general awareness 2013 (a quick reference guide)

7/22/2019 General Awareness 2013 (a Quick Reference Guide)

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September 2013

General Awareness 2013 A Quick Reference GuideCreator Of This Book

AKSHAY ALMAST

One-Step Towards Success


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Race ExpressOne-Step Towards Success

Race Express/Sep. 2013

General Awareness 2013A Quick Reference Guide

Price 35

Creator Of This Book

Akshay Almast


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Contents

Current Affair Updates India successfully Test Fired Surface-to-

Surface Prithvi-II Missile

India Successfully Test fired Pinaka Rocketsfrom Chandipur

NASA to launch Next Mars Mission fromFlorida called MAVEN

NASA'S Curiosity Rover celebrated its FirstAnniversary on Planet Mars

India and Pakistan exchanged fire in ChakanDa Bagh area of Poonch Sector

Japan unveiled its Biggest Warship calledIzumo

The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill2013, introduced in Rajya Sabha

Rakesh Sethi took Charge as ExecutiveDirector of Union Bank of India

The Moonballer book by NirupamaVaidyanathan launched

First case of human to human Transmission ofH7N9 Bird Flu Virus reported in China

Raghuram Govind Rajan Appointed as the23rd Governor of RBI

Arundhati Bhattacharya appointed ManagingDirector of SBI

VP Sharma won the Gujar Mal Modi Award forScience and Technology 2013

Gitanjali the Collection of Poems by Tagorereleased in 14 Languages

Vietnam launched Micro-Satellite Pico Dragonto International Space Station

Hassan Rouhani sworn in as the newPresident of Iran

Rajeev Rishi took over as the CMD of CentralBank of India

Agni-V to be Inducted By 2015 with Two orThree Successful Test Firings in 2013

India launched Aircraft Carrier INS Vikrant inKochi

Vinay Mittal appointed as Union PublicService Commission (UPSC) member

SAIL Operationalised the Largest BlastFurnace of India, Called Durga

Khel Ratna for ace shooter Ronjan Sodhi, ViratKohli gets Arjuna Award

Rajya Sabha passed the Registration of Birthsand Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2012

Delhi conferred Lifetime Achievement Award2013 on Abdul Rashid Khan and Anjolie Ela

Menon

Indias First Hydrogen-Powered Fuel Cell BusDeveloped by ISRO and Tata Motors

Sport Affairs Sardar Singh Named as the Captain of the Asia

Cup Hockey Tournament 2013 Sagarika Ghosh won the Cadet Girls Singles

Title 2013 India won its first ever Bronze Medal at Junior

Women Hockey World Cup 2013 Shree Ganeshan Chundan won the Nehru

Trophy Boat Race 2013 held in Kerala Sindhu is the first Indian women to enter Semi

Finals of World Badminton Championship Inaugural Indian Badminton League (IBL)

Started off at New Delhi Double Trap Shooter Ronjan Sodhi

Recommended for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna

Award Sowjanya Bavisetti Won ITF Women's Tennis

Tournament P V Sindhu has settled with Bronze Medal in

BWF World Championships 2013 Usain Bolt won 100 metre sprint title at the14th IAAF World Championships 2013

India Bagged Six Medals at the Asian JuniorWushu Championships 2013

General Knowledge Books and Authors Computer Knowledge Marketing Knowledge Banking Awareness Science and Technology

Indian Polity Topic Of The Month: Union Executive

Quantitative Aptitude Topic Of The Month: Profit and Loss


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India successfully Test

Fired Surface-to-Surface

Prithvi-II Missile

India on 12 August 2013

successfully test-fired indigenously

developed nuclear-capable surface-

to-surface Prithvi-II missile from a

military base in Odisha. The

ballistic missile with a range of 350

km was fired from launch complex

number three of the Integrated Test

Range at Chandipur-on-sea inBalasore district off Odisha coast.

Prithvi-II missile was launched by

the personnel of the Strategic Force

Command (SFC) from ITRs Launch

Complex-III as part of routine user

training. The missile scientists of

the Defence Research and

Development Organisation (DRDO)

monitored the launch operations.The missile was tracked by the

radars, telemetry stations and

electro-optical systems along the

East Coast. All the systems

incorporated in the missile worked

to perfection and it zeroed in on the

pre-designated target in the Bay of

Bengal.

The Prithvi-II missile is already

inducted into the Indian Armed

forces. It has been developed by the

DRDO.

Fact-sheet on Prithvi-II Missile

Prithvi is the first missile to be

developed under India's prestigious

Integrated Guided Missile

Development Programme (IGMDP).

It is capable of carrying 500 kg to1000 kg of warheads.

It is thrusted by liquid propulsion

twin engines, uses advanced inertial

guidance system with manoeuvring

trajectory. The last users trial of

Prithvi-II was successfully carried

out from the same base on 20

December 2012.

*****

India Successfully Test

fired Pinaka Rockets from

Chandipur

India on 7 August 2013 successfully

test-fired two rounds of

indigenously developed Pinaka

CURRENT AFFAIR UPDATES


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rockets from a multi-barrel rocket

launcher (MBRL) from a base at

Chandipur-on-sea near Balasore, off

the Odisha coast. The tests were

routine trials conducted for trainingpurpose. The tests were conducted

by personnel from Armament

Research and Development

Establishment (ARDE), Pune unit at

Proof and Experimental

Establishment (PXE) firing point-2.

Earlier IN 2013, ten rounds of

Pinaka rockets were tested from

the same base. More advanced andsecond generation Pinaka Mark II

Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher

System had undergone successful

firing trials at Chandhan area in

Pokhran field firing ranges in

western Rajasthan during July

2013.

The Main Features of PinakaPinaka is an area weapon system

with a range of 40 km.

The quick reaction time and highrate of fire of Pinaka will give an

edge to the Army during a minor

conflict situation.

Pinaka system can fire a salvo of12 rockets in 44 seconds. The

battery of six launchers can

neutralise at a time a target area of

3.9 sq km.

Pinaka is capable to incorporate

several types of warheads which

makes the weapon deadly for the

enemy as it can even destroy solid

structures and bunkers.

*****NASA to launch Next Mars

Mission from Florida

called MAVEN

NASA is all set to launch its next

mission to Mars in November 2013

and the spacecraft has already

arrived at the Kennedy Space

Center in Florida. A US Air Force C-17 cargo plane delivered the

Lockheed Martin Corp. built Mars

Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution

(MAVEN) spacecraft from the

Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora,

Colorado on 2 August 2013. Over

the weekend, the (MAVEN project)

team confirmed the spacecraft

arrived in good condition. Theyremoved the spacecraft from the

shipping container and secured it to

a rotation fixture in the clean room.


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In the next week, the team will re-

assemble components previously

removed for transport. Further

checks prior to launch will include

software tests, spin balance tests,

and test deployments of the

spacecraft's solar panels and

booms.

According to NASA, the mission will

be dedicated to surveying the upper

atmosphere of Mars in an effort to

understand the role that the loss of

atmospheric gas to space played inchanging the climate of Mars.

MAVEN is scheduled to lift off in

November to begin a 10-month

voyage to Mars. It has a 20-day

launch period that opens on 18

November 2013.*****

NASA'S Curiosity Rovercelebrated its First

Anniversary on Planet

Mars

Nasas Curiosity rover celebrated its

first anniversary on Mars on 6

August 2013. Curiosity rover had

landed on Mars one year ago on this

date. It has already achieved its

mission aim by discovering thatMars could have supported life.

The achievements of Curiosity

rover are as following:

Curiosity has travelled one mile

and it has provided more than 190

gigabits of data and returned more

than 36700 full images since the

time of landing on Mars.

Curiosity is about the size of a

small car. It is also sending back

information about its surroundings

to inform future missions to Mars.

The rover has travelled almost

700 metres in the past month since

leaving an area of Mars where it has

been analysing rocks for around sixmonths.

It is now rolling along to its final

destination, Mount Sharp where it

will observe the lower layers of the

mountain that towers over the


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centre of Gale Crater by almost

three and a half miles. Mount Sharp

is important for scientists because

its layers of rock can reveal

information about the planet'schanging environment over time.

*****

India and Pakistan

exchanged fire in Chakan

Da Bagh area of Poonch

Sector

India and Pakistan exchanged firein the Chakan Da Bagh area of

Poonch Sector of Jammu and

Kashmir on 6 August 2013.

Five Indian Soldiers were killed

leaving one injured on the Line of

Control (LoC) in the Chakan Da

Bagh area of Poonch Sector in

Jammu and Kashmir on 6 August

2013. The Indian army wasattacked and ambushed by a group

of 20 men dressed in uniforms of

Pakistani Army, while they were

patrolling along the border. The

ambush took place 450 meters

inside the Indian side of the LoC.

Earlier, Pakistan expressed its

desire to resume the peace talkswith India after the new Prime

Minister of Pakistan; Nawaz Sharif

took charge of his office.

Chakan-Da-Bagh

Chakan-Da-Bagh is the point of

distinction on the global map for

trade across LOC and crossing point

in Poonch area. Poonch is one of the

remote and border district of

Jammu and Kashmir state situatedat Line of Control.

History of Poonch Sector

Until November 1947, Poonch was

sieged by the Pakistani side. But it

became the part of India after

Indian army conducted an offensive

operation named as Operation Easy

that ended on 20 November 1948.

After the end of operations easy, theeastern Part of Poonch district

became part of India, whereas the

western part went to Pakistan.

About Line of Control

The area of military control line

between India and Pakistan

controlled parts of the former

princely state of Jammu andKashmir is termed as the Line of

Control, it is also known as the

Asias Berlin Wall. Till date, the line

doesnt mention a legally

recognized international boundary

but it acts as a de facto border

between the two sides.

Earlier, the Line of Control was

termed as the Cease-fire Line, but

was termed as the Line of Control

after the Shimla Agreement (signed

on 3 July 1972). The Indian side of

the princely state is called the State

of Jammu and Kashmir and the two


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parts under the control of Pakistan

is known as GilgitBaltistan and

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Its

northernmost point is known as the

NJ9842.

Apart from this, the cease-fire line

that separates Indian-controlled

state of Jammu and Kashmir from

the Chinese-controlled area known

as Aksai Chin is called as the Line of

Actual Control (LAC). The Aksai

Chin belt is known as one of the

most dangerous places of the world.

The Aksai Chin region isadministered as part of the Hotan

County in the Hotan Prefecture of

Xinjiang Autonomous Region by

China. But, India claims it as a part

of the Ladakh district of the state of

Jammu and Kashmir.

*****

Japan unveiled its Biggest

Warship called Izumo

Japan on 6 August 2013 unveiled its

biggest warship since World War II

called Izumo. Izomo is a flat top

destroyer and it bears a strong

resemblance to a conventional

aircraft carrier. The ship has a flight

deck that is nearly 250 metres (820

feet) long, is designed to carry up to

14 helicopters.

It will be used particularly in anti-

submarine warfare and border-area

surveillance missions. Moreover, it

can enhance Japans ability to

transport personnel and supplies in

response to large-scale natural

disasters, like the devastating

earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Its unveiling comes as Japan and

China are having a dispute over

several small islands located

between southern Japan and

Taiwan. For months, ships from

both nations are conducting patrols

around the isles, called the Senkaku

in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.

*****The Wild Life

(Protection) Amendment

Bill 2013, introduced in

Rajya Sabha

The Government on 5 August 2013

introduced the Wild Life

(Protection) Amendment Bill,

2013 in the Rajya Sabha for stricter

enforcement of laws to protect

wildlife. The Wild Life (Protection)

Amendment Bill, 2013 was

introduced by Union Environment

Minister Jayanthi Natarajan. The bill


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seeks to further amend the Wild

Life (Protection) Act, 1972.

Highlights in the Bill

The Bill provides the legal

framework for the protection of

various species of wild animals,

management of their habitat and

also for the regulation and control

of trade in the products derived

from them.

The Bill seeks to confer power of

entry, search, arrest and detention

on any officer authorised by theManagement Authority or any

customs officer not below the rank

of an inspector or any officer of the

coast guard not below the rank of

an Assistant Commandant.

The Bill seeks to deal with the

serious wildlife crime, such as the

offence related to any animalspecified in Schedule I or Part II of

Schedule II or the meat of such

animal or animal article, trophy, or

uncured trophy derived from such

animal.

If a crime of this sort is

committed, the bill seeks to punish

the culprits with imprisonment for

a term which shall not be less than

five years, but may extend to seven

years and also with fine which shall

not be less than 1 lakh rupees but

may extend to 25 lakh rupees.

In the case of a second or

subsequent offence of the same

nature, the terms of imprisonment

shall not be less than seven yearsand also with fine which shall not

be less than 5 lakh rupees but may

extend to 50 lakh rupees.

It provides for prohibition on use

of animal traps except under

certain circumstances and provide

for protection of hunting rights of

the Scheduled Tribes in Andaman

and Nicobar Islands.

The bill also has the provisions for

the Convention on International

Trade in Endangered Species of

Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

CITES is an international agreement

that aims to ensure that

international trade in wild animals

and plants does not threaten theirsurvival.

*****

Rakesh Sethi took Charge

as Executive Director of

Union Bank of India

Rakesh Sethi on 5 August 2013 took

charge as the Executive Director of

the Union Bank of India. Before

being appointed as the executive

director of the Union Bank of India,

Rakesh Sethi was the General

Manager with Bank of India and

headed the National Banking


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position in Southern India. He also

headed the Retail Banking Division

as well as the Marketing

Department at its head office.

*****The Moonballer book by

Nirupama Vaidyanathan

launched

Nirupama Sanjeev (Vaidyanathan),

the former Tennis Player from India

on 5 August 2013 released her

book, The Moonballer. The bookwas launched by the tennis ace

Vijay Amritraj in Chennai.

The book elaborates her story in a

crisp manner and has tried to

expose people and their self-

centred approach.

About Nirupama Vaidyanathan

At present she is based on US and

runs a Tennis Academy in Bay Area,

California.

Nirupama Vaidyanathan (36)

represented the country in SAF

Games, Commonwealth Games,

Asian Games and the Sydney

Olympics apart from the Fed Cup.

She turned professional at the age

of 18 and started playing mainly inEurope.

She has also won the Bronze

Medal at the 1998 Bangkok Asian

Games in Mixed Doubles,

partnering Mahesh Bhupathi.

Nirupama has been on the expert

commentary team along with

Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritrajfor the four Grand Slams.

She represented India to play in

the Commonwealth Games 2010

and in Asian games in Guangzhou.*****

First case of human to

human Transmission ofH7N9 Bird Flu Virus

reported in China

The Chinese researchers on 6

August 2013 reported about the

first case of the human-to-human

transmission of the H7N9 bird flu

that has emerged in China.

About H7N9 Bird Flu Virus

H7N9 is a serotype of the species

Influenza virus A (Avian Influenza

Virus also known as Bird Flu Virus).

Avian influenza A H7 viruses

normally circulate amongst avian


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populations with some variants

known to occasionally infect

humans. An outbreak of human

infections with a New Avian

Influenza A (H7N9) virus for thefirst time was reported in China by

the World Health Organization on 1

April 2013. The virus was detected

in poultry in China as well. Many of

the people infected with H7N9

reported contact with poultry.

*****

Raghuram Govind Rajan

Appointed as the 23rdGovernor of RBI

Raghuram Govind Rajan, the Chief

Economic Adviser was on 6 August

2013, appointed as the Governor of

the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for

a time period of three years, i.e., till

2016. He succeeds D. Subbarao who

demits the office on 4 September

2013. He will be the 23rd Governor

of RBI.

*****

Two projects of BHEL

inaugurated by

Manmohan Singh in Tamil

Nadu

Manmohan Singh, the Prime

Minister of India on 2 August 2013inaugurated two projects of PSU

BHEL in Thirumayam at

Puthukottai district of Tamil Nadu.

The two projects of BHEL are a High

Pressure Boiler Plant Unit-II, a

Greenfield Initiative and the Power

Plant Piping Unit. Both would

provide employment to about 8000

people.

High Pressure Boiler Plant

(Unit-II)Highlights

A Greenfield expansion project

with combined capacity of 800000

metric tonnes for 20000 MW

annual capacities.

Total shop floor area of around

120000 sq.m.

Total project outlay of over 1000

crore rupees.


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Manufacture of supercritical

technology boilers and components

upto 1000 mw unit rating.

5 direct and indirect employments

of over 5000 persons with

supporting ancillary industries.

Power Plant Piping Unit

highlights

The unit is spread over 40 acres of

land in Thirumayam, Pudukottai

district Tamil Nadu

Capacity of 80000 metric tonnesper annum

Investment of 300 crore rupees

with annual turnover of 2500 crore

rupees

Piping systems for thermal power

plants, steam piping lines for

nuclear power plants, and piping

systems for process industries.

Direct and indirect employment of

around 3000 persons with support

industries to contribute to overall

economic development of the

region.

With the operationalisation of the

two units, BHEL has achieved anannual manufacturing capacity of

20000 MW.

*****

Arundhati Bhattacharya

appointed Managing

Director of SBI

Arundhati Bhattacharya on 2

August 2013 was appointed the

managing director and chief

financial officer of the State Bank of

India (SBI). She is the firstmanaging director at SBI which is

India's largest bank. Arundhati

succeeded Diwakar Gupta who

retired a couple of days ago.

The SBI has four managing

directors, five deputy managing

directors and 18 chief general

managers apart from its chairman.Its other managing directors are A.

Krishna Kumar, Hemant G.

Contractor and S Visvanathan. SBI

chairman Pratip Chaudhuri will be

retiring in September 2012.

There are several other women

who have made it to the top in

domestic banking and financial

services.

The list of women occupying

major posts in domestic banking

and financial services:


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Chanda Kochhar is the managing

director & CEO of ICICI Bank.

Shikha Sharma heads Axis Bank

while Naina Lal Kidwai is the

country head of HSBC India.

Kalpana Morparia is the chief

executive officer at JP Morgan India

Pvt Ltd.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

has also had women occupying top

posts.

Shyamala Gopinath, K.J. Udeshi

and Usha Thorat have all been

deputy governors.

Vijayalakshmi R. Iyer is the

chairperson and managing director

of Bank of India.

Archana Bhargava is the

chairperson & managing director ofUnited Bank of India and S.A. Panse

heads Allahabad Bank.

*****

VP Sharma won the Gujar

Mal Modi Award for

Science and Technology

2013

Vinod Prakash Sharma an eminent

scientist on 9 August 2013 won the

Gujar Mal Modi Award for

Science and Technology 2013.

He received the award for his

contribution in the field of basic and

applied research of Malaria and

Vector Biology.

Vinod Prakash Sharma was

presented with a scroll of honour, a

silver shield and a cash prize of 2.01

lakh rupees. It was given away by

physicistM G K Menon.

About the Gujar Mal Modi

Innovative Science and

Technology AwardThe award was instituted by the

G.M. Modi Foundation in the

memory of industrialist Rai

Bahadur Gujar Mal Modi in 1988.

The award is presented on 9 Augustevery year to a scientist of

eminence, who has made

outstanding contribution to science

& technology. 9 August is the birth

anniversary of the Founder of the

Modi Group, Rai Bahadur Gujar Mal

Modi. The award carries a cash

prize of 2.01 lakh rupees, a scroll of

honour and a silver shield.

Prof. Satish Dhawan was the first

recipient of the award in the 1988

for his contribution in the field of

space and Remote Sensing

Technology.


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Winners of previous three

Awards

In 2010 Prof. Palle Rama Rao won

the award for his contribution in

the field of Metal Science &Technology.

In 2011 Prof. Asis Datta won the

award for his contribution in the

field of Biochemistry and Molecular

Biology.

In 2012 Prof. K.S. Valdiya and

Prof. A.K. Sood won the award for

his contribution in the field ofNeotectonics and Environmental

Geology and Physics respectively.

*****

Gitanjali the Collection of

Poems by Tagore

released in 14 Languages

Gitanjali: Collection of poems

(song offerings) by Rabindranath

Tagore:

Gitanjali, the collection of poems

(song offerings) by Rabindranath

Tagore was released in 14 different

languages at Kolkata by Mamata

Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West

Bengal on 8 August 2013.

About Gitanjali

Gitanjali for the first time was

published in 1913 and is a

collection of 157 poems.

The English version of Gitanjali

that is known as the Song Offerings

is a collection of 103 English poems.

These were self translated by

Tagore and was published by the

Indian Society of London. TheEnglish version contained

translations of 53 poems from the

original Bengali Gitanjali, as well as

50 other poems from Tagore's

drama Achalayatan and eight other

books of poetry 17 poems were

taken from Gitimalya, 15 from

Naivedya and 11 from Kheya.

Gitanjali is composed from two

words Git that means song and

anjali that means offering, thus as a

whole it means an offering of songs.

In 1913, Tagore became the first

non-European to win the Nobel

Prize for Literature, largely for the

English Gitanjali.

*****

Vietnam launched Micro-

Satellite Pico Dragon to

International Space

Station


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Vietnam's micro-satellite Pico

Dragon, together with three other

such US satellites, was sent to ISS

(International Space Station) by

Japan's Kounotori-4 (HTV-4) cargo

spacecraft .The two-stage H-2B

rocket carrying the HTV-4 ship

lifted on 3 August 2013, initiating afive-day journey to the habitable

artificial satellite in low Earth orbit.Pico Dragon is programmed to

capture images of the earth, collect

space environment data and test

communication systems, said the

report, quoting sources from the

Vietnam Academy of Science and

Technology.

The satellite is planned to stay at

the ISS for two-three months before

going into space. In May this year,

Vietnam's first remote sensing

satellite VNREDSat-1 was

launched into orbit from the

Kourou launch pad in French

Guiana.*****

Hassan Rouhani sworn in

as the new President of

Iran

Hassan Rouhani on 4 August 2013

took oath as the new President of

Iran in the ceremony held at theIranian Parliament in Tehran. The

64 year old Rouhani, kissed the

Quran and took his oath to the

office before the countries senior

politicians, foreign dignitaries and

MPs. The newly elected, Iranian

President began his four-year

mandate to the office from 3 August

2013 after Ayatollah AliKhamenei, Irans Supreme leader

certified his victory in the

Presidential election that was

conducted on 15 June 2013.

Rouhani is the seventh (different)

President of Iran after the Islamic

Revolution of 1979. He secured a

little over 50 percent votes to winthe election and has succeeded

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the

President.

Earlier, he defeated Mohammad

Bagher Ghalibaf of Islamic


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Society of Engineers party. The

Presidential elections in Iran took

place on 14 June 2013.

Vice-President of India, Hamid

Ansari attended the swering-in

ceremony of Rouhani at Tehran.

*****

Special National

Investment Fund (SNIF)

approved by CCEA

The Cabinet Committee on

Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 2August 2013 approved creation of

the Special National Investment

Fund (SNIF) for the specific

objective of meeting the minimum

public shareholding of 10 percent

requirement in the following six

Central Public Sector Enterprises

(CPSEs).

Andrew Yule & Company Ltd. Fertilizers and Chemicals

(Travancore) Ltd.

Hindustan Photo FilmsManufacturing Co. Ltd.

HMT Ltd. ITI Ltd. Scooters India Ltd.

Since these Companies were not

financially sound, it was found

difficult to meet the minimum

public shareholding by following

SEBI approved methods. However,

Government was keen to comply

with the requirement in all

Government Companies. The

Department of Disinvestment

discussed the matter with SEBI and

has proposed to meet the minimumpublic shareholding in the above six

Companies.

The salient features of the Fund

are:

(i) The number of shares that is

required to make the six Companies

compliant with the minimum public

shareholding will be transferred to

the Special National InvestmentFund out of Government of India

shareholding on irrevocable basis

without any consideration.

(ii) The Fund will be managed by

independent professional Fund

Managers.

(iii) The Fund will sell the shareswithin a period of 5 years.

(iv) The funds realized from the

sale of shares would be used for

social sector schemes of the

Government.

(v) The modalities of the sale of

shares in the Fund would bedecided by the existing EGoM.

Vide Securities Contracts.

(Regulations) (Second Amendment)

Rules, 2010 dated 09th August,

2010 all Government Companies


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are required to have at least 10%

public shareholding and where

public shareholding is less than

10%, the Companies were required

to comply with this conditionwithin a period of 3 years by

following methods permitted by

SEBI for this purpose.

*****

Agni-V to be Inducted By

2015 with Two or Three

Successful Test Firings in

2013

The Director of Agni Missile Project,

Defence Research and Development

Organisation- Tessy Thomas

announced on 2 August 2013 that

the Agni V missile would become

operational by 2015, with two or

three successful test firings. The

announcement was made at theNational Conference on Systems,

Energy and Environment organised

by the Government College of

Engineering at Mangattuparamba.

This is the project, which in turn

will carry out multiple

independently targetable re-entry

vehicles that can be used for

delivering multiple warheads at

various targets. Agni V missile isone of the biggest achievements of

India. The ballistic missile has a

range of 5000 km. It is also

important to note that there are

more than 2000 institutions, which

have link up with DRDO for this

project.

The plans like this were also

underway for two-stage Agni-IV,which had the 3500 km strike

range. This missile is ready for

induction by the end of 2014. The

armed forces inducted Pakistan-

specific Agni-I (700-km) and Agni-II

(over 2000-km) and 3000 -km

Agni-III.

However, Agni-IV and Agni-Vmissiles have a different kind of

class because they have the

capability to deal against China in

times of crisis. China has the

massive nuclear arsenal as well as

missiles such as 11200-km Dong

Feng-31A, which is capable of

attacking any Indian city.

*****

Rajeev Rishi took over as

the CMD of Central Bank

of India


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Rajeev Rishi took over as the

Chairman & Managing Director of

Central Bank of India on 1 August

2013. His appointment is for a

period of five years.

Prior to the new appointment, Mr.Rishi served as the Executive

Director of Indian Bank, since

October 2010. Before joining Indian

Bank, he was the General Manager

of Oriental Bank of Commerce.

Rajeev Rishi, who belongs to

Chandigarh, holds a BA and an LLB

and an expert in Banking.

*****

INSAT-3D, the Advanced

Meteorological Satellite

of India Launched

Successfully

INSAT-3D, the advanced

meteorological satellite of India waslaunched successfully by the

European rocket, Arianespace's

Ariane 5 rocket, from the spaceport

of Kourou in French Guiana on 26

July 2013. The satellite will give a

push to the weather forecasting as

well as help in facilitating disaster

warning services.

Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket ofEuropean space consortium

launched the Alphasat satellites as

well as INSAT-3D. Alphasat is the

largest-ever telecommunication

satellite of Europe. This satellite is

the result of large-scale public-

private partnership between

Inmarsat as well as European Space

Agency.

Features of INSAT-3D

The new satellite, INSAT-3D will

be operational for next seven years,

i.e., up to 2020.

The aim of the satellite is to make

a crucial difference to the disaster

warning systems as well as weather

forecasting of India.

INSAT-3D will also provide

monitoring of the ocean as well as

land areas, apart from providing

meteorological observation.


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INSAT-3D will facilitate new

dimension to the weather

monitoring because of its

atmospheric sounding system. The

atmospheric sounding systemprovides the vertical profiles of

integrated ozone, humidity as well

as temperature, from top of the

atmosphere.

It is important to note that the

imaging system and mechanism of

INSAT-3D has a lot of improvement

in comparison to INSAT-3A as well

as KALPANA.

The satellite has the lift-off mass

of 2060 kg.

It will facilitate continuity to theprevious missions as well as also

help in increasing the capability of

providing meteorological and

search and rescue services.

INSAT-3D carries the newly

developed 19 channel sounder,

which is the first payload of this

kind to be flown to the ISRO

satellite mission.

INSAT-3D has the facility of

Search and Rescue payload which

catches as well as relays the alertsignals that originate from distress

signal of maritime, aviation and

land based users to the Indian

Mission Control Centre located at

ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and

Command Network in Bangalore.

The primary users of the Satellite

Aided Search and Rescue service inIndia include Directorate General of

Shipping, Defence Services,

fishermen, Indian Coast Guard as

well as Airports Authority of India.

The alert services include a wide

area of Indian Ocean region, as well

as covers Sri Lanka, Tanzania, India,

Bangladesh, Nepal, Seychelles,Bhutan and Maldives.

The information of oceanographic,

hydrological as well as

meteorological data from the

uninhabited locations over the

coverage area from Data Collection

Platforms (DCPs) such as Agro Met

Stations, Automatic Rain Gauge and

Automatic Weather Station, as well

as remote locations will be

collected by the Data Relay

Transponder (DRT).

The ISRO as well as India

Meteorological Department have


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already established over 1800

DCPs.

INSAT-3D Satellite Placed

Successfully inGeosynchronous Orbit

INSAT-3D, the advanced weather

satellite of India, which was

launched on 26 July 2013 from

Kourou, French Guyana, was

successfully placed in

Geosynchronous orbit after three

orbit raising manoeuvrescommanded from ISRO`s Master

Control Facility at Hassan.

The Orbital parameters of INSAT-

3D are as follows:

Apogee (farthest point to Earth)

35799 km

Perigee (nearest point to Earth)

35469 km

Inclination (of the orbit with

respect to the equator)- 0.23 deg

Orbital period 23 hr 48 min

It is important to note that INSAT-

3D had shown irregular behaviour

after the deployment of its solar

panel, but Mission Operations Team

of ISRO immediately brought it into

normalcy using the prescribed

contingency procedures. Mission

Operations Team of ISRO, then,

resumed the orbit-raising

operations.

At present, INSAT-3D is moving

towards its final geostationary

orbital location of 82 degree Eastlongitude. On 6 August 2013,

INSAT-3D will reach its final

destination. Thereafter, the two

meteorological payloads (Imaging

System and Atmospheric Sounder)

and two Transponders (designed

for the Meteorological Data Relay

and Satellite-aided Search and

Rescue system) will be activated by

8 August 2013.

French Guiana is an overseas

region of France on the north

Atlantic coast of South America.*****

Indias First Hydrogen-

Powered Fuel Cell Bus

Developed by ISRO andTata Motors

Tata Motors Limited (TML) and

Indian Space Research

Organisation, in collaboration,

developed the first Hydrogen-

powered automobile bus of India,

after various years of research. The

first hydrogen fuel-fitted bus ofIndia was put on demonstration at

the ISRO facility- Liquid Propulsion

Systems Centre in Mahendragiri in

Tamil Nadu on 28 July 2013.


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Primary features of the

Hydrogen-powered automobile

bus

The Hydrogen powered

automobile bus is the CNG kind of abus.

Atop the bus, the Hydrogen in

bottles at high pressure is stored,

which would lead to zero pollution.

These hydrogen bottles or cells

were a by-product of the cryogenic

technology and ISRO had been

working on the development of thissince past few years.

The technology used in Hydrogen-

powered automobile bus is not

exactly like the cryogenic

technology. It is actually the liquid

hydrogen handling, where ISRO has

expertise.

The bus would lead to zero

pollution because the product of

cold combustion would be just

water.

*****

SAIL Operationalised the

Largest Blast Furnace of

India, Called Durga

The Steel Authority of India Ltd

(SAIL), on 10 August 2013,

operationalised the largest blast

furnace of India, called Durga, at

the SAIL Rourkela Steel Plant.

The blast furnace will help in

increasing the hot metal capacity of

SAIL by 2.5 million tonnes in a year.

The hot metal capacity will become

4.5 million tonnes per annum.

Durga is built at the approximate

cost of 1600 crore Rupees. The

volume of the furnace is 4060 cubicmetres. The blast furnace is

absolutely environment-friendly

and ensures minimum emissions. It

also has the capability of recovering

waste energy to the complete

potential. It also has the closed-loop

cooling system which leads to zero

water discharge.

At the same time, the Director of

SAIL, C.S. Verma also inaugurated

the new slab caster at Steel Melting

Shop-II of the plant. The new slab

caster, in the meanwhile, was set up

at the approximate cost of 500

crore Rupees. It incorporates the

state-of-the-art technologies. It has

the capability of casting the slabs ofwidth up to 2500 mm with

thickness of 220 mm, 250 mm and

300 mm. This new slab caster will

also facilitate the slabs to new 4.3

metre wide plate mill, which will be

installed as the part of Rourkela


22/65



plants modernisation and

expansion plan.

About Steel Authority of India Ltd

(SAIL) Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL)

is the largest steel producing

company of India.

It has the turnover of 49350 croreRupees.

It is also among the Maharatna

companies of Indias Central Public

Sector Enterprises.

SAIL has five integrated steel

plants, three special plants, and onesubsidiary in different parts of

India.

*****

India launched Aircraft

Carrier INS Vikrant in

Kochi

India on 12 August 2013 launched

its first ever indigenously designed

and built aircraft carrier INS

Vikrant in Kochi. As per the ship

launching tradition, the ship was

launched by Elizabeth Antony, the

wife of Defence Minister,

A.K.Antony. A strong and vigilant

Navy is needed to keep the coast

line, island territories and sea lanes

of communication open in theinterest of the nation. Indian Navy

must continue to maintain high

operational readiness at all times,

to ward off any likely

misadventures against our national

interests. It should have the

capability and technology, to match

the best in the world.

It was truly a historic moment forboth the country's ship building

industry and the Indian Navy as the

first Indigenously built Aircraft

Carrier INS Vikrant was launched at

the Cochin Shipyard. The launch has

catapulted the country into a select

group of nations with the capability

to design and build such massive

aircraft carriers. Major outfittingwork of the vessel is scheduled to

be completed by 2016.

INS Vikrant has a length of 260

metres and it is 60 metres wide. It

is behind schedule by three years.

Vikrant is scheduled for extensive

trials in 2016 before being inducted

into the Navy by 2018 end.

*****

Delhi conferred Lifetime

Achievement Award 2013


23/65



on Abdul Rashid Khan

and Anjolie Ela Menon

Delhi state government on 11

August 2013 conferred Lifetime

Achievement Award-2013 to two

veteran artists, Abdul Rashid Khan

and Anjolie Ela Menon. AbdulRashid Khan and Anjolie Ela Menon

were given awards for their

contribution in the field of music

and visual arts. Award carries a

cheque of 11 lakh rupees and a

citation. The Award ceremony was

organised by the Sahitya Kala

Parishad.

Abdul Rashid Khan is a Hindustaniclassical vocalist of Gwalior

gharana. He turned 106 this year.

He was awarded the Padma

Bhushan in 2013 and is the oldest

person to have received this

honour. He was earlier conferred

the Sangeet Natak Akademi award.

Anjolie Ela Menon is Indiasrenowned contemporary artist

whose work is recognized globally.

She is considered as one of the

foremost Indian artists of her

generation. She was awarded

Padma Shri in recognition of her

distinguished contribution in the

sphere of arts.

*****

Supreme Court

Prohibited Environmental

Clearances to Hydro-

Electric Projects in

Uttarakhand

The Supreme Court of India on 13

August 2013 directed the Union

Government of India and the

Government of Uttarakhand to not

grant any environmental clearances

to the hydro-electric projects in

Uttarakhand. The two-judge bench

headed by Justice KS

Radhakrishnan and comprising of

comprising Justice Dipak Misra

passed the judgement in relation to

the Alaknanda Hydro PowerProject.

The Apex Court ordered the

Ministry of Environment and

Forests (MoEF) for establishing the

expert body in order to study the


24/65



environmental degradation taking

place by the power projects. Also,

the court directed that the study

should focus on the recent tragedy

which claimed thousands of lives inUttarakhand. The expert body

should consist of representatives

from the state government of

Uttarakhand, Central Water

Commission, Central Electricity

Authority, WII (Wild Life Institute

of India) as well as certain other

bodies.

The expert body to be established,in the meanwhile, will also analyse

and examine the effect of 24 new

hydro-electric projects which were

proposed on biodiversity of

Bhagirathi and Alaknanda river

basins.

Also, the Apex Court directed the

Disaster Management Authority ofUttarakhand to submit a detailed

report on the plan of disaster

management in the state. The

central as well as the state agencies

were asked to submit their detailed

reports by November 2013.

Uttrakhand in the third week of

June 2013 was stuck by flash floodsand landslides. During this natural

disaster in the state, thousands of

people lost their life and various

remained stranded. Rescue

operations by Indian Army were

carried out in the state. The worst

affected region of Uttarakhand was

Kedarnath, which is a popular

Hindu shrine and receives lakhs of

tourists every year during June and

July.

*****Vinay Mittal appointed as

Union Public Service

Commission (UPSC)

member

Vinay Mittal, a former Indian

Railway Traffic Service officer was

appointed as a member of the

Union Public Service Commission

(UPSC) on 8 August 2013. He is theeighth members in the Commission.

Vinay Mittal has worked as

chairman of Railway Board for two

years from 30 June 2011 to 30 June

2013.

Vinay Mittal is an officer of Indian

Railway Traffic Service (1975

batch). He was worked in various

capacities in the Railways including

as General Manager of South

Eastern Railway, Additional General

Manager, Central Railway,

Divisional Railway Manager-


25/65



Bilaspur, Chief Passenger

Transportation Manager, Chief

Freight Transportation Manager

and Executive Director, Traffic

Transportation (Movement) inRailway Board among others.

About the UPSC

The Union Public Service

Commission has been established

under Article 315 of the

Constitution of India. The

Commission consists of a Chairman

and ten Members.

Appointment of the UPSC memberis for a period of six years or until

he/she attains the age of 65 years,

whichever is earlier.

UPSC is responsible for

conducting examinations for

appointment to the higher civilservices and civil posts under the

Union Government; including

recruitment to the All India

Services.

The present Union Public Service

Commission headed by D P

Agrawal, and members of UPSC are

Rajni Razdan, Venkatarami Reddy

Y, Alka Sirohi, David R Syiemlieh,Manbir Singh, former CBI director

Amar Pratap Singh and Former

Navy Vice Chief D K Dewan.

The Department of Personnel &

Training (Union Ministry of

Personnel, Public Grievances &

Pensions) is responsible for

appointing the chairman and

members to the UPSC.

*****Idea Cellular became

Aditya Birla Group's Most

Valuable Company

Idea Cellular became Aditya Birla

groups most valuable companyovertaking its flagship commodity

business. The market cap of the

telecom business overtook

UltraTech BSE, Indias largest

cement company. Idea's

shareholder valuation increased to

52916 crore rupees while

UltraTech's was calculated at 50820

crore rupees as on 25 July 2013.The gap between Idea and Ultra

Tech has been estimated at 7856

crore rupees.

Idea Cellular, which was known

earlier as Birla AT&T, has made

rapid progress. It started as an

alliance with the Tata group, before

the Tatas deciding to use CDMA

technology. After initial hustle, the

Birlas paid a hefty ransom of 4400

crore to buy out the Tata stake.

Idea Cellular made a series of

acquisitions which included the


26/65



purchase of BK Modi's Spice

Telecom.

*****Rajya Sabha passed the

Registration of Births and

Deaths (Amendment) Bill,

2012The Rajya Sabha on 13 August 2013

passed Registration of Births and

Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2012,

under which marriages solemnized

in India irrespective of the religionof the persons getting married will

have to be compulsorily registered.

The Registration of Births and

Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2012,

was passed by a voice vote after a

brief discussion. Through this bill,

the Union government is providing

a platform to the states, which are

free to frame their own rules in

accordance with their

requirements. The government

does not favour compulsory

registration in cases of live-in

relations.

The Bill is set to protect the women

from unnecessary harassment in

matrimonial and maintenancecases. It also seeks to provide

evidentiary value in the matters of

custody of children, right of

children born from the wedlock of

the two persons whose marriage is

registered and the age of the parties

to the marriage.

*****

Khel Ratna for ace

shooter Ronjan Sodhi,Virat Kohli gets Arjuna

Award

Trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi, the first

Indian to win two back-to-back

World Cup gold medals, was today

recommended for the prestigious

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, while star

cricketer Virat Kohli was among the14 sports persons picked for the

Arjuna award by the selection

committee.

Rising badminton player P V

Sindhu, who became the first Indian

woman shuttler to clinch a bronze

medal at the recent World

Championships, was also in the listof 14 sports persons picked for the

Arjuna award, sources told PTI.*****

Points tobe Remember:

The Person who succeeded

Ranjan Mathai to be the next

Foreign Secretary of India byManmohan Singh- Sujata Singh

The vice chancellor of Jamia Millia

Islamia University who on 1 July


27/65



2013 appointed as the 20th Lt

Governor of Delhi- Najeeb Jung

The Person who on 2 July 2013

has been appointed as Director

General of Bureau of Indian

Standards (BIS)- Sunil Soni

The first ever Indian woman to

receive Dubai Govt's coveted

Emirates Woman Award for

business excellence in June 2013-

Vandana Gandhi

The U.S. inventor who was known

as the father of the computer mouse

who died on 3 July 2013 at age of

88- Douglas Engelbart

The Egyptian Leader who sworn

in as interim president of Egypt tillthe next elections takes place

succeeding Mohamed Morsi, who

was removed after a military coup-

Adli Mansour

Renowned Madhubani painting

artist who died at a private hospital

in Ranti, near Madhubani on 4 July2013- Mahasundari Devi

The former Secretary, Department

of Telecommunications (DoT), who

was appointed as the President of

NASSCOM on 5 July 2013- R.

Chandrasekhar

The Bollywood actress who on 6

July 2013 got the Best Actress

award at 14th IIFA (International

Indian Film Academy) awards 2013

held in Macau- Vidya Balan

Leading liberal opposition leader

who on 6 July 2013 was named as

Egypt's new Prime Minister-

Mohamed El Baradei

Senior parliamentarian who on 4

July 2013 was appointed as the new

governor of Sikkim- Shriniwas

Dadasaheb Patil

Former Delhi police Chief, who on

8 July 2013 took over as the newGovernor of Meghalaya- KK Paul

An acknowledged food scientist

and the former Director of the

Central Food Technological

Research Institute (CFTRI) who

died on 9 July 2013- Dr. H.A.B.

Parpia


took over as the new Lieutenant

Governor of Andaman and Nicobar

Islands- Lt Gen (Retd) AK Singh


28/65



The Theme of world Population

day observed across the World on

11 July 2013- Focus is on

Adolescent Pregnancy

Indian Parsi conductor of western

classical music who was selected to

be honoured with Tagore Award

2013- Zubin Mehta

The legendary actor and the

proud recipient of Dada SahebPhalke Award and Padma Bhushan

Award who died on 12 July 2013-

Pran


was appointed as the next

Commissioner of Delhi Police and

will be succeeding Neeraj Kumar-Bhim Sain Bassi

The Person who was administered

the oath of the office of Chief Justice

of India (CJI) by he President of

India on 19 July 2013- Justice

Palanisamy Sathasivam

The Chief Justice of India who on

18 July 2013 retired from the office

after a short term of just nine

months- Justice Altamas Kabir

The day which was observed as

Nelson Mandela International Day

to inspire people to be an agent of

change- 18 July 2013

82 Years old Veteran Tamil film

lyricist who died at a private

hospital in Chennai on 18 July

2013- Vaali

An Indian-American woman was

nominated for the Post of AssistantSecretary of State of USA- Nisha

Desai Biswal

South Korean city which was

named as the World Book Capital

for the year 2015 as per UNESCO

announcement- Incheon

Former Kuttanad MLA and

Chairman of the Kerala State

Farming Corporation, who died at a

hospital in Kochi-

Prof. Oommen Mathew

The Finance Minister of Jammu

and Kashmir who on 21 July 2013appointed as the new Chairman of

GST Panel-

Abdul Rahim Rather


29/65



The Chairman and CEO of Leo

Burnett, India who was re-elected

as the President of Advertising

Agencies Association of India-

Arvind Sharma

Renowned south India yesteryear

actor, who died in Chennai at the

age of 59 on 23 July 2013 followed

a brief illness-

Manjula Vijaya kumar

The Duchess of Cambridge, whogave birth to a baby boy on 22 July

2013 at the London hospital-

Kate Middleton

Indian American author who

novel The Lowland has been listed

among 13 novels longlisted for the

Man Booker Prize 2013-Jhumpa Lahiri

The cousin of Rajiv Gandhi as well

as the Minister for Internal Security

during his government, who died in

Gurgaon on 25 July 2013-

Arun Nehru

The famous Indian Port which

was conferred with the Major Port

of the Year award for its excellent

performance in the year 2012-13-

Paradip Port

The Bollywood actor who held the

Guinness World Record for being

the most type-cast actor, died on 28

July 2013 at the age of 85 years-

Jagdish Raj

Sarod maestro who was chosen

for the 21st Rajiv Gandhi National

Sadhbhavna Award-

Amjad Ali Khan

The former Indian Test umpire

who passed away on 29 July 2013

at a private hospital in Karnataka.He was 83 years of age-

SN Hanumantha Rao

The principal architect of Indias

missile programmes who on 31

May 2013 was appointed DRDO

chief and scientific advisor to

defence minister-

Avinash Chander

The person who resigned as

Chairman of IPL on 1 June 2013 in

the wake of the raging spot-fixing

scandal- Rajiv Shukla

The name of bombs which is being

developed by India for its fighterjets, which are expected to be

geared up for deployment by the

end of year 2014- Glide Bombs

The Person who was appointed


30/65



new Prime Minister of Palestine, by

Mahmoud Abbas on 2 June 2013-

Rami Hamdallah

The 25-year old Bollywoodactress who allegedly committed

suicide on 3 June 2013 at her Juhu

residence in Mumbai Jiah Khan

The Person who became the

youngest Indian to scale the Mount

Everest on 21 May 2013 with his

five schoolmates- Raghav Joneja

The Leader of Pakistan Muslim

League- Nawaz (PML-N), who on 3

June 2013 elected as the Speaker of

the National Assembly of Pakistan-

Ayaz Sadiq

The Person who became the first

woman to be elected to the FIFAExecutive Committee (ExCo) for a

full term of four years- Lydia

Nsekera

The theme of World Environment

Day which was observed on 5 June

2013-Think, Eat, Save Reduce

Your Foodprint

The Person who was appointed as

the National Security Adviser of US

President Barack Obama on 5 June

2013- Susan Elizabeth Rice

The Australian radio presenters

who responsible for Royal prank

and was awarded with Jock by the

employer- Michael Christian

The Person who on 6 June 2013

was reelected as the chairman of

India Bank Association (IBA) for

2013-14 tenure- KR Kamath

The Irish writer who won the

IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for

his debut novel City of Bohanewhich is the portrayal of Ireland of

2053- Kevin Barry

The Uttarakhand NGO which on 6

June 2013 bagged a French award

for its contribution to protection of

human rights-Central Himalayan

Environment Association (CHEA)

Name the Scottish author, who is

best known for his novels The Wasp

Factory and The Crow Road, died of

Cancer on 9 June 2013- Iain Banks

The BJP leader who resigned

from all top positions of BJP on 10

June 2013 a day after Narendra

Modi was selected as the chairman

partys election campaign-

LK Advani

A former Union Minister and


31/65



Congress veteran from

Chhattisgarh, died on 11 June 2013

of multiple organ failure-

Vidya Charan Shukla

The theme of World Day against

Child Labour which was celebrated

on 12 June 2013- No to Child

Labour in Domestic Work

The first Indian-American girl

from Avon School to get admission

in United States Military Academyat West Point- Sneha Singh

The First NATO and European

Country to Draft Women in Military

Service- Norway

The Indian-origin sculptor who

was honoured with Knighthood, the

highest honour of Britain by QueenElizabeth II- Anish Kapoor

The Person who became only the

second Hindu to be part of the

Pakistans Punjab assembly after

Seth Bharta Ram- Kanji Ram

The ambassador to the United

Nations for Antigua and Barbudawho was selected as the President

of UN General Assembly for its 68th

session- John William Ashe

One of the founders of RAW, who

passed away on 16 June 2013 in

Chennai after a long fight with

cancer- Bahukutumbi Raman

The ex-chairman of the Tata

Group who was appointed as the

Chief Advisor of Air Asias India

board- Ratan Tata

The moderate cleric ofCombatant

Clergy Association party won the

presidential election in Iran on 15

June 2013- Hassan Rohani

The Malaysian author who was

declared as the winner of Walter

Scott Prize for his English fiction

novel The Garden of Evening Mists-

Tan Twan Eng

The 29-year-year-old Indian

origin journalist became the Editor

of UK national paper, TheIndependent, on 17 June 2013-

Amol Rajan

The former head of the Tata

Consultancy Services (TCS), was

appointed as the Chairman of Air

Asia India on 18 June 2013-

Subramanian Ramadorai

The Chinese supercomputer

which is declared is the fastest

computer of the world- Tianhe-2

The Book Released by Hamid

Ansari, the Vice President of India


32/65



and compiled by Kumar Deepak

Das- An Ardent Patriot

Dinesh Goswami

The Parliamentary Speaker who

on Parliamentary Speaker who

sworn in as Bangladesh President

to replace Zillur Rahman-

Abdul Hamid

An IAS officer of the 1979 batch

who on 1 May 2013 was appointed

as Chief Secretary of AndhraPradesh government-

Prasanna Kumar Mohanty

The Former President of Pakistan

who was imposed with a lifetime

ban from contesting elections-

Pervez Musharraf

The communication Satellite

successfully launched by China

from Xichang Satellite Launch

Center in Sichuan province-

Zhongxing-11

The last British member of the

Church of North Indias DelhiBrotherhood who passed away on

30 April 2013- Father Ian

Weathrall

The day celebrated as the World

Press Freedom Day across the

world with a theme safe to Speak- 3

May 2013

The Indian national and a death

row prisoner in the Lahores Kot

Lakhpat Jail who died on 2 May

2013 at the Lahore's Jinnah

hospital- Sarabjit Singh

The young Indian biologist who

was honoured with the Whitley

award, also known as Green Oscar,in London on 2 May 2013-

Aparajita Datta

The former tour player and

president of ATP since January

2012 who died on 3 May 2013-

Brad Drewett

The Person who on 3 May 2013took over the office of Chief

Secretary of Uttarakhand for second

time- Subhash Kumar

The prosecutor who was handling

the Mumbai terror attack and

Bhutto assassination case was

gunned down in Islamabad-Zulfiqar Ali

Italian Deputy Foreign Minister

who was appointed as the special

envoy to India to work out on fair


33/65



trials for the Italian Marines-

Staffan de Mistura

The Prime Minister of Italy who

died on 6 May 2013 at Rome after

serving as the Italian Prime

Minister seven times between 1972

and 1992- Giulio Andreotti

The first ever national surfing and

stand up paddle (SUP) competition

of India concluded at Kovalam

beach on 5 May 2013-Spice Coast Open

The Senegalese singer and Finnish

composer who were named as the

recipients of Polar Music Prize

2013- Youssou Ndour and Kaija

Saariaho

An Indian conglomerate company

who created a new Guinness World

Record on 6 May 2013 when its

121653 workers sang Indias

national anthem in Lucknow-

Sahara India Pariwar

The Pakistani Prisoner who wasattacked by an inmate in Kot

Bhalwal jail in Jammu died at the

hospital in Chandigarh on 9 May

2013- Sanaullah Ranjay

The person who was appointed as

the Head of the World Trade

Organisation and will take the

charge of his office from outgoing

Pascal Lamy in September 2013-

Roberto Azevedo

The English film director, actor,

screenwriter and novelist, who died

on 8 May 2013 in Virginia Water,

Surrey following the long illness-

Bryan Forbes

The Legendary actor who was

presented with the prestigious

Dadasaheb Phalke award for life

time achievement 10 May 2013-

Pran

The leader of the Indian National

Congress who on 11 May 2013 wassworn in as the 22nd chief minister

of the state of Karnataka-

Siddaramaiah

The Deputy Speaker of Madhya

Pradesh State Assembly and a

senior leader of Congress Party who

died due to cardiac arrest-Harvansh Singh

The renowned Islamic Scholar and

recipient of National Communal


34/65



Harmony Award in 1997, who died

on 14 May 2013-

Asghar Ali Engineer

The acting director of IRS who

had resigned amid the criticism

over the tax agency's handling of

conservative groups seeking tax-

exempt status- Steven Miller

The Person who on 16 May 2013

appointed as governor of Arunachal

Pradesh as the term of presentincumbent Gen (retd) J J Singh

ended in January 2013-

Nirbhay Sharma

The Saudi woman who made

history by reaching the Everest

summit- the world's highest

mountain- Raha Moharrak

The place where the 45th Session

of the Indian Labour Conference

concluded on 18 May 2013-

New Delhi

The Person who on 19 May 2013became the first Pakistani woman

to scale Mount Everest. Samina Baig

is 22 years of age- Samina Baig

NASAs Mars Rover which brokethe 40-year-old extraterrestrial

distance record on 16 May 2013,

after 9 long years of Mars

exploration- Opportunity rover

The Person who was elected as

the Member of Executive Council of

WMO during the 65th Executive

Council of WMO meeting which is

ongoing at Geneva-Laxman Singh Rathore

P. Sathasivam on 29 June 2013

was appointed as the next Chief

Justice of India after he justified the

Collegiums System of appointment

of Judges. Sathasivam will be the

40th Chief Justice of India (CJI) and

his appointment to the post has

been approved by PranabMukherjee, the President of India.


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SPORT AFFAIRS

Sardar Singh Named as

the Captain of the Asia

Cup Hockey Tournament2013

India, on 11 August 2013 named

Sardar Singh as the captain of the

18-member squad in the Asia Cup

hockey tournament, which is

scheduled to take place from 24

August 2013 to 1 September 2013

in Ipoh, Malaysia.

The forwardline of the team does

not include Danish Mujtaba, S V

Sunil, Gurwinder Singh Chandi and

Akashdeep Singh because of their

injuries. The inexperienced players

have been included instead in the 5-

member forwardline, which also

has two new players- Ramandeep

Singh and Nikin Thimmaiah.

The three strikers of the team

include Nithin Thimmaiah,

Mandeep Singh and Malak Singh.

Another new entrant in the team

includes Defender Amit Rohidas.

The mid-fielder S K Uthappa was

also included in the team. P R

Sreejesh will be the goalkeeper.

The three-day selection trials of theteam were held at the SAI Centre in

Bangalore from 25 July 2013 to 27

July 2013. The Asia Cup hockey

tournament Indian team will leave

for Ipoh on 16 August 2013. India

will play in the tournament in Pool

B.*****

Sagarika Ghosh won theCadet Girls Singles Title

2013

Sagarika Ghosh on 11 August 2013

won the Cadet Girls singles title

while Birdie Boro had to be

satisfied with a silver in the Cadet

Boys singles at the Guatemala

Junior and Cadet Open Table Tennis

championships. Birdie Boro lost 9-11, 8-11, 5-11 to Cuban Livan

Martinez in the final of the boys

singles event. Earlier, Boro had

beaten teammate Anirban Ghosh 3-

0 to enter the final.


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Sagarika, the winner of South Asian

Junior title recently, defeated Sreeja

11-6, 11-5, 11-8 in the final to take

gold. She had won the South Asian

Junior title recently. *****India won its first ever

Bronze Medal at Junior

Women Hockey World

Cup 2013

Indian Junior Women Hockey team

won its first ever Bronze medal inERGO Hockey Junior World Cup at

Monchengladbac, Germany on 4

August 2013. India beat England by

3-2 in a penalty shoot-out. The

tournament was played at

Mnchengladbach, Germany from

27 July to 4 August 2013. India

ended at third position in the

tournament.

In the third-fourth place playoff

match, both the teams India and

England had scored 1-1 in

regualtion time of 70 minutes.

Defender Sushila Chanu captained

the Indian side and Shona McCallin

captained the English side. Indian

forward Rani was declared the Best

Player of the ERGO Junior WomenHockey World Cup 2013.

The Vice-Captain and forward Rani

scored India's only goal in the

regulation time. Navneet Kaur's

strike helped India a 3-2 lead in the

shoot-out.

Earlier, India lost to defending

champions the Netherlands insecond semi-final match on 2

August 2013.

The Netherland team won the final

against Argentina 4-2 in the shoot-

out and clinched the trophy for a

record third time.

Top Four Places won by

1. Netherland: Gold Medal wascaptained by Renske Siersema

2. Argentina: Silver Medal was

captained by Florencia Habif

3. India: Bronze Medal

4. England

The coach for the Indian team was

Neil Hawgood.

After this win, Hockey India

announced a cash prize of one lakh

rupees for the each member of

India's junior women hockey team

and coach. 50000 rupees was

announced for the support staff.

*****

Shree Ganeshan Chundanwon the Nehru Trophy

Boat Race 2013 held in

Kerala


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Shree Ganeshan Chundan, the

snake boat of the St Francis Boat

Club, Harippad won the 61st edition

of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race

2013 on 9 August 2013 that was

held in Punnamada Lake in

Alleppey (Alappuzha), Southern

Kerala. This is the second

consecutive win of Shree Ganeshan

that was captained by Arunkumar,

Karthikapally. In 2012, it was

captained by Jiji Jacob Pollayil

under Freedom Boat Club,

Kainakary. Jawahar Thayankeri and

Anari Chundan were placed at the

second and third positions,

respectively.

After the win, Ganeshan was

honoured with the silver trophy

that was donated by Jawaharlal

Nehru in 1952 with his signature

embossed on it.

A total of 22 chundans (snake

boats) and 41 other country boats

participated in the race. The race

was inaugurated by Governor of

Kerala, Nikhil Kumar and Union

Tourism Minister K. Chiranjeevi

was the Chief Guest on the occasion.

About the Nehru Trophy Boat

Race

The Nehru Trophy Boat Race is

conducted every year on the second

Saturday of August. The tradition of

the boat race started in 1952 after

the first Prime Minister of IndiaJawaharlal Nehru visited the area.

During his visit, the villagers held

an unprepared boat race to honour

his visit in the area. Nehru donated

a silver trophy to the winners of the

race and since then the competition

has been named by his name.

The central attraction of the contest

remains the snake boats, which are

locally known as Chundan Vallam,

which means Beaked Boat. Snake

boats have been named following

its structure that is long and narrow

in shape and 36 to 42 meter in its

length. The best thing about theboat is that one hundred oarsmen

pull the boat in water. The vessel is

steered by four key helmsmen and

it also has a team of musicians that

fulfill the role of floating


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cheerleaders, as they sing boat

songs that are set on the rhythm of

the stroke and drumbeats.

*****

Sindhu is the first Indianwomen to enter Semi

Finals of World

Badminton Championship

PV Sindhu, the Indian shuttler on 9

August 2013 became the first

Indian women singles player to

enter Semi-finals in World

Badminton Championships andensure a medal. Sindhu defeated

Shixian Wang of China 21-18, 21-17

to enter the semi-finals the game

that lasted for 55 minutes.

The championship started on 5

August 2013 and end on 11 August

2013 is being played at Guangzhou

in China.

PV Sindhu will clash with

Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in

the semifinals that will be played on

10 August 2013. India shuttlers,

Saina Nehwal and P. Kashyap both

bowed out in the quarterfinals.

About the World Badminton

ChampionshipWorld Badminton Championships is

a prestigious tournament in

Badminton and for the first time it

was held in 1977 and was held after

every two years. But since 2003, is

held every year except the Olympics

year as the winner of the Olympic

title is considered as the World

Champion.

China and the World Badminton

Championship

China hosted the event once in

1987 and was played in Beijing and

got the chance to host the same

after 26 years with the cooperation

of Guangzhou Badminton

Association.

About 400 of the worlds top

players representing five continents

participated in the World

Championship. The championship

included five events, Mens singles,

Womens singles, Mens and

Womens doubles and Mixeddoubles. The person who will

succeed in winning the competition

will take the title of World

Champion.

*****


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Inaugural Indian

Badminton League (IBL)

Started off at New Delhi

The first season of the Indian

Badminton League (IBL) started on

14 August 2013 at New Delhi. The

IBL is the franchise league which is

proposed by Badminton

Association of India (BAI). The

schedule of the IBL is 14 August

2013 to 31 August 2013. The league

will include Indian as well as

foreign badminton players.

Important Facts about the Indian

Badminton League (IBL)

Deepika Padukone and Aamir

Khan are the brand ambassadors of

the IBL.

The franchise cities include Delhi,

Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune,

Hyderabad, Nagpur and Lucknow.

The opening ceremony of the

event took place at Delhi on 13

August 2013 and the final will be

held at Mumbai on 31 August 2013.

The semi-final matches will take

place at Bangalore and Hyderabad.

The six teams at the inaugural IBLare Krrish Delhi Smashers, Pune

Pistons, Banga Beats (Bangalore),

Awadhe Warriors (Lucknow),

Hyderabad Hotshots and Mumbai

Masters. Each franchise will consist

of 11 players- 4 foreign, 6 Indians

and 1 junior Indian.

The overall prize money of theevent is 1 million US dollar. This is

the richest tournament of

badminton in the world.

Five matches will be played per

tie which will include two men's

singles, one each of women's

singles, men's doubles and mixed

doubles.

Six icon players from India include

Jwala Gutta (Krrish Delhi

Smashers), Ashwini Ponnappa

(Pune Pistons), Lee Chong Wei

(Mumbai Masters), P Kashyap

(Banga Beats), Saina Nehwal

(Hyderabad Hotshots) and PVSindhu (Awadhe Warriors).

*****


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India Bagged Six Medals

at the Asian Junior Wushu

Championships 2013

India won six medals at the 7th

Asian Junior Wushu Championships

which concluded in Manila,

Philippines which concluded on 13

August 2013.

India won one silver medal and five

bronze medals in the Asian Junior

Wushu Championships. A total of22 countries participated in the

Championships.

Mahipal Singh (75kg) won the

silver medal. He lost against Iran in

the final match. The bronze medals

came in Sanshou event. The

winners of the bronze medals wereNeha Kashyap (48kg), Kiwlani

Brhma (56kg) and Naveen Jatin

(80kg). In the Taolu Chanquan

individual category, Jyoti Kumari

bagged the bronze and T Arita Devi

won the bronze in Nanquan Taolu

event.

About the Asian Junior

Wushu Championships

Asian Junior Wushu

Championships take place after

every two years.

The seventh edition of the Asian

Junior Wushu Championships took

place from 6 August 2013 to 13

August 2013 in Manila, Philippines.

In the competition, two events were

included- Taolu and Sanda.

The venue of the event was Makati

Coliseum, Makati, Philippines.

Wushu is actually an exhibition

as well as full-contact sport which is

derivative of Chinese martial arts.

Wushu was developed primarily

in China and in Chinese it means

Martial Arts.

Taolu and Sanda are the two

disciplines of competitive Wushu.

*****Double Trap Shooter

Ronjan Sodhi

Recommended for Rajiv

Gandhi Khel Ratna Award


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Double Trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi

was recommended for the Rajiv

Gandhi Khel Ratna award 2013

while cricketer Virat Kohli was

among the 15 sportspersons pickedfor the Arjuna award 2013 by the

selection committee in New Delhi.

The comittee was headed by

billiards legend Michael Ferreira.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is

Indias highest honour for a

sportsperson. Sodhi had won two

silver medals at the 2010

Commonwealth Games and a goldmedal at the 2010 Asian Games. In

2011, he became the first Indian to

successfully defend a World Cup

title.

The other Indian shooters who

received the Khel Ratna in the past

are: Olympic gold medalist Abhinav

Bindra (2001-02), Anjali Bhagwat(2002-03), Manavjit Sandhu (2006-

07), Gagan Narang (2010-11), Lt Col

Rajyavardhan Singh Rahore (2004-

05) and Vijay Kumar (2011-12).

Rising badminton player PV Sindhu,

was also in the list of 15 chosen

players for the Arjuna award. She

became the first Indian womanshuttler to clinch a bronze medal at

the recently-concluded World

Championships.

*****

Sowjanya Bavisetti Won

ITF Women's Tennis

Tournament

Indian player Sowjanya Bavisettihas won 10000 dollar the

Internalional Tennis Federation

(ITF) Women's Tennis Tournament

in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt on 11

August 2013.

The unseeded Indian player

defeated Anastasia Kharchenko of

Ukraine, who was seeded third, instraight sets. Sowjanya had an easy

going in the first set which she won

by dropping just one game (6-1) in

the singles final. The six-all of

second set deadlock was resolved in

tie-breaker and the Indian player

managed to win at 7-6 (1).

About ITF Women's Circuit

The ITF Women's Circuit is a

series of professional tennis

tournaments run by the

International Tennis Federation


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(ITF) for female professional tennis

players.

The ITF Womens Circuit provides

entry level tournaments enabling

players to eventually reach the

WTA Tour.

The ITF Womens Circuit offers

some 400 tournaments in 60

countries worldwide and has six

prize money levels: 10000, 15000,

25000, 50000, 75000 and 100000US dollars.

*****

P V Sindhu has settled

with Bronze Medal in

BWF World

Championships 2013

India's shuttler P V Sindhu has

settled for a bronze medal in

womens singles category at theBWF World Championships 2013

after suffering a straight-game

defeat against world number three

Ratchanok Inthanon in the

semifinals in Guangzhou, China on

10 August 2013.

World number 12 P V Sindhu,

playing in her maiden World

Championships, had recorded

stunning victories against two

Chinese players in the run-up to thesemifinals but she failed to out it

cross Ratchanok, going down 10-21

13-21 in a 36-minute women's

singles match.

PV Sindhu is also became the third

badminton player to win a medal in

World Badminton Championship.

Prakash Padukone won the men's

singles bronze in 1983 while JwalaGutta and Ashwini Ponnappa won

bronze in women's doubles in 2011.

The final results of BWF World

Championships 2013

Women's singles

1. Ratchanok Intanon- Gold Medal-Thailand2. Li Xuerui- Silver Medal- China

3. Bae Yeon Ju- Bronze Medal-Korea

4. P V Sindhu- Bronze Medal- IndiaWomens Doubles

1. Wang Xiaoli & Yu Yang GoldMedal- China

2. Eom Hye-Won & Jang Ye-Na-Silver Medal- KoreaMens singles

1. Lin Dan Gold Medal- China


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2. Lee Chong Wei Silver Medal-

Malaysia

Mens Doubles

1. Mohammad Ahsan and HendraSetiawanGold Medal-Indonesia

2. Mathias Boe and CarstenMogensen-SilverMedal-Denmark

Mixed doubles

1. Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana

Natsir Gold Medal- Indonesia

2. Ma Jin & Xu Chen- Silver Medal-China

*****

Usain Bolt won 100 metre

sprint title at the 14th

IAAF World

Championships 2013

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won

the 100 metre sprint title at the

14th IAAF World Championships

2013, Moscow on 11 August 2013.

Olympic champion, Usain Bolt

clocked a season's best 9.77

seconds at the Luzhniki Stadium

Moscow, with American Justin

Gatlin claiming silver and Nesta

Carter of Jamaica, taking bronze.

Earlier Usain Bolt won 100 metre

title in World championship atBerlin in 2009. In 2011s World

Championship at South Korea, he

was disqualified due to a false start

and Yohan Blake of Jamaica won the

gold in the 100 metre sprint event.

This gold medal is a fourth

individual World Championship

title for Usain Bolt. Usain Bolt also

won the gold medals in 100 metre

sprint at Beijing-2008 and London-

2012 Olympics.

*****Indian-American Trio

won World Geography

Championship

A team of three Indian-American

students defeated teams from 17

other regions to win top honours at

the 11th National Geographic

World Championship in Russia's St.

Petersburg city. The team included

C

general awareness 2013 (a quick reference guide)

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