long meeting was attended by a large number of public and private sector banks and financial services companies. Dr. Sudhir Krishna, Secretary, Urban Development Ministry was also present on this occasion.
Senkaku Islands became the Bone of Contention between China and Japan
Ten Japanese on 23 August 2012, made an unauthorized landing on Uotsuri, which is known in Japan as the Senkaku Islands and in China as the Diaoyu Islands. The uninhabited islands surrounded by rich fishing grounds are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan. The Senkaku Islands dispute engulfs in itself a territorial dispute on a group of uninhabited islands. Of the ten Japanese people who visited the island, five were apparently conservative local assembly members. The Senkaku Islands are located in the East China Sea between Japan, and the Republic of China. The archipelago contains five uninhabited islands.
International Financial Hub to come up in Kolkata

The Union Ministry of Urban Development and WBHIDCO Government of West Bengal organised a meeting in New Delhi for creation of an international financial hub in New Town, Kolkata, West Bengal. The meeting was chaired by Minister of State, Urban Development, Prof. Saugata Roy and Shri Firhad Hakim, Minister in charge of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, Government of West Bengal. The meeting sought to initiate the creation of a financial
Myanmar floods - 85,000 homeless in Irrawaddy Delta

The Myanmar government has said that 85,000 people have been driven from their homes by heavy flooding. The Irrawaddy Delta has been worst affected. Unusually heavy monsoon rains have inundated around 250,000 hectares of rice fields. President Thein Sein has visited the affected areas. The damaged transport and communications networks mean the full picture is still emerging. The government says it has set up more than 200 emergency relief centres to help those who have had to leave their homes.
Eco-friendly mosque in Dubai

Dubai will have the largest, most modern and eco-friendly mosque estimated to be built at the
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Mr. Ouyang said the rover would be powered by the sun during daytime and by nuclear power during the night. million square miles, its lowest ebb in 32 years. Thats about 27,000 square miles less than the previous low of 1.61 million square miles recorded Sept 18, 2007. Another 150,000 square miles of sea ice could melt before the middle of next month, when refreezing typically begins, NSIDC research scientist Walt Meier said, during a conference call with colleagues at NASA.
Science Snippets
New Strain of Rice developed by the Scientists
Scientists developed a new strain of rice that could increase crop yields by a fifth for small farmers. It grows well in soils lacking the nutrient phosphorus. The gene will be now transferred to modern varieties of rice using classic methods of crossbreeding, not genetic engineering. Many soil types bond tightly to phosphorus, allowing only a small quantity of the precious mineral to plant roots.To solve this problems, farmers seek help of phosphorus fertilisers. But in poor countries, this option costs too much, which means the plant is left undernourished. Ultimately, this meagre growth affects yields. In October 2011, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said the global population of seven billion could rise to at least 10 billion by 2100. Therefore, we need more yields. Phosphate fertilisers are typically extracted from layers of rock which were ocean sediments millions of years ago.
Shrinking heat shield of the planet

The reflective Arctic sea ice that serves as a heat shield for the planet has melted to a new record low and government-backed scientists on Monday said the Arctic may be largely icefree as soon as 2020. This month, up to 100,000 square miles of sea ice a day disappeared, bringing overall shrinkage over the past three decades to 40 per cent, according to data analysed over the weekend at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre, located at the University of Colorado in Boulder. The data show the area covered by sea ice shrank to 1.58
Rain Enhancement Techniques Conducted in India

A multi-year research observational campaign entitled, Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement (CAIPEEX) was conducted by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune during the period 2009-2011 over different parts of the country. The objectives of the program were: (1) to understand the role of aerosols in the rainfall processes in the clouds and (2) to carry out cloud seeding experiments in research mode for rain enhancements using modern techniques. During the period May to September 2009, the cloud and aerosol observations were conducted over different parts of country using instrumented aircraft Total 220 hrs of flying was done. In the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons of 2010 and 2011, the cloud seeding experiments were conducted over the rain-shadow areas of peninsular India from Hyderabad base. Total 200 and 250 hours of flying was done in the years 2010 and 2011 respectively. Modern techniques such as (1) hired instrumented aircraft for measuring the atmospheric state parameters, aerosols and cloud microphysical parameters (2) equipped for seeding by flares and salt powder, (3) radar for monitoring the potential clouds, (4) pilot to ground connectivity and internet connectivity for real time transfer of data, (5) half hourly INSAT satellite data, weather data from IMD sites (6) high resolution weather models for the forecasting etc., were used in the program.
Chinas first nuclear battery moon rover

Chinas first Moon rover will be powered by a home-built nuclear battery, the chief scientist of the Chinas lunar project said. The rover will land on moon next year on board Change-3, Chinas third lunar probe, Shanghai Daily reported. The Change-3 is expected to be launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest Sichuan Province. The Change-3 will also observe space from the lunar surface as the lack of atmosphere allows better viewing than from Earth. The battery, using plutonium-238, will be able to power the 100-kilogram vehicle for more than 30 years, Ouyang Ziyuan, the chief scientist quoted.
Defence
Prithvi-II missile test success
The Strategic Forces Command, which is in charge of nuclear weapons, successfully fired the surface-to-surface PrithviII missile from Chandipur in Odishas Balasore district on August 25, confirming yet again that the armed forces are capable of launching nuclear missiles independently.
Indias own eye in the sky

Indias efforts to build its own Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) system crossed a milestone, when a fully modified Brazilian Embraer-145 aircraft, on which the system will be installed, arrived on Wednesday night at the HAL airport in Bangalore. The aircraft, with the indigenous Active Electronic Scanning Array (AESA) radar, will be an eye in the sky. The radar can look 240 degrees within a short time and has a range of 350 km. It can track more than 500 targets simultaneously. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), with its various laboratories, is spearheading the (AEW&C) system programme. The aircraft was given an enthusiastic welcome by engineers of the Centre for Airborne Systems (CABS), nodal agency for building the AEW&C system. The CABS is a DRDO facility. The most critical of these is the AESA radar, which is developed by the Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), Bangalore, and the antenna called Active Antenna Array Unit (AAAU), made by the CABS. The radar is the processor part of the AAAU.
Target Aircraft Lakshya-1 was successfully Test flown

The Air Force version of micro-light pilot-less target aircraft Lakshya-1 was successfully testflown from the launch complex-2 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, Orissa on 23 August 2012. The test was carried out with an objective to test the validity of its engine and duration enhancement. Lakshya has been inducted into the Indian Air Force since 2000. The aircraft is remotecontrolled from the ground and designed to provide training to both airborne and air defence pilots. Lakshya-1, fitted with an advanced digitally controlled engine and is a sub-sonic, re-usable aerial target system. It is launched by a solid propellant rocket motor, and sustained by a turbojet engine in flight. The flight duration of the sixfoot-long aircraft is 30 to 35 minutes. The PTA developed by Indias aeronautic development establishment, Bangalore has been designed to perform discreet aerial reconnaissance of battlefield as well as target acquisition.
Brahmos Supersonic Cruise Missile

Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) successfully test-fired Brahmos supersonic cruise missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, in Balasore district, Orissa on 29 July 2012. The missile was test-fired as the developmental trial as it has already been inducted into the Indian Army and Indian Navy. BrahMos, which has a target range of 290-km, is the surface-tosurface cruise missile. It is capable of carrying a conventional warhead of 200 to 300 kg. The missile has been developed by BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited, a joint venture between Republic of India's Defence Research and Develop ment Organisation (DRDO) and Russian Federation's NPO Mashinostroeyenia. It is the world's fastest cruise missile in operation. It can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. Presently scientists at the BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited are working to develop the air as well as the submarine launch version of the missile. Last time the missile was tested on 28 March 2012 from the same platform.
The missile, drawn from the inventory of the armed forces, lifted off from a road-mobile launcher at 11.04 a.m. at the Integrated Test Range. It crossed the entire range of 350 km and smashed the targeted area with a dummy payload in the Bay of Bengal, with an accuracy of less than 10 metres. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed three Prithvi variants: Prithvi-I for the Army; Prithvi-II for the Indian Air Force; and the Dhanush for the Navy. All the three have been inducted into service. Prithvi-II, a single-stage missile using liquid propellants, can carry a 500-kg warhead and is meant for deep interdiction.
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Space Science
Third Launchpad at Sriharikota
Preliminary studies for establishing the third launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota are underway to meet the requirements of Indian Space Research Organisations (ISROs) future launch vehicle programme. The 12th Five year plan proposals of Department of Space, which is currently under consideration for approval, envisages launching of total of 58 missions consisting of 33 satellite missions and 25 launch vehicle missions.
Russian rocket fails to reach target orbit

Russias federal space agency says an unmanned rocket and its payload of two communications satellites failed to reach the orbit, the latest in a series of failures that has dogged Moscows space programme. Roscosmos said August 07 that a secondary booster module of the Proton-M rocket carrying Russian and Indonesian satellites switched off earlier than expected minutes after late Mondays takeoff from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Last August, Russia lost contact with a communications satellite shortly after a Proton-M launch. In 2007, a Proton-M carrying a Japanese communications satellite crashed. The 50-metres long booster with a payload of up to 20 metric tons has been in use since 1965.
whether the planet was ever hospitable to life. The robot rover, which epitomizes the technological wizardry of man kind, is set to spend nearly two years for the mission. NASA undertook the mission with an objective to determine whether Mars has ever had the conditions to support life. The ambitious project costed the US government about 2.5 billion dollar. Specific Technological Features of Curiosity The 900 kg rover has the top speed of about 4cm/s Plutonium generators installed on the rover will deliver heat and electricity for at least 14 years
75kg science payload more than 10 times as massive as those of earlier US Mars rovers Equipped with tools to brush and drill into rocks, to scoop up, sort and sieve samples Variety of analytical techniques to discern chemistry in rocks, soil and atmosphere Even carries a laser to zap rocks; beam will identify atomic elements in rocks Equipped with 17 cameras, which will identify particular targets, and a laser will zap those rocks to probe their chemistry Findings of the mission will be delivered to Earth through antennas on the rover deck
In 2013, indigenous Cryogenic engine will propel GSLV

After facing bitter experiences from superpowers across the world in the transfer of Cryogenic engine technology,India has taken the firm decision to lauch its first cryogenic propelled launch vehicles next year.The ground tests for the respective mission are already over, ISRO was planning to launch its ambitious GSLV space mission with indigenously built cryogenic engine early next year. According to ISRO chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan two major ground tests remained before integrating the GSLV vehicle for launch. ISRO needs to recuperate its previous two GSLV launch failures. On India's Mars mission, he said ISRO was working to meet the November 2013 launch target. The Union cabinet had recently given the green flag to the space agency's proposal to send a mission to the red planet. Cryogenics is the study of the production of very low temperature (below -150 C) and the behavior of materials at those temperatures. Cryogenic fuels, mainly liquid hydrogen, have been used as rocket fuels. Liquid oxygen is used as an oxidizer of hydrogen.
NASAs Rover Curiosity touched the Surface of Mars

The US space agency NASA landed Curiosity, a huge new robot rover on Mars on 5 August 2012. The one-tonne vehicle touched the surface of Mars after a 345-millionmile expedition. The robot rover will now conduct a study to find out
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Deaths
Neil Armstrong
Vempati Chinna Satyam

Kuchipudi Dance Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam passed away on 29 July 2012. He was 83 years old. He was honoured with Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in the year 1998. He was born in Kuchipudi Village in Krishna District of coastal Andhra Pradesh where Kuchipudi dance was originated. Vempti Chinna had passed through various milestones to make this unique form of Dance popular across the world. He had trained various students in Chennai. Chinna Satyam performed the Kuchipudi Dance in 60 countries and trained 10,000 children. The Famous Guru, Vempati commenced Kuchipudi Art Academy in Madras in the year 1963. The Solo items and Dance Dramas were prepared by the students of the academy that were staged all over the India and abroad. Sri Krishna Parijatham was the first Dance Drama composed by Chinna Satyam.
Neil Armstrong was a quiet, self-described nerdy engineer who became a global hero when as a steely-nerved U.S. pilot he made one giant leap for mankind with the first step on the moon. The modest man who entranced and awed people on Earth has died. He was 82. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969, capping the most daring of the 20th centurys scientific expeditions. His first words after setting foot on the surface are etched in history books and in the memories of those who heard them in a live broadcast.
Vilasrao Deshmukh
Vilasrao Dagadojirao Deshmukh, the Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences died of multiple organ failure at the Global Health City Hospital in Chennai on 14 August 2012. He was 67. He was admitted to hospital on 6 August after his kidney and lever stopped to work. Born on 26 May 1945 in Babhalgaon, Latur district, in Maharashtra, he received his Bachelors degree his in science and arts from M.E.S Abasaheb Garware College, Pune. He entered in active politics. Starting his political career as a deputychairman of Lathur District Panchayat Committee, he was first elected to Maharashtra State Legislative Assembly from Lathur constituency in 1980.
Indian freedom struggle from 1929-1947. An ardent communist, he was also jailed for two years from 1947-1949 due to his leftist leanings. Hangal was long associated with IPTA, where he worked alongside Balraj Sahani and Kaifi Ajami.
Gore Vidal
Contrarian author, playwright, politician and commentator of USA, whose novels, essays, plays and opinions were stamped by his immodest wit and unconventional wisdom. He was 86. His works include, The City and the Pillar, Myra Breckinridge and historical pices like Lincoln and Burr.
Ashok Mehta
Veteran Cinematographer Ashok Mehta passed away in Mumbai on 15 August 2012. He was 65. Mehta was suffering from lung cancer and was getting treatment at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai. During his long career in Bollywood Mehta worked with prominent filmmakers like Subhash Ghai, Rajiv Rai and MF Husain. He was the director of photography in films like 36 Chowringhee Lane, Utsav, Trikal, Khalnayak, Bandit Queen, Chalte Chalte, Gajgamini, Trimurti, Khalnayak, Moksha and Ram Lakhan.
Dara Singh
Noted wrestler and Hindi cinemas original action hero. He was 84. Born in Punjab in 1928, he trained as a traditional pahelwan before taking up professional wrestling. He went on to win international recognition by winning the Commonwealth Champion ship and World Wrestling Championship in the 1950s. In the late 1980s his popularity soared when he played Hanuman in teleseries Ramayan. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2003.
Actor AK Hangal
Veteran actor Avatar Krishan Hangal, popularly called AK Hangal, passed away in Mumbai on 26 August 2012 after prolonged illness. He was 97. In a career spanning nearly 40 years Hangal worked in around 225 films. A devoted artist, he also worked in numerous theatre plays and TV Series. Born in Sialkot, now in Pakistan, on 1 February 1917, AK Hangal actively participated in the
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Programme Implementation, the contribution of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) to GDP and total industrial production was estimated to be 8.72% and 44.86% respectively during the year 200809. The estimated contribution of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in total exports of the country for the year 2007-08 (latest available), based on data obtained from Export Promotion Councils, was 30.80%. Enterprise-wise data collected on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) during the Fourth All India Census of MSMEs: 2006-07 and Economic Census 2005, Central Statistics Office, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation for activities excluded from Fourth All India Census of MSMEs 20062007 namely wholesale/retail trade, legal, educational & social services, hotel & restaurants, transports and storage & warehousing (except cold storage) indicate that out of 361.76 lakh MSMEs, entrepreneurs belonging to Other Backward Classes owned 151.73 lakh MSMEs (41.94%) while Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes entrepreneurs owned 28.34 lakh (7.83%) and 20.84 lakh (5.76%) MSMEs respectively. The socially backward classes of the society together owned 200.91 lakh MSMEs (51.54%). The women entrepreneurs also owned 38.50 lakh MSMEs (10.64%). The above data suggests that the MSMEs helped in achieving inclusive growth.
Economic Scenario
CCEA clears five more oil, gas blocks
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), on Thursday, cleared five more oil and gas blocks that had been put on offer under the NELP IX round of bidding. The major winners included U.K.'s BG Exploration & Production and BHP Billiton Petroleum (International Exploration) of Australia. During the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) IX round held in 2010, the government had offered 34 areas for exploration and production of oil and gas. Bids for 33 were received at the close of bidding on March 28 last year. Of these, the CCEA in March awarded 16 blocks to firms such as ONGC while bids for ten blocks were rejected due to bidders offering lesser than expected profit petroleum. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Jaipal Reddy said the CEEA was to consider award of six onland and two offshore blocks but only five blocks were approved. The Mumbai basin deep sea block MB-DWN-2010/1 was awarded to the consortium of BG Exploration & Production and BHP Billiton Petroleum (International Exploration) of Australia. The BG-BHP combine beat the consortia of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Oil India Ltd. (OIL) and GAIL India to the block. The shallow water block MB-OSN2010/2 in the same basin is due to be awarded to a consortium of OIL, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petro Resources, which were the sole bidders.
Nine Point Action Plan for TPDS

A Nine Point Action Plan for curbing the leakages/diversion of foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) has been evolved in consultation with the State Governments. The Government has been regularly monitoring the action being taken by States/UTs including issuing advisories, holding conferences etc. wherein State/UT Governments are requested to implement the Nine Point Action Plan. The Minister added that the Nine Point Action Plan inter-alia stipulates that States should undertake a campaign for review of Below Poverty Line(BPL)/ Antyodaya Anna Yojana(AAY) lists to eliminate ghost ration cards. Further, instructions were issued to all State/UT Governments to carry out an intensive campaign from October, 2009 to December, 2009 to review the existing lists of BPL/ AAY families and eliminate ineligible/bogus ration cards. As a result thereof, 27 State/UT Governments have reported upto 30.06.2012, deletion of 266.80 lakh bogus/ineligible ration cards since July, 2006.
GAAR
General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR), allows tax authority to declare an impermissible avoidance arrangement. Once the case is declared so under GAAR, tax liability is to be determined as if the arrangement did not exist. As per the draft guidelines of GAAR, any step in or a part or whole of any transaction, operation, scheme, agreement or understanding, whether enforceable or not would be covered. P-Notes and sub-accounts have been excluded. GAAR will also not have any retrospective effect and onus of proof will lie on the tax authority. GAAR, essentially, covers tax avoidance (as result of actions taken by assesses, none of which are illegal or forbidden). It does not cover tax evasion or tax mitigation. GAAR has been part of global tax laws for a while now. Australia introduced it in 1981, Canada in 1988, China in 2005 and South Africa in 2006.
Contribution of MSMEs to GDP

Based on the data of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) published by Central Statistical Office, Ministry of Statistics and
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Corporate Briefs Microsoft updates logo for first time in 25 years

Microsoft on Thursday unveiled a newly-designed logo featuring a new symbol and a new type face. The new logo shows the symbol for Microsofts Windows operating system four squares in red, green, blue and yellow positioned to the left of the name Microsoft in grey in a font called segoe. Microsoft said it made the change in advance of a wave of product launches that will include new versions of Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Xbox services and Office. Its been 25 years since weve updated the Microsoft logo and now is the perfect time for a change, the release said. The product launches represent a new era for Microsoft, the company said. So our logo should evolve to visually accentuate this new beginning. The logo is already in use in Microsoft stores in Boston, Seattle and Bellevue, Washington. The company said it would be used in all of its stores over the next few months and all of its television ads globally.
Apple surpasses Microsoft to become worlds number one

Apple has become the most valuable company of all time, with a market value of approximately $623bn (397bn). The consumer gadget and computer maker has surpassed Microsoft's record of $620.58bn set in 1999. Apple is planning to the iPhone 5, and possibly a smaller and cheaper iPad. There is also speculation that Apple plans to make a TV set. But Apple, like many US companies, faces a number of challenges. The strength of the US dollar against the euro and other currencies makes US-made goods more expensive overseas. Added to that, the faltering economic recovery in the United States, combined with recession in major markets such as Europe, is also making it more difficult to sell consumer electronics. Apple also faces stiff competition from Samsung's Galaxy S3 and HTC's One X smartphones. Limited for seven years. In a career spanning over three decades he had also been associated with Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj, Fiat India and Escorts. from 9th position in 2011. China topped the list. Countries which are strong in producing innovation outputs despite a weaker innovation environment and inputs are poised to rank high in the efficiency index, prepared by CII, Alcatel-Lucent and Booz & Co.
REC Signed MoU with Genco

The Rural Electrification Corporation(REC) on 23 August 2012 signed MoU with Genco under which the former will provide the latter a loan of 10873 crore rupees to set up three power projects with a combined capacity of 2560 MW in Andhra Pradesh. These are Vijayawada and Kothagudem thermal power stations expansion projections of 800 MW each, and the hydroelectric project of Polavaram dam (960 MW). The expansion projects of the Vijayawada and Kothagudem thermal stations will require 5286 crore rupees and 5291 crore rupees respectively and that of Polavaram will require 3014 crore rupees. The REC loan will cover a major part of the cost of these projects while the remaining expenditure will be carried out by Genco.
60% Indian companies struggling to protect corporate data

About 60 per cent Indian businesses are struggling to protect and effectively manage their databases, which make up 51 per cent of an organisation's total value, a survey has said. According to the survey by IT security solutions provider Symantec, corporate data in Indian companies is expected to grow 67 per cent in the next 12 months. "However, with information spiralling rapidly, 60 per cent Indian businesses are struggling to effectively manage and protect their digital information, which makes up 51 per cent of an organisation's total value,," the survey added. The findings are part of a global survey comprising business and IT executives at 4,506 companies in 36 countries.
Arvind Saxena appointed the Managing Director of Volkswagen India

German car maker Volkswagen appointed Arvind Saxena as the Managing Director of Volkswagen passengers car in India. In this new role Saxena will be heading the Volkswagen brand with responsibility for sales, after sales and marketing. Prior to joining Volkswagen, Saxena was heading the sales and marketing operations at Hyundai Motor India Limited. Before leaving the company on 19 July 2012, he worked for Hyundai Moto India
Global Innovation Efficiency Index in 2012

India has jumped to the second position in the Global Innovation Efficiency Index in 2012,
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climate," said geological oceanographer Matthew Schmidt from Texas A&M University.
Environment
World's largest delta fast disappearing into sea
The world's largest delta, Ganga-Bhagirathi, is slowly disappearing into the sea, finds a study by river expert Kalyan Rudra. The study launched on Saturday by union urban development minister Sougata Roy in Kolkata reveals that the Indian ocean may soon lose the distinction of being home to the world's largest delta, the Ganges delta. The research titled "Atlas of Changing River Courses in West Bengal", a project of the Sea Explorers' Institute, was funded by the Union and the Bengal governments. The project was started by Rudra and his team in November 2009 and was completed in March, this year. "The delta is being swallowed by the sea at an alarming rate both from its apex and the base," said Rudra. Of the 36 delta regions in the world, the Ganga delta which empties into the Bay of Bengal has been the biggest one. The Ganga-Bhagirathi delta spans 57,000 square km - known to be the largest delta in the world. While the sea is encroaching inland, swallowing islands in the Sundarbans and adjoining areas at the bottom of the delta, the apex (from where the Bhagirathi takes off from the Ganga) is also shifting southwards.
US firm plans Rs 580 crore solar power project in Bihar

A US-based agency, Schanti Partners, New York, has expressed its keen interest in investing Rs 580 crore for a solar energy project in Kaimur district of Bihar. Initially, a 10MW unit would be set up. The agency has already submitted its proposal to the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) and received approval from the Bihar State Investment Promotion Board as also no-objection letter from Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency (BREDA). The agency intends to enter into a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with BSEB. The proposed PPA rate is Rs 12.50/ kWh.
Western Ghats experts' panel report under review

The Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has set up a committee under the chairmanship of Planning Commission member K Kasturirangan to review the controversial Western Ghats ecology experts panel report, which had recommended restricting industrial development in about 75% of the hilly terrain spread across six states. The Western
Ghats panel report was roundly criticized by the state governments and other infrastructure-related Central ministries. The Kasturi rangan committee will submit a report within two months to MoEF on how to implement the findings in a 'holistic' and 'effective' manner. The committee has been tasked with incorporating the views of the state governments as well as other ministries before MoEF takes its decision. The environment ministry in its notification has said the panel will review the "constitutional implications of Centre-state relations with respect to conservation and sustainable development of the Western Ghats region and the implications of the UNESCO heritage site recognition of some parts of the ghats".
Ocean temperature patterns key to climate change

An analysis of past oceanic temperature patterns has uncovered the role of sensitive triggers built into our climate system that can cause abrupt shifts in global climate. "Evidence is mounting that the Earth's climate system has sensitive triggers that can cause abrupt and dramatic shifts in global
Uttar Pradesh to have its own solar power policy

UP will soon have its own solar power policy that will lay down the guidelines for setting up of solar power plants by private parties and other organisations. Further, the UP chief secretary asked all DMs to identify pocket of lands in villages of their districts for setting up of solar power plants. The UP New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) has been entrusted the task of facilitating the setting up of solar power plants in the villages. UP has proposed to set up solar power plants to achieve 1,000 MW production till 2017. Around five acres of land is required for one MW of solar power project. The state government is planning to utilise the barren tracts of land in the villages.
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Sports
London Olympics 2012
The 30th Summer Olympics (London Olympics 2012) concluded in London on 12 August 2012. The 17-day event was inaugurated at Olympic Stadium at the Olympic Park in East London on 27 July 2012. London Olympics witnessed nearly 10500 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees participating in as many as 26 sports events. At the end of the game US topped the medal tally with a total of 104 medals (46 Gold+29 Silver+ 29 Silver) followed by China, which bagged a total of 88 medals (38 Gold+27 Silver+23 Bronze). Great Britain with 65 medals (29 Gold+17 Silver+19 Bronze), Russia with 82 medals (24 Gold+26 Silver+32 Bronze) and South Korea with 27 medals (13 Gold+8 Silver+6 Bronze) finished third, fourth and fifth respectively. India with a total of 6 medals (2 Silver+4Bronze) finished 55th on the medal tally.
London Olympics 2012 Medal Tally India

Silver:
Vijay Kumar - Shooting (Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol) Sushil Kumar - Wrestling (Men's 66kg Freestyle)
Bronze:
Saina Nehwal - Badminton (Women's Singles) Chungneijang Mery Kom Hmangte - Boxing [Women's Fly (51kg)] Gagan Narang - Shooting (Men's 10m Air Rifle) Yogeshwar Dutt - Wrestling (Men's 60kg Freestyle)
Roger Federer and Li Na won Cincinnati Masters

World no. 1 tennis player Roger Federer won a record fifth Western & Southern Open Title (Cincinnati Masters ) at Cincinnati on 19 August 2012. Federer beat second seeded Novak Djokovic 60, 7-6, (9-7). This was the first time when top-seeded mens players clashed in the final of Cincinnati Masters. In womens singles final Chinas Li Na beat German Angelique Kerbar to win her first title of the season. Li Na overcame the terrible first set to record a 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over her rival.
Laxman played 134 Tests, amassing 8781 runs at an average of 45.97. He scored 17 hundreds and 56 half centuries and earned the sobriquet Very Very Special. Laxman made his Test debut in 1996 against South Africa at Ahmedabad. Laxman, played 86 ODI matches for an aggregate of 2338 at an average of 30.76. But he could never become the part of Indian team in any cricket world cup edition.
7th Wimbledon title, and his first since 2009. He now shares the record for most Wimbledon wins with Pete Sampras and William Renahaw. At 30 years and 11 months, Federer also became the oldest man to win a Grand Slam title since Andre Aggasi won Australian Open in 2003.
Womens Singles:
American Serena Williams powered her way to a fifth Wimbledon title with a win over Polands Agnieszka Radwanska. This victory made Williams the oldest womens singles winner since Martina Navrotilova won the title in 1990, aged 33.
Fourth International Junior Shotgun Cup

Ankur Mittal won the bronze medal in double trap in the fourth International junior shotgun Cup in Orimattila, Finland. He scored 177 points. Mittal had scored 45, 41 and 45 in qualification and 46 in the final. Shayan Masood, the other Indian came fourth, one point behind. He had scored 130 in qualification following a series of 43, 45 and 42.
Mens Doubles:
Jonathan Marray of Britain and Frederik Nielsen of Denmark.
Womens Doubles:
Serena and Venus Williams of USA.
Mixed Doubles:
Second seeds Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond beat Leander Paes (India) and Elena Vesnina (Russia) to win the mixed doubles title. It was Paes and Vesninas second grand slam final defeat in 2012 after they lost in the Australian Open.
VVS Laxman announced Retirement

V.V.S. Laxman, on 18 August 2012 announced his retirement from international cricket, ending a glorious career spanning 16 years.
Wimbledon, 2012
Mens Singles:
Roger Federer broke millions of British hearts by beating local hero Andy Murray to win his
Current News & Events India win ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup
India defeated host and defending champion Australia to win ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. In the final match played at to the tournament victory. A total of 16 teams participated in the tournament. The teams were put into four groups A, B, C and D. India was placed in group C along with Papua New Guinea, West Indies and Zimbabwe. Australia was
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present 16 giving an opportunity for a number of associate and affiliate teams to showcase its talent.
Lydia Ko won CN Canadian Womens Open LPGA Golf

Lydia Ko Won CN Canadian Womens Open LPGA Golf on 26 Aug to become the youngest winner in LPGA Tour History and only the fifth amateur championship. she is 15-year-old .
India beat Cameroon to lift Nehru Cup

India lifted the Nehru Cup for the third consecutive time beating Cameroon 5-4 in a penalty shootout at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at New Delhi on September 2. This is India's third consecutive Nehru Cup title, infact they have just won the three. For the Indian football team, this is a matter of pride since the Cameroon side is ranked much higher to them in the FIFA rankings. India is ranked a lowly 168 while their, opponents are 59 in the world. Cameroon football team also took part in the Beijing Olympics 2008.
Townsville in Australia on 26 August 2012, the Indian under -19 squad led by Unmukt Chand beat Australian side by 6 wickets. Skipper Unmukt Chand scored unbeaten 111 runs leading his team to a glorious victory. Batting first the Australian team scored 225 runs with the loss of 8 wickets. Australian captain William Bosisto scored unbeaten 87 runs. India started strongly but lost 4 wickets on just 97 runs. Subsequently skipper Chand guided the Indian team to a 6 wickets victory in the 48th over. William Bosisto, the Australian skipper received the Man of the Tournament award. Anamul Haque of Bangladesh scored 365 runs, highest in the tournament. Reece Topley of England claimed 19 wickets and remained the leading wicket taker of the tournament. This victory marked third under-19 world cup title for India after Mohammad Kaif in 2000 and Virat Kohli in 2008 had led the team
placed in group A alongside Ireland, England and Nepal.
ICC Under-19 World Cup:

The ICC Under-19 World Cup started as an 8-team event in 1988. The tournament was not staged after its first edition in 1988 till 1998 and since then has been organised by the ICC as a biennial event. The number of competing teams in the tournament has increased from eight in 1988 to the
10 Athletes to Participate in Paralympic Games, 2012

10 Indian athletes would be participating in the Paralympic Games -2012 be held at London (U.K.) between August 29 to September 09, 2012 , based on the quota places allocated to India by the International Paralympics Committee. There are 5 athletes in Athletics, 3 in Powerlifting, 1 each in Swimming and Shooting sports disciplines, who have got bi-partite entry for the above Games. All the 10 athletes underwent training in India and special acclimatization coaching camp was conducted at Balisdan Sports Village, London, U.K. One athlete underwent special training at Germany. The Indian contingent consists of 10 athletes, 10 other coaches & escorts and 3 officials, including Chef-de-Mission.
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Summits
Global Hypoxia Summit & 4th International Conference on Chronic Hypoxia
Minister of state for Defence Dr M.M. Pallam Raju inaugurated the Global Hypoxia Summit & the 4th International Conference on Chronic Hypoxia on August 10 at New Delhi. Addressing the gathering he said High Altitude hypoxia research is important for our country because we are constrained to deploy considerable number of soldiers in the high altitude areas.
36th International Geological Congress to be held in India in 2020

The 36th International Geological Congress will come to India in 2020 after a period of 56 years. The last International Geological Congress was held in India in 1964 in Delhi. Dr. Vishwapati Trivedi, Secretary, Ministry of Mines today presented the bid before the International Union of Geological Science (IUGS) Council consisting of 121 member countries and 128 votes were cast in favour of India against 51 votes to Canada, which had offered Vancouver as the venue of IGC 2020. Dr. Vishwapati Trivedi, Secretary, Ministry of Mines led a delegation to participate in 34th International Geological Congress (IGC) being held in Brisbane from 5th August to 10th August, 2012. The Indian bid got an overwhelming positive response from the membercountries of all continents and Secretary, Ministry of Mines has assured the Council that IGC 2020 in India will be unprecedented Congress in the history of International Geological Congress. International Geological Congress is held every four years and it is an Olympic of International Geoscience fraternity. The objective of the summit was to facilitate the Indian industry to improve energy efficiency on a continuous basis and help them in achieving the target set as part of Perform Achieve and Trade under the National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency. Also, to Create a platform for all the energy efficient technology suppliers and equipment manufacturer who could interact with industry and support them in achieving the target for energy efficiency improvement. The other objective was also to disseminate information on the latest trends and energy efficient technologies and facilitate sharing of best practices amongst the Industries. as God particle). Institutions like BARC, TIFR, SINP, IIT Mumbai and Delhi, Punjab and Vishwa Bharati University groups are in CMS experiment and have contributed to the recent discovery of Higgs like particle. The National Meet will be inaugurated by Dr. R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India. Prof. V.S. Ramamurthy, Former Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, Dr. R.K. Sinha, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission & Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India and Dr. T. Ramasami, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India will grace the occasion.
First India - Sri Lanka CEOs Forum Meeting

The first meeting of the India-Sri Lanka CEOs Forum, constituted by the Honourable Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh and the Honourable President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, will take place on August 4, 2012 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Forum, which has been set up to develop a roadmap for increased cooperation and mutually beneficial economic partnership between the two countries, will deliberate ways and means to enhance trade and investments between the two nations. The Indian Prime Minister has appointed Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharti Airtel Ltd. to be the Co-Chair from the Indian side while Mr. Kulathunga Rajpaksa, Executive Director, Samson International Ltd has been appointed to Co-Chair from Sri Lanka.
National Meet on India at the Large Hadron Collider

Department of Science and Technology, Government of India is organizing a 1-day National Meet on India at the Large Hadron Collider on 29th August, 2012 in New Delhi. India has been involved in Large Hadron Collider related work since long. India has also been actively involved in CMS, ALICE and GRID projects and contributed in the recent discovery of Higgs Boson (popularly known
First Meeting of NCEM

The First Meeting of the National Council for Electric Mobility (NCEM) was held under the Chairmanship of Praful Patel, Minister for Heavy Industry & Public Enterprises,at New Delhi on August 29. The NCEM adopted the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 (NEMMP 2020), which is the mission document for National Mission for Electric Mobility (NMEM). The meeting was
CII Eleventh Energy Efficient Sumit

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) held the eleventh Energy Efficient Sumit in HICC, Novotel Hyderabad. The summit was held between 22 August 2012 to 25 August 2012.

attended by Shri Kamal Nath, Minister for Urban Development, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Minister for New & Renewable Energy, Dr. C.P. Joshi, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shri Vayalar Ravi, Minister for Science & Technology, Shri Namo Narain Meena, Minister of State for Finance, Dr. K. Kasturirangan, Member, Planning Commission, Dr. R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister, eminent leaders from the industry, academia and research institutes. The NEMMP 2020 lays the vision, sets the targets and provides the roadmap for achieving significant penetration of efficient and environmentally friendly electric vehicle (including hybrids) technologies in India by 2020. The Government last year had approved the NMEM and the setting up of a high level apex structure in the form of the NCEM and the National Board for Electric Mobility (NBEM) for faster adoption of electric vehicles (including hybrids) and their manufacture in India.
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After the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is the most important world body. The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was founded in Belgrade in 1961, and was largely the brainchild of Yugoslavia's president, Josip Broz Tito; India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru; Egypt's second president, Gamal Abdel Nasser; Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah; and Indonesia's first president, Sukarno. All five leaders were prominent advocates of a middle course for states in the Developing World between the Western and Eastern blocs in the Cold War. The phrase itself was first used to represent the doctrine by Indian diplomat and statesman V.K. Krishna Menon in 1953, at the United Nations. As of 2012, the movement has 120 members and 17 observer countries. presidents, two kings and emirs, seven prime ministers, nine vice presidents, two parliamentary speakers and five special envoys. The summit's framework was the "Final Document" adopted during the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement Coordinating Bureau which was held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt from 710 May. The Foreign Ministry also said that the agenda would primarily consist of issues pertaining to nuclear disarmament, human rights and regional issues. Iran also intended to draw up a new peace resolution aiming to resolve the Syrian civil war. The summit consists of two preceding events:
NAM Summit
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has arrived at Tehran to attend this year's meeting of the 120-nation NonAligned Movement (NAM). Mr Singh is expected to hold talks with Iranian leaders and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on the sidelines of the meeting. Mr Singh's visit to Iran is the first by an Indian PM in over a decade.
a "Senior Officials Meeting" on 26 and 27 August 2012, a "Ministerial Meeting" on 28 and 29 August. The leaders summit will take place on 30 and 31 August.
NAM SUMMITS
No. Place 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Country Date 16 September 1961 510 October 1964 810 September 1970 59 September 1973 1619 August 1976 39 September 1979 712 March 1983 16 September 1986 47 September 1989 16 September 1992 1820 October 1995 23 September 1998 2025 February 2003 1516 September 2006 1116, July 2009 2631 August 2012 Belgrade (Yugoslavia) Cairo (United Arab Republic) Lusaka (Zambia) Algiers (Algeria) Colombo (Sri Lanka) Havana (Cuba ) New Delhi (India) Harare (Zimbabwe) Belgrade (Yugoslavia) Jakarta (Indonesia) Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) Durban (South Africa) Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) Havana (Cuba ) Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt) Tehran (Iran)
The 16th Summit of the Non - Aligned Movement:

The 16th Summit is being held between 26 to 31 August 2012 in Tehran, Iran. According to Ramin Mehmanparast, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, of the Non-Aligned Movement's 120 member and 17 observer states, 50 states will participate with highlevel delegations, including 27
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Committees
NAC panel to study report on universal health coverage
The National Advisory Council has set up a two-member working group to study the report on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) prepared by the High Level Expert Group and the governments proposal to expand the scope of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and convert it into a National Health Mission. The two-member group, comprising Mirai Chatterjee and A.K. Shiva Kumar, will work closely with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Planning Commission to resolve any possible issues arising between the two over the implementation of the UHC report and the National Health Mission. They will come out with some recommendations within four weeks which will be discussed at the next NAC meeting on September 28. Chaired by United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the NAC is tasked with providing inputs in the formulation of policy by the government and to provide support to the government in its legislative business. The Planning Commission wants the scope of the existing NRHM to be expanded to towns and cities and that it be renamed as the National Health Mission, whereas the Health Ministry has been pitching for a separate National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) for the urban poor. The two could be subsequently merged into a National Health Mission, the Ministry has maintained.
Welfare Schemes for Women

Many welfare schemes for women are implemented by Government of India, State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. The details of major schemes under implementation by Ministry of Women and Child Development for the welfare of women are as under : i. RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL CRECHE SCHEME FOR THE CHILDREN OF WORKING MOTHERS (RGNCS): This Scheme provides day care facilities to the children in the age group 0-6 years from families with monthly income of less than 12000/-. In addition to being a safe space for the children, the crches provide services such as supplementary nutrition, pre-school education and emergency health care, etc. ii. CENTRAL SOCIAL WELFARE BOARD: The main women welfare related schemes and programmes being implemented by CSWB are family counselling centres, awareness generation programme and condensed courses of education for women. iii. NATIONAL MISSION FOR EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN (NMEW): This is an initiative of the Government of India for empowering women holistically. It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme sanctioned in April 2011 and acts as an umbrella Mission with a mandate to strengthen inter-sectoral convergence. iv. WORKING WOMENS HOSTEL (WWH): This Scheme envisages provision of safe and affordable hostel accommodation to working women, single working women, women working at places away from their home-towns and for women being trained for employment. v. SUPPORT TO TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMME (STEP): This Scheme is was launched as a Central Sector Scheme during 1986-87. It aims at making a significant impact on women by upgrading skills for self and wage employment. The target group includes the marginalized assetless rural women and urban poor. vi. RASHTRIYA MAHILA KOSH (RMK): This Scheme is a corpus of Rs.100 crore extends micro-finance services to bring about the socioeconomic upliftment of poor women. vii. INDIRA GANDHI MATRITVA SAHYOG YOJANA (IGMSY): This is a Conditional Cash Transfer scheme for pregnant and lactating (P&L) women introduced in the October 2010 to contribute to better enabling environment by providing cash incentives for improved health and nutrition to pregnant and nursing mothers. viii. SWADHAR SCHEME: The Ministry of Women and Child Development had been administering Swadhar scheme since 2001 for Women in difficult circumstances. Under the Scheme, temporary accommodation, maintenance and rehabilitative services are provided to women and girls rendered homeless due to family discord, crime, violence, mental stress, social ostracism. Another scheme with similar objectives/target groups namely Short Stay Home (SSH) is being implemented by Central Social Welfare Board. ix. UJJAWALA: This is a comprehensive scheme for prevention of trafficking and rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.
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12th Plan and released Rs. 29.81 crore (as on 10.7.2012 to states / UTs for taking up preparatory activities / advance action for implementation of NMFP. The following schemes being implemented by Government of India directly will not be implemented through State Governments under this scheme in 2012-13: i. Scheme for Technology Upgradation / Establishment / Modernization of Food Processing Industries. ii. Scheme for Cold Chain, Value Addition and Preservation Infrastructure for NonHorticultural Products. iii. Scheme for Human Resource Development (HRD) iv. Scheme for Promotional Activities. Subsequently more activity will be added during the 12th Plan. Flexibility will also be given to States to add components and deviate from central guidelines subject to approval from the National Food Processing Development Council (NFPDC). approved the proposal to set up the centre. He said, the Regional Centre for Fluoride and Fluorosis Management at Gandhinagar will assist the Northern States including Gujrat in providing solutions to Fluoride contamination in drinking water and Fluorosis management. The Government of India has constituted an Expert Committee under the Chairmanship of Director, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur to finalize the terms of reference of the Institute and prepare Detailed Project Report.
National Round-Up
National Mission on Food Processing
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme titled "National Mission on Food Processing (NMFP). This scheme would start in co-operation with the State Governments in 2012-13. The NMFP scheme would help the States / UTs in maintaining requisite synergy between agriculture plans of States and Development of food processing sector, which in turn would help in Increase in farm productivity thereby increase in farmers` income also. This would also help in ensuring efficient supply chain by bridging Infrastructural / institutional gaps. A National Food Processing Development Council (NFPDC) has been set up under the Chairmanship of Minister (Agri. & FPI) with representatives of State Governments, Industry associations and related Govt. of India Departments. This will provide guidance to all schemes of Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) including the NMFP. The basic objective of NMFP is decentralization of implementation of Ministry`s schemes, which will lead to substantial participation of State Governments / UTs. Beneficiaries of MOFPI schemes will also find it easier to deal with State Governments. This would be a paradigm shift in the Ministry`s approach and is driven by the need to make food processing truly a national initiative. Government has already accorded approval and communicated to all States for taking up preparatory activities / advance action by States / UTs for implementation of NMFP during
Indias Stance at the UN on Internet Governance

The Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Shri Sachin Pilot informed the Rajya Sabha that Indias proposal at the session of United Nations Commission for Science and Technology Development (CSTD) on 18th May 2012 in Geneva was a reiteration of the statement made in the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in October, 2011 under the Agenda Item "Information and Communication Technology for Development" which , inter alia, asked CSTD to establish an open ended Working Group to discuss the establishment of a Committee for Internet Related Policies (CIRP). The proposal was prepared by Ministry of External Affairs and was endorsed by Department of Electronics and Information Technology. The proposal is as per
Fluoride Mitigation Centre in Gujrat will be set up within the 12th Five year Plan
The Government informed that a Fluoride Mitigation Centre in Gujrat will be set up within the 12th Five year Plan. Rural Development Minister and the Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation Jairam Ramesh said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha that the Centre has already
Delhi State Government launched Kerosene-free Delhi Scheme

In an initiative to make the national capital Kerosene free, the Delhi Government launched Kerosene-free Delhi scheme on 21 August 2012 in capital. Under this scheme, over 3.50 lakh households will get LPG cylinder and a gas stove free of cost in the coming days. The government , while launching the scheme, distributed the cylinders and stove to 200 beneficiaries. The state government will spend 108 crore rupees on this scheme. With this scheme, Delhi is likely to become the first kerosene-free city in the country.

the mandate enshrined in the Tunis Agenda of Enhanced Cooperation and is accordingly a step forward towards the democratization of the global internet related public policy issues. The proposal was in consultation with Brazil and South Africa. The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) has been interacting with representatives from the Civil Society and Advocacy Groups as well as with Industry Associations regularly. A meeting involving, industry, civil society and Government was held in the Department on 9th May, 2012.
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National Monsoon Mission

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved the implementation of the programme of the National Monsoon Mission at the Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO) for a period of five years. The main objectives of the National Monsoon Mission are: (i) To build a working partnership between the academic and R&D organisations both national and international and the operational agencies to improve the operational monsoon forecast skill over the country. (ii) To set up a state of the art dynamic modelling framework for improving the prediction skill of: a. Seasonal and extended range prediction system (16 days to one season) b. Short to medium range prediction system (up to 15 days). The Mission has a budget of Rs.400 crore for five years to support the research work related to the mission. The National Monsoon Mission after its implementation will help to implement a dynamic prediction system for the prediction of monsoon in all time scales, short range to seasonal time scale at appropriate spatial scales with improved prediction skill. The forecasts based on this prediction system will cater to the needs of various sectors like agriculture, water resources management, power generation, disaster management, tourism and transport. The programme will be undertaken through two sub-missions on two different time scales, (i) extended range to seasonal time scale to be coordinated by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) Pune/ESSO and (ii) short to medium range scale, to be coordinated by the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF)/ESSO. The Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS)/ESSO will provide the ocean observations for assimilation and the India Meteorological Department/ESSO will implement the research outcome of the efforts in operational mode. The Mission will support focused research by national and international research groups with definitive objectives and deliverables to improve the models in the short, medium, extended and seasonal range scales at appropriate spatial scales. The Mission will also support observational programmes that will result in better understanding of the processes. The progress of the National Monsoon Mission will be reviewed and monitored by two committees. The Scientific Review and Monitoring Committee (SRMC) will review the research proposals from different research groups and monitor the progress of the research work. The Scientific Steering Committee (SSC), which is the apex body will steer the programme, advise and direct midcourse corrections, if any.
Gujarat Government announced to Ban on Gutka

Gujarat state government on 15 August 2012 announced a comprehensive ban on gutka, which will come into effect from 11 September 2012. From this date, the production, storage, sale and distribution of gutka shall be banned in the state. Maharashtra government recently imposed a comprehensive ban on gutka and pan masala. Gutka is also banned in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, while Rajasthan government had announced its decision to ban the product in July 2012.
House Sparrow was declared as State Bird of Delhi

The House Sparrow was on 14 August 2012 declared as state bird of Delhi by the state government. The new status of the bird is likely to help in its conservation. State government announced the decision after launching a campaign Rise for the Sparrows. The campaign is aimed at conserving the species.
Railways to set up BioDiesel Plants

Indian Railways have decided to set up four bio-diesel esterification plants for production of bio-diesel. Further, solar photovoltaic (PV) modules and wind mill power plants are generally provided based on the
Background:
Prediction of monsoon rainfall variability in all spatial and time scales is very important for many sectors like agriculture, water resources management, power generation and natural ecosystems and thus economy of the country. The present statistical methods being used by the India Meteorological Department have some constraints to meet specific user requirements for forecasts on finer spatial and temporal scale. Therefore, it is necessary to make use of the state of the art dynamic models to improve monsoon prediction skills.

availability of adequate sunlight required speed and density of wind, techno commercial considerations and availability of fund. The first two bio-diesel esterification plants of capacity of 30 tonnes of bio-diesel per day are being set up at Tondiarpet and Raipur at the cost of Rs. 29.99 crore and Rs. 29.98 crore respectively. The locations for the remaining two plants are under finalization. Raipur and Tondiarpet biodiesel esterification plants are expected to be commissioned by 2013. Solar PV modules and wind mill power plants are likely to be operational within next two-three years time subject to availability of funds.
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Cabinet nod for ban on child labour below 14

The Union Cabinet on August 28 approved a proposal for amending the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, to ban employment of children aged up to 14 in any form of industry. It will be an offence to employ such children not only in factories or industries but also in homes or on farms, if their labour is meant to serve any commercial interest. The Ministry of Labour is likely to introduce the amendment bill in Parliament soon. Quoting the National Sample Survey Organisations figures, official sources said the amendment would benefit 46 lakh children, who have been working in various industries now, and they can concentrate on education. The Cabinet also approved another amendment to define children aged 14-18 as adolescents and prohibit their employment in mines, explosives industries, chemical and paint industries and other hazardous establishments. The governments decision is in line with the convention of the International
Labour Organisation (ILO), which prohibits any form of child labour until the age of 14.
Installation of American Nuclear Reactor in India

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and a confidentiality agreement between Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC), USA and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) was initially signed in 2009. An amendment to extend the term of the earlier signed MoU till May, 2014 was signed on June 12, 2012. The amendment also includes a clause ot sign an Early Works Agreement. The review of safety provisions in design of AP 1000 systems to withstand extreme natural events like earthquakes and Tsunamis, post Fukushima incident, has been carried out in the vendor country. Westinghouse Electric Company has made a presentation on the same to the Indian side. The Design Certification of the AP 1000 reactor was issued by United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) in December 2011, after the Fukushima accident.
Orissa is the first state to commence e-payment facility for government employees
Orissa became the First Indian state to commence epayment facility for government employees from 1 August 2012. Now, the government employees in the state will receive their salaries and pensions through the online Portal of Reserve Bank of India. Employees received their salaries and pensions directly to their bank account. Reserve Bank of India took an initiative for e-payment facilities.
Panchayat Sanchar Sewa Yojana

Panchayat Sanchar Sewa Kendras (PSSKs) under the Panchayat Sanchar Sewa Yojana scheme are opened at the Gram Panchayat Headquarters which are without Post Offices to provide basic postal facilities at Gram Panchayat Headquarters. This scheme is being implemented by the Gram Panchayats through agents appointed by them (Gram Panchayats) with the written consent of the concerned Superintendent/ Senior Superintendent of Post Offices. This is also subject to receipt of applications from the heads of the Gram Panchayats. The extent to which the scheme achieves its objetive of providing basic postal facilities at Gram Panchayat Headquarters is dependent upon the (i) level of interest shown on part of Panchayat Sanchar Sewa Yogana agents; (ii) the level of commitment shown by the PSSK agents over the functioning of the Panchayat Sanchar Sewa Kendra; and (iii) the selection of suitable candidates by Gram Panchayats. The functioning of the PSSKs are being monitored regularly by the Field Officer viz. Insepctor of Post Offices/ Asstt. Superintendent of Post Offices/ Senior/ Superintendent of Post Offices during their visits to these kendras. The PSSK agents have been allowed to work as direct agent of Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) business for increasing the volume of business and income of the PSSKs.
Punjab on top in milk production

Punjab has bagged the top position in the field of dairy farming with the production of 95.4 lakh MT milk annually, Animal Husbandry Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike said. He said the state has the highest milk availability of 944 gm per person in the country. Ranike said Punjab's feat in the field of milk production came after the record production of 179 lakh MT of wheat last season. He said an average daily milk production by a cow in the state of Punjab was 10.947 kg, which was highest in the country.
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International Round-Up
Lakhdar Brahimi was appointed the New UN Arab League Envoy for Syria
Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi was appointed the new UN-Arab League envoy for Syria on 17 August 2012. He will succeed Kofi Annan, who resigned earlier this month after his six-point peace plan failed to achieve a meaningful cease-fire. Lakhdar Brahimi will be known as the Joint Special Representative for Syria. The 78-year-old Algerian diplomat has served as a U.N. special envoy in Iraq after the U.S. invasion; in Afghanistan, before and after the end of Taliban rule; and in South Africa after the apartheid era. He also brokered an end to the Lebanese civil war as a senior Arab League official between 1984-91. He went on to serve as Algerian foreign minister between 1991-93.
Russia joins WTO after 18 years of talks

Russia formally became a member of the World Trade Organisation(WTO) on 22 August 2012 after 18 years of negotiations. Russia agreed to reduce import tariffs on goods, including food and cars and to relax controls on overseas companies entering its financial and telecom sectors. Russia will be the 156th member of the WTO. WTO requires that any country that seeks to benefit from it must apply the same trade rules to all member countries. Russia negotiated for membership for 18 years, beginning when the WTO was called the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
Typhoon Haikui
Typhoon Haikui slammed into the east coast of China on 8 August 2012. This is the third typhoon to hit China's east coast in less than a week. The other two typhoons which hit China were Damrey and Saola. A severe typhoon is considered to have maximum sustained wind speed of between 150 and 184 kilometers per hour (93 and 114 mph). A typhoon has maximum sustained winds of between 118 and 149 kilometers per hour (73 and 93 mph).
Highlights of the Meet:

Both the countries, reviewed the entire state of bilateral relationship including trade and commerce. Two nations have also agreed to strengthen the bilateral relationship into a strategic partnership Both countries share a warm relationship on account of the solid foundation of historical and cultural ties. Both countries are also hopeful of achieving the trade target of 25 billion US Dollars by 2015.
Julian Assange would be Granted Political Asylum by Ecuador

The foreign ministry of Ecuador announced that Ecuador would be granting Wikileaks cofounder Julian Assange a political asylum on 16 August 2012. Assange shot to fame in the year 2010 after he leaked a number of US diplomatic cables and videos regarding the war in Iraq and Afghanistan through Wikileaks. Following the incident, USA and other countries whose secrets were divulged jumped into considerable action. Assange and his team argue that the alleged sex crimes allegations and these accusations are untrue and falsely built up. He best known as the editor-in-chief and co-founder of WikiLeaks, a media website which has published information from whistleblowers.
India, Indonesia Signed Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement

India and Indonesia signed an agreement to avoid double taxation and prevent fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income on 27 July 2012. The agreement was signed by Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. R. M. Marty Natalegawa and his Indian counterpart S.M Krishna at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi. Apart from the agreement, both sides also signed the agreed minutes of thefourth Joint Commission Meeting between India and Indonesia.
Myanmar abolished Censorship of the Media

Myanmar government on 20 August 2012 abolished censorship of the country's media. The reporters would no longer have to submit their work to state censors before publication. Burma had begun censorship on media on 6 August 1964. The journalists were given permission to print without prior censorship and restrictions were lifted on 30000 internet sites, allowing users unrestricted access to political content for the first time.
Resolution against Sri Lanka in the UNHRC

India voted in favour of the resolution Promotion, Reconcili ation and Accountability in Sri Lanka

at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Geneva on 22 March 2012. The vote was in line with the Governments consistent stand to advance the objective, namely, the achievement of a future for the Tamil community in Sri Lanka that is marked by equality, dignity, justice and selfrespect. India enjoys close, cordial and friendly relations with neighbouring Sri Lanka with whom it shares historic, civilisational and cultural links. India is Sri Lankas largest trade partner overall and Sri Lanka is Indias largest trade partner in South Asia. India has emerged as the largest foreign direct investor in Sri Lanka. India also contributes to the largest number of tourists arrivals in Sri Lanka. The close relationship has been further strengthened by high level visits, including those of the Minister of External Affairs in January 2012; Joint Parliamentary Delegation in April 2012; Minister of Rural Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation in July 2012; Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles in August 2012; and Minister of Culture in August 2012. and the Union Minister of Railways of India Shri Mukul Roy on bilateral co-operation for the effective development and modernization of railway sector of both the countries, here today. In pursuance of the Vision 2020 document promulgated by the then Minister for Railways, Mamata Banerjee, for modernization and development of major Railway Stations as vibrant centres of the life of cities for commerce, entertainment and social space, Indian Railways has identified stations for development to the international standards and signing of this MOU will especially focus in this direction.
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transfer capacity of 40Gbps is the equivalent of downloading a highresolution DVD in about two seconds.
Thiruvananthapuram new gateway to India

Thiruvanthapuram will soon become the fifth gateway to India for holidaymakers from 11
Asia's fastest data cable links Tokyo to Singapore

A new high-speed undersea data cable has opened to traffic in Asia. The 7,800km Asia Submarine-cable Express (ASE) connects Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. It transfers data via an optical fibre system at 40 gigabits per second, and is three milliseconds faster than any other cable between Singapore and Tokyo. The gain in speed may sound small, but could prove critical to financial trades made out of the region. The route for the new cable was chosen to be as straight as possible, reducing the time to get information from one end to the other to 65 milliseconds. The data
Species of Rat
A unique species of rat that doesnt chew was discovered in Indonesia. The animal with a long, pointed snout is the only rodent out of more than 2200 known species that does not have molars and instead has bicuspid upper incisors. Rats were found in the mountainous rainforest of southern Sulawesi Island on Mount Latimojong and 100 km northwest on Mount Gandangdewata. They lives off earthworms.
countries who can get tourist visa on arrival (T-VoA). At present 4 International Airports - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata- are having the facility.Citizens of Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos, Myanmar and Indonesia can get TVoA. The Union Ministry of External Affairs has approved it for the citizens of France, Germany and Russia, and clearance from the Bureau of Immigration (BOI), which functions under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, is awaited. Thiruvananthapuram figures along with Goa and Bangalore on the shortlist of the BOI for granting TVoA.
India, Afghanistan and Iran to set up Joint Working Group to spur Trade
Iran, India and Afghanistan discussed options for investment in the Chabahar Port, located in southeast Iran. In a crucial trilateral meeting held on 26 August 2012 ahead of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, the three nations agreed to set up a joint working group to spur trade and transit through the Iranian port of Chabahar. Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai held dialogues with deputy foreign ministers of Iran and Afghanistan in Tehran to explore ways to expand trade and transit cooperation, including investment, among the three countries, starting with the Chabahar Port. In another significant development Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna held bilateral dialogues with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi on 27 August 2012. The two leaders discussed issues related to trade and economy during the meeting. The two nations hoped to take their economic ties to a new level through increased cooperation in the economic sector.
India and Belgium Sign MOU for Development

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by the visiting Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs of Belgium, Mr. Didier Reynders
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Knowledge Capsules
Indian Magsaysay Award Winners
Name Vinoba Bhave Chintaman Deshmukh Amitabha Chowdhury Mother Teresa Dara Khurody Verghese Kurien Tribhuvandas Patel Welthy Fisher Jayaprakash Narayan Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay Satyajit Ray M. S. Swaminathan M. S. Subbulakshmi Boobli George Verghese Henning Holck-Larsen Sombhu Mitra Ela Ramesh Bhatt Mabelle Arole Rajanikant Arole Gour Kishore Ghosh Pramod Karan Sethi Chandi Prasad Bhatt Manibhai Desai Arun Shourie Rasipuram Lakshman Muralidhar Amte Lakshmi Chand Jain K. V. Subbanna Ravi Shankar Banoo Jehangir Coyaji Kiran Bedi Pandurang Athavale Tirunellai Seshan Mahasweta Devi Mahesh Chander Mehta Jockin Arputham Aruna Roy Rajendra Singh Sandeep Pandey James Michael Lyngdoh Shantha Sinha Laxminarayan Ramdas V. Shantha Arvind Kejriwal Palagummi Sainath Mandakini Amte Prakash Amte Deep Joshi Neelima Mishra Harish Hande Kulandei Francis Year 1958 1959 1961 1962 1963 1963 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1971 1974 1975 1976 1976 1977 1979 1979 1981 1981 1982 1982 1982 1984 1985 1989 1991 1992 1993 1994 1996 1996 1997 1997 2000 2000 2001 2002 2003 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2008 2009 2011 2011 2012 Category Community Leadership Government Services Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Peace and International Understanding Community Leadership Community Leadership Community Leadership Peace and International Understanding Public Service Community Leadership Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Community Leadership Public Service Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Peace and International Understanding Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Community Leadership Community Leadership Community Leadership Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Community Leadership Community Leadership Public Service Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Public Service Public Service Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Public Service Government Services Community Leadership Government Services Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Public Service Peace and International Understanding Community Leadership Community Leadership Emergent Leadership Government Services Community Leadership Peace and International Understanding Public Service Emergent Leadership Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Community Leadership Community Leadership Community Leadership Emergent Leadership Emergent Leadership Community Leadership Arts
Arts Arts Arts
Arts
Arts Arts Arts Arts
Arts
Arts
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Banking Awareness
For Bank PO
1. Free Trade Refers to a) Free movement of Goods from one country to other. b) Movement of Goods from one Country to another free of cost. c) Unrestricted exchange of Goods and Services. d) Tool free of Duty Which of the following is not a Drug/Pharma Company a) Chevron b) Nicholas Piramal c) Pfizer d) Zydus Cadila Which Economy Theory is also Known as the Theory of Income Determination a) The Theory of International Trade b) Theory of Allocation c) The Subsistence Theory d) The Keynesian Theory RBI's open market operation transactions are carried out with a view to regulate a) Liquidity in the economy b) Prices of essential commodities c) Inflation d) All of the above When more than one bank is allowing credit facilities to one party in coordination with eachother under a formal arrangement,the arrangement is generally known as a) Participation b) Consortium c) Syndication d) Multiple banking The Leading Trade Theorist of the World is a) Amartya Sen b) Jagdish Bhagwati c) Joseph Stiglitz d) Pranab Bardhan The Largest Revenue Source in India a) Sales Tax b) Income Tax 8.
& Clerks
Exams
15. Which Among the Following is the Full from of FDI in Indian Economics a) Foreign Depository Investors b) Foreign Departmental Investors c) Foreign Direct Investment d) Foreign Development Investment 16. IDBI is a a) Industrial Unit b) Educational Institution c) Bank d) Construction Company 17. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was established in the Year a) 1992 b) 1993 c) 1994 d) 1988 18. Who was the First Chairman of SEBI as well of Disinvest ment Commission of India a) C.B Bhave b) G.V.Ramakrishna c) A.S. Morrthy d) Vijay Kelkar 19. IBRD Abbreviates a) International Bank of Reconstructionand Develop ment b) Indian Bank for Rural Development c) Industrial Bank for Rural Development d) International Bank for Revenue and Development 20 Capital Market Means a) Mutual Funds b) Money Market c) Securities Market d) Banking Business 21. The Changed Name of Unit Trust of India Bank is a) ICICI b) Axis c) Bank of Punjab d) HSBC 22. The Full Form of ICICI Bank is a) Institutional Credit and infrastructure Corporation of India.
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c) Excise Duty d) Export Duty One of the Following is not a Function of Reserve Bank of India a) Issuing Currency Notes b) Formulating Monetary Policy c) Exercising Control over all Banks in India d) Lending Money to Exporters In India one Rupee Coins and Notes and Subsidiary a) State Bank of India b) Central Govt. c) Reserve Bank of India d) Unit trust Bank of India Prime Cost is equal to a) Variable Cost plus Fixed Cost b) Variable Cost only c) Fixed Cost only d) Variable Cost plus Administrative Cost Macro Economics is Based on a) Gross domestic Product b) Net Domestic Product c) National Income Concept only d) External Source. The World Economic outlook( WEO ) is Published by a) White House b) IMF c) UNO d) World Economic The Apex Bank for Rural Credit is a) Rural Regional Bank b) NAFED c) NABARD d) RBI Highest no of Kisan Credit Cards were issued by a) Commercial Banks b) Cooperative Bank c) Regional Rural Bank d) State Land Development Banks

b) Industrial Commerce and Investment Corporation of India c) Infrastructure credit and Industrial Corporation of India d) Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India open market operations, one of the measure taken by RBI inorder to control credit expansion in the economy means a) Sale or purchase of govt. securities b) Issuance of different type of bonds c) Auction of gold d) To make available direct finance to borrowers The bank rate means a) Rate of interest charged by commerical bank from borrowers b) Rate of interest at which commercial banks discounted vills of their borrowers. c) Rate of interest allowed by commercial banks on their deposits. d) Rate at which RBI purchases or rediscounts bills of exchange of commercial banks. What is an Indian depository means? a) A deposit account with a public sector bank b) A depository account with any of depositories in India c) An instrument in the form of depository receipt created by an Indian depository against underlying equity shares of the issuing company d) An instrument in the form of deposit receipt issued by Indian depositories. An instrument that derives its value from a specified underlying ( Currency, gold, stocks etc) is known as a) Derivative b) Securitisation Receipts c) Hedge Fund d) Factoring The Five Rupee Coin of India is a) Minted at Nagpur b) Minted at Indore c) Minted in London d) Minted in N.York 28. The Reserve Bank of India Issues a) all the Currency notes except the hundred rupee note. b) all the Currency Note c) only Notes of Rs 10 and above d) all the Currency notes except the one rupee note 29. In the capital market, the term arbitrage is used with reference to a) purchase of securities to cover the sale b) sole of securities to reduce the loss on purchase c) simultaneous purchase and sale of securities to make profit from price. d) variation in different market 30. What is a Scheduled Bank a) A bank having Rs 1000 Crore Deposits b) A Bank included in the Second Schedule of the RBI. c) A Bank having Rs 100 Crore Deposits d) A Bank having Branches all over India 31. In Economics the Law of Demand means a) When Demand Rises Price Falls. b) When Price rises, Demand Falls c) No relationship of demand with prices. d) None of These 32. Currency swap is an instrument to manage a) Currency Risk b) Interest Rate Risk c) Currency and interest rate risk d) Cash flows in diffrent currencies 33. Sub Prime refers to a) lending done by banks at rates below PLR b) Funds raised by the banks at sublibor rates c) Group of Banks which are not rated as prime banks as per bankers's Almanac. d) Lending done by Finanacing institutions including banks to customers are not meeting with normally required credit appraisal standards.
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34. Bank Deposits that can be withdrawn without notice are called a) Variable Deposits b) Demand Deposits c) Fixed Deposits d) Account Payable Deposits 35. India's Largest Nationalized Commercial Bank is a) State Bank of India b) ICICI Bank c) IDBI Bank d) P.N.B 36. Euro bond is an instument a) issued in the European market b) issued in Euro Currency c) Issued in a country other than the country of the curency of the bond. d) All of the above 37. The IMF and the World bank were conceived as institutions to a) Strengthen international economic co-operation and to help create a more stable and proerous global economy. b) IMF promoters international mometory cooperation c) The world bank promotes long term economics development and poverty reduction. d) All of these 38. In the term BRIC, R stands for a) Romania b) Restriction c) Russia d) Regulation 39. The branding line of Bank of Baroda a) International Bank of India b) India's International bank c) India's Multinational Bank d) World's local Bank
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ANSWERS
1. c 6. b 11. b 16. c 21. b 26. c 31. c 36. c 2. a 7. 12. 17. 22. 27. 32. 37. c b a d c d d 3. d 8. d 13. c 18. b 23. a 28. a 33. d 38. c 4. d 9. 14. 19. 24. 29. 34. 39. c b a d c b b 5. b 10. 15. 20. 25. 30. 35. b c c c b a
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Current MCQ Capsules

1. 2. Who won the Miss World 2012 beauty pageant on 18 August 2012? a) Zhang Zilin b) Kaiane Aldorino c) Alexandria Mills d) Yu Wenxia Recently which among the following government has launched 'Kerosene-free' scheme? a) Delhi b) West Bengal c) Uttar Pradesh d) Haryana What is MIV-150 which was in news recently? a) A short range nuclear capable missile developed by IRAN b) An antiretroviral gel developed to prevent HIV transmission c) A humanoid robot developed by the students of Massachusetts Institute of technology. d) A recently discovered meteor. The Pranahita Chevella irrigat-ion project will serve Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra states. Pranahita is a major tributary of which of the following rivers? a) Krishna b) Narmada c) Godavari d) Tapati Which among the following country has recently abolished censorship on media ? a) Myanmar b) Syria c) Afghanistan d) Egypt Who won the Asian continental chess champion ship in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam on May13, 2012? a) Parimarjan Negi b) M.R.Venkatesh c) P.Harikrishna d) Vishwanathan Anand 7. Who was the flag bearer for India during the closing ceremony of the London Olympics on August 12, 2012? a) MC Mary Kom b) Saina Nehwal c) Sushil Kumar d) Gagan Narang 8. Who is tipped to be the head of the third Education Commission to be constituted by the central government shortly? (a) Andre Beteille (b) YK Alagh (c) Ramchandra Guha (d) Sam Pitroda 9. Which of the following countries granted asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on August 16, 2012? 1) Sweden 2) Australia 3) Cuba 4) Ecuador 10. Recently which of the following is included in the UNESCOs World Heritage List? a) Dilwara temple b) Western Ghats c) Red fort d) Kalka-Shimla Railway 11. Who has been appointed as Chairperson of the Advisory Board on Bank, Commercial and Financial Frauds? a) Usha Thorat b) Shikha Sharma c) Nainalal Kidwai d) Shyamala Gopinath 12. Which bird was declared as State bird by the Delhi Government? a) House Sparrow b) Pigeon c) Koyal d) Parrots 13. Which bacterial strain, developed from natural isolates by genetic manipulation can be used for treating oil spills? a) Agrobacterium b) Pseudomonas c) Clostridium d) None 14. The largest contributor to CO2 emission is: a) US b) China c) Japan d) Russia 15. Which of the following states was conferred Decadal Literacy Award for achieving highest literacy growth in the last decade? a) Kerala b) Manipur c) UP d) Bihar 16. SLINEX II is a joint naval exercise between a) India and Sri Lanka b) India and Singapore c) India and USA d) India and France 17. Which country launched the first satellite dedicated to monitoring of green house gases emissions? a) Brazil b) Japan c) China d) USA 18. The first Women Kabbadi World Cup was hosted by which Indian State in 2012? a) Punjab b) Haryana c) U.P d) Bihar 19. INDIAs official entry for the best foreign language film award in OSCARS 2011 was a) Urumi b) No one killed Jessica c) Adaminte Makan Abu d) Peepli live 20. The proposed National Waterway 6 is on a) River Godavari b) River Brahmani c) River Krishna d) River Barak
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21. Which Countries have recently signed Bilateral Agreement to avoid Double Taxation and Prevent Fiscal Evasion? a) India and United Kingdom b) India and Indonesia c) India and United States d) India and France 22. The 25th North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit was held on May 20-21, 2012 in which of the following cities? a) Camp David b) Brussels c) London d) Chicago 23. Which among the following will become 157th member of the WTO? a) Russia b) Siriya c) Tuvalu d) Vanuatu 24. Anshu Jain took over as coCEO of which of the following banking giants on June 1, 2012? a) HSBC b) Deutsche Bank c) Citibank d) BNP Paribas 25. Which are the two countries signed an signed Collaborative Academic Research Programme Agreement? a) India and United States b) India and France c) India and Israel d) India and France 26. The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) leader Enrique Pea Nieto was elected the new President of........? a) Russia b) Mexico c) Russia d) Iran 27. After Pratibha Patil and Prabha Rau, Margaret Alva is the third woman Governor of which of the following states? a) Maharashtra b) Rajasthan c) Karnataka d) Uttarakhand 28. Murray Rose of Australia passed away on April 15, 2012. He was a six- time Olympic medalist in which of the following sports? a) Swimming b) Shooting c) Gymnastics d) Athletics Senior IPS officer Subhash Joshi has been appointed as the Director General of which of the following forces? a) NSG b) CRPF c) BSF d) CISF Under Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, how much incentive is provided by the government to every family for constructing a toilet? a) Rs.7,000 b) Rs.7,500 c) Rs.10,000 d) Rs.10,500 Oscar winning actor Sean Penn received the 2012 Peace Summit Award in April 2012 for his humanitarian work in which of the following earthquake ravaged countri es? a) Japan b) Haiti c) Indonesia d) Philippines Name the committee which has been set up by the government of India to provide a road map for formulating a Green National Accounting (GNA) system to evaluate the impact of economic growth on environment by 2015? a) Rangarajan Committee b) Yashwant Sinha Committe c)Pulok Chatterjee Committee d) Partha Dasgupta Committee Which state of India is the first to launch cashless health insurance scheme Swarnjayanti Aarogya Bima Yojana for its entire population? a) Goa b) Haryana c) Madhya Pradesh d) Kerala S.R. Nathan was conferred with the prestigious Pravasi Bhara-tiya Samman, the highest honor accorded to people of Indian origin
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overseas. He was the President of which of the following countries from 1999 to 2011? a) Singapore b) Mauritius c) Guyana d) Nepal MariKana Platinum mine, which is recently in news is one of the world's richest platinum reserves. In which among the following countries it is located ? a) South Africa b) Australia c) China d) Canada The Defense Ministry cleared a Rs.3,000 crore deal to buy 145 M777 ultra light howitzer (ULH) artillery guns from which of the following countries on May11, 2012? a) France b) USA c) Russia d) Sweden Who won the World Snooker Championship for the fourth time in Sheffield, UK on May 7, 2012? a) John Higgins b) Stephen Hendry c) Steve Davis d) Ronnie O' Sullivan Presently how much cultivable area in the country is using biofertilisers? a) 3% b) 4% c) 5% d) 2% Recently in which among the following countries 'National Outreach Conference on Global Nuclear Disarmament' was held? a) India b) USA c) JAPAN d) Russia Who is appointed as the head of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna & Arjuna Awards Committee? a) Kapil Dev b) Sunil Gavaskar c) Gagan Narang d) Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore Who among the following Indian Cardiologists was
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elected as President of the World Heart Federation (WHF), a global NGO dedicated to prevention of heart diseases in low and middle income countries in April 2012? a) Dr.S.Padmavati b) Dr.Naresh Trehan c) Dr.Devi Shetty d) Dr.Srinath Reddy Who was honoured with Rajiv Gandhi Shiromani Award 2012? a) D.R.Mehata b) Retired Lt. Col. Kishan Singh c) Rohit Nandan d) Som Mittal Hungama Report is related to a) Corruption b) Hunger and Malnutrition c) Education d) Reservations Name the Ethiopian Prime Minister who died recently? a) Meles Zenawi b) Yitzhak Shamir c) James Abdon d) Borge Martnez Which Indian state has been chosen to participate in the SAARC conference for Early Childhood Care and Education policy? a) Jharkhand b) Haryana c) Bihar d) Andhra Pradesh The Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implemen tation, has introduced the new series of consumer price indices for all-India, and States and union territories separately for rural, urban and combined. What is the base year of new series? a) 2008 b) 2009 c) 2010 d) 2005 Miss World 2012 Wen Xia Yu belongs to which country? a) Vietnam b) Japan c) South Korea d) China 48. Palestine has recently become full member of UNESCO. Palestine is a) 195th member of UNESCO b) 194th member of UNESCO c) 196th member of UNESCO d) 193rd member of UNESCO 49. What was the proposed increase in subsidy of pluses through ration shops for BPL families by Food Ministry recently? a) Rs.10 per kg b) Rs.20 per kg c) Rs.25 per kg d) Rs.30 per kg 50. Name the author who has won the Saraswati Samman, 2012. a) SL Bhyrappa b) Laxmi Nandan Bora c) Surjit Paatar d) A A Manavalan 51. Which of the following gives Crystal Awards? a) Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation b) IBRD c) WHO d) World Economic Forum 52. Who among the following is the new Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha? a) K.Vishwanathan b) Karia Munda c) Agni Hotri d) P.J. Kurien 53. Which of the following statements about ASEAN is not true? a) The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a geo-political and economic organization of ten countries. b) It was formed in 1967 with the secretariat in Singapore. c) The 20th ASEAN Summit was held in April 2012 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. d) The theme for this summit is "ASEAN: One Community, One Destiny". 54. Who has been elected as the President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the year 2012-13? a) B.Muthuraman b) Ajay Shriram
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c) Adi Godrej d) Swati Piramal In which among the following states, the upcoming Flouride Mitigation Center will be set by the government ? a) Gujarat b) Rajasthan c) Maharastra d) Tamil Nadu Till now how many zonal cultural centers have been set up by the Government of India? a) 6 b) 7 c) 8 d) 9 In a move aimed at encouraging investment sentiment in the country, the Union Finance Ministry approved what per cent of foreign direct investment in insurance and pension sector in August 2012? a) 29% b) 39% c) 45% d) 49% Who took over as the Chairman of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) for 2012-13? a) Avinash Vashistha b) N.Chandrasekaran c) T.K.Kurien d) B.V.R.Mohan Reddy Recently the Kapilavastu relics are put on display in which among the following countries? a) Sri Lanka b) Nepal c) China d) Japan Who among the following is not a Supreme Court Judge at present? a) Justice Jasti Chalameswar b) Justice Fakir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla c) Justice Ranjan Gogoi d) Justice K.G. Balakrishnan 'Ulchi Freedom Guardian' is annual joint military exercise of USA &____? a) South Korea b) China c) France d) India
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62. Name the indigenously built second pollution control vessel, specially designed to mitigate any marine oil spill, which has been commissioned on July 20 at Surat? a) Vishwast b) Sankalp c) Samudra Preheredar d) Vadyar 63. GRAIL (The gravity recovery and interior laboratory) mission refers to a) NASA's mission to Mars b) NASA's mission to Moon c) ISRO's planned mission to moon d) China mission to build international space station 64. ASEAN 2014 meet will be chaired by a) Thailand b) Phillippens c) Myanmar d) Singapore 65. The threat of climate change and rising sea levels has given rise to the emergence of which of the following groups of countries? a) G-20 b) BASIC c) AOSIS d) BRIC 66. Which of the following countries has made access to broadband a legal right for every citizen? a) South Korea b) Finland c) Denmark d) Israel 67. Green Economy initiative is led by a) UNCTAD b) WTO c) UNEP d) IPCCC 68. Kerry Lugar Berman Bill of USA is related to a) Aid for climate change b) Sanctions on Iran c) Aid for Afghanistan d) Aid for Pakistan 69. Which of the following states presents the prestigious arts award Kalidas Samman annually? a) UP b) Bihar c) MP d) Orissa 70. Best Mini Ratna Award 2012 has been given to which company? a) Coal India Ltd b) ONGC c) REIL d) BHEL 71. Which State has recently passed a strong legislation that allows state government to seize assets of corrupt administrators and use it as a public property? a) Haryana b) Kerala c) Tamil Nadu d) Himachal Pradesh 72. Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award 2011 for the excellence in public administration, academics and management has been given to a) Prof. Sunanda Rao b) Prof. Anand Singh c) Prof. Yash Pal d) Prof. Pranab Baneerji 73. S.R Hashim Committee is associated with a) Estimation of informal workforce b) Sustainable Agriculture development c) Study on employment generation sectors d) Estimation of urban poverty 74. At which among the following location, the proposed Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology will be established? a) Ranchi b) Hyderabad c) Bangalore d) Ahmedabad 75. Recently which among the following mass media giant has been allowed to invest Rs.1,000 crore FDI to expand its operations in India? a) Time Warner b) Walt Disney c) Vivendi SA d) VIACOM 76. Which among the following will be launched as 100th mission of ISRO? a) PSLV C-20 b) PSLV C-21
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c) GSLV F07 d) GSLV III Which among the following countries has recently unveiled upgraded Fateh missile? a) Iran b) Pakistan c) Israel d) Russia After diclofenac, which among the following veterinary painkiller has been identified as another threat to vultures in India? a) levorphanol b) Tramadol c) Aceclofenac d) Aminofenac Recently which of following Indian banks have been allowed to operate in Pakistan? a) Punjab National Bank and IDBI Bank b) State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of India (BoI) c) State Bank of India (SBI) and Punjab National Bank d) Bank of India (BoI) and IDBI Bank Who among the following has been recently appointed as new chairperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)? a) Sudha Sharma b) Poonam Kishore Saxena c) Shobha L.Chary d) Laxman Das Presently how much cultivable area in the country is using bio-fertilisers? a) 3 per cent b) 5 per cent c) 6 per cent d) 8 per cent Quadruple amputee Philippe Croizon swam between islands in the icy Bering Strait to cross from America to Asia in the final part of a quest to link all continents. He hails from _____? a) UK b) France c) Ukraine d) Germany
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83. Recently UNDP and Indian Institute of Advance Study (IIAS) have signed the MoU to set up an international centre for human development at ___________? a) Jaipur b) Shimla c) Dehradun d) Kanpur 84. Recently the High Level Committee on External Commercial Borrowings permitted FIIs to invest up to_________ in rupee bonds within the overall corporate bond limit of $45 billion. a) $5 billion b) $10 billion c) $12 billion d) $15 billion 85. What is the present FDI cap in insurance sector in India? a) 26 per cent b) 49 per cent c) 76 per cent d) 100 per cent 86. Recently in which among the following countries 'National Outreach Conference on Global Nuclear Disarmament' was held? a) USA b) Australia c) India d) Japan 87. The new chairman of Life Insurance Corporation of India is? a) T.V. Raghu Nath b) D.K. Mehrotra c) Snigdha Nandipati d) Rahul Bhattacharya 88. Indian state which has become the first Nirmal Rajya that is 100% open defecation free is: a) West Bengal b) Sikkim c) Tripura d) Assam 89. QFI (Qualified Foreign Investment) is regulated in India by? a) RBI b) Financial Action Task Force c) SEBI d) IRDA 90. Pranab Mukherjee has been recently elected as the ____ th President of India? a) 12th b) 13th c) 15th d) 14th 91. Which Indian Bank has taken step to form Indias first Mortgage guarantee entity just like other developed countries? a) SBI b) National Housing Bank c) LIC Housing d) HDFC 92. 'State of emergency declared in Western Myanmar' was the news recently. Who is the president of Myanmar? a) Thein Sein b) Ahmed Abdualla c) Bashar Ali d) Zaheerul Rahman 93. International donor conference on Afghanistan was held recently to donate funding for Afghanistan development. It was held in? a) Kabul b) Tokyo c) Hong Kong d) Singapore 94. The state which has created a new Limca record by holding the largest guitar ensemble of the country in which 5406 guitarists participated is ? a) Andhra Pradesh b) Goa c) Assam d) Tripura 95. Dipankar Mukherjee who passed away recently is a famous ? a) Peace activist b) Cricketer c) Actor d) Parliamentarian
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96. The Indian state which stood second in wheat procurement is ? a) Andhra Pradesh b) Haryana c) Madhya Pradesh d) Tamil Nadu 97. Mehdi Hassan who expired recently was related to the field a) Shooting b) Army c) Acting d) Music 98. Which of the following states has maximum forest cover area in India as per the recent India state of Forest report? a) Andhra Pradesh b) Bihar c) Tamil Nadu d) Madhya Pradesh 99. Which of the following State has granted Sanskrit language the status of the second official language of the state? a) Bihar b) MP c) UP d) Uttarakhand 100. The Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhawana Award 2012 has been given to: a) D R Mehta b) Shabana Azmi c) Javed Akhtar d) Dilip Kumar
ANSWERS
1. d 6. a 11. d 16. a 21. b 26. b 31. b 36. b 41. d 46. c 51. d 56. b 61. a 66. b 71. d 76. b 81. a 86. c 91. b 96. b 2. a 7. a 12. a 17. b 22. d 27. b 32. d 37. d 42. b 47. d 52. d 57. d 62. c 67. c 72. c 77. a 82. b 87. b 92. a 97. D 3. b 8. a 13. b 18. d 23. d 28. a 33. a 38. a 43. b 48. a 53. b 58. b 63. b 68. d 73. d 78. c 83. b 88. b 93. b 98. d 4. c 5. a 9. d 10. b 14. b 15. d 19. c 20. d 24. b 25. c 29. a 30. c 34. a 35. a 39. a 40. d 44. a 45. a 49. b 50. d 54. c 55. a 59. a 60. d 64. c 65. c 69. c 70. c 74. a 75. b 79. b 80. b 84. a 85. a 89. b 90. b 94. c 95. d 99. d 100. a
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CONTENTS

Current News & Events

Honours & Awards

Gujarat's GIFT bags World Finance award

About Dronacharya Award

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2012

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award - 2012:

Current News & Events Sitara-i-Imtiaz Award

Chennai scientist bags UNESCO Award

Chen Shu-Chu, Taiwan:

Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto, Indonesia:

Romulo Davide, Philippines:

Syeda Rizwana Hasan,Bangladesh:

Magsaysay Awards, 2012

Yang Saing Koma, Cambodia:

Current News & Events

Forbes World's Most Powerful Women 2012

Delhi Government presented Lifetime Achievement Awards

Current News & Events

V.V. Giri Memorial Award 2011 to Prof. Utsa Patnaik

Top 10 Powerful Women:

Karl Mehta was selected to Work on Five High-Impact Projects

Hamid Ansari sworn in as 14th vice-president of India

Kurien elected the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha

Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi Quit as Iraq communication Minister

Current News & Events

Southern Naval Command gets new Chief of Staff

Ravneet Gill appointed New CEO of Deutsche Bank India

SEBI Appoints Muralidhar Rao as ED

Dr. Zaidi as New Election Commissioner

Omita Paul appointed as the Secretary of the President

Current News & Events

Castle Naggar in Himachal Pradesh was given Heritage Status

International Financial Hub to come up in Kolkata

Myanmar floods - 85,000 homeless in Irrawaddy Delta

Eco-friendly mosque in Dubai

Current News & Events

Shrinking heat shield of the planet

Rain Enhancement Techniques Conducted in India

Chinas first nuclear battery moon rover

Current News & Events

Indias own eye in the sky

Target Aircraft Lakshya-1 was successfully Test flown

Brahmos Supersonic Cruise Missile

Current News & Events

Russian rocket fails to reach target orbit

In 2013, indigenous Cryogenic engine will propel GSLV

NASAs Rover Curiosity touched the Surface of Mars

Current News & Events

Vempati Chinna Satyam

Current News & Events

Nine Point Action Plan for TPDS

Contribution of MSMEs to GDP

Current News & Events

Corporate Briefs Microsoft updates logo for first time in 25 years

Apple surpasses Microsoft to become worlds number one

REC Signed MoU with Genco

60% Indian companies struggling to protect corporate data

Arvind Saxena appointed the Managing Director of Volkswagen India